Dragon Ball: Difference between revisions

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[[File:DragonBall2_4038.png|frame| The early days.]]

[[File:DragonBall2_4038.png|frame|The early days.]]

''Dragon Ball'' began as a manga written by [[Akira Toriyama]], chronicling the adventures of a cheerful monkey boy named Son Goku, in a story that was originally based off the Chinese tale ''[[Journey to the West]]''. The manga was soon adapted into one of the most popular animes ever made.

'''''Dragon Ball''''' began as a manga written by [[Akira Toriyama]], chronicling the adventures of a cheerful monkey boy named Son Goku, in a story that was originally based off the Chinese tale ''[[Journey to the West]]''. The manga was soon adapted into one of the most popular animes ever made.

In ''Dragon Ball'', Goku and a huge cast of friends and enemies search for the magical Dragon Balls that they could use to make a wish come true. Of course, no sooner had someone gathered and used the Dragon Balls than they would have to be sought out again. On top of all this Goku was training up to fight in the periodic "Strongest Under the Heavens" tournament. The series is generally broken down into the following sagas: Emperor Pilaf, the first World Martial Arts Tournament, the Red Ribbon Army, Tienshinhan, King Piccolo and Piccolo Jr, with minor filler plots. After defeating these major threats to the world, Goku finally won the tournament on his third attempt and went off to get married.

[[File:300x174-Dragon_Ball_Cast_1_6919.png|frame| The later series.]]

[[File:300x174-Dragon_Ball_Cast_1_6919.png|frame|The later series.]]

After that, the anime (and the American version of the manga from that point) experienced a name change to ''Dragon Ball Z,'' while it continued uninterrupted as ''Dragon Ball'' in the Japanese manga. The reason was the ''Dragon Ball Z'' period had a change in focus from martial arts comedy to more serious epic battles. At the start it revealed that Goku was not simply a boy with a tail but one of the last of the alien race, the Saiyans. He was sent into space shortly before the Saiyan planet was destroyed (shades of ''[[Superman]]''). Goku and his friends, reinforced by former enemies (a recurring theme) had to fight [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil|progressively more powerful]] villains. Although Goku and his martial arts skills (which let him and his friends fly, throw energy blasts and read minds) dominated the battles, the story was mostly about Goku's son Gohan and how he faces the challenges. Running seven years and nearly 300 episodes, the series can be broken down into the four primary [[Big Bad|Big Bads]] of the series: Vegeta, Frieza, Cell and Majin Buu. Both ''Dragon Ball'' the manga and ''Dragon Ball Z'' the anime came to a triumphant conclusion after Gohan is married and his own daughter Pan enters the "Strongest Under the Heavens" tournament.

After that, the anime (and the American version of the manga from that point) experienced a name change to '''''Dragon Ball Z''''', while it continued uninterrupted as ''Dragon Ball'' in the Japanese manga. The reason was the ''Dragon Ball Z'' period had a change in focus from martial arts comedy to more serious epic battles. At the start it revealed that Goku was not simply a boy with a tail but one of the last of the alien race, the Saiyans. He was sent into space shortly before the Saiyan planet was destroyed (shades of ''[[Superman]]''). Goku and his friends, reinforced by former enemies (a recurring theme) had to fight [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil|progressively more powerful]] villains. Although Goku and his martial arts skills (which let him and his friends fly, throw energy blasts and read minds) dominated the battles, the story was mostly about Goku's son Gohan and how he faces the challenges. Running seven years and nearly 300 episodes, the series can be broken down into the four primary [[Big Bad|Big Bads]] of the series: Vegeta, Frieza, Cell and Majin Buu. Both ''Dragon Ball'' the manga and ''Dragon Ball Z'' the anime came to a triumphant conclusion after Gohan is married and his own daughter Pan enters the "Strongest Under the Heavens" tournament.

Since ''Dragon Ball'' saga was a superhit, ''[[Dragon Ball GT]]'' was created as an anime-only continuation by [[Toei Animation|Toei]], with some character design by Toriyama. ''GT'' was not as well received, lasting 64 episodes before cancellation (although this was still much longer than originally intended), and [[Canon Discontinuity|its status as part of ''Dragon Ball'' canon has since been compromised]], because...

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''[[Dragon Ball Xenoverse]]'' and its sequel salvage many elements of ''Online'''s plot and includes it in the post ''Battle of Gods'' canon. However like most spinoff media Toriyama only served an advisory role with minor art design.

The success of ''Dragon Ball'' is hard to dispute -- it became one of the biggest hits ever in Japan, it was the series that popularized manga and anime the most in Europe, Americans always have an idea of what it is when they hear its title, every single Latino who grew up during the 90's has watched it, it's still running on TV internationally and merchandising is alive and well. It is sometimes derided for being simplistic and for drawn-out multi-episode fights with little story progression. However one must keep in mind that the show is primarily aimed at [[Shonen|kids and ~~teens age 10 to 18~~]], with [[Periphery Demographic|older adults not really in the picture]]. Dragon Ball is supposed to be fun and thrilling, and it generally achieves this.

The success of ''Dragon Ball'' is hard to dispute -- it became one of the biggest hits ever in Japan, it was the series that popularized manga and anime the most in Europe, Americans always have an idea of what it is when they hear its title, every single Latino who grew up during the 90's has watched it, it's still running on TV internationally and merchandising is alive and well. It is sometimes derided for being simplistic and for drawn-out multi-episode fights with little story progression. However one must keep in mind that the show is primarily aimed at [[Shonen|kids and teenagers]], with [[Periphery Demographic|older adults not really in the picture]]. Dragon Ball is supposed to be fun and thrilling, and it generally achieves this.

There were many [[Non-Serial Movie|Non Serial Movies]] (only a few could be wedged into the series' timeline) released at least once a year, three set in the ''Dragon Ball'' timeline and thirteen for ''Dragon Ball Z''. Two made-for-TV movies were made for ''Dragon Ball Z'', which are technically in [[Canon]]. There was also a seventeenth feature film based on the original series produced to commemorate the [[Milestone Celebration|tenth anniversary]] of the franchise, as well as a web special in 2008 produced to commemorating the 40th anniversary of ''[[Shonen Jump]]''.