Dragon Ball

Description

From Viz:
Before there was Dragon Ball Z, there was Akira Toriyama's action epic Dragon Ball, starring the younger version of Son Goku and all the other Dragon Ball Z heroes! Meet a naive young monkey-tailed boy named Goku, whose quiet life changes when he meets Bulma, a girl who is on a quest to collect seven "Dragon Balls." If she gathers them all, an incredibly powerful dragon will appear and grant her one wish. But the precious orbs are scattered all over the world, and Bulma needs Goku's help (and his super-strength)! With a magic staff for a weapon and a flying cloud for a ride, Goku sets out on the adventure of a lifetime.

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Type

Manga

Related Series

Dragon Ball SD (Spin-Off)

Cross Epoch (Side Story)

Ginga Patrol Jaco (Prequel)

Dragon Ball Heroes - Victory Mission (Spin-Off)

Dragon Ball - Episode of Bardock (Prequel)

Dragon Ball Z - Rebirth of F (Sequel)

Dragon Ball Chou (Sequel)

Dragon Ball Side Story (Spin-Off)

Dragon Ball: Ossu! Kaette Kita Son Gokū to Nakama-tachi!! (Sequel)

Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Avatars!! (Spin-Off)

Dragon Ball Film Animation Comics (Side Story)

Toriyama Akira Marusaku Gekijou (Alternate Version)

Associated Names

7 Viên Ngọc Rồng

Bola de drac

Bola de dragón

Bola Naga

Bảy Viên Ngọc Rồng

DBZ

Dragoi Bola

Dragon Ball Z

Dragonball

Drakonų kovos

Mutiara Naga

Pila draconis

Sferat e Dragoit

Viên Ngọc Thần Kỳ

Zmajeva kugla

Жемчуг дракона

Змејска топка

Վիշապի մարգարիտ

דראַגאָן באָל

דרגון בול

دراجون بول

دراغون بول

دراگون بال

دراگۆن بۆڵ

دراݣون بول

ڈریگن گیند

ड्रागन बल

ड्रैगन बॉल

ড্রাগন বল

ਡਰੈਗਨ ਬਾਲ

డ్రాగన్ బాల్

ಡ್ರಾಗನ್ ಬಾಲ್

ഡ്രാഗൺ ബോൾ

ดราก้อนบอล

ዘንዶኳስ

ドラゴンボール

七龍珠

七龙珠

龍珠

드래곤 볼 신장판

드래곤볼

Groups Scanlating

Colour Dragon Ball Project

DBRemastered

Fighting Dreamers Scanlations

GMscans

More...

Latest Release(s)

c.240 by MANGA Plus 2 years ago

c.239 by MANGA Plus 2 years ago

c.238 by MANGA Plus 2 years ago

Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin

42 Volumes (Complete)
34 Kanzenban Volumes (Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

Starts at Vol 1, Chap 1 (Dragon Ball) / Vol 17, Chap 195 (DBZ/Kai)

Ends at Vol 16, Chap 194 (Dragon Ball) / Vol 42, Chap 519 (DBZ/Kai)

User Reviews

Dragon Ball by Rashid

Dragonball by wellzy4eva

Forum

18 topics, 476 posts

Click here to view the forum

User Rating

Average: 8.6 / 10.0 (1483 votes)

Bayesian Average: 8.55 / 10.0

35%

22%

13%

Last Updated

April 27th, 2025 3:37am PDT - 4 days ago

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Genre

Action Adventure Comedy Drama Fantasy Sci-fi Shounen
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

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Mokushiroku no Yonkishi

Recommendations

One Piece

Hagane no Renkinjutsushi

Author(s)

Artist(s)

Year

Original Publisher

Shueisha (1985; 2002; 2013)

Serialized In (magazine)

Shuukan Shounen Jump (Shueisha)

Licensed (in English)

Yes

English Publisher

MANGA Plus

Viz

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #666

(-78)

Monthly Pos #1333

(-262)

3 Month Pos #2100

(-30)

6 Month Pos #2395

(+799)

Year Pos #1689

(+482)

List Stats

On 1054 reading lists

On 573 wish lists

On 3446 completed lists

On 141 unfinished lists

On 421 custom lists

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Forum Posts Click to view the forum

Dragon Ball rights are unresolved after Akira Toriyama's death

8 months ago

When does it get serious?

11 months ago

Spanish television will not air "Dragon Ball" due to "Anti-descrimination" laws

4 years ago

The "Z" is DBZ

9 years ago

new short dragon ball manga

10 years ago

User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

The Archetype of ALL SHONEN MANGA

by findy37564
10 years ago

Rating: N/A

im not exaggerate it its true every shonen manga will one way or another steal some element from dragon ball,
and this manga is already withstand the test of time for decades. even to this day remake still coming out, games, anime action figure
this manga has everything shonen series is all about and everything in it is all original to boot

Was this comment useful? Yes

not for me

by Narufan1st
12 years ago

Rating: N/A

im not rating this as my view on it is biased but i hate this anime (i didn't read the manga) once they were showing a dragon ball z marathon when i was on holiday in california and i woke up to see some guy in ovebulging muscles sreaming "Whatever your name is , I will fight you!" Theen some lizard guy appears and says "you can't beat me Goku!" Then i had to fight to change the channel as my seven year old brother loved it. I think its mostly for kids , Naruto is a way better version if this

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The best the best

by mayid
12 years ago

Rating: N/A

Everywhere in the world were you go, you will find people who heard about dragon ball. I dont exagerate. I have been in europe and afrika and yes they have all heard about dragon ball.

And also dragon ball is the first anime that i have ever seen.

Akira toriyama has made a masterpiece of a manga. It is animated and was sold world wide.

If you dont know dragon ball you dont know what you are missing.

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Definition of a flawed masterpiece

by The New Flesh
13 years ago

Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball shouldn't even be worth reviewing at this point. Nearly everybody is familiar with the story, the characters, the ridiculous battle scenes, the even more ridiculous haircuts. But I think there are some overlooked aspects of the series that are still worth talking about.

A favorite of mine (and many others) growing up, with hindsight it is easy to point out the flaws in Toriyama's manga. The plotting in the later volumes is the most prominent, as characters get stronger and stronger with seemingly no limit, and bad guys just keep on coming (this guy is the strongest in the universe. Wait, no I lied, THIS guy is the strongest in the universe. Now go train for a day, come back with a new technique, and kick the crap out of him.)

Alas, though these flaws are glaring, I am willing to overlook them for the sheer joy this manga has brought me over the years. Toriyama crafts an interesting world with memorable characters who the reader genuinely grows to care about. From the series' beginnings as a whimsical fantasy adventure, to its gradual shift in focus to larger-than-life martial arts battles, Toriyama has always kept a good sense of pace. It's a manga where you start reading and you just don't want to stop, regardless of how many times you've experienced the story before. And through re-reading, I've noticed several subtleties that Toriyama injects that help the series aspire to something a little deeper (for example, the complex father-son-caretaker relationshiip of Goku, Gohan and Piccolo, and the gradual, not immediate, redemption of several supposedly irredeemably evil characters).

Though the manga is not perfect by any means, and the last couple arcs produce some truly cringe-worthy moments, it never stops being enjoyable, and actually contains some deeper aspects that push it above the average shounen manga. I will be re-reading this series for the rest of my life, and each time I will enjoy it just as much as the last.

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my childhood favorite manga ^_^

by tsukushi makino
13 years ago

Rating: N/A

actually, dragon ball is my favorite manga since i was a child -a little girl. It was my past time or just watching it was my past time, though since then I started to watch other manga series. i love Goku's adventures. just when he defeated those enemies and other rivals.. And when he punch and kick those funny guys and put them on in a funny situation,. I also like those times when he had the good times and had those happy moments. It' really nice.. And it's also my brother's favorite manga in his childhood days.
And talking about the story itself. It' really a great story too, coz it's about looking for the dragon balls and defeating those enemies and especially when he finally got the dragon balls, and then the dragon comes out and ask for their wishes..that's really awesome. and when he comes back to life from the other world....yeah,.. definitely awesome..!

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DO NOT SKIP THIS MANGA!!!

by kimihoshi
13 years ago

Rating: N/A

Dragonball was the first manga I read. It's my childhood manga, both the manga and the anime. I was 9 when I read a manga for the first time, and thanks to Dragonball it dragged me to the manga world =]
The story is really special, unique, an exciting story. Goku, the main character is so funny and the whole story is really funny. The author got absolute sense of humor, I laughed at least 3 times in every volumes. Well, I have to admit that the humor decreases a bit when Goku and everyone becomes adult (around Babidi's saga) but don't worry, none of these sagas is shallow 😀
There's holy bunch of characters in dragonball, and I'm the typical person who forget easy who's who. But the good thing about this manga is that every character has their own uniqueness (even evil monsters hahaha) and there's a lot of action and abnormal stuff happening 😉 Every saga has a great plot, trust me.

Of course there's some downsides about the story, but it's nothing really big in my opinion:
Goku is the main character, so it's obvious everything is about him but I didn't always like that at first there's always his friends who fights a battle and Goku always finish the final blow at the strongest monster in almost every saga.
There's a lot of questions which might appear in your head which might not be cleared u e.g

how did Kuririn /Krillin get a child together with an android? How did Trunks and Goten achieve to be a super saiyan (though Goten said he didn't remember how).

PS: The anime and the game is also awesome! I would recommend Dragonball and One piece among Shounen manga I've read most 😉 !

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the best

by blackhawk2112
13 years ago

Rating: N/A

Oh My God! this is the best battle-manga i've read in my life, the battles are just to epic. When I was done reading the manga I started to watch the anime right away (even though I don't really like to watch anime). I mean it's not the best manga i've read, but in the catagory of battle-manga this one is most deffinetly number one by a long shot. It's to bad the manga ended, I wish it would go on forever. But I guess it's for the best. Normally when I finish a manga, I'm like ''WTF why did it end here, and why now, there are stil so many questions left!'' But with this manga I felt happy it ended, en especially this way. I mean, there is nothing left for me to know.

... Last updated 13 years ago

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DRAGON BALL THE BEST EVER!!!

by rosidbeken
13 years ago

Rating: N/A

since kid i has watched it, from songoku small until he's become Super Saiyan 4 then Lastly the greatest battle Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta VS Ultimate Senlong who have already sucked the remaining saiyan in earth and make it his own power. Unbelievable Ultimate Senlong who more powerfull and fast than super saiyan 4 songoku can't see the puch of Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta with puch speed have been reduce 100 times of her previous full speed puch. OMG how much that speed puch!!!! The super saiyan 4 songoku have speed more fast than light we know the light speed is 299,792,458 meters per second or about 186,282.4 miles per second so maybe he have speed of photon 2x times more fast than light so the Ultimate Senlong have speed 3x more fast than light and now how fast frist super saiyan 4 Gogeta puch launched to Ultimate Senlong 😕 !!!! Ultimate Senlong have 3x speed of light so we can guess Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta have 300 times speed more fast than light = 89,934,737,400 meters per second or about 558,847,200 miles per second. GOD MUST BE SHOCK!!!!!!! IoI even Sungokong can just salto 100.000 miles in 1 times Salto wkwkkwkw

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The work of a Genius!!

by strixflash
14 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Everyone is aware of the fact that 'Dragon Ball' brought the golden age of Shounen Manga. It is a epic and masterpiece in nature. Story has its origanility with a classic sense of humour and fantasy.
Artwork is the best.
Well Dragon Ball become the standard defination of shounen manga(cool fights,strong enemy,training,power-ups.)
I am sure you will find it interesting.

... Last updated 13 years ago

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by lizard_eli951
14 years ago

Rating: N/A

i loved the manga i though it was badass and yeah i did watch the anime when i was a kid the bad thing about that is that i dont remember it =(. reading dragon ball actually made me want to watch the anime and believe me i have no patience for it. the sad thing about that is that it is so hard to find eng subbed episodes and it is againts my beliefs to watch it dubbed...... it really is bothering me. what ever happened to lunch. i loved her

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