Dragonball

***Dragon Ball*** is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. It is an adaptation of the first 194 chapters of the manga of the same name created by Akira Toriyama, which were published in *Weekly Shōnen Jump* from 1984 to 1995. The anime is composed of 153 episodes that were broadcast on Fuji TV from February 1986 to April 1989. It was broadcast in 81 countries worldwide. It is part of the *Dragon Ball* media franchise.

*Dragon Ball* follows the adventures of the protagonist Goku, a strong naive boy who, upon meeting Bulma, sets out to gather the seven wish-granting Dragon Balls. After becoming a student of martial arts master Master Roshi (also known as *Kame Sennin*), he and his fellow pupil Krillin enter a tournament that attracts the most powerful fighters in the world. He then sets out on his own and winds up facing and destroying the Red Ribbon Army single-handedly. When Krillin is later murdered after another tournament, Goku exacts revenge on his killer, Demon King Piccolo. Three years later, Goku, now a young adult, must fight King Piccolo's offspring Piccolo Jr.. The remaining 325 chapters of the manga were adapted into the *Dragon Ball Z* anime.

## Plot

The series begins with a young monkey-tailed boy named Goku befriending a teenage girl named Bulma. Together, they go on an adventure to find the seven mystical Dragon Balls (ドラゴンボール), which have the ability to summon the powerful dragon Shenron, who can grant whoever summoned him their greatest desire. The journey leads to a confrontation with the shape-shifting pig Oolong, as well as a desert bandit named Yamcha and his companion Pu'ar, who all later become allies; Chi-Chi, whom Goku unknowingly agrees to marry; and Emperor Pilaf, a blue imp who seeks the Dragon Balls to fulfill his desire of becoming ruler of the world. After Oolong stops Pilaf from using the Dragon Balls by wishing for a pair of panties, Goku undergoes rigorous training regimes under the martial artist Master Roshi in order to fight in the World Martial Arts Tournament (天下一武道会, *"Tenkaichi Budōkai"*) that attracts the most powerful fighters in the world. A monk named Krillin becomes his training partner and rival, but they soon become best friends. After the tournament, Goku sets out on his own to recover the Dragon Ball his deceased grandfather left him and encounters a terrorist organization known as the Red Ribbon Army, whose diminutive leader, Commander Red, wants to collect the Dragon Balls so that he can use them to become taller. He almost single-handedly defeats the army, including their hired assassin Mercenary Tao, whom he originally loses to, but after training under the hermit Korin, easily beats. Goku reunites with his friends to defeat Fortuneteller Baba's fighters and have her locate the last Dragon Ball in order to revive a friend killed by Tao.

They all reunite at the World Martial Arts Tournament three years later and meet Master Roshi's rival and Tao's brother, Master Shen, and his students Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu, who vow to exact revenge for Tao's apparent death at the hands of Goku. Krillin is murdered after the tournament and Goku tracks down and is defeated by his killer, King Piccolo. The overweight samurai Yajirobe takes Goku to Korin, where he receives healing and a power boost. Meanwhile, Piccolo kills both Master Roshi and Chiaotzu, and uses the Dragon Balls to give himself eternal youth before destroying Shenron, which results in the Dragon Balls' destruction. As King Piccolo prepares to destroy West City as a show of force, Tien Shinhan arrives to confront him, but is defeated and nearly killed. Goku arrives in time to save Tien and then kills King Piccolo by blasting a hole through his chest. However, just before he dies, Piccolo spawns his final son, Piccolo Junior. Korin informs Goku that Kami, the original creator of the Dragon Balls, might be able to restore Shenron so that Goku can wish his fallen friends back to life, which he does. He also stays and trains under Kami for the next three years, once again reuniting with his friends at the Tenkaichi Budōkai, as well as a now-teenaged Chi-Chi and the revived Mercenary Tao. Piccolo Junior also enters the tournament to avenge his father's death, leading to the final battle between him and Goku. After Goku narrowly wins and defeats Piccolo Junior, he leaves with Chi-Chi and they get married, leading to the events of *Dragon Ball Z*.

## Production

Kazuhiko Torishima, Toriyama's editor for *Dr. Slump* and the first half of *Dragon Ball*, said that because the *Dr. Slump* anime was not successful in his opinion, he and Shueisha were a lot more hands on for the *Dragon Ball* anime. Before production even began, they created a huge "bible" for the series detailing even merchandise. He himself studied the best way to present anime and its business side, discussing it with the Shogakukan team for *Doraemon*.

Toriyama had some involvement in the production of the anime. When it began he did mention to the staff that they seemed to be making it too colorful by forcing the color palette of *Dr. Slump* on it. He also listened to the voice actors' audition tapes before choosing Masako Nozawa to play Goku. He would go on to state that he would hear Nozawa's voice in his head when writing the manga. Toriyama specified Kuririn's voice actress be Mayumi Tanaka after hearing her work as the main character Giovanni in *Night on the Galactic Railroad*. Tōru Furuya remarked that there were not many auditions for the characters because the cast was made up of veteran voice actors. Performing the roles was not without its difficulties, Toshio Furukawa, the voice of Piccolo, said it was difficult to constantly perform with a low voice because his normal lighter voice would break through if he broke concentration.

Shunsuke Kikuchi composed the score for *Dragon Ball*. The opening theme song for all of the episodes is "Makafushigi Adventure!" (魔訶不思議アドベンチャー！, *Makafushigi Adobenchā!*, "Mystical Adventure!") performed by Hiroki Takahashi.The ending theme is "Romantic Ageru yo" (ロマンティックあげるよ, *Romantikku Ageru yo*, "I'll Give You Romance") performed by Ushio Hashimoto.

Feeling that the *Dragon Ball* anime's ratings were gradually declining because it had the same producer that worked on *Dr. Slump*, who had this "cute and funny" image connected to Toriyama's work and was missing the more serious tone, Torishima asked the studio to change the producer. Impressed with their work on *Saint Seiya*, he asked its director Kōzō Morishita and writer Takao Koyama to help "reboot" *Dragon Ball*; which coincided with the beginning of *Dragon Ball Z*.

### English localization and Broadcasting

In the late 1980s Harmony Gold USA licensed the series for an English-language release in North America. In the voice dubbing of the series, Harmony Gold renamed almost all of the characters, including the protagonist Goku, who was renamed "Zero." This dub consisting of 5 episodes and one movie (an 80-minute feature featuring footage of movies 1 and 3 edited together) was cancelled shortly after being test marketed in several US cities and was never broadcast to the general public, thus earning the fan-coined term "The Lost Dub."

In 1995 Funimation acquired the license for the distribution of *Dragon Ball* in the United States. They contracted Josanne B. Lovick Productions and voice actors from Ocean Productions to create an English version for the anime and first movie in Vancouver, British Columbia. The dubbed episodes were edited for content, and contained different music. Thirteen episodes aired in first-run syndication during the fall of 1995 before Funimation canceled the project due to low ratings.
Stephanie Nadolny have provided Funimation's English dub voice for young Goku.
Tiffany Vollmer is Bulma's current Funimation's English dub.

In March 2001 Funimation announced the return of *Dragon Ball* to American television, featuring a new English version produced in-house with slightly less editing for broadcast (though the episodes remained uncut for home video releases), and they notably left the original background music intact. The re-dubbed episodes aired on Cartoon Network from August 20, 2001, to December 1, 2003. Funimation also broadcast the series on Colours TV and their own Funimation Channel starting in 2006. This English dub was also broadcast in Australia and New Zealand. In Canada and Europe, an alternative dubbed version was produced by AB Groupe (in association with Blue Water Studios) and was aired in those territories instead of the Funimation version.

#### Content edits

The US version of *Dragon Ball* was aired on Cartoon Network with numerous digital cosmetic changes, which were done to remove nudity and blood, and dialogue edits, such as when Puar says why Oolong was expelled from shapeshifting school, instead of saying that he stole the teacher's panties, it was changed to him stealing the teacher's papers. Some scenes were deleted altogether, either to save time or remove strong violence. Nudity was also covered up; for Goku's bathing scene, Funimation drew a chair to cover his genitals where it was uncensored previously. References to alcohol and drugs were removed, for example, when Jackie Chun (Master Roshi) uses Drunken Fist Kung Fu in the 21st *Tenkaichi Budokai*, Funimation called it the "Mad Cow Attack." Also, the famous "No Balls!" scene was deleted from episode 2, and when Bulma places panties on the fishing hook to get Oolong (in fish form), they digitally painted away the panties and replaced it with some money.

Changes also lead to confusing context and the content of the scenes; as when Bulma helps Goku take a bath. In the Japanese version, the two characters do not cover their privates because Goku is innocent of the differences in gender and Bulma believes Goku to be a little boy. While bathing Bulma asks Goku his age and only when Goku reveals himself to be fourteen does Bulma throw things at Goku before kicking him out of the bath. In the Funimation version the dialogue was changed; with Goku remarking that Bulma did not have a tail and it must be inconvenient for her when bathing.