 "Akira Toriyama is silly and fun." | 2009-06-06 |
| - Reviewed By watcher_seer |
| This is where it all began. The Great story of Dragon Ball. It's worth reading and over again but not for children. lol |
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| "Dragon Ball - Volume 1 Hardback (collector's edition)" | 2009-02-17 |
| - Reviewed By User: AR5O8R32JF5UE |
Dragon Ball and its partner Dragon Ball Z have been considered by many to be the most popular manga series ever made. Created by artist and storyteller - Akira Toriyama, Volume 1 is where the whole story begins. The story of Dragon Ball is based on an old Chinese tale known as 'journey to the west' which is loosely based Buddhist legends. The old Chinese stories apparently talk of a strange monkey boy with incredible strength and bravery. Akira Toriyama makes this story fun for everyone to enjoy. This story is a blend of action and humor that could interest both younger and older readers, however some of the suggestive jokes seem to be aimed for a more mature audience. Only half of this book (hardback) is printed in color.
Akira's creative inspiration and cool art style makes this book a standout and i recommend it to anyone who enjoys action, adventure and humor. Some of the jokes and humor are not perfectly translated properly in this english version of the book, but the artwork helps to convey alot of the expression and humor. The translation has been a bit westernised, to a slightly negative result, but its not that bad. The story begins with Goku (the monkey boy) living alone in the countryside, his grandfather has died there because according to Goku, a giant monster came out in the full moon and squashed him. Goku had always been told by his grandfather never to look at the full moon because as vegeta later described 'that's when Saiyan's are at their best'. Now Goku lives with the only remaining posession left by his late Grandfather - a shiny orange ball with 4 stars inside it. A young girl from the city called Bulma, the daughter of genius inventor Dr. Briefs of the Capsule Corporation, turns up at Gokus house wanting the strange ball after she made a device that locates them. She tells Goku about how she read a story about seven mystical crystals known as dragon balls that could grant a person any one wish if they were all gathered together. Goku and the Bulma set off to find them, meeting a whole slew of vibrant and humorous characters along the way, everyone seeking their own wish except for Goku who is just out for the adventure. Bulma dreams of wishing for the perfect boyfirend while Yamucha wants to wish away his fear of being around girls. This wonerfully told adventure is a must have. |
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 "The Saga Begins" | 2008-10-13 |
| - Reviewed By jhaller1984 |
| This is where it all starts, Goku's Journey. Over all I'ld have to say this is the weakest of the first Dragonball set, the other being Dragonball Z. Toriyama hasn't figured out the characters. This is no villain, just miss understood persons (ie Yamcha and Oolong). We don't even meet Pilaf until the next book, the main villain of the first journey. The stories are fun, filled with mostly camp and cheesyness, but they don't have the page turning action of the later books. |
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| "3 Times the Fun!!!" | 2008-09-01 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2WB9VCULDR27Q |
| The DragonBall series has always been known or it's martial arts action, quirky humor, and of course, Akira Toriyama(Dr. Slump). But what happens when you put the 3 first volumes of his acclaimed series together in one volume? You get 3 times the fun!!! In the first volume Goku meets Bulma and Oolong, and the trio set off to find the legendary DragonBalls, which grant you one wish by Shen-long, the Dragon God. Then in the second volume, they must face the evil of Emperor Pilaf, and his crew. Soon after, in volume three, Goku is trained by the legendary Kame-senin, or Turtle Hermit. Will he, and his rival/friend Kirurin, along with mood-swinging Lunch, go to "The Strongest Under The Heavens?" Find out in my personal favorite manga. Highly recommended, 5 stars, or a Grade: A+. |
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 "My first time with the series." | 2008-07-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A16TCB7BYD8WXP |
I was never into Dragonball when the anime premiered when I was young, and I did not grow up idolizing it like several other boys of my generation. However, after beginning to appreciate the works of more modern mangaka, I decided that it's time to read on the most influential classic that inspired so many of my favorite artists: Akira Toriyama's "Dragonball".
I will point out right now that this VIZBIG edition is the first three volumes of Dragonball in one large volume at a more economically friendly price. A wise move since the entire series has been available for quite a while now. Not only that, but the page size is larger, giving you a larger view, and two chapters are in full color.
The story, for those who need to know, is that a brilliant teenage girl named Bulma is searching for seven mystical "Dragonballs" that, when all found, summon the dragon-god Shenlong(Shenron in the Funimation anime dub), and he will grant the person a single wish, whatever it may be. On her quest, she runs into a strange young boy named Son Goku who has a mysterious tail and a bo staff that can extend at his will. Added to that, the boy has unnaturally powerful strength and NO knowledge of civilization abroad. What results is one comical misadventure after the other as the two meet more strange and interesting individuals, some good, some evil, as they try to find the remaining Dragonballs.
This set takes you through the beginning, to the meeting of individuals such as Kame Senn'in(Master Roshi in Funimation dub), Oolong, Yamcha, Reich Pilaf (Emperor in the anime dub), and Kuririn (Krillin in the dub)up until the first fights of the Tenka'ichi Budokai ("Strongest Under Heaven" Tournament, roughly).
Those who have watched Dragonball's sequel set, Dragonball Z, will quickly note a greater emphasis on comedy than action, and indeed the manga is silly. I would not recommend this to young children as there is lots of sexual-based humor. While the story is interesting, it only gets to some real interesting stuff near the later half of the entire book when a bit more combat occurs. Two significant cons of the set are as follows:
1. The colored pages. Don't get me wrong, I like colored pages, but the coloring in this set is mediocre at best. While some things, like the backgrounds, are colored nicely, there are inconsistencies in the color of Bulma's hair and Pilaf's skin. Both are colored as turquoise-to-purple and blue-to-green, respectively. Also, this makes the chapters that were once color(now grey-scale in the manga) to look weak in outline and detail, making some panels appear to be poorly printed.
2. Some of the writing. Many know that Viz is big on softened, somewhat childish dialog for some series, but I believe Dragonball is one of the most infamous. They use a lot of contractions for simple words, making them out to be spoken by someone with poor diction("for" becomes "f'r", "what are you" becomes "wha'cha", etc.). And sometimes, the characters say some pretty lame puns that I'm sure were not in the original. Bad like 4kids Entertainment bad(Pilaf: Soba! Are things going okay?! Soba: So ba, so good!).
However, none of this takes away TOO much to the manga, and it is still largely enjoyable to read. Many of the names are translated well, as well as keeping the original names of some objects. There are also several editor's notes to let you know of stuff that needs reference to Japanese culture, and whatnot.
If you've never read or watched this series before, then you'll probably enjoy the cartoony designs and comical characters. There is not much in terms of action, but that changes when Dragonball Z starts. Buy all means, if you want this, get this version, its cheaper and you get more manga for your money. |
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| "The start of something MAGICAL =)" | 2008-05-29 |
| - Reviewed By ravereviews |
I have had this comic book for so many years and for so many years i never got around to reading it as it seemed to find a life just lying on my book shelf as an ornament. With the recent re-releases of the DBZ DVD uncut re-mastered box sets I found myself finally being able to watch DBZ as I couldn't before. The reason being that when I wanted to watch DBZ on the cartoon network it was already way to deep in the storyline for me to follow and catch up so I decided to never jump on the DBZ nation. Now with the DVD sets being so affordable and just jammed with so many episodes I couldn't pass the opportunity. So I ended up really loving the cartoon and it did take about 1 episode for me to get comfortable with the English voice cast.
Now DB isn't available on DVD box set uncut re-mastered so I thought I would turn to the comics to see where it all began. I finally read the book on my shelf that's been there for years and I really enjoyed it. I am glad I never threw it out on one of my weekly apartment cleaning splurges. The artwork of course is stellar and I love Japanese comics because they have so many pages unlike US comics that only have about 21 pages. It's nice to see how Bulma met Goku and how Oolong & Yamcha all fell into the scheme of things. I always wondered where Chi Chi came from & now I know. I found the book so enjoyable that I ordered the other 15 issues that rounded up the original DB saga. I found myself just waiting for the next page to turn. The creator/artist does a wonderful job of balancing action, humor, friendship, & dirty jokes all in one. This truly is a piece of art that is a masterpiece to own. It also makes a great quick read on any vacation or bus ride. The version I have is the 1st one published by Viz Comics and is the exact same one displayed here except it has a white cover & not red. It is also a little bigger which I like. I am a bit shocked by some reviews that say it's too racy for teenagers. The comic is in cartoon animated children like format; i doubt it's harmful unless your child needs psychiatric help if a comic book influences them that heavily to want to beat people with a stick that magically extends or imagines that people can sit on clouds that fly you places. I am also certain young children won't find the humor the way a grown teenager or someone in their 20's would. I didn't find any racy or uncomfortable content in the comic whatsoever. Everything is in for humor effect. This comic is for any art lover and any DBZ lover. It's simply the best and one of the best artistic contributions to the world.
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