Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z, both emblematic of the ’90s anime explosion, often find themselves juxtaposed in terms of their cultural impact and storytelling prowess. Each series brings its own set of strengths and shortcomings to the table, with Dragon Ball sharing many traits, both positive and negative, across its franchise. However, there’s a particular aspect where Dragon Ball consistently falls short.

Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z are widely celebrated, yet the magical girl saga excels in one significant area over its Shonen counterpart. While Sailor Moon might not flawlessly capitalize on its ensemble, it succeeds in providing substantial character development and spotlight moments for all the Sailor Senshi, ensuring Usagi doesn’t always take center stage. Conversely, the Dragon Ball series has struggled to effectively leverage its Z-Fighters, resulting in a narrative often dominated by Goku.

Each installment of the Dragon Ball series has its unique imperfections. However, a common thread runs through Dragon Ball, DBZ, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball DAIMA, and notably Dragon Ball Super: they consistently underutilize the Z-Fighters and the broader supporting cast. Goku’s stature as an iconic protagonist is undeniable, yet his prominence often overshadows the contributions of his allies and family.

Dragon Ball Has Always Failed to Use its Supporting Characters Well

Every Dragon Ball anime has its own individual flaws. However, one quality shared by Dragon Ball, DBZ, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball DAIMA, and especially Dragon Ball Super is that they are all abysmal when it comes to how they utilize the Z-Fighters, and the rest of the supporting cast. Goku is one of the greatest protagonists of all time, and no one can take that away from him, but said greatness has always come at the expense of his friends and family.

Rather notoriously, being a human in Dragon Ball has equated to being completely irrelevant for the past several decades. It doesn’t matter if the Dragon Team member is a ki-powered warrior like Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, or Chiaotzu, or a relative non-combatant like Chi-Chi or Videl; their continued presence in the franchise has long been pointless, regardless of whatever tiny scraps they’re thrown every few years. Even Bulma, Goku’s original co-star and by far the most relevant human and non-combatant, while still as much of an icon as ever, rarely actually gets things to do.

Even being an alien or magical creature doesn’t automatically mean better treatment though. This has long been true, with Dragon Ball having been ignoring Oolong and Puar for nearly as long as it’s existed, but there are also more prominent examples, like with Goten and Trunks, Pan, Uub, and Majin Buu. The issue extends to modern times, with Beerus and Whis having made a massive splash when they debuted, only for fans to have grown tired of the divine duo and their uselessness over the past decade.

The biggest and most important supporting characters in Dragon Ball are Vegeta, Gohan, and Piccolo. And while they all certainly have fought more battles and received more character development than every aforementioned Dragon Team member, the narrative has certainly not done right by them.

Piccolo steals the show during the first two arcs in which he appears, but his continued prominence in DBZ after the Saiyan Saga is beyond forced and pointless, and it wouldn’t be until Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero that he’d actually get meaningful fights and development again. Even then, Piccolo has the climax of his own movie stolen from him by Gohan, although this is only fair, considering Gohan’s entire character arc led up to him becoming the protagonist, only for Goku to swoop back in and make him also irrelevant until Super Hero. And, for as much as Vegeta fans hate it, he may be the best-developed character in Dragon Ball, but his primary function in the story will always be to lose, to make Goku look better.

Sailor Moon Develops Every Single Member of the Sailor Senshi

Image via Toei Animation

Sailor Moon is far from perfect in how it handles its supporting characters. The Inner Senshi are regularly sidelined from the action after Season 1,Mamoru and his romance with Usagi aren’t handled as well as in the manga, Naru is sadly forgotten over time, and to call Chibiusa controversial and divisive would be an understatement. However, despite its flaws, the anime is still a massive improvement in this regard over its manga counterpart overall, and it’s undeniably better about how it uses its characters than Dragon Ball.

Usagi is the undeniable star of Sailor Moon but, thanks to it being just as much of a slice-of-life comedy anime as it is an action-drama series, there are still countless episodes where the supporting cast become the focus. While derided by some manga-purists as filler, it’s these episodes that allow Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako’s characters to all be fully fleshed out, and for their powerful female friendships to continue being the focus of the series, even long after they’ve stopped being relevant in fights.

Love or hate her, there is also absolutely no denying that Chibiusa is central to Season 2. She is a bigger part of Sailor Moon R than Vegeta is in Dragon Ball Super. Likewise, Hotaru practically becomes Usagi’s co-star during Season 3. And, unlike Chibiusa, Hotaru is a massive fan-favorite, and a big part of what makes Sailor Moon S the best season of the series.

Sailor Saturn isn’t the only beloved, crucial character introduced during Sailor Moon’s middle seasons either. Setsuna becomes a major player towards the end of Sailor Moon R, and has a massive fanbase, in spite of the ways later seasons misuse her compared to the manga. Seen as annoying and unlikable by some, and as gay icons by others, the heavy focus on Haruka and Michiru during Sailor Moon S is another part of what makes it such a masterpiece.

The Z-Fighters and Sailor Senshi are equally iconic, but definitely not equally well-developed. Sailors Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, and Pluto, along with other key figures like Tuxedo Mask and Naru, will always have more fans who count them among their favorite characters than the likes of Krillin, Tien Shinhan, the Androids, or Bulma. And, in the grand scheme of things, even fan-favorites like Gohan and Vegeta have never mattered as much in Dragon Ball as much as Usagi’s loyal friends do in Sailor Moon.

• Image via Toei Animation

  Created by

  Akira Toriyama

  First Film

  Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies

  Latest Film

  Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

  First TV Show

  Dragon Ball

  Latest TV Show

  Dragon Ball DAIMA

  First Episode Air Date

  
  April 26, 1989
  

  Dragon Ball tells the tale of a young warrior by the name of Son Goku, a young peculiar boy with a tail who embarks on a quest to become stronger and learns of the Dragon Balls, when, once all 7 are gathered, grant any wish of choice.

  
  

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  Sailor Moon

  Release Date

  1992 – 1997

  Network

  tv asahi

  Directors

  Takao Yoshizawa, Harume Kosaka, Kazuhisa Takenouchi

  Writers

  Shigeru Yanagawa, Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Sukehiro Tomita

  
  

  • Kotono Mitsuishi

    Usagi Tsukino / Sailor Moon (voice)

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    Aya Hisakawa

    Ami Mizuno / Sailor Mercury (voice)