Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
‘Dragon Ball Z‘ used to air on Cartoon Network when my brother and I were in school. With just one television at home, we didn’t always get to watch it, but whenever we did, it was a blast seeing an adult Goku take on villains to save the Earth.
Having only grown up with the ‘Dragon Ball Z’ anime, I never realized how casually sleazy Akira Toriyama’s original ‘Dragon Ball’ manga could be at times, which follows Goku’s adventures as a child. There’s a recurring gag where 16-year-old Bulma flashes her panties at random male characters if it helps her get things done. Definitely keep this one away from kids under 15, though for everyone else, it’s still as wild, action-packed, and entertaining as its reputation.
‘Dragon Ball’ Volume 1 follows Bulma, who sets out to find the seven Dragon Balls, mystical treasures that, when gathered, let you summon a wish-granting dragon. Along the way, she runs into Goku, a naive but ridiculously strong kid who’s grown up in the wilderness and never met a woman before. Seeing his potential, Bulma ropes him into tagging along, figuring his strength could keep her safe. Goku, curious and excited about dragons, happily agrees.
The first Japanese volume of ‘Dragon Ball’ was released in 1985, so writing a review decades later might seem a little redundant, but I want to remember what it felt like. I was giggling through the pages and binge-read the entire volume in one day. Akira Toriyama’s art is playful, cute, and the world-building elaborate, fantastical, and completely entertaining. A foreword by Toriyama talks about how the story has a “Chinese feel to it, but it’s not necessarily China. Exactly where it takes place is uncertain.”
Talking turtles, shape-shifting creatures, little capsules that pop up into cars, bikes, and entire homes, ‘Dragon Ball‘ takes place in a wildly imaginative bubble where everything is possible. Alongside Bulma, the ambitious city girl, and Son Goku, the innocent mountain boy she teasingly calls Tarzan, we meet a colorful cast of standouts: Oolong, a mischievous shape-shifter reluctantly roped into the adventure, and Yamcha, a dashing desert bandit who’ll steal from anyone who crosses his path.
Goku is a total goofball in ‘Dragon Ball‘, for instance, he pats people below the waist every time he meets someone new to figure out whether they’re male or female. A lot of what he does might seem inappropriate today, but most of it is played for innocent laughs. Goku’s curiosity is that of a child discovering civilization for the first time.
Just when I thought no one could top his antics, along comes Oolong, the mischievous shape-shifter who is rarely up to any good and can even transform into every day object. And then there’s Yamcha, a fierce bandit warrior whose greatest weakness is hilarious: women. One look, and he’s left tongue-tied and running scared in the opposite direction.
If you’re a fan of the anime but have never read the original ‘Dragon Ball’ manga, maybe pick it up. I know, it looks long and intimidating at first, but volume one zipped by so fast I finished it before I knew it. Two volumes over a weekend? Totally doable.
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