In addition to the daizenshuu and chōzenshū volumes, numerous other guides have been released over the years, pertaining to both the manga and anime. However, most have been derivatives of the daizenshuu, recycling much of the existing information. That isn’t to say there’s nothing new in these guides, but it is too overwhelming. Below you’ll find all of the “other” books that have been released, including a brief description of each book. You’ll also find all illustration books listed at the bottom of the page.
Jump Magazine Specials
Throughout Dragon Ball’s run, Shueisha released a number of guides pertaining to the series in the form of special issues of Jump, known in Japanese as “mooks” (“magazine books”). The “Adventure Special” was the only guide released in the pre-Z era and the only to cover the manga exclusively, from the beginning of Dragon Ball up to the middle of the Demon King Piccolo arc, which was all there was at the time of its release. Highlights include special background information on the characters, and a Q&A with Akira Toriyama. The “Dragon Ball Z Anime Special” covers the Z anime up to the middle of the Saiyan arc (all there was at the time) and also briefly covers the original Dragon Ball anime. It contains a Piccolo side-story, full-color pictures, and character model sheets. Following this, the second volume goes up to the middle of the Freeza arc and contains a Vegeta side-story, more character model sheets, and various other features.
After the manga’s conclusion, Shueisha also released guides for the 12th and 13th Dragon Ball Z movies, which featured full plot summaries, numerous screen shots, character model sheets, and much more. In March 2013, Shueisha released yet another magazine guide, this time for the new theatrical film, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, including interviews with the creator, cast, and staff, as well as character designs, model sheets, an overview of the movie’s story, and an exclusive poster.
Because these guides were published as magazines rather than books, they had no ISBN code, and were generally disposed of by retailers after their designated time on newsstands came to an end. This makes them ephemeral by their very nature, but we at Kanzenshuu cannot simply allow them to pass into oblivion, and so we have scoured used-books stores, both physical and online, to catalogue them here.
Dragon Ball: Adventure Special
| Released: | 18 November 1987 |
| Retail: | ¥280 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Inc. |
Jump Gold Selection 4: Dragon Ball Z Anime Special
| Released: | 04 October 1989 |
| Retail: | ¥550 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
Jump Gold Selection 5: Dragon Ball Z Anime Special Vol. 2
| Released: | 06 June 1991 |
| Retail: | ¥550 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
Jump Anime Library 1: Dragon Ball Z Movie 12
| Released: | 03 June 1995 (effective publication date) |
| Retail: | ¥1,000 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
Jump Anime Collection 3: Dragon Ball Z Movie 13
| Released: | 21 October 1995 (effective publication date) |
| Retail: | ¥880 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
“Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods” Official Movie Guide
| Released: | 21 March 2013 |
| Retail: | ¥580 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
“Dragon Ball Super” Super Start Guide
| Released: | 03 July 2015 |
| Retail: | ¥750 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
Dragon Ball GT Perfect Files
Since the daizenshuu all came out either before or shortly after Dragon Ball GT started airing, they contain only a short preview of the GT series. To cover GT, Shueisha made the two GT Perfect Files. The first volume covers the beginning of the series up until the end of the Baby arc, and contains a look ahead, while the second volume covers the rest of the series and the GT TV special. While these books have no Toriyama interview, as he had very little involvement with GT, it does have notes from the series staff. Shueisha later re-released the Perfect Files in 2006 with slightly different covers, but the contents of the books remained virtually identical.
ISBN 4-08-874089-0
Dragon Ball GT: Perfect File Vol. 1
| Released: | 24 May 1997 / 04 April 2006 (Re-release) |
| Retail: | ¥733 / ¥600 |
| Publisher: | Home-sha / Shueisha Inc. |
ISBN 4-08-874090-4
Dragon Ball GT: Perfect File Vol. 2
| Released: | 17 December 1997 / 04 April 2006 (Re-release) |
| Retail: | ¥733 / ¥600 |
| Publisher: | Home-sha / Shueisha Inc. |
Kanzenban Official Guides
In response to the release of the kanzenban edition of the manga starting in 2002, new guides were published to go along with them. The first of these, “Dragon Ball Landmark”, was published midway through the kanzenban‘s release, and covers the beginning of the series up until the Freeza arc. “Dragon Ball Forever”, published following the end of the kanzenban release, includes information on the rest of the series, with some features on the series as a whole, including the results of polls from Japanese fans on their favorite characters, battles, etc. Both books include a long interview with Toriyama, and Landmark notably includes pictures of Dragon Ball characters drawn by various famous manga artists who were inspired by Dragon Ball. The two books also contain a good deal of material that was recycled from the manga-based daizenshuu volumes.
ISBN 4-08-873478-5
Dragon Ball Kanzenban Official Guide: Dragon Ball Landmark
| Released: | 19 December 2003 |
| Retail: | ¥980 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
ISBN 4-08-873702-4
Dragon Ball Kanzenban Official Guide: Dragon Ball Forever
| Released: | 30 April 2004 |
| Retail: | ¥980 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
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 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.
ISBN 4-08-873546-3
TV Anime Guide: Dragon Ball Z Son Goku Densetsu
| Released: | 03 October 2003 |
| Retail: | ¥1,600 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
ISBN 4-08-873705-9
TV Anime Guide: Dragon Ball Tenka’ichi Densetsu
| Released: | 02 July 2004 |
| Retail: | ¥1,300 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
Super Exciting Guides
The Super Exciting Guides are divided up into two volumes, the “Story Volume” and the “Character Volume”. Both volumes contain an interview with Toriyama, and are based on the kanzenban release of the manga, similar to “Landmark” and “Forever”. As the name suggests, the “Story Volume” focuses heavily on the manga’s story development, including the main battles, training, and of course friendships. The “Character Volume” is very similar to both Daizenshuu 2 and 4, covering the main characters, the “Dragon World” and its many races, and many of the main techniques used throughout the series.
ISBN 4-08-874803-0
Dragon Ball Super Exciting Guide: Story Volume
| Released: | 04 March 2009 |
| Retail: | ¥630 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
ISBN 4-08-874804-7
Dragon Ball Super Exciting Guide: Character Volume
| Released: | 03 April 2009 |
| Retail: | ¥630 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
TV Anime Ultimate Guides
The first “Ultimate Guide” covers the battles that took place between the beginning of the series and the end of the Freeza arc, while the second covers the battles between the Cell and Majin Boo arcs. Both guides are based on the anime, but much of the information is recycled from Daizenshuu 2, “Dragon Ball Tenka’ichi Densetsu”, and “Dragon Ball Z Son Goku Densetsu”.
ISBN 4-08-874840-9
Dragon Ball Extreme Battle Collection: Round 01
| Released: | 02 July 2010 |
| Retail: | ¥700 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
ISBN 4-08-874841-2
Dragon Ball Extreme Battle Collection: Round 02
| Released: | 04 August 2010 |
| Retail: | ¥700 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
Illustration Collections
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. Later in 2013, along with the release of the Chōzenshū databook volumes, a “Super Illustration Collection” (Chōgashū) featuring over 400 illustrations from the franchise was released.
ISBN 978-4-8342-8413-3
Dragon Ball Anime Illustration Collection: The Golden Warrior
| Released: | 16 April 2010 |
| Retail: | ¥1,200 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
ISBN 978-4-08-782520-6
Dragon Ball Chōgashū (“Super Art Collection”)
| Released: | 09 May 2013 |
| Retail: | ¥3,800 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |
Dragon Ball 30th Anniversary
As part of the Dragon Ball franchise’s 30th anniversary celebration, Shueisha published a commemorative anniversary book covering the series’ illustrious 30 year history of manga, animation, games, and more. The “Super History Book” features a lengthy interview with author Akira Toriyama, numerous interviews with various staff and cast members, tribute illustrations from famous manga artists, a number of previously unpublished illustrations, character and setting sketches, the final chapter’s storyboard, and much more.
ISBN 978-4-08-792505-0
30th Anniversary: Dragon Ball Chōshishū –Super History Book–
| Released: | 21 January 2016 |
| Retail: | ¥3,500 |
| Publisher: | Shueisha Publishing Co., Ltd. |