Dragon Ball (anime)

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Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball's logo

Dragon Ball logo

(Doragon Bru)

Genre Adventure, Comedy, Martial arts

Anime television series

Directed by Minoru Okazaki

Daisuke Nishio

Produced by Tokiz Tsuchiya

Kenji Shimizu

Junichi Ishikawa

Written by Takao Koyama

Music by Shunsuke Kikuchi

Studio Toei Animation

Licensed by

AUS

Madman Entertainment

NA

Funimation,

Harmony Gold (formerly)

UK

Manga Entertainment

Original network Fuji TV

Animax

English network

AUS

Cartoon Network (Toonami)

CA
YTV

UK

CNX, Toonami

US

Broadcast syndication, Cartoon Network (Toonami), Colours TV, Funimation Channel, Toonami
Jetstream, KIKU

ZA

SABC 2

Original run February 26, 1986 April 12, 1989

Episodes 153 (List of episodes)

Anime film series

Studio Toei Animation

Released December 20, 1986 March 4, 1996

Films 4 (List of films)

Dragon Ball franchise

Dragon Ball (manga)

Dragon Ball Z

Dragon Ball GT

Dragon Ball Z Kai

Dragon Ball Super

Wikipe-tan face.svg Anime and Manga portal

Dragon Ball (Japanese: Hepburn: Doragon Bru) is a Japanese anime television

series produced by Toei Animation. It is an adaptation of the first 194 chapters of the manga of the
same name created by Akira Toriyama, which were published in Weekly Shnen Jump from 1984 to
1988. The anime is composed of 153 episodes that were broadcast on Fuji TV from February 26,
1986 to April 12, 1989.

Dragon Ball follows the adventures of the protagonist Goku, a strong nave boy who, upon meeting
Bulma, sets out to gather the seven wish-granting Dragon Balls. After becoming a student of martial
arts master Kame-Sennin, he and his fellow pupil Kuririn enter a tournament that attracts the most
powerful fighters in the world. He then sets out on his own and winds up facing and destroying the
Red Ribbon Army single-handedly. When Kuririn is later murdered after another tournament, Goku
exacts revenge on his killer Piccolo Daimao. Three years later, Goku, now a young adult, must fight
Piccolo Daimao's offspring Piccolo. The remaining 325 chapters of the manga were adapted into the
Dragon Ball Z anime.
Contents [hide]

1 Plot

2 Production

2.1 English localization and Broadcasting

2.1.1 Content edits

3 Other media

3.1 Home release

3.2 Films

3.3 Video games

3.4 Soundtracks

4 Reception

5 References

6 External links

Plot[edit]

See also: List of Dragon Ball episodes

The series begins with a young monkey-tailed boy named Goku befriending a teenage girl named
Bulma. Together they go on a quest to find the seven Dragon Balls (), which
summons the dragon Shenron to grant the user one wish. The journey leads to a confrontation with
the shape-shifting pig Oolong, as well as a desert bandit named Yamucha and his companion Pu'ar,
with all later becoming allies; Chi-Chi, whom Goku unknowingly agrees to marry; and Pilaf, an impish
man who seeks the Dragon Balls to fulfill his desire to rule the world. After Oolong stops Pilaf from
using the Dragon Balls by wishing for a pair of panties, Goku undergoes rigorous training regimes
under the martial artist Kame-Sennin in order to fight in the Tenkaichi Budkai (,
"Strongest Under the Heavens Martial Arts Tournament") that attracts the most powerful fighters in
the world. A monk named Kuririn becomes his training partner and rival, but they soon become best
friends. After the tournament, Goku sets out on his own to recover the Dragon Ball his grandfather
left him and encounters the Red Ribbon Army, whose leader wants to collect the Dragon Balls for
himself. He almost single-handedly defeats the army, including their hired assassin Taopaipai, whom
he originally lost to, but after training under the hermit Karin, now easily beats. Goku reunites with
his friends to defeat the fortuneteller Baba Uranai's fighters and have her locate the last Dragon Ball
in order to revive a friend killed by Taopaipai.

They all reunite at the Tenkaichi Budkai three years later and meet Kame-Sennin's rival and
Taopaipai's brother, Tsuru-Sennin, and his students Tenshinhan and Chaozu, who vow to exact
revenge. Kuririn is killed after the tournament and Goku tracks and is defeated by his killer, Piccolo
Daimao. The samurai Yajirobe takes Goku to Karin, where he receives healing and a power boost.
Meanwhile, Piccolo fights Kame-Sennin and Chaozu, leading to both their deaths, and uses the
Dragon Balls to regain his youth before destroying Shenlong. As Piccolo Daimao prepares to destroy
West City, Tenshinhan attempts to defeat him, but is beaten and nearly killed. Goku arrives in time
to save him, then begins his battle with Piccolo Daimao, who, just before dying, spawns his
son/reincarnation Piccolo. Karin informs Goku that Kami (God), the original creator of the Dragon
Balls, might be able to restore Shenlong so that he can wish his friends back to life, which he does.
He also stays and trains under Kami for the next three years, once again reuniting with his friends at
the Tenkaichi Budkai. Piccolo Jr. also enters the tournament to avenge his father, leading to the
final fight between him and Goku. After Goku narrowly wins and defeats Piccolo, he leaves with Chi-
Chi and keeps his promise to marry her.

Production[edit]

"Makafushigi Adventure!"

MENU0:00

Sample of "Makafushigi Adventure!" performed by Hiroki Takahashi, the opening theme song for the
show.

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Kazuhiko Torishima, Toriyama's editor for Dr. Slump and the first half of Dragon Ball, said that
because the Dr. Slump anime was not successful in his opinion, he and Shueisha were a lot more
hands on for the Dragon Ball anime. Before production even began, they created a huge "bible" for
the series detailing even merchandise. He himself studied the best way to present anime and its
business side, discussing it with the Shogakukan team for Doraemon.[1]

Toriyama had some involvement in the production of the anime. When it began he did mention to
the staff that they seemed to be making it too colorful by forcing the color palette of Dr. Slump on
it.[2] He also listened to the voice actors' audition tapes before choosing Masako Nozawa to play
Goku. He would go on to state that he would hear Nozawa's voice in his head when writing the
manga.[3] Toriyama would specify Kuririn's voice actress to be Mayumi Tanaka after her work as the
main character Giovanni in Night on the Galactic Railroad.[3] Tru Furuya remarked that there were
not many auditions for the characters because the cast was made up of veteran voice actors.[4]
Performing the roles was not without its difficulties, Toshio Furukawa, the voice of Piccolo, said it
was difficult to constantly perform with a low voice because his normal lighter voice would break
through if he broke concentration.[4]

Shunsuke Kikuchi composed the score for Dragon Ball. The opening theme song for all of the
episodes is "Makafushigi Adventure!" ( Makafushigi Adobench!,
"Mystical Adventure!") performed by Hiroki Takahashi. The ending theme is "Romantic Ageru yo" (
Romantikku Ageru yo, "I'll Give You Romance") performed by Ushio
Hashimoto.
Feeling that the Dragon Ball anime's ratings were gradually declining because it had the same
producer that worked on Dr. Slump, who had this "cute and funny" image connected to Toriyama's
work and was missing the more serious tone, Torishima asked the studio to change the producer.
Impressed with their work on Saint Seiya, he asked its director Kz Morishita and writer Takao
Koyama to help "reboot" Dragon Ball; which coincided with the beginning of Dragon Ball Z.[1]

English localization and Broadcasting[edit]

Harmony Gold USA licensed the series for an English-language release in North America in the late
1980s. In the voice dubbing of the series, Harmony Gold renamed almost all of the characters,
including the protagonist Goku, who was renamed "Zero."[5] This dub consisting of 5 episodes and
one movie (an 80-minute feature featuring footage of movies 1 and 3 edited together) was cancelled
shortly after being test marketed in several US cities and was never broadcast to the general public,
thus earning the fan-coined term "The Lost Dub."[6]

In 1995, Funimation acquired the license for the distribution of Dragon Ball in the United States.
They contracted Josanne B. Lovick Productions and voice actors from Ocean Productions to create
an English version for the anime and first movie in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The dubbed
episodes were edited for content,[7] and contained different music. Thirteen episodes aired in first-
run syndication during the fall of 1995 before Funimation canceled the project due to low ratings.

In March 2001, Funimation announced the return of Dragon Ball to American television, featuring a
new English version produced in-house with slightly less editing for broadcast (though the episodes
remained uncut for home video releases), and they notably left the original background music
intact.[7][8] The re-dubbed episodes aired on Cartoon Network from August 20, 2001[9] to
December 1, 2003. Funimation also broadcast the series on Colours TV and their own Funimation
Channel starting in 2006.[10] This English dub was also broadcast in Australia and New Zealand. In
Canada and Europe, an alternative dubbed version was produced by AB Groupe (in association with
Blue Water Studios) and was aired in those territories instead of the Funimation version.

Content edits[edit]

The US version of Dragon Ball was aired on Cartoon Network with numerous digital cosmetic
changes, which were done to remove nudity and blood, and dialogue edits, such as when Puar says
why Oolong was expelled from shapeshifting school, instead of saying that he stole the teacher's
panties, it was changed to him stealing the teacher's papers.[11] Some scenes were deleted
altogether, either to save time or remove strong violence. Nudity was also covered up; for Goku's
bathing scene, Funimation drew a chair to cover his genitals where it was uncensored
previously.[11] References to alcohol and drugs were removed, for example, when Jackie Chun
(Kame-Sennin) uses Drunken Fist Kung Fu in the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai, Funimation called it the
"Mad Cow Attack." Also, the famous "No Balls!" scene was deleted from episode 2, and when Bulma
places panties on the fishing hook to get Oolong (in fish form), they digitally painted away the
panties and replaced it with some money.
Changes also lead to confusing context and the content of the scenes; as when Bulma helps Goku
take a bath. In the Japanese version, the two characters do not cover their privates because Goku is
innocent of the differences in gender and Bulma believes Goku to be a little boy. While bathing
Bulma asks Goku his age and only when Goku reveals himself to be fourteen does Bulma throw
things at Goku before kicking him out of the bath.[11] In the Funimation version the dialogue was
changed; with Goku remarking that Bulma did not have a tail and it must be inconvenient for her
when bathing.[11]

Other media[edit]

Home release[edit]

In Japan, Dragon Ball did not receive a home video release until July 7, 2004, fifteen years after its
broadcast. This was a remastering of the series in a single 26-disc DVD box set, that was made-to-
order only, referred to as a "Dragon Box". The content of this set began being released o