0

Is Yu Yu Hakusho inspired by the Dragon Ball series, or is it just a well-done copy (or the opposite)?

Or is there a closer relationship between these stories beyond mythology?

F1Krazy
  • 2,057
  • 2
  • 16
  • 29
Augusto Vasques
  • 123
  • 5
  • 4
    Why do you believe it's a copy of Dragon Ball? – F1Krazy Oct 08 '22 at 21:44
  • @F1Krazy. I don't have a well-formed opinion on whether or not it's a copy. I see a lot of similarities and I really enjoyed both stories. I'm no expert in manga or anime, in fact I'm a common audience wanting to know if there is any relationship or point of intersection between the plots. – Augusto Vasques Oct 09 '22 at 06:25
  • Both are what it's called "shonen anime", so they usually share the common tropes of shonen anime: [fighting - training loop](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/14762/2516) – Aki Tanaka Oct 09 '22 at 11:37
  • It isnt related at all, also, it isnt one of those animes which are particulary seen as similar to Dragon Ball, ie, Hunter x Hunter, Dragon Quest, Nanatsu no taizai, etc. – Pablo Oct 09 '22 at 14:31
  • @AkiTanaka, I know what a shonen is and I know it's based on the Hero's journey – Augusto Vasques Oct 09 '22 at 16:33
  • I don't know Nanatsu no taizai, but it bears no resemblance to the other examples you mentioned. In fact, if you quoted Bleach I would agree. – Augusto Vasques Oct 09 '22 at 16:38
  • So, it's not really clear what you meant by "inspired" or "well-done copy" when you know both are shonen, hence the similarity. – Aki Tanaka Oct 09 '22 at 16:39
  • @AkiTanaka, The characters are different, their storylines are different but the mythology is the same. – Augusto Vasques Oct 09 '22 at 16:47
  • 1
    According to Wikipedia, the author of [*YuYu Hakusho*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YuYu_Hakusho) was "influenced by Buddhist mythology", while [*Dragon Ball*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Ball) was inspired by [*Journey to the West*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_West) which "has strong roots in Buddhist theology". Perhaps is this what you meant? – Aki Tanaka Oct 09 '22 at 16:59
  • @AkiTanaka, That's the way. :) – Augusto Vasques Oct 09 '22 at 17:02
  • I dont want to spoil your answer and your perceived ephiphany, but since Buddhism is one of the two main religions of Japan, most animes are influenced by Buddhism – Pablo Oct 09 '22 at 18:26

1 Answers1

3

Not exactly an answer, but what both have in common and not mentioned in the comments is that they were released in Shonen Jump. So, not only do they share the shonen demographic, they also share the 'color' of the magazine.

In particular, one factor is the editors. If I remember correctly, a volume of Yu-Yu Hakusho (inside the cover) had a line to the effect "An editor is sometimes a story writer".

The first editor of Dragon Ball is Kazuhiko Torishima and that of Yu-Yu Hakusho is Toshimasa Takahashi. They worked together closely, like starting the magazine V Jump, so it is possible that DB's editor influenced Yu-Yu Hakusho in a broad sense.

SuperStormer
  • 103
  • 2
sundowner
  • 2,808
  • 2
  • 12