The covers of the first and final volumes of Dragon Ball.
Supposedly, September 9, 2014 was the perfect night to view a full moon. Thankfully, no one absorbed seventeen million zenos of Blutz waves to become a giant ape.
We all have that one memorable book, TV series, film, or whatever from our childhood that no one could convince us is less than perfect. Those in my generation will often state their childhood TV show of choice was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Some may have enjoyed other shows, but Ninja Turtles seems as though it was the de facto favorite among my American friends (and their parents). However, in Japan, despite the abundance of anime programing targeted at children, no show had a larger presence than Dragon Ball Z. I have enjoyed both programs over the years, but from an early age I knew Dragon Ball Z was an adaptation of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール), whereas it wasn’t until my late teens, or perhaps early twenties, that I learned about the Ninja Turtles comic series.
I feel some people tend to criticize Dragon Ball, at least the anime series, far too harshly for the immense amount of time it takes to advance the plot a tiny bit. I have no opinion on this as it has been years since I have watched the series at great length, but I can understand where this sentiment comes from. The manga series, the subject of this article, hardly has this issue and while Dragon Ball may not be the greatest manga series ever published, it’s definitely well written. There was a lot of thought put into the series despite it being rote at times, but the repetitious nature of the different story arcs allowed the author, Akira Toriyama, to take the series and adapt it into many different genres. On top of this, Dragon Ball is surprisingly easy to read, not just because it’s for younger audiences, but also because of how each volume in the series is presented. I will say, though, what bothered me the most about the series was the static nature of the characters.
At first glance, Dragon Ball seems to be no more that just a standard action manga series, which it unquestionably is, and that can make it appear to be rather listless in many of the later volumes. It’s no wonder either, as many of the story arcs essentially involve a new and more powerful threat descending upon Son Goku, the protagonist, and his companions. This is the basis for many action manga though, and while it can become a bit tiresome, there are times it’s rather thrilling. Goku’s assault on the Red Ribbon Army’s headquarters in the eighth volume is one example of this if only because it seems the odds are stacked against him, though he’s far more skilled than even he knows. However, the one moment I found rather engaging occurs in the nineteenth and twentieth volumes of the series. For those unfamiliar with the story, this is when the climatic battle between Goku and Vegeta, the antagonist of the Sayan story arc, occurs. Prior to this we get to see just how powerful Vegeta’s companion, Nappa, is after four of the characters sacrifice themselves in battle. Yet it’s also suggested that Vegeta is far more powerful than Nappa, so as the battle between Goku and Vegeta reaches its climax, it’s clear that no matter the outcome, it was a hard fought battle. Not many other action scenes are as gripping as this one; however, they are all thrilling to say the least. But after the twentieth-fourth volume, it does begin to wear on you.
The Ginyu Force parodying the fight poses of Super Sentai (Power Rangers in the United States).
The repetitious aspect of the series, in and of itself, could have resulted in the series becoming no more than a footnote in the history of manga; nonetheless, Dragon Ball has ingrained itself into the minds of countless people around the world. I don’t doubt part of the reason is because many people were exposed to it at a young age—I would fall into this category—but it would also not surprise me if some people found the number of genres within the series appealing. To go back to the Red Ribbon Army, this is the second time Goku is searching for the dragon balls—seven orbs that when collected grant the person one, later three, wishes—and it is very much in the style of a 1930s action serial, or the Indiana Jones film series—where the protagonist travels the world, navigates dungeons, and at times fights off an entire army.
The series also finds itself nicely nestled within the comedy genre for much of the series as well. This helps to offset some of the more repetitious aspects of the action, but more importantly, the series is genuinely funny. Much of it is slapstick humor, which is where I feel Akira Toriyama is most comfortable, although it is occasionally lewd or witty. Examples of the lewd comedy generally revolve around Bulma, but there are times when Goku is the subject of some lewd humor, usually because he unknowingly sets himself up to be the butt end of the joke. Unfortunately, the comedy all but disappears between the twelfth and thirty-fifth volumes, although those twenty-three volumes aren’t without their humorous moments. Regrettably, because they are so few and far between, it’s rather disheartening. Fortunately, Dragon Ball returns to its action-comedy genre roots for the final story arc, making it a good fusion of the different stages the series went through.
If we want to look at the genres that had a lager impact on Dragon Ball, we have to examine the very first story arc. Those individuals who have studied classical Chinese and East Asian literature will instantly recognize that the origins of Dragon Ball can be found in the novel Journey to the West and it’s more modern adaptations. Just looking at the characters: Goku is obviously a reimagining of the Monkey King, Sun Wukong; in the same way, Oolong is Zhu Bajie, Yamucha is Sha Wujing, and Bulma is the monk Xuanzang. The characters are also traveling westward, and along the way they encounter many different people such as the Ox King. This may actually be one of the more recognizable genres Dragon Ball is adapted from, and it’s a good start to the series. Later story arcs don’t directly adapt narratives from any specific work of literature, but they do use tropes from different genres.
For example, the Frieza story arc seems very much like an alien invader story without an alien invasion, while the Android story arc finds itself using the mad scientist motif as a catalyst for the events between volumes twenty-eight and thirty-six. And who can ignore the martial arts film inspired Tenka Ichi Budokai (literally Strongest Under Heaven fighting tournament) scattered throughout the first seventeen volumes? Though in the end each of these story arcs breaks down to no more than an unbelievable fighting sequence, the use of multiple genres gives Dragon Ball many different flavors. Thus, one can pick up any volume in the series and instantly find a familiar shonen action manga narrative. But depending on the volume, one will find oneself encountering a vastly different genre than the genre that appears six or seven volumes prior to or after the volume one is reading.
Goku (left) and Vegeta (right) preparing to fight in the nineteenth volume.
One thing that almost never comes up in a conversation about manga is its readability. It’s not the level of reading I’m speaking of—lord knows readers do not need a complex grasp of storytelling techniques to read manga—but how smoothly a volume of the series reads. For the most part, many series will break up each individual story within a volume of the book in a similar fashion to chapters in a novel. These provide great opportunities to set any volume of a manga down for a short break. But, someone within Shueisha, the publishers of Dragon Ball, decided to remove the splash-page cover art that’s used in the magazine as the title pages for the given chapters when the volumes were published. Thus, when reading the series it transitions smoothly between chapters.
This was especially true for the chapters that were primarily focused on action scenes. For example, one of my favorite instances of this, and there are many throughout the series, came near the end of the fourteenth volume when Goku begins his training with Kami and before the twenty-third Budokai. The transition is perfect to say the least as on one page Goku begins his training, and on the very next page there is a scene of a dreary and rainy day three years later. There is no title page or narration about what happened, just the image of him training, then he and his group of friends gathering at the tournament. Moments like these make Dragon Ball very difficult to put down, and as I said, I commend the person who made the decision to leave out the title pages.
However, beginning in the thirty-sixth volume, the series departs from this publication method. This wasn’t because the publishers wanted to place the title pages of each chapter with the story, but rather because Akira Toriyama began placing the title of the chapters at the top of where the story picks up. While it does break up the flow of the story, I can also understand why this may have occurred. By this time, Akira Toriyama had been writing the series for over nine years, and I imagine making those title pages, especially color title pages, is not an easy task. Thus, lessening his workload may have been his way of indicating to the readers he was beginning to wrap up the series as well. It’s very upsetting and I’m not a fan of it in the least, but I can understand why this decision was made and luckily, it’s only for the final few volumes.
The entire Dragon Ball series with the original panoramic spine art.
If there is one definitive aspect of Dragon Ball I was disappointed with, it would be the character development or lack thereof. That’s not to say there isn’t any, but for the most part it boils down to how powerful the characters are. Not that this is a bad thing for an action series, but it’s nice to know the characters are capable of becoming more than they are personality wise. There are times when the characters fall out of the action manga mold, but they are few and far between and generally come about because they’ll be of no use in the upcoming battle. I really wished characters like Yamucha and Kuririn had more explicit involvement outside of combat in the later volumes rather than just being dead weight and on the verge of being written out of the story. Yet I can see how developing the characters would have been difficult to incorporate without interfering with the main events of the story arcs.
Thankfully, there were two characters I found to be extremely interesting. The first should be no surprise, however the second may be a bit more controversial. The two are Vegeta and Mr. Satan. With Vegeta, he undergoes a drastic change from his first appearance as a villain to that of being an anti-hero at the end of the series. But that’s not what makes him truly interesting. It’s the very few moments of weakness he shows that are really telling of his character. Those moments are wonderful in informing us about his motivations—beating Frieza and Goku, saving his son, and so on—but we also get to see him swallow his pride and accept the fact he isn’t the strongest sentient being in the universe.
But then, why is Mr. Satan interesting? Honestly, as a one-time gag character, he develops into a good-natured, albeit somewhat crooked, man. For example, in the Majin Boo story arc, while his mission at first is to defeat Boo, Mr. Satan is also willing to open up to Boo. The subsequent bond they form is so strong it changes the course of the entire story arc. In a small way, what was essentially going to be another fight the opponent into submission story became one about a man trying to redeem his friend in the eyes of world. In fact, there is one line of dialog by Goku that sums up my feeling towards Mr. Satan, “You really are the savior of the world.”
There is not one person in the world who could convince me Dragon Ball is anything but good. It has some extremely gripping moments as well as exceptionally humorous ones all within a few chapters of each other. Each story arc is also very concise and never exceeds more than eight volumes, making them all a fast read. Nonetheless, the series stretches some of the plot points a bit too far at times, becomes a bit too contrived at others, and has some flat characters throughout. Though it ended its syndication in 1995, the series is still widely available, so it’s not difficult to come by unlike other popular series from the same era. Veteran fans of manga should take some time to read through Dragon Ball again, just for the sake of entertainment. Those new to the fandom may find it a bit tiresome, but it’s a good introduction to many of the tropes used in action manga today. Now all I have to do is find the dragon balls and make the same wish Oolong did.
Work Info
Title: Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール)
By: Akira Toriyama
Under: Shueisha, Weekly Shonen Jump
Official Site: N/A
More Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Ball
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