Why Toei should reanimate OG Dragon Ball instead of One Piece's worst arc, explained

Modified Oct 21, 2024 10:30 GMT

Dragon Ball remake should have been chosen over remastering One Piece (Image via Toei Animation).

A Dragon Ball reanimation or remake should have been chosen instead of remastering One Piece's Fishman Island arc, which is widely regarded as one of the worst in the entire series. The recent success and positive receptions of Daima are elements that should be taken into account, especially considering the franchise's everlasting popularity and cultural reach.

While Daima shows Toei Animation's effort to promote Dragon Ball and deliver quality, the franchise hasn't received the attention it deserves recently. A reanimation, remake, or remaster of the original series would be a smart way to reintroduce one of its most underrated parts to modern audiences.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for both series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

Reanimating, remaking, or remastering the original Dragon Ball anime would have been better than One Piece's Fishman Island arc

Bulma and Goku's first encounter as portrayed in Daima (Image via Toei Animation).

The original anime adaptation of author Akira Toriyama's manga, which covers from the beginning of the story to the moment Goku defeats Piccolo Jr., has always been the most underrated portion of the franchise and was an era with more mystical elements, simpler writing, and a lot of charismatic personalities. Moreover, Toriyama's most notorious editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, pushed for the creation of the Z anime and higher to do justice to the manga's battles.

With Daima's success, high-quality fight scenes, and solid storytelling, reanimating Goku's early adventures with improved animation seems like an easy win for Toei Animation. While the original anime has its charm, it's likely the weakest animated product from the franchise's golden era.

This is a direct contrast to Toei's decision to remaster One Piece's Fishman Island arc, which is almost universally reviled by the fandom because of the fandom and not so much due to the animation. It was simply an arc with a weak villain in Hody Jones, a lack of tension because of the Straw Hat crew's two-year training, and not having the stakes of previous arcs, such as Sabaody or Marineford.

More arguments for this decision

The main cast as seen in Daima (Image via Toei Animation).

While is very likely that a remake of Dragon Ball would be bound to be a project that would require a few years of preparation to get right, a remaster of the original anime would have been a lot better than what is currently being done with One Piece. That is because the Fishman Island arc is still somewhat fresh in people's minds and is also happening right in the middle of the series while the other project is the very beginning of that franchise.

As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of fans of the franchise who haven't watched or read the first arcs of Dragon Ball, to the point they have become underrated. That is a shame since it features some of the best battle choreographies in the franchise and has some of the best character moments for mainstays of the series such as Krillin, Yamcha, Ten Shin Han, and both versions of Piccolo.

Final thoughts

It would have been a smarter business decision to remaster the original Dragon Ball anime since it would have seized the current Daima hype and revalued an underrated portion of the franchise. Moreover, remastering one of One Piece's weakest arc isn't something so beneficial at the long term.

Related articles

Edited by Divya Singh