Dragon Ball (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 1: Includes vols. 1, 2 & 3

by Akira Toriyama

Overview

Akira Toriyama's groundbreaking, iconic, best-selling series now in an omnibus edition!

Dragon Ball introduces a young monkey-tailed boy named Goku (a wry update of the classic Chinese "Monkey King" legend), whose quiet life changes when he meets a girl named Bulma who is on a quest to collect seven "Dragon Balls." If she gathers them all, an incredibly powerful dragon will appear and grant her one wish. But the precious orbs are scattered all over the world, and Bulma could use the help of a certain super-strong boy...

Legend has it that if all seven of the precious orbs called “Dragon Balls” are gathered together, an incredibly powerful dragon god will appear to grant one wish. Unfortunately, the orbs are scattered across the world, making them extremely difficult to collect. Enter 16-year-old Bulma, a scientific genius who has constructed a radar to detect the exact locations of the Dragon Balls. She’s on a mission to find all seven orbs, but first she must convince young Son Goku to join her on her quest. With a monkey tail, superhuman strength and a magic staff for a weapon, Son Goku is ready to set out on the adventure of a lifetime...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421555645
Publisher:	VIZ Media LLC
Publication date:	06/04/2013
Series:	Dragon Ball (3-in-1 Edition) , #1
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	576
Sales rank:	67,651
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.40(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Renowned worldwide for his playful, innovative storytelling and humorous, distinctive art style, Akira Toriyama burst onto the manga scene in 1980 with the wildly popular Dr. Slump. His hit series Dragon Ball (published in the U.S. as Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z) ran from 1984 to 1995 in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. He is also known for his design work on video games such as Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, Tobal No. 1, and Blue Dragon. His recent manga works include COWA!, Kajika, Sand Land, Neko Majin, and a children's book, Toccio the Angel. He lives with his family in Japan.

Editorial Reviews

01/01/2014
Gr 5–8—Son Goku, a monkey-tailed young martial artist, is enlisted by scientific adventurer Bulma as she attempts to locate seven "dragon balls" and be granted a wish. While they quickly gather the orbs, they fight a variety of other chancers and eventually enlist in a tournament of strength. The artwork may seem primitive compared to more modern manga, but the action is still briskly and breezily paced. In fact, the central premise is dispatched with some haste, and subsequent setups are similarly tied up as the author seems impatient to move on to whatever new idea has captured his fancy. As a naïf, Goku lends himself to a certain kind of elementary humor. With immature protagonists and mild gross-out jokes throughout, this series should be aimed squarely at elementary-aged kids, but the sexual innuendos make that a difficult recommendation. The publisher indicates that this is the original "uncut and uncensored" content, but the gap between Japanese cultural mores and parental expectations of a tie-in to a popular cartoon are still wide enough that some readers may be surprised. Indeed, American controversy about the content has been going on for more than a decade. The art is actually quite restrained with regard to sexuality, even with the occasional appearances of Goku's laughably rendered genitals. It is more likely the cavalier manner in which the bawdy humor involves a combo of teenaged girls, elderly letches, and prepubescent boys that readers may find worrisome.—Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NH

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