Dragon Ball (manga)

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Dragon Ball
"Dragon Ball" Manga Logo
ドラゴンボール Doragon Bōru
Author	Akira Toriyama (Bird Studio)
Publisher	Shueisha
Publication	''Weekly Shōnen Jump''
Demographic	Shōnen
Manga Series
Original Run	WJ 1984 #51 - 1995 #25 (20 November 1984 - 23 May 1995)
Chapters	519 + 1 side-story (List of Chapters)
Volumes	42 Tankōbon Volumes 34 Kanzenban Volumes
Animated Adaptation
TV Series	Dragon Ball Dragon Ball Z Dragon Ball GT Dragon Ball Kai
Films	Dragon All Dragon Ball Z

"Dragon Ball" (often abbreviated as DB) is a Japanese manga series created and illustrated by famed manga artist Akira Toriyama (Bird Studio). The series was originally a gag manga (comic) that evolved into a martial arts action manga. It is comprised of a total of 520 individual chapters, including one side-story, and began its run on 20 November 1984 in Weekly Shōnen Jump, a popular manga anthology magazine published by Shueisha in Japan. The series was serialized from 1984 to 1995, remaining a staple in Japan for nearly ten and a half years.

Each week a new chapter would be published in Weekly Shōnen Jump with approximately 14 pages per chapter. Since its serialization, these weekly manga chapters have been compiled into 42 tankōbon volumes and 34 kanzenban volumes. The manga series was adapted by Toei Animation into two animated television series: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. The TV series were sequentially broadcast in Japan on Fuji TV from 1986 to 1996.

Plot

In search of the seven Dragon Balls, Bulma crosses paths with a mysterious young boy by the name of Son Goku. Realizing Goku's unnatural strength, she convinces him to join her in search of the remaining Dragon Balls. Along the way the two encounter many friends and foes, all in search of the Dragon Balls. After training under the perverted Kame-Sen'nin, Goku learns to fully harness his unnatural raw talent and quickly masters the Kamehameha technique. However the Earth is plunged into darkness, as the Demon King Piccolo has returned to rule the planet with an iron fist. Goku steps in to oppose Piccolo, eventually defeating him, but not before Piccolo creates an offspring with the sole purpose of seeking revenge. Three years later, after training under the Earth's God, Goku and Ma Junior face off at the 23rd Tenka'ichi Budōkai.

Five peaceful years have passed since Goku's victory over Ma Junior and his marriage to Chi-Chi, when a mysterious alien warrior arrives on Earth in search of "Kakarrot". The alien eventually finds Goku, identifying him as Kakarrot, and introduces himself as Goku's older brother, Raditz. He proclaims that Goku is actually a Saiyan, the strongest warrior race in the universe, that was sent to Earth to exterminate humanity. From here the series takes to the stars, with even stronger and stronger opponents appearing before Goku and friends.

Characters

Further information: Dragon Ball Characters

Chapters

Further information: List of Dragon Ball Chapters

Collected Releases

Outside of its original serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jump, the Dragon Ball manga has been made available to consumers in various formats and quality.

Tankōbon Release

Further information: Dragon Ball Tankōbon

Beginning in September 1985, these weekly manga chapters began to be compiled into separate volumes called tankōbon ("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", taken from English. Each tankōbon volume contained roughly 12 chapters and was printed in a greyscale format only. Unfortunately, this meant that all of the original colored pages from Weekly Shōnen Jump could only be viewed in greyscale. This issue was later rectified with the kanzenban releases, which retained the original color pages.

Kanzenban Release

Further information: Dragon Ball Kanzenban

In 2002, Japan experienced a revival of the once forgotten Dragon Ball series. Due to this resurgence of interest, Shueisha began releasing the series in a complete kanzenban ("Perfect Edition") format in December 2002. The kanzenban release condensed the original 42 tankōbon volumes into 34, with each volume containing approximately 15 chapters. Unlike the tankōbon, the kanzenban retained all of the colored pages originally printed in Weekly Shōnen Jump. As a special treat, the kanzenban volumes featured restored artwork and newly drawn cover illustrations by Akira Toriyama. Each volume also featured an insert poster of its respective volume's cover illustration.

A digitally colored page from the "Full Color Comics".
(Saiyan Arc Chapter 1)

Full Color Comics Release

Further information: Dragon Ball Full Color

Beginning in early-2013, Shueisha began releasing a fully-colored print-only version of the manga based on the kanzenban edition. These print-only "Full Color" releases are different from the "Digital Color Edition" volumes released digitally, and cover only the "Z"-era storyline, with the chapter numbering divided up by story arc. Shueisha later revisited the beginning of the series, although under the digital-only "Digital Color Edition" release. Each "Full Color" volume contains 17 chapters, as opposed to the kanzenban which typically contain 15 chapters per volume.

Digital Color Edition Release

Further information: Dragon Ball Digital Color Edition

When the first "Full Color" print volumes hit bookstores on 04 February 2013, Shueisha surprised many fans by releasing the first 194 chapters, compiled into 20 volumes, as part of a new digital-only "Color Edition" format via a variety of sources. The remaining "Z"-era chapters were subsequently released in conjunction with their respective "Full Color" print releases.

Guidebooks

Mooks

Both during and after Dragon Ball's serialization, Shueisha has released a number of guides pertaining to the series in the form of special issues of Jump, known in Japanese as "mooks" (i.e. magazine books).

• "Dragon Ball: Adventure Special" (18 November 1987)
• "Jump Gold Selection 4: Dragon Ball Z Anime Special" (18 October 1989)
• "Jump Gold Selection 5: Dragon Ball Z Anime Special Vol. 2" (06 June 1991)
• "Jump Anime Library 1: Dragon Ball Z Movie 12" (03 June 1995)
• "Jump Anime Collection 3: Dragon Ball Z Movie 13" (21 October 1995)
• "'Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods' Official Movie Guide" (21 March 2013)

Advertisement for the Daizenshuu volumes in Weekly Shōnen Jump 1996 #13.

Daizenshuu

The largest group of Dragon Ball guidebooks are the Daizenshuu (大全集, "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 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 contained 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.

• "Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 1: Complete Illustrations" (20 June 1995)
• "Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 2: Story Guide" (04 August 1995)
• "Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 3: TV Animation Part 1" (04 September 1995)
• "Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 4: World Guide" (04 October 1995)
• "Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 5: TV Animation Part 2" (04 November 1995)
• "Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 6: Movies & TV Specials" (04 December 1995)
• "Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 7: Dragon Ball Large Encyclopedia" (05 February 1996)
• "Dragon Ball Extra Daizenshuu: Carddass Perfect File Part 1" (10 January 1996)
• "Dragon Ball Extra Daizenshuu: Carddass Perfect File Part 2" (11 March 1996)
• "Dragon Ball Supplemental Daizenshuu: TV Animation Part 3" (10 July 1996)

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 Akira Toriyama, and are based on the kanzenban release of the manga. 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" contains information very similar to that presented in both volumes 2 and 4 of the Daizenshuu, covering the main characters, the "Dragon World" and its many races, and many of the main techniques used throughout the series.

• "Dragon Ball Super Exciting Guide: Story Volume" (04 March 2009)
• "Dragon Ball Super Exciting Guide: Character Volume" (03 April 2009)

Chōzenshū & Chōgashū

In 2013, Shueisha released the "Chōzenshū" (超全集, "Super Complete Collections"), the second largest group of Dragon Ball guidebooks to date. This condensed four volume collection of hardcover guidebooks was published to replace and expand upon the out of print Daizenshuu volumes, and although this collection is based on the contents of the original Daizenshuu, they feature new and updated information revealed since the series' finale in the mid-1990s. Each volume contains a B4-sized poster of a previous Daizenshuu cover illustrations by Akira Toriyama. Along with the release of the Chōzenshū volumes, a "Super Illustration Collection" (超画集; Chōgashū) featuring over 400 Dragon Ball-related illustrations from Akira Toriyama was released, expanding upon those featured in the first Daizenshuu volume in 1995.

• "Dragon Ball Chōzenshū 1: Story & World Guide" (05 February 2013)
• "Dragon Ball Chōzenshū 2: Animation Guide Part 1" (05 March 2013)
• "Dragon Ball Chōzenshū 3: Animation Guide Part 2" (04 April 2013)
• "Dragon Ball Chōzenshū 4: Dragon Ball Super Encyclopedia" (09 May 2013)
• "Dragon Ball Chōgashū" (09 May 2013)