Throughout the years we have translated quite a bit of content, either for the site, the podcast, a forum discussion, or even our own personal benefit. Unfortunately, a lot of it would normally get lost in the shuffle and never sees the light of day — with this section, we hope to change all that. Most anything we translate, be it a short interview, a section from a databook, or even an entire databook, will end up here for all to use in hopes that they will become a useful asset to the entire online Dragon Ball community. Every translation will have its own dedicated page, making each one easy to reference in online discussions, or simply for your own personal research.

Please note that we will not be “scanlating” anything from the databooks, but rather simply translating certain things to distribute some of the exclusive knowledge contained within them that most English speaking fans do not have access to. Any images included are for reference purposes only. Please note that we are not accepting requests for specific translations — we are going through various items at our leisure to eventually add to the site in some way, be it in this section or in a more appropriately-dedicated section on the site.

Dragon Ball Daizenshuu

The largest group of Dragon Ball databooks are the Daizenshuu (大全集), or the “Great Complete Collections”, which were made shortly after the manga ended its serialization. These are divided up into a main series of seven hardcover books, followed by three soft-cover supplemental volumes. Some of these books cover the manga, while some cover the anime and movies, and others even cover the Carddass card games that were released in Japan. The first six hardcover books feature an interview with author Akira Toriyama, and all seven came with a bonus insert pamphlet called the “Shenlong Times” that contains interviews with various other important people involved with Dragon Ball. Altogether these books contain a nearly complete Dragon Ball knowledge, for all elements of the series that existed at the time.

Translations are listed chronologically by release order, and further by page number. For more information about the daizenshuu, please consult the appropriate section in our “Databook Guide”.

Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 1: Complete Illustrations

Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 2: Story Guide

Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 3: TV Animation Part 1

Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 4: World Guide

Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 5: TV Animation Part 2

Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 6: Movies & TV Specials

Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 7: Dragon Ball Large Encyclopedia

Dragon Ball Chōzenshū

A new movie and new merchandising opportunities brought about the “Chōzenshū” (or “Super Complete Collection”) guidebooks in 2013. Though primarily condensed versions of the prior Daizenshuu, they also contained new information and new Q&A sessions with original author Akira Toriyama.

Translations are listed chronologically by release order, and further by page number. For more information about the Chōzenshū, please consult the appropriate section in our “Databook Guide”.

Dragon Ball Chōzenshū 1: Story & World Guide

Dragon Ball Chōzenshū 2: Animation Guide Part 1

Dragon Ball Chōzenshū 3: Animation Guide Part 2

Dragon Ball Chōgashū: Super Art Collection

Kanzenban “Dragon Ball Information” Pamphlets

As a special treat, every other first-edition volume of the kanzenban released from 2002 to 2004 also came with a “Dragon Ball Information” insert pamphlet containing information about upcoming goods. However, the opposite side of the pamphlet featured “Dragon Ball Children” tribute images of the Dragon Ball world, as seen through the eyes of currently-popular manga artists in Japan who were children while the series was being released. The tributes included short articles where these artists related how Akira Toriyama had influenced their own work. The first ten of these seventeen tributes were later reprinted in the first companion guide, “Dragon Ball Landmark”.

Translations are listed chronologically by release order.

Dragon Ball Full Color

To capitalize on the hype surrounding Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, the franchise’s first theatrical film in 17 years, Shueisha began releasing a fully-colored version of the original tankōbon. Each “Full Color” volume contains 17 chapters, as opposed to the original tankōbon which typically contained 12 to 13 chapters per volume. Unlike all other releases of the Dragon Ball manga, the full color release began with the “Z”-era storyline, and chapter numbering has been divided up by story arc. Each book contained a seven question Q&A, with the first six questions answered by Shueisha and the seventh question answered by Akira Toriyama.

Translations are listed chronologically by release order. For more information about this release, please consult the appropriate section in our “Manga Guide”.

Dragon Ball Full Color: Saiyan Arc Volume #01

Dragon Ball Full Color: Saiyan Arc Volume #02

Dragon Ball Full Color: Saiyan Arc Volume #03

TV Anime Guides

Around the same time as “Landmark” and “Forever”, two new anime guides were released; “Dragon Ball Tenka’ichi Densetsu”, covering the original Dragon Ball anime series, and “Dragon Ball Z Son Goku Densetsu”, covering Dragon Ball Z. “Tenka’ichi Densetsu” contains short interviews with all of the voice actors for the main characters, including ones from both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, while “Son Goku Densetsu” has a long interview with Akira Toriyama and Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, one of the main illustrators and character designers for the anime who is known for being able to closely match Toriyama’s art style.

Translations are listed chronologically by release order, and further by page number. For more information about these guides, please consult the appropriate section in our “Databook Guide”.

TV Anime Guide: Dragon Ball Z Son Goku Densetsu

TV Anime Guide: Dragon Ball Tenka’ichi Densetsu

Dragon Ball Anime Illustration Collection – The Golden Warrior

In 2010, Dragon Ball fans were graced with an unexpected surprise from Shueisha; an illustration book. This was the first Dragon Ball illustration book released in roughly 15 years (since Daizenshuu 1), and included a decent amount of unreleased artwork from Toei Animation, such as artwork from the Dragon Boxes, the “Dragon Ball Z Anime Special” guide books, V-Jump, the GT Perfect Files, and TV anime guides. It also included interviews with the franchise’s three character designers.

Translations are listed chronologically by page number. For more information about this book, please consult the appropriate section in our “Databook Guide”.

Dragon Ball Kai Blu-ray Dragon Books

In early 2009, Toei Animation announced that a “refreshed” version of the Dragon Ball Z TV series, re-titled Dragon Ball Kai, was being produced for a high-definition (HD) presentation in honor of its 20th anniversary. This was the first time that any Dragon Ball property would be released on high-definition Blu-ray, bringing Dragon Ball into the digital age. Each box set contained an exclusive “Dragon Book”, which included behind the scenes information on Dragon Ball Kai’s remastering process, interviews with cast and staff, and high quality reprints of the DVD cover artwork.

Translations are listed chronologically by release order, and further by page number. For more information about these releases, please consult the appropriate section in our “Home Video Guide”.

Dragon Ball Kai Blu-ray Box #1

Dragon Ball Kai Blu-ray Box #2

Miscellaneous Interviews / Q&As

Translations are listed in no particular order.

“Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods”-Related Content

Chō-Kochikame

“Dragon Ball: Heya! Son Goku and Friends Return!!” Manga Adaptation

“Dragon Ball Z Special Selection” DVD

“Kokoro no Hane” DVD