left nothing behind, as long as they have entertained their readers." Critical reception The manga has received a mostly positive reception from critics. Jason Thompson commented that Dragon Ball "turns from a gag/adventure manga to a nearly-pure fighting manga". James S. Yadao, author of The Rough Guide to Manga, explains that the first several chapters "play out much like Saiyuki (Journey to the West) with Dr. Slump-like humour built in" and that Dr. Slump, Toriyama's previous manga, has a clear early influence on the series. He feels the series "established its unique identity" after the first time Goku's group disbands and he trains under Kame-sen'nin. On the second half of the manga, he commented that it developed "a far more action-packed, sinister tone" with "wilder" battles and aerial and spiritual elements with an increased death count. David Brothers for ComicsAlliance wrote that: "Like Osamu Tezuka and Jack Kirby before him, Toriyama created a story with his own two hands that seeped deep into the hearts of his readers, creating a love for both the cast and the medium at the same time." He said that while the author has "a sublime combination of Looney Tunes-style classic humor and dirty jokes," the best part of Dragon Ball is the fight scenes. Brothers explained that while Western superhero comics "would focus on a series of cool poses or impact shots" with the reader having to fill in the blanks between panels, Dragon Ball has a panel dedicated to one action and the next panel features the very next maneuver, making them incredibly easy to follow. Fusanosuke Natsume says that the theme of disaster and growth in the manga is a reference to "post-War Japanese manga" that Osamu Tezuka began in the mid 1940s. He also comments that the violence in the manga has context that children can understand, and is not just there at random. While Toriyama has said that Journey to the West was an influence on the manga, Xavier Mínguez-López comments that it is a parody of the Chinese novel, since the stories are similar. He notes that Toriyama uses Chinese mythology and Japanese folktales, the dragon Shenlong who is summoned from the Dragon Balls, as well as characters who are able to come back to life as examples of similarities. Rachel Cantrell says that the manga parodies martial arts very well, and mentions how Toriyama uses panels to a