Goku and Dragon Ball didn’t just define shonen; they built the foundation for every modern battle series. The franchise built a legacy of power scaling that didn’t stop in Japan and spread worldwide, cementing its historic status.

However, within South Korea’s booming manhwa industry, Dragon Ball’s legacy has extended beyond influence to inspire some of the medium’s best exports. Drawing from Dragon Ball DNA, they tell stories where ambition, rivalry, and raw energy drive every page.

These series echo Toriyama’s rhythm of strength and spirit but expand it with sharper storytelling, modern art styles, and layered world-building. For readers who grew up on Saiyans and Super transformations, these ten manhwa feel like spiritual successors and are proof that Dragon Ball’s influence, more than nostalgia, is evolution, now told through a new cultural lens.

The God of High School

Written by Yongje Park, God of High School instantly throws readers into a martial arts tournament where every blow is amplified by supernatural power and folklore. Like Dragon Ball, the series begins with raw combat and rapidly evolves into a sprawling mythology of gods, demons, and celestial politics.

The story follows its arrogant yet ever-cheerful protagonist, Jin Mori, who carries shades of Goku’s cheerful arrogance while hiding unimaginable strength beneath his casual indifference. Invited to a shady tournament sponsored by a shady organization, Mori’s martial curiosity leads him to experience the tournament until befriending two other prodigies, Han Daewi and Yoo Mira.

Finally, similar to its inspiration, God of High School leans heavily on remarkable visual intensity, exhibiting fights that explode with exaggerated motion and clean choreography that feels made for animation. Based solely on visual allure, the series does a good job of showcasing its Dragon Ball connections.

Solo Leveling

If Dragon Ball Z explored power through martial arts, Solo Leveling reframes it through self-evolution. Chugong’s hit webtoon follows Sung Jinwoo, a weak hunter who transforms into the world’s strongest through relentless self-improvement, an idea straight out of* Dragon Ball’s* core philosophy.

Nevertheless, what sets Solo Leveling apart is its modern portrayal of that journey, using strength as a form of isolation and progress as an obsession. While Goku trained to protect others, Jinwoo trains because no one else can.

Like Dragon Ball’s Saiyan arcs, each level-up feels monumental, every battle a test of will as much as might. Beyond spectacle, the story resonates because it captures what Dragon Ball made universal, which is the hunger to rise beyond limits, even when no one else believes you can.

Hardcore Leveling Warrior

Hardcore Leveling Warrior remolds Dragon Ball’s competitive spirit and injects it into a game-world satire. Created by Sehoon Kim, the story follows Gong Won-Ho as he navigates the virtual reality of the game, Lucid Adventure.

Ranked as the No.1 player within the game, Gong Won’s dirty playing antics and arrogance led him to a defeat that stripped him of his rank and everything else that came with it. Having lost it all, what follows for him is a long journey of redemption.

Nevertheless, the series stands out because of how it treats battle as a psychological contest amidst its exaggerated comedy. Ultimately, beneath its humor and absurdity, Hardcore Leveling Warrior examines growth through failure; something Toriyama’s heroes often learned the hard way. It’s the kind of story that rewards persistence and reinvention, two ideas Dragon Ball fans know pretty well.

The Breaker

Jeon Geuk-jin and Park Jin-hwan’s The Breaker steals Dragon Ball’s mentor-student dynamic and rewires it with a modern, street-level intensity. The series revolves around Lee Shi-Woon, a timid student who becomes the disciple of a mysterious martial artist named Chun-Woo Han. Desperate to solve his school bullying ordeals, Shiwoon becomes entwined with the martial world of murim as Chunwoo’s disciple, after tricking the latter.

As the story expands into The Breaker: New Waves and Eternal Force, it evolves much like Dragon Ball did; its characters are older, wiser, and fighting for more than pride, showcasing narrative growth. In the end, for Dragon Ball manhwa fans, The Breaker is the perfect bridge between old-school martial arts storytelling and modern action.

Gosu

Brought to life by Giun Ryu and Mun Jeong-hoo, *Gosu *offers a quiet yet powerful reflection on vengeance and legacy in the martial world. Following Gang Ryong, a young martial artist burdened with the responsibility of avenging his master’s death, the story unfolds in a manner unlike Dragon Ball’s open optimism.

Rather, *Gosu *operates in the gray area between duty and revenge. Still, the resemblance is evident in its discipline, respect for strength, and the idea that the greatest enemies are often one’s inner demons. Equipped with his master’s superior martial techniques, Gang Ryong is more than prepared to take on his enemies.

However, his clarity gives way to confusion when he discovers that his supposed enemies are already dead. Drawing from the deeper themes beneath Dragon Ball’s spectacle, the story strikes a rare balance of intensity and introspection, delivering a martial arts tale with patience and quiet power.

Tower of God

SIU’s Tower of God transforms Dragon Ball’s straightforward escalation into an intricate hierarchy of power and ambition. Its protagonist, Bam, enters a mysterious tower where every floor is a new world and every challenge tests his will.

Trapped beneath the Tower for all of his childhood, with a single companion in Rachel, Bam quickly finds that the world above him is beyond anything he could have imagined. The series shares Dragon Ball’s fascination with endurance and destiny but wraps it in psychological drama.

Each character’s power reflects their worldview, making every fight an ideological clash as much as a physical one. Much like Dragon Ball’s endless transformations, Tower of God thrives on the evolution of its elements, from characters and rules to the universe itself.

Noblesse

Son Je-Ho and Lee Kwangsu’s *Noblesse *injects Dragon Ball’s sense of divine rivalry into a gothic, modern setting. The story follows Cadis Etrama Di Raizel, the immortal “Noblesse,” who awakens after eight centuries of sleep and must navigate a world of advanced technology and new threats to his status and the lives of those around him.

From a character perspective, Raizel’s calm, restrained power recalls Goku’s later maturity. However, Noblesse creates an emotional contrast between its ancient nobility and modern chaos, framing combat as both a duty and a memory.

After awakening and reuniting with his loyal subordinate, Frankenstein, Raizel comes to appreciate the wonders of an ordinary human life. Hence, when remnants of his past threaten his new life, Raizel must decide whether duty and status should take precedence over peaceful coexistence.

The Gamer

The Gamer, written by Sung San-young and illustrated by Sang-A, presents a fantasy RPG-style story with a rather simple premise. What if life itself were an RPG, and leveling up applied to everything? This is precisely the world in which Han Ji-Han is the protagonist.

Within the story, Ji Han’s journey from an ordinary student to a skilled fighter mirrors Goku’s steady climb from human potential to superhuman mastery. However, what’s more compelling here is the systematic logic behind his growth.

After acquiring the mysterious power that turns his reality into a game-like experience, Ji-Han’s true gaming skills are put to the test. In a way, the series is Dragon Ball’s grind reframed through digital structure, though with a lighter and more introspective tone, which often explores how absurd power can feel when applied to daily life.

The Boxer

The Boxer takes the emotional core of *Dragon Ball’s *duels: the respect, rivalry, and pain, and strips it to its raw essence. Written and illustrated by JH, it follows a young prodigy whose sheer natural ability in boxing alienates him from the world.

The story focuses on psychology over spectacle, despite the latter’s excess, examining what happens when greatness feels like a curse. Like Goku and Vegeta’s lifelong push for purpose through combat, The Boxer explores whether power without passion can still hold meaning.

Its minimalistic art style amplifies emotion through restraint, with every frame deliberate and every blow heavy with consequence. It’s not about energy blasts or transformations, but about what drives someone to fight at all. In that stripped-down honesty, the series captures Dragon Ball’s truest spirit, that is, the search for self through struggle.

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint blurs the line between fan and hero, much like Dragon Ball blurred the line between mortal and god. Co-written by singNsong, it follows Kim Dokja, an ordinary reader who finds himself inside the novel he’s been following for years.

When the story’s contents suddenly become his reality, Dokja’s knowledge becomes his only weapon. Nevertheless, in the series, his journey is less about brute strength and more about imagination and adaptation, mirroring Goku’s ability to grow beyond expectation.

With each new scenario, Kim Dokja is compelled to reevaluate the validity of his knowledge as he confronts his own ideals. Borrowing from the shonen framework, the series crafts a complexly layered tale and world while maintaining a sufficiently introspective and intimate nature.

Latest TV Show Super Dragon Ball Heroes

First Episode Air Date April 26, 1989

Latest Episode 2019-10-05

Cast Sean Schemmel, Laura Bailey, Brian Drummond, Christopher Sabat, Scott McNeil

Video Game(s) Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Dragon Ball: The Breakers, Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z, Dragon Ball Xenoverse, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot