Dragon Ball Highly recommended

Publisher
Viz
Writer
Akira Toriyama
Artist
Akira Toriyama
Country of origin
Japan
Year
1984

Dragon Ball

By John Huxley
1st Jan 07

It’s all Cartoon Network’s fault*. Well, maybe the blame should be laid at Funimation’s feet since Cartoon Network were really only the messenger...but tough luck, I’m blaming you.

Cartoon Network’s shame is twofold.

a) they decided to air the first English language version of Dragon Ball starting halfway through the series with its (kind of) sequel Dragonball Z. OK, so this may have made more financial sense since this half of the series is more action packed and likely to appeal to their core audience of kids and young teens. Still, after the first few story arcs things went tits-up as the show quickly became repetitive to the point of ridicule.

Now, I’ll admit Dragonball Z is a guilty pleasure, but I can also appreciate that most people are unable to overlook the series’ glaring faults such as this. I won’t even try to defend it here, because I can’t. Dragonball Z deserves almost all the criticism you can throw at it. However the real casualty in all this mess is Toriyama’s original Dragon Ball comic which has sadly been overlooked. All of which brings me neatly to Cartoon Network’s second walk of shame...

b) when they eventually did get around to showing the original Dragon Ball from episode 1, it was a horrible Frankenstein’s monster of a show that was crippled from censorship and cack-handed direction. A little violence and swearing was cut from Dragonball Z, but the life and soul of Dragon Ball was carved out and sacrificed to the censors.

Take a bow Viz comics. If I can condemn Cartoon Network for ruining Dragon Ball, I should praise Viz equally for at least attempting to rescue it from this mess they caused. Not only did they keep everything more-or-less intact and free of censorship (despite idiotic protests from some corners), they also started off from page 1.

Unlike the consumer-driven monster it would become, Dragon Ball started out life as a retelling of Journey to the West. You know, like that old TV series Monkey. All the elements are here - Goku, the monkey complete with tail, extending staff, flying cloud and cheeky care-free attitude. Oolong, his porky friend with a stomach larger than his head. Bulma, the annoying self-absorbed teen in search of the magical dragonballs to find her romance because no-one else can stand her. Master Roshi, the horny old man who’s only tagging along in the hopes of a quick fumble ‘round the bushes with Bulma. Well...OK, so maybe accuracy goes out of the window pretty quickly here. But from the word go it’s obvious that Dragon Ball is a very different kettle of fish compared to its Z variant.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the action is kept to a bare minimum. There’s no epic battles spread over several chapters here - until we reach the first tournament most fights last only a few pages, if that. Which frees up plenty of space for Dragon Ball’s main focus - the silly jokes. If you’ve ever read any of Toriyama’s previous series, Dr Slump, you’ll know that his main strength as an author isn’t adrenaline-fuelled action or convoluted storylines - it’s the silly, slapstick comedy and puerile jokes.

At the time, Toriyama was the highest earning manga artist in the business. But he didn’t get himself in that position simply through selling merchandise and other Dragonball Z related spin-offs as you might expect - he earned it because he created a really excellent comic that started an empire. It’s his talent and creativity as an author that earned him all that cash.

And here Toriyama is on top form with an ensemble cast of unlikely characters that come up with the laughs time and time again. Each is introduced in a new chapter of Goku’s journey to find the dragonballs, and each adds something to the mix. Even Oolong - who was relegated to the sidelines in Dragonball Z - plays an important part here as a conniving, selfish but ultimately well meaning pig who’s practically dragged along for the ride. OK, so maybe they’re a little one-dimensional to carry any really meaningful drama, but as a comic foil they do get the job done perfectly.

Likewise, while the story isn’t exactly the most engrossing, it’s more pantomime than anything else and so it serves its purpose. This extends to the villains, starting off with the amusingly pathetic Emperor Pilaf, and are mostly played for laughs.

This is an out-and-out comedy peppered with a little action. Only much later do things begin to take a more serious tone as Dragon Ball slowly develops in to the series most will be familiar with. Until then (and it does take a long time), there’s plenty of silly gags and jokes to enjoy.

And Viz should be applauded for their excellent work on the translation. Although it’s not flopped like their more recent productions, it’s mostly uncensored and more importantly stays true to the original spirit of the series. I doubt it sticks 100% to the original script because of language differences - some jokes and puns in particular take liberties in this respect - but they manage to keep things funny which is far more important in my eye. Compared to the Cartoon Network version it’s a world apart, that’s for sure.

The humour may be slightly broad (not to mention crude) for some tastes, but along with GTO this is one of the only manga to actually make me laugh out loud. If I haven’t convinced you that this should be considered as a totally different entity to Dragonball Z, at least buy the first few volumes and judge for yourself. I promise you won’t regret it.

* I don’t actually blame Cartoon Network at all. If anything I should thank them for bringing Toriyama’s work to a wider audience. The only people to blame are those that were too narrow minded to give the original Dragon Ball comic a chance.

-- John Huxley 1st Jan 07