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The legacy of Dragon Ball is great. An animated TV series was created in the wake of popular demand, spawning an incredible 500 episodes. The book version has sold over 109,300,000 copies (as of July 1995)!*

Furthermore, a major merchandise industry developed, which includes everything from pens, pencils, shitajikis, board games, Famicom (Nintendo) games, to clothes, calendars, etc. Bandai is the major force behind much of the merchandising. In fact, these sales have totaled a whopping $2.95 billion dollars (as of late 1995)!* See the Merchandise Page!

The appeal of Dragon Ball seems to transcend cultures, for its popularity has spread around the world. The comic book and/or the TV show can be found in Korea, China (in Mandarin & Cantonese), Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia (in Chinese & Malay), Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Greece, Italy, Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Spain (in Castillian & Catalan), Portugal, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Mexico, Chile, and countless other places.

And, of course, it is airing in the U.S., showing at various TV stations at various times. Check out the DBTV Page for info on DBZ shows in the US, or for info on the English-language comic books, US Merchandise Page!

	Dragon Ball was serially issued in this comics periodical, Shuukan Shonen Jump, Weekly Boy's Jump.
	Once enough of the series episodes accumulated, they were compiled into a book, which generally looked like this.

Buddhist monk, Xuanzang/ Hsuan-tsang.

Dragon Ball was heavily inspired, at least initially, by a Chinese novel written during the Ming Dynasty. This story, Xiyouj / Hsi-yu chi or Journey to the West in English, was first published in 1592. It describes the tale of the Tang Buddhist monk Xuanzang/Hsuan-tsang's fantastic pilgrimage to India to bring Buddhist scrolls back to China. Accompanying the priest is Su Wu Kong, a mischievous monkey who has supernatural powers. The monkey had been assigned by Buddha to protect the monk from monsters and demons lurking along the way.

A massive book of more than 100 chapters, this work is often described as a historical epic and social satire, containing much symbolism and allegory. The author of the story is thought to be Wu Chen En. The monk, Xuanzang (ca. 596-664), is a historical character, having traveled to India under Emperor Taizong/T'ai-tsung (reign 626-649) of the Tang/T'ang dynasty.

The novel is known as Saiyuuki in Japanese, and the monkey's name is Son Goku. In Dragon Ball, the monkey is, of course, Son Goku, the monk is Bulma, and Oolong and KameSenin represent the other two disciples that accompany Xuanzang in Xiyouj. The "jouney to the west" is symbolized by Goku and Bulma's trek to find the seven Dragon Balls.

Print from Bunsei edition of Saiyuuki (1833), by Hokusai (1760~1849)

Su Wu Kong (Jp. Son Goku) Notice his staff (Jp. Nyouibou) and his cloud. (Jp. Kintoun)

"History...yuch!" Oh, you don't like history? Awww...I was even considering a major in the history field. Well, anyway, here's more about the origins of Dragon Ball, which is a little lighter on the history.

After finishing his first smash hit, Dr. Slump, after 18 volumes, Toriyama Akira came out with a few short manga stories. At the time, Toriyama-sensei was really into Hong Kong action movies, especially kung fu films starring the famous Jackie Chan. So, Toriyama-san's editor, Torishima Kazuhiko, suggested that he draw a cartoon with such a theme.

The result of that was a two-part short called "Dragon Boy." The manga features a boy named Tanton, who trains under a martial arts master. He is given the mission of escorting a young princess to her native country. Along the way, they meet a conniving shape-changing creature, an evil, water-dwelling monster, and an old robot warrior.

During Tanton's fight with the water monster, we find out that he is actually not quite human, because he has a pair of wings that he had been hiding all along (He had been afraid of the Princess' reaction). The Princess, instead of being very surprised, is miffed that they could have been flying instead of walking. The story climaxes with the battle with the robotic warrior and it ends with the characters continuing their long journey.

The story "Dragon Boy" contains many starting points for Dragon Ball. For one thing, Tanton is sort of a prototype Son Goku. Tanton is a young boy trained in martial arts, and is very naďve and innocent like Goku. Both of the characters in Dragon Boy and in Dragon Ball escort a girl on a journey. Both of these girls turn out to be quite vociferous and pushy.

The reason why the short is called "Dragon Boy" is probably because of Tanton's wings, and also because of a special crystal sphere that the boy's master gives him. With this sphere, when one focuses his/her "ki" (AKA chi, internal power) on the ball, a dragon will appear and help the person. However, when Tanton actually uses the ball to call forth the dragon during an emergency, a little baby dragon appears, much too small for Tanton to ride on (Of course, Tanton was not pleased with his master).

The slick, shape changing creature that Tanton and the Princess meet looks very much like an albino, over-sized Puaar (Yamcha's side kick) from Dragon Ball. Both the creature and Puaar can change form. In Dragon Boy, the hungry creature had transformed into a young traveller, conniving to take away a rice ball that the Princess was eating. Perhaps this incident led to the idea of Yamcha the highway robber (This is speculation). Both of the main characters from Dragon Boy and Dragon Ball are not quite human. Tanton has his wings and Goku has a tail. Both appear to be orphans reared by a martial artist.

In terms of martial arts movies, there seems to be influence from this genre on Dragon Ball. For example, Goku specifically states that he is trained in the Chinese art of kung fu / gong fu. It has been said that the Dragon in Dragon Ball, Shenlon, is a pun on Jackie Chan's Cantonese name, Shen Long. I'm sure many of the fight scenes, and the slapstick of early DB episodes have an influence from such movies. A more overt allusion is made during the Tenkaichi-budoukai, when Kamesenin (AKA Mutenroshi) enters the tournament in disguise as "Jackie Chun."

Another reason why there seems to be a Chinese-esque environment to Dragon Ball is because Toriyama Akira's wife was deeply interested in things Chinese. In fact, she is also a manga-ka (manga artist), and she drew some of the backgrounds in the early episodes of Dragon Ball.

Jackie Chan at the interview.

Speaking of a famous Hong Kong action star, this is what Jackie Chan himself had to say about Dragon Ball (yes, HIMSELF):

JC: From a while back, I'd been hearing from a lot of people that Dragon Ball is interesting. So, I saw the TV animation and read all of the Chinese edition Dragon Ball comics. Yup, just as the people said, it was great. I think my favorite character has to be Goku. My favorite scene... there are too many to choose just one. There are so many captivating scenes. It's a story that I would like have done as a live action movie. Especially since Dragon Ball is packed with amazing ideas and imagination. But, if it were to be rendered as a live action film, it would probably require much special effects and a huge budget. (1995, "Shenlon Tsuushin" insert from Daizenshuu vol. 1)

Statistical facts from: "Spotlight: Dragon Ball."Protoculture Addicts, Nov/Dec. 1995, pp. 18-19. Back to top
Historical details from: Schirokauer, Conrad.A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers, 1989.