Dragon Ball

(just for the record, this is a mixing of my anime reviews about it)

The creator Akira Toriyama had just finished his Doctor Slump slapstick comedy and decided to make a more action-oriented show. Dragon Ball was the result and although it began as a slapstick comedy, it progressively dropped the comedy in favor of the battles. I guess he got affected too much by the trend of Saint Seiya and slowly went for that field.

The series began with a very magical atmosphere, reminiscent of ancient China. After a dozen chapters, the ancient China motif gives place to a more sci-fi world, were houses fit into portable capsules, huge monsters roam free in the wild and anthropomorphic animals coexist with humans. It is quite a wacky representation with little sense but with extreme originality and humor. Makes a fine JRPG world.

At first, it took me some time to get used to the characters’ chibi looks, as they looked extremely short and cartoonish. But their semi-funny, semi-battle frenzied attitudes make them bearable to watch. Later on, it is a bit annoying when it comes to character variety as most characters are just slight modifications of one another. A small change in the hair and in the cloths and they are presented as a different person. Especially the Super Saiyans, it gets hard to tell who is who after a while. The artwork is otherwise very good for its time, with dynamic and lively motions.

The dialogues tend not to be any smarter than the phrases “I’m going to beat you!” and “Are you looking at my panties?”. So, if you are looking for sophisticated talking, look elsewhere. Sure, there are some very classic shonen phrases in here that fit the genre just fine but then again prefer the smarter way Full Metal Alchemist uses, so I am torn between liking them for being stereotypically cheesy and just being plain silly. I guess the slapstick and the constant wordplays and teasing work fine for its kind but I’m not going to lose my mind over them.

The story began as a slapstick version of the most famous Chinese fairy tale, Journey to the West. Most elements and characters in the story are in fact, comical representations of those in the fairy tale. But the similarities become fewer and fewer as the story progresses and later on it reminds you of other famous stories, such as Superman or the Terminator (where again most elements and characters are comical representations of American superhero comic books). The scenario is about a strong boy, named Son Goku, looking for magical spheres that grant wishes, taking part in martial art tournaments and fighting evil people/demons/aliens that want to rule the world (and later on the galaxy).

Although the general story is quite simple, it is presented in a non-predictable way. There are various mysteries and some side stories that easily make you forget its predictability. And things get very complicated and atmospheric towards the end that really makes the general shallowness of the story a trivial thing. So yeah, I liked the story despite its simplicity. The world definitely isn’t detailed or realistic but it is still one of the most distinguished worlds, ever made into anime. Some silly explanations from time to time give a simple meaning to all the wackiness. Still, the general story:
-Undermines the gravity of pain and death to ridiculous levels. No matter how much someone is injured, he can easily be completely healed, without permanent damage or even scars. No matter how many die, they can easily be resurrected. And always only the good people return to life, while the bad remain dead.
-Undermines the idea of the after life and of the gods. Heaven and Hell are amusement parks and the gods are just strong creatures that even mortals can surpass in power.
-Has no realism in terms of empowerment. It makes no sense how someone can get a million times stronger in a few months, while others needed eons to do the same. Or it is quite stupid to always see someone getting stronger at the gravest moment and save the day in a Deus Ex Machina way.
-Pays no attention to the laws of physics. Energy beams that explode on air, cause dust even when they didn’t hit anything. A mountain or a moon or a planet that blows up has no effects on the surroundings (not much debris, gravity alteration or planet trajectory/axis mix up). Time travel does not cause time paradoxes. Faster than light speeds don’t increase the temperature of those running.
-Recycles the illusion of empowerment by continuously weakening the explosions. An energy beam that could destroy a planet on one arc, can blow a mountain at best on the next. The newest trick that could surpass any difficulty on one ark is completely useless and forgotten on the next.

Plus, the general story becomes more and more grand-scaled (and thus more interesting), as it progresses.
-The first villain, Emperor Pilaf, is a useless idiot who wants to rule the world. If he succeeds, the world will be at the mercy of a hapless asshole but nothing more.
-The second villain, General Black, is also an idiot but a heartless killer as well. If he succeeds, the world will be at the mercy of a hapless asshole in command of a merciless army of assassins. That’s much more serious.
-The third villain, Lord Piccolo, is a serious and very powerful demon. If he succeeds, the world will become a hellish place, at the mercy of demons that don’t care about life and justice. That’s even more serious!
-The fourth villain, prince Vejita, is the strongest Saiyan warrior in the universe who wants to become immortal and spend his eternity by fighting and killing every single person on every planet he goes to. If he succeeds, the universe will be at the mercy of an immortal battle-loving powerful warrior. There is also some drama on the parts of Goku who has to fight against his own kind, Gohan who has to fight against his will and Picollo who is forced to team up with the good guys and starts to like them.
-The fifth villain, emperor Frieza, is the strongest alien in the universe who wants to become immortal and spend his eternity ruling the universe in terror and destruction. If he succeeds, the universe will be at the mercy of an immortal heartless monster. There is also more drama on the parts of Vejita and Picollo who want to avenge the death of their races at the hands of Frieza.
-The sixth villain, Perfect Cell, is the strongest artificial creature of the future that wants to become perfect and spend his eternity destroying the universe. If he succeeds, the universe will be just destroyed. There is also more drama on the parts of Trunks who wants to change the grim future and the androids that want freedom and not be used only as weapons.
-The seventh villain, Majin Boo, is the strongest Jennie/God of Destruction. He is already the most powerful and if he is left alone, the universe will be destroyed in a few days. There is some drama on the parts of Vejita who has to decide if he will return to his evil self and Kaioshin who is afraid of the massacre Boo did to his people.

The upscale in interest works just fine, although the resolution to every arc is quite convenient. It may look cool at first but if you look closer you realize it has lots of plot armor in it, which eventually make it look bad in a way. There is conclusion but every time it is like that of a fairy tale, with the villains beaten and the good guys saved or resurrected. Because as Saint Seiya taught, you must never permanently kill your characters if you are to milk the kid audience for decades.

But the cast is definitely more interesting and colorful than that of Saint Seiya. Some men are funny, some are dramatic, and some are scary. But the thing they all have in common is that they all solve their problems with violence. Is something wrong in your life? Just kick the shit out of it and it’s solved! Expected in fighting shonen but this anime makes sure to even make fun with the premise. I mean Goku will challenge people to a fight even when there is no reason to it and the opponents are hardly strong. It’s not like the series doesn’t leave the option of diplomacy open… It simply never uses it.

Women are treated purely as fan service. You won’t find any good female fighters in it. Bulma, Lunch and Chichi are a bunch of brainless lolitas that exist just for to undress and make sexual jokes about boobs and marriage. Toriyama is a phalocratic bastard! It is yet another staple of shonen which holds true even today and it is fine for the target audience. I mean, who would cheer a girl or want to be like one if it’s a 100% male oriented show? But it’s true that a few token female warriors would be nice just to break the monotony.

In general, all the characters have a strong presence in the series (usually funny). Son Goku and Vejita are amongst the most distinctive fighting shounen characters, the Turtle hermit one of the most famous sleazy old men and Shen Long the most renowned Chinese dragon. All the character’s names are based either on the original fairy tale (Son Goku) or some cultural (Oolong) or fetish (Bulma) object. It is very funny to look for the meaning and origin of each one’s name. Their personalities are simply either comical or battle frenzied, making them quite repetitive so you almost feel like the series has only two characters that change cloths all the time. Still, they are two quite distinctive characters.

They all have their simple backdrop stories (just enough to excuse their existence in the story) and practically zero character development. No one really matures; just gets older and/or stronger. And always fights! No one tries to reason with his enemies; he just fights them. No one tries to trick his enemies with cunningness; he just gets stronger and fights them. This again sounds typical of shonen but it is true that Saint Seiya had given far more attention to backdrop stories and even the development of each major character would be triggered by an important event. There is no such thing in Dragonball as everybody is practically goofing around and just trains to get stronger.

I admit the Dragonball bunch has a lot more vividness and quirks to remember them more fondly. It is very cool to see them getting taller, breast-enlarged or stronger but it is also quite disappointing to see them acting the same way, no matter how many years pass and regardless of how many hardships they face. If some become a bit more mature, it is only after they lose to Son Goku. They were interesting antagonists up to the point they rival him; but after their defeat, they change to stunts and uninteresting underlings (such was the case with Yamcha, Krilin, Chaosu and Tien). Which feels poor to say the least. Vejita is an exception, as he can’t decide if he wants to be a good guy or a bad guy. He is by far the best character (although he is also quite shallow as a complete personality).

The series has a way of measurement, called Battle Power to determine someone’s strength. This made many to believe that characters mature and get stronger in a logical way and that they are different just because their strength is different. But in fact, the Battle Power is a stupid excuse to give just to know beforehand who is the strongest. And no matter how strong someone becomes, he is the same battle-frenzied idiot he was before. He doesn’t get wiser or smarter.

Anyway, it makes little sense as the characters raise their strength ridiculously fast. And since the strongest person in one episode mysteriously becomes weaker on the next, you can’t make a solid assumption of what can someone do with a given amount of power. For example, Frieza could easily destroy a planet with a Battle Power of 500.000. But even when he maxed out at 12 million, he could just blow a mountain at best. It’s a mockery of the reader’s intelligence. And it’s stupid to think that only power is the statistic that matters in battles. What about intelligence, wisdom, and cunningness?

It seems to be a rather bad legacy this show left to the following shonen, who in an attempt to mimic the glory would also opt for goofy characters and simplistic backdrops. Damn, looks like the subtle formula Hokuto no Ken began with faded even more and got replaced with a bunch of hapless idiots.

My enjoyment equals the percentage of the worthy arcs. I personally have the following remarks about the flow of the story.
-The first arc is pure slapstick/erotic comedy, with some cool explosions here and there. Not very funny or imposing but definitely bearable and worthy.
-The second was the same but also had a lot of martial art fighting that made it more interesting.
-The third was to the most part boring, as Goku feels like Rambo while protecting innocent people from the Red Ribbon Army of terrorists. Not much of story or battles. There was a cameo appearance of the Doctor Slump characters here, but who cares. It gets quite awesome only towards the end where Goku fights the extremely ruthless Tao Pai Pai (the first cool villain in the series who kills people in VERY cruel ways) and then storms the Red Ribbon Army base.
-The fourth was boring, as I didn’t found interesting the ghost tournament, or Tien Shin Han’s quest for revenge. And the battles were quite stale.
-The fifth was great all the way, as Piccolo appears, kills people by the HUNDREDS, mountains start blowing up, characters change and mysteries are solved. Very action-based, violent and cool.
Thus in overall I half-liked it.
-The sixth (Saiyan Saga) was small and solid. Very good as a whole. The chapters where everyone trains were generally boring. Gohan’s training was dramatic enough but it simply lasted too long.
-The seventh (Namek Saga) was solid but unnecessary long. Very atmospheric as a whole but with a lot of dead time. The chapters where the heroes go to Namek were boring. And the battle with Frieza could easily be done in half the pages.
-The eighth (Cell Saga) was unnecessary long. Very mysterious as a whole but with a lot of dead time. The battle with the androids could easily be done in half the pages.
-The ninth (Boo Saga) was unnecessary long. Very flashy as a whole but with a lot of silly ideas and dead time. The battle with Boo could easily be done in half the pages.

But hey, it’s the series that hooked millions of people to shonen. It has memorable characters and a distinctive world and it’s not afraid to fool around for dozens of chapters before the actual story kicks in. After all back then the competition was almost zero yet it is still better than most modern shonen since it never lost its passion; like let’s say Naruto or Bleach. Or at least it didn’t up until GT came to be (although it is not canon). I still consider One Piece the only superior descendant of the formula it left behind, which for a 25 year old shonen, that means a lot.

SUGGESTION LIST
Famous Shounen to choose from:
Saint Seiya
Bleach
Fist Of The North Star
Naruto
One Piece

If you like Akira Toriyama’s style of animation, look for the series Doctor Slump and Blue Dragon as well as games such as the Dragon Quest series and Chrono Trigger.

And let’s not forget Journey to the West, the fairy tale Dragon Ball was based upon.

The DB anime adaptation was the first piece of Japanese animation I ever saw back in the 90s, so I felt it fitting to make it the manga I first read all the way through.

It's aged better than both DB and DBZ anime with no old animation and dodgy voice acting with Toriyama's art still looking good and the manga moves at a much better pace without fillers and dragging the fights out. It's one of the better shounen series (better than most modern ones) with great character designs and fighting techniques. One of the things I like most about DB was how it gradually changed from a gag manga into an action fantasy comedy and then into a serious sci-fi action series.

If DG had ended at the Namek arc I would probably bump it up to an 8/10 or 9/10 but the Cell arc jumps the shark and brings the quality down with constant asspulls, characters becoming flanderized, fights being purely about power with no strategy involved, non-saiyan characters becoming irrelevant, the super saiyan which was supposed to be a once in millennia legend becoming a normal power up for every fighter etc It's just filled with those annoying problems that arise in shounen when the mangaka runs out of ideas.

Anyway, the two weak arcs at the end don't ruin the rest of Dragon Ball, and it's better than most of the modern fighting shounen that copy it. I think it's a series everyone should read once because of how iconic and influential it became.

I never watched the Dragon Ball or Dragon Ball Z anime, besides clips. I have heard about all the nostalgia that many people have, but I read this manga for the first time not too long ago. But from anime clips that I have seen, the anime seems to be much slower. The manga is much faster paced, and this really helps the manga.

Story: 7

The story is about a boy who searches for the Dragon Balls, while fighting many villains and organizations. He meets different characters and grows up over the course of the manga. The story isn't very deep, but many say that it founded modern Shounen. It is still a fun story, starting as a comedy series, but becoming an intense action series, with many battles.

Art: 8

The art isn't as detailed as some other manga, but it doesn't have to be. The action scenes and general layout of the pages is outstanding. It is very easy to read and understand what is going on. It also has a very unique art style.

Characters: 9

The characters can range from silly and comedic, to pure evil. They are all unique and have memorable designs. But the villains tend to be evil for not much reason.

Enjoyment: 8

The amazing characters and easy to read action sequences lead to a very fun manga, although it doesn't have a more interesting story.

Overall: 8

I think this manga is a good starter manga, and for those who just want some action and fun characters.

When reading dragon ball, it feel's like you're bearing witness to the grandfather of modern manga. The art work at times still feels fresh, and the comedy involved (especially with bulma and the turtle geezer) is still very funny. Part of me wished that dragonball Z (and beyond) had continued on with the adventuring elements found in dragonball, but, regardless of what dragon ball seemingly devolved into over time, the original is an adventure tale full of surprises and fun moments.

Honestly, it feels like one piece before one piece was a thing. This is a must read for all manga readers, and not just fans of dragon ball Z and the later battle arcs.

Be warned, there may be spoilers in my review.

As a whole, Dragon Ball is not a well-written series. The second half of the series is not nearly as enjoyable as the first half. At first, the series had cheeky humor, creative combat, memorable characters, and a unique setting.

That being said, I will admit, I was annoyed by a few things. For one, I would have liked to get to know the characters other than Goku more by actually seeing what their lives were like while Goku was off adventuring without them. I also did not care for the fact that Goku received a random powerup despite being taught by the same person who gave him said powerup that he did not need it as long as he worked hard.

Another thing, I think that it was a bad choice to have several characters be brought back to life. Since Goku was forced to come to terms with the fact that his grandfather was dead, it would have made more sense if he had to do the same with the deaths of his friends.

Anyway, my main grievance with this series is that it becomes unbearable after the infamous second time skip. The series lost everything that made it enjoyable in the first place; the humor was gone, the fan favorite characters were pushed to the sidelines, and the fights became grossly drawn-out. I had almost zero interest in the plot as well. Since the stakes became so high, the outcomes became horribly predictable.

In conclusion, this series should have ended at the sixteenth volume. Toriyama was not properly equipped to handle writing a "serious" work. In other words, he should have stuck with comedy.

Dragon Ball is my childhood favorite. It tells a story of a child named Goku and his adventure with friends to find the 7 magical dragon balls so their wishes can be granted. Unlike other people, Goku isn't human. He is from an alien planet and is a Saiyan. Thus, he is incredibly strong and is a genius at fighting. I enjoyed this manga/anime so much because the author Akira Toriyama is a master at creating storyboards. He is able to tell the story in great details with just a couple scenes of drawing. In my opinion, fighting scenes are the hardest to draw because the artists need to use manga to show smooth and natural movements. Akira did some of the best jobs I've seen at drawing fight scenes. Moreover, the story world is extremely interesting. With magical creatures and villains that have interesting backgrounds, everyone characters in Dragon Ball is lovable. Don't get scared away by Dragon Ball's 520 chapters of story because you are going to find yourself getting more and more into the plot as you read. If you haven't checked this world famous manga out, you should do it soon!

No, it's not the first shonen as is commonly mis-worded, but it set the template for the golden era of shonen with modern classics like Naruto and One Piece crediting it as an influence. It is for that reason everyone should at least give Dragon Ball a shot. As someone who loved the anime, I find the manga to be better. Anyone skeptical of the stereotype that it's just buff dudes yelling to get stronger should especially read the manga because it doesn't have that drawn out nonsense. It is fast-paced, fun for any age, and memorable. Across the ten main storylines, my favorites would be the: Android saga, Namek saga, Red Ribbon saga, Piccolo saga, and the Saiyan saga. The world-building is off the charts. Even the afterlife has its own unique system. It packs just about everything in a natural way that somehow made sense; monsters, dinosaurs, martial arts, aliens, planets, robots, swashbuckling adventures, and wizards. It is Japan's answer to Star Wars. You can't possibly list every main character in one review or sentence because there is a lot to follow. Some were eventually pushed aside and could've had more justice in the end, and the plot does have its holes, but it's easy to overlook when you have this much fun reading. Is Dragon Ball the greatest manga/anime? No, but influenced the greatests and is still definitely up there in the top-tier in its own right.

I read and enjoyed the first 3 volumes of Dragonball. Although it was a bit on the longer side, it didn’t feel like it because it was very engaging. As a shounen manga, I expected nudity and sexual jokes, however, it went far beyond my expectations. I was a bit uncomfortable reading many of the jokes involving Bulma, a young girl, and the Turtle Hermit, an old man, as most of them centered around Bulma doing low level sexual acts such as flashing him. It almost seemed to normalize pedophiles, although I know that was not the intent. I enjoyed the book, but I don’t think I can truly recommend it to its target audience of young teenage men, who are very impressionable. Additionally, Bulma, who came to be my favorite character, had an increasingly less representation in the book. This is also likely due to Dragonball being a shounen manga, meaning I am just not a part of the target audience that the book is meant to appeal to. Overall, I still think it is a quality and enjoyable book, but I would primarily recommend it to slightly older teenage boys because of the mature content.

I would like to preface this by stating this will be my first review of many to come. I decided to choose Dragon Ball because it is a series near and dear to me as is with thousands, tens of thousands, yet probably more. With that said, let's take a look at one of the most celebrated works of art in manga, and the artistic world as a whole.

NOTE: For the sake of being fair to the series, I am ignoring Super for the time being. This is strictly Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z

If you lived in the 90s, chances are you have tried to fire off a Kamehameha wave at least once and likely to no avail. This isn't to call up one of the over-done "90s kids cliches", but there is no other way to call how influential and defining the Dragon Ball franchise was for an entire generation.

You may be looking at the ratings and raising an eyebrow at the numbers, but let's look at this franchise objectively. The story is the series weakest point. Even for it's time it hits all of the formulaic beats that is expected for a 'battle' manga, not to mention it's riddled with numerous deus ex machina plot points that only get more and more exaggerated as time goes on. It's most egregious offense is that there is simultaneously a great importance placed on power levels and strength that mean nothing after a single tide-turning event that is dubious at best. There is nothing that is inherently offensive, but when you look at it objectively the story is average at best. Imagine if the story continued with the same tone is had during the first few volumes in Dragon Ball.

Are you doing all right? Calmed down? It's difficult to hear something negative about Dragon Ball, but let's keep our composure. It gets better.

Despite having a weak story, Dragon Ball is still carried by its genius art style by Akira Toriyama and the diverse and interesting characters. Now, let's get this out in the open. Every character exhibits standard Akira Toriyama face structure. Take away the character frame, clothes, and hair, there are only three faces left; male, female, and animal. To compensate for this, every character is fully fleshed out with immediately identifiable features and personalities to distinguish themselves.

The beautiful art does not end solely on the characters. The battles and action scenes are fully fleshed out in the highest of detail. Every scene perfectly conveys the intensity and emotion of the situation. Looking strictly at the manga, the true impressiveness comes from the panel layout. This is admittedly a very technical aspect of the process, but it is one of the most important arts that is not appreciated. Each panel expertly lends itself to the next making it incredibly easy to picture the scenes coming to life in your mind.

So the art is terrific and the story is mediocre. Where does the magic come from then? Why is this series so critically acclaimed and fondly remembered? The obvious answer is that it's largely nostalgia. This series exists inside the heart of many individuals and witnessing its greatness forces you to revert to when you were only the playground trying to go Super Saiyan. If it were just that it would fade into the annals of history like many others, but the reason it remains at the top is hard to describe, but the best way to explain it would be it is sincere and honest. Dragon Ball knows exactly what it is and what it wants to be. It is that charm that makes it so that new fans can easily come on board and the old fans are happy to relive it.

Dragon Ball is probably the most important manga to come out after the works of Osamu Tezuka. Just about every shounen ever written is still either trying to be Dragon Ball or trying to prove that it's "not like Dragon Ball". It's the first thing (okay, maybe the second, after Pokemon) that most non-anime fans picture when they hear the words "anime", "manga", or even "action cartoon".

It also has some of the most crisp, understandable, and beautiful linework of any manga ever created. It's easy to forget how difficult it is to tell what's going on in manga fights. Even genius artists like One Piece's Oda, Berserk's Miura, and Naruto's Kishimoto have a great deal of trouble making it 100% clear what exactly is going on in any given panel involving combat. Dragon Ball has no such issue. If someone told me they'd pay me a year's salary to find a single panel of Dragon Ball where "you can't even tell what's going on", I seriously doubt I would make that money.

The story is more fun than anybody remembers, and more sincere than it will ever get credit for. The characters are iconic to the point of becoming exaggerated parodies of themselves in my mind when I remember them. Their motivations and personalities are simple, their arcs are satisfying. Read them to realize they were more complex than you remember! Read them again to realize they're even simpler than you worried. Learn to love Goku's flickering from "courageous hero" to "probably a sociopath". Hate the villains! Love them even more. Get angry that Toriyama's throwaway one-fight characters are gone since they are often good enough to carry their own arcs (along with pretty much the entire cast of the pre-Saiyan Arc with the exceptions of Goku, Kuririn, Bulma [kind of], and Piccolo).

Why a 9 instead of a10? I decided this when I saw the "enjoyment" scale on MAL's charts and immediately remembered a slight hiccup in my read-through. The Freeza section felt slow! There's a section of it where Kuririn is the protagonist, and Kuririn has no personality after the OG Dragon Ball arcs. The Buu ending felt rushed! It felt like Toriyama wanted to make sure he got every last Dragon Ball "thing" in that ending, but he didn't decide that until five chapters before the finish line. The most stupidly subjective of all my reasons to dock an enjoyment-point however, would be that I believe that the replays on Toonami, the endless video games, Dragon Ball Kai, and the fates of all the characters involved makes it VERY difficult to appreciate the Saiyan saga with all sincerity. I saw that three times on tv! I've played it at least twelve times on at least eight different games. There are arguments to be made that it could be the strongest Dragon Ball arc, but I said I didn't seriously slow down when I read it, I would be a liar. However, if I docked more than one point off of this glorious manga for reasons of personal overexposure to ONE arc, I would be a hater.

One of the first manga I can remember reading. I loved watching the americanized version of this TV show after school on Cartoon Network. I was exposed to anime very young through my dad, but it wasn't until Dragonball and Dragonball Z that I found manga. For that reason Dragonball and Dragonball Z will always be important and unique for me.

Growing up I preferred DBZ, the villains looked cooler (although King Piccolo is a badass in Dragonball), and the anime was longer and full of more powerful characters. But looking back now, Dragonball is closer to my heart, and I appreciate it more as a manga. The battles seem more tactics oriented- rather than power level oriented as with DBZ. There is also an element of character progression for Goku that just isn't there to the same extent in DBZ. Dragonball was also my first exposure to tournaments in shounen- which are super awesome!

I love you Dragonball, and I love you Akira Toriyama!

Just saying, this is my first review. I have read lots of manga after reading this one but I'm saving my first review for the first manga i read. Dragonball introduced me to the world of manga. Considering the fact I'm a girl, I now prefer romantic manga, but even from a girls point of view, this is actually really good. The first series Dragonball is more comedy. The other 2 are both comedy and a bit more drama. It would have been nice to learned a bit more of the lives of further characters. This also made me cry for some reason at the end, which is kind of ridiculous. Anyway, this is a great manga whether you just started or already read hundreds of mangas. I also recomend watching the anime if you enjoy reading it because there is a further series only in anime called Dragonball GT.

A hilarious manga telling us the story of the life of Son Goku, one of the last members of his race.

This manga may be old, but it sure as hell deserves to be ranked as one of the greatest (if not the greatest) manga of all time. This manga is full of battles, adventures and the art improves over time. Read through many time skips to see the young Goku grow up to be a well respectably powerful man. I thoroughly enjoyed the manga to the point I pulled late nights just to read.

One thing I disliked about it was, there was always a stronger enemy. It got ridiculous.

The problem with dragonball is the main caracters is to classic and the story just keep repeating it self. They got some problems, then they find a new level so they can defeat the enimies. To bad the idea was great.

I have read the entire manga series, each chapter and word.
And I cannot say there was a single arc or page I did not fully enjoy
The comedy is great.
The action is great.
Although exaggerated and unbelievable, the characters are enjoyable and funny.
The art is spectacular.
Really there isn't much to say. Just read it.
I enjoyed it even more than Z
The story is of Son Goku, little weird kid with kickass power doing kickass things. He isn't the most enjoyable character, but the situations he's put in utilise the small amount of character he has to great effect.
The side characters are the best part of the manga. Yamcha is hilarious. Krillin is awesome to watch. Tenshinhan is just all round cool. Bulma is a character you love and hate at the same time. Kame-sama (Master Roshi) is always a wonder to read.
The villains are usually wacky and enjoyable, but not scary or a threat. However this changes with the final two arcs, which will not be spoiled, but they're better than any content DBZ has to offer.
It's just an all round great manga. Read it

Hello, this is my first review on MAL, and I thought I’d talk about one of the classics. I avoided watching the famous anime that literally everyone I ever knew personally watched just so I can experience it the same way that the Japanese first did in 1984- through the original manga. So let’s dive into it…

Well as for the art, it’s still great. Toriyama’s art is cartoony but rich in detail at the same time. It definitely holds up after over 30 years.

I love how the series is off-the-wall funny along with the fast pacing and the intensity of the battles. Yeah, I just called this manga “fast-paced”. The anime was notorious for many scenes where it would take several episodes for someone to launch a single attack. Well, in this it does take a few chapters to do and back when it came out in Japan they had to wait one week for each chapter. But nowadays, with the full series complete and able to be read through all in succession, there isn’t really a problem here.

Oh, and I also called the fights “intense”. Despite how goofy this series is, I found myself sweating in a lot of the combat scenes, especially in the classic Tenkaichi Budokai arcs. It was all invigorating stuff. All the way up to the end, I never thought the fights themselves were bad. Although I’d argue that’s the only constant “good” throughout the series. And now for my complaints...

I’m willing to argue that volumes 17-42 (sorry, I’m counting them by their actual volume number, not when Viz reset the counter and stuck a Z onto the end of it), which were the basis for the mammothly popular Dragon Ball Z that every kid in my generation other than me grew up with, are weaker than the previous 16 volumes.

Okay, first complaint: the characters. I liked pretty much everyone in the first 16 volumes (even Yamcha). I wasn’t emotionally attached to them like with the cast of One Piece or Boku no Hero, but I liked them enough to care. Most of them carry over to Z, but they might as well not have. Goku, and one other are the only returning characters who matter. EVERYONE ELSE is useless. Although the fights are still great by themselves, this aspect still bothered me to death.

My other big complaint is that I think the manga has overstayed its welcome. I think the series would’ve ended perfectly at the arc covered from volume 21 up to some point in volume 28. But it didn’t, and I honestly didn't care too much about whatever happened after that. It's not as bad as the final arc in Fairy Tail, but it's still pretty bad.

If this manga went on for any longer than volume 42, I would’ve probably stopped liking it, which is why I have no interest at all in Super. But nonetheless, the action and pacing stay solid for all 42 volumes, and I recommend that you read this because it’s better than the anime and it’s a classic that you should read at least for educational purposes.

I LUV this manga. I originally read the Dragon Ball Z half first and went back later to read the Dragon Ball half and I have to say that the first half had this child-like, playful tone to it compared to the more serious nature of Dragon Ball Z but I love how well it transitioned.

In the first half, it's seen virtually from the eyes of a really powerful kid as he travels around with friends he meets along the way in search of 7 ballls that grant 1 wish when gathered together. This kid is Goku and let me tell you, he's naive, he's oblivious, he's cocky, he's childish, and he's a bit of a show off, but all his flaws are what make him likable because time and again, he'll notice his flaws and overcome them as if they were a pebble in his shoe. He's so young and opitmistic that it's contageous and you can't help but root for him to get back up and keep trying. The other characters are a RIOT! Krillin, Roshi, Bulma, Lunch, gut-busting everytime and the motives or personalities of the villains are so petty (with the exception of the Picolo's) it's too much NOT to laugh. The art is simple but suitable and every once in a while, they'll throw in a 4th wall (panel) joke. The Dragon Ball half really captures it from the eyes of a kid and thet's refreshing every once in a while.

In the Z half, the tone gets more serious as Goku grows and matures but he still has that innocence about him. When new, more powerful, and far more serious villains show up, the lives of more innocent people are sacrificed and that number grew with each new villain. Even though you know they'd bring all them back with the Dragon Balls (which, by the way, have been reduced to a meeger plot device as the story progresses), the fact that they were up against people who could erase planets with a flick of the finger as opposed to King Picolo's destroy-one-city-anually plan, you were scared for them. Our favorite heroes fought honorably and died many times and you were TORN to see it. But what I love is that even though you could say there was a happy ending, there technically wasn't. It was happy but there seems to be no end as you see Goku fly of into another adventure as the Acknowledgements show up.

Overall, this was a good manga and for those just planning to read certain parts like I did, chapter 194 is the separater fyi. I may never get the chance to redo my childhood (as I am a 90's girl but missed out due to parental units eg. mother-censorship) and watch the anime but I'm glad I at least got to see the original in all it's glory.

Dragon Ball is renowned for being one of the most influential and popular manga of all time. At the same time, however, it's one of the most overrated, owing a lot of it's praise to nostalgia and Toriyama's hard working attitude at the time, rather than it's overall quality.

Story - 5/10

There's little to be said about the story that isn't already obvious. The first part of the story follows Son Goku's journeys as a child, but usually only Goku, with the other supporting characters such as Kuririn, Yamcha and Muten Roshi not doing much unless it's the Tenkaichi Budokai. In the 2nd part of the manga, otherwise known as DBZ, practically all the plot is told through battle. Whilst there are a few arcs that are mildly entertaining (Piccolo Daimao and Freeza Arcs) and a fair few that deviate from the story's repetitive structure ever so slightly (Saiyan Arc), the overwhelmingly huge plot holes along the way, primarily after the Freeza Arc help solidify the plot's placement as mediocre at best.

Art - 5/10

Toriyama's art style is quite distinctive, especially compared to the mangaka of today, outside of a select few, but when comparing it to the highly detailed peers of DB's run such as Tetsuo Hara, Tsukasa Hojo or Takehiko Inoue, it clearly falls short in the long run. Furthermore, Toriyama pays little heed in fixing artistic mistakes in the re-releases of the manga, such as Goku having the Kame kanji on his gi in a panel in the Cell Arc. Though slightly above most generic works, it's art isn't anything amazing.

Characters - 5/10

Most of the characters develop well when taking into account the constraints of the plot, though only a handful do so to a great amount. A lot of the characters do have distinct personalities, though even in the clear archetypes they present, there are far better deliverances of such in other series.

Enjoyment - 5/10

The plot of DB is mediocre at best, though makes up for this in being fairly fast paced, in heavy contrast to it's filler heavy anime. However, even in the pros of the series, such as it's action, comedy and designs, it never truly felt top dollar. That's not to say that these aspects are done in an average manner, they were indeed reasons to suggest DB's popularity. However, when comparing it to other series of both it's era, before it and after, it in no way stands at the pinnacle of any category.
In fact, the only category it may stand near the top on is overration. I'm sure many are familiar with how fanboys tend to treat the series as top tier, whether in terms of character's power or the overall series quality. To this, it should be evident that DB is one of the most notorious examples of fans elevating a series' status beyond it's natural means.

Overall - 5/10

Of course, I want to make it clear that I'm in no way hating on this series, especially with the effort Toriyama put into it every day for 11 years, or with it being more commercially successful than most others can only dream of. However, there is no denying how overrated the series can be in the categories that make up a good series. Both by the standards of similar Shonen of it's time, such as Kinnikuman and Saint Seiya, to the series it inspired such as One Piece and Toriko, there's very little room to treat DB as a great manga in a critical view when the quality of so many series dominate it in terms of Plot, Art or Characters. In conclusion, DB is a classic series, but is an average classic.

Reading Dragon Ball in 2020. What made me read it? To start a series that has more than over 500 chapters is sometimes not easy. However, I gave in to the wondrous reputation that Dragon Ball has and I live more fulfilled as a result.

I really mean that. Dragon Ball isn't just another shounen series. At least for me, the series develops a 'weight' that increases with every arc. Perhaps that applies to a lot of manga. However, with my initial interest in DB being based around it's reputation (not to be mistaken for popularity), I feel a compounding satisfaction that only heightens with every arc.

I would like to elaborate on that 'weight' Dragon Ball has. To do that, I would like to talk about Goku. It's his nature that is what makes this manga so worthwhile. Goku has always had innate strength, but he always strives to be the best person he can be, even if it isn't necessarily to defeat someone else. It is beautiful how Toriyama has portrayed this. This is explored greater in the manga so I would rather recommend you to find out for yourself but to put it simply... Dragon Ball starts with Goku, but ends with everyone...

Too vague!?

Ultimately, there is a reason that my rating isn't higher than a 7. It isn't that Dragon Ball lacked anything specific. In my opinion, it's success is also what makes it 'fail'. Arguably, there isn't much more to take away other than it is a story about redemption. It isn't by coincidence that enemies may be more friend than foe as the story progresses. That's the formula. Goku's tales are worth the reader's time.

Ideally, in retrospect, it is a 10/10. An experience equates to it's reputation has no reason NOT to be a 10/10, surely? Realistically, there are manga that provoke more from the reader in many different ways, regardless of whether they are shounen manga or not.

I would have more deeply valued this series had I read it as I was growing up. So I would recommend you start Dragon Ball as early as you can. Perhaps if you do complete the manga, you might conclude it was just numerous drawn out battles of who has the highest power level. Because it is. Until it isn't. There are many things to value here. Either way, if you do start reading, even if you only make it to the end of the second volume, I hope you can agree that it was worth reading up until wherever you may stop.

Yes, I did grow up on Dragon Ball, but I do not cling to it as a infant would their mother's breast. No. I'm being completely unbiased.

STORY

Con: the occasional discontinuity and gag scenes. It doesn't take itself seriously enough, such as when Goku bites his opponents. I do understand that Toriyama wishes to remain true to its comical roots, but you have involved aliens and the entire universe INCLUDING HEAVEN AND HELL THEMSELVES with the cast. So as a result of trying to remain true, whenever those gag scenes pop up, they seem really out of place with the rest of the story's atmosphere. Though, part of this humor is creativity, such as the silliness of Gotenks and Buu screaming to create portal back to the regular dimension, which I really enjoyed because it matched with the feel of the scene; Gotenks and Buu, both immature children, using their awesome abilities as childish solutions. I find that there are certain parts where the target demographic humor is a appropriate and when it is not. Though, I suppose it is very relative, as the enjoyment of the gag scenes is dependent on your sense of humor.

Pro: Toriyama's storytelling technique is classic and the plot goes through a lot of evolution. There is obviously, no way to avoid Dragon Ball being labeled as a "typical Shounen" when it is the archetype for Shounen mangas. So I will be using a double standard. For its time, Dragon is highly imaginative and creative, with antics being performed on a regular basis and silly boyish humor.
Since so much of it is battles, talking about the fight scenes is unavoidable. The unfeasible antics and maneuvers that belonged in a cartoon, but then the fight scenes began to evolve. Of course, the maneuvers remained unfeasible, but as time went on, there was a lot less charge-jump-hit and more grappling between opponents. Then the implantation of ki attacks was absolutely brilliant. The combatants could manipulate its path; they could keep it at bay starting from the very beginning of the fight and use it as their trump card later on, whatever! There were endless possibilities.
Once the fight scenes got more and more intense, the story followed suit. All of a sudden, the enemies were more capable, they could do just the same things that our heroes could (even more), and sometimes better too. And so, Toriyama crafted opponents around the new abilities he’d given the cast. He also exposed our heroes’ weaknesses and made characters that could and would use the weaknesses to their advantage. So Dragon Ball went from a silly stylistic adaption of an ancient Chinese epic poem to a serious face-to-
face brawl in which the stakes was the very existence of everything.

ART

Con: Toriyama, I get it, you’re a good artist. I know. We all know. It’s plain since you show off through your awesome and completely irrelevant depictions of your characters riding exotic animals or intricately detailed machinery in exotic backgrounds.

Pro: Why do I need to talk about this? The art evolution is VERY obvious. Take a look at the very first chapter then the latest. The art started off as unpolished and choppy thick lineart and became more angular and fluid and Toriyama started using screen tone too. There’s not much too it.

CHARACTER

Con: why the hell did over 80% of your cast stop having character development starting with Gohan’s kidnapping? Seriously. The very first episode of what is known to Americans as Dragon Ball “Z”, Krillin pretty much gets kicked in the stomach, rolls up into a ball and is utterly useless for an entire season. The next time he proved useful was at the end of the Saiyan arc, and that was only because he was the least injured. Then he fades into the background for the ENTIRE SERIES. After Piccolo gets killed off, he’s useless. Don’t even get me started on Yamcha…oh…poor Yamcha, never useful after Goku hits puberty.

Pro: the characters Toriyama actually chooses to focus on go through a great deal of development. Especially Goku. The kind-hearted, dense boy lacking any social decency grows up into a gentle, honorable, and wise man, whose ideology inspired the greatest fighters of all time. This is the standard protocol for all of the characters who have any sort of development as they are also befriended and converted into good people. (Goku is quite an effective missionary, just without the official title, haha.)

ENJOYMENT

A very relative measurement, but I digress, I quite enjoyed Dragon Ball. It certainly was unique until others jumped onto the bandwagon to make money (I’m looking at you Naruto, One Piece, Bleach.)
One good thing about Dragon Ball out of them all: the creator had enough balls to end it when he wanted to, so I never really felt like it was dragging.

OVERALL

I enjoyed it enough. The manga didn’t have that much filler besides that one mini filler right before Buu arc about Gohan’s high school education. The plot was always progressing, the ones Toriyama chose to work on, he put them through a lot, so the characters grew a lot.
Dragon Ball is a light hearted yet somewhat serious story that is straight forward, it doesn’t overwhelm you with a bajillion side stories like Naruto or Bleach or One Piece. My only concern is that most readers will overlook the philosophy that the Z-fighters put their lives on the line for, and think it’s a mindless story about sacks of testosterone wrestling one another.
But I felt that overall, the art, the story and the characters went through a lot of evolution, and such development is missing in modern mangas and would like to see more works like this.