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Dragon Ball Omnibus #8
Dragon Ball (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 8
Excellent Book
552 pages, Paperback
Published March 3, 2015
3 people are currently reading
121 people want to read
About the author
Akira Toriyama
1,910 books1,739 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 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 9, 2018
A good continuation of the series not as much action in this book, a lot of hide and seek and preparations for things to come. However not as much going on in this book as the others. They also cut bits of Goku's training maybe to add to the mystique of the legendary Super Sayian to come later. This book is the Nemicican trip to the switcheroo. Then we also get 36 page cover gallery.
July 19, 2020
Although we are in the midst of the Freeza Saga, this particular volume is all henchman galore from Vegeta battling Freeza’s high-ranking officers, Zarbon and Dodoria, whilst Gohan and Kuririn try to hide from all threats that would come to harm towards the Namekians and collect the Dragon Balls for evil deeds. As for Bulma, she is pretty much left to hide in her capsule house.
With the various villains popping in throughout, Akira Toriyama is just having a blast in illustrating these incredible action sequences that never feel one-note. Sure, Vegeta may have easily taken out Dodoria, but when he first goes up against Zarbon for the first time, victory isn’t all that easy. In terms of the art itself, you can see a change in Toriyama’s style, as the entirety of Dragon Ball and the early volumes of DBZ were defined by the soft, rounded character design, but now is more angled and harder, which benefits with the greater emphasis on action.
The thing about the Dragon Balls themselves is that they are like the Ark of the Covenant, in that they are the plot device that motivates every character to search for, and since there are seven of them, the storytelling keeps changing as either hero or villain has in possession of one if not all seven Dragon Balls. Since the Balls originated from Planet Namek, we get to know about the race and their culture through Gohan and Kuririn’s interaction with the likes of Dende and Nail, both of which worship the Great Elder, an ancient giant of a Namek who created the Dragon Balls, which can actually grant three wishes.
As Freeza becomes desperate with the Dragon Balls are in the wrong hands, he enforces the Ginyu Force, a team of five super-powered mercenaries. Feeling a sense of fear that we’ve rarely seen from him, Vegeta is determined to get the Balls as soon as possible, much to the reluctance from Gohan and Kuririn, so the three of which have to team up against the Ginyu Force, at least until Goku’s spaceship arrives. This is perhaps the earliest sign of Vegeta shifting sides, very slowly setting up his redemption arc that will become one of the key themes of DBZ.
Despite the sense of terror through just dialogue with others, Toriyama delivers one of the funniest introductions for any character as the Ginyu Force is all about coming up with strange poses. Comprising of Reacoom, Butta, Jheese, Gurd and Captain Ginyu, each of the five mercenaries have their own special abilities that become a challenge for our plucky heroes, from Gurd’s ability to freeze time for as long as he can hold his breath, to Reacoom who names his attacks after himself. The Reacoom fight in particular is just a great mix of action and comedy that Toriyama does well.
The one criticism towards this volume is Toriyama repeats the same situation that Goku went through in the Vegeta Saga, which is that he is on a long journey to reach his final destination, so we have to wait a bit whilst whatever heroes that are left have to survive whatever ordeal they’re going through. Once Goku does arrive in Namek, we pretty much get a repeat of his fight with Nappa, but fortunately, his eventual fight with Captain Ginyu is way more inventive, leading to a very fun cliffhanger for the volume to end on.
With the various villains popping in throughout, Akira Toriyama is just having a blast in illustrating these incredible action sequences that never feel one-note. Sure, Vegeta may have easily taken out Dodoria, but when he first goes up against Zarbon for the first time, victory isn’t all that easy. In terms of the art itself, you can see a change in Toriyama’s style, as the entirety of Dragon Ball and the early volumes of DBZ were defined by the soft, rounded character design, but now is more angled and harder, which benefits with the greater emphasis on action.
The thing about the Dragon Balls themselves is that they are like the Ark of the Covenant, in that they are the plot device that motivates every character to search for, and since there are seven of them, the storytelling keeps changing as either hero or villain has in possession of one if not all seven Dragon Balls. Since the Balls originated from Planet Namek, we get to know about the race and their culture through Gohan and Kuririn’s interaction with the likes of Dende and Nail, both of which worship the Great Elder, an ancient giant of a Namek who created the Dragon Balls, which can actually grant three wishes.
As Freeza becomes desperate with the Dragon Balls are in the wrong hands, he enforces the Ginyu Force, a team of five super-powered mercenaries. Feeling a sense of fear that we’ve rarely seen from him, Vegeta is determined to get the Balls as soon as possible, much to the reluctance from Gohan and Kuririn, so the three of which have to team up against the Ginyu Force, at least until Goku’s spaceship arrives. This is perhaps the earliest sign of Vegeta shifting sides, very slowly setting up his redemption arc that will become one of the key themes of DBZ.
Despite the sense of terror through just dialogue with others, Toriyama delivers one of the funniest introductions for any character as the Ginyu Force is all about coming up with strange poses. Comprising of Reacoom, Butta, Jheese, Gurd and Captain Ginyu, each of the five mercenaries have their own special abilities that become a challenge for our plucky heroes, from Gurd’s ability to freeze time for as long as he can hold his breath, to Reacoom who names his attacks after himself. The Reacoom fight in particular is just a great mix of action and comedy that Toriyama does well.
The one criticism towards this volume is Toriyama repeats the same situation that Goku went through in the Vegeta Saga, which is that he is on a long journey to reach his final destination, so we have to wait a bit whilst whatever heroes that are left have to survive whatever ordeal they’re going through. Once Goku does arrive in Namek, we pretty much get a repeat of his fight with Nappa, but fortunately, his eventual fight with Captain Ginyu is way more inventive, leading to a very fun cliffhanger for the volume to end on.
July 10, 2017
Like I've said in my reviews of the other volumes, this is where I really enjoy Dragon Ball Z. I love the sci-fi setting so much, it's really quite inspirational. The only negative thing about this volume was Reacoom, but he wasn't around for very long.
October 29, 2019
The Ginyu force is here! Actually, before all that, the chase to get the dragon balls begins.
This is really big development for characters like Gohan and Vegeta. Through this arc of Frieza going around the planet killing everyone and gathering the dragon ball, Gohan/Krillian/Vegeta are all doing their best to snatch the dragon balls from the evil forces. While Vegeta here is still evil he gains boost left and right for power, taking Frieza goons down with no mercy. It's both brutal and a delight to see Vegeta unchained.
On the flip side we get plenty of Gohan and Krillian moments, some power ups, and some situations that'll keep you on the edge of your seat. On top of that we get to learn about more about Namek, the people, and where they started. It builds a lot of lore.
The one big negative for me is Goku's arc here is SO similar to Saiyan saga. Basically we are waiting for his arrival, his friends are in danger, he comes in and saves the day in a VERY similar fashion to that saga. It's a bit too much like it.
Overall though, this is a great mid chapter before the explosion of Super Siayan Goku. I'm excited to get to that next but this works well for world building and Vegeta/Gohan show. A 4 out of 5.
This is really big development for characters like Gohan and Vegeta. Through this arc of Frieza going around the planet killing everyone and gathering the dragon ball, Gohan/Krillian/Vegeta are all doing their best to snatch the dragon balls from the evil forces. While Vegeta here is still evil he gains boost left and right for power, taking Frieza goons down with no mercy. It's both brutal and a delight to see Vegeta unchained.
On the flip side we get plenty of Gohan and Krillian moments, some power ups, and some situations that'll keep you on the edge of your seat. On top of that we get to learn about more about Namek, the people, and where they started. It builds a lot of lore.
The one big negative for me is Goku's arc here is SO similar to Saiyan saga. Basically we are waiting for his arrival, his friends are in danger, he comes in and saves the day in a VERY similar fashion to that saga. It's a bit too much like it.
Overall though, this is a great mid chapter before the explosion of Super Siayan Goku. I'm excited to get to that next but this works well for world building and Vegeta/Gohan show. A 4 out of 5.
June 9, 2024
This was both funny and hard to read.
Funny because there are still comical lines and characters. Akira-san just doesn't run out of creating these awesome characters! Lawak ng utak. Haha!
I like the new villain here. He's not strong, but has interesting powers. Makes you wonder how Goku can overcome this.
---
Kaiō-sama: All right, I'll train whoever passes my test! Tell me a joke! Make me laugh!!
Piccolo, Yamcha and Tenshinhan: Eh?!
And so, Piccolo and Tenshinhan face the one test they are worst qualified to handle...
HAHAHAHAHA
Funny because there are still comical lines and characters. Akira-san just doesn't run out of creating these awesome characters! Lawak ng utak. Haha!
I like the new villain here. He's not strong, but has interesting powers. Makes you wonder how Goku can overcome this.
---
Kaiō-sama: All right, I'll train whoever passes my test! Tell me a joke! Make me laugh!!
Piccolo, Yamcha and Tenshinhan: Eh?!
And so, Piccolo and Tenshinhan face the one test they are worst qualified to handle...
HAHAHAHAHA
December 26, 2024
I guess I forgot about this Ginyu Force, but this is a nice filler arc before the big fight with Freeza. I don't really like this powergaining method of the saiyans that they gain chi just because they almost die, but oh well. At least the Ginyu Force is interesting, though Ghurd was a bit of a disappointment with his abilites. I guess they (the Ginyu Force) could have been an undefeatable, invincible team if they would just team up and work together...
Also I'm really interested in this body switch move, I have no clue how Goku will come out of this one.
Also I'm really interested in this body switch move, I have no clue how Goku will come out of this one.
June 1, 2023
Hello Namek. A bit of a slower read then earlier volumes but still fun as normal.
August 8, 2017
It's easy to fly through these volumes pretty quickly, since they're pretty much non-stop, fast-paced action. This set of volumes, however, is mostly setup for future fights, with Kuririn and Gohan facing off against various foes on the planet Namek while they wait for Goku to show up. But it functions as good stakes-raising, since Vegeta is there fighting against different guys, and even though his power has increased enough to defeat some of them, he can't handle others, which makes Goku's easy pounding of these guys when he does finally arise an effective demonstration of his increased power levels (which were built up over his five day space voyage by gradually increasing the gravity levels on the ship up to 100 time earth's gravity, and also working himself to the brink of death over and over again, which is how Saiyans can get ever more awesome). But even though the preliminary victories seem assured, the big bad Freeza is still waiting in the wings, and he apparently dwarfs everyone else, which should make for more awesome battles. So, yeah, this is still pretty fun stuff. We'll see how long it can keep it up.
August 14, 2025
# Dragon Ball volume 8 (3-in-1)
### By Akira Toriyama
- Date Finished: August 4, 2025
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Namek arc is peak, it's so good. Every piece of it, all it's convolotion works so well. The goofy characters in the Ginyu force, the many pronged quest for different groups to get the dragon balls. There are so many perfect moments, and the rules Toriyama has been steadily building inform this world so well.
When you use large amounts of power, you can use a special technique to sense and hone in on that power. This technique is peculiar to Earth, so most aliens have a 'scouter' that lets them track the power. But Vegeta came to Earth and saw the Earthings use it, and also saw them mask their ki. So he learned it (somehow). So we have this great dynamic of the Earthings tracking the dragon balls with bulma's tracker, suppressing their ki to hide, but it slows them down. Then there's Frieza, incredibly powerful, but depends on the scouter to track power levels, and has no way of tracking the dragon balls. (but his scouter is destroyed and he's stuck waiting). There are so many excellent dynamics this creates. I love the moment when Vegeta comes across Gohan stealing a dragon ball.
Dude this arc is just perfect, and this middle portion leading up to Goku's arrival is rock solid. I had a great time here. And of course it's so satisfying when Goku starts wiping the floor with the Ginyu force. I loved it
### By Akira Toriyama
- Date Finished: August 4, 2025
- Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Namek arc is peak, it's so good. Every piece of it, all it's convolotion works so well. The goofy characters in the Ginyu force, the many pronged quest for different groups to get the dragon balls. There are so many perfect moments, and the rules Toriyama has been steadily building inform this world so well.
When you use large amounts of power, you can use a special technique to sense and hone in on that power. This technique is peculiar to Earth, so most aliens have a 'scouter' that lets them track the power. But Vegeta came to Earth and saw the Earthings use it, and also saw them mask their ki. So he learned it (somehow). So we have this great dynamic of the Earthings tracking the dragon balls with bulma's tracker, suppressing their ki to hide, but it slows them down. Then there's Frieza, incredibly powerful, but depends on the scouter to track power levels, and has no way of tracking the dragon balls. (but his scouter is destroyed and he's stuck waiting). There are so many excellent dynamics this creates. I love the moment when Vegeta comes across Gohan stealing a dragon ball.
Dude this arc is just perfect, and this middle portion leading up to Goku's arrival is rock solid. I had a great time here. And of course it's so satisfying when Goku starts wiping the floor with the Ginyu force. I loved it
May 15, 2021
Awwww yeah... bring on the power levels!! At this point we're not just wandering from one martial arts tournament to another, we've moved on to life and death struggles against demonstrable evil. I don't know how much time I spent watching this section of the story in anime form, but it was a lot. the whole Namekian arc (Namek-Ginyu-Freeza-Super Saiyan) is the best part of the series I think, always my favourite part of the anime.
November 14, 2019
This series is so ridiculously macho, I love it. Everyone is running around grabbing the Dragon Balls in an overly complicated game of keep-away, with over-the-top fights interspersed to spice things up. Vegeta is the best; I love the hell-bent tough guy trope and he fits the bill. A really fun time.
July 21, 2019
It was at this point in reading that I got a bit frustrated in the plot of these novels and the whole thing started to feel a bit more like a soap opera than a thought out series. The whole elite fighting squad had only one interesting point and really sucked up almost the entire volume.
June 19, 2017
Read for work.
December 2, 2018
That ending doe!
September 26, 2022
Freiza saga is a masterpiece
December 30, 2022
Omnibus 8 contains volumes 22, 23 and 24. Chapters 253 to 288. The fighting on another planet on outer space continues, and Son Goku finally arrives to help. But is it already too late?!
May 22, 2023
Never disappoints
July 21, 2025
a gift to Ethan; great for learning how to imitate famed artist, Akira Toriyama!!!!
June 19, 2018
This was SO good!!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews