Dragon Ball (anime)

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 19, 1989. The series average rating was 21.2%, with its maximum being 29.5% (Episode 47) and its minimum being 13.7% (Episode 110). Despite its success, Dragon Ball was overshadowed by its more action-oriented sequel series, 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===
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 and was later made into an anime.
===Broadcast===
Two initial 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 and has since 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 dubbed and aired in first-run syndication. This release was a joint production between Funimation, Seagull Entertainment, and BLT Productions, with a dubbing voice cast similar to Funimation's initial dub of Dragon Ball Z. These original 13 dubbed episodes were later released to home video by KidMark as "Dragon Ball: The Saga of Goku."
After Dragon Ball Z became immensely popular on Cartoon Network's Toonami block, Dragon Ball was re-dubbed in English by Funimation's in-house ADR studio for redistribution in the U.S. The original series aired in its entirety on 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 (which they would later also do with their dubs of Dragon Ball Z Kai and Dragon Ball Super). 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 uses Drunken Fist 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 older 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.
Aside from censorship-related reasons, FUNimation also sometimes alters dialogue in an attempt to make a scene more humorous in nature. A notable example of this was with General Blue during his fight with Krillin where his banter with the latter was altered to have him make references to Girl Scouts, the Mona Lisa, and also insulting Krillin with "diaper man".
==Reception==
Original author of the manga, Akira Toriyama, held a great deal of respect for the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z animes and those that developed them. Toriyama also admired the fact that the anime had original stories created by the animation team and stated that he considered the Dragon Ball anime to be equal in importance to the Dragon Ball manga."The Anime and Me", Dragonball Z Anime Special, 1989
==Sagas==
;Toei sagas
#Son Gokū (Episodes 1–28) (—)
#Red Ribbon Army (Episodes 29–68) (—)
#22nd Tenka'ichi Budōkai (Episodes 69–101) (—)
#Piccolo Daimaō (Episodes 102–132) (—)
#23rd Tenka'ichi Budōkai (Episodes 133–153) (—)
;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====
#"Goku's Traffic Safety"
#"Goku's Fire Brigade"
===Live action===
====Dragon Ball (1990 Korean film)====
====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====
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==
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. 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	
Sep 15, 2009 (Episodes 1 - 31) 	
Emperor Pilaf, Tournament and early Red Ribbon Army Sagas
Dragon Ball: Season 2	
Nov 10, 2009 (Episodes 32 - 61) 	
Red Ribbon Army, General Blue and early Commander Red Sagas
Dragon Ball: Season 3	
Feb 2, 2010 (Episodes 62 - 92) 	
Commander Red, Fortuneteller Baba and early Tien Shinhan Sagas
Dragon Ball: Season 4	
May 4, 2010 (Episodes 93 - 122) 	
Tien Shinhan and King Piccolo Sagas
Dragon Ball: Season 5	Jul 27, 2010 (Episodes 123 - 153)	Piccolo Jr. Saga
===Movie Set release dates===
Movie 	
Release Date
Dragon Ball Movie 1: Curse of the Blood Rubies	
December 28, 2010
Dragon Ball Movie 4 Pack:
Curse of the Blood Rubies
Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle
Mystical Adventure
The Path to Power	February 8, 2011
==Main cast list==
Character Name 	Voice Actor (Japanese) 	V.A. (English - Harmony Gold)	V.A. (English - BLT/Funimation) 	V.A. (English - Funimation) 	V.A. (English - Blue Water)
Goku 	Masako Nozawa 	Barbara Goodson 	Saffron Henderson 	Stephanie Nadolny (child)Sean Schemmel (teen)	Zoe Slusar (child)Jeffrey Watson (teen)
Bulma 	Hiromi Tsuru 	Wendee Lee 	Lalainia Lindbjerg 	Tiffany Vollmer 	Leda Davies
Oolong 	Naoki Tatsuta 	Dave Mallow 	Alec Willows 	Brad Jackson 	Corby Proctor
Master Roshi 	Kouhei Miyauchi 	Clifton Wells 	Michael Donovan (episode 3)Ian James Corlett (episodes 7-8)	Mike McFarland 	Dean Galloway
Turtle 	Daisuke Gōri 	Daniel Woren 	Don Brown 	Christopher Sabat 	Dave Pettitt
Yamcha 	Tōru Furuya 	Kerrigan Mahan 	Ted Cole 	Christopher Sabat 	Victor Atelevich
Puar 	Naoko Watanabe 	Cheryl Chase 	Kathy Morse 	Monika Antonelli 	Chris Simms
Ox-King 	Daisuke Gōri 	N/A 	Dave "Squatch" Ward 	Kyle Hebert 	Dave Pettitt
Chi-Chi 	Mayumi Shō 	N/A 	Andrea Libman 	Laura Bailey (child)Cynthia Cranz (teen) 	Katie Rowan (child)Carol-Anne Day (teen)
Krillin 	Mayumi Tanaka 	N/A 	N/A 	Laurie Steele (child)Sonny Strait (teen) 	Mike Thiessen
Launch 	Mami Koyama 	N/A 	N/A 	Meredith McCoy 	Kris Rundle
Nam 	Kaneto Shiozawa 	N/A 	N/A 	Jerry Jewell 	Adam Hunter
Suno 	Naoko Watanabe 	N/A 	N/A 	Carol Hope 	
Android 8 	Shōzō Iizuka 	N/A 	N/A 	Mike McFarland 	Jeremiah Yurk
Dr. Brief 	Jōji Yanami 	N/A 	N/A 	Chris Forbis 	Corby Proctor
Bikini 	Mariko Mukai 	N/A 	N/A 	Cynthia Cranz 	Jennifer Bain
Upa 	Mitsuko Horie 	N/A 	N/A 	Susan Huber 	Brett Bauer
Bora 	Banjō Ginga 	N/A 	N/A 	Dameon Clarke 	Lucas Gilbertson
Korin 	Ichirō Nagai 	N/A 	N/A 	Christopher Sabat 	Roger Rhodes
Baba 	Junpei Takiguchi 	N/A 	N/A 	Linda Young 	Corby Proctor
Grandpa Gohan 	Osamu Saka 	N/A 	N/A 	Christopher Sabat 	Jonathan Love
Tien Shinhan 	Hirotaka Suzuoki 	N/A 	N/A 	John Burgmeier 	Brendan Hunter
Chiaotzu 	Hiroko Emori 	N/A 	N/A 	Monika Antonelli 	Sean Broadhurst
Yajirobe 	Mayumi Tanaka 	N/A 	N/A 	Mike McFarland 	Lucas Gilbertson
Kami 	Takeshi Aono 	N/A 	N/A 	Christopher Sabat 	Mike Shepherd
Mr. Popo 	Toku Nishio 	N/A 	N/A 	Christopher Sabat 	Dave Pettitt
Emperor Pilaf 	Shigeru Chiba 	Dave Mallow 	Don Brown 	Chuck Huber 	Dean Galloway
Mai 	Eiko Yamada 	Melodee Spevack 	Teryl Rothery 	Julie Franklin 	Debbie Munro
Shu 	Tesshō Genda 	Dave Mallow 	Doug Parker 	Chris Cason 	Jonathan Love
Commander Red 	Kenji Utsumi 	N/A 	N/A 	Josh Martin 	Noah Umholtz
Staff Officer Black 	Masaharu Satō 	N/A 	N/A 	Christopher Sabat 	Jonathan Love
General Blue 	Toshio Furukawa 	N/A 	N/A 	Sonny Strait 	Roger Rhodes
Mercenary Tao 	Chikao Ōtsuka 	N/A 	N/A 	Kent Williams 	Doug McKeag
Master Shen 	Ichirō Nagai 	N/A 	N/A 	Chuck Huber 	Clark Robertson
World Tournament Announcer	Kenji Utsumi 	N/A 	N/A 	Eric Vale 	Tommy James
King Piccolo 	Takeshi Aono 	N/A 	N/A 	Christopher Sabat 	Mike Shepherd
Piano 	Masato Hirano 	N/A 	N/A 	Sonny Strait 	Corby Proctor
Tambourine 	Ryūsei Nakao 	N/A 	N/A 	Dameon Clarke 	
Piccolo Jr. 	Hiromi Tsuru (child)Toshio Furukawa (teen)	N/A 	N/A 	Christopher Sabat 	Elinor Holt (child)Ethan Cole (teen)
Shenron 	Kenji Utsumi 	N/A 	Doug Parker 	Christopher Sabat 	Dave Pettitt
Narrator 	Jōji Yanami 	Michael McConnohie 	Jim Conrad 	Brice Armstrong 	Steve Olson
==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 Satō
*Assistant Episode Director: Mitsuo Hashimoto, Tatsuya Orime, Toshihiro Ishikawa, Yasuhiro Kamimura, Yoshihiro Ueda, Yutaka Satō
*Production manager: Matsuji Kishimoto
*Planning: Keizo Shichijo, Kenji Shimizu, Tokizō Tsuchiya
*Script: Hajime Satsuki, Hiroko Miyazaki, Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Keiji Terui, Michiru Shimada, Miho Maruo, Shun'ichi Yukimuro, Takao Koyama, Toshiki Inoue, Yasushi Hirano, Yoshifumi Yuki, Yoshiyuki Suga
*Storyboard: Akinori Nagaoka, Daisuke Nishio, Haruki Iwanami, Katsumi Endō, Kazuhisa Takenouchi, Minoru Okazaki, Osamu Kasai, Satoru Kusuda, Tatsuo Higashino, Tetsuo Imazawa, Toshihiko Arisako, Yoshihiro Ueda, Yuji Endo, Yutaka Satō
*Production Advancement: Akihiko Yamaguchi, Mitsuo Hashimoto, Toshihiro Ishikawa, Yuichi Suenaga
*Character Design & Chief animator: Minoru Maeda
*Art: Eiji Itō, Iwamitsu Ito, Shigenori Takada, Tadanao Tsuji, Takeo Yamamoto, Toshikazu Yamaguchi, Yoshiyuki Yamamoto, Yūji 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, Shinzō 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, Yūji Ikeda, Yukie Tsukakoshi, Yuko Iida
*Animation Director: Katsumi Aoshima, Masayuki Uchiyama, Minoru Maeda, Mitsuo Shindō, Sachio Ebisawa, Tai'ichirō Ohara, Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yukio Ebisawa
*Key Animation: Akiko Nakano, Akio Katada, Emiko Uesugi, Hidehiko Kadota, Hideko Okimoto, Hiroshi Takeuchi, Hisashi Eguchi, Junko Shirasu, Katsumi Aoshima, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru (12 episodes), Kazuko Hirose, Keiji Mochizuki, Kōji 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, Tai'ichirō Ohara, 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, Hitoshi 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, Kōji 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 Kan'no, 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, Kiyoshi Asanuma, Kō 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 Satō, Tetsu Nakamura, Tetsuo Ôfuji
*Music: Shunsuke Kikuchi
*Sound Director: Nobuhiro Komatsu
*Sound Effects: Hidenori Arai
==Soundtracks==
*Dragon Ball: Music Collection
===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)
*The Teachings of Muten Roshi (130)
===English soundtracks===
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==
==See also==
*List of Dragon Ball episodes
==External links==
*Official Toei Animation's website
*Official FUNimation's website
*Official Manga UK's website
==References==
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