Information AboutDragon Ball |
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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 '' 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. EVOLUTION version).]] 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. 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. 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, including rereleases of the previously censored volumes 1 through 3. One notabe exception was the removal of Mr. Popo 's lips. However, as of 2006 Viz reverted to censoring the ''Dragon Ball'' manga, with the majority of nudity being removed. The ''Dragon Ball Z'' manga remains censored with Mr. Satan's name being changed to Hercule and nudity being removed. However, many volumes (prior to volume 17) are uncensored given that they contain no objectional material. RELATION TO THE ANIME 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. The english adaptation of Z Fighter is supported by the original opening recaps of the Japanese anime as the main Dragon Ball Z protagonists are often referred to as "zeto senshi" (literally Z Warriors). Another explanation for the Z is 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 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 filled in by the anime writers was directly contradicted by backstory written later in the manga. In a very small number of cases however, backstory added in the anime was accepted in the manga. Most notably, the character of Bardock (Gokū 's father) was originally an anime-creation. RELATION TO '' JOURNEY TO THE WEST '' There are many parallels between '' Journey To The West '' and ''Dragon Ball''.
Some ideas from ''Journey to the West'' are borrowed later in the series.
INFLUENCE ON OTHER SERIES The Dragon Ball trilogy is so popular that it has been parodied frequently in recent times. Here are some examples.
SEE ALSO
EXTERNAL LINKS ''Japan''
''U.S.''
''Canada'' |
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