Dragon Ball (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 7: Includes vols. 19, 20 & 21

Dragon Ball Omnibus #7

by Akira Toriyama

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...

Goku vs. Vegeta!

Goku and Vegeta face off at last, and both are determined to emerge victorious in this epic fight. And if battling the ruthless Vegeta weren’t enough, Son Goku and friends must obtain the wish-granting Dragon Balls in order to resurrect their fallen allies! Their search will take them all the way to the planet Namek, where evil Freeza and his minions are slaughtering the Namekians to fulfill Freeza’s wish for immortality.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Graphic Novels, Comics Manga, Fantasy, Japanese Literature, Fiction

552 pages, Paperback

First published December 2, 2014

About the author

Akira 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.

Reviews

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun fact! Back in the day, I used to pretty much exclusively read manga! Before I'd ever consider picking up a book, I'd spend all my time reading stuff like this. Before I'd ever read a book with a shirtless man on the cover, I'd read Dragon Ball. Well, there's still a lot of shirtless men in this series (Goku spends most of this installment alone half-dressed), So I guess my reading habits haven't changed all that much. This is basically me going back to my roots! I just never really wanted to log every single manga I’ve read on here because it’d be a little tedious to go through and remember and rate everything from Hunter X Hunter to Yu Yu Hakusho (they're by the same author, I just can't think of another manga right now). So there’s no need to worry, I won’t bombard your feeds with forty volumes of Naruto! Then again, it would be a good way to finish off my reading goal real quick, wouldn’t it? Huh. Anyway, I’ve read and watched Dragon Ball a million billion times and it feels a little weird to actually sit down and talk about it in any depth. I’m so used to everybody just knowing all the characters and every single story beat that it feels silly to summarize and try to explain what’s going on. This is classic stuff here! This specific volume follows the titanic battle between Goku and the evil alien invader, Vegeta. And I really do believe that the art in this manga never looked cleaner and more beautiful in its dynamic simplicity! I’ve always had a hard time with most action manga because the fight scenes are often so confusing and hard to comprehend that my eyes would often glaze over. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s nice to read a manga where I can see and understand everything that’s going on.

Moving on though, after his defeat in this volume, Vegeta then goes down the very long, winding road to redemption; he slowly goes from a reluctant, teeth-clenched ally to our heroes, to eventual hero in his own right. He’s one of the most well-known anti-heroes in the medium, and it’s always fun to read through and see his character development from the start. He’s also an interesting character because the author, Akira Toriyama, didn’t actually plan on keeping him around for very long, but felt forced to give him more and more screen time because fans of the series loved him so much. Seriously, they couldn’t get enough of him! I just think it's really funny to have a character that the author hates running around and eventually worming his way into the main cast of characters, simply because he’s too popular to kill off. Anyway, the fight also has some interesting narrative weight to it too! As Goku is the underdog “lower class” fighter who represents an innate want to improve himself, while Vegeta staunchly adheres to the “might makes right” mentality. He’s a real dirty dog in this volume, and it was so very satisfying to read along as Goku kicks his ass. Take him down a peg, you know? So, if you thought Dragon Ball was just two dudes punching each other… well, you’d be right. Mostly. I don’t know, when it comes to Dragon Ball, there’s always been something a little more to it that makes it all the more special to me. Which is honestly saying something considering this whole story started as a gag manga! I think Dragon Ball's simple morality is... um, simple, but it always spoke to me in a way that other manga didn't.

[Khurram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great collection of Dragon Ball comics. The first fight between Goku and Vegeta. Then another glimmer of hope from the Dragon Balls. There were 2 types of types of art work in this collection, I personally prefer the darker art work, however the other artwork was great as well. Great action and art. I am also impressed with the way they managed to condense the story covering all the important parts, and leaving out all the rubbish. The the 36 page art gallery at the end.

[James DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is when Dragon Ball Z really ramps up. After the arrival of Nappa and Vegeta the remaining Z warriors stand firm against the evils of the aliens.

And they get utterly demolished.

See, for a lot of people in the West, dragon ball z was their first anime. If not their first anime, DBZ was the first series they watched (instead of Dragon Ball). So watching the warriors of earth getting killed one by one is both shocking and shows how truly scary Vegeta and Nappa can really be.

The first half of this volume is actually just Nappa murdering everyone. He single handily kills 3/4ths of the team. I won't go into too much spoiles (Even though this series is nearly 30 fucking years old now) but lets just say that warriors who were able to match themselves up against goku in the past get murdered without a second thought in a simple chapter.

But the highlight of this volume isn't actually that. It's the fight of Goku verse Vegeta. Sure, Nappa's short fight with goku is iconic for multiple reasons. We first get introduced to Kaio Ken (A personal favorite attack for me with goku) and also the famous "It's over 9000!!!!" Though that is a misquote and is never said in the Manga. Still, the fight is short but shows how much Goku's training meant.

Then the fight against Goku verse Vegeta is breathtaking. Each time we think one of them has the upperhand, they pull off some insane shit. What's so great about this battle is the over confident Vegeta breaks slowly throughout the battle. But what is also great besides the introduction of Kaio Ken X 3 (AND 4!!!) and Gohan getting to shine a bit, is Vegeta's relentlessness. Like damn, my dude here gets hit with attack after attack, and just keeps chugging along. He's like the fucking terminator of this series at this point.

I can keep going on and on as this is top 3 arcs for me in Dragon Ball series (DB/DBZ/DBGT/Super) and I think it showcases Goku's fighting abilities so well, but also gets to let everyone shine (even if it's brief) while also showcasing awesome villains. This is truly what most Shonen Manga's hope to be, and I really can't blame them. A 5 out of 5.

[Siona Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really fun!! This is the part of Dragon Ball (Z?) that I really like, so all of the volumes from here on out will probably be 5-star books. I can't wait to get to the Cell Saga (he's my favorite DBZ character).

[rhysciar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well... at last we arrive on Namek, and we meet Freeza. I just love this arc, this is my favorite from the manga. Has a great nostalgia factor, I get to remember my childhood with this one.
Anyway, let's just clear the air now: Vegeta did win over Goku. He defeated Goku in their first fight fair and square, and nobody coud handle Vegeta. Not Goku, not Gohan, not Piccolo, not Kuririn (lol). So he is a great warrior.
The other parts were great too, good to see Gohan handling his way, and I'm eager to read about the big battle betwwen Goku and Freeza.

[Rory Wilding · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Goku flies his way as quickly as possible to get back to Earth, the Z fighters are already in serious trouble as follows the death of Yamcha, the rest are about to feel the Saiyan wrath of Nappa. For two-thirds of the volume, it is just action and that’s pretty much want you want from Dragon Ball.

As our heroes are picked off one at a time, Akira Toriyama does not hold back on how violent these fights are as Nappa is all about brute strength as displayed in how can take down the likes of Tenshinhan and Piccolo. The latter of which hits hard, not only because he was my favourite character growing up, but he sacrifices himself to protect Gohan, of which he had an emotional attachment. Although death can at times be irrelevant in the world of Dragon Ball, Toriyama can still pull the heart strings.

Nappa may be ruthless, but he is still the lunkheaded henchman of Vegeta, who may be smaller, but his menacing stance is enough to establish that he is even more powerful. We start to witness Vegeta’s power once Goku finally makes to the battle, despite being too late to save most of his allies. However, being trained by the Lord of Worlds, Kaiō-Sama, Goku avenges his friends’ deaths by easily whooping Nappa’s ass. Although Goku doesn’t specifically kill him, Vegeta does the honour and kills Nappa, based on his own sense of what weakness is.

As Gohan and Kuririn are told by Goku to retreat, we come to the fight we’ve all been waiting for: Goku versus Vegeta, marking the start of a long-running rivalry that is at the heart of DBZ. By this point, it is simply good versus evil as Goku is fighting to protect the Earth, whilst Vegeta arrogantly believes his noble blood is what makes him superior to everyone else, especially when it comes to strength. The fight between these two is one for the ages as Toriyama’s illustrated action, you feel the pain that the characters go through, whilst the anticipation keeps ramping up as Goku and Vegeta are just unleashing special move after special move against each other.

As Goku gets more and more injured, Gohan and Kuririn head back to save him, whilst Yajirobe suddenly pops up and becomes the unsung hero of the battle. It also has one of my favourite Gohan moments as he continues to be the secret weapon that gets his brief moment to unleash his power and it’s glorious. With everyone bruised up, Vegeta makes his escape in the space pod and the battle is over, yet the outcome is more of a downer, especially that due to Piccolo’s death, Kami-Sama is also dead and thus the Dragon Balls are no more.

However, because Kami-Sama was originally from Planet Namek, where the Dragon Balls originated from, the next adventure is set as Bulma, Gohan and Kuririn travel to the planet to find the seven Dragon Balls in order to wish for the resurrection of their friends. Whilst Goku takes a backseat for most of this section as he recovers in the hospital, I like that Toriyama shifts gears with this trio as although they travel through space to reach Namek, we’re somewhat back to the roots of the original series that was the search of the Dragon Balls, which lead to the exploration of new and different environments.

Of course, once the trio arrives on Namek, they are not the only group search for the Dragon Balls as Vegeta returns fully recovered to achieve his own goals, despite negating the superiority of arguably the most iconic villain in all of Dragon Ball: Freeza. As he and his men massacre Namekian villages one after another to claim the Balls, Freeza establishes his villainy right from the jump as despite how small he looks, he’s basically one big space racist. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Goku hears the news about what’s been happening at Namek and after a quick recovery from eating a senzu bean, he receives his own spaceship and flies to the faraway planet and trains for whatever old and new threats will be awaiting him.

[Honeypie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pakshet, ang haba. Hahaha!

Anyway, still so entertaining! There are a lot of really, really, really strong fighters. Is Son Goku really the strongest of them all!?

---

Kuririn: Why don't we just run away?! Why just stand here and die?!
Piccolo: Fool... They're planning to annihilate mankind anyway... Do you prefer to die running or standing?

Si Piccolo lang sakalam.

[Ladson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good but the Namekians looked gross.

[Marko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, being sick and of your phone leaves the time to finish this in a day. It was a fun read. The iconic "it's over 9000" is said in this edition (although it's 8000 here). I'll include some spoilers to explain the 4 star rating.

At the start, we get to see 3 of our main characters finished off and one of the villains. So it leaves Goku, Kuririrn, and Gohan against Vegeta. This battle lasts for 3/4 of this omnibus volume. So when they finally defeat Vegeta, barely scraping by and with some luck, Goku decides it's better to let him be so that he can defeat him on his own. This is both stupid and selfish in my view. The guy was about to destroy the whole planet, and you let him of the hook. I expect he won't kill him later either like he hasn't any of his opponents so far. It's starting to become predictable a bit. They are now on another adventure to find new dragon balls that will enable the revivial of their dead friends (which we thought was impossible after the death of Picollo). So, while the way the battles are playing out is new and interesting, I'm missing some Game of Thrones energy where an important character simply dies, not to be seen again. It's not going to stop me from reading the rest of these as I got kinda hooked, and they're a real fun and easy read for when you want to look at pictures to follow along with the plot.

[Matthew Brady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hey, it's another fun set of volumes, with Goku and pals fighting a massive battle against some guys from Goku's home planet. Vegeta is the main bad guy here, and he's super-powerful, killing several members of the cast and pushing Goku past his limits, with the good guys only barely beating him. But then it's on to another conflict, as some characters head to the planet where the dragon balls originated in hopes of resurrecting everyone who died. Except Vegeta has healed up and headed there too, along with a bunch of guys that are even more powerful. Looks like more awesome fights to come...

[Ben Nealis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the most iconic panels for the franchise can be found in this omnibus. Great read as always.

[Ruben Monteiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

We're reading all of them with my son, and it has been quite fun. This one gets to be a bit to violent and totally moving away from the humour and adventures.
I feel that we get back to the silliness later on, with Bubu and other characters. But knowing that what's to come is and endless battle against Freeza... think this is it.
My plan was this from the start: read until Freeza. But not that I arrive, makes me sad that I should have stopped on the previous book actually.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Over... 8,000...”
Ridiculously macho in the best way. It reminds me of playing with action figures as a kid, just mashing characters together to make them fight and making explosion noises. I definitely see where the “DBZ fights go on forever” thing comes from.
Vegeta rocks. He’s a goofy little runt with a vanity problem. I didn’t realize he was that short and that’s too dang funny.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for work.

[Hew La France · Rating 5 out of 5]

At this point, reviewing entries in Dragon Ball is a smidge difficult, as I'd simply be repeating the praises I've lavished on the previous entries. Toriyama is a master, plain and simple.

[Laurian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ugh. It was pretty good except for the problematic character of Bulma and the fact that the Turtle Master is a lech.

[Steventhesteve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reliving the cartoons of my youth by reading the books. Good fun, especially since it started being about friends and enemies and battles and struggles, and less about Bulma's tits.

[Viggo Pedersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

3-in-1 book 7. Containing volume 19, 20 & 21.
Chapters 217 to 252.
Defeating the aliens, and 3 of our heroes goes into space!

[Paola · Rating 4 out of 5]

vegeta gmfu

[David Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like there's a pretty big difference in tone of these DBZ manga than the original Dragon Ball. A lot more brutal, a lot less lighthearted. Still, it's some damn good stuff.

[Sarah Reffstrup · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vegeta er mit ultimative OG bad boy crush hahahahahah

[PottWab Regional Library]

SM

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my childhood.

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wins with some real losses really make this volume an intense one.


Also, the chapter covers in the back of this volume are some of my favorites.

[genrejourneys · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forgot Yamcha died.😅

[Jonas · Rating 5 out of 5]

(this review just refers to the conclusion of the Saiyan arc)

It's simple but good. The unending showdown between Vegeta and Goku is excellent. Killing Piccolo didn't make much sense, especially because Vegeta just has a hunch there are more Dragon Balls on Namek. Why risk it when you clearly have the upper hand on Earth? Pride I guess, and that fights well with his character. And Toriyama knew there would in fact be dragon balls on Namek - there had to be to solve all the death in this volume.