This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 209.6.176.32 (talk) at 04:32, 20 June 2004 (partial rewrite). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 04:32, 20 June 2004 by 209.6.176.32 (talk) (partial rewrite)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Motorola Dragonball is the name of a microprocessor used in the Palm Pilot PDAs. The present article, however, is about the Dragon Ball manga series.
Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール) is a Japanese manga by Akira Toriyama serialized in the weekly anthology magazine Shonen Jump from 1984 to 1995 and originally collected into 42 individual books. In 2004, the manga was re-released in a 34 volume collection which included a slightly rewritten ending and original color artwork.
In the US, the manga was released first as two American-style comic books: "Dragon Ball" and "Dragon Ball Z". (The split cooresponds to the two different anime series, though the original Japanese manga does not distinguish between them. See below.) Unfortunately, this style of release was unsuccessful and both series were cancelled in 2002. The "Dragon Ball Z" comic was transitioned into a launch title for new the US edition of the Shonen Jump anthology, starting in January 2003. In parallel to these releases, Viz is in the process of releasing the 42 volumes (nearly matching the first Japanese set) in English.
The story of Dragon Ball follows the life of Son Goku, a monkey-tailed boy 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 villians which provide the conflict that drives the story.
The titular Dragon Balls are one component of the universe, but were not the focus of most of the plot lines of the title. The Dragon Balls are seven magical spheres which are scattered across the world. When assembled together, they can be used to summon the dragon Shen-Long 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, one genius inventor has created a "Dragon Radar" to detect the balls making the process far easier than it was intended to be.
Genre
The story of Dragon Ball unfolded gradually over 11 years of publication. During those years, the tone and the angle of the stories gradually changed to reflect the tastes of the readers and the editors of Japanese Shonen Jump.
The early manga is primarily a humorous fantasy story, but containing some small number of sci-fi elements. Notable fantasy elements include not only the monkey-boy Goku 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 can shrink any inanimate object to be pocket-sized), flying cars, and similar "near future" trappings. The overall mood of the title is light with very few deaths and an emphasis on character interaction.
The later manga, starting with the birth of Goku's first son, begins to take a much harder sci-fi approach. Many of the characters which previously had fantasy origins (Goku, the demons, etc.) are recast as being aliens from other planets. Space travel, alien threats, and super powerful cyborgs take center stage instead of more fantastic threats. It is only again towards the very end of the manga that more fantastic plot elements again drive the focus of the book.
Relation to the Anime
Both "Dragon Ball" (DB) and "Dragon Ball Z" (DBZ) animes are based on the same original "Dragon Ball" manga. DB follows Goku's adventures as a child up to his marriage-- roughly the the cycles that had the most fantasy and humor elements. DBZ takes up right where DB leaves off, with the birth of Goku's first son. "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 creation of Dragon Ball GT.)
The "Z" in Dragon Ball Z is rumored to have many meanings. The official meaning is that the letter was chosen because it was at the end of the alphabet, echoing a desire by Toriyama that the series end soon. (It didn't.) Other "Z" theories include the naming of the ensemble group of main characters as the "Z Fighters" in episode titles and promotional materials (they are never referred to that way in the anime itself) or based on the "Zenkai Power" theme song in the ending credits.
Throughout most of the writing of the manga, the anime was being written and produced just behind where the current story was being 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. Unfortunately however, there are many instances in the anime where backstory which was filled in by the anime-writers was directly contradicted by backstory written later in the manga. In a very small number of cases however, the inverse was true-- backstory added in the anime was accepted in the manga. Most notably, the character of Bardock (Goku's father) was originally an anime-creation.