Dragon Ball is renowned for being one of the most influential and popular manga of all time. At the same time, however, it's one of the most overrated, owing a lot of it's praise to nostalgia and Toriyama's hard working attitude at the time, rather than it's overall quality.

Story - 5/10

There's little to be said about the story that isn't already obvious. The first part of the story follows Son Goku's journeys as a child, but usually only Goku, with the other supporting characters such as Kuririn, Yamcha and Muten Roshi not doing much unless it's the Tenkaichi Budokai. In the 2nd part of the manga, otherwise known as DBZ, practically all the plot is told through battle. Whilst there are a few arcs that are mildly entertaining (Piccolo Daimao and Freeza Arcs) and a fair few that deviate from the story's repetitive structure ever so slightly (Saiyan Arc), the overwhelmingly huge plot holes along the way, primarily after the Freeza Arc help solidify the plot's placement as mediocre at best.

Art - 5/10

Toriyama's art style is quite distinctive, especially compared to the mangaka of today, outside of a select few, but when comparing it to the highly detailed peers of DB's run such as Tetsuo Hara, Tsukasa Hojo or Takehiko Inoue, it clearly falls short in the long run. Furthermore, Toriyama pays little heed in fixing artistic mistakes in the re-releases of the manga, such as Goku having the Kame kanji on his gi in a panel in the Cell Arc. Though slightly above most generic works, it's art isn't anything amazing.

Characters - 5/10

Most of the characters develop well when taking into account the constraints of the plot, though only a handful do so to a great amount. A lot of the characters do have distinct personalities, though even in the clear archetypes they present, there are far better deliverances of such in other series.

Enjoyment - 5/10

The plot of DB is mediocre at best, though makes up for this in being fairly fast paced, in heavy contrast to it's filler heavy anime. However, even in the pros of the series, such as it's action, comedy and designs, it never truly felt top dollar. That's not to say that these aspects are done in an average manner, they were indeed reasons to suggest DB's popularity. However, when comparing it to other series of both it's era, before it and after, it in no way stands at the pinnacle of any category.
In fact, the only category it may stand near the top on is overration. I'm sure many are familiar with how fanboys tend to treat the series as top tier, whether in terms of character's power or the overall series quality. To this, it should be evident that DB is one of the most notorious examples of fans elevating a series' status beyond it's natural means.

Overall - 5/10

Of course, I want to make it clear that I'm in no way hating on this series, especially with the effort Toriyama put into it every day for 11 years, or with it being more commercially successful than most others can only dream of. However, there is no denying how overrated the series can be in the categories that make up a good series. Both by the standards of similar Shonen of it's time, such as Kinnikuman and Saint Seiya, to the series it inspired such as One Piece and Toriko, there's very little room to treat DB as a great manga in a critical view when the quality of so many series dominate it in terms of Plot, Art or Characters. In conclusion, DB is a classic series, but is an average classic.