full extent. She notes that the manga has a coming-of-age theme due to how the story captures Goku from a child to an adult. Dr. Frédéric Ducarme compared Goku's backstory to that of Superman, with whom the character has often been compared, but wrote that Goku remains a sportsman throughout the manga, not an avenger or vigilante. Carlo Santos of the Anime News Network described Dragon Balls setting as "a melting pot of sci-fi, fantasy, and folklore". Santos praised its quick development of new characters and storylines, and claimed that the series' crowning achievement is in its dynamic fight scenes. However, he did not enjoy the cliché training and tournament segments, nor its crude humor. His colleague Allen Divers praised the manga's story and humor as being very good at conveying all the characters' personalities. Divers also called Viz's translation one of the best of all the English editions of the series due to its faithfulness to the original Japanese. Animerica felt the series had "worldwide appeal," using dramatic pacing and over-the-top martial arts action to "maintain tension levels and keep a crippler crossface hold on the audience's attention spans". Comic Book Bin's Leroy Douresseaux described Toriyama as a "super-cartoonist," a blend of Carl Barks, Jack Kirby, and Peyo. He gave Dragon Ball a perfect rating and called it one of the best manga and comic books he has ever read. Ridwan Khan of Animefringe.com commented that the manga had a "chubby" art style, but as the series continued the characters became more refined, leaner, and more muscular. He cited one slight problem in Viz's release; the translation uses informal language to capture Goku's country accent, but it ends up feeling "forced and odd". Khan prefers the manga over the slow pacing of the anime adaptations. Including it on a list of "10 Essential Manga That Should Belong in Every Comic Collection", Matthew Meylikhov of Paste also praised the manga over the anime as an entirely different and more "involved experience." He wrote that "You come to know and care for the characters more intimately, and the joy and wonder of watching them fight, learn and grow throughout the series improves tenfold." Nobuhiro Watsuki criticized the series for exploiting death scenes as the characters are always revived, removing the impact in the process. Legacy and cultural impact Dragon Ball is considered one of the most influential manga of all time.