Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール Doragon Bōru?) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West. It follows the adventures of Son Goku from his childhood through adulthood as he trains in martial arts and explores the world in search of the seven mystical orbs known as the Dragon Balls, which can summon a wish-granting dragon when gathered. Along his journey, Goku makes several friends and battles a wide variety of villains, many of whom also seek the Dragon Balls for their own desires.
The 42 tankōbon have been adapted into two anime series produced by Toei Animation: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, which together were broadcast in Japan from 1986 to 1996. Additionally, Toei has developed seventeen animated feature films and three television specials, as well as an anime sequel titled Dragon Ball GT, which takes place after the events of the manga. From 2009 to 2011, Toei broadcast a revised, faster-paced version of Dragon Ball Z under the name of Dragon Ball Kai, in which most of the original version's footage not featured in the manga was removed. Several companies have developed various types of merchandising such as a collectible trading card game, and a large number of video games.
The manga series was licensed for an English-language release in North America by Viz Media, in the United Kingdom by Gollancz Manga, Australia and New Zealand by Chuang Yi and Malay-language release in Malaysia by Comics House. The entire anime series has been licensed by Funimation Entertainment for an English-language release in the United States, although the series has not always been dubbed by the same studio. In China, a live-action film adaptation was produced in 1989. In 2002, 20th Century Fox acquired the rights to produce an American-made live-action film that received a negative reception from critics and fans; the movie was released on April 10, 2009 in the United States.
Since its release, Dragon Ball has become one of the most successful manga and anime series of all time. The manga's 42 volumes have sold over 152 million copies in Japan and more than 200 million copies worldwide. Reviewers have praised the art, characterization, and humor of the story. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest manga series ever made, with many manga artists citing Dragon Ball as a source of inspiration for their own now popular works. The anime, particularly Dragon Ball Z, is also highly popular in various countries and was arguably one of the most influential in greatly boosting the popularity of Japanese animation in Western culture. Dragon Ball is the first in a trilogy of anime adaptations of the Dragon Ball manga series by Akira Toriyama. Produced by Toei Animation, the anime series premiered in Japan on Fuji Television on February 26, 1986, and ran until April 12, 1989. Spanning 153 episodes (Episode 140 was delayed by the death of Emperor Shōwa), it covers the first 194 chapters of the 519 chapters-long manga series. It is followed by Dragon Ball Z, which covers the remainder of the manga, and Dragon Ball GT, the plot of which was created solely for the anime.
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 renamed almost all of the characters, including the protagonist Son Goku, who was renamed "Zero." This dub was eventually cancelled after being test-marketed in several cities and was never broadcast to the general public, thus earning the fan-coined term "The Lost Dub."
In 1995, Funimation Entertainment acquired the license for the distribution of Dragon Ball in the United States. They contracted BLT Productions to create an English voice track for the anime at their dubbing studio in Canada. The dubbed episodes were also edited for content. Thirteen episodes aired in first-run syndication during the fall of 1995 before Funimation canceled the project due to low ratings. Trimark Pictures later purchased the home video distribution rights for these dubbed episodes. In March 2001, Funimation announced the return of Dragon Ball to American television, featuring a new English audio track produced at their own Texas-based dubbing studio and slightly less editing, though they notably left the original background music intact, which was met with delight from fans. The re-dubbed episodes aired on Cartoon Network from August 20, 2001 to December 1, 2003. Funimation also broadcast the series on Colours TV and their own Funimation Channel starting in 2006. In Canada, an alternative dubbed version was created by Chinook Animation (in association with Blue Water Studios) and was aired there, instead of the Funimation version.
Funimation began releasing their in-house dub to Region 1 DVD box sets on March 18, 2003. Each box set, spanning an entire saga of the series, included the English dub track and the original Japanese audio track with optional English subtitles. However, they were unable to release the first thirteen episodes at the time, due to Lionsgate Entertainment holding the licensing rights to their previous dub of the same episodes, having acquired them from Trimark after the company became defunct. After Lionsgate's license to the first thirteen episodes expired in 2009, Funimation remastered and re-released the complete Dragon Ball series to DVD in five individual season box sets, with the first set released on September 15, 2009 and the final set released on July 27, 2010.
Dragon Ball used two pieces of theme music for the entire series. "Makafushigi Adventure!" by Hiroki Takahashi is used as the series opening theme, and Ushio Hashimoto's "Romantic Ageru Yo" is used as the ending theme.
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