14 Years Later, Dragon Ball Z’s True Replacement Is Aging Like Fine Wine

Despite Dragon Ball‘s wide influence, the list of anime and manga franchises that truly replicate its feeling is surprisingly small. One classic series, however, comes close to capturing the magic of Akira Toriyama’s magnum opus, and it’s aging quite well more than a decade after its anime premiered.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Takes What Works About Dragon Ball Even Further

Based on the manga by Hirohiko Araki, Studio David’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure anime is a consistently impressive adaptation of a classic series.

Each season of the anime series follows a new member of the Joestar family as they make friends, grow stronger, and battle increasingly evil foes. While the comparison to Dragon Ball might feel odd, given just how different JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is from Toriyama’s series, the two manga were made around the same time frame and share some of their storytelling sensibilities.

Beyond the obvious similarities like a focus on friendship and growing stronger to fight evil, the biggest point of comparison between the two series is their structure.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run Is Gunning For an Anime, And It’s the Part We’ve All Been Waiting For

Steel Ball Run has become one of JoJo’s most beloved parts, and now that its anime is all but confirmed, here’s why fans are so excited.

Far from being one sprawling epic that tells one consistent story like Naruto, One Piece, or Bleach, the arcs in both Dragon Ball and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure work as standalone stories. Knowing what came before certainly enhances the experience, but it isn’t necessary.

This is best exemplified by the fact that many Dragon Ball fans are only familiar with the series in its Z era, when Goku is an adult. Meanwhile, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure only truly became a mega-hit with the advent of its third story arc, Stardust Crusaders. This structure makes each arc a satisfying experience on its own.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s Anime Is Aging Ridiculously Well Long After Its Premiere

JOJO Day key visual depicting Jolyne, Giorno Jotaro, Josuke, Jonathan, and Joseph.

Now, almost 13 years after the first season of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures’ anime first premiered, the anime is aging quite well. Aside from one seriously questionable episode involving an ape in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders, the anime doesn’t have much in the way of elements that would make modern viewers uncomfortable.

Perhaps the biggest thing the series has in its favor, though, is JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s incredibly influential Stand power system. Essentially, the spiritual manifestation of a person’s fighting spirit, Stands possess an infinite range of powers. This means that fully understanding an opponent’s ability is a key part of fights.

As a result, fights in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure almost have a puzzle-like quality to them as each combatant tries to figure out the weakness in their opponents’ abilities. This was wildly ahead of its time when Araki first invented the concept in the late 1980s, and even still feels fresh in the modern anime adaptation.

Few anime and manga franchises can claim to be as influential as Dragon Ball. While JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure might not have had the same impact, its DNA can still be seen in a variety of big series like Jujutsu Kaisen, Bleach, and Hunter x Hunter. Fans of Dragon Ball owe it to themselves to give JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure a try, as it’s undeniably earned its place in shonen history.