Manga Guide

Dragon Ball was originally a gag manga (comic) created by famed manga artist Akira Toriyama, that evolved into an martial arts action manga, becomig the standard to which all future shōnen manga would be compared. It began its run in December 1984 in Weekly Shōnen Jump, a popular manga anthology magazine in Japan. Each week a new chapter would be published with approximately 14 pages per chapter. When it was all said and done, the series had come to a total of 520 chapters, including one side-story, which was an amazing feat at the time.

These days, fans essentially have two options for owning the original manga; the tankōbon, which were released as Dragon Ball was being published in Weekly Shōnen Jump, and the kanzenban, which started to be released in late 2002. For more information on both of these release formats, you can visit their respective pages in this guide. We also highly suggest you take a look at our “Manga Comparison” feature, which provides a detailed comparison of all three release formats; the original weekly serialization, the economic tankōbon, and the more expensive kanzenban. In addition, we’ve provided some manga relevant “mini-guides” to help answer specific questions.

• Color Chapter Collection
  A complete listing of all the manga chapters that contain at least one colored page.
• Manga Spine Art Collection
  A collection of the spine art that appeared on both the tankōbon and kanzenban releases.
• Official Manga Spin-offs
  A guide devoted to all of the spin-off chapters from manga artist Naho Ooishi.

Over the years, other manga formats have been released to capitalize on Dragon Ball’s success. These releases include the various animation comics, which contain screen shots of the animation adaptations of the manga presented in a comic form, a fully re-colored version of the original tankōbon, and even digital releases in both “Black and White” and “Full Color” formats. More information on these releases can be found by visiting their respective pages in this guide.

Dragon Ball Tankōbon Release

Beginning in September 1985, these weekly manga chapters began to be compiled into separate volumes called tankōbon (単行本; “separate volume”). In most English speaking countries the tankōbon are referred to as “graphic novels”, while most people in Japan simply refer to them as “comics”.

Release Information

Released:10 September 1985 – 04 August 1995
Retail:¥390
Book Size:New Book Format (11 × 17 cm)
Publisher:Shueisha Inc.
Volumes:42 volumes

Dragon Ball Tankōbon Digital Release

With the series already well-established in the world of print, Shueisha began releasing the original tankōbon volumes digitally in late 2012. These digital volumes are available in both “Black and White” and “Full Color” formats, with the “Z”-era storyline receiving a concurrent “Dragon Ball Full Color” release in print.

Release Information

Released:12 October 2012 – ongoing
Retail:¥473 (Color) / ¥368 (B&W)
Book Size:Digital Format
Publisher:Shueisha Inc.
Volumes:42 volumes

Dragon Ball Kanzenban Release

In 2002, Japan experienced a revival of the once forgotten Dragon Ball series. Due to this resurgence of interest in the series, Shueisha began to re-release the original tankōbon in December 2002 in a complete kanzenban (完全版; “Perfect Edition”) format.

Release Information

Released:04 December 2002 – 02 April 2004
Retail:¥933
Book Size:A5 (14.5 × 21 cm)
Publisher:Shueisha Inc.
Volumes:34 volumes

Dragon Ball Full Color Release

In early 2013, Shueisha began releasing a fully-colored version of the original tankōbon. This release condensed the original tankōbon into larger 17-chapter volumes, which are organized based on their respective story arcs. Unlike all other releases of the manga, the full color release began with the chapters from the “Z”-era storyline.

Release Information

Released:04 February 2013 – ongoing
Retail:¥630
Book Size:New Book Format (11 × 17 cm)
Publisher:Shueisha Inc.
Volumes:Unknown

Film Animation Comics

While the anime TV series was still airing in Japan, Toei Animation began producing theatrical films based on the series. With their success, Shueisha began releasing film animation comics of these theatrical films. The comics contained screen shots of the film presented in a comic format.

Release Information

Released:30 March 1992 – 03 September 2010
Retail:¥690 – ¥733
Book Size:New Book Format (11 × 17 cm)
Publisher:Shueisha Inc.
Volumes:21 volumes

TV Animation Comics

In late 2005, Shueisha began releasing TV animation comics of the Dragon Ball Z TV series. Similar to those of the film animation comics, they contain screen shots of the anime in a comic form, although the series is broken up into individual story arcs.

Release Information

Released:04 November 2005 – 02 July 2010
Retail:¥710
Book Size:New Book Format (11 × 17 cm)
Publisher:Shueisha Inc.
Volumes:39 volumes

Shueisha Jump Remix

Shueisha Remix is one line of many kanzenban-style books published by Shueisha, the company that originally published Dragon Ball. The Shueisha Remix magazines are split up into four different lines, one of which is Shueisha Jump Remix (SJR), a line that publishes previous Jump series.

Release Information

Released:12 July 2004 – 12 April 2010
Retail:¥650 (Film) / ¥550 (TV)
Book Size:JIS B6 (12.8 × 18.2 cm)
Publisher:Shueisha Inc.
Volumes:21 volumes

Anime Kids Comics

While the Dragon Ball Z TV series was still in syndication, Shueisha began releasing “Anime Kids Comics” covering the Great Saiyaman and Majin Buu arcs of series, and eventually two movies as well. The comics featured screen shots of the anime in a comic form and were written entirely in basic kana (no kanji).

Release Information

Released:September 1994 – December 1995
Retail:¥450 (TV) / ¥480 (Film)
Book Size: (10.5 × 14.5 cm)
Publisher:Shueisha Inc.
Volumes:17 volumes