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Well I haven't exactly made it a secret that I really dig series like Naruto and my "Great Saiyaman" moniker on the Hentai site where I post my work show that I also have a big affinity going for Dragonball Z.
I also made myself the lucky owner of the new Dragonball Z boxsets of the first, second the third seasons which are digitally remastered from the original Japanese film which automatically means that the cuts made by Pioneer and by Funimation are not there anymore and that I can watch them in Japanese which to me adds to the authenticity.
A buddy of mine introduced me to Naruto saying that "if you love Dragonball Z than you really will love Naruto." He was right and not only that but Naruto artist Masashi Kishimoto must be a bigger DBZ fan than I am because in his books he even admits to nicking a lot of ideas of DBZ and using them in Naruto.
And one I knew that I started scouting the series to see what Kishimoto nicked and once I knew what to look for, I found a LOT
Spoilers ahead: If you don't want the lowdown on the most important things happening in the series before reading/seeing them for yourself, look away.
Chi and Chakra
In martial arts and in Yoga "Chi" is your body's energy and it's also the Japanese word for wood, referring to your body's inner core. The more chi you have the stronger the fighter you are. Martial artists and fakir artists train to be able to concentrate as much chi into a single point of their body to get it as strong as possible. Which is why a Fakir can walk over burning coals bare footed and not get burned. In DBZ "chi" also works that way but the characters also have the ability to use "Chi" to sense how strong the opponent is. And they also use "Chi" as beams fired from their hands or even from their mouths and as a way to push themselves into the air and fly. In Naruto "Chi" was renamed "Chakra" and the concept is the same as in DBZ. People can sense each other's "Chakra" and by doing so can tell how strong their opponent is and "Chakra", like "Chi" is used as a means of both propulsion through the air or as the way to power beams and other special attacks.
Son Goku versus Naruto Uzumaki
Let's compare the leadcharacters who have a lot in common. First of all the way they look.
They both wear orange with Blue fighting uniforms which also has the emblem of their gang or in Naruto's case Family they belong to. When Goku turns super saiyan his hair turns gold and spiked and his eyes become blue, now look at Naruto's hairdo.
But it doesn't stop there. Both of them are able to turn into very destructive monsters: a huge monkey in Goku's case and a Ninetailed Fox in Naruto's case. This Nine tailed fox also brings in another thing that Naruto has in common with Goku. When Goku transforms into super Saiyan he gets a golden glow of energy around him and as I mentioned earlier his hair turns gold and his eyes turn blue. When Naruto uses the fox demon inside him his eyes turn red, he gets a red glow of energy around him and he grows fans and claws.
Where the characters differ from each other is personality, Naruto has a mean streak, pulling pranks on others and being the village idiot. Goku is as nice a guy as you'll ever meet even to his enimies he's always fair. But traits they both share is are the ability to win friends and their unstoppable drive to improve.
Vegeta and Sasuke Uchiha
As with Goku and Naruto, these two also have a lot in common. The color of their clothing for example but also because they are the sole survivors of a massacre that wiped out their entire families. And they also share their aggitated look and their "I don't have time for this nonsense" attitude. What they also have in common is the way they relate to Goku/Naruto. In both cases the Leadcharacter is both their biggest rival as well as their most trusted ally. Vegeta took great pride that he has learned to ability to feel somebody's powerlevel being the first non-earthling who mastered doing so, Sasuke has Sharingan eyes with which he can see the flow of his opponent's "Chakra" Another thing they have in common is their frustration to live up to their pedigrees, Vegeta as the prince of the Saiyan empire and Sasuke as the sole surviving member of the most skilled fighting clan of his town Konoha. The both of them are so frustrated that a "Low class warrior" and a "Class clown" keep outdoing them, they deliberately offered themselves to the evil forces searching for power. Vegeta to dark magician Babidy and Sasuke to Orochimaru. Pride playing a huge role in this, so much so that they are willing to leave their loved ones behind just to live up to the image they have of themselves and how they want people to see them. While secretly respecting their rivals for their power and giving them a reason to carry on.
It's the little things that Matter
One of the funniest characters from DBZ were "The Ginyu Special force" who always took great care into appearing on the scene of a fight with elaborate poses. In Naruto it's Gai Maito who does so, he always appears on scene with his signature "spring of youth" pose and his number one pupil Rock Lee also takes care into getting that pose just right.
Goku first met his sensei Kame sennin Muten Roshi when rescuiing a speaking turtle who was Muten Roshi's underling ("Kame Sennin" means "Turtle hermit") In the episode where Gai Maito first appeared he was announced by a speaking turtle much in the same way as Muten Roshi appeared on the scene.
The big fight between Goku and Vegeta in the seventh season of DBZ and the Fight between Naruto and Sasuke also have a lot of paralel things going on: in both fights the victor just can't get himself to finish the opponent off and the way they show mutual respect to the other also matches.
Finally, here's some quotes with which I'll end my essay.
Goku (during his first battle against Vegeta) He's far stronger than I ever imagined and yet I feel extatic. So utterly excited by the prospect of fighting him.
Sasuke: (As a reaction to seeing Naruto smiling before his first fight against Naruto starts) WHAT'S SO FUNNY?
Naruto: Nothing, I'm just excited to finally see for myself how strong you are and how we compare. I always looked up to you as the pinnacle of power so the prospect of fighting you gets me really excited.
So in conclusion, would I call "Naruto" as a series a "Dragonball Z rip-off? Certainly not, the plots are entirely different, the storylines do not match and the general feel of both series is entirely different. What Kishimoto did was taking the best of Dragonball Z and making it his. In the same way that Jimi Hendrix took Bob Dylan's "All along the watchtower" and made it his, or that Johnny Cash took Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" and made it his or that Joe Cocker took the Beatles "with a little help from my friends" and made it his.
It's no straight copy, it's a hommage and in the same way a re-invention. Naruto and Dragonball Z are two different series but based around matching characters.
I also made myself the lucky owner of the new Dragonball Z boxsets of the first, second the third seasons which are digitally remastered from the original Japanese film which automatically means that the cuts made by Pioneer and by Funimation are not there anymore and that I can watch them in Japanese which to me adds to the authenticity.
A buddy of mine introduced me to Naruto saying that "if you love Dragonball Z than you really will love Naruto." He was right and not only that but Naruto artist Masashi Kishimoto must be a bigger DBZ fan than I am because in his books he even admits to nicking a lot of ideas of DBZ and using them in Naruto.
And one I knew that I started scouting the series to see what Kishimoto nicked and once I knew what to look for, I found a LOT
Spoilers ahead: If you don't want the lowdown on the most important things happening in the series before reading/seeing them for yourself, look away.
Chi and Chakra
In martial arts and in Yoga "Chi" is your body's energy and it's also the Japanese word for wood, referring to your body's inner core. The more chi you have the stronger the fighter you are. Martial artists and fakir artists train to be able to concentrate as much chi into a single point of their body to get it as strong as possible. Which is why a Fakir can walk over burning coals bare footed and not get burned. In DBZ "chi" also works that way but the characters also have the ability to use "Chi" to sense how strong the opponent is. And they also use "Chi" as beams fired from their hands or even from their mouths and as a way to push themselves into the air and fly. In Naruto "Chi" was renamed "Chakra" and the concept is the same as in DBZ. People can sense each other's "Chakra" and by doing so can tell how strong their opponent is and "Chakra", like "Chi" is used as a means of both propulsion through the air or as the way to power beams and other special attacks.
Son Goku versus Naruto Uzumaki
Let's compare the leadcharacters who have a lot in common. First of all the way they look.
They both wear orange with Blue fighting uniforms which also has the emblem of their gang or in Naruto's case Family they belong to. When Goku turns super saiyan his hair turns gold and spiked and his eyes become blue, now look at Naruto's hairdo.
But it doesn't stop there. Both of them are able to turn into very destructive monsters: a huge monkey in Goku's case and a Ninetailed Fox in Naruto's case. This Nine tailed fox also brings in another thing that Naruto has in common with Goku. When Goku transforms into super Saiyan he gets a golden glow of energy around him and as I mentioned earlier his hair turns gold and his eyes turn blue. When Naruto uses the fox demon inside him his eyes turn red, he gets a red glow of energy around him and he grows fans and claws.
Where the characters differ from each other is personality, Naruto has a mean streak, pulling pranks on others and being the village idiot. Goku is as nice a guy as you'll ever meet even to his enimies he's always fair. But traits they both share is are the ability to win friends and their unstoppable drive to improve.
Vegeta and Sasuke Uchiha
As with Goku and Naruto, these two also have a lot in common. The color of their clothing for example but also because they are the sole survivors of a massacre that wiped out their entire families. And they also share their aggitated look and their "I don't have time for this nonsense" attitude. What they also have in common is the way they relate to Goku/Naruto. In both cases the Leadcharacter is both their biggest rival as well as their most trusted ally. Vegeta took great pride that he has learned to ability to feel somebody's powerlevel being the first non-earthling who mastered doing so, Sasuke has Sharingan eyes with which he can see the flow of his opponent's "Chakra" Another thing they have in common is their frustration to live up to their pedigrees, Vegeta as the prince of the Saiyan empire and Sasuke as the sole surviving member of the most skilled fighting clan of his town Konoha. The both of them are so frustrated that a "Low class warrior" and a "Class clown" keep outdoing them, they deliberately offered themselves to the evil forces searching for power. Vegeta to dark magician Babidy and Sasuke to Orochimaru. Pride playing a huge role in this, so much so that they are willing to leave their loved ones behind just to live up to the image they have of themselves and how they want people to see them. While secretly respecting their rivals for their power and giving them a reason to carry on.
It's the little things that Matter
One of the funniest characters from DBZ were "The Ginyu Special force" who always took great care into appearing on the scene of a fight with elaborate poses. In Naruto it's Gai Maito who does so, he always appears on scene with his signature "spring of youth" pose and his number one pupil Rock Lee also takes care into getting that pose just right.
Goku first met his sensei Kame sennin Muten Roshi when rescuiing a speaking turtle who was Muten Roshi's underling ("Kame Sennin" means "Turtle hermit") In the episode where Gai Maito first appeared he was announced by a speaking turtle much in the same way as Muten Roshi appeared on the scene.
The big fight between Goku and Vegeta in the seventh season of DBZ and the Fight between Naruto and Sasuke also have a lot of paralel things going on: in both fights the victor just can't get himself to finish the opponent off and the way they show mutual respect to the other also matches.
Finally, here's some quotes with which I'll end my essay.
Goku (during his first battle against Vegeta) He's far stronger than I ever imagined and yet I feel extatic. So utterly excited by the prospect of fighting him.
Sasuke: (As a reaction to seeing Naruto smiling before his first fight against Naruto starts) WHAT'S SO FUNNY?
Naruto: Nothing, I'm just excited to finally see for myself how strong you are and how we compare. I always looked up to you as the pinnacle of power so the prospect of fighting you gets me really excited.
So in conclusion, would I call "Naruto" as a series a "Dragonball Z rip-off? Certainly not, the plots are entirely different, the storylines do not match and the general feel of both series is entirely different. What Kishimoto did was taking the best of Dragonball Z and making it his. In the same way that Jimi Hendrix took Bob Dylan's "All along the watchtower" and made it his, or that Johnny Cash took Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" and made it his or that Joe Cocker took the Beatles "with a little help from my friends" and made it his.
It's no straight copy, it's a hommage and in the same way a re-invention. Naruto and Dragonball Z are two different series but based around matching characters.
I dont even know why i keep watching it. There is something about it. 
Which is something like 10 hours of solid watching. The best thing to do when you are hanging like a monkey from a heavy night out.
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