Dragon ball

This article covers the manga. For additional meanings, see Dragon Ball (disambiguation) .

Dragon ball
Original title	ド ラ ゴ ン ボ ー ル
transcription	Doragonbōru
Original lettering of the Manga series, as it was published in Japan in the form of Tankōbon .
genre	Adventure, fantasy, comedy, shons
Manga
country	Japan
author	Akira Toriyama
publishing company	Shūeisha
magazine	Weekly Shōnen Jump
First publication	November 1984 - May 1995
expenditure	42
Film adaptations
► Dragon Ball (Anime) (1986) ► Dragon Ball Z (1989) ► Dragon Ball GT (1996) ► Dragon Ball Z Kai (2009) ► Dragon Ball Super (2015)

Dragon Ball ( Japanese ド ラ ゴ ン ボ ー ル , Doragonbōru ) is a manga series by the Japanese artist Akira Toriyama and is loosely based on the novel The Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en . Dragon Ball originally appeared in the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995 and was later published in 42 volumes. The total of 519 chapters comprise over 8,000 pages. In addition, was initially a reaction in the Anime -Fernsehserien Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z . Due to its great success, the franchise now consists of a total of four television series, 18 cinema films, three television films and three OVA , as well as a large number of video games. In 1989 and 2008, two real film adaptations of the manga followed. With approximately 156 million copies sold in Japan and 230 million copies sold worldwide, Dragon Ball is the second best- selling manga of all time after One Piece .

The manga can be assigned to the Shōnen genre and still influences well-known artists such as Eiichirō Oda , Tite Kubo , Masashi , Seishi Kishimoto and Hiro Mashima . Dragon Ball is one of the world's most successful anime series.

action

The manga Dragon Ball describes the adventures of the protagonist Son-Goku and his friends, who repeatedly go in search of the seven Dragon Balls and have numerous adventures to endure. The story begins with Son-Goku's childhood from the age of twelve and his time as a teenager (volumes 1 to 16) and ends with his life as an adult (volumes 17 to 42). The individual storylines can be subdivided into sagas and become more complex as the story progresses.

Another main motive is the constant battle between good and evil. To ensure peace and save the earth, Son-Goku and his friends are continually confronted with demons, dangerous warriors, power-hungry aliens, and both enemies and friends from the future who invade the history of the present. Martial arts tournaments are also an integral part of the story. Son-Goku and his friends take part in the 21st, 22nd and 23rd and finally the 25th tournament and the 28th fighting tournament (where Son-Goku only played the first fight against Oob in the last tournament) on the papaya island.

The place of action is not exclusively the earth, but briefly other planets or the hereafter . As the story progresses, it turns out that both the earthly God and Piccolo Namek are and from the planet Namek come and Goku, a Saiyan from planet Vegeta is.

First adventure

The little boy Son Goku is stronger than ordinary people and has a monkey tail. After the death of his adoptive grandfather Gohan , he lives alone in the wilderness and has not met anyone else. One day he meets the city girl Bulma , who has discovered the secret of the seven Dragon Balls and who is on vacation looking for them with the Dragon Ball radar . Son-Goku does not want to give her his Dragon Ball with four stars, an heirloom from his grandfather, and accompanies her. They compete with the desert bandit Yamcha and his friend, the tomcat Pool, and the vicious Prince Pilaf . Everyone has one wish for the holy dragon Shenlong : Pilaf wants to rule the world, Bulma wants a friend and Yamcha wants to put aside his fear of women.

On their further search, Son-Goku and Bulma meet the Lord of the Turtles , who is known as a great martial artist under the name Muten-Roshi , the pig Oolong and the beef devil and his daughter Chichi , who promises to marry Son-Goku.

When all the Dragon Balls are gathered, Prince Pilaf calls Shenlong. With his wish, however, Oolong prevents Prince Pilaf from gaining world domination. In his anger about this, Prince Pilaw locks Bulma, Goku, Yamcha, Pool and Oolong in order to later kill them. The prisoners look for a way out and Goku remembers that his grandfather was killed by a monster on such a full moon night. He looks into the full moon and transforms into a giant uncontrollable monster that is destroying the prison. His new friends are free, but are now facing an aggressive monster. Pool turns into a pair of scissors and cuts off the tail of the huge monkey, which becomes the boy Son Goku again.

After this adventure the companions separate and Son-Goku goes to Muten-Roshi to begin his training in martial arts. Shortly after him, Kuririn also arrives on Turtle Island , who also wants to be trained by the Lord of the Turtles. After a competition for the position of the only student, both are finally taught. Without knowing it, the goal of their training is to participate in the next major martial arts tournament.

The Lord of the Turtles also takes part in this 21st tournament disguised as Jackie Chun . He and his students dominate the fights and Goku faces his master in the finale, whom he does not recognize. When Goku turns into a were-monkey again during the fight, Muten-Roshi destroys the moon and is able to defeat Goku.

Fight against the Red Ribbon Army / 22nd great martial arts tournament

Then Goku goes looking for the Dragon Balls again to find his grandfather's. He meets the Red Ribbon Army , which is also looking for the Dragon Balls on behalf of Commander Red . Little by little, Son Goku smashes parts of the army and frees the people enslaved by them.

In order to eliminate Goku, Commander Red instructs the professional killer Tao Bai Bai to get the missing Dragon Balls. The killer meets the little Indian Upa and his father Bora at the foot of the Quince Tower , who asks Tao Bai Bai to leave the place. Tao Bai Bai kills Bora and defeats Son Goku in the following battle. However, Son Goku survived and climbed the Quince Tower to get the magic water there. To do this, however, he must first catch Master Quince , the guardian of the tower. Son-Goku masters the task in just three days and then takes on Tao Bai Bai again, whom he apparently defeats. Then Son-Goku goes to the headquarters of the Red Ribbon Army and finally smashes it.

The seventh and final Dragon Ball cannot be found despite Bulma's radar. Muten-Roshi sends Son-Goku to his sister, the fortune-teller Uranai-Baba , who only wants to divulge the information when Son-Goku and his friends defeat five of their warriors in a small competition. Son-Goku's last and masked opponent is his late grandfather Son-Gohan, who was allowed to return to earth from the afterlife for a day. Son Goku loses his monkey tail for the second time in this fight. With the help of Uranai Baba, the last Dragon Ball is found and Son-Goku calls Shenlong to revive Upa's father. Then the friends part ways again and everyone prepares for the next big tournament.

They meet again at the 22nd martial arts tournament and also meet the Lord of the Cranes and his students Tenshinhan and Chao-Zu , who want to avenge Tao Bai Bai, their master's brother. As the best students of both fighting schools, Tenshinhan and Son-Goku contest an equal final battle. Tenshinhan wins the fight by lucky chance after blowing up the martial arts ring and later falling to the ground as Son Goku. Due to the events during the martial arts tournament, Tenshinhan and Chao-Zu change their attitude towards the martial arts school from the Lord of the Turtles, apologize for their bad behavior and turn away from their master.

Fight against the devil Piccolo and his son

At the end of the tournament, a servant of Devil Piccolo steals Goku's Dragon Ball and kills Kuririn. Son-Goku wants to get his Dragon Ball back, but cannot fight the demon. He gets up again in the wilderness and meets the hermit Yajirobi . Meanwhile, the devil Piccolo collects the seven Dragon Balls and assigns another demon to kill the remaining participants in the last martial arts tournament.

The master devil Piccolo, once put in a rice cooker by Muten-Roshis master Mutaito , was freed by Prince Pilaf, who wants to get to the Dragon Balls with the help of the demon. Pilaf's plan fails, because the devil Piccolo collects the Dragon Balls to wish Shenlong eternal youth. After his wish is granted, he kills the sacred dragon.

In further fights with the devil, Chao-Zu and Muten-Roshi, who use the Mafuba and want to banish the demon again in a rice cooker, die . Tenshinhan survived but is powerless. Son Goku drinks the divine water from Master Quince and faces the devil again. At the end of a tough fight, Goku fatally injures Piccolo. When he dies, he spits out an egg in which his son is to mature in order to avenge him.

Oberteufel Piccolo's son is also called Piccolo . His birth also ensures the existence of the earthly God , who would also have died through the final death of the super devil. Both were once united in a being that had split into a good and an evil part: the good took the position of earthly god and the evil manifested itself in the superior devil. God revives Shenlong and the following wish brings Kuririn, Muten-Roshi, and Chao-Zu back to life. Son-Goku is now training under God's servant Popo in God's palace in order to be able to stand up to the young Piccolo.

At the 23rd martial arts tournament, Son-Goku meets his old friends and a disgruntled young woman whom he defeats in a fight. She reveals herself as Chichi and reminds Goku of his promise to take her as his wife. Tao Bai Bai, believed dead, has equipped his body with artificial body parts and is also taking part in the tournament. He wants to take revenge on his brother's former students and defeats Chao-Zu in the preliminary round, but loses to Tenshinhan. In the battles that followed, Kuririn succumbed to Piccolo, who competed under the name of Beelzebub , and Yamchu to the seemingly harmless office worker Shen , whose body God took possession of in order to take part in the tournament undetected. Son-Goku wins against Tenshinhan this time. Piccolo defeats God, who releases the borrowed body again and wants to banish Piccolo with the Mafuba in a small bottle. Instead, Piccolo banishes God with an antimafuba in the bottle and swallows it.

In the finale, Piccolo reveals his true identity and announces that he will destroy Goku and then regain control of the world. Son-Goku defeats his opponent after a bitter fight and leaves the vanquished alive. The freed god now wants to kill the demon, but Goku prevents this. A magic bean heals Goku from his injuries. To the horror of everyone present, Goku also gives Piccolo a magic bean so that he can compete against a strong opponent again later.

Fight against the Saiyans

Five years later, Son-Goku and Chichi are married. Son-Goku visits the Lord of the Turtles with her young son, Gohan , when a strong warrior appears from space and claims to be Son-Goku's older brother Raditz . Son Goku learns that he himself is not a human, but a Saiyajin and is actually called Kakarott , who was sent to earth to destroy people. Son-Goku lost his memory in an accident and forgot the job. He now refuses to bring it to an end, whereupon Raditz kidnaps Gohan.

The strength of the alien forces the archenemies Son Goku and Piccolo to fight the enemy together. They can do little to counter Raditz, but surprise him briefly with the fact that they can increase their combat strength, which he can measure via his scouter . Raditz gives Son-Goku a hard blow, which increases Son-Gohan's strength with anger and frees himself from the space capsule in which he was locked. Through the brief intervention of his son, Son-Goku can hold his brother down and Piccolo kills Raditz with his new fighting technique, the "hell spiral". But he also fatally injured Goku.

The dying Raditz announces two more Saiyajin warriors who will reach Earth in a year. They would avenge Goku's treachery, wipe out humanity, and then sell the planet to the highest bidder. Both Saiyajins are even stronger than himself. The friends are looking for the Dragon Balls again to revive Goku. Piccolo recognized the fighting potential of Gohan and took on his martial arts training. Meanwhile, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Chao-Zu and Yamcha prepare in God's palace. Son-Goku is personally accompanied by God to the afterlife to train there in his human form with Master Kaio until he can return to life through the Dragon Balls.

A year later, the Saiyans Vegeta and Nappa arrive . Before Son-Goku returns to earth, Yamcha, Chao-Zu, Tenshinhan and also Piccolo, who is recognized by the Saiyajins as an inhabitant of the planet Namek, die . Contrary to Vegeta's orders, Nappa fights against Goku and is defeated. Nappa asks Vegeta for help, who sees his comrade in arms as a disobedient weakling and kills him. Vegeta, contrary to his expectations, is inferior to Goku in the fight. He therefore turns into a were- monkey and prevents Goku from gathering more energy for a Genkidama .

Yaijirobi finally cuts off the tail of the huge monkey, which returns to its normal shape. The use of the Genkidama by Kuririn and Gohan fails and a short time later Gohan also transforms into a were monkey, whose tail is eventually severed. The exhausting fight forces Vegeta to retreat into space.

The Namekian Dragon Balls

Son-Goku recovers in the hospital while Bulma, Kuririn and Son-Gohan set off with the old spaceship of God to the planet Namek to look for the dragon balls there. The wish for the Namekian dragons is to revive Piccolo so that the earthly dragon balls also return.

The tyrant Freezer found out about the Dragon Balls over the radio link from Vegeta's scouter. He and his warriors are now looking for it in order to wish for immortality and in the process kills almost all Namekians. When Vegeta reaches Namek, the situation seems hopeless for the Earthlings and escape is impossible, as Freezer's followers have made their spaceship unusable by an attack.

A magic bean cures Son Goku, who is telepathically informed by Master Kaio about the situation on Namek. Son-Goku goes to Namek with a second spaceship built by Bulma's father and trains during this time. Meanwhile, Vegeta and Goku's friends team up as Freezer's strongest fighters, the Ginyu Force , have arrived. However, they are subject to the special command and Freezer gets all seven Dragon Balls. He can not call the sacred dragon Nameks, Polunga , but without the necessary mantra .

Son Goku arrives on the planet just in time and prevents the Ginyu Force from killing Kuririn, Vegeta, and his son. Together with Vegeta, he defeats the Ginyu Force, but suffers serious injuries. While they both recover, Freezer fights against Nehl , the last Namekian warrior. He stops the tyrant until little Dende can help the Earthlings to call Polunga on behalf of the High Elder of the Namekians. They wish to revive Piccolo and bring it to Namek. Vegeta is now urging him to wish him immortality when Freezer shows up. However, neither of them can express their wish, as the chief elder dies and the sacred dragon of Namek and the dragon balls disappear.

Dende and Vegeta die in the fight against Freezers. Piccolo, who has meanwhile arrived and has now merged with the Namekian warrior Nehl, is powerless against Freezer, who changes his form several times and always increases his fighting strength. In the course of the fight between Goku and Freezer, the tyrant is briefly distracted and Goku can collect enough energy for a Genkidama. But Freezer survived this attack almost unscathed. He kills Kuririn and seriously wounds Piccolo. The death of his best friend makes Goku so angry that he transforms into a Super Saiyan . He orders Gohan to leave Namek immediately with Piccolo and Bulma in his spaceship. The following fight between Freezer and Son-Goku destroys the magnetic field of the planet and with it the electronic on-board systems of Son-Goku's spaceship.

God and his servant Popo have now collected the Dragon Balls that are back on earth and wish to revive those killed by Freezer and his followers. As a result, not only all Namekians return to life, but also Vegeta and Polunga, whom Dende now mentions Son-Goku's wish: to bring all revived and living except Freezer and him to earth. Son Goku and Freezer are the only ones left on Namek, fighting as the planet crumbles more and more. Shortly before the explosion, Goku defeats Freezer, but leaves him alive. At the last second, Goku tries to leave the planet.

Goku's friends believe he died fighting Freezer and want to revive him with the earthly Dragon Balls. However, they learn from Polunga that Son-Goku is alive and that he initially refuses to be brought back to earth through the wish to be brought back. The Namekians leave the desires to the people to bring Tenshinhan, Kuririn, Chao-Zu and Yamcha back to life before they let themselves be taken to a new home planet.

The Cyborgs and Cell

Before Goku's return, Freezer and his father King Cold reach Earth to destroy it. A young man who suddenly appears turns into a Super Saiyan and kills them both. The stranger introduces himself to Goku, who later arrived, as Trunks : The son of Vegeta and Bulma comes from a future in which two cyborgs ravaged the earth and killed all fighters and Goku is fatally ill with a virus. Before Trunks returns to his future with a time machine , he tells Goku when and where the cyborgs will arrive and hands Goku a drug that is supposed to save him.

According to Trunks announcements, cyborgs C19 and C20 will begin the destruction on the predicted day and place three years later . Goku collapses in battle due to the illness and is brought home by Yamcha, where he receives the medicine from Chichi.

In the battle that follows, one cyborg is destroyed and the other damaged. Trunks joins them and realizes that these cyborgs are not the ones he announced: So is C20 Dr. Gero , a former Red Ribbon Army scientist who wants to kill Goku. He takes advantage of the confusion, escapes into his secret laboratory and puts two new cyborgs into operation. C17 kills its creator so that he and C18 are not deactivated again and also activates another cyborg with C16 . Goku's friends lose the fight against the cyborgs, who are now looking for Goku to destroy him. Meanwhile, Cell , another creation by Dr. Gero and his computer, arrived with a second time machine.

Piccolo asks God for a reunion. Then the "new" and much stronger Piccolo meets Cell, can deceive him and elicit information from him: Cell comes from a different future, in which the cyborgs C17 and C18 were destroyed by Trunks and he killed Trunks himself. Cell traveled back from this time with Trunk's time machine. He is now looking for the two cyborgs in the present as he can only achieve his perfect form if he absorbs both. In the meantime, Kuririn and Trunks discover the blueprints of the cyborgs in the ruins of the laboratory, Dr. Gero's computer and Cell's current larval form. They destroy both and rush to Bulma and her father with the plans.

Son-Goku has now recovered and decides to train with his son, Vegeta and Trunks for a day in the space of spirit and time , because at this point they cannot defeat the cyborgs or Cell. The cyborgs finally look for Goku with Muten-Roshi. While the Saiyajins are in God's palace, Piccolo fights C17 far away from the turtle island. He wants to destroy one of the cyborgs so that Cell does not reach his perfect form. The energy used by the two in the fight, however, attracts Cell's attention, who arrives there a short time later. Piccolo loses to Cell and C16 cannot defeat him either after he has absorbed C17. By repeatedly using the Neo- Kiku cannon , Tenshinhan prevents Cell from following the fleeing C18 and C16 and almost dies in the process. Son Goku saves Piccolo and Tenshinhan and brings them to God's palace. Vegeta and Trunks have finished their training and are now fighting Cell, while Goku and Gohan train in the space of spirit and time.

Meanwhile, Kuririn destroys the remote control developed by Bulma that was supposed to deactivate the cyborgs. Vegeta allows Cell to absorb 18C as well and it reaches its perfect and final shape. Cell spares Vegeta and Trunks and announces a martial arts tournament, the "Cell Games", with him as the only opponent on television. Anyone can take part and the price is earth.

Since the merger of Piccolo and God was final, Son-Goku is looking for a new God for the earth before the tournament on Neu-Namek and finds a suitable candidate in Dende. With him he returns to earth and Dende recreates the Dragon Balls.

In addition to Son-Goku and his comrades-in-arms, the reigning martial arts champion, Mister Satan , and his best pupil also appear at Cell's tournament . Cell defeats everyone effortlessly and Son-Goku and Cell are equal fighters. Since Cell has the larger energy reserves, Goku gives up and is allowed to determine the next opponent: Gohan. Cell provokes Goku's son to fight with full force and underestimates him in the process. Gohan turns into a double Super Saiyan in anger and forces the absorbed 18C out of his opponent.

The weakened Cell wants to blow himself up and destroy the earth. Son-Goku prevents this by bringing Cell to Master Kaio's planet with the momentary teleportation . In the explosion that follows, Son-Goku and Master Kaio die, whereas Cell, thanks to his ability to regenerate, survives and returns directly to Earth, killing Trunks. With the help of Son Goku, who telepathically releases Gohan's powers, Cell is destroyed by father and son through a tremendous Kamehame-Ha . Gohan and Goku's friends are silent about these events. When asked about it by a reporter, Mr. Satan shamelessly confirms that he killed Cell and people believe him to be the savior of the earth. Shenlong resuscitates those who died in Cell. However, Son Goku cannot be resuscitated because he has died a second time. Kuririn therefore uses the second wish to switch off the self-destruct function in C18, with which he fell in love.

In the time after that, Trunks returns to his timeline, where he first kills the two cyborgs and then meets Cell in his original form and defeats him too. Kuririn marries C18 and has a daughter with her. Son Goku's second son, Son Goten , is born and Son Gohan attends high school in Satan City . There he met Mister Satan's daughter Videl , who like her father is a martial artist and is revered as a heroine in the fight against crime. She discovers that Gohan, a superhero in disguise by the name of the great Saiyaman, is also on the hunt for criminals, and blackmailed him into training her. Son-Goku learns about the 25th martial arts tournament in the afterlife and is brought back to earth for a day by Uranai Baba after intensive training.

Boo

On the day of the tournament, Son-Goku met his youngest son, Son-Goten, for the first time. In the final of the junior tournament, Goten meets Trunks, who defeats him. Both Goku and Vegeta are amazed to find that both children are already able to transform into a Super Saiyan. The Kaioshin and his servant Kibito take part in the adult tournament, who initially keep their identity a secret. In the fight against Gohan, Kibito asks him to transform himself into a Super Saiyan. Thereupon two fighters pounce on Gohan, rob him of his energy with a magical vessel and leave the place. When Son Goku tries to intervene, the Kaioshin holds him back and reveals the reason for his presence: The magician Babidi wants to free the demon Boo from his egg, into which he had been banned by his father Bibidi . To do this, Babidi needs a lot of energy, which he collects at the tournament with the help of two fighters under his control. The Kaioshin wants to prevent the demon from being set free, but is powerless until he knows where the egg is.

Babidi's assistants leave the tournament and the Kaioshin, Son-Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo and Kuririn follow them. During the persecution, the Kaioshin tells the story of the demon Boo and the Kaioshins. Meanwhile, Kibito heals Gohan and gives him back his energy, whereupon they both catch up with the group.

The remaining fighters Mister Satan, C18 and Mighty Mask are now contesting a Battle Royal . C18 takes on Mighty Mask, behind whose masquerade are Goths and Trunks who overpowered the actual fighter to take part in the adult tournament. Both are exposed by her in battle and the two follow the other fighters to see the demon. C18's opponent is now the reigning world champion Mister Satan, whom she lets win for a large amount of money.

The Kaioshin and the Z-Group reach Babidi's spaceship, but before they can penetrate it, Babidi's assistant Dabra Kibito kills and turns Piccolo and Kuririn to stone. The Kaioshin, Son-Goku, Vegeta and Son-Gohan follow Dabra and have to compete in the spaceship on different levels against more or less strong opponents who defeat them all. Babibi uses the energy that is released to free Boo. Vegeta moves into the magician's mental control in order to become even stronger and forces his long-awaited fight against Son Goku. The energy released by the two is sufficient to awaken Boo. The demon Boo seems harmless with his childlike and playful nature, but is very headstrong and has enormous powers. First he kills Babidi's assistant Dabra and then pursues the Kaioshin and Gohan, whom he incapacitates.

Son-Goku and Vegeta feel the energy of the freed demon and interrupt the fight. Vegeta is now fighting against the mental control of Babidi and feels guilty for the events. He suggests Goku in a careless moment KO and takes the last magic bean and turns to the demon. Vegeta is inferior to Boo and now wants to destroy him with a kind of self-destruct technique. Vegeta dies, while Boo survives the explosion.

In Dende's palace, Son-Goku, Trunks and Son-Goten decide to teach the technique of fusion , so that both can defeat the demon as stronger fighters. At the same time, all Dragon Balls should be collected in order to bring people back to life after defeating Boo. While Trunks picks up the Dragon Ball radar, Goku distracts Boo in a fight and briefly transforms into a triple Super Saiyan. He announces an even stronger enemy to the demon and asks him to spare the world until then. Son Goku begins training the boys, but cannot finish it because the transformation into a triple Super Saiyan has cost him too much of his earthly residence time and he has to return to the afterlife. Piccolo takes on further training.

Goku learns from Enma Daio , the lord of the underworld, that Gohan and the Kaioshin are still alive. With the momentary teleportation, Son-Goku lands in the world of the Kaioshins. He ends up in the middle of Gohan's training with the Z-sword, which is supposed to give him more strength. In a strength test, the sword breaks and the Kaioshin from 15 generations ago, banished in it, is freed. This begins to awaken Gohan's hidden powers in a long ceremony.

Meanwhile, Boo kills his master Babidi and shortly afterwards meets Mister Satan, who in turn wants to kill the demon in different ways, which however fails. Boo eventually finds friends in a small stray dog ​​and Mister Satan. After both were shot and healed by Boo, Boo's evil half breaks away from him and manifests in a body of its own. The good and bad part of the demon fight each other. The bad boo absorbs the good boo and thereby gains more strength. In this new form it is even more unpredictable and continues to destroy the earth. However, the good Boo inside keeps him from killing Mister Satan or the little dog as well.

Son-Goths and Trunks master the fusion after a few unsuccessful attempts. You call yourself Gotenks and you can transform into a triple Super Saiyan right away. In one of the battles that follow, the evil Boo absorbs Piccolo and Gotenks. Even Gohan, who has meanwhile returned to earth, is subject to him. The old Kaioshin then gives his life for Son-Goku and sends him back to earth with the Potara earrings. A fusion between Son-Goku and Son-Gohan by means of the earrings does not materialize, however. The merger of Gotenks within Boo is coming to an end and Son-Goku considers a merger with his son to be superfluous. He fights the evil Boo in the form of the triple Super Saiyan, but succumbs to him after he has absorbed Gohan. Regardless of this, Uranai-Baba brings Vegeta back to earth from beyond. He meets Son-Goku and reluctantly merges with him through the earrings to Vegeto . After a long fight, the evil Boo devours her in the fused form and thinks he will get more power, which is prevented by Vegeto's protective shield.

Inside the demon, Vegeto loosens the shield and the merger of Goku and Vegeta ends. Both look inside the demon for Piccolo, Gohan, Goten and Trunks. Boo notices both of them in his body, which are now being fought by his own image. Finally, Son-Goku and Vegeta find and separate those absorbed in cocoon-like envelopes from the demon, including the good Boo, and leave his body with everyone. With the good boo removed, the bad boo now resumes its extremely malicious and strong original form, against which Vegeta and Son-Goku are powerless. The Kaioshin merged with Kibito to Kibitoshin brings them together with Dende and Mister Satan into the world of the Kaioshin before Boo destroys the earth. Piccolo, Gohan, Goten and Trunks stay behind and die. The evil Boo regenerates and suddenly appears to the survivors. The fight begins all over again and when the good Boo appears in the world of the Kaioshin and fights against the bad Boo, the destruction of the earth with the Namekian Dragon Balls can be reversed and all people can be revived. Vegeta and Son-Goku's appeal to the people to donate their energy to a Genkidama to destroy the demon is unsuccessful. First they comply with Mister Satan's request and Goku destroys Boo for good. He prays that Boo will be born again as a good being. Six months later, Shenlong erases people's memories of the demon Boo, who only remember that their hero, Mister Satan, saved the world. The good Boo now lives with Mister Satan and keeps him standing as the winner of the major martial arts tournaments.

10 years later

Son-Goten and Trunks have grown up to be youngsters, Son-Gohan and Videl are married and have a young daughter, Pan , who is trained by their grandfather Son-Goku. Son-Goku and his friends take part in another tournament in which Son-Goku has a certain opponent assigned to him during the draw for the good Boo for the first round: a little boy by the name of Oob , who is only Goku's provocations unfolds his powers and shows himself as the reincarnation of the evil Boo . Instead of continuing the fight, Goku suggests that he train him and then face him again. So both leave the martial arts tournament and Son-Goku says goodbye to everyone.

Important elements

Objects

Dragon Ball with four stars.

Dragon balls

The Dragon Balls are magical crystal balls with one to seven stars inside. When all seven Dragon Balls have been carried together, the holy dragon Shenlong can be called, who grants a wish to the one who expresses it first. Then the dragon disappears, the Dragon Balls turn to stone and spread over the whole world. Only after a year do they become crystal balls again and Shenlong can be called again. As it turns out later, "God" created the earthly Dragon Balls after those on his home planet Namek . There are also Dragon Balls on Namek , with which the holy dragon Polunga can be called and who fulfills three wishes instead of one. When the Namekian Dende assumes the position as god of the earth, these too can now fulfill several wishes.

Dragon Ball Radar

The Dragon Ball Radar is a handy, small device that was invented by Bulma and is able to track down the individual Dragon Balls within a certain radius and display their position on a small screen. Prince Pilaw and his followers, as well as the Red Ribbon Army, have similar devices, but they are not portable or extremely inaccurate.

Hoipoi capsules

The Hoipoi capsules are an invention of Bulma's father Dr. Briefs . In the small capsules equipped with a push button, many objects of different sizes can be stowed away at the push of a button and restored to their original size. From a motorcycle to a small house with a bathroom, everything can be shrunk down to a handy size and transported anywhere.

Jindujun

Jindujun, also known as a supersonic cloud, is the name of a cloud that the Lord of the Turtles gives to little Son Goku as a thank you for saving a turtle. Pure-hearted people can sit on such clouds and travel with them very quickly, while unclean-hearted people are not carried. Since his old supersonic cloud was destroyed by the tambourine, he receives a new one from Master Quince. She listens to her name and appears whenever Son Goku calls her.

Magic bean

The magic beans are a kind of "instant panacea". Whoever eats one of them will be cured of almost any illness or injury and will regain full strength. At the same time, a magic bean will fill a eater for ten days. The beans are made in the quince tower by Master Quince.

Magical and divine water

According to legend, the magical water is said to give enormous powers to those who manage to climb the quince tower and drink from it. To get it, you also have to defeat Master Quince, who guards the magical water. However, it is only conventional water, the fighter receives the promised strength by climbing the tower and fighting with Master Quince. Son Goku manages to get to the magical water in a few days, Muten Roshi once needed three years for it. The divine water is like the magical water at the top of the quince tower. Unlike magical water, it actually has magical properties, but it is also a very powerful poison. The one who defeats the poison receives the promised power as a reward. Son Goku drinks it to get stronger in the fight against the devil Piccolo. He is also the first to ever drink of the divine water and survive.

Monk's staff

The monk's staff is a staff that has been in Son Goku's possession from the beginning of the story. It has the property of extending itself after the saying stretch out, stick . Son-Goku had received it from his grandfather, who in turn had received the staff from Muten-Roshi after it had been given to him by Master Quince. Son-Goku later learns from Master Quince that the monk's staff is the connection between the quince tower and the palace of God. The monk's staff is the only real weapon that Goku uses in many of his fights early on.

Scouter

Scouters are technical devices that consist of a glass and are worn over one eye. They measure the energy or the fighting strength of living beings and show them on the display. This enables the location of an energy source to be located. All Freezers' fighters wear these scouters, including Raditz, Vegeta and Nappa, when they arrive on Earth. However, the scouters are only reliable to a certain extent: If the combat power is higher than the device can indicate, it explodes. If a fighter suppresses his actual combat strength, the device indicates a lower value.

Events and places

Tenkaichi Budokai, the great martial arts tournament

The most important events in the fictional Dragon Ball universe include the unarmed martial arts tournaments, the Tenkaichi Budokai , which are initially held every five years and later every three years. The masters of the martial arts take part to determine the strongest among them. The loser of a fight is the one who is either incapacitated, knocked out, or touches the ground or areas outside the ring. In the course of the story, Son-Goku and his friends initially take part in the 21st, 22nd and 23rd major martial arts tournaments, but interrupt their participation after Raditz appears on earth until the time when Babidi comes to earth Free demon Boo. The "Cell Games" proclaimed by Cell are modeled on this tournament.

Quince Tower and God's Palace

The quince tower stands in the holy quince forest and is a very high tower, at the top of which the guard, Master Quince, lives. There are the magical and divine water as well as the magical beans.

God's palace hovers far above the quince tower. Here the reigning earthly "God" lives with his servant Popo and can follow what is happening on earth. There are a variety of sanctuaries and rooms in the palace, including the room of spirit and time .

Space of mind and time

The space of spirit and time is a special training place in another dimension, in which time runs faster than in the real world: While outside the space only a day passes, the time span for this period in the space itself is a whole year. At the same time, the inside of the room is larger than it appears from the outside and is sometimes subject to considerable fluctuations in terms of environmental conditions. The room is entered through a door that disappears if the room is used for more than a total of 48 hours.

Full moon and destruction of the moon

The full moon is of particular importance to the Saiyan: their monkey tail enables them to transform themselves into a giant wer-monkey when looking into the moon, which in this form has extraordinary powers. The earthly moon is destroyed for the first time at the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai by Muten-Roshi by a Kame-hame-Ha after Son-Goku had transformed during the fight. So that God can create a new moon, he removes its tail during the time of Goku's training in his palace. When Piccolo takes Gohan into his care to train, he destroys the moon again after Gohan also turned into a wer-monkey.

The holy world of the Kaioshins

After the terrible demon Boo has almost completely destroyed the earth, the last fight of the Boo saga takes place here.

Fighting techniques and skills

An important part of the story are the martial arts tournaments and the battles against powerful and strong opponents who threaten the earth. Not only the different fighting techniques of individual characters are important, but also their own special abilities.

The fighting techniques shown are partly based on the Far Eastern martial arts . For example, Son-Goku initially only masters Kung Fu , which is the basis of his fighting skills. The characters improve their techniques in the course of the story, combine the basic techniques with their own or develop new ones. For this they use their life energy ( Ki ) mostly in a visible form, which is usually bundled with the hands and used in distance fights in the form of single or multiple balls, rays or discs. In the course of the story, the characters improve their techniques and steadily increase in their strength and speed through meditation, training and combat, whereby their own energy and fighting strength also increase.

On the other hand, some figures can hover or fly, so that the fights take place using all techniques in direct combat or at a distance on two levels: on the ground and in the air. Other abilities of individuals are telekinesis or telepathy (Chao-Zu) or they are shapeshifters and can change their appearance into objects or people (Oolong and Pool). Another possibility is the transformation of the figure by one's own strength (Freezer, Saiyajins) or by absorbing people (Cell and Boo). These figures usually master several stages of transformation, change their appearance in the process and acquire an ever higher power potential. Son-Goku also masters the ability to teleport from one place to another ( momentary teleportation ).

The most important fighting techniques for the plot of the manga include:

Energy discus

A very large, flat disk of energy that cuts up everything it touches. This technique is used by Kuririn.

Freezer uses a similar technique in the form of schizo discs . In contrast to the simple energy discus, several discs are created here that also follow the opponent.

fusion

Here, two individual fighters merge into a single fighter with greater strength, power and energy. The technique is performed through a kind of "dance" or by means of the Potara earrings of the Kaioshins. A mistake in the fusion dance leads to a failed fusion.

The technique is used by Trunks and Son-Goten, Son-Goku and Vegeta. Piccolo and Kuririn also master the fusion dance.

Genkidama

In order to create a Genkidama, the fighter asks all life forms to give him their energy. He can also use the power of the sea, rivers, mountains and the sun. The energy can come from living beings on a single planet as well as from neighboring planets. He collects the power made available to him in the form of an energy ball, the size and strength of which depends on the amount of energy supplied. The disadvantage of the technique is that the fighter needs a lot of time and rest for it.

The Genkidama is Goku's most powerful weapon. He uses them in the fight against Vegeta, Freezer and Boo.

Hell spiral

Piccolo focuses his energy on his fingertips and fires a beam of energy at his opponent. The technique pierces the opponent's body. He wanted to use it against Son Goku, but ultimately directed it against Raditz, whereby Son Goku was also killed. When training with Gohan, he uses this technique to destroy the moon.

Kaioken

This technique increases both the fighting speed and the fighting strength and can be further increased through training. If used too often in a row or for too long, the fighter can die from excessive energy loss. Son-Goku, who besides Master Kaio is the only acquaintance who has mastered it, later even creates a 20-fold Kaioken, which he was taught by Master Kaio.

Kamehame-Ha (turtle wave)

For a kamehame-ha the fighter releases all the energy hidden in his body at once. The energy ball has great destructive power and “normal fighters” have to train for 50 years to master this technique. Goku and the other fighters succeed in doing this in a much shorter time.

Muten-Roshi, Son-Goku, Son-Gohan, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Yamchu, Son-Goten, Cell and Boo are proficient in Kamehame-Ha.

The name of the technique is based on Kamehameha I.

Kiku cannon

The Kiku cannon is a technique developed by Tenshinhan. The force of the energy is like a pressure wave and throws back both matter and the enemy, whom it can kill as a result. If the Kiku cannon is used too often, this technique can also be fatal for the fighter. Tenshinhan later uses the Neo-Kiku cannon , which is many times more powerful.

Mafuba

With the Mafuba a demon can be captured and locked in a vessel. However, the technology always carries the risk that the user will die in the process. The only defense option is the anti-mafuba .

Mutaito, Gott, Muten-Roshi and Tenshinhan are masters of the Mafuba , whereas Piccolo is masters of the Antimafuba .

Sun flash / sun attack

A bright flash of light that blinds the opponent for a short time, rendering him incapable of fighting. The simplest antidotes are closing your eyes or wearing sunglasses.

Original technique by Tenshinhan, but later also used by Son-Goku, Kuririn and Cell.

Super ghost kamikaze technique

Gotenks lets a ghost or several ghosts appear with its likeness and if touched, the opponent will explode. Kamikaze , as the ghost is also killed, similar to the kamikaze pilots.

Manga

Sun Wukong in an illustration for The Journey to the West from the 15th century.

Akira Toriyama answers the question about working on his manga, which is why he orientates the design of his worlds to reality, but still supplements it with inventions, in an interview:

“Fantasy worlds make everything a lot easier. If I were to let my stories take place in the real world, I would have to do a lot more research to make everything look as real as possible. I think that if you get rid of it, you can play around a lot more, draw whatever you like. That's why I prefer fantasy worlds. "

- Akira Toriyama

background

The ancient Chinese folk tale and the legend of the monkey king Sun Wukong have a major influence on the plot of the manga Dragon Ball . The story is told in Wu Cheng'en's work The Journey to the West , which is one of the four classic novels of China . Sun Wukong is also very well known in Japan and is called Son Goku there.

The character of Goku in Dragon Ball is based on the king of the apes. However, Goku looks like a person who only initially has a monkey tail. Other similarities are that both can jump very high, fly through the air on clouds and have a stick that changes its size on request. Like Sun Wukong, Son Goku was taught martial arts and is supernaturally strong. However, Akira Toriyama has also incorporated other characters and elements from this legend in a modified form in Dragon Ball: Minor characters such as Bulma or Oolong are modeled on Hiuan Tsang or Pa Kai , so that, for example, Oolong's ability to transform at will is based on the powers of Pa Kai owes. Another reference to the legend of Sun Wukong is the burning mountain of the cow devil, which is to be extinguished in Dragon Ball with the magic fan .

Basics and origin

Dragon Ball was originally designed as a parody of the legend about the monkey king and Son Goku had the shape of a little monkey in the first sketches. For Toriyama, the similarities to the original were finally too great and he changed the appearance of the character "Son-Goku" several times. In the third phase of preparations for Dragon Ball, Toriyama decided on the character of Goku: a little boy with a monkey tail. While working on the main character, the idea of ​​the seven balls (Dragon Balls) and the sacred dragon Shenlong came up . Both eventually became the main theme of the story.

The creation of the story of Dragon Ball is preceded by several mangas and short stories by Akira Toriyama, which were published in the manga magazine Shōnen Jump or Fresh Jump : These were, among others, Wonder Island (1978) and Dragon Boy (1983), whose content contains elements in Dragon Ball were picked up again. The island in Wonder Island is already designed in the typical Toriyama style and combines the real with fantasy motifs. Dragon Boy is about a little boy named Tanton who has learned different martial arts and already looks a bit like Son Goku. Like Son-Goku, Dragon Boy also supports a young girl and goes on some adventures with her, during which they meet various mythical creatures .

From Toriyama's comic Tong-Po's adventure , the Hoipoi capsules have also been taken over in a modified form in Dragon Ball . From Dr. Slump (1980–1984) does not only find the motif of martial arts tournaments in Dragon Ball . In Volume 7, for example, there is a cross-over of the characters from Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball , when Goku meets the robot girl Arale in the fight against the Red Ribbon Army in Penguin House and receives support from her and her friends. Another thing that Dr. After all, Slump and Dragon Ball are the incorporation of elements from Asian legends and myths into a modern world. Akira Toriyama creates a new form of fantastic stories. Compared to Dr. Slump are mythical creatures, ghosts and demons but an integral part of the world in Dragon Ball.

Akira Toriyama combines things from the real world with original fantasy motifs in his stories. In the manga, there are not only borrowings from Asian mythology , but also from ancient China in general: for example, in depictions of buildings with simple pagodas and in some traditional items of clothing that some figures wear. The colors yellow and orange chosen by Toriyama for Goku's suit are the colors of Chinese monks . The island on which the martial arts tournaments take place is modeled on the island of Bali , which Toriyama had visited.

Suggestions from fans also had a decisive influence on Akira Toriyama's concept of Dragon Ball. A serious change occurs when Son-Goku returns to history as a young man for the 23rd big tournament and from this point on it is no longer just action and adventure the focus of history. The sexual innuendos, which were quite common at the beginning, now take a back seat, while the struggles come to the fore. Another point that becomes more important with Volume 16 is the time factor: All characters age as the story progresses. Some change their appearance, gain experience, marry and have children, others even die. On the other hand, the story, which can be divided into individual sagas, becomes more comprehensive. In the anime, these changes are evident from the fact that the series Dragon Ball was renamed Dragon Ball Z after the end of the 23rd Grand Tournament , while the manga was still called Dragon Ball.

Drawing style and development of the characters

Toriyama answered the question about the changed drawing style compared to his previous work in one of his few interviews:

“I generally adapt my drawings to the scenario. I can't stand doing the same thing twice in a row. I would have Dragon Ball the same way that Dr. Slump could draw, but the drawing style would not have suited the story. "

- Akira Toriyama

As a vivid example, he cites the fight scenes: the more aggressive they become, the more angular the lines were to achieve the desired effect. According to Toriyama, this would not have been possible with soft strokes. Since Akira Toriyama was originally more an illustrator than a manga artist, it initially gave him difficulties to draw people in motion. He himself describes the first scenes of the fighting tournaments as a "real martyrdom". The drawings were always done with Indian ink and there was a strict separation from coloring .

The development of the story and the creation of atmosphere were in the foreground and not so much the figure that "develops by itself" afterwards. For example, it was initially not intended that both Goku and Piccolo would be extraterrestrials. Toriyama didn't make that decision until he brought God into the act. The work on the design of individual characters was carried out gradually, starting with the question of whether they fit into the story. Only then did the personality of the figure, face, physique and clothing follow, whereby with the latter he always makes sure that this also fits the respective environment.

Design and structure

The German editions of the manga are, like the Japanese original, in black and white and highlighted with speech bubbles and onomatopoeia . The narrative perspective portrays, like in a movie that is happening in the camera angle, and short texts inserted narrator supplement the representations for additional information. Through the omniscient narrator , the reader learns the storyline.

Compared to the anime Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, the language is sometimes much more colloquial, which is also due to scenes that are not included in the anime. The manga was translated into German by Junko Iwamoto-Seebeck and Jürgen Seebeck.

Each individual volume has a number and title and is divided into chapters. In addition, at the beginning each band gives a brief review of the events to date and an introduction by name of the new or previously involved characters. In the first issues you will find information about the history of the manga and some fan pages. As in the original, the volumes are to be read from right to left and from back to front following the Japanese reading direction, i.e. contrary to what is usual in the West.

Publications

The first chapter of the Dragon Ball manga appeared in November 1984 in the 51st weekly issue of the manga magazine Shōnen Jump and remained an integral part of the repertoire until the end of the plot. The final chapter of the series was published in May 1995 in the 25th weekly edition of Shōnen Jump. The first Tankōbon published in Japan for the series appeared in September 1985, others followed at intervals of two to five months, until in August 1995 all the chapters printed in Shōnen Jump were summarized in the 42nd and last volume. Since December 4, 2002, the series has been reissued in the form of Kanzenban and two volumes have been published each month.

The first European and fully translated version was published in France from 1993 . Further volumes followed at two to three-month intervals until the series ended with the publication of the last volume in September 2000. With the first French publication of the 22nd volume, the series with the first five volumes started in October 1997 in German and was published in Germany by Carlsen Comics as the first manga in the original reading direction. Manga such as Ranma ½ had already been published before, but they had been adapted to the western reading direction by completely mirroring the pages. The 42nd and last volume was published in Germany in November 2000.

Further international publications followed from June 2000 to September 2003 in Sweden , from March 2001 to August 2004 in the Netherlands . In September 2000, the first English-language volume was published at irregular intervals and loose order, until the series was published chapter by chapter from 2002 to 2005 in Shonen Jump USA . In June 2006 the first publication of the series was completed with the last volume in the USA. In the meantime there have been new editions of various volumes in order to conceal the disordered publication of the individual volumes. The manga has been published by Viz Media in a collective edition since 2008 .

In Germany, Carlsen Manga brought out the Dragon Ball Artbook ( Dragon Ball: Complete Illustrations ) in 1999 . The anime comics Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z were also published by Carlsen. The Dragon Ball Artbook contains all the color illustrations by Akira Toriyama, which were created between 1984 and 1995, as well as the cover images of the 42 volumes and the cover images published in Shonen Jump magazines. It also includes an interview with Toriyama that is mostly about his drawings. The anime comics, on the other hand, deal with the content of the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z films that are not part of the manga or the anime series themselves.

Other countries in which the series was published are Poland and Mexico (each from 2001), Italy (from 2002), Finland (from 2003), Spain (with Catalan translation from 2006), Brazil , Portugal , Denmark , Switzerland , Taiwan , Hungary , Lithuania and Singapore . A re-release of the Dragon Ball manga by Carlsen Manga! took place in spring 2009 as an anthology edition, which consists of a total of 21 double volumes.

An adaptation of the series has been published as Dragon Ball SD in Saikyō Jump magazine since 2010 . The writer of the super deformed style comedy-action series is Naho Ooishi . Carlsen Manga has been selling this adaptation in German translation since May 2016; four volumes are currently available.

Series and films

Anime

Toei Animation produced three anime series based on the manga over the years: Dragon Ball , Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT . Together they comprise a total of 508 episodes. Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z are the cinematic implementation of the manga, with Dragon Ball dealingwithvolumes 1–17 (chapters 1–194) and Dragon Ball Z volumes 17–42 (chapters 195–519). Dragon Ball GT , on the other hand, was designed as a pure anime from the start and has no manga template. Akira Toriyama was no longer directly responsible for this last series, but only worked as an artistic advisor.

5 April 2009 on Japanese television under the name launched Dragon Ball Z Kai , a revised and high-resolution version of the Dragon - Ball - Z episodes. The version does not contain full episodes and is based more closely on the manga template, which means that Dragon Ball Z Kai only has 98 instead of 291 episodes and does not contain the Boo saga. The Boo saga has been broadcast since April 6, 2014 and is expected to conclude the series with a total of 167 episodes.

Another TV series called Dragon Ball Super was announced on April 28, 2015 . The series started on Fuji TV on July 5, 2015. The manga for the anime has appeared since the August issue of V-Jump, which was available on June 20, 2015.

In addition to the various series, a total of 20 films were made between 1986 and 2018, four of which are in the series Dragon Ball and the rest in Dragon Ball Z , three television films, one of which is before Dragon Ball Z, one in Trunk's future, and one 100 years after the end of Dragon Ball GT is set, also an OVA , which is set around the time of the events around Cell. Between 2013 and 2018, three more movies were released, all of which play between Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT.

Actual films

• 1989 appeared under the title Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins (original title: Xīn qī lóng zhū Shén lóng de chuán shuō ) produced in Taiwan a real- life version based on the anime film Dragon Ball - The Legend of Shenlong . However, the characters in the film do not bear the names of the respective characters in the original. For example, the figure of Son Goku is called Monkey Boy in the English version .

• In 2009, the second real-life version of Dragon Ball, produced in the USA and Hong Kong, was released in cinemas worldwide with the title Dragon Ball Evolution . The premiere took place on March 13, 2009 in Japan. The cinema release for Germany was originally scheduled for August 15, 2008, but was postponed to June 11, 2009. In addition, the film was only shown in a few German cities. Dragonball Evolution is only loosely based on the manga template in terms of plot and characters.

Video games (selection)

Console games

year	title	Initial release	Sales
1988	Dragon Ball: Daimaou Fukkatsu	August 12, 1988	NES: 1,250,000
1989	Dragon Ball 3: Gokuuden	October 27, 1989	NES:?
1990	Dragon Ball Z: Kyoushuu! Saiyan	October 27, 1990	NES:?
1991	Dragon Ball Z II: Gekigami Freeza !!	August 10, 1991	NES:?
1992	Dragon Ball Z: Chou Saiya Densetsu	January 25, 1992	SNES: 580,000
	Dragon Ball Z III: Ressen Jinzou Ningen	August 7, 1992	NES:?
	Dragon Ball Z: Gekitou Tenkaichi Budokai	December 29, 1992	NES:?
1993	Dragon Ball Z	March 20, 1993	SNES: 1,450,000
	Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Saiyan Zetsumetsu Keikaku	August 6, 1993	NES:?
	Dragon Ball Z: La Legende Saien	17th December 1993	SNES: 1,200,000
1994	Dragon Ball Z: Ultime Menace	September 29, 1994	SNES: 730,000
1995	Dragon Ball Z Super Gokuden: Totsugeki-Hen	May 24, 1995	SNES:?
	Dragon Ball Z Super Gokuden: Kakusei-Hen	September 22, 1995	SNES: 110,000
1996	Dragon Ball Z Hyper Dimension	March 29, 1996	SNES: 210,000
	Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Dragon Ball Densetsu	May 31, 1996	PS: 180,000
1997	Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout	August 21, 1997	PS: 220,000
2002	Dragon Ball Z: Budokai	December 12, 2002	PS2: 2,800,000 GC:?
2003	Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2	December 4, 2003	PS2: 2,200,000 GC:?
2004	Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3	November 16, 2004	PS2: 1,900,000
2005	Dragon Ball Z: Sagas	March 22, 2005	XB? PS2: 360,000 GC:?
	Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi	October 6, 2005	PS2: 1,600,000
2006	Super Dragon Ball Z	July 18, 2006	PS2: 190,000
	Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2	October 5, 2006	PS2: 640,000 Wii: 240,000 Total: 880,000
2007	Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3	4th October 2007	PS2: 2,210,000 Wii: 910,000 Total: 3,120,000
2008	Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit	June 5, 2008	X360: 490,000 PS3: 760,000 Total: 1,250,000
	Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World	November 4, 2008	PS2: 290,000
2009	Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo	July 23, 2009	Wii: 150,000
	Dragon Ball: Raging Blast	November 10, 2009	X360: 410,000 PS3: 580,000 Total: 990,000
2010	Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2	November 2, 2010	X360: + 170,000 PS3: + 240,000 Total: + 410,000
2011	Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi	October 28, 2011	X360: PS3: Total:
2012	Dragon Ball Z Budokai - HD Collection	November 2, 2012	X360: PS3: Total:
2014	Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z	January 24, 2014	X360: PS3: Total:
2015	Dragon Ball Xenoverse	February 13, 2015	X360: XO: PS3: PS4: Total:
2016	Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2	October 25, 2016	XO: PS4: PC: NS: Total:
2018	Dragon Ball FighterZ	January 26, 2018	XO: PS4: PC: NS: Total:
2020	Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot	17th January 2020	XO: PS4: PC: Total:

Handheld games

• 2002 - Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors (Game Boy Color)
• 2002 - Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku (Game Boy Advance)
• 2003 - Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku 2 (Game Boy Advance)
• 2004 - Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors (Game Boy Advance)
• 2005 - Dragon Ball: Advance Adventure (Game Boy Advance)
• 2005 - Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2 (Nintendo DS)
• 2006 - Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai (PlayStation Portable)
• 2007 - Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai 2 (PlayStation Portable)
• 2008 - Dragon Ball: Origins (Nintendo DS)
• 2009 - Dragon Ball Evolution (PlayStation Portable)
• 2010 - Dragon Ball: Origins 2 (Nintendo DS)
• 2010 - Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team (Playstation Portable)
• 2011 - Dragon Ball (Nintendo 3DS)
• 2014 - Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z (Playstation Vita)

Success and reception

Dragon Ball is one of the most successful manga series. For example, the magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump, thanks to Toriyama's creation, was able to increase its circulation to around six million copies per week; after the end of the series, the circulation fell to less than four million.

To date, over 250 million copies of the story have been sold in the form of books alone. The story of Son Goku and his friends has greatly contributed to the popularization of the manga in Europe. The 42 individual German-language volumes published by Carlsen Verlag were sold over 6.5 million times by July 2007.

The manga was also received positively by critics. For the German first publication in 1997, Christoph Dallach wrote in KulturSPIEGEL :

“'Dragon Ball' is a wonderfully crazy adventure fairy tale, told so wildly and quickly, as only the manga masters can. The search for the seven Dragon Balls, which are supposed to fulfill all the wishes of the finder, is accompanied by fights, ambushes, conspiracies, jokes and all kinds of monsters. Reading is also adventurous, because 'Dragon Ball' is told from back to front like in the original. "

- Christoph Dallach

literature

• Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball Artbook. Carlsen Comics, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-551-73600-6 .
• Akira Toriyama: The World Special - Illustrations. Carlsen Comics, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-551-74797-0 .

Web links

Commons : Dragon Ball  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website of Carlsen Verlag for the German Manga version
• Anime News Network about the manga

Remarks

1. ↑ They are of Bulma Dragon Balls , Dragon Balls or just balls called. ( Dragon Ball. Volume 1: The Secret of the Dragon Balls, pp. 19-20).
2. ↑ Son-Goku gives his age to Bulma initially with 14 years ( Dragon Ball , Volume 1, The Secret of Drachenkugeln , p. 41). At the 21st martial arts tournament , he confesses that he could not count correctly and is only 12 years old ( Dragon Ball , Volume 4, The Great Tournament , p. 66).
3. ↑ U. a. Referred to as Tenkaichi Budokai in the movies and video games .
4. ↑ Referred to as Oozaru in the movies and anime comics .
5. ↑ In the anime Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z consistently called Krillin .
6. ↑ in the anime Dragon Ball first called supersonic cloud and later Jindujun .
7. ↑ In the anime Dragon Ball, however, the saying is "stick, appear".
8. ↑ In the anime Dragon Ball first called Shockwave of the (ancient) ancestors ; From episode 54 referred to as Kamehame-Ha .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Top 10 Shonen Jump Manga by All-Time Volume Sales . Retrieved November 17, 2012.
2. ↑ 2013's Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods Film Story Outlined . Retrieved December 6, 2012.
3. ↑ Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball. Volume 18: Adventures in the Hereafter, p. 135
4. ↑ Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball. Volume 17: Son-Goku's Brother, p. 69
5. ↑ Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball. Volume 17: Son-Goku's Brother, p. 36
6. ↑ Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball. Volume 14: Piccolo's Secret , p. 93
7. ↑ Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball. Volume 1: The Secret of the Dragon Balls, p. 96
8. ↑ Carlsen Comics: Dragon Ball Magazine No. 4 (July 2000): The most important fighting techniques. , P. 34
9. ↑ ^{a b} Dragon Ball Z: The legendary Super Saiyan , polyband 2003, bonus material, fight guide - the best fighting techniques
10. ↑ ^{a b} Carlsen Comics: Dragon Ball Magazine No. 5 (August 2000): The most important fighting techniques. , P. 22
11. ↑ Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball. Volume 2: The Master of Kamehame-Ha, p. 40
12. ↑ Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball. Volume 2: The Master of Kamehame-Ha, p. 47
13. ↑ Carlsen Comics: Dragon Ball Magazine No. 6 (September 2000): The most important fighting techniques. , P. 22
14. ↑ Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball. Volume 1: The Secret of the Dragon Balls, A Comic Conquered the World: The Dragon Ball Story , p. 177
15. ↑ ^{a b} Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball. Volume 3: Kamesennin's Combat School, A Comic Conquered the World: The Dragon Ball Story , pp. 176–177
16. ↑ Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball. Volume 3: Kamesennin's Combat School, p. 177
17. ↑ ^{a b} Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball. Volume 1: The secret of the dragon balls, p. 175
18. ↑ Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball. Volume 2: The Master of Kamehame-Ha, p. 188
19. ↑ Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball Artbook. Interview, p. 196
20. ↑ ^{a b} Interview with Akira Toriyama from the Dragon Ball World Book Series (English, archive version) ( Memento from March 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
21. ↑ ^{a b c} Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball. Volume 5: The search for grandfather, pp. 176–177
22. ↑ ^{a b c} Akira Toriyama: Dragon Ball Art Book . Interview, p. 193
23. ↑ ^{a b} Dragon Ball (manga) - Anime News Network. Retrieved June 9, 2008 . 
24. ↑ ^{a b c d} Dragon Ball (manga) - Anime News Network. Retrieved June 9, 2008 . 
25. ↑ Press release from Carlsen Verlag dated June 5, 2009 ( Memento of the original from June 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
26. ↑ sumikai.com Dragon Ball - new TV anime announced
27. ↑ Dragon Ball - The Magic begins on online film database
28. ↑ Xin qi long zhu (1989) - Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins on IMDb.com
29. ↑ Dragonball Evolution on IMDb.com
30. ↑ TV feature film for the theatrical release of Dragonball Evolution
31. ↑ Dragonball Evolution - comic book adaptation. In: kino blog. February 26, 2009, archived from the original on June 6, 2013 ; accessed on September 5, 2016 . 
32. ↑ Publications Dragon Ball on gamrReview.de
33. ↑ Miriam Brunner: Manga . Wilhelm Fink, 2010, p. 71 (quoted from: Jaqueline Berndt : "Comics in Japan". In: Lexikon der Comics . Volume 10. Part 3: Aspects / Media, 1998, p. 12)
34. ↑ History of the circulation numbers of the Weekly Shōnen Jump ( Memento of the original from March 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
35. ↑ Interviews: Carlsen Comics (Ralf Keizer and Kai-Steffen Schwarz) April 11, 2007 on comicradioshow.com
36. ↑ Review by Spiegel for the first publication in 1997

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