Dragon Ball (franchise)
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Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール Doragon Bōru?), created by Akira Toriyama in 1984, is an internationally famous media franchise. It consists primarily of one manga series, three different anime, seventeen animated feature films, an unofficial live-action movie, a collectible trading card game, a large number of electronic games, as well as other collectibles like action figures. An official live-action film has been currently in production as of 2002.
The narrative of the Dragon Ball manga received some of its inspiration and various characters from the Chinese folk novel Journey to the West, though it diverges from the novel very quickly. It follows the adventures of its lead character, Son Goku (based on the Monkey King of the folk legend, Sun Wukong) from his childhood into old age. Dragon Ball originally included action and comedy elements, as well a significant amount of science fiction, though the story became more sci-fi oriented over time.
[edit] History
[edit] Before Dragon Ball
Prior to ending a successful six-year run on his humor manga, Dr. Slump, in the Weekly Shonen Jump anthology magazine, Akira Toriyama started toying with the ideas that he would later apply into the Dragon Ball manga. In 1983, he wrote two chapters of Dragon Boy for the Fresh Jump anthology magazine. This story, left unfinished, merged in the comic style of Dr. Slump with an action-oriented plot. It included many elements which would be reused in the later series, including a very different kind of Dragon Ball. In 1983, Toriyama published The Adventures of Tongpoo, a sci-fi comic also featuring a Goku-like character and plot elements (such as "Hoi Poi Capsules") which he would reuse later.
[edit] Dragon Ball manga
In late December 1984, the first issue of Dragon Ball appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump, the same anthology magazine where Dr. Slump had previously been published. The series was then published weekly and on a very tight schedule (14 pages per week, plus title page) for nearly eleven years, ending in May 1995. In total, 519 regular chapters and one bonus chapter were published. Unlike American-style comic books, Dragon Ball was largely produced in black-and-white, although a small number of pages in a subset of chapters were colorized for emphasis. During the run of the manga in Japan, it was reprinted in as a tankōbon (Japanese graphic novels). Unlike the original print run of the manga, the previously colorized pages were reprinted only in grayscale.
A year and a half into the story of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama included an extended cameo by some of the characters and locations from his previous creation, Dr. Slump. The Dr. Slump characters never make any further appearances in Dragon Ball.
[edit] Dragon Ball anime
Within a short amount of time Dragon Ball had reached a level of popularity in Japan that convinced the people of Toei Animation to produce both an anime series and a feature film based on the characters. The anime series premiered in February 1986 on Fuji Television, running weekly and in prime time with new episodes every Wednesday night.
The anime series that was produced closely matched the manga that it was based on (as opposed to Sailor Moon, for example, which the manga and anime diverged significantly), but this had the major drawback that the anime would often catch up to the current point in the manga and the animators were left to create additional episodes and situations to allow them time for more source material to be written. Such material in the series (known by fans as filler) was often of a lower quality than the original manga and occasionally would directly contradict information that would be provided in the source material later. This is perhaps unsurprising due to the difficulty of producing 20 minutes of animation each week, with only 14 pages of manga to work from.
In December 1986, the first theatrical film version of the anime was produced. Simply titled "Dragon Ball" (When released on VHS, the subtitle "The Legend of Shenlong" was added), it retold the events of the first several episodes of the anime series. The movie was followed by additional movies in July 1987 ("The Sleeping Princess in the Devil's Castle") and July 1988 ("Mystical Great Adventure").
Because of the popularity of the title in Japan, three video games (all for the Nintendo Family Computer) were produced. The first, released in 1986 as "The Mystery of Shenlong", was the only action game of the three. The other two (released in 1988 and 1989) were card game/board game hybrids.
The anime series ended in April 1989 after 153 episodes (and Goku's transition to adulthood). Although the animated series ended, fans did not have to wait long for the continuation of the story. The sequel anime, Dragon Ball Z debuted the following week.
[edit] Dragon Ball Z
Picking up exactly where the previous series left off, Dragon Ball Z (often abriviated as DBZ) began airing in Japan a week after the Dragon Ball anime ended, and in the same time slot. A new series name was chosen by the producers to differentiate the current series, with its reduced emphasis on comedy and its new science fiction themes, from the previous one -- even though both were still based on the same Dragon Ball manga. The new show also featured improved production values and animation quality. This transition point was attractive because not only did it follow a several year gap in the plot (one of several such gaps in the series), but it also featured revised origin stories for several lead characters and the introduction of several new characters. This made it a good jumping point for new fans of the series.
Three months after the premier of DBZ, in July 1989, the first movie of the series (entitled Dead Zone in the US) premiered in theaters. In total, thirteen DBZ movies were produced. In addition to the feature films, two movie-length television specials were also produced for the series. An OVA based on a NES videogame was also made, but it only aired in Japan, and it is unknown if or when an English version will be released.
Like the original Dragon Ball anime, DBZ suffered from the same manga-to-anime pacing problems which resulted in the excess of filler material in the previous anime. In some ways, the problem was more pronounced during the production of DBZ as the increased focus on action resulted in many issues of the manga devoted entirely to action sequences. These combat-oriented issues were more difficult to "stretch" into episodes than more diverse action and this resulted in pacing problems throughout some sections of the series.
In May 1995, the long running Dragon Ball manga finally ended its run in Shonen Jump as creator Akira Toriyama had grown exhausted and his editors allowed him to end the series. Without additional issues of the manga to translate onto the small screen, DBZ ended in January 1996 after 291 episodes. Once again however, Japanese fans would not have to wait more than a week for the continuation of the story, in Dragon Ball GT.
During the production of DBZ in Japan, popularity for the franchise was at its peak. Production of video games--first for the Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom), then later for Super Famicom, PlayStation, Game Boy, and Sega Saturn-- reached its peak during this period. Ironically, despite tremendous success in Japan and tons of marketable goods, the series had yet to take off in the US.
[edit] Dragon Ball GT
The third and final Dragon Ball series quickly followed the completion of Dragon Ball Z in February. Unlike the two previous series, Dragon Ball GT was not based on the Dragon Ball manga by Akira Toriyama. Instead, it was completely new material.
From the beginning however, there were problems with the series. Dragon Ball fandom in Japan was waning. To help renew interest in the series and bring it back to its roots, a decision was made to return the series to the style of the original comedy Dragon Ball anime, rather than the more action-oriented Dragon Ball Z. This decision led to the reintroduction of several villains not present since the original series, a return to the "Dragon Ball quest"-style plot of that series, and even the mystical de-aging of Goku, back to roughly the age he was when the first series began. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this creative change did not improve ratings and the series focus was changed again after the completion of only sixteen episodes. The remaining episodes of the series returned to the more action-oriented style of the latter series. As a result of declining interest, the series had ended in November 1997 after only 64 episodes. There was no sequel the following week.
DBGT was also less successful in its tie-ins than the previous series had been. Unlike the previous series, DBGT did not spawn any theatrical films on its own. In March 1996, just one month after the introduction of the series, the Dragon Ball 10th Anniversary Special (called The Path to Power in the US) was released. Although produced in the artistic style of DBGT, the plot was a modified retelling of the very beginning of the original Dragon Ball anime. This was the last Dragon Ball animated movie to be released to date. Other than that film, the final series was limited to a single television special, released in March 1997. In other product areas, such as video games and merchandise, DBGT was also less successful than its predecessors.
[edit] First US release
In the first years after the Dragon Ball manga and anime became successful in Japan, an initial attempt was made to export the show to an American audience. These initial attempts to gain a foothold in the large American market were unsuccessful and short lived.
In 1986, as the Dragon Ball anime was kicking off in Japan, a Dragon Ball video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System was produced by Bandai and exported to the US. Titled "Dragon Power" , it was a martial arts action game which loosely followed the plot of the first thirteen chapters of the manga.
In 1989, a first attempt was made to release the Dragon Ball anime in the US in the form of a limited number of episodes (and an edited form of the first and third movie) produced and dubbed by Harmony Gold. After being test marketed in several cities (with some resulting controversy over the subject matter of the early episodes-- something that would strike again in later attempts), this version (now called the "Lost Dub") was withdrawn from the marketplace without a full season produced.
[edit] Second US release
In 1996, the company FUNimation Production Inc. (now known as FUNimation Entertainment) bought the rights to all the U.S. releases of the Dragon Ball series. But the company was too poor to handle a show by itself, so they teamed up with KidMark Entertainment for the show in the U.S. They also hired voice actors of the Ocean Group to handle the dubbing. However, the show had poor ratings and was canceled after 13 of the 28 episode first season was aired. They also dubbed and released the first Dragon Ball movie.
After the two failed launches of the Dragon Ball anime in the US, FUNimation switched distribution companies to Saban (at that time riding on the popularity of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, another Japanese import) and created a dub of Dragon Ball Z that debuted on the US's WB station in September 1996, using voice actors of the Ocean Group again. The intended audience of the series (young children) did not work well with the more violent and adult nature of DBZ. This resulted in extensive editing of the series (cutting out the equivalent of 14 of the first 67 episodes-- almost 21%), including the complete removal of blood, language, nudity and references to character death ("sent to another dimension"). To many fans of the series however, these edits made the series worse as violence was always shown without consequence. Also, they made many changes to the original dialogue and musical score, and also created many name changes (i.e. Kuririn to Krillin, Yamucha to Yamcha, Tenshinhan to Tien, Chaozu to Chiaotzu, etc.) as well as rough translations to some of the characters' special techniques (i.e. Genki-Dama to Spirit Bomb).
In addition to the anime series, Saban also edited the third DBZ movie (The Tree of Might in the US) and released it as a two-part episode in the production run of the series. Two more movies (#1 and #2) were subsequently released by Pioneer Entertainment direct to video and the third was released to video as well, though with dialogue changes more accurate to the original script.
However, it was only a modest success and was cancelled in May 1998 due to low ratings. No new episodes of the Ocean Group dub aired after the first 53.
[edit] Third US release
In August 1998, after its modest success on the WB, the Ocean Group dub of Dragon Ball Z was brought to Cartoon Network's action-animation block Toonami. The block gave the series new life and, combined with the DiC dub of Sailor Moon, exposed the series to a much wider audience. In 1999, FUNimation decided to cut their partnership with Saban and, continuing from where the original version left off, dubbed the show themselves with their own in-house voice actors and a newly commissioned musical score. They also cut some of their previous restrictions such as small inclusions of blood, though still kept the name changes used in the previous dub and edited some of the violence, in order to make it suitable for viewers of all ages. The FUNimation dub became immensely popular and it also greatly helped expand the anime market in the US.
Around 1999-2000, merchandising of the series started, beginning with action figures of the characters. Burger King started a promotional campaign which encompassed releasing figurines of the DBZ characters with a special trading card, which were in Kids Meals. Burger King also had a promotional event which offered an originally exclusive VHS tape that was not released as part of the main production line, entitled "Z Warriors Prepare", and designed to look like the recognizable FUNimation DBZ VHS production line. In May 2002, the first DBZ video game in the US (The Legacy of Goku), was released for the Game Boy Advance and was a great financial success, opening the gate for the release of many other DBZ video games of different platforms. In September 2002, DBZ was Number One on all cable TV (#1 program of the week on all cable television for boys 9-14 and men 12-24). The series finally ended its first run in April 2003 and from 2001 to 2006, movies 4-13 were all dubbed by the FUNimation voice cast and released in the US.
The success of DBZ on Cartoon Network allowed FUNimation to go back and do a new dub of Dragon Ball as well, starting from the beginning and airing on the Toonami block as well, running from August 2001 to December 2002. However, there were marked changes in the dubbing between this and its sequel series, most pronounced in the usage of the original Japanese background music, though this was met with delight by fans of the series. FUNimation also released Dragon Ball to DVD, but with a slight snag: since KidMark remained the distributor of the earlier Dragon Ball dub, they could not release the first thirteen episodes of the new dub until their license expired, which continues to be renewed to this day. The two remaining Dragon Ball movies were also released by this time, having been dubbed by the FUNimation voice cast even before they started on DBZ.
By 2003, with the completion of Dragon Ball and DBZ, FUNimation began the process of dubbing Dragon Ball GT, which was released on both Toonami and in the DVD line. However, they were afraid they would experience the same drop off witnessed in Japan by starting with the lighter episodes at the beginning. In a controversial decision, FUNimation decided to start from the first action-intensive arc, connected with the first major villain of the series. Furthermore, a special episode was created for the beginning of this series that would fill in the material prior to the start of this arc (such as how Goku became a child again and went into space). Similarly, DBGT would feature a new musical composer, pushing music with a harder sound and even creating a hip-hop-style opening to appeal with the demographic that originally lived through the third, and most successful, US release, as they were starting to 'grow up'. Eventually after the completion of the series in 2005, the earlier episodes prior to the starting point were released and aired as "The Lost Episodes".
Release of the Dragon Ball manga in the US occurred from 2003 to 2006 through Shonen Jump and Viz Media, though volumes 17-42 were titled Dragon Ball Z, in order to avoid confusion with fans of the US, and numbered 1-26.
[edit] Fourth US release
Shortly after completing the FUNimation dubs of Dragon Ball, DBZ and DBGT, the company chose to re-dub the first 53 episodes and 3 movies of DBZ that were heavily edited by the original dub, and they released these uncut versions voiced by the FUNimation voice cast, under the title Ultimate Uncut Special Edition.
Cartoon Network aired the uncut version of the original 67 episodes in 2005, from June to September. This version used the original Japanese footage, with the exception of the Japanese opening and closing themes, and had an entirely new score of music. The uncut version also featured many scenes with large amounts of blood, as well as mild language, profanity, sexual humor and nudity. Generally, while some lines were maintained from the original dub, several mistranslations were also corrected. The remastered movie 1 was also released in 2005 and later re-released in a boxset, also containing the remastered movies 2 and 3, in 2006.
As of this, every Dragon Ball, DBZ, or DBGT episode, movie, and special has been dubbed by the FUNimation voice cast, with the exception of the first Dragon Ball movie (due to licensing issues with Lionsgate).
[edit] International release
Until 2001, other English speaking countries including the UK, Canada, Australia and Republic of Ireland received the American version of Dragon Ball Z, both the Ocean Group and FUNimation dubs. This changed when Episode 108 aired in the UK (also in The Netherlands); the English Dub switched to a version produced by the Blue Water studios. This version regained the original voice actors of the Ocean Group dub instead of the FUNimation voice cast.
This version began airing in Canada in the autumn of 2001 from Episode 168, and ran through to the end of the series. It used FUNimation's own videotracks and its scripts, albeit with some changes. This version used music recycled from the Mega Man and Monster Rancher cartoons, as well as a few original pieces for the series by Jon Mitchell, Tom Keenlyside and David Iris. This version suffered from low production values and a rushed schedule. Many voice actors did not stay consistent through the series, and by the end few remained from the original cast.
Blue Water also created a dub of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT, though both dubs featured a completely different voice cast, including no one from the Ocean Group dub.
[edit] Season boxsets
In 2006, FUNimation cancelled the Ultimate Uncut DVD releases and moved to remaster all 291 episodes of Dragon Ball Z on DVD season boxsets. These contain remastered footage in widescreen format and also the choice between the English dialogue with either the American BGM or the original Japanese BGM. Also some of the FUNimation voice cast re-dubbed themselves in the episodes that they originally started from in order to keep consistency with the new dub. Some of the current voice actors, who were not present during the dubbing of these early episodes, have also re-dubbed themseleves over the old voices. In 2007, Season 1 (39 episodes) was released on February 6, Season 2 (35 episodes) was released on May 25, and Season 3 (33 episodes) was released on September 18. In 2008, Season 4 (32 episodes) was released on February 19, as well as the two DBZ specials in a remastered form, Season 5 (26 episodes) was released on May 27, as well as the first two DBZ movies in a remastered form, and Season 6 and the third and fourth movies are expected to be release in late August or early September.
FUNimation has also expressed interest in remastering Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball GT and releasing them as season boxsets, along with their movies.
[edit] Neko Majin Z
Originally a one-shot bearing little relation to Akira Toriyama's other series, the first chapter of Neko Majin appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump in April 1999 (WJ #22-23). Though there were some similarities, it didn't become a self-parody of the Dragon Ball manga, until Neko Majin Z, which had cameos of characters from the author's magnum opus. As of 2005, the series was completed with eight total chapters (five of which are Dragon Ball parodies). These chapters were compiled into a "kanzenban"-style package for release in Japan on 4 April 2005. However because the manga is intended as a parody of Dragon Ball, most fans do not consider it a sequel and do not consider the events canonical.
[edit] Cross Epoch
Cross Epoch is a Japanese manga by Akira Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda. It was created as a crossover between Dragon Ball and One Piece.
Released on 25 December 2006, in the Weekly Shonen Jump.
There are currently no plans for Cross Epoch to be released as a tankōbon or for it to be released in English.
[edit] Video games
The Dragon Ball franchise, in being very successful spawned off a lot of video games in all types of genres: fighting, platforming, role-playing, and even card battling.
[edit] Soundtracks
Many Soundtracks were released to the anime, movies and the games.
[edit] Live action film
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Dragon Ball Wikia - A wiki dedicated to Dragon Ball
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