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Dragonball Z
- GenresMangaComicsComics Manga
152 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1994
30 people are currently reading
454 people want to read
About the author
Akira Toriyama
1,920 books1,727 followersAkira Toriyama (鳥山明) was a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He first achieved mainstream recognition for creating the popular manga series Dr. Slump, before going on to create Dragon Ball (his most famous work) and acting as a character designer for several popular video games such as the Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon. Toriyama came to be regarded as one of the most important authors in the history of manga with his works highly influential and popular, particularly Dragon Ball, which many manga artists cite as a source of inspiration.
He earned the 1981 Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen/shōjo manga with Dr. Slump, and it went on to sell over 35 million copies in Japan. It was adapted into a successful anime series, with a second anime created in 1997, 13 years after the manga ended.
His next series, Dragon Ball, would become one of the most popular and successful manga in the world. Having sold 260 million copies worldwide, it is one of the best-selling manga series of all time and is considered a key work in increasing manga circulation to its peak in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. Overseas, Dragon Ball's anime adaptations have been more successful than the manga and are credited with boosting anime's popularity in the Western world. In 2019, Toriyama was decorated a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contributions to the arts.
In October 2024, Toriyama was inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame.
He earned the 1981 Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen/shōjo manga with Dr. Slump, and it went on to sell over 35 million copies in Japan. It was adapted into a successful anime series, with a second anime created in 1997, 13 years after the manga ended.
His next series, Dragon Ball, would become one of the most popular and successful manga in the world. Having sold 260 million copies worldwide, it is one of the best-selling manga series of all time and is considered a key work in increasing manga circulation to its peak in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. Overseas, Dragon Ball's anime adaptations have been more successful than the manga and are credited with boosting anime's popularity in the Western world. In 2019, Toriyama was decorated a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contributions to the arts.
In October 2024, Toriyama was inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
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December 5, 2012An incredilbe manga everyone should be reading
January 7, 2022
It's Dragonball bro...
November 2, 2016
This book has many different series, but I read one from the cell series. The cell series is about alien robots that come to earth to take over. There is a strong alien that's name is cell and he can't be beat. The art style is manga. The characters are believable because they are trying to defend their home land just like anyone would in real life. I would recommend this to anyone that like manga, it's good read if you do.
September 7, 2010
a despondent tyrant named frieza terrorizes planet namek. he plans on taking over the planet and kills everyone who defies him. Goku steps up and duels frieza. Frieza dominates the battle until goku tranforms into super saiyan and defeats him. the people of planet namek reward goku with valuable dragonballs for defeating freiza.
i recommend this book to everyone because this manga is a classic
i recommend this book to everyone because this manga is a classic
March 24, 2023
I watched Dagonball as a Kid, and realy liked it.
Later as a young Adult, long after the Show had Cultstatus, I decided to watch the Z Continuation.
It was not good.
But, I wanted to give the Show one last Chance, years later. By trying out the Manga.
Yeah no, Manga is better then the Anime.
It solves the trememdouse Pacing Issues, and Issues whit nonsense Filler Scenes. Like Bulma having a Nightmare about Vegeta, one Ark before she start dating him. Or the legendary five Minutes.
But still, the Story is worse then Dragonball. The beloved Charakters from the first Show got completly ignored. Not just Yamchu, who lost his longtime Girlfriend, and acomplished nothing over the course of the entire Series, or Kuririn, who was once relative to Goku.
It hit the whise Mentor Figure Muten Roshi, and non combatative Sidekicks like Pool as hard.
While the original Story was a Comedy, Z deviated so much from that, when the Buu Ark reintroduced Humor, it felt very out of place. Vegeto fighting Buu as Candy, or the entire Fusion Dance.
And overall, the Comedy just sucks and is only carried by its Status as a Classic.
The Manga is absolute unable to make any Charakter interesting whitout powercreep. Every Villian has to be stronger then the last, and if possible overwelmingly stronger.
This is a bad behavior a lot of Storys copyed and plagued the Scene up to this Day.
The old Dragonball was fun, it was all about exploring, and adventure, and this mystical Tressure, the Dragonballs. In Z its just fighting very bland, Badguys who have no deeper Motivation besides enjoying the Suffering they cause. It sucks all the Joy out of it.
No wonder Son Gohan had a different Perspective on Fighting then his Father.
His Father had the oppurtunity to experience Martial Arts as Sport, not as a Tool to murder your Opponet, before he murders you.
The Freeza Saga, the one Ark who tried to make the Search for Dragonballs great again had nearly zero Focus on the Namekians, the Planet was bland, and it was all about the Enemy Force.
So no, I dont think Dragonball Z is good. Its better then the Anime, but its not good.
Later as a young Adult, long after the Show had Cultstatus, I decided to watch the Z Continuation.
It was not good.
But, I wanted to give the Show one last Chance, years later. By trying out the Manga.
Yeah no, Manga is better then the Anime.
It solves the trememdouse Pacing Issues, and Issues whit nonsense Filler Scenes. Like Bulma having a Nightmare about Vegeta, one Ark before she start dating him. Or the legendary five Minutes.
But still, the Story is worse then Dragonball. The beloved Charakters from the first Show got completly ignored. Not just Yamchu, who lost his longtime Girlfriend, and acomplished nothing over the course of the entire Series, or Kuririn, who was once relative to Goku.
It hit the whise Mentor Figure Muten Roshi, and non combatative Sidekicks like Pool as hard.
While the original Story was a Comedy, Z deviated so much from that, when the Buu Ark reintroduced Humor, it felt very out of place. Vegeto fighting Buu as Candy, or the entire Fusion Dance.
And overall, the Comedy just sucks and is only carried by its Status as a Classic.
The Manga is absolute unable to make any Charakter interesting whitout powercreep. Every Villian has to be stronger then the last, and if possible overwelmingly stronger.
This is a bad behavior a lot of Storys copyed and plagued the Scene up to this Day.
The old Dragonball was fun, it was all about exploring, and adventure, and this mystical Tressure, the Dragonballs. In Z its just fighting very bland, Badguys who have no deeper Motivation besides enjoying the Suffering they cause. It sucks all the Joy out of it.
No wonder Son Gohan had a different Perspective on Fighting then his Father.
His Father had the oppurtunity to experience Martial Arts as Sport, not as a Tool to murder your Opponet, before he murders you.
The Freeza Saga, the one Ark who tried to make the Search for Dragonballs great again had nearly zero Focus on the Namekians, the Planet was bland, and it was all about the Enemy Force.
So no, I dont think Dragonball Z is good. Its better then the Anime, but its not good.
May 30, 2022
I love the design of Kohaku's village. And a lot of the details within the artwork are intricate and beautiful. It manages to blend together seriousness with goofiness pretty seamlessly. And the fact that this manga doesn't limit itself to more realistic scientific advances, and instead has the characters reaching for the stars, makes it so we as the readers sit on the edge of our seats, never quite knowing what ridiculous inventions will be made in the next story arc. Like, I seriously wouldn't be surprised if at some point, this manga goes entirely into the realm of sci-fi and has Senku making gadgets more advanced than what the real world can currently actually do. The story is split into five parts: The intro , the village , the conflict against Tsukasa, the conflict against Ibara, and the conflict against Xeno/Stanley . I think the least interesting sections are the village section and the conflict against Tsukasa. I think the conflict against Ibara might be my favorite section, though the Xeno/Stanley one has been pretty solid overall as well. The final battles within each of the conflict sections feel as though they will end up being THE climactic battle of the manga. In other words, the manga does a good job of making each conflict feel weighty and important.
January 1, 2018
This book was about a men named goku. He is the earths most powerful warrior who uses ki and physical strength. He faces a bun of bad guys who are way stronger then him but always ends up beating them som how. Soon goku trains everyday and every time to become the strongest warrior on earth. Whenever the earth is threatened and his family and friends are not safe he always steps in to rescue the earth from bad and his friend and family. Goku is one of my favorite character because no matter how strong the opponent is he loves to fight them. Especially when the opponent is stronger then him.
December 22, 2025
In contrast to Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, set 5 years after Dragon Ball actually has a storyline. It’s not a very original plot. Evil alien superhero fighter (Raditz) is sent to eradicate humanity from earth. Our main plot hero, Son Goku discovers that Raditz is his brother, but doesn’t have his magical tail. Evil alien superhero fighter villain kidnaps Son Goku’s little boy to force Son Goku to join with him in murdering everyone, Son Goku teams up with old arch enemy, Piccolo, to find his son and fight Raditz saving humanity from a grizzly end.
It’s mildly entertaining.
It’s mildly entertaining.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2025
Wow. Just wow. Dragon Ball Z stands as one of the greatest mangas ever created. From its legendary fight scenes to its unforgettable characters and emotional arcs, it set the standard for shonen storytelling. Toriyama’s creativity, humor, and sense of scale shaped the genre in a way few others ever have. Before his passing, he delivered something truly historic. This isn’t just a classic, it’s top 3 of all time, without question.
February 17, 2019
Very hard for me. If I am objective the repetitive nature of the plot isn't spectacular but I love the series so much. So it's going to get a 5 star review even if I know it isn't, but it is a very bias perspective.
July 1, 2025
The story has great characters, amazing story, and absolutely no plot. Even though the entire story doesn't have a plot, each arc does which makes up for it. I really liked the Namek saga, showing future Trunks and foreshadowing the future and the relationship between Future Trunks and Vegeta.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 16, 2019
This book i really recommend to people who like fighting and action and its a manga book its pretty long but its really good
December 31, 2019
This is my childhood.
Goku is cool, but Gohan is my favorite Character
Goku is cool, but Gohan is my favorite Character
March 10, 2023
Fucking masterpiece
February 25, 2020
This is one of the best mangas I ever read, it is very vivid and the story is very interesting how Goku and his friends protect the earth from bad guys like Frieza or Cell.
February 17, 2017
I liked this book a lot because there is this one person named Goku and he is a friendly person. Goku is in a lot of trouble because he met a guy named Vegeta and they fought. After they fought, he was really hurt and then after recovering he fought other people. The people he fought were called elites. But I think this book is good.
December 20, 2016
Namek Saga
Captain Ginyu Saga
When Frieza, a tyrant ruler takes over Namek. Frieza has no mercy and kills everyone who disobeys him. With Namek at its knees to Frieza, Grand Elder Guru sends Namekian Dende to give the key to Krillin and Gohan. With the key the hope to summon Porunga, the Namekian Dragon. Although, Frieza sends his army to kill them, but they fail. Krillin and Gohan steal Frieza's ship and go to summon the dragon, but the dragon already has been summoned. They need more men to come in and defeat Frieza. With the help of King Kai they summon Yamcha, Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu and Piccolo, but they can only summon one at a time, they need more dragonballs. With the crew struggling to defeat Frieza, Goku awakens from his medical machine to fight frieza. After a long deadly fight Goku go super saiyan and kills Frieza. The people of Namek are so grateful, in return they give Goku some of the most valuable and rare dragonballs.
Captain Ginyu Saga
When Frieza, a tyrant ruler takes over Namek. Frieza has no mercy and kills everyone who disobeys him. With Namek at its knees to Frieza, Grand Elder Guru sends Namekian Dende to give the key to Krillin and Gohan. With the key the hope to summon Porunga, the Namekian Dragon. Although, Frieza sends his army to kill them, but they fail. Krillin and Gohan steal Frieza's ship and go to summon the dragon, but the dragon already has been summoned. They need more men to come in and defeat Frieza. With the help of King Kai they summon Yamcha, Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu and Piccolo, but they can only summon one at a time, they need more dragonballs. With the crew struggling to defeat Frieza, Goku awakens from his medical machine to fight frieza. After a long deadly fight Goku go super saiyan and kills Frieza. The people of Namek are so grateful, in return they give Goku some of the most valuable and rare dragonballs.
Read
November 2, 2012It's a good book.
January 9, 2013
PWNAGE
December 11, 2013
If someone would have asked me to recommend this book,I would say "yes,if they enjoy some Japanese influence their young lit." 10/23/13 ends on page 167
November 17, 2017
La persistencia de Gokú y el orgullo de Vegueta. Increíble manga que me hizo disfrutar inmensamente en mi niñez. Un cuento que todo niño debería leer.
Read
December 2, 2017MY LORD
I WORSHIP IT
I WORSHIP IT
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews