Dragon Ball (1984 - 1995)

The start of the worldwide phenomenon.

Created in 1984 by famed mangaka Akira Toriyama (Dr. Slump, Hetappi Manga Kenkyūjo, Pola & Roid, etc.) and inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the West, Dragon Ball follows the story of a young boy named Goku who travels the world in search of adventure and the legendary Dragon Balls; seven mysterious orbs which, when gathered together summon the dragon god Shenlong who can grant almost any wish. As the manga goes on, we follow Goku's story from childhood to adulthood, and even events after his death as he encounters new friends and powerful enemies as the tale expands on a universe defying scale. Due to the shear length of Dragon Ball (520 chapters) and the massive, MASSIVE amount of media surrounding this franchise, this review will only cover the first 16 volumes, while a review of Dragon Ball Z will follow in the coming weeks.

Social justice warriors be like "How dare you?" lol.

Our story opens with Goku starting his day. He begins his morning by uprooting a tree trunk and destroying it with a single kick which is good for training and firewood, before going for a walk and trying to decide if he wants to eat another bear or have a tiger today. He decides to eat a fish as it would be a nice change in his diet. Apart from Goku's immense strength and his tail he seems to be an ordinary kid having an ordinary day until a teenage girl named Bulma narrowly avoids running him over while he's crossing the road. Having never seen a car, Goku immediately assumes the metal monster is there to steal his breakfast. After nailing the car with a brainbustah and giving Bulma quite the scare, the pair becomes acquainted with each other and Bulma tells Goku the secret of the legendary Dragon Balls. With some convincing (see manipulation) Bulma convinces Goku to help her search for the Dragon Balls and so the adventure begins, and what an adventure it is.

Go West Young Goku

One of the reasons the earliest chapters of Dragon Ball resonates with me is that it's an adventure story at its core. This is before the later volumes that westerners know as Dragon Ball Z. In the early volumes the story centered on Goku travelling to different places, meeting new people, and growing as a person while helping others grow as well. Goku's adventure is one of personal growth and coming together with others, as opposed to fight scene fight scene fight scene repeat as we see much further into the manga. Akira Toriyama has created a fun and imaginative world that can't really be placed in a particular time period or connected to a certain era. The first volume alone really blew me away because Toriyama presents us with a world of hover cars, bears in samurai armor, a bunny crime lord, talking Pterodactyls, and more.

Jan Ken Pon!!

As Goku and Bulma travel the world they come across a colorful supporting cast such as the trickster pig Oolong, a bandit named Yamcha, his side-kick Puar who is a talking, shape-shifting cat and many others including Launch, a beautiful, demure, young woman who switches to a violent alter ego whenever she sneezes, and Master Roshi one of the most powerful martial artists on the planet and an overt pervert. The group also encounters a slew of villains such as the evil (and woefully incompetent) Emperor Pilaf, the tyrannical Red Ribbon Army, and the nightmarish King Piccolo. These encounters are very natural and the quests flow into one another. It doesn't feel like a boss rush brand of story telling we see in the later volumes.

The legend starts here!!!

Goku grows stronger and wiser over-time and his relationships with certain characters change as well. For example, while Bulma sees Goku as a means to an end i.e. a sentinel she can use in pursuit of the Dragon Balls she becomes his closest friend. While Yamcha and Goku initially meet as enemies they also become friends and there is a heartfelt reunion between the two when they meet at the world tournament. What makes this work is that it doesn't feel like the characters are always changing just because Goku's there, but in some ways Goku brings out the best in the people around him. Not only that, but other characters bring out the best in Goku as well. One of the finest examples of this is Goku's growing relationship with Master Roshi.

Goku and Master Roshi

Goku and Master Roshi form a deep student-teacher relationship which has long-running implications. While Roshi initially sees Goku as just another kid who wants to learn martial arts, he quickly changes his views once he learns Goku is the grandson of his most skilled student Gohan. Roshi teaches Goku the basics of martial arts but he also teaches him how to be a better person. When Goku says "Mornin" to a monk Roshi smacks him with his cane and admonishes him for being disrespectful. Goku then says "Good morning" to the monk and bows.

Fly

Later on in the manga, we see Goku respectfully greeting people older than him without needing Roshi's correction. Goku's training with Roshi consists mostly of Goku doing things for the community. For example, Roshi has Goku (and Krillin) delivering milk for everyone in the countryside, plowing fields with their bare hards, and helping construction workers move heavy materials. In some way, Goku is learning that his strength should always be used to help those weaker than himself. During the World Tournament, Roshi is actually willing to put his life on the line to help Goku get stronger, and to also show him to never get complacent in his training or arrogantly assume there aren't people in the world stronger than him. Overtime, Goku really sees Roshi as a grandfather-figure and an irreplaceable person.

It's about the adventure.

Any manga worth reading must have an interesting character and Goku, particularly Kid Goku is definitely one of the best. While Goku isn't any more of tabula rasa than an average child, he does have a natural innocence and curiosity about the world. These are two of his most defining traits and really comes across throughout the story. For example, after the shenanigans of Goku's and Bulma's first meeting he invites her to his home with the reasoning "Since you're a girl I'll give you food." Also, during an exchange with Oolong we learn that Goku is helping to search for the Dragon Balls so he can get stronger, see the world, and meet new people.

Rock The Dragon

His only interest in Shenlong is seeing what he looks like as he's never seen a dragon before. Goku doesn't actually have a wish he wants fulfilled. Goku's innocence is endearing and his naivety is understandable because contrary to other popular shonen characters such as say Naruto, Goku's naivety doesn't stem from a refusal to learn or even an inability to do so, rather because his only encounter with human beings apart from his grandfather didn't occur until he was 12, it takes him time to learn certain social norms and the proper approach in certain situations. For example, in the first volume Goku has a habit of feeling people up to determine if they're a boy or girl but over time he learns to stop doing this and also learns to tell people apart using more than just their gender. I appreciate Goku's character particularly because while he is new to the world he knows the difference between right and wrong and his determination to get stronger doesn't stem from a selfish goal or juvenile need for recognition (I want to be Hokage), but because Goku truly wants to better himself.

Roshi wants a puff puff girl.

Dragon Ball has a lot of comedy and many of the jokes are laugh out loud funny, particularly if you're familiar with Japanese humor, Japanese pop culture, or word play. Of note is that Roshi is the owner of a baby Gamera which looks and flies exactly like Gamera. There is a great deal of risque humor as well especially when Roshi or Oolong are on the scene. There's a part where Oolong disguises himself as Freddie Mercury and asks Bulma about her bust size. Without any hesitation, Bulma replies with 85 centimeters. Oolong approves because he can do "puff puffs." Other Oolong Favorites of mine include Oolong wearing a Red Army uniform and transforming into Mazinger. Goku's innocence also leads to some comical exchanges with other characters such as Chi Chi. There's a scene where Chi Chi asks Goku to marry her to which Goku replies "I'm not interested in marriage but if you have something I'll come take it."

Goku never met a girl he didn't feel up.

Volumes one and two have a fair amount of risque humor but there's not so much of it that it becomes distracting and Toriyama has enough comedy chops where he doesn't rely solely on that brand of comedy as there is some comical slapstick here as well. One of my favorite examples of slapstick comedy is when Goku and Chi Chi are riding Nimbus and after Goku, ahem, inspects Chi Chi she knocks him off. Not only does Goku plummet to the ground but because Goku isn't controlling Nimbus, Chi Chi slams into a nearby mountain. Hard. Another notably hilarious moment is when Goku introduces Chi Chi to Roshi but she refuses to believe such a perverted old man is the legendary Muten Roshi. She decides to test Roshi by throwing her chakram at him. After all, if he is the legendary Muten Roshi he'll have no issue dodging or catching it. Said chakram gets embedded into Roshi's skull much to the horror of all three characters.

Roshi Prepares

Another of Dragon Ball's many strengths is that Toriyama plays with your expectations. It's important to note that Dragon Ball was not Toriyama's first manga. He's had a long history of experience in the industry and so he was well-aware of convention and cliches. So throughout Dragon Ball we see Toriyama play with the reader. When Goku and Bulma are trying to rescue village girls kidnapped by Oolong, Bulma asks one of the villagers if she could borrow her clothes with the implications being she'll disguise herself as one of the villagers. What actually ends up happening is Bulma forcing Goku to cross-dress. Another example is when Roshi takes it upon himself to put out the fires on Frypan Mountain and not only does this frail old man reveal himself to be a beast when he powers up, but when he uses a Kamehameha he destroys the entire mountain and the ones behind it.

GxB vs Red Ribbon Army. Awww yeah!!

There's also a scene where Emperor Pilaf threatens to do something lewd to Bulma if she doesn't hand over the Dragon Balls. That is until Bulma starts naming off the things she thought Pilaf was going to do and he's shocked and appalled at the very idea. One would think Roshi would take it easy on his students during the World Tournament, but he beat Krillin so bad the kid had to be stretchered out. Toriyama has an idea of the readers' expectations and he tries to subvert those where he can.

Just One Wish

While the environments don't sport a One Piece level of detail, they are unique and very well-done. Toriyama's style is very distinctive and despite the myriad of fancomics out there, Toriyama's work is unmistakable and it has a feel and a life of its own. I was so taken in by the world of Dragon Ball I'm actually a little letdown by the environments in the later volumes, but I am interested in reading Dr. Slump. Toriyama has a type of art style that isn't really defined by rigid rules or convention.

Open mind, open heart.

Dragon Ball was a very fun read for me. Personally it puts me in the mind of
Ah! My Goddess which while being in a completely different genre, is a connection I draw because it actually made me feel good reading it. It's rare when I come across a manga which not only makes me want to read the next chapter, and the next, and the next, but also makes me feel good and brightens my mood from having read it. I laughed a lot while reading Dragon Ball and more importantly it made me smile. It's a manga that really connected with me and I think it speaks to something human in all of us.