Dragon Ball is one of the biggest success stories in anime and manga history. Since the manga first debuted in the pages of Shōnen Jump in 1984, the series has mesmerized generations of fans and become instantly recognizable around the world. Dragon Ball has even transcended the anime, being referenced in pop culture media around the world.

However, due to Dragon Ball's immense scope and status as a fixture, it often feels like part of the furniture, meaning many anime fans never stop to consider that there was a time before the Dragon Ball franchise changed anime forever. This perspective often results in the pioneering and genre-defining nature of Dragon Ball being overlooked.

From Goku's childhood adventures to his Saiyan heritage

Dragon Ball follows Goku, a young boy who lives alone in the forest after the sudden death of his grandfather. But his life is turned upside down when a young girl named Bulma nearly runs him over with her car. Bulma explains that she is on a quest to find the seven Dragon Balls, magical items that allow the person who collects them all to wish for anything their heart desires.

When Goku reveals that his grandfather gave him a Dragon Ball, Bulma convinces the young boy to go with her to retrieve the rest. During this journey, Goku will make many friends and enemies and discover his natural talents in martial arts, which will lead him to compete in the World Martial Arts Tournament.

Famously, the entire Dragon Ball universe underwent a massive transformation after chapter 194 of the manga. Between the end of this chapter and the beginning of chapter 195, there was a five-year time jump, during which Goku started a family and had a son named Gohan. However, when the mysterious warrior Raditz arrives from space,

Goku discovers that everything he knows about himself is wrong. Raditz tells Goku that he is a Saiyan, a violent race that used to reside on a distant planet. When Baby Goku landed on Earth, he was found by Grandpa Gohan, who did his best to raise the child. At first, Goku rejected this love and was constantly aggressive.

But one day, Goku fell down a ravine and hit his head, erasing his memory of his Saiyan history and turning him into the happy kid viewers knew in Dragon Ball. As mentioned, the entire tone of the series changed after Raditz's revelations. This change was so dramatic that the anime changed the title of the show from Dragon Ball to the now-iconic Dragon Ball Z.

How gender flipping in shōnen became the new norm

This second half would continue to push the boundaries as, after Goku defeated the vengeful Saiyans, he found himself fighting a new wave of alien invaders, artificial beings, and time travelers before the story concluded with chapter 519 of the manga and episode 291 of Dragon Ball Z.

One major thing that Dragon Ball normalized was that shōnen series went through major genre shifts as their stories progressed. While Dragon Ball's original Tournament Arc was a grounded (by anime standards) martial arts tale, the series began to add more intense supernatural elements as the story progressed.

This would come to a head at the beginning of Dragon Ball Z, where the introduction of Raditz introduced a ton of sci-fi elements. Over time, these sci-fi elements would only become more intense as Goku found himself face to face with aliens and time travelers.

The series has also mixed other genres during certain arcs, such as the horror elements introduced during the Cell and Buu arcs. This genre-swapping and genre-blending has become the norm for shōnen series, with most long-running ones switching genres at least once during their run.

One Piece is the best example of this, as it closely followed the Dragon Ball model, slowly transitioning from a comedic pirate adventure series to a more intense, fantasy-tinged epic over time.

The secret of its rhythm and narrative impact

Another fascinating and groundbreaking part of Dragon Ball was its use of time skips. Throughout the original manga and anime, viewers will experience seven time skips (although the anime sometimes added filler episodes within these time skips to pad the runtime).

In the original Dragon Ball, there is a three-year time skip while Goku trains for the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai and another three-year time skip while he trains with Kami. Finally, there is a five-year time skip between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.

During Dragon Ball Z, there is a six-month time skip before the Saiyan invasion, a one-and-a-half-year gap between the Frieza and Trunks sagas, a three-year time skip during the build-up to the Android invasion, a seven-year time skip after the battle with Cell, and finally a massive ten-year time skip between the end of the Buu saga and the final Peaceful World saga.

These time jumps are essential to Dragon Ball's excellent pacing. Having events unfold over many years adds weight to the narrative, making events feel significant even if they are later reset or undone. This is especially true with combat training; having the heroes train for many years makes the battles feel important, and the characters' victories feel earned.

Jumping forward in time allowed Toriyama to avoid repetitive training arcs or filler chapters, maintaining a fast, exciting pace that keeps the audience engaged and attentive.

These jumps also make fights more interesting because the debut of new powers and techniques can happen at the most impactful moment rather than being revealed ahead of time, allowing them to surprise the viewer without feeling like an unexpected twist.

How Time Skips and Transformations Shaped Modern Shōnen Series

After Dragon Ball, many other shōnen series, including the big three, began to use time skips frequently. Naruto emulated the transition from Dragon Ball to Dragon Ball Z by having a two-and-a-half-year time skip between the end of the original Naruto and the beginning of Naruto: Shippuden, giving the characters a chance to train and mature before the second part of the story began.

One Piece did something similar by having a two-year time jump between episodes 516 and 517 and chapters 597 and 598 of the manga, during which Luffy learned Haki from Rayleigh. This time jump made Luffy's new power feel earned without subjecting the viewer to multiple episodes focused on training.

Additionally, the break allowed the other characters to learn new moves and undergo character development that was slowly revealed over the course of the following arc, enhancing the story and leading to some memorable and surprising moments.

Dragon Ball also defined the concept of transformation and shapeshifting. While shapeshifting heroes have existed since ancient times, Dragon Ball was the series that made them part of the standard shōnen format by introducing the Great Ape form and the now-legendary Super Saiyan transformation.

In fact, transformations are so common these days that it's remarkable when a shōnen hero doesn't have access to distinct alternate forms.

How the Big Three of Shōnen Embraced Time Skips and Iconic Transformations

The Big Three prove this point as each main character has multiple forms, each with unique powers, abilities, and drawbacks. For example, Naruto has the Initial Jinchūriki Form, the Four-Tails Form, the Six-Tails Form, the Eight-Tails Form, the Kurama Chakra Mode, the Tailed Beast Mode, the Six Paths Sage Mode, and the powerful Baryon Mode.

Ichigo from Bleach has a multitude of forms, including the Hollowfied form, the Full Hollow form, Bankai, Fullbring Bankai, Merged Hollow, True Bankai, and Luffy from One Piece has access to his various Gear forms, including the now-iconic Gear 5.

What's especially interesting about modern shōnen transformations is how many of them borrow bits of Dragon Ball iconography. For example, the iconic glowing energy aura is something that most shōnen transformations will include, even if energy or ki manipulation isn't part of the show's lore.

Another common transformation element copied from Dragon Ball is the fighter's hair spiking or changing color when he enters his new form. Luffy's Gear 5 form is the most obvious recent example of this phenomenon, as when Luffy assumes this form, his hair turns white and grows noticeably longer, defying gravity, with many frames appearing to be a clear nod to Goku's famous post-transformation hairstyle.