Jump to content

Dragon Ball

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Checked
Page protected with pending changes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Dragon Ball franchise)
This article is about the media franchise in general. For other uses, see Dragon Ball (disambiguation).

Dragon Ball
The logo for the original manga series
Created byAkira Toriyama
Original workDragon Ball (1984–1995)
OwnerBird Studio/Shueisha
Years1984–present
Print publications
Book(s)Companion books
ComicsManga
Films and television
Film(s)List of films
Short film(s)
Animated series
Television special(s)
Direct-to-video
Games
Traditional
Video game(s)List of video games
Audio
Soundtrack(s)List of soundtracks
Official website
en.dragon-ball-official.com

Dragon Ball (Japanese: ドラゴンボール, Hepburn: Doragon Bōru) is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters collected in 42 tankōbon volumes by its publisher Shueisha. Dragon Ball was originally inspired by the classical 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, combined with elements of Hong Kong martial arts films. Dragon Ball characters also use a variety of East Asian martial arts styles, including karate[1][2][3] and Wing Chun (kung fu).[2][3][4] The series follows the adventures of protagonist Son Goku from his childhood through adulthood as he trains in martial arts. He spends his childhood far from civilization until he meets a teen girl named Bulma, who encourages him to join her quest in exploring the world in search of the seven orbs known as the Dragon Balls, which summon a wish-granting dragon when gathered. Along his journey, Goku makes several other friends, becomes a family man, discovers his alien heritage, and battles a wide variety of villains, many of whom also seek the Dragon Balls.

Toriyama's manga was adapted and divided into two anime series produced by Toei Animation: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, which together were broadcast in Japan from 1986 to 1996. Additionally, the studio has developed 21 animated feature films and three television specials.

An anime sequel spinoff series titled Dragon Ball GT, set 10 years after the event of Dragon Ball Z, was released (1996–1997) to mixed reception.

11 years later, Toei Animation released Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!, the first animated Dragon Ball film in 12 years.

From 2009 to 2015, a revised version of Dragon Ball Z aired in Japan under the title Dragon Ball Kai, which streamlined the plot by removing the filler material not found in the manga. At the same time, the studio also released 2 new Dragon Ball movies: Battle of Gods and Resurrection of F, in 2013 and 2015 respectively. The plots in the movies were set after the conclusion of Dragon Ball Z.

Following the success of Battle of Gods and Resurrection of F, the studio released Dragon Ball Super, an anime and manga series which also retell the stories from Battle of Gods and Resurrection of F along with new stories. After the anime concluded in 2018, the manga and movies (Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero) continued the Dragon Ball Super plot, but both went into hiatus after the passing of Akira Toriyama in 2024.

In late 2024, the studio begin airing Dragon Ball Daima, a brand new anime series set between the events of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super.

In entirety, the main Dragon Ball franchise comprises of the following series:

Series Name Release Year Note
Dragon Ball 1986-1989
Dragon Ball Z 1989-1996 Several non-canon movies were released
Dragon Ball Super 2015-2018 Includes 4 canon movies which were adapted in anime and/or manga
Dragon Ball Daima 2024- Set between Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super

Several companies have developed various types of merchandise based on the series leading to a large media franchise that includes films (both animated and live-action), collectible trading card games, action figures, collections of soundtracks, and numerous video games. Dragon Ball has become one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

The Dragon Ball manga has been sold in over 40 countries and the anime has been broadcast in more than 80 countries. The manga's 42 collected tankōbon volumes have over 160 million copies sold in Japan and 260 million copies sold worldwide,[5][a][c] making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. Reviewers have praised the art, characterization, and humor of the story. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential manga series ever made, with many manga artists citing Dragon Ball as a source of inspiration for their own now-popular works. The anime, particularly Dragon Ball Z, is also highly popular around the world and is considered one of the most influential in boosting the popularity of Japanese animation in Western culture. It has had a considerable impact on global popular culture, referenced by and inspiring numerous artists, athletes, celebrities, filmmakers, musicians, and writers around the world.

Setting

[edit]
See also: List of Dragon Ball characters

Earth, known as the Dragon World (ドラゴンワールド) and designated as "Planet 4032-877" by the celestial hierarchy, is the main setting for the entire Dragon Ball series, as well as related media such as Dr. Slump, Neko Majin, and Jaco the Galactic Patrolman. It is mainly inhabited by Earthlings (地球人, Chikyūjin), a term used inclusively to refer to all of the intelligent races native to the planet, including humans, anthropomorphic beings, and monsters. Starting from the Dragon Ball Z series, various extraterrestrial species such as the Saiyans (サイヤ人, Saiya-jin) and Namekians (ナメック星人, Namekku-seijin) have played a more prominent role in franchise media.

The narrative of Dragon Ball predominantly follows the adventures of the Saiyan Son Goku; upon meeting Bulma at the beginning of the series, the two embark on an adventure to gather the seven Dragon Balls, a set of orbs that summon the wish-granting dragon Shenron.[ch. 1] Goku later receives martial arts training from Kame-Sen'nin, meets his lifelong friend Kuririn, and enters the Tenkaichi Budōkai (天下一武道会, lit. "Strongest Under the Heavens Martial Arts Tournament") to fight the world's strongest warriors. When Piccolo Daimao, and later his offspring Piccolo, tries to conquer the planet, Goku receives training from Earth's deities to defeat them. Goku later sacrifices his life to save the planet from his estranged brother Raditz,[ch. 205] but is revived after training in the afterlife under the tutelage of the North Kaio to combat the other incoming Saiyans, Nappa and Vegeta. He later becomes a Super Saiyan and defeats the powerful alien tyrant Freeza; this sets the tone of the rest of the series, with each enemy the characters face becoming stronger than the last, requiring them to attain further training.

Dragon Ball Super establishes that the franchise is set in a multiverse[11] composed of twelve[d] numbered universes, with the majority of the Dragon Ball series taking place in Universe 7 (第７宇宙, Dai-Nana Uchū, lit. "Number Seven Universe"). Each universe is ruled by a number of benevolent and malevolent deities, respectively called Kaioshin and Gods of Destruction who are appointed by a higher being called Zeno, who watches over the multiverse.

Production

[edit]
See also: List of Dragon Ball characters and Dragon Ball (manga) § Production

Akira Toriyama was a fan of Hong Kong martial arts films, particularly Bruce Lee films such as Enter the Dragon (1973) and Jackie Chan films such as Drunken Master (1978), and wanted to create a manga inspired by martial arts films.[12][13][14] This led to Toriyama creating the 1983 one-shot manga Dragon Boy, which he later redeveloped into Dragon Ball.[15] Toriyama loosely modeled the plot and characters of Dragon Ball on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West,[16][15] with Goku being Sun Wukong ("Son Goku" in Japanese), Bulma as Tang Sanzang, Oolong as Zhu Bajie, and Yamcha being Sha Wujing.[17] Toriyama wanted to create a story with the basic theme of Journey to the West, but with "a little kung fu"[18] by combining the novel with elements from the kung fu films of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.[19] The title Dragon Ball was inspired by Enter the Dragon and later Bruceploitation knockoff kung fu films which frequently had the word "Dragon" in the title,[12] and the fighting scenes were influenced by Jackie Chan movies.[20][17] Since it was serialized in a shōnen manga magazine, he added the idea of the Dragon Balls to give it a game-like activity of gathering something, without thinking of what the characters would wish for.[18] His concept of the Dragon Balls was inspired by the epic Japanese novel Nansō Satomi Hakkenden (1814–1842) from the late Edo period, which involves the heroes collecting eight Buddhist prayer beads, which Toriyama adapted into collecting seven Dragon Balls.[21][22]

He originally thought it would last about a year or end once the Dragon Balls were collected.[23] Toriyama stated that although the stories are purposefully easy to understand, he specifically aimed Dragon Ball at readers older than those of his previous serial Dr. Slump.[24] He also wanted to break from the Western influences common in Dr. Slump, deliberately going for Chinese scenery, referencing Chinese buildings and photographs of China his wife had bought.[25] Toriyama wanted to set Dragon Ball in a fictional world largely based on Asia, taking inspiration from several Asian cultures including Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Central Asian, Arabic and Indonesian cultures.[26] The island where the Tenkaichi Budōkai is held is modeled after Bali (in Indonesia), which he, his wife and assistant visited in mid-1985, and for the area around Bobbidi's spaceship he consulted photos of Africa.[25] Toriyama was also inspired by the jinn (genies) from The Arabian Nights.[27]

The Earth of Dragon Ball, as published in Daizenshuu 4: World Guide

During the early chapters of the manga, Toriyama's editor, Kazuhiko Torishima, commented that Goku looked rather plain. To combat this, he added several characters like Kame-Sen'nin and Kuririn, and created the Tenkaichi Budōkai martial arts tournament to focus the storyline on fighting. It was when the first Tenkaichi Budōkai began that Dragon Ball truly became popular, having recalled the races and tournaments in Dr. Slump.[17] Anticipating that readers would expect Goku to win the tournaments, Toriyama had him lose the first two while planning an eventual victory. This allowed for more character growth as the manga progressed. He said that Muscle Tower in the Red Ribbon Army storyline was inspired by the video game Spartan X (called Kung-Fu Master in the West), in which enemies appear very fast as the player ascends a tower (the game was in turn inspired by Jackie Chan's Wheels on Meals and Bruce Lee's Game of Death). He then created Piccolo Daimao as a truly evil villain, and as a result called that arc the most interesting to draw.[17]

Once Goku and company had become the strongest on Earth, they turned to extraterrestrial opponents including the Saiyans (サイヤ人, Saiya-jin); and Goku himself was retconned from an Earthling to a Saiyan who was sent to Earth as a baby.[28] Freeza, who forcibly took over planets to resell them, was created around the time of the Japanese economic bubble and was inspired by real estate speculators, whom Toriyama called the "worst kind of people."[17] Finding the escalating enemies difficult, he created the Ginyu Force to add more balance to the series. When Toriyama created the Super Saiyan (超(スーパー)サイヤ人, Sūpā Saiya-jin) transformation during the Freeza arc, he was initially concerned that Goku's facial expressions as a Super Saiyan made him look like a villain, but decided it was acceptable since the transformation was brought about by anger.[29] Goku's Super Saiyan form has blonde hair because it was easier to draw for Toriyama's assistant (who spent a lot of time blacking in Goku's hair), and has piercing eyes based on Bruce Lee's paralyzing glare.[30] Dragon Ball Z anime character designer Tadayoshi Yamamuro also used Bruce Lee as a reference for Goku's Super Saiyan form, stating that, when he "first becomes a Super Saiyan, his slanting pose with that scowling look in his eyes is all Bruce Lee."[31] Toriyama later added time travel during the Cell arc, but said he had a hard time with it, only thinking of what to do that week and having to discuss it with his second editor Yu Kondo.[17] After Cell's death, Toriyama intended for Gohan to replace Goku as the series' protagonist, but later felt the character was not suited for the role and changed his mind.[17]

Going against the normal convention that the strongest characters should be the largest in terms of physical size, he designed many of Dragon Ball's most powerful characters with small statures, including the protagonist, Goku.[32] Toriyama later explained that he had Goku grow up as a means to make drawing fight scenes easier, even though his first editor Kazuhiko Torishima was initially against it because it was rare to have the main character of a manga series change drastically.[33] When including fights in the manga, Toriyama had the characters go to uninhabited locations to avoid difficulties in drawing residents and destroyed buildings.[25] Toriyama said that he did not plan the details of the story, resulting in strange occurrences and discrepancies later in the series, including changing the colors of the characters mid-story and few characters having screentone because he found it difficult to use.[20][18][23][34] Since the completion of Dragon Ball, Toriyama has continued to add to its story, mostly background information on its universe, through guidebooks published by Shueisha.

During the second half of the series, Toriyama has said that he had become more interested in coming up with the story than actually drawing it, and that the battles became more intense with him simplifying the lines.[20] In 2013, he stated that because Dragon Ball is an action manga the most important aspect is the sense of speed, so he did not draw very elaborate, going so far as to suggest one could say that he was not interested in the art.[33] He also once said that his goal for the series was to tell an "unconventional and contradictory" story.[32] In 2013, commenting on Dragon Ball's global success, Toriyama said, "Frankly, I don't quite understand why it happened. While the manga was being serialized, the only thing I wanted as I kept drawing was to make Japanese boys happy.", "The role of my manga is to be a work of entertainment through and through. I dare say I don't care even if [my works] have left nothing behind, as long as they have entertained their readers."[35]

Manga

[edit]
Main article: Dragon Ball (manga)
Dragon Ball debuted in Weekly Shōnen Jump No. 51, on December 3, 1984 which is also considered to be highly sought after among fans and collectors

Written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball was serialized in the manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 3, 1984, to June 5, 1995,[36][37] when Toriyama grew exhausted and felt he needed a break from drawing. The 519 individual chapters were collected in 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha from September 10, 1985, through August 4, 1995.[38][39][40] Between December 4, 2002, and April 2, 2004, the chapters were re-released in a collection of 34 kanzenban volumes, which included a slightly rewritten ending, new covers, and color artwork from its Weekly Shōnen Jump run.[41][42] The February 2013 issue of V Jump, which was released in December 2012, announced that parts of the manga will be fully colored and re-released in 2013.[43] 20 volumes, beginning from chapter 195 and grouped by story arcs, were released between February 4, 2013, and July 4, 2014.[44][45] 12 volumes covering the first 194 chapters were published between January 4 and March 4, 2016.[46][47] A sōshūhen edition that aims to recreate the manga as it was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump with color pages, promotional text, and next chapter previews, was published in 18 volumes between May 13, 2016, and January 13, 2017.[48][49]

Spin-offs

[edit]

Another manga penned by Ōishi, the three-chapter Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock that revolves around Bardock, Goku's father, was published in the monthly magazine V Jump from August and October 2011.[50]

The final chapter of Toriyama's 2013 manga series Jaco the Galactic Patrolman revealed that it is set before Dragon Ball, with several characters making appearances.[51] Jaco's collected volumes contain a bonus Dragon Ball chapter depicting Goku's mother.[52]

In December 2016, a spin-off manga titled Dragon Ball Side Story: The Case of Being Reincarnated as Yamcha began in Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ digital magazine. Written and illustrated by Dragon Garow Lee, it is about a high school boy who after an accident wakes up in the body of Yamcha in the Dragon Ball manga.[53]

Crossovers

[edit]

Toriyama also created a short series, Neko Majin (1999–2005), that became a self-parody of Dragon Ball.[54] In 2006, a crossover between Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo (or Kochikame) and Dragon Ball by Toriyama and Kochikame author Osamu Akimoto appeared in the Super Kochikame (超こち亀, Chō Kochikame) manga.[55] That same year, Toriyama teamed up with Eiichiro Oda to create a crossover chapter of Dragon Ball and One Piece titled Cross Epoch.[56]

Reception

[edit]
Further information: Dragon Ball (manga) § Reception
See also: Weekly Shōnen Jump § Circulation figures

Dragon Ball is one of the most popular manga series of all time, and it continues to enjoy high readership today. Dragon Ball is credited as one of the main reasons manga circulation was at its highest between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s.[57][58] During Dragon Ball's initial run in Weekly Shōnen Jump, the manga magazine reached an average circulation of 6.53 million weekly sales, the highest in its history.[57][58][59] During Dragon Ball's serialisation between 1984 and 1995, Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine had a total circulation of over 2.9 billion copies,[60][e] with those issues generating an estimated ¥554 billion ($6.9 billion) in sales revenue.[e]

Dragon Ball also sold a record number of collected tankōbon volumes for its time. By 2000, more than 126 million tankōbon copies had been sold in Japan alone.[61] It sold over 150 million copies in Japan by 2008, making it the best-selling manga ever at the time.[62] By 2012, its sales in Japan had grown to pass 156 million, making it the second best-selling Weekly Shōnen Jump manga of all time, behind One Piece.[63] Dragon Ball's tankobon volumes sold 159.5 million copies in Japan by February 2014,[64] and have sold over 160 million copies in Japan as of 2016.[65]

The manga is similarly popular overseas, having been translated and released in over 40 countries worldwide.[66] The total number of tankōbon volumes sold have reached 350 million copies worldwide.[67][68][69][70][71] not including unofficial pirated copies; when including pirated copies, an estimated total of more than 400 million official and unofficial copies have been sold worldwide.[h][f][g]

For the 10th anniversary of the Japan Media Arts Festival in 2006, Japanese fans voted Dragon Ball the third greatest manga of all time.[73] In a survey conducted by Oricon in 2007 among 1,000 people, Son Goku, the main character of the franchise, ranked first place as the "Strongest Manga Character of All Time."[74] Goku's journey and his ever-growing strength resulted in the character winning "the admiration of young boys everywhere".[16] Manga artists, such as One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda and Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto, have stated that Goku inspired their series' main protagonists as well as series structure.[75][76]

Manga critic Jason Thompson stated in 2011 that "Dragon Ball is by far the most influential shōnen manga of the last 30 years, and today, almost every Shōnen Jump artist lists it as one of their favorites and lifts from it in various ways."[77] He says the series "turns from a gag/adventure manga to an nearly-pure fighting manga",[77] and its basic formula of "lots of martial arts, lots of training sequences, a few jokes" became the model for other shōnen series, such as Naruto.[78] Thompson also called Toriyama's art influential and cited it as a reason for the series' popularity.[77] James S. Yadao, author of The Rough Guide to Manga, claims that the first several chapters of Dragon Ball "play out much like Saiyuki with Dr. Slump-like humour built in" and that Dr. Slump, Toriyama's previous manga, has a clear early influence on the series.[79] He feels the series "established its unique identity" after the first occasion when Goku's group disbands and he trains under Kame-Sen'nin, when the story develops "a far more action-packed, sinister tone" with "wilder" battles with aerial and spiritual elements and an increased death count, while humor still makes an occasional appearance.[79] Yadao claims that an art shift occurs when the characters "lose the rounded, innocent look that he established in Dr. Slump and gain sharper angles that leap off the page with their energy and intensity."[80]

Animerica felt the series had "worldwide appeal", using dramatic pacing and over-the-top martial arts action to "maintain tension levels and keep a crippler crossface hold on the audience's attention spans".[81] In Little Boy: The Art of Japan's Exploding Subculture, Takashi Murakami commented that Dragon Ball's "never-ending cyclical narrative moves forward plausibly, seamlessly, and with great finesse."[61] Ridwan Khan from Animefringe.com commented that the manga had a "chubby" art style, but as the series continued the characters got more refined, leaner, and more muscular. Khan prefers the manga over the slow pacing of the anime counterparts.[82] Allen Divers of Anime News Network praised the story and humor of the manga as being very good at conveying all of the characters' personalities. Divers also called Viz's translation one of the best of all the English editions of the series due to its faithfulness to the original Japanese.[83] D. Aviva Rothschild of Rationalmagic.com remarked the first manga volume as "a superior humor title". They praised Goku's innocence and Bulma's insistence as one of the funniest parts of the series.[84]

The content of the manga has been controversial in the United States. In November 1999, Toys "R" Us removed Viz's Dragon Ball from their stores nationwide when a Dallas parent complained the series had "borderline soft porn" after he bought them for his four-year-old son.[85] Commenting on the issue, Susan J. Napier explained it as a difference in culture.[85] After the ban, Viz reluctantly began to censor the series to keep wide distribution.[86] However, in 2001, after releasing three volumes censored, Viz announced Dragon Ball would be uncensored and reprinted due to fan reactions.[86] In October 2009, Wicomico County Public Schools in Maryland banned the Dragon Ball manga from their school district because it "depicts nudity, sexual contact between children and sexual innuendo among adults and children."[85]

Anime

[edit]
Main article: List of Dragon Ball anime

Additionally, Dragon Ball is an anime television metaseries. Dragon Ball (1986–89), Dragon Ball Z (1989–96), and Dragon Ball Super (2015–18) are set in a uniform main continuity, while Dragon Ball GT (1996–97) and Super Dragon Ball Heroes (since 2018) explore several alternate continuities.

Dragon Ball

[edit]
Main article: Dragon Ball (TV series)
Further information: List of Dragon Ball episodes

Toei Animation produced an anime television series based on the first 194 manga chapters, also titled Dragon Ball. The series premiered in Japan on Fuji TV on February 26, 1986, and ran until April 19, 1989, lasting 153 episodes.[15] It is broadcast in 81 countries worldwide.[87]

Dragon Ball Z

[edit]
Main article: Dragon Ball Z
Further information: List of Dragon Ball Z episodes

Instead of continuing the anime as Dragon Ball, Toei Animation decided to carry on with their adaptation under a new name and asked Akira Toriyama to come up with the title. Dragon Ball Z (ドラゴンボールZ(ゼット), Doragon Bōru Zetto, commonly abbreviated as DBZ) picks up five years after the first series left off and adapts the final 325 chapters of the manga. It premiered in Japan on Fuji TV on April 26, 1989, taking over its predecessor's time slot, and ran for 291 episodes until its conclusion on January 31, 1996.[15] Two television specials based on the Z series were aired on Fuji TV in Japan. The first, The One True Final Battle ~The Z Warrior Who Challenged Frieza – Son Goku's Father~, renamed Bardock – The Father of Goku by Funimation, was shown on October 17, 1990. The second special, Defiance in the Face of Despair!! The Remaining Super-Warriors: Gohan and Trunks, renamed The History of Trunks by Funimation, is based on a special chapter of the original manga and aired on February 24, 1993.

Dragon Ball GT

[edit]
Main article: Dragon Ball GT
Further information: List of Dragon Ball GT episodes

Dragon Ball GT (ドラゴンボールGT(ジーティー), Doragon Bōru Jī Tī, G(rand) T(ouring))[88] premiered on Fuji TV on February 7, 1996, and ran until November 19, 1997, for 64 episodes.[15] Unlike the first two anime series, it is not based on Akira Toriyama's original Dragon Ball manga,[89] being created by Toei Animation as a sequel to the series or as Toriyama called it, a "grand side story of the original Dragon Ball."[88] Toriyama designed the main cast, the spaceship used in the show, the design of three planets, and came up with the title and logo. In addition to this, Toriyama also oversaw production of the series, just as he had for the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime. The television special episode, Goku's Side Story! The Proof of his Courage is the Four-Star Ball, or A Hero's Legacy as Funimation titled it for their dub, aired on March 26, 1997, between episodes 41 and 42, serving as a kind of precursor to the epilogue to the series shown at the end of episode 64.

Dragon Ball Z Kai

[edit]
Main article: List of Dragon Ball Z Kai episodes

In February 2009, Dragon Ball Z celebrated its 20th anniversary, with Toei Animation announcing that it would broadcast a re-edited and remastered version of the Dragon Ball Z anime under the name Dragon Ball Kai (ドラゴンボール改, Doragon Bōru Kai, lit. "Dragon Ball Revised"). The footage would be re-edited to follow the manga more closely, eliminating scenes and episodes which were not featured in the original manga, resulting in a more faithful adaptation, as well as in a faster-moving, and more focused story.[90] The episodes were remastered for HDTV, with rerecording of the vocal tracks by most of the original cast, and featuring updated opening and ending sequences. On April 5, 2009, the series premiered in Japan airing in Fuji TV.[91][92] Dragon Ball Z Kai reduced the episode count to 159 episodes (167 episodes internationally), from the original footage of 291 episodes. Damaged frames were removed, resulting in some minor shots being remade from scratch in order to fix cropping, and others to address continuity issues.[93] The majority of the international versions, including Funimation Entertainment's English dub, are titled Dragon Ball Z Kai.[94][95]

Dragon Ball Super

[edit]
Main article: Dragon Ball Super
Further information: List of Dragon Ball Super episodes

On April 28, 2015, Toei Animation announced Dragon Ball Super (ドラゴンボール超, Doragon Bōru Sūpā), the first all-new Dragon Ball television series to be released in 18 years. It debuted on July 5 and ran as a weekly series at 9:00 am on Fuji TV on Sundays until its series finale on March 25, 2018, after 131 episodes.[96] Masako Nozawa reprises her roles as Goku, Gohan, and Goten. Most of the original cast reprise their roles as well.[97][98] Koichi Yamadera and Masakazu Morita also reprise their roles, as Beerus and Whis, respectively.[98]

The story of the anime is set after the defeat of Majin Buu, when the Earth has become peaceful once again. Akira Toriyama is credited as the original creator, as well for "original story and character design concepts."[99] It is also being adapted into a parallel manga.[100]

Super Dragon Ball Heroes

[edit]
Main article: Super Dragon Ball Heroes (web series)
Further information: List of Super Dragon Ball Heroes episodes and Dragon Ball Heroes

In 2018, an anime to promote the Super Dragon Ball Heroes card and video game series was announced with a July 1 premiere.[101] The series' announcement included a brief synopsis:

Trunks returns from the future to train with Goku and Vegeta. However, he abruptly vanishes. The mysterious man "Fu" suddenly appears, telling them that Trunks has been locked up on the "Prison Planet", a mysterious facility in an unknown location between universes. The group searches for the Dragon Balls to free Trunks, but an unending super battle awaits them! Will Goku and the others manage to rescue Trunks and escape the Prison Planet?

Other installments

[edit]

The short film Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! was created for the Jump Super Anime Tour,[102] which celebrated Weekly Shōnen Jump's 40th anniversary, and debuted on September 21, 2008. A short animated adaptation of Naho Ōishi's Bardock spinoff manga, Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock, was shown on December 17–18, 2011, at the Jump Festa 2012 event.[103]

A two-episode original video animation (OVA) titled Dragon Ball Z Side Story: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans was created in 1993 as strategy guides for the Famicom video game of the same name.[104] A remake titled Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans was created as a bonus feature for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2, which was released on November 11, 2010.[105]

A two-part hour-long crossover special between Dragon Ball Z, One Piece and Toriko, referred to as Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special!! aired on April 7, 2013.[106]

Reception

[edit]

The anime adaptations have also been very well-received and are better known in the Western world than the manga, with Anime News Network saying, "Few anime series have mainstreamed it the way Dragon Ball Z has. To a certain generation of television consumers its characters are as well known as any in the animated realm, and for many it was the first step into the wilderness of anime fandom."[107] In a survey conducted by Oricon, "Japanese anime that I think is world-class" and "world-class Manga & Anime" "Dragon Ball" was selected as No. 1 with an overwhelming number of votes in both surveys.[108][109] In 2000, satellite TV channel Animax together with Brutus, a men's lifestyle magazine, and Tsutaya, Japan's largest video rental chain, conducted a poll among 200,000 fans on the top anime series, with Dragon Ball coming in fourth.[110] "Dragon Ball" won first place in the "100 Best Anime in Japan that has advanced to the world" questionnaire on TV Asahi 's " Decision! This is Japan's Best ".[111] TV Asahi conducted two polls in 2005 on the Top 100 Anime, Dragon Ball came in second in the nationwide survey conducted with multiple age-groups and in third in the online poll.[112][113]

Dragon Ball is one of the most successful franchises in animation history.[114] The anime series is broadcast in more than 80 countries worldwide.[87] In Japan, the first sixteen anime films up until Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon (1995) sold 50 million tickets and grossed over ¥40 billion ($501 million) at the box office, in addition to selling over 500,000 home video units, by 1996.[115][116] Later DVD releases of the Dragon Ball anime series have topped Japan's sales charts on several occasions.[117][118] In the United States, the anime series sold over 25 million DVD units by January 2012,[119] and has sold more than 30 million DVD and Blu-ray units as of 2017.[114] In Latin America, public screenings of the Dragon Ball Super finale in 2018 filled public spaces and stadiums in cities across the region, including stadiums holding tens of thousands of spectators.[120]

Dragon Ball Z also proved to be a rating success in the United States, outperforming top shows such as Friends and The X-Files in some parts of the country in sweeps ratings during its first season.[121] The premiere of season three of Dragon Ball Z in 1999, done by Funimation's in-house dub, was the highest-rated program ever at the time on Cartoon Network.[122] In 2002, in the week ending September 22, Dragon Ball Z was the #1 program of the week on all of television with tweens 9–14, boys 9–14 and men 12–24, with the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday telecasts of Dragon Ball Z ranked as the top three programs in all of television, broadcast or cable, for delivery of boys 9–14.[123] Dragon Ball GT has also had high ratings[124] In 2001, it was reported that the official website of Dragon Ball Z recorded 4.7 million hits per day and included 500,000+ registered fans.[125] Dragon Ball Z topped the Lycos 50 list of 'most searched' items for the second consecutive year—the first time that any topic has ever been able to repeat its dominance over a two-year period.[126] Dragon Ball ranked second overall in the search number ranking for the past 10 years released by LYCOS in 2005.[127] and ranked 3rd in Yahoo! in 2002 with PlayStation 2 topping the list[128] Even after it ended, the "Dragon Ball" series continues to maintain a high level of popularity, surpassing that of new anime, and is also often being rebroadcast, making the "Dragon Ball" series Funimation's most important anime license[129] The audience rating of the first Dragon Ball Kai episode on Nicktoons is the highest since the station opened[130]

Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network summed up Dragon Ball as "an action-packed tale told with rare humor and something even rarer—a genuine sense of adventure."[131] Both Kimlinger and colleague Theron Martin noted Funimation's reputation for drastic alterations of the script, but praised the dub.[131][132] However, some critics and most fans of the Japanese version have been more critical with Funimation's English dub and script of Dragon Ball Z over the years. Jeffrey Harris of IGN criticized the voices, including how Freeza's appearance combined with the feminine English voice left fans confused about Freeza's gender.[133] Carlos Ross of T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews considered the series' characters to be different from stereotypical stock characters and noted that they undergo much more development.[134] Despite praising Dragon Ball Z for its cast of characters, they criticized it for having long and repetitive fights.[135]

Dragon Ball Z is well-known, and often criticized, for its long, repetitive, dragged-out fights that span several episodes, with Martin commenting "DBZ practically turned drawing out fights into an art form."[136] However, Jason Thompson of io9 explained that this comes from the fact that the anime was being created alongside the manga.[137] Dragon Ball Z was listed as the 78th best animated show in IGN's Top 100 Animated Series,[138] and was also listed as the 50th greatest cartoon in Wizard magazine's Top 100 Greatest Cartoons list.[139]

Harris commented that Dragon Ball GT "is downright repellent", mentioning that the material and characters had lost their novelty and fun. He also criticized the GT character designs of Trunks and Vegeta as being goofy.[133] Zac Bertschy of Anime News Network also gave negative comments about GT, mentioning that the fights from the series were "a very simple childish exercise" and that many other anime were superior. The plot of Dragon Ball GT has also been criticized for giving a formula that was already used in its predecessors.[140]

Other media

[edit]
See also: List of Dragon Ball films

Anime films

[edit]

Twenty animated theatrical films based on the Dragon Ball series have been released in Japan. The most recent films, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (2013), Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' (2015), Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018), and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022), were produced as full-length feature films and were given stand-alone theatrical releases in Japan (as well as limited theatrical releases in the U.S.). They've also been the first movies to have original creator Akira Toriyama deeply involved in their production; Battle of Gods and Resurrection 'F' were remade into the first and second arcs of the Dragon Ball Super anime, which told the same stories as the two films in expanded detail.[141][142] The 1996 feature film, Dragon Ball: The Path to Power, was also a full-length theatrical release with a running time of 80 minutes, and was produced to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the anime as a re-imagining of the first few arcs of the series.

All previous films were mostly below feature length (around 45–60 minutes each), making them only slightly longer than one or two episodes of the TV series; this is due to them being originally shown as back-to-back presentations alongside other Toei film productions. These films are also mostly alternate re-tellings of certain story arcs (like The Path to Power), or extra side-stories that do not correlate with the continuity of the series. The first three films, along with The Path to Power, are based on the original Dragon Ball anime series. The remaining thirteen older films are based on Dragon Ball Z. The first five films were shown at the Toei Manga Festival (東映まんがまつり, Tōei Manga Matsuri), while the sixth through seventeenth films were shown at the Toei Anime Fair (東映アニメフェア, Toei Anime Fea).

Live-action film

[edit]
Main article: Dragonball Evolution

An American live-action film titled Dragonball Evolution was produced by 20th Century Fox after it acquired the feature film rights to the Dragon Ball franchise in March 2002. Previous to the film, two unofficial live-action films had been produced decades prior. The first was a Korean film titled Dragon Ball: Ssawora Son Goku, Igyeora Son Goku (드래곤볼 싸워라 손오공 이겨라 손오공; Deulaegonbol Ssawola Son Ogong Igyeola Son Ogong; lit. Dragon Ball: Fight Son Goku, Win Son Goku), while the second was a Taiwanese film titled Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins (新七龍珠; Xīn qī lóng zhū), which was also dubbed in English.[143][144] The film was directed by James Wong and produced by Stephen Chow, it was released in the United States on April 10, 2009.[144][145] The film was meant to lead into sequels,[146][147] which were cancelled, after the film flopped at the box office and became universally heralded as one of the worst adaptations of all time, being considered by the fans as being unfaithful to the source material.[148] Franchise creator Akira Toriyama also criticized the film adding he was completely left out of the creative process, despite having himself offered to help, going as far as saying: "the result was a movie, I couldn't even call Dragon Ball".[149] Years after its release, the writer of the film, Ben Ramsey, released a public apology in which he admitted to have written the film "chasing for a payday" instead of "as a fan of the franchise".[150][151]

With the news of 20th Century Fox selling itself, its assets, which include the film rights to the Dragon Ball franchise, will now be owned by its purchaser, The Walt Disney Company.[152] However, there have been no plans made by The Walt Disney Company to create a new live-action Dragon Ball movie.[153]

Theme park attractions

[edit]

"Dragon Ball Z: The Real 4D" debuted at Universal Studios Japan in the summer of 2016. It features a battle between Goku and Freeza. Unlike most Dragon Ball animation, the attraction is animated with CGI. A second attraction titled "Dragon Ball Z: The Real 4-D at Super Tenkaichi Budokai" debuted at Universal Studios Japan in the summer of 2017, which featured a battle between the heroes and Broly.

Video games

[edit]
Main article: List of Dragon Ball video games
A Dragon Ball Z arcade conversion kit that includes the PCB, instructions and operator's manual

The Dragon Ball franchise has spawned multiple video games across various genres and platforms. Earlier games of the series included a system of card battling and were released for the Famicom following the storyline of the series.[154] Starting with the Super Famicom and Mega Drive, most of the games were from the fighting genre or RPG (role-playing game), such as the Super Butoden series.[155] The first Dragon Ball game to be released in the United States was Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout for the PlayStation in 1997.[156] For the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable games the characters were redone in 3D cel-shaded graphics. These games included the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series and the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi series.[157][158] Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit was the first game of the franchise developed for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[159] Dragon Ball Xenoverse was the first game of the franchise developed for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.[160][161] A massively multiplayer online role-playing game called Dragon Ball Online was available in South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan until the servers were shut down in 2013.[162] A few years later fans started recreating the game. Today, "Dragon Ball Online Global" is a new, European version of Dragon Ball Online and it is being developed, while open beta server is running.[163]

The mobile game Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle (2015) has received over 350 million downloads worldwide, as of 2021.[164] A notable recent release is Dragon Ball FighterZ (2018), a fighting game developed by Arc System Works. The game received massive fan and critical acclaim for its fast paced frantic 3v3 battles and great visuals, also winning Best Fighting Game of 2018 at The Game Awards[165] and many other awards and other nominations. It also has a large eSports scene, where it is one of the most popular fighting games.[120] It also did very well commercially, selling 4 million units across all platforms.[166]

Merchandise

[edit]

In 1994, the licensee Bandai earned $140 million annually from sales of licensed Dragon Ball toys, video games and other character goods in Japan.[167] In 1996, Dragon Ball Z grossed $2.95 billion in merchandise sales worldwide.[168] As of early 1996, more than 100 companies outside Japan applied for character goods.[169] Bandai sold over 2 billion Dragon Ball Carddass cards in Japan by 1998,[170] and over 1 million Dragon Stars action figures in the Americas and Europe as of 2018.[171] In 2000, Burger King sponsored a toy promotion to distribute 20 million Dragon Ball Z figures across North America.[172] By 2011, the franchise had generated $5 billion in merchandise sales.[173] In 2012, the franchise grossed ¥7.67 billion ($96.13 million) from licensed merchandise sales in Japan.[174]

Soundtracks

[edit]
See also: List of Dragon Ball soundtracks

Myriad soundtracks were released in the anime, movies and the games. The music for the first two anime Dragon Ball and Z and its films was composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi, while the music from GT was composed by Akihito Tokunaga and the music from Kai was composed by Kenji Yamamoto and Norihito Sumitomo. For the first anime, the soundtracks released were Dragon Ball: Music Collection in 1985 and Dragon Ball: Complete Song Collection in 1991, although they were reissued in 2007 and 2003, respectively.[175] For the second anime, the soundtrack series released were Dragon Ball Z Hit Song Collection Series. It was produced and released by Columbia Records of Japan from July 21, 1989, to March 20, 1996, the show's entire lifespan. On September 20, 2006, Columbia re-released the Hit Song Collection on their Animex 1300 series.[176][177] Other CDs released are compilations, video games and films soundtracks as well as music from the English versions.[178]

Companion books

[edit]
Cover of Dragon Ball: The Complete Illustrations

There have been numerous companion books to the Dragon Ball franchise. Chief among these are the Daizenshuu (大全集) series, comprising seven hardback main volumes and three supplemental softcover volumes, covering the manga and the first two anime series and their theatrical films. The first of these, Dragon Ball: The Complete Illustrations (Daizenshuu volume 1), first published in Japan in 1995, is the only one that was released in English, being printed in 2008 by Viz Media.[179] It contains all 264 colored illustrations Akira Toriyama drew for the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazines' covers, bonus giveaways and specials, and all the covers for the 42 tankōbon. It also includes an interview with Toriyama on his work process. The remainder have never been released in English, and all are now out of print in Japan. From February 4 to May 9, 2013, condensed versions of the Daizenshuu with some updated information were released as the four-volume Chōzenshū (超全集) series.[43] For Dragon Ball GT, the Dragon Ball GT Perfect Files were released in May and December 1997 by Shueisha's Jump Comics Selection imprint. They include series information, illustration galleries, behind-the-scenes information, and more. They were out of print for many years, but were re-released in April 2006 (accompanying the Japanese DVD release of Dragon Ball GT) and this edition is still in print.[180][181]

Coinciding with the 34-volume kanzenban re-release of the manga, and the release of the entire series on DVD for the first time in Japan, four new guidebooks were released in 2003 and 2004. Dragon Ball Landmark and Dragon Ball Forever cover the manga, using volume numbers for story points that reference the kanzenban release,[182][183] while Dragon Ball: Tenkaichi Densetsu (ドラゴンボール 天下一伝説) and Dragon Ball Z: Son Goku Densetsu (ドラゴンボールZ 孫悟空伝説) cover the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime, respectively.[184][185] Much of the material in these books is reused from the earlier Daizenshuu volumes, but they include new textual material including substantial interviews with the creator, cast and production staff of the series. Son Goku Densetsu in particular showcases previously unpublished design sketches of Goku's father Bardock, drawn by character designer Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru prior to creator Akira Toriyama's revisions that resulted in the final version.

Following the release of Dragon Ball Kai in Japan, four new guidebooks were released: the two-volume Dragon Ball: Super Exciting Guide (ドラゴンボール 超エキサイティングガイド) in 2009, covering the manga,[186][187] and two-volume Dragon Ball: Extreme Battle Collection (ドラゴンボール　極限バトルコレクション) in 2010, covering the anime series.[188][189] Despite the TV series airing during this time being Kai, the Extreme Battle Collection books reference the earlier Z series in content and episode numbers. These books also include new question-and-answer sessions with Akira Toriyama, revealing a few new details about the world and characters of the series. 2010 also saw the release of a new artbook, Dragon Ball: Anime Illustrations Guide – The Golden Warrior (ドラゴンボール アニメイラスト集 「黄金の戦士」); a sort of anime-counterpart to the manga-oriented Complete Illustrations, it showcases anime-original illustrations and includes interviews with the three principal character designers for the anime. Each of the Japanese "Dragon Box" DVD releases of the series and movies, which were released from 2003 to 2006, as well as the Blu-ray boxed sets of Dragon Ball Kai, released 2009 to 2011, come with a Dragon Book guide that contains details about the content therein. Each also contains a new interview with a member of the cast or staff of the series. These books have been reproduced textually for Funimation's release of the Dragon Ball Z Dragon Box sets from 2009 to 2011.

Collectible cards

[edit]
See also: Dragon Ball Collectible Card Game and Dragon Ball Z Collectible Card Game

Collectible cards based on the Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT series have been released by Bandai. These cards feature various scenes from the manga and anime stills, plus exclusive artwork from all three series. Bandai released the first set in the United States in July 2008.[190]

Tabletop role-playing game

[edit]

Dragon Ball Z: The Anime Adventure Game, a tabletop role-playing game produced by R. Talsorian Games, was published in 1999.[191][192]

Cultural impact

[edit]

Since its debut, Dragon Ball has had a considerable impact on global popular culture.[120][193] In 2015, the Japan Anniversary Association officially declared May 9 as "Goku Day" (悟空の日, Gokū no Hi); in Japanese, the numbers five and nine can be pronounced as "Go" and "Ku".[194] It is similarly influential in international popular culture across other parts of the world.[120] In the Philippines, a children's musical titled Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z: Myth, Magic, Music, was staged in June 1996.[195] Dragon Ball is widely referenced in American popular culture, from television and music to celebrities and athletes, and the show has been celebrated with Goku making an appearance at the 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades, and with Dragon Ball murals appearing in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Kansas City and Denver.[193]

Dragon Ball is also immensely popular in other regions of the world, such as Latin America, where public screenings of the Dragon Ball Super finale in 2018 filled public spaces and stadiums in cities across the region, including stadiums holding tens of thousands of spectators.[120] Illegal screenings the 2018 finale even caused a diplomatic incident between Mexico and Japan.[196] Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama was decorated a Chevalier or "Knight" of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in May 2019 for his contributions to the arts, particularly for Dragon Ball which has been credited with popularizing manga in France.[197][198]

Vegeta's quote "It's Over 9000!" from the Saiyan Saga in the English dub of Dragon Ball Z is a popular Internet meme.[199] Goku has been identified as a superhero,[200][201] as well as Gohan with his Great Saiyaman persona.[202] Motorola's Freescale DragonBall and DragonBall EZ/VZ microcontroller processors, released in 1995, are named after Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, respectively.[203]

Comics and animation

[edit]
Further information: Dragon Ball (manga) § Legacy and cultural impact

Dragon Ball has been cited as inspiration across various different media. Dragon Ball is credited with setting trends for popular shōnen manga and anime since the 1980s, with manga critic Jason Thompson in 2011 calling it "by far the most influential shōnen manga of the last 30 years." Successful shōnen manga authors such as Eiichiro Oda (One Piece), Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto), Tite Kubo (Bleach), Hiro Mashima (Fairy Tail) and Kentaro Yabuki (Black Cat) have cited Dragon Ball as an influence on their own now popular works. According to Thompson, "almost every Shōnen Jump artist lists it as one of their favorites and lifts from it in various ways."[77]

Ian Jones-Quartey, a producer of the American animated series Steven Universe, is a fan of Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, and uses Toriyama's vehicle designs as a reference for his own. He also stated that "We're all big Toriyama fans on [Steven Universe], which kind of shows a bit."[204] Comic book artist André Lima Araújo cited Dragon Ball, along with several other manga and anime, as a major influence on his work, which includes Marvel Comics such as Age of Ultron, Avengers A.I., Spider-Verse and The Inhumans.[205] Filipino comic artist Dexter Soy, who has worked on Marvel and DC Comics such as Captain America, cited Dragon Ball as a major inspiration.[206] Tony Stark: Iron Man #11 (2019) makes references to Dragon Ball Z, including Miles Morales as Spider-Man referencing the Super Saiyan transformation.[207]

Film and television

[edit]

In December 1990, an unofficial live-action Korean film adaptation Dragon Ball: Ssawora Son Goku, Igyeora Son Goku was released.[208][209] Another unofficial live-action film adaptation of the series, Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins, was released in Taiwan in November 1991,[15] and was later released in 2007 as an "Ultimate Edition," with new effects added à la Star Wars.

Action film star Jackie Chan is a fan of the franchise, and said Goku is his favorite Dragon Ball character. In 1995, Chan had expressed some interest in adapting Dragon Ball into a film, but said it would require "a lot of amazing special effects and an enormous budget."[210] Later in 2013, Toriyama said his ideal live-action Goku would have been a young Jackie Chan, stating that "nobody could play Goku but him."[211]

The Matrix franchise echoes Dragon Ball Z in several action scenes, including the climactic fights of the 2003 films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.[212] Filipino-American film storyboard artist Jay Oliva has cited Dragon Ball as a major inspiration on his work, particularly the action scenes of 2013 Superman film Man of Steel, which launched the DC Extended Universe.[213] Several films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have also been visually influenced by Dragon Ball Z. Erik Killmonger's battle armour in Black Panther (2018) bears a resemblance to Vegeta's battle armour,[214][215] which actor Michael B. Jordan (himself a Dragon Ball fan) said may have inspired Killmonger's battle armor.[216] The fiery look of Carol Danvers' Binary powers in Captain Marvel (2019) also drew some influence from Dragon Ball Z.[217] In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), Katy refers to one of Shang-Chi's techniques as a "Kamehameha fireball";[218] the film's director Destin Daniel Cretton cited Dragon Ball Z as an inspiration behind the film's climactic fight scene.[219]

A key characteristic that set Dragon Ball Z (and later other anime shows) apart from American television shows at the time was a serialization format, in which a continuous story arc stretches over multiple episodes or seasons. Serialization has since also become a common characteristic of American streaming television shows during the "Peak TV" era.[220]

Music and sports

[edit]

Dragon Ball has been channeled and referenced by numerous musicians. It is popular in the hip hop community, and has been referenced in numerous hip hop songs by rappers and artists such as Chris Brown, Chance the Rapper, Big Sean, Lil Uzi Vert, G-Mo Skee, The Weeknd, Childish Gambino,[193] Denzel Curry, Thundercat, B.o.B, Soulja Boy,[221] Drake,[222] Frank Ocean, and Sese.[223] Mark Sammut of TheGamer notes that Gohan occasionally performs the dab move (as the Great Saiyaman), decades before it became a popular hip-hop dance move in American popular culture.[224]

Numerous athletes have also channeled and referenced Dragon Ball, including NBA basketball players such as Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox, Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, Golden State Warriors player Jordan Bell, and Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, American football NFL stars such as Cleveland Browns players Darren Fells and David Njoku, mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey,[193] and WWE wrestlers such as The New Day.[225][226] Japanese kickboxer Panchan Rina took her nickname from the Dragon Ball character Pan.[227] Japanese mixed martial artist Itsuki Hirata is nicknamed "Android 18" due to her resembling the Dragon Ball character.[228] Canadian mixed martial artist Carlos Newton dubbed his fighting style "Dragon Ball jiu-jitsu" in tribute to the series.[229] Other mixed martial artists inspired by Dragon Ball include Kana Watanabe, Yushin Okami, Yoshihiro Akiyama and Yuya Wakamatsu.[230][231] The French group Yamakasi cited Dragon Ball as an influence on their development of parkour, inspired by how the heroes attain extraordinary abilities through hard work.[232]

Video games

[edit]

The producer of the Tekken video game series, Katsuhiro Harada, said that Dragon Ball was one of the first works to visually depict chi and thereby influenced numerous Japanese video games, especially fighting games such as Tekken and Street Fighter.[233] Masaaki Ishikawa, art director of the video game Arms, said that its art style was largely influenced by Dragon Ball and Akira.[234] French video game designer Éric Chahi also cited Dragon Ball as an influence on his 1991 cinematic platformer Another World.[235] Other video game industry veterans who were inspired by Dragon Ball include Suda51, SWERY, Insomniac Games, Nina Freeman, Heart Machine, Iron Galaxy, and Mega64.[233]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Other sources estimate the total Dragon Ball tankōbon sales worldwide to be 260 or 300 million copies.[6][7][8][9][10] See Dragon Ball (manga) § Reception for worldwide sales breakdown.
  2. ^ See Weekly Shōnen Jump § Manga series
  3. ^ In addition to tankōbon sales, Dragon Ball had a total estimated circulation of approximately 2.96 billion copies in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine.[b]
  4. ^ Originally there were eighteen universes, but six of them were since erased by Zeno, a supreme deity.
  5. ^ a b See Weekly Shōnen Jump § Circulation figures
  6. ^ a b Additionally, more than 100 million unofficial pirated copies are estimated to have been sold in China, as of 2005.[72]
  7. ^ a b Additionally, more than 30 million unofficial pirated copies are estimated to have been sold in South Korea, as of 2014.[citation needed]
  8. ^ Tally does not include unofficial pirated copies. When including the over 130 million unofficial pirated copies sold in China and South Korea,[f][g] an estimated total of more than 470 million official and unofficial copies have been sold worldwide.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Martial Arts of Dragon Ball Z". www.nkkf.org. Archived from the original on May 27, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Arts, Way of Martial. "What Martial Arts Does Goku Use? (Do They Work In Real Life?)". Archived from the original on May 27, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Gerardo (April 19, 2021). "What Martial Arts Does Goku Use in Dragon Ball Z?". Combat Museum. Archived from the original on May 27, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  4. ^ "Dragon Ball: 10 Fictional Fighting Styles That Are Actually Based On Real Ones". CBR. May 5, 2020. Archived from the original on May 27, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  5. ^ "DRAGON BALL SUPER: SUPER HERO GLOBAL THEATRICAL RELEASE DATES". Toei Animation. June 15, 2022. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  6. ^ Johnson, G. Allen (January 16, 2019). "'Dragon Ball Super: Broly,' 20th film of anime empire, opens in Bay Area". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on January 16, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  7. ^ Booker, M. Keith (2014). Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas. ABC-CLIO. p. xxxix. ISBN 9780313397516. Archived from the original on February 10, 2019. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  8. ^ 『ドラゴンボール超』劇場版最新作、2022年に公開決定. Toei Animation (in Japanese). May 9, 2021. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  9. ^ ドラゴンボール超Dragon スーパーヒーロー："930倍"超巨大2.4メートルの超ムビチケ好調 3日間で受注200件 想定以上の売れ行き. Mantan Web (in Japanese). March 7, 2022. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  10. ^ "Top Manga Properties in 2008 - Rankings and Circulation Data". Comipress. December 31, 2008. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  11. ^ SOS from the Future: A Dark New Enemy Appears!, Funimation dub
  12. ^ a b "Akira Toriyama × Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru". TV Anime Guide: Dragon Ball Z Son Goku Densetsu. Shueisha. 2003. ISBN 4088735463. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  13. ^ The Dragon Ball Z Legend: The Quest Continues. DH Publishing Inc. 2004. p. 7. ISBN 9780972312493.
  14. ^ "Interview — Dragon Power / Ask Akira Toriyama!". Shonen Jump (1). January 2003. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Clements, Jonathan; Helen McCarthy (September 1, 2001). The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917 (1st ed.). Berkeley, California: Stone Bridge Press. pp. 101–102. ISBN 1-880656-64-7. OCLC 47255331.
  16. ^ a b Wiedemann, Julius (September 25, 2004). "Akira Toriyama". In Amano Masanao (ed.). Manga Design. Taschen. p. 372. ISBN 3-8228-2591-3.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g DRAGON BALL 大全集 2: STORY GUIDE (in Japanese). Shueisha. 1995. pp. 261–265. ISBN 4-08-782752-6. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  18. ^ a b c DRAGON BALL 天下一伝説 (in Japanese). Shueisha. 2004. pp. 80–91. ISBN 4-08-873705-9.
  19. ^ "The Truth About the "Dragon Ball" Manga: "Toriyama Thought of It Like This" Special". Dragon Ball Super Exciting Guide: Story-Hen (DRAGON BALL 超エキサイティングガイド ストーリー編) [Dragon Ball Super Exciting Guide: Story Volume]. Tōkyō: Shūeisha. March 4, 2009. pp. 87–93. ISBN 978-4088748030. When I came up with Dragon Ball, I thought I would try to combine the Kung-Fu movies of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, which I loved so much that I'd watch them on video even while I was working, with the classic Journey to the West to make an enjoyable manga.
  20. ^ a b c DRAGON BALL 大全集 1: COMPLETE ILLUSTRATIONS (in Japanese). Shueisha. 1995. pp. 206–207. ISBN 4-08-782754-2.
  21. ^ Padula, Derek (2015). Dragon Ball Culture Volume 2: Adventure. Derek Padula. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-9831205-4-4. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  22. ^ "Akira Toriyama Q&A". ドラゴンボール 冒険SPECIAL [Dragon Ball: Adventure Special] (in Japanese). Shueisha. November 18, 1987.
  23. ^ a b "Shenlong Times 2". DRAGON BALL 大全集 2: Story Guide (in Japanese). Shueisha. 1995.
  24. ^ "Toriyama/Takahashi interview". Furinkan.com. 1986. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2014.
  25. ^ a b c DRAGON BALL 大全集 4: WORLD GUIDE. Shueisha. 1995. pp. 164–169. ISBN 4-08-782754-2.
  26. ^ "Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga". Anime News Network. March 10, 2011. Archived from the original on January 17, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
  27. ^ "Dragon Ball Collector — Interview with the Majin". Shonen Jump. No. 58. October 2007. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  28. ^ Toriyama, Akira (2004). DRAGON BALL 天下一伝説 (in Japanese). Shueisha. pp. 80–91. ISBN 4-08-873705-9.
  29. ^ Toriyama, Akira (1995). DRAGON BALL 大全集 5: TV ANIMATION PART 2. Shueisha. pp. 206–210. ISBN 4-08-782755-0.
  30. ^ "Comic Legends: Why Did Goku's Hair Turn Blonde?". Comic Book Resources. January 1, 2018. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  31. ^ "Dragon Ball Back Then Vol. 2: Interview with "Dragon Ball Z" character designer Tadayoshi Yamamuro". Dragon Ball Anime Illustration: Kin'iro no Senshi (ドラゴンボール アニメイラスト集 「黄金の戦士」) [Dragon Ball Anime Illustration Collection: The Golden Warrior] (in Japanese). Tōkyō: Hōmusha. April 21, 2010. pp. 50–1. ISBN 978-4834284133.
  32. ^ a b "Interview with the Majin! Revisited". Shonen Jump. 5 (11). Viz Media: 388. November 2007. ISSN 1545-7818.
  33. ^ a b DRAGON BALL 超画集 (in Japanese). Shueisha. 2013. pp. 224–225. ISBN 978-4-08-782520-6.
  34. ^ DRAGON BALL 大全集 5: TV ANIMATION PART 2. Shueisha. 1995. pp. 206–210. ISBN 4-08-782755-0.
  35. ^ Iwamoto, Tetsuo (March 27, 2013). "Dragon Ball artist: 'I just wanted to make boys happy'". Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on April 1, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  36. ^ 週刊少年ジャンプ 1984/12/03 表示号数51. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016.
  37. ^ 週刊少年ジャンプ 1995/06/05 表示号数25. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016.
  38. ^ "Comipress News article on "The Rise and Fall of Weekly Shōnen Jump"". comipress.com. May 6, 2007. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
  39. ^ DRAGON BALL 1 ドラゴンボール (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on March 13, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
  40. ^ DRAGON BALL 42 ドラゴンボール (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
  41. ^ DRAGON BALL 完全版 1 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on October 6, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  42. ^ DRAGON BALL 完全版 34 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on October 6, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  43. ^ a b "Dragon Ball Manga Reprinted in Full Color in Japan". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2012.
  44. ^ ドラゴンボール フルカラー サイヤ人編 1 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on September 27, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  45. ^ ドラゴンボール フルカラー 魔人ブウ編 6 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  46. ^ ドラゴンボール フルカラー 少年編 1 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on October 16, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  47. ^ ドラゴンボール フルカラー ピッコロ大魔王編 4 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  48. ^ DRAGON BALL総集編 超悟空伝 Legend1 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on July 31, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  49. ^ DRAGON BALL総集編 超悟空伝 Legend18 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  50. ^ "Dragon Ball Episode of Bardock Spinoff Manga Gets Anime". Anime News Network. November 21, 2011. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  51. ^ "The Galactic Patrolman's Completed Mission". Weekly Shōnen Jump (44). Shueisha. September 30, 2013.
  52. ^ "Dragon Ball Bonus Story to Run in Viz's Shonen Jump on Monday". Anime News Network. April 3, 2014. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  53. ^ Chapman, Paul (December 12, 2016). ""Dragon Ball" Spin-Off Imagines a World Where Yamcha Totally Rules". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on December 13, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  54. ^ ネコマジン 完全版 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2008.
  55. ^ 超こち亀. ASIN 4088740963.
  56. ^ "Comics Spotlight on Shonen Jump #100". Wired. Archived from the original on May 20, 2017. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  57. ^ a b Ibaraki, Masahiko (March 31, 2008). "The Reminiscence of My 25 Years with Shonen Jump". ComiPress. Ohara, T. (trans). Archived from the original on September 12, 2015.
  58. ^ a b "The Rise and Fall of Weekly Shonen Jump: A Look at the Circulation of Weekly Jump". ComiPress. May 8, 2007. Archived from the original on March 6, 2017.
  59. ^ Garger, Ilya (February 17, 2003). "Look, Up in the Sky!". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on October 24, 2008. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
  60. ^ 週刊少年ジャンプの発行部数（最高653万部）. exlight.net. July 26, 2006. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  61. ^ a b Murakami, Takashi (May 15, 2005). "Earth in My Window". Little Boy: The Art of Japan's Exploding Subculture. Linda Hoaglund (translator). Yale University Press, Japan Society. pp. 105–106. ISBN 0-300-10285-2.
  62. ^ "Top Manga Properties in 2008 – Rankings and Circulation Data". ComiPress. December 31, 2008. Archived from the original on July 1, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  63. ^ "Top 10 Shonen Jump Manga by All-Time Volume Sales". Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  64. ^ Shueisha Media Guide 2014 少年コミック誌・青年コミック誌 [Boy's & Men's Comic Magazines] (PDF) (in Japanese). Shueisha. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 30, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  65. ^ やっぱり国産漫画はすごかった！日本の漫画＆漫画家に与えられたギネス記録. Naver Matome (in Japanese). April 11, 2018. Archived from the original on February 10, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  66. ^ （熱血！マンガ学）ＤＲＡＧＯＮ ＢＡＬＬ 悟空の「成長物語」一大産業に 【大阪】. Asahi Shimbun. May 13, 2008. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  67. ^ "Shueisha said in 2009 that Dragon Ball was at 350 million copies in circulation" (in Japanese). January 17, 2022. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  68. ^ "～映画「ドラゴンボールZ 神と神」公開記念！出でよ神龍!! 鳥山明先生、アンケート答えておくれーーーっ!!!!!SP～" (in Japanese). March 14, 2013. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  69. ^ "よりスピーディーに、より迫力を増して復活する「ドラゴンボール改」in TAF2009". Livedoor News (in Japanese). Livedoor. March 21, 2009. Archived from the original on August 16, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  70. ^ "映画「ドラゴンボール」テーマソングは浜崎あゆみ". MSN Sankei News. December 10, 2008. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
  71. ^ "ピッコロは緑だけど触角なし......実写『ドラゴンボール』映像". Oricon News (in Japanese). December 15, 2008. Archived from the original on August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  72. ^ 岐路のアジア 第3部・ 漫画「日本発」根付く共通文化 朝日新聞（大阪版）2005年12月6日付朝刊 8面 国際欄
  73. ^ "Top 10 Anime and Manga at Japan Media Arts Festival". Anime News Network. October 4, 2006. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  74. ^ 1000人が選んだ!漫画史上"最強"キャラクターランキング! (in Japanese). June 22, 2007. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2007.
  75. ^ Oda, Eiichiro (2001). One Piece Color Walk 1. Shueisha. ISBN 4-08-859217-4.
  76. ^ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Uzumaki: the Art of Naruto. Viz Media. pp. 138–139. ISBN 978-1-4215-1407-9.
  77. ^ a b c d Thompson, Jason (March 10, 2011). "Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga – Dragon Ball". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 17, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  78. ^ Thompson, Jason (April 8, 2009). "What is Dragon Ball?". Io9. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2009.
  79. ^ a b Yadao, James S. The Rough Guide to Manga. Penguin Books, October 1, 2009. p. 116 Archived July 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. ISBN 1405384239, 9781405384230. Available on Google Books. "Also in evidence is the influence of Dr. Slump, especially in the early chapters, which play out much like Saiyuki with Dr. Slump-like humour built in."
  80. ^ Yadao, James S. The Rough Guide to Manga. Penguin Books, October 1, 2009. p. 116 Archived July 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine-117. ISBN 1405384239, 9781405384230. Available on Google Books.
  81. ^ "Anime Radar: News". Animerica. 9 (2). San Francisco, California: Viz Media: 36. March 2001. ISSN 1067-0831. OCLC 27130932.
  82. ^ Khan, Ridwan (July 2003). "Dragon Ball Vol.1 review". Animefringe.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
  83. ^ Divers, Allen (November 18, 2001). "Dragon Ball (manga) Graphic Novel vol 5". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
  84. ^ "Dragon Ball Volume 1 review". Rationalmagic.com. Archived from the original on November 27, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2008.
  85. ^ a b c "Maryland School Library to Remove Dragon Ball Manga". Anime News Network. October 7, 2009. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  86. ^ a b "Viz explains censorship in Dragonball Manga". Anime News Network. August 22, 2000. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  87. ^ a b 深夜アニメの製作資金は約3億円…儲ける仕組みや製作委員会の構造とは 今こそ知っておきたいアニメビジネスの特徴を取材. Social Game Info (in Japanese). June 17, 2016. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  88. ^ a b Akira Toriyama message in the Dragon Book included with the Dragon Ball GT Dragon Box DVD set.
  89. ^ "DBZ FAQ Update". April 10, 2001. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved June 5, 2008.
  90. ^ ｢ドラゴンボールZ｣放送開始20周年記念! HDリマスター坂で テレビアニメが堂々復活!! 孫悟空伝説再び!! その名も... DRAGON BALL KAI. V Jump (in Japanese). Japan: Shueisha: 10. February 9, 2009.
  91. ^ "Dragon Ball Z to Rerun on Japanese TV in HD in April". Anime News Network. February 6, 2009. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2009.
  92. ^ "Japan's Remastered DBZ to Be Called Dragon Ball Kai". Anime News Network. February 19, 2009. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved February 21, 2009.
  93. ^ Paschal, Jacob T. (May 19, 2010). "What is Dragon Ball Kai? Part I: The History Of Kai". toonzone.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  94. ^ "Navarre Reveals Funimation's Dragon Ball Kai License". Anime News Network. February 2, 2010. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
  95. ^ Heldenfelds, Rich (March 11, 2010). "Nickelodeon Announces Fall Plans". Ohiomm.com. Akron Beach Journal. Archived from the original on May 17, 2007. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  96. ^ "Dragon Ball Super TV Anime Debuts on July 5". Anime News Network. June 4, 2015. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  97. ^ 作品情報 [Credits] (in Japanese). Toei Animation. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  98. ^ a b "Dragon Ball Super Main Visual Reveals 2 New Characters". Anime News Network. June 15, 2015. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  99. ^ "Dragon Ball Gets 1st New TV Anime in 18 Years in July". Anime News Network. April 28, 2015. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  100. ^ Osborn, Alex (May 19, 2015). "Dragon Ball Super Getting Companion Manga". IGN. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  101. ^ "'Dragon Ball' Reveals New Anime Project". ComicBook.com. May 23, 2018. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  102. ^ "New DB, Tegami Bachi, Romance Dawn Anime DVD Offered". Anime News Network. December 12, 2008. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  103. ^ "Dragon Ball Episode of Bardock Spinoff Manga Gets Anime". Anime News Network. November 21, 2011. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  104. ^ "List of OVA produced by Toei in the 1990s". Archived from the original on April 20, 2008. Retrieved September 27, 2008.
  105. ^ "Dragon Ball: RB2 Game to Add New 1/2-Hour Anime". Anime News Network. August 9, 2010. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
  106. ^ "Toriko, One Piece, Dragon Ball Z Get Crossover Anime Special". Anime News Network. February 5, 2013. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  107. ^ "Dragon Box Z Set 2". Anime News Network. March 8, 2010. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  108. ^ "世界に通用していると思う日本のアニメ、1位『ドラゴンボール』｜ライフ関連ニュース｜オリコン顧客満足度ランキング". Oricon (in Japanese). August 2, 2009. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  109. ^ "世界に通用しているマンガ＆アニメランキング『日本が世界に誇る！傑作マンガ＆アニメの頂点は？』". ORICON NEWS. August 3, 2012. Archived from the original on June 7, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  110. ^ "Gundam Tops Anime Poll". Anime News Network. September 12, 2000. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  111. ^ "決定！これが日本のベスト". December 11, 2004. Archived from the original on December 11, 2004. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  112. ^ "Part 2 – TV Asahi Top 100 Anime". Anime News Network. September 23, 2005. Archived from the original on December 6, 2006. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  113. ^ "TV Asahi Top 100 Anime". Anime News Network. September 23, 2005. Archived from the original on January 2, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  114. ^ a b "'Dragon Ball's' voice of Goku speaks for himself". Los Angeles Times. June 30, 2017. Archived from the original on June 30, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  115. ^ DB劇場版(ビデオ、1995年時点). Toei Company. 1996. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  116. ^ 歴代ドラゴンボール映画作品一覧. 年代流行. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2018. 1995年7月公開『悟空がやらねば誰がやる』までの劇場版シリーズ16作の累計記録は、劇場版ビデオ50万本以上、興行収入400億円以上と、それぞれ1996年初頭時点におけるアニメ映画史上1位を記録した。
  117. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, September 10–16". Anime News Network. September 20, 2008. Archived from the original on October 20, 2008. Retrieved October 11, 2008.
  118. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, August 6–12". Anime News Network. August 14, 2008. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2008.
  119. ^ "Funimation January 2012 Catalog" (PDF). thecnl.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  120. ^ a b c d e Muncy, Julie (January 17, 2019). "The Everlasting (and Still Growing) Appeal of 'Dragon Ball'". Wired. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  121. ^ "Behind the Screens". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 98. Ziff Davis. September 1997. p. 118.
  122. ^ "Gundam Wing leaving Toonami?!". Anime News Network. December 12, 2000. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved November 29, 2008.
  123. ^ "Dragonball Z Tops Ratings". Anime News Network. September 22, 2002. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  124. ^ "Dragon Ball GT's Awesome Debut". icv2.com. November 13, 2003. Archived from the original on June 13, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  125. ^ Azoulay, Julia F (June 1, 2001). "Character study: CB offers a licensing show cheat sheet". Children's Business. Conde Nast Publications, Inc. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  126. ^ "DBZ Tops Lycos 50 for 2002". icv2.com. December 9, 2002. Archived from the original on June 16, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  127. ^ "検索ワード過去10年ランク ドラゴンボールが2位（9/21）". アニメ！アニメ！ (in Japanese). September 21, 2005. Archived from the original on June 7, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  128. ^ "Britney loses out to PlayStation". December 30, 2002. Archived from the original on June 7, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  129. ^ "米CNでドラゴンボールZの再放送開始（2/14）". アニメ！アニメ！ (in Japanese). February 14, 2006. Archived from the original on March 27, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
  130. ^ "「ドラゴンボール改」が米国で好発進、放送局で開局以来最高視聴率。 | Narinari.com". www.narinari.com (in Japanese). June 6, 2010. Archived from the original on June 8, 2010.
  131. ^ a b Kimlinger, Carl (December 14, 2009). "Dragon Ball DVD Season 2 Uncut Set". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  132. ^ Martin, Theron (December 14, 2009). "Dragon Ball DVD Season 3". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  133. ^ a b Harris, Jeffrey (November 12, 2007). "Dragon Ball GT — The Lost Episodes DVD Box Set Review". IGN. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2008.
  134. ^ Jones, Tim. "Dragon Ball anime review". themanime.org. Archived from the original on July 13, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2008.
  135. ^ Ross, Carlos. "Dragon Ball Z anime review". themanime.org. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2008.
  136. ^ Martin, Theron (November 5, 2008). "Dragon Ball Z DVD Season 6". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  137. ^ Thompson, Jason (April 8, 2009). "Isn't Dragon Ball just a bunch of speedlines and ripped dudes with bad hair screaming "It's over 9,000!"". Io9. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  138. ^ "78. Dragon Ball Z". IGN. January 23, 2009. Archived from the original on March 16, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2009.
  139. ^ "Wizard Magazine's Top 100 cartoons list". Listal. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
  140. ^ Bertschy, Zac (June 6, 2004). "Dragon Ball GT DVD 8: Salvation". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
  141. ^ "Akira Toriyama, Toei Make Dragon Ball Z Film Next March". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  142. ^ "1st Key Visual For 2015 Dragon Ball Z Film Reveals Frieza". ANN. Archived from the original on November 18, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  143. ^ Gardner, Chris (March 12, 2002). "Fox draws deal for DragonBall live-action pics". The Hollywood Reporter. 372 (28).
  144. ^ a b Tatiana Siegel (November 13, 2007). "Dragonball comes to bigscreen". Variety. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved November 14, 2007.
  145. ^ "DragonBall Movie". Fox Japan. Archived from the original on June 23, 2008. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
  146. ^ Parfitt, Orlando (March 30, 2009). "Dragonball Sequels Exclusive". Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  147. ^ "Dragonball Sequel Already Has A Script". Screen Rant. April 5, 2009. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  148. ^ "REVIEW – DRAGONBALL: EVOLUTION (2009)". cinemaestroreviews.blogspot.mx. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  149. ^ Ashcraft, Brian (April 2, 2013). "Didn't Like Hollywood's Dragon Ball Movie? Well, Neither Did Dragon Ball's Creator". Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  150. ^ Padula, Derek (May 3, 2016). "Dragon Ball Evolution Writer Apologizes to Fans". Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  151. ^ Barder, Ollie. "'Dragonball Evolution' Writer Apologizes To Fans". Forbes. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  152. ^ "Could The Disney/Fox Acquisition Lead To New Live-Action 'Dragon Ball ' Movies and What Could That Look Like? – GWW". August 12, 2018. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  153. ^ "Is Disney really making a Dragon Ball movie? Explained". December 9, 2022. Archived from the original on July 25, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  154. ^ "Dragon Ball: Daimaou Fukkatsu". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  155. ^ "Dragon Ball Z Super Butouden". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  156. ^ "Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2009.
  157. ^ "DBZ: Budokai to ship early". Anime News Network. November 13, 2002. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  158. ^ Mueller, Greg (August 15, 2005). "Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi Hands-On". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  159. ^ "Atari Announces the Next Generation Chapter for Dragon Ball Z(R) Video Game Series" (Press release). Atari. January 16, 2008. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved September 24, 2008.
  160. ^ Te, Zorine (June 11, 2014). "E3 2014: Powering Up Dragon Ball Xenoverse to the Next Generation". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  161. ^ Reparaz, Mikel (June 30, 2014). "DBZ Goes Next-Gen With Dragon Ball Xenoverse". IGN. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  162. ^ 드래곤볼 온라인 서비스 종료 안내 (End of Dragon Ball Online). Dragon Ball Online – Net Marble. August 26, 2013. Archived from the original on September 11, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
  163. ^ "DragonBall Online Global – The Server Revival". dboglobal.com. Archived from the original on November 20, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  164. ^ 「ドラゴンボールZ ドッカンバトル」で世界累計3億5000万DL突破を記念したキャンペーンが開催. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). August 28, 2021. Archived from the original on August 28, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  165. ^ "2018 | History | The Game Awards". The Game Awards. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  166. ^ "DBFZ sells over 4 Million, 2019 March". March 28, 2019. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020.
  167. ^ "Business Review Weekly: BRW". Business Review Weekly. 17 (1–7): 69. 1995. Archived from the original on March 9, 2024. Retrieved February 3, 2021. Last year alone Bandai sold $140 million of Dragon Ball licensed toys, video games and other character goods in Japan alone.
  168. ^ "Manga, anime rooted in Japanese history". The Indianapolis Star. August 2, 1997. Archived from the original on May 30, 2018. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  169. ^ Dragon Ball: The Path to Power booklet. 1996.
  170. ^ "Bandai's "Carddas" topped the total sales volume of 10 billion pieces". GIGAZINE. March 29, 2012. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  171. ^ "30 Years of Dragon Ball Z". License Global: T13. February 2019. Archived from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  172. ^ "Burger King Uses Kids' Meals to Promote Japanese Cartoon Series". Knight Ridder Tribune Business News. Knight Ridder. June 5, 2000. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  173. ^ "Funimation January 2012 Catalog" (PDF). thecnl.com. Funimation. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  174. ^ "在日本，地位最高的动漫是哆啦a梦么？". Taojinjubao. Character Databank (CharaBiz). January 6, 2018. Archived from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  175. ^ "Dragonball Music Collection". CDJapan.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  176. ^ "DRAGONBALL Z Hit Kyoku Shu". CDJapan.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  177. ^ "DRAGONBALL Z Hit Kyoku Shu 18½". CDJapan.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  178. ^ "Dragon Ball Z Best Song Collection "Legend of Dragonworld"". CDJapan.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  179. ^ "Dragon Ball: The Complete Illustrations". Viz Media. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  180. ^ 復刻版ドラゴンボールGTパーフェクトファイル vol．1 [Dragon Ball GT: Perfect File vol.1]. Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  181. ^ 復刻版ドラゴンボールGTパーフェクトファイル vol．2 [Dragon Ball GT: Perfect File vol.2]. Shueisha. Archived from the original on February 24, 2008. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  182. ^ "Dragonball FOREVER". Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  183. ^ "Dragonball LANDMARK". Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  184. ^ テレビアニメ完全カイド「DRAGONBALL」～天下一伝説～ [Dragon Ball: Tenkaichi Densetsu]. Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  185. ^ テレビアニメ完全ガイド Dragonball Z 孫悟空伝説 [Dragon Ball Z: Son Goku Densetsu]. Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  186. ^ DRAGON BALL 超エキサイティングガイド ストーリー編 (Dragon Ball: Super Exciting Guide Story). Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  187. ^ DRAGON BALL 超エキサイティングガイド キャラクター編 (Dragon Ball: Super Exciting Guide Character). Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  188. ^ DRAGON BALL 極限バトルコレクション ラウンド01 [Dragon Ball: Extreme Battle Collection: Round 1]. Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  189. ^ DRAGON BALL 極限バトルコレクション ラウンド02 [Dragon Ball: Extreme Battle Collection: Round 2]. Shueisha. Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  190. ^ "Dragon Ball Collectible Card Game – Series #1: The Warriors Return". Bandai. Archived from the original on September 7, 2013. Retrieved September 7, 2013.
  191. ^ Pool, Robert (1999). "Review ofDragon Ball Z: The Anime Adventure Game". RPGnet. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  192. ^ "Dragonball Z". July 3, 2013. Archived from the original on July 3, 2013. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  193. ^ a b c d "Celebs, athletes give 'Dragon Ball' pop culture super status". The Plain Dealer. January 15, 2019. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  194. ^ "May 9 'Officially' Recognized as Goku Day". Anime News Network. May 9, 2015. Archived from the original on November 13, 2016.
  195. ^ "Values to learn and live by". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. June 21, 1996. p. 31B. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  196. ^ "How Dragon Ball caused a diplomatic spat". March 8, 2024. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
  197. ^ Loveridge, Lynzee (May 31, 2019). "Dragonball Creator Akira Toriyama Knighted by France". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  198. ^ Pinto, Ophelia (May 31, 2019). "Akira Toriyama nommé Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres". HuffPost (in French). Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  199. ^ "Dragon Ball: 20 Things About Vegeta That Make Absolutely No Sense". Screen Rant. March 15, 2019. Archived from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  200. ^ Porter, Robert J. (2006). "Superheroes in Therapy: Uncovering Children's Secret Identities". In Rubin, Lawrence C. (ed.). Using Superheroes in Counseling and Play Therapy. Springer Publishing Company. pp. 23–48 (25). ISBN 978-0-8261-0132-7. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved May 28, 2020. The toys include figures of both genders, a variety of skin colors, and some child superheroes (e.g., from the Dragon Ball Z collection based on the television series).
  201. ^ Stone, Sam (February 18, 2020). "Thor Has Officially Become Marvel's Answer to Dragon Ball Z's Goku". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020. Thor's past wounds were completely healed while the Asgardian Avenger received a significant power boost that bears more than a passing resemblance to another hard-hitting, frequently blonde-haired superhero: Dragon Ball's Goku.
  202. ^ Ocasio, Joseph (February 7, 2020). "Dragon Ball: 5 Reasons We Love Great Saiyaman (& 5 Why We Hate Him)". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020. Gohan's Superhero alter ego
  203. ^ Chiu, Karen (April 15, 2019). "The story of DragonBall: How Motorola created our mobile future in Hong Kong". Abacus. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  204. ^ Ohanesian, Liz (November 17, 2014). "Manga Series Dragon Ball Celebrates 30th Anniversary". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017.
  205. ^ "Interview – André Lima Araújo Talks Man: Plus". Flickering Myth. January 24, 2016. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  206. ^ "Dragon Ball Super Artist Accused of Tracing Over Captain America Comic". WOWJAPAN. June 5, 2018. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  207. ^ Peters, Megan (May 23, 2019). "Dragon Ball Z Makes Clever Appearance in the Marvel Universe". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  208. ^ "Dragon Ball 1990" (in Korean). Cine21. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
  209. ^ "드래곤볼 싸워라 손오공 이겨라 손오공 (豆瓣)" (in Korean). 豆瓣电影. Archived from the original on April 30, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  210. ^ Toriyama, Akira (June 25, 1995). "I Love Dragon Ball #1: Jackie Chan". DRAGON BALL 大全集 1: COMPLETE ILLUSTRATIONS (in Japanese). Shueisha. p. 7. ISBN 4-08-782754-2. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  211. ^ Kobayashi, Kendō (March 24, 2013). "『漫道コバヤシ』～映画「ドラゴンボールZ神と神」公開記念！出でよ神龍！！鳥山明先生、アンケート答えておくれーーーっ！！！！！SP～" [A Public Movie Celebration For "Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods"! Come forth, Shenlong! Akira Toriyama-sensei, Answers Our Questionnaire!!!! Special]. Mandō Kobayashi. Episode 2 (in Japanese). Fuji TV One Two Next. If it were back when Jackie Chan was still young, I suppose I would have thought nobody could play Goku but him.
  212. ^ Saabedra, Humberto (August 21, 2019). "Fourth Matrix Film Revealed With Key Cast Members and Lana Wachowski Returning To Direct". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  213. ^ Peters, Megan (June 4, 2018). "DCEU Storyboard Artist Reveals 'Dragon Ball' Inspired 'Man of Steel'". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  214. ^ "Black Panther's Killmonger May Have Borrowed His Costume From Vegeta". Comic Book Resources. February 22, 2018. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  215. ^ "Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger Costume Honors His Anime Love". Screen Rant. February 21, 2018. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  216. ^ "'Black Panther's Michael B. Jordan Says Killmonger's Armor May Be Based on Vegeta From 'Dragon Ball Z'". ComicBook.com. November 25, 2018. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  217. ^ Peters, Megan (June 25, 2019). "Captain Marvel Visual Artist Explains How Dragon Ball Influenced Carol's Fiery Look". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  218. ^ Valdez, Nick (September 3, 2021). "Shang-Chi Gives Dragon Ball a Sneaky Shout Out". comicbook.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  219. ^ Zaid, A'bidah (August 31, 2021). "Geek Interview: Director Destin Daniel Cretton On How DBZ's 'Kamehameha' Influenced Shang-Chi's Epic Final Battle". Geek Culture. Archived from the original on September 10, 2021. Retrieved September 10, 2021.
  220. ^ Ziegler, John R.; Richards, Leah (January 9, 2020). Representation in Steven Universe. Springer Nature. p. 10. ISBN 978-3-030-31881-9. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  221. ^ "'Dragon Ball Super: Broly' unites fans and critics with huge opening". The Daily Dot. January 17, 2019. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  222. ^ "Drake & Chris Brown Act Out A Dance Battle In Their "No Guidance" Video". Genius. July 26, 2019. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  223. ^ Weekes, Jabbari (September 3, 2015). "This Rapper Made an Entire Mixtape About 'Dragon Ball Z,' so We Quizzed Him About 'Dragon Ball Z'". Vice. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  224. ^ Sammut, Mark (January 17, 2019). "25 Fortnite Emotes And Where They Were Stolen From". TheGamer. Archived from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  225. ^ Sullivan, Meghan (April 7, 2016). "Xavier Woods on How Anime and Wrestling Came Together at WrestleMania 32". IGN. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  226. ^ Koch, Cameron (April 4, 2016). "There Was 'Dragon Ball Z' Cosplay On Display At 'WrestleMania 32'". Tech Times. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  227. ^ "【KNOCK OUT】初参戦目前のぱんちゃん璃奈「KNOCK OUTの女子エースにならないといけないと思ってます」". Gong Kakutogi (in Japanese). August 13, 2019. Archived from the original on March 9, 2024. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  228. ^ "Itsuki Hirata discusses her transition to Dragon Ball's Android 18". Asian MMA. September 1, 2021. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  229. ^ Teal, Bob (October 23, 2009). "Whatever happened to... Carlos Newton?". MMA Torch. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016.
  230. ^ Kana Watanabe is addicted to DragonBall, wants more Japanese fighters in Bellator (web video). MMA Mania. May 10, 2022. Event occurs at 27:05. Archived from the original on May 22, 2022. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  231. ^ Furness, Jay (March 26, 2020). "How Anime Inspired ONE Stars To Achieve Martial Arts Success". ONE Championship. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  232. ^ Angel, Julie (June 16, 2016). Breaking the Jump: The Secret Story of Parkour's High Flying Rebellion. Aurum Press. ISBN 978-1-78131-554-5. Archived from the original on February 11, 2024. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  233. ^ a b Hilliard, Kyle (October 20, 2017). "Developers (And Others) Share Their Appreciation And Dream Games For The Dragon Ball Franchise". Game Informer. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017.
  234. ^ Cox, Simon; Davison, John (June 14, 2017). "'Because Nintendo': 'Arms' Producer Explains Why Fighters Have Stretchy Arms". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  235. ^ Another World Rotoscoping & Interview Eric Chahi on YouTube
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dragon Ball.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Dragon Ball.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dragon_Ball&oldid=1257097615"