Dragon Ball

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Meh :D I read the the whole manga and is awesome :D

Story-

The story is well-developed and does everything to make a kid happy :D Awesome fighting,Training,Aura,comedies and stuffs :D

Art- Well the art is ok but the ears seem a little big to me :P

Character- Aliens and stuffs were good :D The characters were well-developed and have different personalities

... Enjoyment- I seriously enjoyed the manga from begining till the end :D

Overall- This is a really good manga that u would want to read :D It is funny and ACTION PACKED!!! You don't wanna miss this old-school manga ;)

Ever since I was little I was a hardcore fight fan, I loved watching shows where the antagonists had to battle for the survival of all they held dear, even now I hold fondly the anime that had given me my first taste as it aired on my morning cartoon network "Cheese TV." It was a boring morning when I stumbled upon the Dragonball manga and I soon found that morning cheering up as I delightfully relived the story of Goku and his Dragonball adventures.

Story [10/10]
If a manga like Dragonball were to only appear now, I would have probably given it an 8 or 9, ... though I have chosen to keep its original context in mind.
As I just mentioned; if Dragonball were to be released now, then it wouldn't have been as popular as it is today, this is because when the manga came out it was something new and unbelievable that the world had never really seen. The manga was one of the crucial founders of shounen fighting manga and anime; it set all the stereotypes and the benchmarks. Dragonball was one of the greatest stories of its generation and would leave a legacy on all shounen manga that would follow as the style continues to advance and refine to suit the times. Popular anime and manga like Naruto and Bleach all have roots in Dragonball.
Now, as for the story itself, I would say it's very good on its own terms. It takes an ancient Chinese tale and turns it into something completely different: a wacky adventure of a monkey-tailed jungle boy and a blue-haired tech head heiress of which would later be joined by more and more companions, some with rocky beginnings though all charmed by the protagonist, Goku's, innocence.
Goku's natural strength would always be questioned until later in the manga when his true identity is revealed as an adult (I would expect everyone to know, but I won't spoil it, just in case) which would give him the opportunity to face opponents stronger than he'd ever faced in an intergalactic setting.
Dragonball's sense of romance was kind of vague; the manga would skip large amounts of time, rarely even offering as much as a montage to explain the gap. Most romantic relationships would take place between these times. I felt that this was probably one of the best methods, the concept of lovey-dovey romance happening within Dragonball is shudder-worthy, it would undermine the true focus of the anime and so, as a result, even the cutest pairing were laced with violence, screaming spouses throwing threats at one another, it was the manga's own form of love.

Art [10/10]
The style enjoyed sitting out of the box.
Before Dragonball most anime and manga were similar to Astro Boy or the work of Hayao Miyazaki, but then came Dragonball sporting veined muscles and antagonists like king Piccollo and Frieza.
The settings were unique as well, like an alternate universe to our own world filled with amusing sterotypes from around the world, the terrain ranging from desert to jungles, cities to islands.
The world was made the playground for this manga.

Characters [10/10]
Like any fighting manga or anime, it was very character driven, creating unique and wacky personalities and character designs with very well thought out back story that would always come back to bite them somewhere in the manga, no matter how far forward. In Dragonball especially, the character development was evident, as the characters changed and aged physically and mentally, maturing in all their own chosen occupations.

Enjoyment [10/10]
I will have to say that the reason I enjoyed this manga the most was because of the nostalgia that I felt from reading it, I could remember a time back when I was just four or five years old when I would sit and watch, even though I can't remember much about my childhood, I still hang onto so many memories of watching Goku fight Frieza on planet Namek, of trunks and his father fighting cell among others.

I remember and it feels good to be reminded.

I read the whole series as a teen, so it may sound or come out different from me than other reviewers. But as it is coming from a "teen", i found this to be extremely enjoyable. There are many flaws and weaknesses in this manga, but i seemed to understand why many called Toriyama, the creator of DragonBall, a genius. DragonBall surpasses all odds in its infinite path of making new friends, fighting new foes, and discovering new powers. In other words, you can call it the perfect raw shounen manga for younger audiences and perhaps teens like myself.

Story 9/10
To me ... this is both a weakness and a strong point of the series. Different arcs have different stories behind them but they all connect and make sense in the end. Although everything connects however, some parts seem like they lose understanding and basic common sense. Though rare, sometimes, the reader might feel or want to say "Well this makes sense, but why didn't they do this, or why couldn't they have done that before."
I do give the author credit though, for it is not easy to connect everything perfectly clearly with such a long series. I think the author balanced everything to work out pretty well.
However, when the plot gets really good into something you didn't expect, that's when the series really starts to shine. Secrets are uncovered and mysteries you could never imagine occur in this wonderful storyline giving it a solid 9/10.

Art 10/10
This one's quite obvious i think. The action sequences are very nicely drawn with wonderful design of landscapes and characters. Also the way the technology is drawn still amuses me :)

Character 9/10
First thing first, I have to say the way the characters were created and how it applies to them is pure genius. Absolute amazing creativity with variety as well. This series ranges from humans to saiyans to animals to aliens to different aliens to organisms to BUBBLE GUM. I mean BUBBLE GUM. If thats not enough of variety u also got two types (SPOILER* xP). A fat one and an evil looking one.
There is a backside to this though, which is why i rated it a 9 out of 10, and that is the character development. This seems to come out as a fatal flaw in the series. Important characters who were good friends of goku (SPOILER* xP) like Yamcha and Tien have seemed to lost their importance. Bulma who first discovered Goku, seems to have almost no part in his life afterwards. She seems to end up as the casual techno girl and cheerleader for Goku while he's fighting. But, even though there are some characters who seem to become unimportant, some new characters undergo a very nice change in development. For example characters like (SPOILER* xP) Vegeta, Piccolo, the androids, Buu, even Satan, seem to become important and likable characters in the series. Despite it's flaw in the development of some characters, it doesn't do quite much to affect the wonderful variety of characters and enjoyment in DragonBall.

Enjoyment 10/10
Really enjoyed this series. What more to say about it. x)

Overall 10/10
Don't get intimidated by the flaws i posted. (I'm just a mean reviewer :P)
Overall, DragonBall is a wonderful series filled with adventure and excitement. It's just incredible. You can't miss it!

When reading dragon ball, it feel's like you're bearing witness to the grandfather of modern manga. The art work at times still feels fresh, and the comedy involved (especially with bulma and the turtle geezer) is still very funny. Part of me wished that dragonball Z (and beyond) had continued on with the adventuring elements found in dragonball, but, regardless of what dragon ball seemingly devolved into over time, the original is an adventure tale full of surprises and fun moments.

Honestly, it feels like one piece before one piece was a thing. This is a must read for all manga readers, and not just ... fans of dragon ball Z and the later battle arcs.

well before i start writing the review i wanna say that this is my first review,
I fell in love with dragon ball since I was a kid I saw it first on TV that's how i found this master piece It's the true meaning of epicness!!!

The characters are wonderful the fights are epic the story is a master piece honestly dragon ball is something you can't describe in words because it's that epic!!!


a short preview of the story:

The story start with the hero of dragon ball his name is "son goku"
meeting the second human in his life her name is "Bulma" ... then he became her friend and they went together to find the dragon balls in they're journey to find the dragon balls they made a lot of friends and fought a lot of people
he met master hermit and was trained by him he entered the tournament and fought alot of people.......

and then after a while "goku" became a young man and starting there the story become more interesting chapter after chapter the excitement never ends....

I also liked the idea of the dragon balls you can wish to bring dead people back alive this is what I liked the most In dragon ball It doesn't matter how many times Akira (mangaka) kills his characters the most important thing is an epic fight!!!
because dead characters can be brought back to life with the dragon balls!!!

honestly I wish there was a rating number above 10 that was only for dragon ball (sigh)!!!

I gave it a 10.

I LUV this manga. I originally read the Dragon Ball Z half first and went back later to read the Dragon Ball half and I have to say that the first half had this child-like, playful tone to it compared to the more serious nature of Dragon Ball Z but I love how well it transitioned.

In the first half, it's seen virtually from the eyes of a really powerful kid as he travels around with friends he meets along the way in search of 7 ballls that grant 1 wish when gathered together. This kid is Goku and let me tell you, he's naive, ... he's oblivious, he's cocky, he's childish, and he's a bit of a show off, but all his flaws are what make him likable because time and again, he'll notice his flaws and overcome them as if they were a pebble in his shoe. He's so young and opitmistic that it's contageous and you can't help but root for him to get back up and keep trying. The other characters are a RIOT! Krillin, Roshi, Bulma, Lunch, gut-busting everytime and the motives or personalities of the villains are so petty (with the exception of the Picolo's) it's too much NOT to laugh. The art is simple but suitable and every once in a while, they'll throw in a 4th wall (panel) joke. The Dragon Ball half really captures it from the eyes of a kid and thet's refreshing every once in a while.

In the Z half, the tone gets more serious as Goku grows and matures but he still has that innocence about him. When new, more powerful, and far more serious villains show up, the lives of more innocent people are sacrificed and that number grew with each new villain. Even though you know they'd bring all them back with the Dragon Balls (which, by the way, have been reduced to a meeger plot device as the story progresses), the fact that they were up against people who could erase planets with a flick of the finger as opposed to King Picolo's destroy-one-city-anually plan, you were scared for them. Our favorite heroes fought honorably and died many times and you were TORN to see it. But what I love is that even though you could say there was a happy ending, there technically wasn't. It was happy but there seems to be no end as you see Goku fly of into another adventure as the Acknowledgements show up.

Overall, this was a good manga and for those just planning to read certain parts like I did, chapter 194 is the separater fyi. I may never get the chance to redo my childhood (as I am a 90's girl but missed out due to parental units eg. mother-censorship) and watch the anime but I'm glad I at least got to see the original in all it's glory.

just started reading, i mean, reached volume 11, our bookshops have got released on 14 of this comics volumes!!!! will be forced to download next volumes somewhere.... or order from other sourcesXD

looove the story!!!! characters are lovely, sense of humour typically manly,
love the idea of a GIRL genius-Bulma,
and of course *sigh*-Son Goku!! the dream-guy))) having all the best values of a human!) and i love that he's a little dumb sometimes)))))

One of the first manga I can remember reading. I loved watching the americanized version of this TV show after school on Cartoon Network. I was exposed to anime very young through my dad, but it wasn't until Dragonball and Dragonball Z that I found manga. For that reason Dragonball and Dragonball Z will always be important and unique for me.

Growing up I preferred DBZ, the villains looked cooler (although King Piccolo is a badass in Dragonball), and the anime was longer and full of more powerful characters. But looking back now, Dragonball is closer to my heart, and I appreciate it more as a ... manga. The battles seem more tactics oriented- rather than power level oriented as with DBZ. There is also an element of character progression for Goku that just isn't there to the same extent in DBZ. Dragonball was also my first exposure to tournaments in shounen- which are super awesome!

I love you Dragonball, and I love you Akira Toriyama!

Dragon Ball is a beloved series. I'm gonna split this up into 2 parts, one being Dragon Ball/Goku as a kid and Dragon Ball Z/Goku as an adult. A small tip/info I have not grown up with Dragon Ball or have any nostalgia for it yet. So this is a... I guess unbiased review.

Part 1: Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball is definitely one of my favorite mangas. Dragon Ball is a great manga that has a lot of love showing in it. It seems like a passion project instead of a easy money grab like a lot of manga/anime do *cough cough GT*. This has a ... lot of wholesome interactions, possibly including Master Roshi's love.... for women. I'll start off with STORY. The story is well, its not the best thing you'll see obviously but Dragon Ball doesn't need story or plot as much as other shows or mangas do. For me this is one of the most entertaining manga out there. For me the tournaments were super fun to read. I don't know why but they were. In general the whole thing was entertaining, for me there was never a boring part. It was funny, and it gave me enjoyment. BTW I HAVE NOT FINISHED ANY OF THE ANIMES Z OR DRAGON BALL. Just putting that out there. But I have watched a bit, because that's what got me into Dragon Ball. But I wanted to switch to the manga because I love Toriyama's artstyle. The characters are really fun and nice to read the story with. They are all usually very good enough written characters, I don't know what to say about how well the characters are done besides .. saying that they are done well. I don't know much else to say about Dragon Ball since it's just very nice and well told story about a young kid and some random ass chick he met off the streets and their journey to collect some shiny balls. So I'll end it here. HIGHLY RECOMMEND, very entertaining like I said I can't say it enough.
Yikes I don't know how much more I can put into a MAL review but let's see.

Part 2: DRAGON BALL Z
Wow so from the time this review is coming out, I don't know if anyone can see the date this was posted but if you can't 5/12/2021. I finished it today. This was a long adventure that well I will say is a teensy bit overrated I can understand that people have a lot of nostalgia for it. Personally I'm not the oldest person nor the youngest on this site so I don't share much nostalgia, although I probably will in the future. So basically it continues a couple years after the end of Dragon Ball and I'll say that the story isn't amazing but it is still quite good and it is enough to grab someone's time and attention. I read this pretty fast I finished about half of it in under 3 days. Now do I like one part better than the other... I guess so. But they all have the same amount of care and thought put into it. This adds a whole lot of new great characters some are even my favorite in the series, one example is Gohan. I love Gohan especially the part where he is in highschool that is probably my favorite part of DBZ actually imma be honest : ). I'm joking.... sort of but anyway it is great everything is good. It's a nice read and like Dragon Ball its entertaining. I guess I will put a summary since I am dumb and can't think of what to put here.

SUMMARY:
Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z I highly recommend. IF YOU SEE THIS PLEASE READ DRAGON BALL BEFORE Z.. why? Personally I think the reader would have a better experience. I'm slightly a little salty towards people that have only watched/read Z and Super but that's them. Dragon Ball can be a little too maybe childish or comedic to the average reader/watcher. I guess that's why people think Z is better, it has some good epic action and cool drawn fights. But it doesn't feel like it has as much heart in it as Dragon Ball does. I can't really choose a favorite DB or DBZ, but they are both good. I'm currently watching Super, I decided to read it not watch it mostly cause.. well I don't want to say it but like there's no point to reading it, I'm guessing not very much story and the fights probably would look more badass. But once I get done with the anime I'll probably read the chapters that have continued after the end of the anime. Ok I don't think anyone cares about what I just said right there but-

summary 2/TLDR:
Good ass read, entertaining as heck. very good very nice very fresh very epic. thank you toriyama ! anyway goodbye and leave a nice comment on my MAL profile, put any manga/anime suggestions there. : )

Dragon Ball is my childhood favorite. It tells a story of a child named Goku and his adventure with friends to find the 7 magical dragon balls so their wishes can be granted. Unlike other people, Goku isn't human. He is from an alien planet and is a Saiyan. Thus, he is incredibly strong and is a genius at fighting. I enjoyed this manga/anime so much because the author Akira Toriyama is a master at creating storyboards. He is able to tell the story in great details with just a couple scenes of drawing. In my opinion, fighting scenes are the hardest to draw because ... the artists need to use manga to show smooth and natural movements. Akira did some of the best jobs I've seen at drawing fight scenes. Moreover, the story world is extremely interesting. With magical creatures and villains that have interesting backgrounds, everyone characters in Dragon Ball is lovable. Don't get scared away by Dragon Ball's 520 chapters of story because you are going to find yourself getting more and more into the plot as you read. If you haven't checked this world famous manga out, you should do it soon!

Just saying, this is my first review. I have read lots of manga after reading this one but I'm saving my first review for the first manga i read. Dragonball introduced me to the world of manga. Considering the fact I'm a girl, I now prefer romantic manga, but even from a girls point of view, this is actually really good. The first series Dragonball is more comedy. The other 2 are both comedy and a bit more drama. It would have been nice to learned a bit more of the lives of further characters. This also made me cry for some reason at the ... end, which is kind of ridiculous. Anyway, this is a great manga whether you just started or already read hundreds of mangas. I also recomend watching the anime if you enjoy reading it because there is a further series only in anime called Dragonball GT.

Dragon Ball is a manga written by Akira Toriyama published Weekly Shonen Jump from 1984 to 1995.
It's the story of Goku, a kid with a monkey tail who travel to find the dragon balls, , which summon a wish-granting dragon when gathered, and to became the strongest martial artist in the world.
The story is engaging and the pacing is almost perfect, expecially in the first half of the series, with lots of breathtaking fights where the author takes inspiration from Bruce Lee movies.
The characters are managed in a good way at the start of the series being all different from each other up till halfway ... of the series where the author changes their personality to be more functional to the various arcs.
Toriyama's art style is very unique and super recognizable with some amazing character designs, the direction is simply perfect, the author is an absolute genius at making the reader's eye move through the panels giving a strong sensation of movement, while reading Dragon Ball almost feels like.
The writing is not perfect mostly because at some point Toriyama stopped to plan the story and to invent the story week by week.
In conclusion, talking of Dragon Ball in 2021 seems useless, however there are still a lot of people that think that this masterpiece doesn't deserve the reputation it has and consider it overrated, Bragon Ball is not a perfect manga, it has a lot of flaws and errors, but it is still one of the most important manga in all the history, it exported the manga culure in the western world and without it all the modern shonen manga that people consider "better" than Dragon Bal wouldn't probably even exist.

Story:
There's something magical about Dragon Ball. From its starting point searching for the Dragon Ball to the final fight to save the Universe, there's a genuine feel of adventure and progress that is felt while reading this manga. I feel like I've come so far, met so many people, and survived so much despite only reading it on a page. And everything is memorable from the master assassin Taopaipai to the mysterious Android 16, every interaction you observe Goku partake in seems to have some kind of special moment that engrains itself into my memory. I mean, everything was so EXCITING! I had a blast ... reading chapters of the many Budokai tournaments, the horrifying villains that took solace in murder, and the ridiculous comedic perversions of Kame-sennin.

What's especially amazing is how the manga exponentially increases in quality with each passing arc. Each arc brings something new to the table and culminates with something unique and unpredictable. It's filled with moments that seem boisterous and extravagant but also have a subtle level of intimacy to their characterization. Most notably is the first moment that Goku becomes Super Saiyan. The rising action to this revelation is brilliant and the moment it happens, so much is implied about what Goku is thinking without him uttering a word. In fact, this happens many times within Dragon Ball and it really lends to the creative talent of Akira Toriyama.

However, with a manga as long as this one, it's evident that there would be problems, and that's most recognized with the final arc. Although there's a bit of a balance to how one can look at it, the ending isn't exactly what I would call satisfying as I would say acceptable. The Cell arc precedes the Majin Buu arc and with how the Cell arc ends, it feels as though the world of Dragon Ball is in for a treat with the following one. It even teases this transition with the Great Saiyaman arc, implying that what you might be expecting is actually going to become true. However, upon finishing the Majin Buu arc, you're subjected to a world-class ruse and left feeling a little hollow. Does it truly impact my experience with Dragon Ball? Not as a whole, but as a grade? Yes. It's so detrimental that it's bumped my opinion of Dragon Ball as a whole from a 10/10 to a 9/10 solely for the climax of the Majin Buu arc. It's why I'm eager to see where Dragon Ball is headed with the new movies and hopefully Dragon Ball Super (assuming it has an original arc beyond what we've seen in the new films.)

But, all in all, Dragon Ball's story isn't just an extravagant out-of-this-world martial arts manga, it's a great character narrative where everyone becomes a little more of themselves with each passing page. Although everyone stays largely static, there are subtle changes in everyone that makes for a realistic feel to it. I've come to love Krillin as the most powerful human on Earth. I've come to respect Piccolo as an amazing surrogate father and warrior. I've come to look up to Vegeta and how his determination and pride didn't take over his life in the end. There's so much to love about Dragon Ball, and recognizing its impact on the Manga community isn't enough to do it justice. Reading it and experiencing it for yourself is absolutely recommended.


Art:
Brilliant, amazing art. Although backgrounds become rubble regularly and the art near the end of the manga becomes a little rough, the character designs, worlds, and 'animation' of each page and panel is so excellent I cannot even begin to describe how monumental of an achievement it is. I mean, this is a seriously big deal. For each character to have their own traits, for each world to look have subtle yet recognizable locations, and most importantly, for the pages to look so fluid. Hoooo boy. I mean, You will be falling in love with how the manga reads. Every moment looks like it's truly alive. Every punch, kick, and jump looks like it's coming right out of the page and happening before your eyes. It's incredible.


Character:
Again, I mentioned how each character has such subtle yet realistic growth. Most importantly, it happens over a long, long time. I mean, this manga spans what can be assumed nearly a third of Goku's life. From childhood to a father of two, there's so much growth to not only Goku but those around him. And, anyone who's been alive for a long time knows that change can take a long time. At times, you're left wondering when characters are going to stop with their old habits, or when they're going to finally be strong enough to fight back. All in due time.

Their character designs are also quite impressive, and I have to admit that I've come to love Akira Toriyama's work. I used to find it a little too cartoony for me but now I miss how unique and recognizable it is. I wish more artists would seek to find their own style rather than imitate so many other types of artwork, especially now in this day where so much looks the same (darn you, moe anime!).


Enjoyment:
Man, I had a blast! I'm so sad it's over but I'm SO EXCITED to get into the current content. But also, I'm super excited to experience it all over again in the anime adaptions. Although I'll be a little timid about the DBZ adaption (since it's so long and arduous) I'm real excited to watch DBZ Kai and especially Dragon Ball. I watched DBZ as a child but not so much Dragon Ball. And, while GT is abhorred by many, I'd be interested in watching it solely for more Dragon Ball content (despite it's many, many flaws).

I'm just super hooked on Dragon Ball content, that's all. I want more. But, can you blame me?


((If you liked this review, feel free to check out my others! I review most manga and anime I finish!))

Yes, I did grow up on Dragon Ball, but I do not cling to it as a infant would their mother's breast. No. I'm being completely unbiased.

STORY

Con: the occasional discontinuity and gag scenes. It doesn't take itself seriously enough, such as when Goku bites his opponents. I do understand that Toriyama wishes to remain true to its comical roots, but you have involved aliens and the entire universe INCLUDING HEAVEN AND HELL THEMSELVES with the cast. So as a result of trying to remain true, whenever those gag scenes pop up, they seem really out of place with the rest of the story's atmosphere. Though, ... part of this humor is creativity, such as the silliness of Gotenks and Buu screaming to create portal back to the regular dimension, which I really enjoyed because it matched with the feel of the scene; Gotenks and Buu, both immature children, using their awesome abilities as childish solutions. I find that there are certain parts where the target demographic humor is a appropriate and when it is not. Though, I suppose it is very relative, as the enjoyment of the gag scenes is dependent on your sense of humor.

Pro: Toriyama's storytelling technique is classic and the plot goes through a lot of evolution. There is obviously, no way to avoid Dragon Ball being labeled as a "typical Shounen" when it is the archetype for Shounen mangas. So I will be using a double standard. For its time, Dragon is highly imaginative and creative, with antics being performed on a regular basis and silly boyish humor.
Since so much of it is battles, talking about the fight scenes is unavoidable. The unfeasible antics and maneuvers that belonged in a cartoon, but then the fight scenes began to evolve. Of course, the maneuvers remained unfeasible, but as time went on, there was a lot less charge-jump-hit and more grappling between opponents. Then the implantation of ki attacks was absolutely brilliant. The combatants could manipulate its path; they could keep it at bay starting from the very beginning of the fight and use it as their trump card later on, whatever! There were endless possibilities.
Once the fight scenes got more and more intense, the story followed suit. All of a sudden, the enemies were more capable, they could do just the same things that our heroes could (even more), and sometimes better too. And so, Toriyama crafted opponents around the new abilities he’d given the cast. He also exposed our heroes’ weaknesses and made characters that could and would use the weaknesses to their advantage. So Dragon Ball went from a silly stylistic adaption of an ancient Chinese epic poem to a serious face-to-
face brawl in which the stakes was the very existence of everything.

ART

Con: Toriyama, I get it, you’re a good artist. I know. We all know. It’s plain since you show off through your awesome and completely irrelevant depictions of your characters riding exotic animals or intricately detailed machinery in exotic backgrounds.

Pro: Why do I need to talk about this? The art evolution is VERY obvious. Take a look at the very first chapter then the latest. The art started off as unpolished and choppy thick lineart and became more angular and fluid and Toriyama started using screen tone too. There’s not much too it.

CHARACTER

Con: why the hell did over 80% of your cast stop having character development starting with Gohan’s kidnapping? Seriously. The very first episode of what is known to Americans as Dragon Ball “Z”, Krillin pretty much gets kicked in the stomach, rolls up into a ball and is utterly useless for an entire season. The next time he proved useful was at the end of the Saiyan arc, and that was only because he was the least injured. Then he fades into the background for the ENTIRE SERIES. After Piccolo gets killed off, he’s useless. Don’t even get me started on Yamcha…oh…poor Yamcha, never useful after Goku hits puberty.

Pro: the characters Toriyama actually chooses to focus on go through a great deal of development. Especially Goku. The kind-hearted, dense boy lacking any social decency grows up into a gentle, honorable, and wise man, whose ideology inspired the greatest fighters of all time. This is the standard protocol for all of the characters who have any sort of development as they are also befriended and converted into good people. (Goku is quite an effective missionary, just without the official title, haha.)

ENJOYMENT

A very relative measurement, but I digress, I quite enjoyed Dragon Ball. It certainly was unique until others jumped onto the bandwagon to make money (I’m looking at you Naruto, One Piece, Bleach.)
One good thing about Dragon Ball out of them all: the creator had enough balls to end it when he wanted to, so I never really felt like it was dragging.

OVERALL

I enjoyed it enough. The manga didn’t have that much filler besides that one mini filler right before Buu arc about Gohan’s high school education. The plot was always progressing, the ones Toriyama chose to work on, he put them through a lot, so the characters grew a lot.
Dragon Ball is a light hearted yet somewhat serious story that is straight forward, it doesn’t overwhelm you with a bajillion side stories like Naruto or Bleach or One Piece. My only concern is that most readers will overlook the philosophy that the Z-fighters put their lives on the line for, and think it’s a mindless story about sacks of testosterone wrestling one another.
But I felt that overall, the art, the story and the characters went through a lot of evolution, and such development is missing in modern mangas and would like to see more works like this.

Dragon Ball is probably the most important manga to come out after the works of Osamu Tezuka. Just about every shounen ever written is still either trying to be Dragon Ball or trying to prove that it's "not like Dragon Ball". It's the first thing (okay, maybe the second, after Pokemon) that most non-anime fans picture when they hear the words "anime", "manga", or even "action cartoon".

It also has some of the most crisp, understandable, and beautiful linework of any manga ever created. It's easy to forget how difficult it is to tell what's going on in manga fights. Even genius artists like One Piece's ... Oda, Berserk's Miura, and Naruto's Kishimoto have a great deal of trouble making it 100% clear what exactly is going on in any given panel involving combat. Dragon Ball has no such issue. If someone told me they'd pay me a year's salary to find a single panel of Dragon Ball where "you can't even tell what's going on", I seriously doubt I would make that money.

The story is more fun than anybody remembers, and more sincere than it will ever get credit for. The characters are iconic to the point of becoming exaggerated parodies of themselves in my mind when I remember them. Their motivations and personalities are simple, their arcs are satisfying. Read them to realize they were more complex than you remember! Read them again to realize they're even simpler than you worried. Learn to love Goku's flickering from "courageous hero" to "probably a sociopath". Hate the villains! Love them even more. Get angry that Toriyama's throwaway one-fight characters are gone since they are often good enough to carry their own arcs (along with pretty much the entire cast of the pre-Saiyan Arc with the exceptions of Goku, Kuririn, Bulma [kind of], and Piccolo).

Why a 9 instead of a10? I decided this when I saw the "enjoyment" scale on MAL's charts and immediately remembered a slight hiccup in my read-through. The Freeza section felt slow! There's a section of it where Kuririn is the protagonist, and Kuririn has no personality after the OG Dragon Ball arcs. The Buu ending felt rushed! It felt like Toriyama wanted to make sure he got every last Dragon Ball "thing" in that ending, but he didn't decide that until five chapters before the finish line. The most stupidly subjective of all my reasons to dock an enjoyment-point however, would be that I believe that the replays on Toonami, the endless video games, Dragon Ball Kai, and the fates of all the characters involved makes it VERY difficult to appreciate the Saiyan saga with all sincerity. I saw that three times on tv! I've played it at least twelve times on at least eight different games. There are arguments to be made that it could be the strongest Dragon Ball arc, but I said I didn't seriously slow down when I read it, I would be a liar. However, if I docked more than one point off of this glorious manga for reasons of personal overexposure to ONE arc, I would be a hater.

Here is what I will say about Dragon Ball Z: It is a mixed, mixed bag.
There is no real plot work going on here, because Toriyama does not know how to write. So, things are not set up: They just happen. Twists are not rational: They are surprising. Stakes are not built because there is a reason for stakes to build: They are built because WOAH SO COOL!!! THE MOST POWERFUL ENEMY!??!?! BIGGER STAKES???!??!
Goku does not get more powerful because he should: He gets more powerful because he is Goku. And this is Dragon Ball Z. And that is what happens to Goku in ... Dragon Ball Z so stupid children lose their minds over the meaningless, anti-art nonsense we now call power scaling.
It is a series for stupid children, and as such is written stupidly.
All of this said, and let it also be said that the fight choreography is, as the kids say 'utter mid', Dragon Ball Z has the same appeal as.. The Fast and The Furious, for example. In that it is dumb. And badly written. And for children (or manchildren).
But yet it looks very, very pretty and is quite a good time. It's funny, it's silly, it's kinda cool. And if you learn to laugh at what it fails to do and appreciate all it succeeds at, you will enjoy it.

Now, the original Dragon Ball..
Is near perfect. The fight choreography is actually insane. I have never been more excited by manga than I was during the Tienshinhan arc. I was losing my mind. It was that awesome, and that brilliantly drawn, and that inventively choreographed... It is what Shonen combat should be. Dragon Ball understands Shonen combat. And it understands every other aspect of a good battle Shonen.. Because it is one. And maybe one of the best ever. It is such a pure, perfect and shockingly heartfelt distillation of the genre, with one of the best protagonists of all time.. It does not get much better than OG Dragon Ball.

So. Here's what I would say:
If you want fine dining, read the original.
If you want a 7/11 hotdog that tastes way better than it should for spinning on that rack for so many days, read on to Z.

Reading Dragon Ball in 2020. What made me read it? To start a series that has more than over 500 chapters is sometimes not easy. However, I gave in to the wondrous reputation that Dragon Ball has and I live more fulfilled as a result.

I really mean that. Dragon Ball isn't just another shounen series. At least for me, the series develops a 'weight' that increases with every arc. Perhaps that applies to a lot of manga. However, with my initial interest in DB being based around it's reputation (not to be mistaken for popularity), I feel a compounding satisfaction that only heightens with every ... arc.

I would like to elaborate on that 'weight' Dragon Ball has. To do that, I would like to talk about Goku. It's his nature that is what makes this manga so worthwhile. Goku has always had innate strength, but he always strives to be the best person he can be, even if it isn't necessarily to defeat someone else. It is beautiful how Toriyama has portrayed this. This is explored greater in the manga so I would rather recommend you to find out for yourself but to put it simply... Dragon Ball starts with Goku, but ends with everyone...

Too vague!?

Ultimately, there is a reason that my rating isn't higher than a 7. It isn't that Dragon Ball lacked anything specific. In my opinion, it's success is also what makes it 'fail'. Arguably, there isn't much more to take away other than it is a story about redemption. It isn't by coincidence that enemies may be more friend than foe as the story progresses. That's the formula. Goku's tales are worth the reader's time.

Ideally, in retrospect, it is a 10/10. An experience equates to it's reputation has no reason NOT to be a 10/10, surely? Realistically, there are manga that provoke more from the reader in many different ways, regardless of whether they are shounen manga or not.

I would have more deeply valued this series had I read it as I was growing up. So I would recommend you start Dragon Ball as early as you can. Perhaps if you do complete the manga, you might conclude it was just numerous drawn out battles of who has the highest power level. Because it is. Until it isn't. There are many things to value here. Either way, if you do start reading, even if you only make it to the end of the second volume, I hope you can agree that it was worth reading up until wherever you may stop.

Hello, this is my first review on MAL, and I thought I’d talk about one of the classics. I avoided watching the famous anime that literally everyone I ever knew personally watched just so I can experience it the same way that the Japanese first did in 1984- through the original manga. So let’s dive into it…

Well as for the art, it’s still great. Toriyama’s art is cartoony but rich in detail at the same time. It definitely holds up after over 30 years.

I love how the series is off-the-wall funny along with the fast pacing and the intensity of the battles. Yeah, I just ... called this manga “fast-paced”. The anime was notorious for many scenes where it would take several episodes for someone to launch a single attack. Well, in this it does take a few chapters to do and back when it came out in Japan they had to wait one week for each chapter. But nowadays, with the full series complete and able to be read through all in succession, there isn’t really a problem here.

Oh, and I also called the fights “intense”. Despite how goofy this series is, I found myself sweating in a lot of the combat scenes, especially in the classic Tenkaichi Budokai arcs. It was all invigorating stuff. All the way up to the end, I never thought the fights themselves were bad. Although I’d argue that’s the only constant “good” throughout the series. And now for my complaints...

I’m willing to argue that volumes 17-42 (sorry, I’m counting them by their actual volume number, not when Viz reset the counter and stuck a Z onto the end of it), which were the basis for the mammothly popular Dragon Ball Z that every kid in my generation other than me grew up with, are weaker than the previous 16 volumes.

Okay, first complaint: the characters. I liked pretty much everyone in the first 16 volumes (even Yamcha). I wasn’t emotionally attached to them like with the cast of One Piece or Boku no Hero, but I liked them enough to care. Most of them carry over to Z, but they might as well not have. Goku, and one other are the only returning characters who matter. EVERYONE ELSE is useless. Although the fights are still great by themselves, this aspect still bothered me to death.

My other big complaint is that I think the manga has overstayed its welcome. I think the series would’ve ended perfectly at the arc covered from volume 21 up to some point in volume 28. But it didn’t, and I honestly didn't care too much about whatever happened after that. It's not as bad as the final arc in Fairy Tail, but it's still pretty bad.

If this manga went on for any longer than volume 42, I would’ve probably stopped liking it, which is why I have no interest at all in Super. But nonetheless, the action and pacing stay solid for all 42 volumes, and I recommend that you read this because it’s better than the anime and it’s a classic that you should read at least for educational purposes.

I would like to preface this by stating this will be my first review of many to come. I decided to choose Dragon Ball because it is a series near and dear to me as is with thousands, tens of thousands, yet probably more. With that said, let's take a look at one of the most celebrated works of art in manga, and the artistic world as a whole.

NOTE: For the sake of being fair to the series, I am ignoring Super for the time being. This is strictly Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z

If you lived in the 90s, chances ... are you have tried to fire off a Kamehameha wave at least once and likely to no avail. This isn't to call up one of the over-done "90s kids cliches", but there is no other way to call how influential and defining the Dragon Ball franchise was for an entire generation.

You may be looking at the ratings and raising an eyebrow at the numbers, but let's look at this franchise objectively. The story is the series weakest point. Even for it's time it hits all of the formulaic beats that is expected for a 'battle' manga, not to mention it's riddled with numerous deus ex machina plot points that only get more and more exaggerated as time goes on. It's most egregious offense is that there is simultaneously a great importance placed on power levels and strength that mean nothing after a single tide-turning event that is dubious at best. There is nothing that is inherently offensive, but when you look at it objectively the story is average at best. Imagine if the story continued with the same tone is had during the first few volumes in Dragon Ball.

Are you doing all right? Calmed down? It's difficult to hear something negative about Dragon Ball, but let's keep our composure. It gets better.

Despite having a weak story, Dragon Ball is still carried by its genius art style by Akira Toriyama and the diverse and interesting characters. Now, let's get this out in the open. Every character exhibits standard Akira Toriyama face structure. Take away the character frame, clothes, and hair, there are only three faces left; male, female, and animal. To compensate for this, every character is fully fleshed out with immediately identifiable features and personalities to distinguish themselves.

The beautiful art does not end solely on the characters. The battles and action scenes are fully fleshed out in the highest of detail. Every scene perfectly conveys the intensity and emotion of the situation. Looking strictly at the manga, the true impressiveness comes from the panel layout. This is admittedly a very technical aspect of the process, but it is one of the most important arts that is not appreciated. Each panel expertly lends itself to the next making it incredibly easy to picture the scenes coming to life in your mind.

So the art is terrific and the story is mediocre. Where does the magic come from then? Why is this series so critically acclaimed and fondly remembered? The obvious answer is that it's largely nostalgia. This series exists inside the heart of many individuals and witnessing its greatness forces you to revert to when you were only the playground trying to go Super Saiyan. If it were just that it would fade into the annals of history like many others, but the reason it remains at the top is hard to describe, but the best way to explain it would be it is sincere and honest. Dragon Ball knows exactly what it is and what it wants to be. It is that charm that makes it so that new fans can easily come on board and the old fans are happy to relive it.

I have read the entire manga series, each chapter and word.
And I cannot say there was a single arc or page I did not fully enjoy
The comedy is great.
The action is great.
Although exaggerated and unbelievable, the characters are enjoyable and funny.
The art is spectacular.
Really there isn't much to say. Just read it.
I enjoyed it even more than Z
The story is of Son Goku, little weird kid with kickass power doing kickass things. He isn't the most enjoyable character, but the situations he's put in utilise the small amount of character he has to great effect.
The side characters are the best part of the manga. ... Yamcha is hilarious. Krillin is awesome to watch. Tenshinhan is just all round cool. Bulma is a character you love and hate at the same time. Kame-sama (Master Roshi) is always a wonder to read.
The villains are usually wacky and enjoyable, but not scary or a threat. However this changes with the final two arcs, which will not be spoiled, but they're better than any content DBZ has to offer.
It's just an all round great manga. Read it