 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.<ref></ref>

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.<ref></ref> 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.<ref></ref> Rachel Cantrell says that the manga parodies martial arts very well, and mentions how Toriyama uses panels to a full extent.