Dragon Ball, Vol. 1

by Akira Toriyama

Book Overview

Eath's greatest hero...is from outerspace!

Dragon Ball introduces a young monkey-tailed boy named Goku (a wry update of the classic Chinese "Monkey King" legend), whose quiet life changes when he meets a girl named Bulma who is on a quest to collect seven "Dragon Balls." If she gathers them all, an incredibly powerful dragon will appear and grant her one wish. But the precious orbs are scattered all over the world, and Bulma could use the help of a certain super-strong boy... (In Japan, Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z were originally a single 42-volume series. VIZ Media's Dragon Ball contains vols. 1-16 of the original Japanese Dragon Ball, from the beginning of the series to the climax of Goku's last fight with Piccolo.)

Before there was Dragon Ball Z, there was Akira Toriyama's action epic Dragon Ball, starring the younger version of Son Goku and all the other Dragon Ball Z heroes! Meet a naive young monkey-tailed boy named Goku, whose quiet life changes when he meets Bulma, a girl who is on a quest to collect seven "Dragon Balls." If she gathers them all, an incredibly powerful dragon will appear and grant her one wish. But the precious orbs are scattered all over the world, and Bulma needs Goku's help (and his super-strength)! With a magic staff for a weapon and a flying cloud for a ride, Goku sets out on the adventure of a lifetime...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1569319200
• ISBN13: 9781569319208
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Viz Media
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 7.4"
• Age Range: 13 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 8 to 12

Customer Reviews

Great!

As said above me, this is the start of the Dragon Ball series, which is incredibly infamous (moreso for dbz, though) but this is a really great book! It's easily the funniest and most perverted manga volume I've ever read, it made me laugh so hard at times.The artwork is great, yet simple and uncluttered, and the picture gallery at the book of the book has some really awesome designs which I've never seen included in any other manga series before.Overall, I think this is a must-have for any manga collector's collection but it does have some parts that's definitely more suitable for kids 13+.This is my all-time favorite series but I'm not being partial towards it here, I just really think it has a great manga. (plus, it's cheap)Highy, highly recommended

Dragon Ball Vol.1

This is a REALLY, REALLY, REALLY great book! I loved it! If you are a Dragon Ball/DBZ/DBGT fan you really should buy this. It is the very first one! It happens before DBZ, and it's ten times better! It's what the anime series is based on, and it's even better than the anime series! The story is: one day a girl named Bulma is driving in her car when she (literally) bumps into a child named Son Goku. Bulma is on a quest to find the seven magic Dragonballs which will grant her any wish! But, of course, they run into troubles along the way like a transforming pig, an old martial artist who gives Son Goku a flying cloud, a desert bandit, and more! All in all, this deserves 6 stars, but I can only go up to five on this rating scale! You're going to want to buy #2 RIGHT AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!! I really reccomend buying it!

This Magna is Better than the Anime Series!

This is a really great Magna. It's got comedy, action, and adventure. The right-to-left format takes a minute or two to get used to, but after that it just seems natural. One of the things that I like about this Magna is that the pace is faster than the series, and each volume contains the equivalent of quite a few episodes. Plus, you get to see things in the Magna that were left out of the cartoon. Which brings me to another point, even though the cover art looks "kiddish", and the show is more geared towards children, this Magna really isn't a kids book. It's more for teens. You won't see anything worse than a PG-13 movie, but I wouldn't reccomend it for a child. This Magna has some really great moments in it, plus you get to see how all the stars of Dragonball Z meet each other. Hillarity ensues quite often. That's not to say that the action isn't great either. Akira Toriyama does a wonderful job depicting every move that the characters make when they fight.So if you like Magna(japanese comics), Anime, Dragonball, or are just curious, then this is the Graphic Novel for you.

6 out of 5 dragonballs!

This has to be the best idea! Putting the comics all together into volumes. I don't know why people say "its hard to read right to left!" Thats the charm of it! Just be happy that the words aren't read right to left! This is about Goku (the strongest boy in the world), who lives by his self, and meets Bulma. There adventures are sidesplitting. All in all, DO buy this, its dead funny and makes a great collecyion. 6 out of 5 dragonballs!

Way better than DBZ on TV in the USA.

Let me start by saying that I don't care that much that it's censored. Why? Because I've had to put up with all this pitiful and obnoxious American DBZ censoring--almost seeing Bulma naked is a welcome change. As for the book itself, it's top-notch, especially as translated manga goes; the dialogue is great, and the translators didn't seem to miss a beat when they tried to capture the feel of the original. The story starts very fast, and you're immediatly carried along for the ride; thrust into a quest for the Dragon Balls, with a moody, hot 16 year old girl, a shapeshifting pig who collects panties, a dashing highwayman, a monkey-tailed 14 year old kid with excellant Marshal Arts kills, and minions of other unique characters await, in this volume and beyond; you can see how the entire Dragon Ball saga managed to last so long (though I don't consider 75 episodes of fighting Cell counting as keeping the series "fresh"). The art, of course, is by Akira Toriyama, so you're in for a treat. Now, some people might not like this manga because it's laden with sick humor, usually involving panties; sophmoric, if you will, but, hey, I'm not even a freshman yet. Overall, it's just a well rounded beginning to an enjoyable narrtive. Trust me, after you start, you'll want to own all 42 volumes....