 She notes that the manga has a coming-of-age theme due to how the story captures Goku from a child to an adult.<ref></ref>

Carlo Santos of the Anime News Network described "Dragon Ball"s 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.<ref></ref> His colleague Allen Divers praised the manga's story and humor as being very good at conveying all the characters' personalities.