Dragon Ball

Add to My List

Add to Favorites

Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Dragonball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragonball Z

Japanese: ドラゴンボール

More titles

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 42

Chapters: 520

Status: Finished

Published: Nov 20, 1984 to May 23, 1995

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Theme: Martial Arts

Demographic: Shounen

Serialization: Shounen Jump (Weekly)

Authors: Toriyama, Akira (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.43¹ (scored by 103,986 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #197²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #62

Members: 170,942

Favorites: 15,571

Resources

Wikipedia

8.43

Ranked #197Popularity #62Members 170,942

MangaShounen Jump (Weekly)Toriyama, Akira (Story & Art)

Add to My List

Volumes: /42

Chapters: /520

Edit
Synopsis

Bulma, a headstrong 16-year-old girl, is on a quest to find the mythical Dragon Balls—seven scattered magic orbs that grant the finder a single wish. She has but one desire in mind: a perfect boyfriend. On her journey, Bulma stumbles upon Gokuu Son, a powerful orphan who has only ever known one human besides her. Gokuu possesses one of the Dragon Balls, it being a memento from his late grandfather. In exchange for it, Bulma invites Gokuu to be a companion in her travels.

By Bulma's side, Gokuu discovers a world completely alien to him. Powerful enemies embark on their own pursuits of the Dragon Balls, pushing Gokuu beyond his limits in order to protect Bulma and their growing circle of allies. However, Gokuu has secrets unbeknownst to even himself; the incredible strength within him stems from a mysterious source, one that threatens the many people he grows to hold dear.

As his prowess in martial arts flourishes, Gokuu attracts stronger opponents whose villainous plans could collapse beneath his might. He undertakes the endless venture of combat training to defend his loved ones and the fate of the planet itself.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Edit
Background

Dragon Ball has become one of the most successful manga series of all time. With over 260 million copies sold worldwide, the series is the fourth best-selling manga of all time as of 2024. It is often credited for the "Golden Age of Jump," where the magazine's circulation was at its highest.

The series was serialized in English by VIZ Media in a monthly comic book anthology format from March 1998 to March 2005. The publisher later collected the series into traditional tankoubon volumes from March 12, 2003, to June 6, 2006. To closely follow the English anime localization, the series was split, with volumes 17 through 42 titled Dragon Ball Z and renumbered as volumes 1 through 26. Other releases by VIZ Media include the large format VIZ Big Edition, kanzenban cover-based 3-in-1 edition, and a full-color edition of chapters 195 through 245. The series was also published in Spanish by Planet DeAgostini Cómics; in German and Danish by Carlsen Verlag; and in French and Dutch by Glénat Editions.

Edit

Related Entries

More characters
Characters

Son, Gokuu

Main

Vegeta

Main

Son, Gohan

Main

Piccolo

Main

Bulma

Main

Kuririn

Main

Future Trunks

Supporting

Freeza

Supporting

Trunks

Supporting

Muten-Roushi

Supporting

Reviews

Dec 30, 2024

yasinshehata

Recommended

*Spoiler free*
Throughout all the time I've spent reading manga and watching anime, I never gave Dragon Ball a chance. From what I had seen, it just didn't appeal to me. I dismissed it for a very long time. After Akira Toriyama passed away, I felt more inclined to give his story a chance.

I seriously wish this series was something I had picked up a long, long time ago. If you're getting into it because you've seen some crazy colorful transformations and insane planet-busting fights, the beginning of Db may not appeal to you. Admittedly, I had to ground myself in order to start it, ... and realize that the muscular men flying around with crazy hair and auras won't come for a little while. The beginning of Db is a humble story that never takes too long explaining itself and never takes itself too seriously, but neither of these things are to its fault, as a matter of fact, I would say these two factors contributed the most to my enjoyment of early Db. It may have you rolling your eyes at something that's outright dumb and anticlimactic, but it's hard for me to say I ever expected what I got. It's also hard to say that I wasn't chuckling a lot reading this. From the start, Db is a manga that bleeds with the feeling that the author was enjoying creating it.

Overall, the characters are brilliant. They seem to come so effortlessly, and are so convincing that even when you're just introduced to someone you feel like you already know them. Toriyama played into tropes so well without being cliche, something that I'm not sure how he managed, which just makes it even more impressive. Not to mention that the characters are excellently designed. He conveys a lot through the shape language and subtle appearances of every character and it's just so damn well done every time. I have no doubt he had a lot of scrapped designs hanging around that he went through to get to the perfect depiction of each character he introduced.

The art amazes me still. I always respected Toriyama from what I had seen here and there, but actually reading the manga is so different. I imagine I'll feel a similar feeling when I pick up a physical copy of Db for the first time, and read it on the paper as opposed to on a screen. Toriyama perfectly portrays just about everything he puts on the paper. Weight, impact, fluid movement, timings, everything leaves me feeling like I've just watched an animated clip after I've read a sequence. Seriously, the choreography is so effectively done, which is made even more impressive by the fact that Toriyama's art is made never over-the-top or flashy to drive a point home. The man's pen was as consistent as.. Idk, taxes and death? The art style underwent minor changes as the story went on, obviously the first chapter of Db looks different to the last one of Z, and Toriyama definitely improved over the years, but from the start his skill was impeccable and the vision he had was made crystal clear through his art style, which he effectively stayed true to.

TLDR: Never gave Db a chance, but now I'm floored by every aspect of it. I wish I could read it for the first time again.

Rest in peace Akira Toriyama, you genius.

Open

Gift

Nov 28, 2024

Santo13

Recommended

This shit bangs bro idc. Dragon Ball is actually the perfect action series, everything that an action media (movies, shows etc) needs to do to click with the audience this manga does perfectly. Creating memorable main characters, formidable antagonists, managing stakes/tension the right way, and more. There's a reason why characters like Goku, Vegeta, Freeza, and Cell have gone down in animanga history and it's not because of hype moments alone. The ppl who criticize this and call it "just an action series" just think that something has to be "deep and complex" to be good, not every story has to be AOT. There are ...

Open

Gift

Feb 21, 2025

Gh9

Mixed Feelings

There's a reason it's super popular, but don't go expacting something special.
It is funny at times, with usually childish low brow humor, which is fun. I'd give it 8/10 for that.
That art style is good, quite unique, great flowing paneling and the best action/fight choreagrophy there is. 9.5/10.
The story starts off well but soon goes to dumb fight for fighting sakes. If you're looking for story, finish at the piccolo saga. It's 6/10 until then, 3/10 since.
Characters- quite unique and compelling, even though simplistic and dumb. 7.5/10
Character moments- there arr a few good moments that I won't spoil, but they are very scarce. When they ...

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

Hollywood Adaptation

by Gino99

17 Entries · 17 Restacks

Battle Shounen - Mangas (1)

by UekiZatch

49 Entries · 27 Restacks

Must Read Manga/Manhwa If You Are Into Reading

by Luffy-56

50 Entries · 3 Restacks

More recommendations
Recommendations

View All

More news
Recent News

North American Anime & Manga Releases for June

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for June Week 1: June 4 - 10 Anime Releases Black Lagoon (incl. The Second Barrage & Roberta's Blood ...read more

Jun 3, 2019 6:11 AM by Sakana-san | Discuss (6 comments)

North American Anime & Manga Releases for January

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for January Week 1: January 3 - 9 Anime Releases Kami nomi zo Shiru Sekai (incl. Season 1, Season 2, Season 3,...read more

Jan 2, 2017 9:56 AM by Sakana-san | Discuss (6 comments)

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

Bulma was never essential to the story AlphaMaleScotty - Feb 6	28 replies	by AlphaMaleScotty »» Feb 11, 7:50 PM
Poll: Dragon Ball Chapter 520 Discussion TuzoAnime - Feb 18, 2010	22 replies	by AlphaMaleScotty »» Feb 6, 5:01 PM
Poll: Dragon Ball Chapter 3 Discussion rebwaters - May 24, 2009	15 replies	by ernescio »» Feb 3, 9:13 PM
Poll: Dragon Ball Chapter 414 Discussion Rasco - Sep 25, 2011	5 replies	by StoneFree123 »» Jan 31, 5:41 AM
Poll: Dragon Ball Chapter 63 Discussion Rasco - Sep 18, 2011	9 replies	by taflinder »» Jan 24, 3:09 PM

Dragon Ball
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Resources

Edit
Synopsis

Edit
Background

Related Entries

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More characters
Characters

Reviews

Interest Stacks

More recommendations
Recommendations

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

More featured articles
Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Dragon Ball Edit What would you like to edit? SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Resources

EditSynopsis

EditBackground

Related Entries

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More charactersCharacters

Reviews

Interest Stacks

More recommendations Recommendations

More newsRecent News

More discussionsRecent Forum Discussion

More featured articlesRecent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Dragon Ball
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Edit
Synopsis

Edit
Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

More characters
Characters

More recommendations
Recommendations

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

More featured articles
Recent Featured Articles