Dragon Ball

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This is about the Dragon Ball manga series. For the microprocessor used in Palm Pilot PDAs, see Freescale DragonBall.

Image:DB Tankoubon.jpg Template:Nihongo is a Japanese manga by Akira Toriyama serialized in the weekly anthology magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump, from 1984 to 1995 and originally collected into 42 individual books called Tankōbon. In 2004, the manga was re-released in a 34 volume collection (called Kanzenban) which included a slightly rewritten ending, all new original covers, and original color artwork from its Weekly Jump run.

In the US, the manga was first released as two American-style comic books: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z starting in 2000 (the split corresponds to the two different anime series, though the original Japanese manga does not distinguish between them). This style of release was unsuccessful due to its large size and expensive cost ($2.95 for an issue of 2, and later 3, chapters), and both series were cancelled in 2002. The Dragon Ball Z manga was transitioned into a launch title for the new US edition of the Shonen Jump anthology, starting in January 2003. In parallel to these releases, VIZ Media is in the process of releasing the 42 volumes (nearly matching the first Japanese set) in English. Viz titles the second part of the manga Dragon Ball Z to reduce confusion for North American audiences.

The story of Dragon Ball follows the life of Son Gokū, a monkey-tailed boy loosely based on the traditional Chinese folk tale Journey to the West (西遊記), from his life and adventures as a child all the way up to being a grandfather. During his life, he fights many battles and eventually becomes (arguably) the strongest martial artist in the universe. He is not without help, however: the comic boasts a large ensemble cast of martial artist heroes and villains which provide the conflict that drives the story.

The eponymous Dragon Balls are one component of the universe, but are not the focus of most of the plot lines of the title. The Dragon Balls themselves are seven magical spheres which are scattered across the world. When assembled together, they can be used to summon the dragon Shenlong who will grant one wish (within limits). After the wish is granted, the balls are scattered again across the landscape and become inert for a year. In times past, it would take generations to search the world and gather the balls. In the beginning of the story however, a 16 year old genius girl named Bulma has created a "Dragon Radar" to detect the balls and making the process far easier than it was intended to be. Image:DRAGON BALL.png

Contents

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Evolution

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Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story of Dragon Ball unfolded gradually over 11 years of publication. During those years, the tone and the style of the stories gradually changed to reflect the tastes of the readers and the editors of Japanese Shōnen Jump.

The earlier volumes of the manga (volumes 1-11) are primarily humorous fantasy stories, but containing some minor sci-fi elements. Notable fantasy elements include not only the monkey boy Gokū and the balls themselves, but also many talking animal characters, unlikely martial arts techniques, and characters identified as gods and demons. Despite the fantasy elements, the world does contain advanced technology including space-saving capsules which are pocket sized but can expand into almost any object, flying cars, and similar "near future" trappings. The overall mood of the earlier volumes is light with very few deaths and an emphasis on adventure and humor.

A subtle but significant change in mood began after Gokū 's best friend Kuririn was killed. This began the Piccolo Daimaō saga (volumes 12-17) in which the manga enters a darker tone compared to its earlier volumes.

Dragon Ball fully transformed into an action based shonen manga at the onset of the Saiyan saga (volumes 17-20). Starting with introduction of Gokū 's first son, things begin to take a much more serious and harder sci-fi approach. Many of the characters which previously had fantasy origins (Gokū, Piccolo, etc.) are recast as aliens from other planets. Space travel, alien threats, and powerful cyborgs & androids take center stage instead of more fantastic villains.

After the defeat of Vegeta and the conclusion of the Saiyan saga, the survivors of the vicious Saiyan assault head off to the Planet Namek to resurrect their friends who were killed by the Saiyans. This begins the Freeza saga (volumes 21-28). The Freeza saga is noteworthy for introducing the first Super Saiyan, now a staple of the series. It also set the tone for more and more awesomely powerful characters. For example, the antagonist Freeza has a "power level" (the series' futuristic measure of a fighter's speed and strength, i.e. one average human is listed as 5) of 530,000. He then transforms into a more powerful fighter, at which point his power level is over a million. After two subsequent transformations, he reveals that he is still at only 33% of his "full power."

The Cell Saga (volumes 29-35) introduced the Jinzō'ningen, a mysterious Saiyan called Trunks, and the enigmatic Cell. It was between this series and the last series that creator Akira Toriyama stopped measuring characters' power levels in the stories, deciding that it limited the stories.

The Majin Buu saga (volumes 36-42) is the last arc of Dragon Ball manga. The Majin Buu saga features more of the humor and fantastic plot elements that were present in the very early volumes of the manga.

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Recurring themes

For all its martial arts bravado, the story of Dragon Ball centers primarily around a theme of redemption, generally through exposure to the "pure" ideals of Son Gokū and Son Gohan. Nearly every major character in the manga entered the series as a villain but was, through one method or another, converted to the side of good (often, this would entail a temporary team up to defeat a greater foe, but somehow the former enemies rarely found the motivation to begin fighting again). This theme was evident from the beginning (with the conversion of Yamcha, Oolong, and Pu-erh) and continued even to the last saga (with the exception of Buu). This style of redemption is not unique to Dragon Ball (it is often seen even in American comic books), but it is significant that it persisted even through other major shifts in style and tone.

Dragon Ball is also significant in its theme of self-improvement and piety. Throughout the series, the protagonists never cease in their martial arts training. Son Gokū remains the strongest martial artist through most of the series, and he trains for no other reason than for self-improvement. Furthermore, the downfall of most of the antagonists is their own self-importance—their belief that because of their power, they are untouchable.

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Censorship

As previously mentioned, the Dragon Ball manga is published as both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z in American editions. Originally, both of these releases were censored for nudity and some graphic content. By the end of 2004, all Dragon Ball manga had been released almost completely uncensored (Mr. Popo's lips were removed), including rereleases of the previously censored volumes 1 through 3. However as of 2006 Viz has gone back and censored the Dragon Ball manga again, most of the nudity was removed. The Dragon Ball Z manga remains censored (Mr. Satan's name is changed to Hercule and nudity is removed) although many volumes (prior to volume 17) are technically uncensored since they did not contain any objectionable material.

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Relation to the anime

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Both Dragon Ball (DB) and Dragon Ball Z (DBZ) anime are based on the same original Dragon Ball manga. DB follows Gokū 's adventures as a 12 year old up to his marriage as an 18 year old-- roughly the sagas that had the most fantasy and humor elements. DBZ takes up the story 5 years after DB leaves off, with the introduction of Gokū 's young son and the arrival of a new, more powerful foe. Dragon Ball GT is the sequel to DBZ but is not based on any manga (unlike Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, Akira Toriyama was not directly involved with the production of Dragon Ball GT, though he did create many of the character designs and a few of the plot ideas in the series).

There are additional differences between the US edition of the manga and the US edition of the anime, but those are primarily due to differences in translation. For example, the character of "Lunch" in the manga is retranslated as "Launch" in the anime. Similarly, the names of " Gokū " and "Gohan" lack the family name "Son" in the anime. In general, the translation of the manga is considered to be a closer translation than that of the anime, as factors such as mouth movement are not taken into consideration.

The "Z" in Dragon Ball Z is rumored to have many meanings. The official meaning, as stated by the author, is that the letter was chosen because it was at the end of the alphabet, echoing Toriyama's desire that the series soon end. Other, fan-given "Z" theories include the naming of the ensemble group of main characters as the "Z Warriors" or "Z Fighters" in episode titles and promotional materials (they are never referred to that way in the original anime itself) or based on the "Detekoi Tobikiri ZENKAI Power!" theme song in the ending credits. Another interpretation is that Toriyama hand-wrote its title as Dragon Ball 2 and somebody misread the figure 2 as a Z. It is notable that the "Z" of Dragon Ball Z is written as "Zeto" in the katakana title and also pronounced "Zed" in the Japanese opening, WE GOTTA POWER.

Throughout most of the writing of the manga, the anime was being written and produced just behind the point where the manga was being concurrently published. While this led to getting the episodes released rapidly, the pacing resulted in a large amount of "filler" material needing to be added to the anime to flesh out the episodes to keep them from catching up. There are many instances in the anime where back-story which was filled in by the anime writers was directly contradicted by backstory written later in the manga. In a very small number of cases however, the inverse was true: backstory added in the anime was accepted in the manga. Most notably, the character of Bardock (Gokū 's father) was originally an anime-creation.

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Relation to Journey to the West

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There are many parallels between Journey to the West and Dragon Ball.

  • In the original story, the priest, Xuanzang and his company search for the legendary Buddhist scriptures in the West. In Dragon Ball, Bulma and her company search for the legendary dragon balls.
  • The equivalent to Sun Wukong of the original texts is Son Gokū in Dragon Ball.
  • The equivalent to Xuanzang of the original texts is Bulma in Dragon Ball (though later, it can be argued to be the role of Kuririn).
  • The equivalent to Zhu Wuneng of the original texts is Oolong in Dragon Ball.
  • The equivalent to Sha Wujing of the original texts is Yamcha in Dragon Ball
  • The equivalent to Niu Mo Wang of the original texts is Gyūmaō in Dragon Ball.

Some ideas from Journey to the West are borrowed later in the series.

  • Son Gokū's Nyoi-bō (known as the Power Pole in the USA) comes from Sun Wukong's magic staff that can change to any size anytime he sees fit.
  • Gokū finds himself in a place reminiscent of the pillars of Buddha’s palm, the location which Sun Wukong's rampage was finally put to an end.
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Influence on other series

The Dragon Ball trilogy is so popular that it has been parodied frequently in recent times. Here are some examples.

  • In the Sonic the Hedgehog series, there are arguably a few references to Dragon Ball. Both the Chaos Emeralds and Super Sonic are nods to Toriyama's work. The Dragon Radar also appeared in the game Sonic Riders.
  • In the anime Excel Saga, Nabeshin teaches Pedro and Sandora to reach a certain powerful afro level, similar to the level of Super Saiyan in Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT. They also must use a technique called the Nabehameha, a direct parody of Muten Rōshi's Kamehameha. Near the show's end Pedro and Sandora engage in a beam struggle with the nefarious leader of ACROSS That Man (ala Gohan vs. Cell).
  • In the manga Eyeshield 21, Yukimitsu performs the Taiyō-ken while dressed as Tenshinhan.
  • In the OVA Puni Puni Poemy, Poemy is shown with a collection of Dragon Balls.
  • In the manga Yu-Gi-Oh!, the main character, Yūgi Mutō, relates the Millennium Puzzle's power to the wishes granted by the Dragon Balls. Also, in the anime version, there is a Dragon Ball shown on a poster.
  • In the anime Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Sasshi fights in a martial arts match while dressed as Bruce Lee, and near the end, transforms to a Super Saiyan and performs the Kamehameha.
  • In Masakazu Katsura's manga DNA², the main character can turn into a Super Saiyan-like state, gaining golden hair and the ability to use special abilities. Many people consider this to be a plagiarism of DBZ, but it was actually suggested to Katsura by Toriyama himself.
  • In an episode of the animated show The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Mandy eats a "Chicken Ball" which makes her transform into a Super Saiyan-like form.
  • In the anime Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, the hero Goemon (after finishing a certain training) goes to the "Sudden Impact" state, in which his hair grows bigger and its color becomes yellow.
  • The manga series Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo has many references to Dragon Ball, including a one-off chapter making a parody of it. It had Jelly Jiggler (Tokoro Tennosuke) and Don Patch/Poppa Rocks recreating the first battle between Son Gokū and Vegeta respectively, but the order and development were dissimilar.
  • In another chapter of Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, while facing Kanemaru, Bo-bobo states something about a high wind air-pressure technique; it turns out that Bo-bobo had a picture board of Kuririn, Gokū, and Piccolo with Dragon Balls spread over the board.
  • Masashi Kishimoto states in his manga Naruto that he was influenced by Toriyama. Kishimoto included a picture of Arale he drew in elementary school. This can also be seen in the fact that the title character wears an orange gi (martial arts robe) similar to Gokū 's. Also, in one volume of the manga, a mask resembling the face of Chaozu can be seen in the background.
  • Eiichiro Oda, the author of the manga One Piece, stated in an interview that he was a big fan of Dragon Ball. He stated that it was Toriyama that influenced him and that he holds Dragon Ball in high esteem. Toriyama in turn is a self-professed fan of One Piece, which he was introduced to by his children. Many similarities to Dragon Ball can be seen in One Piece, especially the similarity between Goku and Luffy.
  • In the cartoon show Codename: Kids Next Door, Number 4 relates his fight with the Delightful Children from Down the Lane to Gokū's fight with Freeza in a flashback.
  • The Fairly OddParents TV movie Channel Chasers featured a fictional anime series parodying Dragon Ball. The series was called Maho Mushi (roughly translating to Magical Insect), and featured a Tenka-ichi Budōkai-like tournament; even the announcer was similar to the one in Dragon Ball. Also, the character drawing style was a direct reference to Toriyama's early style. Timmy wears a white gi similar to Gokū's orange gi, while Vicky wears a black cape with shoulder protection, not unlike Piccolo's. Also, Cosmo accidentally released two Kamehameha-style attacks from his hands.
  • In the anime School Rumble, an episode had Harima turn Super Saiyan in a manga he was writing. He was fighting Karasuma in a DBZ-like fight. He had recently found out that Tenma liked Karasuma, so he vented his feelings in manga format.
  • In the manga Battle Royale, martial-artist Hiroki Sugimura mentions Dragon Ball Z during his fight with Kazuo Kiriyama. The mentioning of the series stemmed from a conversation Sugimura had with his love interest about the subject of ki. In Battle Royale, however, ki is held to be a state of mind, rather than an internal source of physical strength.
  • In the manga Yakitate!! Japan, Ryo Kuroyanagi turns into Super Kuroyanagi after tasting a Super Toro Aburi bread. He then yells Hagehageha (hage = bald) to Kyousuke Kawachi who used to be bald. Super Kuroyanagi evolves one step further into Super Kuroyanagi Two and Three after tasting Kazuma Azuma's bread, Urchin Chawanmushi Bread.
  • In the movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Eric Cartman can shoot fire from his hands by swearing. He also spawns a golden glow and his hair stands up.
  • Ben Dunn and Robert DeJesus have parodied Dragonball numerous times in the Ninja High School comics, the most blatant was called PenguinBall.
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See also

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External links

Japan

U.S.

Canada

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