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The vast world ofOne Piecethat keeps on building itself into a better storyline than the previous one with a stronger antagonist, a new problem, and a new mission for the Straw Hats is what makesOne Pieceone of the best anime and manga series out there. This seems to be the recurring theme of the series but fans still love it because Eiichiro Oda puts a new twist every time.
Although this theme is quite common nowadays,One Piecehas been following it since the start and upgrading it more and more as the story progresses. However, the recurring aspect ofOne Piecemay be inspired by the popular anime series by Akira Toriyama,Dragon Ball Z. One arc from the series can be called the inspiration for Oda san’s masterpiece.
The arc in discussion is the Namek Saga and it is probably the only arc in the entire franchise that involves the biggest adventure trip for the characters ofDragon Ball Z. While there are occasional differences, there are unquestionably many similarities between eachOne Piecearc and the Namek Saga.
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The Theme of Namek Saga in Dragon Ball Z
AlthoughDragon Ballis primarily recognized for its action sequences, the Namek Saga highlights the series’ fantasy adventure elements. The Dragon Team’s arrival on the Planet Namek marked the start of the Namek Saga. To bring back Earth’s Dragon Balls and bring back their friends who perished fighting the Saiyans, they planned to use the planet’s Dragon Balls for this purpose.
Regretfully, the Frieza Force had already begun terrorizing the planet in an attempt to obtain the Dragon Balls for themselves by the time they arrived. Goku was their only hope of defeating Frieza and his army when he eventually joined the battle. But the entire arc shows the fighters collaborating with the locals, studying an unknown region, understanding their problems, helping them, and in the end saving them from a tyrant.
This was probably the first and the last time theDragon Ballfranchise followed the pattern and this became one of the best arcs of theDragon Ballseries. However, all these elements of the Namek saga are a recurring theme for almost every arc ofOne Piece.
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Similarities BetweenOne PieceandDragon Ball Z’sNamek Saga
Exploring a new location taken over by villains the Straw Hats weren’t ready to fight is one of the most recurring themes in their exploits inOne Piece.The Z-Fighters inDragon Ballusually train to defeat their next opponent after determining who they think they will be. One of the few occasions they are taken off guard is the journey to Namek.
Additionally, Luffy frequently saves the day while battling the bad guys, which aids him in his attempt to establish himself as the Pirate King. When Goku defied Frieza, he too became the last hope for the honor of the Namekians and the Saiyan race.
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All these and many other similarities point out the fact that the entire theme ofOne Pieceis far too similar to that of the Namek Saga fromDragon Ball Z.Although there is no proof or confirmation from Oda, the parallels are far too similar for fans to notice.
Tarun Kohli
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2959
Tarun Kohli is the Senior Anime Writer at FandomWire, with over 2,900 published articles. He currently specializes in critiquing One Piece and other Shonen anime. A passionate fan of the genre, his love for thoughtful analysis reflects his genuine appreciation for the art of anime. His deep understanding of anime culture has earned recognition from industry figures such as Adi Shankar and the creators of Blood of Zeus.
