Although the popular manga television show and media craze, Dragon Ball, was created in 1984 ("Dragon Ball (franchise)."), it contains numerous similarities to the piece of literature Journey to the West by Wú Chéng'ēn, which was published in the 1590s ("Journey to the West."). The two pieces are comparable in not only their storyline, but in their characters, the culture they portray, and the tones they create. In fact, in the long run, Dragon Ball can be used to better understand the concepts of Journey to the West. To begin with, my initial reaction to each was that while Journey to the West was more descriptive, Dragon Ball was more fun, interesting, and upbeat. Both pieces depict the Chinese culture, but Journey to the West does it in a way that is mostly traditional and…show more content… On the other hand, while Dragon Ball also shows aspects of the Chinese culture, it is meant mainly for children ("Dragon Ball (franchise).") so what pieces of the culture are shown are more subtle and interesting. The focus in Dragon Ball is not on the culture, but on the storyline. Dragon Ball’s tone comes from the bright colors and personalities of the characters, while the characters in Journey to the West aren’t as loud so to speak. There are countless ways in which Dragon Ball and Journey to the West are similar. Journey to the West is a story about a monk who must make a journey to retrieve a series of religious texts. In his journey to retrieve the texts, he faces numerous trials and tribulations, but is able to persevere and complete the journey. Akira Toriyama was inspired by the story Journey to the West and decided to create his own story, which ended up being