Best version of the Manga

Discussion regarding the entirety of the franchise in a general (meta) sense, including such aspects as: production, trends, merchandise, fan culture, and more.

Moderators: General Help, Kanzenshuu Staff

User avatar
trick007z
Beyond Newbie
Posts: 107
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2014 1:29 pm

Best version of the Manga

Post by trick007z » Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:46 pm

So I've read bits and pieces of the manga in the past, but I really want to start a complete run of it. Problem is there are so many different versions of the manga. Can someone more familiar with it explain the differences. I really want something as close as possible to the original as possible (only in English). I was considering the full colored ones, but I really want to start at the beginning (and they aren't complete yet, so I don't really want to wait). Any help is appreciated!

DB1984
Banned
Posts: 555
Joined: Wed Apr 22, 2015 11:07 pm

Re: Best version of the Manga

Post by DB1984 » Wed Jan 27, 2016 9:58 pm

Try collecting the original issues of Weekly Shonen Jump. They may cost a lot of money, but they're the Manga in their purest form.

User avatar
Kendamu
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 6983
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:31 am
Location: The Martial Arts World
Contact:

Re: Best version of the Manga

Post by Kendamu » Wed Jan 27, 2016 10:33 pm

If you're reading it in English from VIZ, pretty much every release is alright and they all use the same translation. You could read all 42 Tanokoubon volumes (the regular-sized volumes) and get mostly the same experience as everyone else. You can buy these physically or digitally. Either way, this is the standard edition in both the US and Japan.

If you're okay with cheaper paper, you can grab the 3-in-1 volumes. There isn't that much visual censorship in the series, but you'll get a little less of it if you read the 3-in-1 volumes. To a new fan, this is a really inexpensive way to get into the series. To someone who already has the entire manga, this is a good way to have a "beater" copy that you don't have to worry about keeping in excellent condition.

The VIZBIG volumes are similar to the 3-in-1 in size, but the paper is much nicer and some of the color pages (from the Shonen Jump run) are still in color. Aside from the Full Color volumes, these probably look the best and are the nicest print. They're sort of like the Japanese Kanzenban edition, only not quite as good.

Whichever one of the three you end up collecting is up to you. I would suggest the standard volumes first in physical or digital, but that's just my tastes.

While you're collecting one of the above, I suggest that you start looking at the Dragon Ball Full Color manga as a supplementary SUPER AWESOME COLLECTOR'S EDITION of the manga. The Saiyan Arc is the only part that's been published in the US, but three volumes of the Freeza Arc are due out this year. One thing that's cool about the US edition is that they're the size of a regular US graphic novel. If enough people buy them, it's possible to eventually get the whole series this way.

Also, don't forget about picking up the one-volume Jaco: The Galactic Patrolman. If you've seen Resurrection "F" then you know who Jaco is. Most people don't read the manga, though, and have no idea what the story behind him is or how he knows Bulma and her family. Plus, there's a bonus chapter about Bardock that everyone hates! AMAZING, right?!

Lastly, there's also Dragon Ball: The Complete Illustrations. It's a huge collection of full-color manga art that you miss out on by not having read the series in Shonen Jump. It's a really cool hardcover book and every Dragon Ball fan should own it in English or Japanese.
(they/she)

My Martial Arts Website -- https://mybudo.carrd.co

Darkton
Not-So-Newbie
Posts: 59
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2016 8:46 am

Re: Best version of the Manga

Post by Darkton » Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:38 am

Viz's translation of the Manga has several edits made to it in the dialogue, some of them to reflect their own sensibilities (like naming the artificial humans "Mechanical Men"), some just weird (referring to Cell as an "it"). Of course, there are also visual edits to go along with it, and if you pick up any collected edition you'll be missing out on the color chapters, which only the manga chapters have along with the title pages.

In addition to that, all releases are censored. Some have more changes than others, with the Full Color version having the least. One common problem is that Mr. Popo's lips are, no matter the release, censored to remove his look similar to Jynx, despite the fact that Popo is intended to be clearly non-human. I can't vouch if the same is true for the Red Ribbon Arc's Black, but it's still not what the original was.

Because of these issues with translation and with art censorship, I can't recommend any of these releases except the Full Color one for the fights. To get the story, you'll have to use GafferTape aka. Mistare Fusion's Dragon Ball Dissection, since he looks over the Japanese volumes. He's currently finished the Saiyan Arc, and you'll be getting an informative look at the series as well.

User avatar
Kendamu
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 6983
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:31 am
Location: The Martial Arts World
Contact:

Re: Best version of the Manga

Post by Kendamu » Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:34 pm

If he goes with the Full Color releases he'll be waiting for years on something thst was canceled and un-canceled once already.

The amount of censorship over the span of 42 volumes includes mostly a couple panels worth of boobs, a couple panels worth of guns, and Mr. Popo's lips being altered so that he doesn't resemble blackface (a classic racist stereotype in the US). It's not great that VIZ did that, but "read Gaffer Tape's awesome thing" should be supplementary instead of being a total replacement.
(they/she)

My Martial Arts Website -- https://mybudo.carrd.co

Kuririn Fan
Banned Alternate Account
Posts: 2313
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 12:32 pm

Re: Best version of the Manga

Post by Kuririn Fan » Thu Jan 28, 2016 3:34 pm

Get whatever english release for the translation and Kanzenban for the actual look of the chapters (uncut, color). Kanzenban is pure perfection, closest thing to the original release.

User avatar
Kendamu
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 6983
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:31 am
Location: The Martial Arts World
Contact:

Re: Best version of the Manga

Post by Kendamu » Thu Jan 28, 2016 3:51 pm

Kuririn Fan wrote:Get whatever english release for the translation and Kanzenban for the actual look of the chapters (uncut, color). Kanzenban is pure perfection, closest thing to the original release.
Buying the Japanese release didn't occur to me even though I've done it myself. Trick007z, do you read Japanese at any level?
(they/she)

My Martial Arts Website -- https://mybudo.carrd.co

User avatar
Wezenheim
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1009
Joined: Wed Nov 04, 2015 2:41 pm

Re: Best version of the Manga

Post by Wezenheim » Thu Jan 28, 2016 4:27 pm

I like the single volumes as well. The Full Colors are the best but they are also the most pricey and I doubt the entire series will be released in the US. We might get all of 'Z' but I don't know if we will see the full color volumes of Dragon Ball that Japan got not too long ago. Even if we did, it'll probably be a while.

Anyway, most of the Viz releases are at least serviceable and you can make an argument for any of them. Depends on what you want.

3-in-1s
Vizbigs:
The Single Volumes
Every release is flawed to a degree, but they are at least okay if you don't mind the fact that none of them are truly "uncensored" or perfectly translated. The Boo arc, for instance, was really weird when it came to some of the names and stuff. Still, if these things don't bother you, any of the three I mentioned above will be fine depending on what sounds the most appealing.

I did kind of repeat what Kendamu said, but I thought I'd throw my own two cents in there.

User avatar
Lord Beerus
Namekian Warrior
Posts: 21389
Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2014 5:20 pm
Location: A temple on a giant tree
Contact:

Re: Best version of the Manga

Post by Lord Beerus » Thu Jan 28, 2016 7:05 pm

There's never been an English release of the Kanzenban edition of the manga, and we'll most likely never get it, unfortunately. So while I would recommend that version of the manga for Dragon Ball fans, it's only really a good experience for those who can actually read Japanese fluently. For those whose native language is English, the Single Volume releases is the way to go. Although, they are a bit pricey.

User avatar
trick007z
Beyond Newbie
Posts: 107
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2014 1:29 pm

Re: Best version of the Manga

Post by trick007z » Thu Jan 28, 2016 7:42 pm

Kendamu wrote:
Kuririn Fan wrote:Get whatever english release for the translation and Kanzenban for the actual look of the chapters (uncut, color). Kanzenban is pure perfection, closest thing to the original release.
Buying the Japanese release didn't occur to me even though I've done it myself. Trick007z, do you read Japanese at any level?
I don't, that's the problem. Otherwise I would go for the purest edition possible. I wish I did..

My goal was to find the best quality edition that was the closest to what Toriyama intended. I was seriously considering the full color, but I have two major problems with it. First, I want to start at the start. Not the Saiyan arc. I want to read it from when Goku meets Bulma onward. The Freeza arc won't be released until this summer. I'm a fast reader, and I wanted something continuous. This makes that a multi-year commitment where the story will be "cold" while I'm waiting. With no guarantee of it being completed. If it even had from the Saiyan arc to the late Cell arc, I'd consider it, begrudgingly. But it has one arc, with one coming.

Right now I'm leaning towards Viz Big. But it kind of is a downer knowing that I would probably prefer the full color overall, but it isn't feasible for what I want at the moment. I guess timing is everything haha.

User avatar
eledoremassis02
I Live Here
Posts: 4164
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2011 5:40 pm

Re: Best version of the Manga

Post by eledoremassis02 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:05 am

trick007z wrote:
Kendamu wrote:
Kuririn Fan wrote:Get whatever english release for the translation and Kanzenban for the actual look of the chapters (uncut, color). Kanzenban is pure perfection, closest thing to the original release.
Buying the Japanese release didn't occur to me even though I've done it myself. Trick007z, do you read Japanese at any level?
I don't, that's the problem. Otherwise I would go for the purest edition possible. I wish I did..

My goal was to find the best quality edition that was the closest to what Toriyama intended. I was seriously considering the full color, but I have two major problems with it. First, I want to start at the start. Not the Saiyan arc. I want to read it from when Goku meets Bulma onward. The Freeza arc won't be released until this summer. I'm a fast reader, and I wanted something continuous. This makes that a multi-year commitment where the story will be "cold" while I'm waiting. With no guarantee of it being completed. If it even had from the Saiyan arc to the late Cell arc, I'd consider it, begrudgingly. But it has one arc, with one coming.

Right now I'm leaning towards Viz Big. But it kind of is a downer knowing that I would probably prefer the full color overall, but it isn't feasible for what I want at the moment. I guess timing is everything haha.
Do you have a library near you? They might have the manga there and you can read it for free until you get the colored one :D

User avatar
Kendamu
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 6983
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:31 am
Location: The Martial Arts World
Contact:

Re: Best version of the Manga

Post by Kendamu » Fri Jan 29, 2016 2:19 am

trick007z wrote:
Kendamu wrote:
Kuririn Fan wrote:Get whatever english release for the translation and Kanzenban for the actual look of the chapters (uncut, color). Kanzenban is pure perfection, closest thing to the original release.
Buying the Japanese release didn't occur to me even though I've done it myself. Trick007z, do you read Japanese at any level?
I don't, that's the problem. Otherwise I would go for the purest edition possible. I wish I did..

My goal was to find the best quality edition that was the closest to what Toriyama intended. I was seriously considering the full color, but I have two major problems with it. First, I want to start at the start. Not the Saiyan arc. I want to read it from when Goku meets Bulma onward. The Freeza arc won't be released until this summer. I'm a fast reader, and I wanted something continuous. This makes that a multi-year commitment where the story will be "cold" while I'm waiting. With no guarantee of it being completed. If it even had from the Saiyan arc to the late Cell arc, I'd consider it, begrudgingly. But it has one arc, with one coming.

Right now I'm leaning towards Viz Big. But it kind of is a downer knowing that I would probably prefer the full color overall, but it isn't feasible for what I want at the moment. I guess timing is everything haha.
Hmmm... Then scripts are all the same. There's slightly less censoreship in the 3-in-1 volumes, but there isn't much to censored to begin with.

So, I guess the 3-in-1 volumes are what you want if it's just based on content alone. If you're willing to see two less panels of boobs in earlier arcs and a couple of laser guns in the Boo arc, the VIZBIG volumes would be the next best due to having a lot of the color pages intact.
(they/she)

My Martial Arts Website -- https://mybudo.carrd.co

User avatar
eledoremassis02
I Live Here
Posts: 4164
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2011 5:40 pm

Re: Best version of the Manga

Post by eledoremassis02 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 4:09 am

Just a heads up, RightStuf is having a viz sale. 33% off if you use the code VIZ16

Post Reply