Akira Toriyama. It involves a young martial artist named Son Goku as he searches for the Dragon Balls, and becomes stronger.Dragon Ball was originally serialized in the weekly anthology magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995, and originally collected into 42 individual books called tankōbon.
In 2004, the manga was re-released in a 34 volume collection called Kanzenban, which included a slightly rewritten ending, new covers, and color artwork from its Weekly Shōnen Jump run.
In the U.S., VIZ Media has released all 42 volumes (nearly matching the first Japanese set) in English. VIZ titles the second part of the manga Dragon Ball Z to reduce confusion for North American audiences.
The series is published in the United Kingdom by Gollancz Manga.
Plot
The story of Dragon Ball follows the life of Son Goku, a monkey-tailed boy loosely inspired by the traditional Chinese novel Journey to the West (西遊記). The Dragon Ball franchise continues until Goku becomes an adult. The franchise then changes to Dragon Ball Z. During his life, he fights many battles and eventually becomes the strongest martial artist in the entire universe. He is not without help, however, as the manga has a large ensemble cast of martial artist heroes and villains which provide the conflicts which drive the story.
The eponymous Dragon Balls are one component of the universe, but are not the focus for most of the plot lines. The Dragon Balls themselves are seven magical orbs which are scattered across the world. When assembled, they can be used to summon Shen Long, the dragon god who will grant one wish within its limit. After the wish is granted, the Dragon Balls are scattered again across the world and become inert for one year. In times past, it would take generations to search the world and gather the Dragon Balls. In the beginning of the story, however, a 16 year old genius girl named Bulma has created a "Dragon Radar" to detect the Dragon Balls and made the process far easier than it was originally intended to be.
Evolution
The story of Dragon Ball unfolded gradually over 11 years of publication. During those years, the tone and the style of the stories gradually changed to reflect the tastes of the readers and the editors of Japanese Shonen Jump.
The early volumes of the manga (Chapters 1-134) are primarily humorous fantasy stories, but containing some minor sci-fi elements, much like Dr. Slump. Notable fantasy elements include not only the monkey boy Son Goku and the Dragon Balls themselves, but also many talking animal characters, unlikely martial arts techniques, and characters identified as gods and demons. Despite the fantasy elements, the world does contain highly advanced technology including hoi-poi capsules, space-saving capsules which are pocket sized but can store almost any object, including flying cars, and similar "near future" objects. The overall mood of the earlier volumes is light with few deaths and an emphasis on adventure and humor.
A subtle but significant change in mood began after Son Goku's best friend Kuririn was killed (the first of many deaths in this arc). This began the Piccolo Daimaō arc (Chapters 135-194) in which the manga enters a darker tone compared to its earlier volumes.
Dragon Ball fully transformed into an action based shōnen manga at the onset of the Saiyan arc (Chapters 195-241). Starting with introduction of Son Goku's first son, things begin to take a much more serious and harder sci-fi approach. Many characters which previously had fantasy origins (Son Goku, Piccolo) are recast as aliens from other planets. Space travel, alien threats, and powerful cyborgs & androids take center stage instead of more fantastic villains.
After the defeat of Vegeta, and the conclusion of the Saiyan arc, the survivors of the vicious Saiyan attack head off to the Planet Namek to resurrect their friends. This begins the Freeza arc (Chapters 242-329). The Freeza arc is noteworthy for introducing the first Super Saiyan, now a staple of the series. It also set the tone for more awesomely powerful characters. For example, the antagonist Freeza has a "power level" (the series' futuristic measure of a fighter's speed and strength, i.e. one average human is listed as 5) of 530,000. He then transforms into a more powerful form, at which point his power level is over one million. After two subsequent transformations, he reveals that he is still only using a fraction of his full power.
The Cell arc (Chapters 330-420) introduced Trunks, a mysterious Half-Saiyan Half-Human from a destroyed future world where all of the Z Senshi have been killed by evil, seemingly invincible war machines called the Jinzōningen, and the enigmatic and villainous Cell who was made from the cells from most of the heroes as well as some of the villains. It was between this arc and the last arc that creator Akira Toriyama stopped measuring characters' power levels in the stories, deciding that it limited the stories.
After these arcs and Son Goku's death and staying in heaven is the Majin Buu arc (Chapters 421-519) which is the very last arc of the Dragon Ball manga. The Majin Buu arc features more of the humor and fantastic plot elements that were present in the very early volumes of the manga. The beginning of this final arc concentrates on a teenaged Son Gohan mostly. Son Goku makes his return after being dead for seven years. All the male saiyans manage to reach the level of Super Saiyan at least (including fusions). Super Saiyan 2 is reached by Son Gohan, Son Goku and Vegeta. And the ultimate level of the Saiyans, Super Saiyan 3, is reached by Son Goku and Gotenks. A considerable number of fusions also take place to add to the series, allowing Son Goten and Trunks to merge to form Gotenks, and Son Goku and Vegeta fuse to create the incredibly powerful, invincible Super Vegetto. During this series, Majin Buu manages to kill everyone on Earth including central characters like Vegeta and increasing his own power by absorbing Gotenks, Piccolo and Son Gohan. Majin Buu also succeeds where the villains Vegeta, Freeza and Cell had previously failed and destroys Earth. Majin Buu's evil side is destroyed by Son Goku's Genki Dama, and everyone (including Earth) is restored.
Majin Buu's evil side is reincarnated into a being of pure good called Uub. Son Goku and Uub fight at the 28th Tenkaichi Budokai, Uub enters to get money (zennie) for his village. Son Goku decides to train Uub to become even stronger than himself, the strongest fighter in the entire Universe. Uub's village will get money from Mr. Satan. To say goodbye every hero character to ever appear in the entire manga (except minors), all wave to the readers and a huge "THE END" sign floats above them.
After completing this series, Toriyama had a rest and then made another manga called Neko Majin. This manga featured many elements and characters from Dragonball, including Mr. Boo, Vegeta and even Son Goku himself.
Recurring themes
Karmic themes also pervade through Dragon Ball. The young Son Goku is sent to Earth to destroy it and in many ways he fulfills his mission. After Son Goku's arrival, dozens of villains come searching for him or encounter him by accident. Son Goku manages to save Earth numerous times, even at the cost of his life. The perils that Earth face reflect the karmic repercussions of Son Goku's ruthless Saiyan ancestors. In many ways Son Goku is paying for the sins of his forebears and by defending his adopted home, Son Goku is redeeming a lost race of mighty warriors.
For all its martial arts bravado, the story of Dragon Ball centers primarily around the value of forgiveness and love, kindness and compassion, generally conveyed through "pure" ideals of Son Goku and Son Gohan, and everyone whose lives they touch. Nearly every major character in the manga entered the series as a villain but was, through one method or another, converted to the side of good by being given a chance to live, as opposed to being deprived of it by death. Often, this would entail a temporary team up to defeat a greater foe, but somehow the former enemies rarely found the motivation to begin fighting again after the common enemy's defeat. This theme was evident from the beginning (with the conversion of Yamcha, Oolong, Pu'ar, Tenshinhan and Chaozu) and continued even to the last arc (with the exception of Cell and Freeza). Majin Buu however, splits into good and bad personalities, and the bad one is told to be reincarnated as a good guy named Uub. This style of redemption is not unique to Dragon Ball (It is often seen even in comic books of the U.S.), but it is significant that it persisted even through other major shifts in style and tone.
Dragon Ball is also significant in its theme of self-improvement and piety. Throughout the series, the protagonists never cease in their martial arts training. Son Goku remains the strongest martial artist through the series, and he trains for no other reason than for self-improvement. Furthermore, the downfall of most of the antagonists is their own self-importance — their belief that because of their power, they are untouchable.
Relation to Journey to the West
There are many parallels between Journey to the West and Dragon Ball.
In the original story, the priest, Xuanzang and his company search for the legendary Buddhist scriptures in the West. In Dragon Ball, Bulma and her company search for the legendary Dragon Balls.
The equivalent to Sun Wukong of the original texts is Son Goku in Dragon Ball.
The equivalent to Xuanzang of the original texts is Bulma in Dragon Ball.
The equivalent to Zhu Wuneng of the original texts is Oolong in Dragon Ball.
The equivalent to Sha Wujing of the original texts is Yamcha in Dragon Ball
The equivalent to Niu Mo Wang of the original texts is Gyū-Maō in Dragon Ball.
Some ideas from Journey to the West are borrowed later in the series.
Son Goku's Nyoi-bō comes from Sun Wukong's magic staff that can change to any size anytime he sees fit.
Flying clouds are driven by both protagonists.
The borrowing of the palm-leaf fan from the Gyū-Maō to put out the Flaming Mountains occurred in both stories.
Son Goku finds himself in a place reminiscent of the pillars of Buddha's palm, the location which Sun Wukong's rampage was finally put to an end.
Editing of the North American version
The Dragon Ball manga is published as both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z in North America by Viz. Originally, both of these releases were censored for nudity and some graphic content.
By the end of 2004, all Dragon Ball manga had been released almost completely unedited, including rereleases of the previously edited volumes 1 through 3. One notable exception was the removal of Mr. Popo's lips as well as a few other dark skinned characters.[citation needed] Another notable edit is the changing of any hand that "gives the middle finger" into a fist.
As of 2006, Viz reverted to editing the Dragon Ball manga, with the majority of nudity and all profanity being removed. The Dragon Ball Z manga remains edited with Mr. Satan's name being changed to "Hercule" and nudity being removed, as well as gun edits in later volumes. This included changing a gun into a "laser gun" and by extension, the sound effects in Volume 24(U.S.)/40(Japanese), even though Volume 20/36 contained a scene in which Gohan stopped several robbers who used guns and shot a character.[citation needed] In addition, while profanity is retained in earlier volumes, the translation loosens in later ones, with such phrases as "Blast/curse you" instead of "Damn him/you," "shoot" instead of "damn," amongst others.
In the Viz English manga, Vegetto is named Vegerot (Volume 26 American, Volume 42 Japanese). This was Viz's attempt at sticking with original name puns while taking creative control. Vegerot comes from Vegeta and Kakarot. While this makes more sense as opposed to FUNimation keeping his original name, though spelling it "Vegito", this change was unwelcome with fans of the original version[citation needed], along with all of the other changes being made recently to the Dragon Ball Z graphic novels, including, but not limited to, slight zoom-in as a result of certain discrepancies within the English and original Japanese languages respectively, printing errors, mistranslations, removal of all profanity, references to alcohol and/or drugs, firearms, sexual innuendo, etc. This resulted in the series receiving an "A" (which stands for "All Ages") rating, a demographic which Viz generally targets its material at, in spite a great deal of criticism from fans.[citation needed]
Relation to the Anime
Both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime are based on the same original Dragon Ball manga. Dragon Ball follows Son Goku's adventures as a child up until his marriage as an adult; roughly the arcs that had the most fantasy and humor elements. Dragon Ball Z takes up the story five years after where the Dragon Ball anime leaves off, with the introduction of Son Goku's young son and the arrival of a new, more powerful foe. Dragon Ball GT is the sequel to Dragon Ball Z, but is not based on the original manga by Akira Toriyama.
Influence on other series
In the Sonic the Hedgehog series, there are arguably a few references to Dragon Ball. Both the Chaos Emeralds and Super Sonic are nods to Toriyama's work. According to the Japanese strategy guide for Sonic Jam, the special stages in Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles were inspired by (North) Kaiō-sama's planet. The Jewel Radar, which bears a strong visual and functional resemblance to the Dragon Radar, is mentioned in the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Japanese manual and appears in Sonic Riders. The last reference is noted through the comparison of Sonic characters to Dragon Ball Z characters, with Sonic mimicking the role of Son Goku, Shadow taking on the role of Vegeta, Knuckles with the role of Piccolo and the time-travelling Silver to resemble Future Trunks. In Sonic Riders an Extreme Gear called 'Hovercraft' is a large cloud, similar to that of the Nimbus Cloud that Son Goku rides in appearance.
In an episode of the animated show The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Mandy eats a "Chicken Ball" which makes her transform into a Super Saiyan-like form. The episode is called "Chicken Ball Z"
Masashi Kishimoto states in his comic Naruto that he was influenced by Toriyama. Kishimoto included a picture of Arale he drew in elementary school. This can also be seen in the fact that the title character wears an orange gi (martial arts robe) similar to Son Goku 's. Also, in one volume of the manga, a mask resembling the face of Chaozu can be seen in the background.
Eiichiro Oda, the author of the comic One Piece, stated in an interview that he was a big fan of Dragon Ball. He stated that it was Toriyama that influenced him and that he holds Dragon Ball in high esteem. Toriyama in turn is a self-professed fan of One Piece, which he was introduced to by his children. Many similarities to Dragon Ball can be seen in One Piece, especially the similarity in personalities between Son Goku and Luffy. There have even been a few one-shot crossovers between the two series.
The Fairly OddParents TV movie Channel Chasers featured a fictional anime series parodying Dragon Ball. The series was called Maho Mushi (roughly translating to Magical Insect), and featured a Tenka-ichi Budōkai-like tournament; even the announcer was similar to the one in Dragon Ball. Also, the character drawing style was a direct reference to Toriyama's early style.
Timmy wears a white gi similar to Son Goku's orange gi, while Vicky wears a black cape with
shoulder protection,like Piccolo's. Also, Cosmo accidentally released two Kamehameha-style attacks from his hands, crashing into the walls of the stadium in the exact way, and spot that Vegeta did in the tournament just before the start of the Majin Buu arc.
In Robot Chicken, Son Goku and Gohan are used in an episode to help Santa battle against other foes.
On the November 11, 2006 episode of Saturday Night Live, the TV Funhouse segment featured a short where professional eater Takeru Kobayashi transforms into a Super Saiyan and utilizes his ability to consume massive amounts of hot dogs in order to perform good deeds. Many more references to Dragon Ball were present, including usage of sound effects and music from the anime, and the display of several DBZ clips in the background at certain points through out the short. Hirudegarn, Dabra, Dr. Gero, Android 19, King Cold, and off-color lookalikes of Freeza, Captain Ginyu, and Pui Pui make appearances during the short, and Bulma, Trunks, and Chaozu can be seen in the DBZ clips often shown in the background.
Akira Toriyama's previous television work was Dr. Slump, the story of Dr. Senbei Norimaki and his android daughter, Arale Norimaki, which he created, living in Penguin Village. In a few chapters of the Dragon Ball manga, Goku appeared in Penguin Village, where he found the atomic powered girl to be his match.
In an episode of Kids Next Door, when the team performs their separate objectives to protect a box, number 4 has himself turning into a Super Saiyan 3 like form to battle his foe
See also
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball (anime)
Dragon Ball Z
Dragon Ball GT
Dragon Ball (artifact)
Lists of Dragon Ball characters
List of Dragon Ball cast members
List of Dragon Ball planets
List of Dragon Ball video games
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