Did Dragon Ball Z pioneer and lead the way for shows like Naruto?!
Question: Sort of.
The creator of Naruto based his plot on Dragonball.
From an interview with Masahi Kishimoto:
"He names Akira Toriyama, creator of the famous manga series Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball, as among his major influences. When asked in an interview with Shonen Jump what his favorite plot of the Dragon Ball story and character was, Kishimoto replied that he enjoyed it until the arrival of Freeza and that he admired Kuririn, a character whom he could equal himself. Kishimoto has also insinuated that the Akira motion picture impacted his artwork significantly, including its manga series by Katsuhiro Otomo."
So in a way, Kishimoto was inspired by Akira Toriyama's Dragonball and created Naruto.
Answers: Sort of.
The creator of Naruto based his plot on Dragonball.
From an interview with Masahi Kishimoto:
"He names Akira Toriyama, creator of the famous manga series Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball, as among his major influences. When asked in an interview with Shonen Jump what his favorite plot of the Dragon Ball story and character was, Kishimoto replied that he enjoyed it until the arrival of Freeza and that he admired Kuririn, a character whom he could equal himself. Kishimoto has also insinuated that the Akira motion picture impacted his artwork significantly, including its manga series by Katsuhiro Otomo."
So in a way, Kishimoto was inspired by Akira Toriyama's Dragonball and created Naruto.
Uhm. Only in the same way "Lost in Space" paved the way for "The Simpsons". As in... it's... an older example of a formula that's been around for some 50 years?
But DBZ sure did invent the toddlers being able to kick the crap out of fullgrown martial artists!