Dragon Ball

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Dragon Ball is a Japanese manga by Akira Toriyama serialized in the weekly anthology magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995, and originally collected into 42 individual books called tankōbon. In 2004, the manga was re-released in a 34 volume collection called Kanzenban, which included a slightly rewritten ending, new covers, and color artwork from its Weekly Shōnen Jump run

Dragon Ball Name Dragon Ball Author/Creator Akira Toriyama Publisher Shueisha Country Japan Serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump Original run 1984 – 1995 Number of Volumes 42

Plot

The story of Dragon Ball follows the life of Son Goku, a monkey-tailed boy loosely based on the traditional Chinese novel Journey to the West, from his life and adventures as a child all the way up to being a grandfather. During his life, he fights many battles and eventually becomes the strongest martial artist in the entire universe. He is not without help, however, as the manga boasts a large ensemble cast of martial artist heroes and villains which provide the conflicts which drive the story.

The eponymous Dragon Balls are one component of the universe, but are not the focus for most of the plot lines. The Dragon Balls themselves are seven magical orbs which are scattered across the world. When assembled, they can be used to summon Shenlong, the dragon who will grant one wish within its limit. After the wish is granted, the Dragon Balls are scattered again across the world and become inert for one year. In times past, it would take generations to search the world and gather the Dragon Balls. In the beginning of the story, however, a 16 year old genius girl named Bulma has created a "Dragon Radar" to detect the Dragon Balls and made the process far easier than it was intended to be.