History
Dragon Ball is one of the world's most popular anime series ever made. I mean, think about it, any anime fan has heard the name "Dragon Ball". The series has had over 20 videogames made for it, 508 episodes produced and over 13 films. It's obviously popular. (I remember "back in the day", when kids would yell and pose the Kamehameha) What makes the series so popular is it's fighting, plot and characters. When I say Dragon Ball, people often think of "Dragon Ball Z" first. But there WAS a series before Dragon Ball Z, you know. Let's take a look at some history.
Dragon Ball was created by Akira Toriyama, now considered a the saint of all things manga. Akira Toriyama based the "Dragon Ball" series on the Chinese story, "Journey To The West" also known as "Saiyuki". The original "Dragon Ball" series started on February 26th, 1986. When the television series started, the manga was up to chapter 50. So the animation studio put fillers in between episodes to make the animated series longer. So, the manga and anime follow the same rough draft but they are different. The original Dragon Ball series ran for 153 episodes and was a hit. It focused on comedy more than Dragon Ball Z.
Soon after, Dragon Ball Z aired and it lasted 291 episodes. It was more popular than the original series and it focused on martial arts and saving the world. The series made a large transition as well. We find out that Goku is a Saiyajin and that he's an alien from another planet. So, the series went from funny and action to more of an intense series filled with characters with unbelievable powers and abilities. It was rumored that Akira Toriyama wanted to end Dragon Ball Z at the Freeza saga but he kept going because of the fans. Toriyama's Dragon Ball series was ran in Weekly Shonen Jump and fans loved reading it. Toriyama's story was 42 volumes with 12 chapters in each volume.
During the process of the Dragon Ball Z, big guides to the series were made and they are called Daizenshuu. While finding Daizenshuus are rare now a days, lots of fans seek them out because each guide goes in-depth about the Dragon Ball series or has full color scans of their favorite characters. There are limited copies in the world and if you want one, you are going to have a hard time getting it.
When Akira Toriyama decided to end the series, the manga series was 519 chapters in total. And the Dragon Ball Z series ended as well. While Toriyama was finished, Toei, the animation studio that created Dragon Ball Z, wanted to make another series. It was to be called "Dragon Ball Grand Tour". They tried to bring back the feel of the old Dragon Ball but they failed and the series only lasted 64 episodes and a TV special. Ratings to the Dragon Ball GT series was terrible, they only went up when the action began.
In America, Dragon Ball Z was first dubbed by Saban Entertainment then it was handed to Pioneer! After all the mess, Dragon Ball Z ended up being dubbed by Funimation. Dragon Ball Z made popularity here in the United States when it was aired on a popular children's program called Toonami. A few years later, Funimation dubbed the original Dragon Ball series then soon after, they dubbed Dragon Ball Grand Tour.
And that's basically the history of one of the most classic anime/manga series of all time
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