Dragon Ball (TV series)
| Dragon Ball (TV series) | |
| File:Dbcast.jpg The Main Characters of Dragon Ball | |
| Genre | Shōnen, Adventure, Martial arts, Comedy |
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| Created by | Toei Animation Akira Toriyama |
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Daisuke Nishio Takao Koyama |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Movies | |
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Dragon Ball is the first part of the anime adaptation of the Dragon Ball manga written by Akira Toriyama and published in Japan in the Weekly Shonen Jump manga anthology comic. The second (and larger) portion of the manga was adapted into Dragon Ball Z.
The Dragon Ball anime is composed of 153 half-hour episodes and ran in Japan from February 26, 1986 - April 12 1989. It follows the early adventures of the child version of Goku as he and his friends search the world for the seven magic Dragon Balls. Two early attempts at releasing Dragon Ball to American audiences failed. The first attempt was in the late 1980s by Harmony Gold. It featured strange name changes for nearly all the characters, such as changing Goku to Zero and Korin to Whiskers the Wonder Cat. It is not well-known, and has been referred to as "The Lost Dub" by fans. The second and more well known attempt was in 1995 with only the first 13 episodes translated and aired. This release was put out by KidMark and utilized Ocean Group for the dubbing. These original 13 episodes are still available on DVD as The Saga of Goku. After Dragon Ball Z became immensely popular on Cartoon Network, the entire series was translated by FUNimation and released in the same scheduling block as its successor on the network. The complete series ran in the US between August 20, 2001, and late 2003. Unlike the theme songs for Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT, FUNimation made English versions of the original Japanese opening (OP) and ending (ED) themes for these episodes and left in the original BGM, which was met with delight by most fans. However, some insert (IN) songs were removed or have dialogue dubbed over them.
Dragon Ball is known as being a much less serious anime than its successor, Dragon Ball Z, though later sagas blur the lines a bit.
Sagas
- Toei Animation's Sagas
- Son Gokū Appears! (Episodes 1~28) (2/26/1986~9/3/1986)
- Showdown! Red Ribbon Army! (Episodes 29~68) (9/10/1986~7/1/1987)
- White Heat! 22nd Tenkaichi Budōkai (Episodes 69~101) (7/8/1987~2/17/1988)
- Fierce Fighting! Piccolo-Daimaō (Episodes 102~132) (2/24/1988~11/2/1988)
- Struggle to the Death! 23rd Tenkaichi Budōkai (Episodes 133~153) (11/9/1988~4/19/1989)
- FUNimation's Sagas
- Emperor Pilaf (Episodes 1~13)
- Tournament (Episodes 14~28)
- Red Ribbon Army (Episodes 29~45)
- General Blue (Episodes 46~57)
- Commander Red (Episodes 58~67)
- Fortuneteller Baba (Episodes 68~83)
- Tien Shinhan (Episodes 84~101)
- King Piccolo (Episodes 102~122)
- Piccolo Jr. (Episodes 123~153)
Movies, and other
- Movies
Toei Animation's titles
- The Legend of Shenlong
- The Sleeping Princess in the Devil's Castle
- Mystical Great Adventure
- The Path to Ultimate Strength
FUNimation's titles
- Public Service Videos
- Gokū's Traffic Safety
- Gokū's Fire Fighting Regiment
The special videos "Gokū's Traffic Safety" and "Gokū's Fire Fighting Regiment" are both very rare productions designed to be educational films. They were both completed in June 1988.
Unofficial Chinese Live Action Movie
New Dragon Ball: The Legend of Shenlong is a live-action version of the popular Japanese animated series. An evil king has been stealing the mystical "Dragon Pearls" in an attempt to possess them all. When all but one of the pearls has been stolen, the former guardians of the magic jewels decide to band together and take action. Led by a pig-headed wizard and a half-turtle martial arts master, the team takes on the king's army in a desperate bid to stop him from gaining control of the pearls.
Made in Taiwan and released in 1989, this feature has actually been released in the US as Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins (originally titled Xin Qi long zhu Shen long de chuan shuo, or New Dragon Ball: The Legend of Shenlong). While this movie does not follow Toriyama's conception exactly, it is a lot closer to it than it is to any traditional Chinese legends.
Theme songs
- OP
- Makafushigi Adobenchā!; 摩訶不思議アドベンチャー！ ("Mystical Adventure!")
- Lyrics: Yuriko Mori, Music: Takeshi Ike, Arrangement: Kōhei Tanaka, Performance: Hiroki Takahashi; he is not to be confused with the seiyu Hiroki Takahashi)
- Version 1: episodes 1~101
- Version 2: episodes 102~153 (not on FUNimation's DVDs)
- Lyrics: Yuriko Mori, Music: Takeshi Ike, Arrangement: Kōhei Tanaka, Performance: Hiroki Takahashi; he is not to be confused with the seiyu Hiroki Takahashi)
- Makafushigi Adobenchā!; 摩訶不思議アドベンチャー！ ("Mystical Adventure!")
- ED
- Romatikku Ageru Yo; ロマンティックあげるよ ("I'll Give You Romance")
- Lyrics: Takemi Yoshida, Music: Takeshi Ike, Arrangement: Kōhei Tanaka, Performance: Ushio Hashimoto)
- Version 1: episodes 1~21 (not on FUNimation's DVDs)
- Version 2: episodes 22~101
- Version 3: episodes 102~132 (not on FUNimation's DVDs)
- Version 4: episodes 133~153) (not on FUNimation's DVDs)
- Lyrics: Takemi Yoshida, Music: Takeshi Ike, Arrangement: Kōhei Tanaka, Performance: Ushio Hashimoto)
- Romatikku Ageru Yo; ロマンティックあげるよ ("I'll Give You Romance")
Censorship
The US version of Dragon Ball that was aired on Cartoon Network (before that, it was aired in syndication) had a lot of edits done to it. Most of the edits were digital cosmetic changes, which were done to remove nudity and blood, and dialogue edits. Sometimes, some scenes were deleted altogether, either to save time or cut out strong violence. For example, when Goku dives into the water naked to kick a fish he catches for dinner, a digital water splash was added on his groin; on other occasions when he is naked, he has some digital underwear added. Also, references to alcohol and drugs were removed, for example, when Jackie Chun (Muten Rōshi) uses Drunken Fist Kung Fu in the 21st Tenka-ichi Budōkai, FUNimation called it the "Mad Cow Attack." Also, the famous "No Balls!" scene was deleted from episode 2, and when Bulma puts panties on the fishing hook to get Oolong (in fish form), they digitally painted away the panties and replaced it with some money.
While implied throughout the General Blue saga, Blue is finally revealed to be a homosexual during a scene in which he recoils at Bulma's seductive advances as she tries to distract him. Blue is further revealed to be a pedophile upon displaying sexual interest towards a young boy on Penguin Island, who stops to repair Blue's damaged car. All references to General Blue's sexual orientation were eliminated in the American TV release, and the scene involving the boy was redubbed to suggest that Blue believes to have found his long-lost younger brother.
Many of the changes were ill-received by long-time fans of the series, who believed the cable networks' censorship destroyed or diminished the original humor. The DVDs do not contain these edits.
It's an interesting note on inconsistency in censorship that a scene in Dragon Ball where young Goku charges completely through King Piccolo, putting a hole in the villain's chest, was edited so that the hole wasn't shown for the American broadcast, but the same scene was shown uncensored on American TV, in a flashback in a Dragon Ball Z episode, with the hole in King Piccolo's chest clearly visible.
Creative changes
A number of creative changes were made to the dialogue. For example, when Pu'ar says why Oolong was expelled from school, instead of saying that he stole the teacher's panties, they say that he stole the teacher's "papers."
Cast list
FUNimation DVDs
| Set Name | Episodes | Release | Uncut | English Audio | Japanese Audio |
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| The Saga of Goku | 1-13 | 2000 |  |
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| Tournament Saga | 14-28 | 2003 | |
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| Red Ribbon Army Saga | 29-45 | 2003 | |
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| General Blue Saga | 46-57 | 2003 | |
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| Commander Red Saga | 58-67 | 2003 | |
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| Fortuneteller Baba Saga | 68-83 | 2004 | |
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| Tien Shinhan Saga | 84-101 | 2004 | |
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| King Piccolo Saga - Part 1 | 102-111 | 2003 | |
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| King Piccolo Saga - Part 2 | 112-122 | 2003 | |
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| Piccolo Jr Saga - Part 1 | 123-137 | 2003 | |
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| Piccolo Jr Saga - Part 2 | 138-153 | 2003 | |
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| The Saga of Goku | 1-13 | 20061 | |
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| Notes:
1. Due to KidMark owning the distribution rights in North America, the uncut version of The Saga of Goku 2. Each set is made of two volumes. | |||||
Episode lists
See also
- List of Dragon Ball characters
- Makafushigi Adobenchā
- Dragon Ball (franchise)
- List of Dragon Ball films
- List of Dragon Ball special abilities
- List of Dragon Ball video games
External links
- Toei Dragon Ball website
- English Dragon Ball website
- Dragon Ball ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
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