"Dragon Ball" or "Dragon Balls"

[MyVisionity]

A question that's been bugging me in recent years is the supposed name of this series.

Is there any way that Toriyama maybe intended to title the manga "Dragon Balls" (plural), instead of the singular "Dragon Ball"?

Knowing that the phrase doragonbooru is used in the Japanese to refer to both a single Dragon Ball and multiple Dragon Balls, wouldn't it make more sense that Toriyama wanted to refer to the plural? Like maybe there was a miscommunication or translation error that took place along the line somewhere that resulted in the "Dragon Ball" title we all know today?

I haven't seen this question anywhere before so I thought I would ask here.

[KBABZ]

I don't think so; as much as the early DB stories poked fun at the name ("You mean some poor dragon...?"), Dragon Ball is a more approachable and less profane title for a manga.

[Gaffer Tape]

I don't think so; as much as the early DB stories poked fun at the name ("You mean some poor dragon...?")

That line wasn't in the original manga. That was a Viz-ism. The original line just has Goku repeating the name back, in a questioning fashion.

As for the question, I admit I've never thought about it before, but it honestly seems possible on the surface. But I've never seen any information on the subject, and it's probably something we'll only be able to speculate on. That said, while it could be a mistake, I don't necessarily think it is. I think Dragon Ball works fine as a title, and, jumping ahead to the anime adaptation a few years later, Dragon Balls Z just would have been really awkward.

Come to think of it, is there even a plural form of the English word "ball" in Japanese phonetics? Like, if "ball" is "booru," then what would "balls" be? "Boorusu"? Is that even a thing?

[KBABZ]

I don't think so; as much as the early DB stories poked fun at the name ("You mean some poor dragon...?")

That line wasn't in the original manga. That was a Viz-ism. The original line just has Goku repeating the name back, in a questioning fashion.

Dammit, ViZ! -shakes fist in the air-

[MyVisionity]

Come to think of it, is there even a plural form of the English word "ball" in Japanese phonetics? Like, if "ball" is "booru," then what would "balls" be? "Boorusu"? Is that even a thing?

That's what I was talking about above. There is no plural form here, they use booru for single and multiple Balls. Which is what bugged me in the first place, because if the series revolves around the Dragon Balls, then wouldn't "The Dragon Balls" or "Dragon Balls" come to mind before the singular "Dragon Ball"?

I have no problem with the title as it's known currently, it just seems like something you might see in America or the West before you see it in the East. That kind of "edgy" of "hip" sort of title with a singular "Ball", that gives off a certain attitude. But I guess you can only speculate on Toriyama's intentions like you said.

[Pantalones]

I know the seven balls were planned out in advance of course, but couldn't the title "Dragon Ball" relate to Goku originally just having the four-star ball, which he thought had the soul of his dead grandpa in it? Obviously that was just something little kid Goku thought and not the real story behind it even in Chapter 1 of the manga, but from Goku's point of view, the singular "Ball" is important even from the beginning before he learns about the "Balls" as a group.

[DB1984]

Rumor has it that DBZ was supposed to be titled Dragon Ball 2, but by accident, they added a "Z" to the title instead of "2". But they liked this mistake, and the name stuck.

[dbgtFO]

Rumor has it that DBZ was supposed to be titled Dragon Ball 2, but by accident, they added a "Z" to the title instead of "2". But they liked this mistake, and the name stuck.

Rumour is flat out wrong.
Toriyama came up with Z.

[KBABZ]

Rumor has it that DBZ was supposed to be titled Dragon Ball 2, but by accident, they added a "Z" to the title instead of "2". But they liked this mistake, and the name stuck.

To expound on the above, Toriyama titled it Z because, at the time, he felt he was going to end the story soon (which obviously didn't happen, but hey, five Chapters at a time!). The decision to even go with a new name in the first place was due to Toriyama's Editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, wanting to take the show in a serious, non-Dr. Slump direction by changing the Producer and Scripter (getting the ones on Saint Seiya), and it was the new Producer who came up with the bright idea that changing the title and launching a new show would mean they'd get more money for promotional purposes. They were struggling for a name, so Torishima went to Toriyama for input and he responded with Z, "because this is last, nothing comes after this".

I highly recommend reading the Forbes article where we learnt this in 2016, here. Jump to "Changing The Focus Of Dragon Ball And Dealing With Anime Adaptations".

[TheGreatness25]

But the title "Dragon Ball" or "Dragonball" is spelled in English, isn't it? I know that it ran in the Shonen Jump series before it came out on its own, but the tankōbon uses "Dragon Ball/Dragonball" spelled in English, so I don't know if the Shonen Jump release used the English spelling as well, but it would be very hard to shrug that off despite the original intent -- it would be strange to call it "Dragon Balls/Dragonballs" when it's clearly written as "Dragon Ball/Dragonball."

[Cure Dragon 255]

God why no has pointed out that if it was intended to be Balls, it wouldnt just be Boru, but rather Borusu or whatever.

The way its written in Japanese leaves no ambiguity. Sorry for being weaboo for a second.

[MyVisionity]

But the title "Dragon Ball" or "Dragonball" is spelled in English, isn't it? I know that it ran in the Shonen Jump series before it came out on its own, but the tankōbon uses "Dragon Ball/Dragonball" spelled in English, so I don't know if the Shonen Jump release used the English spelling as well, but it would be very hard to shrug that off despite the original intent -- it would be strange to call it "Dragon Balls/Dragonballs" when it's clearly written as "Dragon Ball/Dragonball."

That's what I was trying to say initially. That despite the title having been written in English as singular, Toriyama might have intended for it to refer to the plural.

I was questioning whether or not "Dragon Ball" was just a misunderstanding or mistranslation on the part of Toriyama/whomever else.

[Cure Dragon 255]

I'm waiting for someone to adress my post lol.