Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball
DB Tankōbon.png
First tankōbon volume, released in Japan on November 10, 1985
ドラゴンボール
(Doragon Bōru)
Genre Bangsian fantasy, Martial arts, Science fiction
Manga
Written by Akira Toriyama
Published by Shueisha
English publisher

Australia New Zealand Madman Entertainment
Canada United States Viz Media

United Kingdom Gollancz Manga
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump
English magazine United States Shonen Jump
Original run 1984 – 1995
Volumes 42 (List of volumes)
TV anime
Directed by Minoru Okazaki
Daisuke Nishio
Studio Toei Animation
Licensed by United States FUNimation Entertainment
Network Fuji TV, Animax
English network

Australia Network Ten, Cartoon Network
Canada YTV
United Kingdom Cartoon Network, CNX, Toonami

United States Cartoon Network, Colours TV, Funimation Channel, Toonami Jetstream, KIKU
Original run February 26, 1986 – April 12, 1989
Episodes 153 (List of episodes)
TV anime
Dragon Ball Z
Directed by Daisuke Nishio
Studio Toei Animation
Licensed by United States Funimation Entertainment
Network Fuji TV, Animax, Tokyo MX
English network

Australia Network Ten, Cartoon Network
Canada YTV
United Kingdom Cartoon Network, Toonami

United States Cartoon Network
Original run April 26, 1989 – January 31, 1996
Episodes 291 (List of episodes)
TV anime
Dragon Ball GT
Directed by Osamu Kasai
Studio Toei Animation
Licensed by Canada United States Funimation Entertainment
Network Fuji TV, Animax
English network

Australia Network Ten, Cartoon Network
Canada YTV
United States Cartoon Network

United Kingdom Toonami, CNX
Original run February 7, 1996 – November 19, 1997
Episodes 64 (List of episodes)
TV anime
Dragon Ball Z Kai
Studio Toei Animation
Licensed by Canada United States Funimation Entertainment
Network Japan Fuji TV
English network United States Nicktoons,
The CW, Toonzai
Original run April 5, 2009 – ongoing
Episodes 70+ (List of episodes)
Related
  • Films, specials, and original video animations
  • Video games
  • Soundtracks
  • Collectible card games
    • Dragon Ball
    • Dragon Ball Z
Anime and Manga Portal

Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール Doragon Bōru?) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 through 1995; later the 509 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the Chinese folk novel Journey to the West. It follows the adventures of Son Goku from his childhood through adulthood as he trains in martial arts and explores the world in search of the seven mystical objects known as the Dragon Balls, which can summon a wish-granting dragon. Along his journey, Goku makes several friends and battles a wide variety of villains, most of whom also seek the Dragon Balls for their own desires.

The 42 tankōbon have been adapted into two anime series produced by Toei Animation: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, which together were broadcast in Japan from 1986 to 1996. Additionally, Toei has developed seventeen animated feature films and three television specials, as well as a short-lived third anime titled Dragon Ball GT, which takes place after the events of the manga. In 2009, Toei began broadcasting a revised, faster-paced version of Dragon Ball Z under the name of Dragon Ball Kai, in which most of the material not featured in the manga is removed. Several companies have developed various types of merchandising such as a collectible trading card game, and a large number of video games.

The manga series was licensed for an English language release in North America by Viz Media, in the United Kingdom by Gollancz Manga, and in Australia and New Zealand by Chuang Yi. The anime series was licensed by Funimation Entertainment for an English language release worldwide, although the series has been dubbed several times by various studios. In China, a live-action film adaptation was produced in 1989. In 2002, 20th Century Fox acquired the rights to produce an American-made live-action film, which was released on April 10, 2009 to critical lambast.

Since its release, Dragon Ball has become one of the most popular manga series of its time in both Japan and North America. It enjoys a high readership, with over 150 million volumes of the series sold by 2007. Reviewers have praised the art, characterization, and humor of the story. Several manga artists have noted that the manga series was the inspiration for their own now popular works, including Naruto and One Piece. The anime is also highly popular, ranking number three among the best anime series of all time in 2006.

Contents

Plot summary

See also: List of Dragon Ball characters

The series begins with a monkey-tailed boy named Goku befriending a teenage girl named Bulma, and together they go on a quest to find the seven magic Dragon Balls. Along the way, they meet and befriend a plethora of martial artists. Goku also undergoes rigorous training regimes and educational programs in order to fight in the World Martial Arts Tournament, a competition involving the most powerful fighters- in the world. Outside the tournaments, Goku faces diverse villains such as Emperor Pilaf, the Red Ribbon Army, the demon Piccolo Daimao and his offspring Piccolo Jr., who eventually becomes Goku's ally.

As a young man, Goku meets his older brother Raditz, who tells him that they come from a race of extraterrestrials called Saiyans. The Saiyans had sent Goku to Earth as an infant to conquer the planet for them, but he suffered a severe head injury soon after his arrival and lost all memory of his mission. Goku refuses to help Raditz continue the mission, after which he begins to encounter other enemies from space, most notably the Saiyan prince Vegeta, who becomes his rival and, eventually, his ally as well. He later encounters Frieza, the galactic tyrant responsible for the destruction of the Saiyan race, whose actions cause Goku to transform into a legendary Super Saiyan. After an epic battle on the planet Namek, Goku defeats Frieza, avenging the lives of billions across the universe.

Four years later, a group of androids from the former Red Ribbon Army appear, seeking revenge against Goku. During this time, an evil life form called Cell emerges and, after absorbing two of the androids to increase his power, holds his own martial arts tournament to decide the fate of the Earth, but is eventually defeated by Goku's first child Son Gohan. Seven years later, Goku is drawn into another battle for the universe against a magical monster named Majin Buu. Joined by Vegeta and Gohan, Goku succeeds in destroying the evil half of Buu and the good half of Buu settles down with them. Ten years later, at another World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku meets the evil Buu's human reincarnation, Uub. At the end of the series, Goku takes Uub away on a journey to train him as the Earth's next defender.

Themes

At its core, Dragon Ball maintains the central tenets of the Weekly Shōnen Jump core philosophy of "friendship, struggle, and victory". As the series shifts from a "heart warming" story into a more action-oriented piece, the protagonists go through an unending cycle of fighting, winning, losing, learning important lessons, then returning to the fight. As the series progresses, the heroes continue this cycle by using miraculous devices to achieve life after death while continuing their on-going battles with the dead heroes who continue to learn lessons as they defeat their challengers.[1] The series also follows the idea that if someone is trying to be "the best", they can reach their goals by constantly challenging themselves.[2]

Production

Wanting to break from the Western influences common in his other series, when Akira Toriyama began work on Dragon Ball he decided to loosely model it on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West.[3][4] He also redeveloped one of his earlier one shot manga series, Dragon Boy, which was initially serialized in Fresh Jump and released in a single tankōbon volume in 1983.[4] This short work combined the comedic style of Toriyama's successful six-year series Dr. Slump with a more action-oriented plot and paid homage to famous martial art actor Jackie Chan.[4][5] Toriyama notes that his goal for the series was to tell an "unconventional and contradictory" story.[6]

In the early concept of the series, Goku and Piccolo were from Earth. With the introduction of Kami, the idea of having fights from other planets was established and Goku and Piccolo were changed to alien species.[7] For the female characters, Toriyama felt it was not fun to draw "weak females" so he created women that he felt were not only "beautiful and sexy", but also "strong".[6] Going against the normal convention that the strongest characters should be the largest in terms of physical size, he designed many of Dragon Ball's most powerful characters with small statures, including the protagonist, Goku.[6]

The Earth of Dragon Ball[8]

The fighting techniques were initially unnamed, but the series editor felt it would be better to name them all. Toriyama proceeded to create names for all of the techniques, except for the Kamehameha (かめはめ波?, lit. "Turtle Striking Wave") which his wife named when Toriyama was indecisive about what it should be called.[7] When creating the fictional world of the series, Toriyama decided to create it from his own imagination to avoid referencing popular culture. However the island where the World Martial Arts Tournament is held is modeled after Bali. When having fights in the manga, Toriyama had the characters go to a place where nobody lived to avoid difficulties in drawing destroyed buildings. In order to advance the story quickly, he also gave most fighters the ability to fly so they could travel to other parts of the world without inconvenience. This was also the reasoning behind Goku learning to use instant transmission (thus allowing characters to move to any planet in a second).[7]

After the first chapters were released, readers commented that Goku seemed rather plain, so his appearance was changed. New characters (such as Master Roshi and Krillin) were added and martial arts tournaments were included to give the manga a greater emphasis on fighting. Anticipating that readers would expect Goku to win the tournaments, Toriyama had him lose the first two while continuing his initial goal of having Goku be the champion and hero. After Cell's death, he intended for Gohan to replace Goku as the series protagonist, but then felt the character was not suited for the role and changed his mind.[9]

Toriyama based the Red Ribbon Army from a video game he had played named Spartan X in which enemies tended to appear very fast. After the second tournament concluded, Toriyama wanted to have a villain who would be a true "bad guy." After creating Piccolo as the new villain, he noted that it was one of the most interesting parts of the stories and that he, and his son, became one of the favorite characters of the series. With Goku established as the strongest fighter on Earth, Toriyama decided to increase the number of villains that came from outer space. Finding the escalating enemies to be a pain to work with feeling it was too simple, he created the Ginyu Force to add more balance to the series.[9] During this period of the series, Toriyama placed less emphasis on the series art work, simplifying the lines and sometimes making things "too square." He found himself having problems determining the colors for characters and sometimes ended up changing them unintentionally mid-story.[5] In later accounts, Toriyama noted that he didn't plan out the details of the story, resulting in strange occurrences and discrepancies later in the series.[10]

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball was initially serialized in the manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump starting in 1984.[4] The series ended in 1995 when Toriyama grew exhausted and felt he needed a break from drawing.[4] The 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha from November 10, 1985 through August 4, 1995.[11][12][13] In 2004, the chapters were re-released in a collection of 34 kanzenban volumes, which included a slightly rewritten ending, new covers, and color artwork from its Weekly Shōnen Jump run. Toriyama also created a short series, Neko Majin, that became a self-parody of Dragon Ball. First appearing in Weekly Shōnen Jump in August 1999, the eight chapter series was released sporadically until it was completed in 2005. These chapters were compiled into a "kanzenban"-style package for release in Japan on April 4, 2005.[14]

The Dragon Ball manga was licensed for release in English in North America by Viz Media which has released all 42 volume in both censored and uncensored forms.[15] Viz released volumes 17 through 42 under the title Dragon Ball Z to mimic the name of the anime series adaptated from those volumes, feeling it would reduce the potential for confusion by its readers. The first volumes of both series were released in March 2003, with Dragon Ball being completed on August 3, 2004 and Dragon Ball Z finishing on June 6, 2006.[16][17] In June 2008, Viz began re-releasing the two series in a wideban format called "VIZBIG Edition," which collects three individual volumes into a single large volume.[18][19]

In 2006, Toriyama and One Piece author Eiichiro Oda teamed up to create a single chapter crossover of their individual hit series. Entitled Cross Epoch, the chapter was published in the December 25, 2006 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump. A manga adaptation of Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! illustrated by Ooishi Naho, was published in the March 21, 2009 and April 21, 2009 issues of V Jump.[20]

Anime series

Dragon Ball

Due to the high popularity of the Dragon Ball manga, Toei Animation produced two anime television series based on the manga chapters, and a third based on the series characters. The first series, also titled Dragon Ball, premiered in Japan on Fuji Television on February 26, 1986 and ran until April 12, 1989.[4]

Harmony Gold USA licensed the series for an English-language release in North America in the late 1980s. In their voice dub of the series, Harmony renamed almost all of the characters, with some names appearing very odd, such as Goku being renamed "Zero" and the character Korin's name changed to "Whiskers the Wonder Cat." This dub version was eventually cancelled.

In 1995, Funimation Entertainment acquired the license for the distribution of Dragon Ball, as well as its sequel series Dragon Ball Z, in North America. Funimation contracted BLT Productions to help finance the first series and hired Ocean Productions to create an English voice track for the series at Dick & Roger's Sound Studio. The dubbed episodes were also edited for content.[21] Thirteen episodes aired in syndication before Funimation canceled the project due to low ratings, switching to working immediately on the more action-oriented Dragon Ball Z.[4] In March 2001, Funimation announced the return of Dragon Ball to American television, featuring a new English audio track produced at their in-house dubbing studio, Funimation Studios, and slightly less editing, though they notably left the original background music intact, unlike their dubs of the two sequel series.[21][22] The redubbed episodes aired on Cartoon Network from August 20, 2001[23] to December 1, 2003. Funimation also broadcast the series on Colours TV and their own Funimation Channel starting in 2006.[24]

Funimation began releasing the uncut episodes to Region 1 DVD box sets on March 18, 2003. Each box set, spanning an entire saga of the series, included the English dub track and the original Japanese audio track with optional English subtitles. However, they were unable to release the first thirteen episodes at the time, due to Lionsgate Entertainment holding the licensing rights to Funimation's earlier dub of the same episodes. After Lionsgate's license to the first thirteen episodes expired in 2009, Funimation remastered and re-released the complete Dragon Ball series in five individual season box sets, with the first set released on September 15, 2009 and the final set on July 27, 2010.

Dragon Ball Z

With the ending of Dragon Ball, Toei Animation quickly released a second anime television series, Dragon Ball Z (ドラゴンボールZ(ゼット) Doragon Bōru Zetto?, commonly abbreviated as DBZ). Picking up where the first left off, Dragon Ball Z is adapted from the final twenty-six volumes of the manga series. It premiered in Japan on Fuji Television on April 26, 1989, taking over its predecessor's time slot, and ran for 291 episodes until its conclusion on January 31, 1996.[4]

Following the short-lived dub of Dragon Ball in 1995, Funimation Entertainment began production on an English-language release of Dragon Ball Z in North America. They teamed with Saban Entertainment to finance the project, sub-licensed home video distribution to Geneon Universal Entertainment, and once again hired Ocean Productions to dub the series. This dub of Dragon Ball Z was heavily edited for content, as well as length, reducing the first 67 episodes into 53.[25] The series premiered in the United States on September 13, 1996 in first-run syndication, but also suffered from poor ratings during its run, and was eventually cancelled after two seasons. On August 31, 1998, however, the Ocean dubbed episodes began airing on Cartoon Network as part of the channel's new Toonami programming block, where the series received much more popularity. With new success, Funimation continued production on the series by themselves, only now using their own in-house voice cast, as well as less editing due to fewer restrictions on cable programming.[26] Dragon Ball Z was now in full production in the United States and the new dub of the series aired on Cartoon Network from September 13, 1999 to April 7, 2003.

The Funimation dubbed episodes also aired in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Beginning with episode 108, however, an alternate dub, produced again by Ocean Productions, was broadcast in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland, while Funimation's in-house dub continued to air in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. In August 2004, Geneon lost its licensing rights to the old Ocean dubbed episodes of Dragon Ball Z, allowing Funimation to re-dub the first 67 episodes with their in-house voice cast and restore the removed content. These re-dubbed episodes aired in the United States on Cartoon Network during the summer of 2005.[27][28] In 2006, Funimation remastered the episodes then began re-releasing the series in nine individual season box sets. The first set was released on February 6, 2007; the final set on May 19, 2009. These sets were noticeable for including the option of hearing the English dub alongside the original Japanese music, an option that had previously not been available. Other options included hearing the English dub with the American soundtrack composed by Bruce Faulconer, and a third option included watching the original Japanese version, with the original Japanese soundtrack and English subtitles. Beyond that, however, it was also noticeable for causing a degree of controversey among fans regarding the remastering process for the footage, which some fans deemed to be sub-par, particularly the 'video cropping' controversy.

In June 2009, Funimation announced that they would be re-releasing Dragon Ball Z in a new seven-volume set called the "Dragon Boxes," which were previously released in Japan as a five-volume set containing the entire anime franchise. Based on the original series masters with frame-by-frame restoration, the first set was released on November 10, 2009.[29]

Dragon Ball GT

Produced by Toei Animation, Dragon Ball GT (ドラゴンボールGT(ジーティー) Doragon Bōru Jī Tī?, G(rand) T(our)[4]) premiered on Fuji TV on February 2, 1996, and ran until November 19, 1997. Unlike the first two series, it was not based on the original Dragon Ball manga.[30] The series lasted 64 episodes.[4] In Dragon Ball GT, Goku is turned back into a child by the Black Star Dragon Balls and is forced to travel across the universe to retrieve them.

Following the success of their in-house dubs of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, Funimation Entertainment licensed Dragon Ball GT for an English language Region 1 DVD release and broadcast in North America. Funimation's dub of the series aired on Cartoon Network from November 14, 2003 to January 29, 2005. The television broadcast skipped the first 16 episodes of the series. Instead, Funimation created a composition episode entitled "A Grand Problem," which used scenes from the skipped episodes to summarize the story. The skipped episodes, advertised as "The Lost Episodes," were later aired after the remaining episodes of the series had been broadcast.

Funimation released their in-house dub to bilingual Region 1 DVD in two season box sets, with the first set released on December 9, 2008 and the final set on February 10, 2009. In a similar fashion to their DVD releases for Dragon Ball Z, the DVD box sets have the option of hearing the English dub alongside the original Japanese music, and the rap song used for the TV airing of the show (nicknamed by fans "Step Into the Grand Tour") has been replaced by English-dubbed versions of the original Japanese opening and ending songs.[31]

Dragon Ball Z Kai

In February 2009, Toei Animation announced that it would begin rebroadcasting Dragon Ball Z as part of the series' 20th anniversary celebrations. The series premiered on April 5, 2009, under the name Dragon Ball Kai (ドラゴンボール改(カイ) Doragon Bōru Kai?, lit. "Dragon Ball Revised"), with the episodes remastered for HDTV, featuring updated opening and ending sequences, and a rerecording of the vocal tracks by most of the original cast.[32][33] The footage was also re-edited to more closely follow the manga, resulting in a faster moving story, and damaged frames removed.[34] As such, it is a "new" series created from the original Dragon Ball Z footage. Like all other Dragon Ball-based anime, Funimation Entertainment licensed Dragon Ball Kai for an English-language release in North America, premiering on Nicktoons Network on May 24, 2010, under the title Dragon Ball Z Kai.[35][36] In addition to Nicktoons, Dragon Ball Z Kai also began airing on The CW's Toonzai programming block on August 14, 2010.[37]

The series was announced for a dubbing session in Latin America in August 2010, but the cast it's still unknown.[38]

Anime films

Seventeen anime films based on the Dragon Ball series have been released in Japan. The first three films were based on the original Dragon Ball anime series. The remaining films included thirteen Dragon Ball Z films and one tenth anniversary special (also based on the first anime series). Funimation Entertainment has licensed and released all of the films to DVD in North America.

Specials

Three television specials based on the series were released in Japan. The first, Bardock – The Father of Goku, was released on October 17, 1990. It is a prequel to the series, set years before the start of the manga and details how Goku's father, Bardock, discovers that Frieza is planning to kill all the other Saiyans, and his efforts to stop him. The second special, The History of Trunks was released on March 24, 1993. Based on an extra chapter of the original manga, it is set in a parallel universe where most of the series characters are killed by the evil androids. A Hero's Legacy, released on March 26, 1997, is set 100 years after the end of Dragon Ball GT. It features one of Goku's descendants who begins looking for the Dragon Balls in order to help his sick grandmother, Pan.

Two other specials were also released in Japan. A two-episode original video animation (OVA) series titled Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Saiyan Zetsumetsu Keikaku, based on the Famicom video game of the same name, was released in 1993 and was set during Dragon Ball Z.[39] Another special, Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!, premiered at the Jump Super Anime Tour on November 24, 2008. The special is set two years after the defeat of the evil Buu and has Goku and his friends facing against new enemies, Avo and Kado, and meeting Vegeta's younger brother, Tarble.

Video games

The Dragon Ball franchise has spawned multiple video games across various genres and platforms. Earlier games of the series included a system of card battling and were released for the Nintendo Entertainment System following the storyline of the series.[40] Starting Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the Sega Saturn and the PlayStation most of the games were from the fighting genre including the series Super Butoden.[41] The first Dragon Ball game to be released in the United States was Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout for the PlayStation on July 31, 1997.[42] For the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable games the characters were redone in 3D cel-shaded graphics. These games included the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series and the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series.[43][44] Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit was the first game of the series developed for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[45] A massively multiplayer online role-playing game called Dragon Ball Online is currently in development for release in 2010. It has been stated that Akira Toriyama has been working on character designs for this project for the last five years.[46]

Soundtracks

Myriad soundtracks were released to the anime, movies and the games. The music for the first two anime Dragon Ball and Z and its films was directed by Shunsuke Kikuchi, while the music from GT was directed by Akihito Tokunaga and the music from Kai was directed by Kenji Yamamoto. For the first anime, the soundtracks released were Dragon Ball: Music Collection in 1985 and Dragon Ball: Complete Song Collection in 1991 although they were reissued in 2007 and 2003, respectively.[47] For the second anime, the soundtrack series released were Dragon Ball Z Hit Song Collection Series. It was produced and released by Columbia Records of Japan from July 21, 1989 to March 20, 1996 the show's entire lifespan. On September 20, 2006 Columbia re-released the Hit Song Collection on their Animex 1300 series.[48][49] Other CDs released are compilations, video games and films soundtracks as well as music from the English versions.[50]

Live action films

A live-action Mandarin Chinese film adaptation of the series, Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins, was released in Taiwan Province in Republic of China in 1989.[4] Considered a "tacky" version of the story by critics,[4] the plot revolves around a rag-tag group of heroes, led by "Monkey Boy" (Goku) trying to stop King Horn from using the wish-granting "Dragon Pearls" (Dragon Balls) to rule the world.

In March 2002, 20th Century Fox acquired feature film rights to the Dragon Ball franchise[51] and began production on an American live action film entitled Dragonball Evolution.[52] Ben Ramsey was tapped to create a screenplay based on Dragon Ball Z.[53] Directed by James Wong and produced by Stephen Chow,[52] the film was released in the United States on April 10, 2009.[54] The film was largely considered a failure by both critics and Dragon Ball fans,[55] but was a modest success at the international box office.[56]

Art books

There are two companion books to the series, called the Dragon Ball GT Perfect Files, released in May 1997 and December 1997 by Shueisha's Jump Comics Selection imprint. They include series information, illustration galleries, behind-the-scenes information, and more. They were out of print for many years, but were re-released in April 2006 and this edition is still in print.[57][58]

Reception

Dragon Ball is one of the most popular manga series of its time, and it continues to enjoy high readership today. By 2000, more than 126 million copies of its tankōbon volumes had been sold in Japan alone.[1] By 2007, this number had grown to pass 150 million.[11] It is the "quintessential mainstream manga" driven by an unending story. Its immense popularity resulted in the series being continuously extended, first through the use of acrobatic devices that regularly kept the series from falling into the routine characters and story lines, then by having the central characters surpass death itself using miraculous devices. In Little Boy: The Art of Japan's Exploding Subculture Takashi Murakami notes that Dragon Ball's "never-ending cyclical narrative moves forward plausibly, seamlessly, and with great finesse."[1] Goku's journey and his ever growing strength resulted in the character winning "the admiration of young boys everywhere".[3] On several occasions the Dragon Ball anime series has topped Japan's DVD sales.[59][60]

In a survey conducted by Oricon in 2007 between 1,000 people, Goku, the main character of the franchise, ranked first place as the "Strongest Manga character of all time."[61] Manga artists, such as Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto and One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda, have stated that Goku inspired their series' main protagonists as well series structure.[62][63] When TV Asahi conducted an online poll for the top one hundred anime, the Dragon Ball series came in place twelve.[64] The first episode of Dragon Ball Kai earned a viewer ratings percentage of 11.3, ahead of One Piece and behind Crayon Shin-Chan.[65] Although following episodes have had lower ratings, Dragon Ball Kai remains to be among the top 10 anime in viewer ratings every week in Japan currently.[66][67]

Animerica felt the series had "worldwide appeal" that uses dramatic pacing and over the top martial arts action to "maintain tension levels and keep a crippler crossface hold on the audience's attention spans".[2] Ridwan Khan from Animefringe.com commented on the manga to have a "chubby" art style but as the series continued it gets more refined with the characters leaner and more muscular. He also noted he preferred the manga versions of the series to their animated counterparts that makes the story slower and pointless.[68] Anime News Network praised the story and humor of the manga to be very good due conveying of all the characters's personalities. They also remarked Viz's translation to be one of the best ones of all the English editions of the series praising the lack of censor.[69] Rationalmagic.com remarked the first manga volume as "a superior humor title". They praised Goku's innocence and Bulma's insistence as one of the funniest parts of the series.[70] Writer Jason Thompson commented that the series popularity comes from a formula that Toriyama used in various story arcs from which he describes as "lots of martial arts, lots of training sequences, a few jokes." Yet, he noted that such formula became the model for other manga from the same genre such as Yu-Gi-Oh! or Naruto.[71]

The anime adaptations have also had different positive reviews. Dragon Ball Z was listed as the 78th best animated show in IGN's Top 100 Animated Series.[72] T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews considered the series characters are different from stereotypes characters and noted that they have much more development and in its sequels.[73] However, they criticized Dragon Ball Z for having long and repetitive fights, though they remarked the show has good characterization.[74] The storylines of Dragon Ball Z have been compared to Greek mythology.[75] Anime News Network considered Trunks's storyline to have an actual storyline with characters having more motivation than the common plot of the series.[76] IGN commented that Dragon Ball GT "is downright repellent" mentioning that the material and characters have lost their novelty and fun. They also criticized the character designs of Trunks and Vegeta as goofy.[77] Anime News Network has had negative comments of Dragon Ball GT. They mentioned the fights from the series are a very simple childish exercise and that many other anime were better. The plot of the series has also been criticized for giving a formula that was already used on its prequels.[78]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Murakami, Takashi (May 15, 2005). "Earth in My Window". Little Boy: The Art of Japan's Exploding Subculture. Linda Hoaglund (translator). Yale University Press, Japan Society. pp. 105–106. ISBN 0300102852. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Anime Radar: News". Animerica (San Francisco, California: Viz Media) 9 (2): 36. March 2001. ISSN 1067-0831. OCLC 27130932. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wiedemann, Julius (September 25, 2004). "Akira Toriyama". In Amano Masanao (ed.). Manga Design. Taschen. pp. 372. ISBN 3822825913. 
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 Clements, Jonathan; Helen McCarthy (September 1, 2001). The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917 (1st ed.). Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press. pp. 101–102. ISBN 1-880656-64-7. OCLC 47255331. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Toriyama, Akira (1995). DRAGON BALL 大全集 ➊ 「COMPLETE ILLUSTRATION」. Shueisha. pp. 206–207. ISBN 4-08-782754-2. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Interview with the Majin! Revisited". Shonen Jump 5 (11): 388. November 2007. ISSN 1545-7818. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Toriyama, Akira (1995). DRAGON BALL 大全集 ➍ 「WORLD GUIDE」. Shueisha. pp. 164–169. ISBN 4-08-782754-2. 
  8. ↑ Published in Daizenshuu Vol. 4 World Guide, p74–75.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Toriyama, Akira (1995). DRAGON BALL 大全集 ➋ 「STORY GUIDE」. Shueisha. pp. 261–265. ISBN 4-08-782752-6. 
  10. ↑ "Shenron's Newspaper", Daizenshuu vol.2 (limited edition)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Comipress News article on "The Rise and Fall of Weekly Shōnen Jump"". comipress.com. May 6, 2007. http://comipress.com/article/2007/05/06/1923. Retrieved June 2, 2008. 
  12. ↑ "DRAGON　BALL 1 ドラゴンボール" (in Japanese). Shueisha. http://books.shueisha.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?isbn_cd=4-08-851831-4&mode=1. Retrieved June 2, 2008. 
  13. ↑ "DRAGON　BALL 42 ドラゴンボール" (in Japanese). Shueisha. http://books.shueisha.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?isbn_cd=4-08-851090-9&mode=1. Retrieved June 2, 2008. 
  14. ↑ "ネコマジン　完全版" (in Japanese). Shueisha. http://books.shueisha.co.jp/CGI/search/syousai_put.cgi?isbn_cd=4-08-851090-9&mode=1. Retrieved July 22, 2008. 
  15. ↑ "Viz Unleashes Uncensored Dragon Ball". ICv2. March 11, 2001. http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/216.html. Retrieved September 30, 2006. 
  16. ↑ "Viz Media — Products: Dragon Ball Vol. 16". Viz Media. http://www.viz.com/products/products.php?product_id=2236. Retrieved June 2, 2008. 
  17. ↑ "Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 26". Viz Media. http://www.viz.com/products/products.php?product_id=5898. Retrieved June 2, 2008. 
  18. ↑ "Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 1 (VIZBIG Edition)". Viz Media. http://www.viz.com/products/products.php?product_id=7414. Retrieved June 3, 2008. 
  19. ↑ "Dragon Ball, Vol. 1 (VIZBIG Edition)". Viz Media. http://www.viz.com/products/products.php?product_id=7409. Retrieved June 8, 2008. 
  20. ↑ "Dragon Ball: Yo! The Return of Son Goku and Friends!! Manga Adaptation". V Jump 17 (2): 55. February 2009. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Rough Air Date for Dragon Ball". Anime News Network. March 9, 2001. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2001-03-09/rough-air-date-for-dragonball. Retrieved July 19, 2008. 
  22. ↑ "Dragon Ball on CN debut date confirmed". Anime News Network. May 2, 2001. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2001-05-02/dragonball-on-cn-debut-date-confirmed. Retrieved July 19, 2008. 
  23. ↑ "DragonBall Re-dub". Anime News Network. August 21, 2001. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2001-08-21/dragonball-re-dub. Retrieved July 19, 2008. 
  24. ↑ "Dragon Ball Returns to US TV". Anime News Network. November 12, 2006. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2006-11-12/dragon-ball-returns-to-us-tv. Retrieved July 19, 2008. 
  25. ↑ Dragon Ball Z Ocean dub, episodes 1-53 (1-67)
  26. ↑ Dragon Ball Z Funimation dub, episodes 54-276 (68-291)
  27. ↑ "FUNimation 2005 Plans". Anime News Network. December 31, 2004. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2004-12-31/funimation-2005-plans. Retrieved September 14, 2008. 
  28. ↑ "DBZ uncut on Cartoon Network". Anime News Network. June 9, 2005. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2005-06-09/dbz-uncut-on-cartoon-network. Retrieved September 14, 2008. 
  29. ↑ Funimation (July 20, 2009). "Funimation Entertainment Announces First U.S. Release of Dragon Box". Press release. http://www.dragonballz.com/index.cfm?page=news&id=586. Retrieved August 28, 2009. 
  30. ↑ "DBZ FAQ Update". April 10, 2001. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2001-04-10/dbz-faq-update. Retrieved June 5, 2008. 
  31. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Ball-GT-Season-One/dp/B001DRF83S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1266852805&sr=1-1
  32. ↑ "Dragon Ball Z to Rerun on Japanese TV in HD in April". Anime News Network. February 6, 2009. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-02-06/dragon-ball-z-to-rerun-on-japanese-tv-in-hd-in-april. Retrieved February 21, 2009. 
  33. ↑ "Japan's Remastered DBZ to Be Called Dragon Ball Kai". Anime News Network. February 19, 2009. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-02-19/japan-remastered-dbz-to-be-called-dragon-ball-kai. Retrieved February 21, 2009. 
  34. ↑ "「ドラゴンボールZ」放送開始20周年記念! HDリマスター坂で テレビアニメが堂々復活!! 孫悟空伝説再び!! その名も... DRAGON BALL KAI" (in Japanese). V Jump (Japan: Shueisha): 10. February 9, 2009. 
  35. ↑ Navarre Reveals Funimation's Dragon Ball Kai License (Updated) -- Anime News Network (Received February 2, 2010)
  36. ↑ Nickelodeon Announces Fall Plans - Ohio.com Retrieved March 11, 2010
  37. ↑ "Dragon Ball Z Kai to Air on TheCW4Kids on Saturdays". Anime News Network. April 26, 2010. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-04-26/dragon-ball-z-kai-to-air-on-thecw4kids-on-saturdays. Retrieved April 26, 2010. 
  38. ↑ http://www.anmtvla.com/2010/08/exclusiva-anmtv-mario-castaneda-nos.html
  39. ↑ "List of OVA produced by Toei in the 1990s". http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/ov1990.html. Retrieved September 27, 2008. 
  40. ↑ "Dragon Ball: Daimaou Fukkatsu". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/nes/rpg/dragonballdaimaoufukkatsu/index.html?tag=result;title;6. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  41. ↑ "Dragon Ball Z Super Butouden". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/snes/action/dragonballz/index.html?tag=result;title;3. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  42. ↑ "Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/ps/action/dragonballfinalbout/index.html?tag=result;title;0. Retrieved January 10, 2009. 
  43. ↑ "DBZ: Budokai to ship early". Anime News Network. November 13, 2002. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2002-11-13/dbz-budokai-to-ship-early. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  44. ↑ Mueller, Greg (August 15, 2005). "Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi Hands-On". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/dragonballzbudokaitenkaichi/news.html?sid=6130926&mode=previews&tag=result;title;2. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  45. ↑ Atari (January 16). "Atari Announces the Next Generation Chapter for Dragon Ball Z(R) Video Game Series". Press release. http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=66845&p=irol-newsArticle&t=Regular&id=1097059&. Retrieved September 24, 2008. 
  46. ↑ "DRAGONBALL ONLINE -ドラゴンボールオンライン". http://www.ntl-kk.com/dboreport.html. 
  47. ↑ "Dragonball Music Collection". CDJapan.com. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=COCC-72015. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  48. ↑ "DRAGONBALL Z Hit Kyoku Shu". CDJapan.com. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=COCX-33908. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  49. ↑ "DRAGONBALL Z Hit Kyoku Shu 18 1/2". CDJapan.com. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=COCX-33927. Retrieved September 26, 2008. 
  50. ↑ "Dragon Ball Z Best Song Collection "Legend of Dragonworld"". CDJapan.com. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=COCX-33567. Retrieved September 26,............. 2008. 
  51. ↑ "Fox draws deal for DragonBall live-action pics". The Hollywood Reporter 372 (28). March 12, 2002. 
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 Tatiana Siegel (November 13, 2007). "Dragonball comes to bigscreen". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117975946.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved November 14, 2007. 
  53. ↑ Claude Brodesser, Claude (June 24, 2004). "Ramsey rolls Dragonball Z". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117907037.html?categoryid=1238&cs=1. Retrieved September 7, 2007. 
  54. ↑ ""DragonBall Movie"". Fox Japan. http://www.foxjapan.com/movies/lineup/main.html#DB. Retrieved June 18, 2008. 
  55. ↑ Castillo, Michelle (April 7, 2009). "Movies: 'Dragonball' star: 'No one wants to make a movie that people will hate'". L.A. Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2009/04/dragonball-star-no-one-wants-to-make-a-movie-that-people-will-hate.html. Retrieved January 23, 2010. 
  56. ↑ "Dragonball Evolution". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=dragonball.htm. Retrieved June 19, 2009. 
  57. ↑ "ドラゴンボールGTパーフェクトファイル (Vol.1) (ジャンプ·コミックス) (コミック)" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9C%E3%83%BC%E3%83%ABGT%E3%83%91%E3%83%BC%E3%83%95%E3%82%A7%E3%82%AF%E3%83%88%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB-Vol-1-%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%97%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B3%E3%83%9F%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9-%E9%80%B1%E5%88%8A%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%97%E7%B7%A8%E9%9B%86%E9%83%A8/dp/4088740890/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222290066&sr=8-10. Retrieved September 24, 2008. 
  58. ↑ "ドラゴンボールGTパーフェクトファイル (Vol.2) (ジャンプ·コミックス) (コミック)" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B4%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9C%E3%83%BC%E3%83%ABGT%E3%83%91%E3%83%BC%E3%83%95%E3%82%A7%E3%82%AF%E3%83%88%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB-Vol-2-%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%97%E3%83%BB%E3%82%B3%E3%83%9F%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF%E3%82%B9-%E9%80%B1%E5%88%8A%E5%B0%91%E5%B9%B4%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%97%E7%B7%A8%E9%9B%86%E9%83%A8/dp/4088740904/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b. Retrieved September 24, 2008. 
  59. ↑ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, September 10–16". Anime News Network. September 20, 2008. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-09-20/japanese-animation-dvd-ranking-september-10-16. Retrieved October 11, 2008. 
  60. ↑ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, August 6–12". Anime News Network. August 14, 2008. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-08-14/japanese-animation-dvd-ranking-august-6-12. Retrieved October 11, 2008. 
  61. ↑ "1000人が選んだ！漫画史上“最強”キャラクターランキング！" (in Japanese). http://rn-cdn.oricon.co.jp/news/ranking/45750/#rk. Retrieved October 28, 2007. 
  62. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Uzumaki: the Art of Naruto. Viz Media. pp. 138–139. ISBN 1-4215-1407-9. 
  63. ↑ One Piece Color Walk - Vol.1 - Interview with Eiichiro Oda and Akira Toriyama ((JP) ISBN 978-4-08-859217-6)
  64. ↑ "Japan's Favorite TV Anime". Anime News Network. October 13, 2006. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2006-10-13/japan's-favorite-tv-anime. Retrieved July 9, 2008. 
  65. ↑ "Japanese Anime TV Ranking, March 30-April 5". Anime News Network. April 13, 2009. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-04-13/japanese-anime-tv-ranking-march-30-april-5. Retrieved April 29, 2009. 
  66. ↑ "Japanese Anime TV Ranking, April 6–12". Anime News Network. April 16, 2009. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-04-16/japanese-anime-tv-ranking-april-6-12. Retrieved April 29, 2009. 
  67. ↑ "Japanese Anime TV Ranking, April 13–19". Anime News Network. April 22, 2009. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-04-22/japanese-anime-tv-ranking-april-13-19. Retrieved April 29, 2009. 
  68. ↑ Khan, Ridwan (July 2003). "Dragon Ball Vol.1 review". Animefringe.com. http://www.animefringe.com/magazine/2003/07/reviews/08/. Retrieved September 27, 2008. 
  69. ↑ Divers, Allen (November 18, 2001). "Dragon Ball (manga) Graphic Novel vol 5". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/dragon-ball-gn-5. Retrieved September 27, 2008. 
  70. ↑ "Dragon Ball Volume 1 review". Rationalmagic.com. http://www.rationalmagic.com/Comics/DragonBall1.html. Retrieved October 3, 2008. 
  71. ↑ Thompson, Jason (April 8, 2009). "What is Dragon Ball?". Io9. http://io9.com/5201656/what-is-dragon-ball. Retrieved December 9, 2009. 
  72. ↑ "78. Dragon Ball Z". IGN. January 23, 2009. http://tv.ign.com/top-100-animated-tv-series/78.html. Retrieved September 5, 2009. 
  73. ↑ Jones, Tim. "Dragon Ball anime review". themanime.org. http://www.themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=565. Retrieved October 3, 2008. 
  74. ↑ Ross, Carlos. "Dragon Ball Z anime review". themanime.org. http://www.themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=245. Retrieved October 3, 2008. 
  75. ↑ "Literacy Identity Work: Playing to Learn with Popular Media" (PDF). http://www.coe.uga.edu/lle/faculty/alvermann/literacy.pdf. 
  76. ↑ Shepard, Chris. "The History of Trunks review". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/dbz-history-of-trunks-dvd. Retrieved October 3, 2008. 
  77. ↑ Harris, Jeffrey (November 12, 2007). "Dragon Ball GT — The Lost Episodes DVD Box Set Review". IGN. http://dvd.ign.com/articles/834/834547p1.html. Retrieved October 3, 2008. 
  78. ↑ Bertschy, Zac (June 6, 2004). "Dragon Ball GT DVD 8: Salvation". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/dragon-ball-gt/dvd-8. Retrieved October 4, 2008. 

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