Akira Toriyama founded the Japanese media franchise Dragon Ball in 1984. From 1984 through 1995, Toriyama's first manga, which he also wrote and illustrated, was serialised in Weekly Shonen Jump. Shueisha, the manga's publisher, compiled the 519 individual episodes into 42 tankobon volumes. The famous Chinese tale Journey to the West from the sixteenth century served as the basis for the original Dragon Ball, which also incorporated elements from Hong Kong art films. Son Goku, the show's main character, is a martial artist who trains throughout his childhood and adulthood. He spends his early years away from society until he meets Bulma, a teen girl who invites him to join her in her search for the seven orbs known as the Dragon Balls, which, when gathered, can unleash a dragon that grants wishes. During the way, Goku meets a number of new friends, matures into a family man, learns about his extraterrestrial heritage, and engages in a variety of villainous combat, many of whom are also searching for the Dragon Balls.
Toei Animation split up and adapted Toriyama's manga into the two anime series Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, which together were televised in Japan from 1986 to 1996. The studio has also developed 3 television specials, 21 animated feature films, and two follow-up anime series, Dragon Ball GT (1996–1997) and Dragon Ball Super (2015–2018). Under the name Dragon Ball Kai, a recut of Dragon Ball Z that more faithfully follows the manga's story by excluding the majority of the content included only in the anime aired in Japan from 2009 to 2015. A large media franchise has been created as a result of the numerous businesses that have created various types of merchandise based on the series. This franchise includes films (both animated and live-action), collectible trading card games, numerous action figures, as well as several soundtrack collections and numerous video games. Dragon Ball has become one of the top-grossing media franchises of all time.
With the manga being sold in more than 40 countries and the anime being aired in more than 80, Dragon Ball has grown to become one of the most popular manga and anime series of all time. One of the most popular manga series, the 42 collected tankobon volumes have sold over 350 million copies worldwide and over 160 million copies in Japan. Critics have praised the story's creativity, characters, and humour. Many manga artists cite Dragon Ball as an inspiration for their own now-famous works, making it one of the best and most influential manga series ever created. The anime, in particular Dragon Ball Z, is incredibly well-liked all over the world and is credited with having a major influence on how popular Japanese animation is in Western society. It has had a significant impact on global popular culture, inspiring and being referenced by a large number of artists, sports, celebrities, filmmakers, musicians, and writers worldwide.
Here are some of the Dragon Ball shows:
- Dragon Ball (1986-1989)
- Dragon Ball Z (1989-1996)
- Dragon Ball GT (1996-1997)
- Dragon Ball Kai (2009-2015)
- Dragon Ball Super (2015-2018)
- Dragon Ball Heroes (2018-2021)
The Dragon Ball franchise has also produced a number of films and television specials, including:
- Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies (1986)
- Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle (1987)
- Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure (1988)
- Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone (1989)
- Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest (1990)
- Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might (1990)
- Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug (1991)
- Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge (1991)
- Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler (1992)
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13! (1992)
- Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan (1993)
- Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound (1993)
- Dragon Ball Z: Broly – Second Coming (1994)
- Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly (1994)
- Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn (1995)
- Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon (1995)
- Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (2013)
- Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' (2015)
- Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018)