- For other uses, see Dragon Ball (disambiguation).
FUNimation's version of the Dragon Ball logo, which debuted in 2001
Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール, Doragon Bōru) is an adaptation of the first portion of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball manga. It is composed of 153 episodes around 20-minutes long and ran on Fuji TV from February 26, 1986 to April 12 1989. The series average rating was 21.2%, with its maximum being 29.5% (Episode 047) and its minimum being 13.7% (Episode 110). Dragon Ball was overshadowed by its successor Dragon Ball Z. Dragon Ball depicted Goku's childhood, while Dragon Ball Z depicted his adulthood. Both are adapted from the same manga.
Production history
Original series
Title card in the original Japanese version
Dragon Ball started off as a manga series called Dragon Boy. The story depicted a young boy named Tanton and his quest to return a princess to her homeland. The series was a loose adaptation of the Chinese legend Journey to the West, depicting monkey king Sun Wukong. Due to the series' unpopularity, Toriyama re-wrote Dragon Boy, adapting it as Dragon Ball. All the character's personalities were changed except for Goku. The re-adaptation named Dragon Ball became a hit.
Broadcast
Two previous attempts at releasing Dragon Ball to American audiences failed. The first attempt was in 1989 from Harmony Gold USA (the company that previously dubbed Robotech). It featured strange name changes for nearly all the characters, such as changing Goku to "Zero" and Korin to "Whiskers the Wonder Cat". It was test-marketed in several cities, but was never broadcast to the general public; therefore it is referred to as "The Lost Dub" by fans.
The second and more well-known attempt was in 1995 with only the first 13 episodes dubbed and aired in first-run syndication. This release was a joint-production between FUNimation and BLT Productions, with Ocean Studios for the dubbing. These original 13 dubbed episodes were later released to DVD by KidMark as "Dragon Ball: The Saga of Goku."
The earlier 1995 logo, which lasted 13 episodes and also appears on some older home video releases
After Dragon Ball Z became immensely popular on Cartoon Network's Toonami block, the entire series was translated into English by FUNimation's in-house ADR studio for redistribution in the U.S. The complete original series aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami from August 20, 2001 to December 1, 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 background music. Some insert (IN) songs were taken out or have talking over them.
Censorship
The U.S. version of Dragon Ball that was aired on Cartoon Network (before that, it was aired in syndication and on NBC in select cities) had many 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 (Master Roshi) uses Drunken Fist Kung Fu in the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament, FUNimation called it the "Mad Cow Attack" (coincidentally, there was a real life Mad Cow epidemic shortly after the episode aired). 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. Also, a number of creative changes were made to the dialogue. For example, when Puar 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."
A lot of fans hated these changes, because they felt it was butchering the original show's humor and dumbing it down. These edits, however, were necessary in order to have the show aired on TV. 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 was not shown for the American broadcast, but the same scene was shown on American TV later, in a flashback in a Dragon Ball Z episode, with the hole in King Piccolo's chest clearly visible.
Sagas
- Toei Animation sagas
- Son Gokū (Episodes 1~28) (2/26/1986~9/3/1986)
- Red Ribbon Army (Episodes 29~68) (9/10/1986~7/1/1987)
- 22nd Tenkaichi Budōkai (Episodes 69~101) (7/8/1987~2/17/1988)
- Piccolo-Daimaō (Episodes 102~132) (2/24/1988~11/2/1988)
- 23rd Tenkaichi Budōkai (Episodes 133~153) (11/9/1988~4/19/1989)
- FUNimation sagas
- Emperor Pilaf Saga (Episodes 1~13; originally The Saga of Goku)
- Tournament Saga (Episodes 14~28)
- Red Ribbon Army Saga (Episodes 29~45)
- General Blue Saga (Episodes 46~57)
- Commander Red Saga (Episodes 58~67)
- Fortuneteller Baba Saga (Episodes 68~83)
- Tien Shinhan Saga (Episodes 84~101)
- King Piccolo Saga (Episodes 102~122)
- Piccolo Jr. Saga (Episodes 123~153)
Movies and other
- Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies
- Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
- Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure
- Dragon Ball: The Path to Power (10th Anniversary Special)
Public service videos
Live-action
Dragon Ball (1990 Korean film)
Main article: Dragon Ball: Ssawora Son Goku, Igyeora Son Goku
Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins
Main article: Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins 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 1991, 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 concept exactly, it is a lot closer to it than it is to any traditional Chinese legends.
Dragonball Evolution
Main article: Dragonball Evolution A live-action version of the series, made in the United States. The movie retains the basic notion of Dragon Ball, but there are several major changes in the story and characters. The movie depicts Goku's training and his confrontation with Lord Piccolo.
FUNimation Remastered Season and Movie Sets
Main article: FUNimation Remastered Box Sets In 2009, after the release of the Remastered Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT Season DVD Boxsets, FUNimation announced that they would begin releasing Dragon Ball in Remastered Format beginning September later that year. They are presented in their Original Aspect Ratio 4:3 and are presented in a 5 Disc Boxset. Unlike the Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT Sets, the Dragon Ball Sets only include a 5.1 English Voice Track with Original Japanese Background Audio and Original Japanese Mono as Dragon Ball had never had an American Soundtrack.
On December 28, 2010, FUNimation released Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies to DVD and Blu-ray uncut and re-dubbed with their Dragon Ball Z Kai voice cast to Region 1 DVD. A complete box set containing all four Dragon Ball Movies was released in February 2011.[1] All movies retain their original FUNimation dub with the exception of Curse of the Blood Rubies.
Season Set release dates
|
Season |
Release Date |
Saga(s) |
|
Dragon Ball: Season 1 |
September 15th 2009 (Episodes 1 - 31) |
Emperor Pilaf, Tournament and early Red Ribbon Army Sagas |
|
Dragon Ball: Season 2 |
November 10th 2009 (Episodes 32 - 61) |
Red Ribbon Army, General Blue and early Commander Red Sagas |
|
Dragon Ball: Season 3 |
February 2nd 2010 (Episodes 62 - 92) |
Commander Red, Fortuneteller Baba and early Tien Shinhan Sagas |
|
Dragon Ball: Season 4 |
May 4th 2010 (Episodes 93 - 122) |
Tien Shinhan and King Piccolo Sagas |
| Dragon Ball: Season 5 | July 27th 2010 (Episodes 123 - 153) | Piccolo Jr. Saga |
Movie Set release dates
|
Movie |
Release Date |
| Dragon Ball Movie 1: Curse of the Blood Rubies |
December 28th 2010 |
|
Dragon Ball Movie 4 Pack: |
February 8th 2011 |
Main cast list
Staff
- Series Director: Daisuke Nishio, Minoru Okazaki
- Episode Director: Daisuke Nishio, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Minoru Okazaki, Mitsuo Hashimoto, Osamu Kasai, Toshihiko Arisako, Yoshihiro Ueda, Yuji Endo, Yutaka Sato
- Assistant Episode Director: Mitsuo Hashimoto, Tatsuya Orime, Toshihiro Ishikawa, Yasuhiro Kamimura, Yoshihiro Ueda, Yutaka Sato
- Production manager: Matsuji Kishimoto
- Planning: Keizo Shichijo, Kenji Shimizu, Tokizō Tsuchiya
- Script: Hajime Satsuki, Hiroko Miyazaki, Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Keiji Terui, Michiru Shimada, Miho Maruo, Shunichi Yukimuro, Takao Koyama, Toshiki Inoue, Yasushi Hirano, Yoshifumi Yuki, Yoshiyuki Suga
- Storyboard: Akinori Nagaoka, Daisuke Nishio, Haruki Iwanami, Katsuki Endo, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Minoru Okazaki, Osamu Kasai, Satoru Kusuda, Tatsuo Higashino, Tetsuo Imasawa, Toshihiko Arisako, Yoshihiro Ueda, Yuji Endo, Yutaka Sato
- Production Advancement: Akihiko Yamaguchi, Mitsuo Hashimoto, Toshihiro Ishikawa, Yuichi Suenaga
- Character Design & Chief animator: Minoru Maeda
- Art: Eiji Itō, Iwamitsu Itoo, Shigenori Takada, Tadanao Tsuji, Takeo Yamamoto, Toshikazu Yamaguchi, Yoshiyuki Yamamoto, Yuji Ikeda
- Background Art: Etsuko Ogasawara, Hideaki Kudo, Hiromitsu Shiozaki, Hitoshi Nagasaki, Junichi Taniguchi, Kazuo Enokimoto, Kōichi Nagashima, Kunihiro Chida, Kunio Kaneshima, Mika Ishibashi, Misako Matsuba, Miwako Ueda, Miyuki Sato, Mutsumi Matsui, Noriyoshi Doi, Ryoko Konno, Sadakazu Akashi, Seiko Nakamura, Shigenori Takada, Shingo Tanaka, Shinji Ito, Shinobu Takahashi, Shinzo Yuki, Shōko Kinoshita, Tadanao Tsuji, Takami Shitano, Takashi Yoshiike, Takeo Yamamoto, Takeshi Koyano, Takuo Nakayama, Tatsuyuki Arano, Toshiyuki Ozawa, Yasue Katō, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Yoshio Yamamoto, Yuji Ikeda, Yukie Tsukakoshi, Yuko Iida
- Animation Director: Katsuki Aoshima, Katsumi Aoshima, Masayuki Uchiyama, Minoru Maeda, Mitsuo Shindō, Sachio Ebisawa, Taichiro Ohara, Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yukio Ebisawa
- Key Animation: Akiko Nakano, Akio Katada, Emiko Uesugi, Hidehiko Kadota, Hideko Okimoto, Hiroshi Takeuchi, Hisashi Eguchi, Junko Shirasu, Katsuki Aoshima, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru (12 episodes), Kazuko Hirose, Keiji Mochizuki, Koji Usui, Mari Tominaga, Masahiro Shimanuki, Masaki Sato (10 episodes), Masako Sankaku, Masayuki Aoki, Minoru Maeda, Mitsuo Shindō, Naotoshi Shida, Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Noriko Iidaka, Noriko Shibata, Satoru Kusuda, Shizuo Kawai, Sonomi Aramaki, Taiichiro Kohara, Takahiro Yoshimatsu, Takeo Ide, Teruhisa Ryu, Tomekichi Takeuchi, Tsuyako Yamamuro, Yasuhiro Kaneda, Yasushi Tanizawa, Yasuyuki Shimizu, Yoko Iizuka, Yoshiya Shigebayashi, Yukio Ebisawa
- In-Between Animation: Akemi Seki, Akihiko Nomura, Akiko Matsumoto, Akiko Sasaki, Chie Yamashita, Chiori Matsuda, Daisuke Hiruma, Emiko Uesugi, Fumiko Onojima, Hatsue Suzuki, Hideaki Furusawa, Hideaki Maniwa, Hideaki Nishikawa, Hidehiko Kadota, Hiroaki Shimizu, Hirofumi Yamashita, Hiroko Noda, Hiroshi Takeuchi, Hiroshi Yoshizawa, Hiroyuki Ikeda, Hiroyuki Kanbe, Hiroyuki Koyamauchi, Hitomi Kadota, Hitomi Mizunashi, Hitomi Yamamoto, Jin Ehara, Junko Miyamoto, Junko Shirasu, Kaori Moriguchi, Kaoru Igaki, Katsuhiro Nobe, Katsumi Chinushi, Katsuto Matsutake, Kayo Tanahashi, Kazuhiko Aida, Kazuya Hisada, Kazuya Kuwabara, Kazuyoshi Minato, Keiji Mochizuki, Keiko Katakihara, Keiko Sasa, Kenji Yokota, Kimiko Hoshi, Kimiko Hoshino, Kiyomi Masuda, Kōji Miyashiro, Koji Ueno, Koji Usui, Kotomi Watanabe, Kouichi Wada, Kunitoshi Ishii, Kyoko Higurashi, Mari Tominaga, Masahiro Hamamori, Masahiro Shimanuki, Masako Arai, Masanori Ōe, Masayuki Yoshihara, Mayumi Nakamura, Mayumi Shibuya, Mayumi Suzuki, Michiko Sawa, Midori Iwai, Miki Ugai, Minako Ito, Mine Goi, Mineto Shibawaki, Miyako Nishiwaki, Miyuki Nakamura, Miyuki Takeda, Miyuki Yano, Nao Takai, Naoki Mishiba, Naoki Tate, Naotoshi Shida, Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Ritsuko Tanaka, Romel Pura, Saeko Honda, Sai Yamane, Sanae Kojima, Satoshi Nishimura, Seiichi Satō, Shiho Tamai, Shiro Shibata, Shōhei Iwai, Takahiro Umehara, Takao Maki, Takayuki Ushiki, Tatsuo Miura, Tatsushi Narita, Tetsu Takimoto, Tetsuro Sano, Tomoko Usui, Tomoya Iida, Tōru Nagata, Toshiyuki Komaru, Toshiyuki Sugano, Tsuyako Yamamuro, Wakako Sato, Yasuyuki Shimizu, Yoko Arai, Yoko Tanida, Yoshie Komatsu, Yoshifumi Miyaji, Yosuji Kudo, Yuji Watanabe, Yuka Kamenosono, Yūko Kogawara, Yutaka Hirose
- Special Effects: Asami Aoki, Kiyoyoshi Asanuma, Kou Yamamoto, Masayuki Kawachi, Masayuki Nakajima, Yoshitaka Kumai, Yukari Hashimoto
- Ink & Paint: Akemi Matsuo, Akio Kaneda, Hiroko Ito, Hiroko Yokoyama, Hiromi Saitō, Hiromi Umeyama, Ikuyo Uemura, Junko Akagawa, Katsue Suketomo, Katsuhito Kudō, Kazuya Sakurada, Kazuyo Fujii, Keiko Sakai, Keiko Sekiguchi, Kimiko Ōkane, Kooji Kobayashi, Kumiko Takahashi, Masaaki Ōsawa, Masako Fujioka, Michiko Masui, Miki Ishida, Misae Suzuki, Miyoko Kobayashi, Mutsumi Tateno, Naomi Yamazaki, Sachiko Shimamoto, Sadako Ogino, Saeko Kawano, Sanae Shibatani, Shinji Kubota, Tatsuya Minamino, Tomoko Kako, Toshie Suzuki, Toyoji Sawada, Yasuko Suzuki, Yoshiko Hirosawa, Yoshimitsu Suzuki, Yū Ogino, Yuki Asaka, Yumiko Watanabe, Yuriko Gatsuma
- Photography: Katsunori Maehara, Kiyoshi Saeki, Motoaki Ikegami, Noriko Suzuki, Takao Sato, Tetsu Nakamura, Tetsuo Oofuji
- Music: Shunsuke Kikuchi
- Sound Effects: Hidenori Arai
Soundtracks
Theme songs
- OP: "Makafushigi Adventure!"
- Version 1: episodes 1~101
- Version 2: episodes 102~153 (not on FUNimation's DVDs)
- ED: "Romantic Ageru Yo"
- 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)
Insert songs
- Mezase Tenkaichi (heard in episodes 28, 86, 95)
- Fushigi Wonderland (29)
- Dragon Ball Densetsu (30, 33, 35, 76)
- Son Goku Song (43)
- Red Ribbon Army (48)
- With a Burning Heart ~Defeat the Red Ribbon Army~ (65)
- The Blue Travelers (78)
- Wolf Hurricane (87)
- Teachings of Muten Roshi (130)
English soundtracks
See also: Dragon Ball (CD) The 1995 BLT dub featured an original theme song and replacement compositions written by Peter Berring.
The Canadian and UK broadcasts featured different theme songs.
Gallery
