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Dragon Ball Full Color #16
Dragon Ball Full Color: Freeza Arc, Vol. 1
After his epic battle with Vegeta, Son Goku and his 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 the evil Freeza and his minions are slaughtering the Namekians in order to fulfill Freeza’s wish for immortality. What will it take to defeat this great evil?
248 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 2016
23 people are currently reading
142 people want to read
About the author
Akira Toriyama
1,919 books1,729 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 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 11, 2025
EN Krillin, Son Gohan, and Bulma travel to Namek in hopes of resurrecting their friends who died defending Earth from Vegeta.
Unfortunately, they aren’t the only ones searching for the Namekian Dragon Balls. Vegeta has also arrived, fully recovered, and a powerful new enemy is on the hunt as well.
Completely outmatched, our heroes will have to do their best with the little they have.
Back on Earth, Son Goku has finally recovered from his injuries and is en route to Namek aboard a ship built by Bulma’s father.
Reading this in color feels just like rewatching the anime — it’s been an absolute delight!
--
PT Krillin, Son Gohan e Bulma viajam até Namek com a esperança de ressuscitar os seus amigos que morreram a defender a Terra de Vegeta.
Infelizmente, não são os únicos à procura das Esferas do Dragão de Namek. Vegeta também já chegou, totalmente recuperado, e um novo inimigo poderoso está igualmente em busca das esferas.
Completamente em desvantagem, os nossos heróis terão de dar o seu melhor com os poucos recursos que têm.
Na Terra, Son Goku recuperou finalmente dos seus ferimentos e está a caminho de Namek numa nave construída pelo pai da Bulma.
Ler isto a cores é como voltar a ver o anime — tem sido um verdadeiro prazer!
Unfortunately, they aren’t the only ones searching for the Namekian Dragon Balls. Vegeta has also arrived, fully recovered, and a powerful new enemy is on the hunt as well.
Completely outmatched, our heroes will have to do their best with the little they have.
Back on Earth, Son Goku has finally recovered from his injuries and is en route to Namek aboard a ship built by Bulma’s father.
Reading this in color feels just like rewatching the anime — it’s been an absolute delight!
--
PT Krillin, Son Gohan e Bulma viajam até Namek com a esperança de ressuscitar os seus amigos que morreram a defender a Terra de Vegeta.
Infelizmente, não são os únicos à procura das Esferas do Dragão de Namek. Vegeta também já chegou, totalmente recuperado, e um novo inimigo poderoso está igualmente em busca das esferas.
Completamente em desvantagem, os nossos heróis terão de dar o seu melhor com os poucos recursos que têm.
Na Terra, Son Goku recuperou finalmente dos seus ferimentos e está a caminho de Namek numa nave construída pelo pai da Bulma.
Ler isto a cores é como voltar a ver o anime — tem sido um verdadeiro prazer!
November 11, 2022
The artwork looks so much better than the anime.
Read
March 22, 2021DNF
MY brother made me read this. I got to chapter 5/75 and couldn’t take it. I was forcing myself to read this and didn’t want to. He didn’t care that I DNFed it so yay😂
MY brother made me read this. I got to chapter 5/75 and couldn’t take it. I was forcing myself to read this and didn’t want to. He didn’t care that I DNFed it so yay😂
February 17, 2020
To Namek! And Dragon Ball continues its upward ascent, essentially the manga's best arc (I personally prefer King Piccolo, but whatever).
This is the first time we really get DB without Son Goku. He was dead and on his way back to life during the fights against Nappa, but that hardly counts. Too little "narrative movement." Taopaipai, in killing Upa's father so long ago also took the series's adventure elements as collateral. A tournament, a beeline toward King Piccolo, another tournament, and standing still to await the Saiyans. We finally move back into... moving. And Son Goku takes a break to give us more time to care about Krillin again, while also giving more time to develop interest in Son Gohan's character, and build on the threat of Vegeta (likewise setting up his eventual redemption - it's too weird to see Super, the Goku and Vegeta show, where no one else gets to shine, and look back and read Vegeta as a villain).
There is a concern in battle manga to focus on fighting at the cost of developing anything more interesting in the narrative. Son Goku is the hero. We've seen him defeat numerous threats. He took on the Red Ribbon Army almost singlehandedly. He killed King Piccolo so hard the demon lord gave birth. He put up great fights against Piccolo Jr. and Vegeta and spared him to keep his fight-boner going. Let's give him a break before Freeza! We saw Gohan's potential in the Saiyan arc. We need more to tide us over before the climax of the Cell Game. Krillin has always been a buddy to Goku, but he rarely gets to do anything. Bulma too. Let's have them do shit for a second! Let's build Vegeta's character beyond being a retread of King Piccolo (while Freeza becomes another King Piccolo...)! In adventure manga, the aim seems to be "movement" toward what I'd call "dynamic setpieces," big things happening in new settings to further build a sense of wonder. Battle manga is different. It relies more on "static setpieces." Fights. A fight can move around the world, go into space, but the changes in physical arena are not as important as the imaginary pseudo-arena linking the combatants. Manga battles may move around, but we're not exactly meant to care about changes in location so much as developments in the fight itself. Who has the upper hand now, &c. Namek is a different planet from Earth, but it doesn't offer much in terms of sightseeing. It is merely a large battlefield for the Earthlings, Vegeta, Freeza's forces, and eventually Goku and Piccolo. The premise, then, of this arc is to simulate the earliest adventures of Bulma and Son Goku while escalating the action as introduced with the first tournament way back when. Move around Namek to collect the Dragon Balls, dodge Freeza's army as needed, dodge Vegeta, and so on. An adventure for the Earthlings. In the meantime, Vegeta is our "hero" for the "action" side, maintaining a degree of "villainy" with the brutality by which he hunts Freeza's men, which will culminate in the summoning of the Ginyu Tokusentai next volume, forcing Vegeta to team up with Krillin and Son Gohan.
There is another concern in battle manga to introduce plot conveniences to blow over harsh developments and get our boys back to fighting. The title objects of this manga, the Dragon Balls, have the means of resurrecting the dead. A hero dies in a fight against a villain, but we can bring him back eventually. We also have senzu, which can fully recuperate a battered warrior rather than take the time to heal naturally or with medical science. Despite the room for "asspulls," Toriyama knows what he's doing. Goku has to stay in hospital because it takes time for senzu to grow, which is part an excuse to keep Goku away from action and part a way of giving Krillin, Gohan, Bulma, and Vegeta shit to do in the meantime. Goku will grow immensely strong. On the verge of becoming a "Super Saiyan." Hell, everyone knows by now that he is a Super Saiyan, and can even activate "god ki" later down the line, but the point is Goku is functionally a narrative tool himself. Raise the takes by putting Krillin and Gohan's lives in danger, and play with tension for the audience's amusement until we get release with Goku's eventual arrival (next volume). Tease us, blueball us for the entirety of this volume and the second "Full Color Freeza Arc" book before we can cum with Goku destroying the Ginyu Tokusentai. Let the man stay wrapped up in his casts in his hospital bed! Allow the senzu to grow! I'm enjoying the delay of my gratification!
Some really cool shit in these chapters, despite being only the beginning of the Freeza arc. Power-levels have increased so much since the origin of the series, and ki attacks have gotten absurd in their strength. Vegeta reduces Kiwi to nothingness, with a seemingly invisible attack that splatters Freeza's soldier into fireworks. Vegeta hits Dodoria with a ki blast so powerful the art makes it look like Dodoria's head is about to be pulled off by the force of the attack. Both instances feature Toriyama's brilliant cartoonish facial expressions to show the shock of the defeated enemies, as well as to highlight just how fucked up they've gotten in the battle (this will reach its zenith with the beautiful death of Cell by SS2 Gohan much later on). Krillin and Gohan get moments early on as well, when they strike Freeza goons with enough strength to seemingly break their nexts, also prompting goofy faces. We also get neat moments when Toriyama cheekily reveals the true purpose of Namek's topography: to be fodder for cool explosions. Several large ki attacks are shown to obliterate islands and have the void in the planet's surface filled in with the surrounding waters, an effect that's always fun to see.
Toriyama is truly a master at manga-drawing (or, he was), and honestly anyone who dislikes Dragon Ball, at least the stretch from Tenshinhan to Freeza arcs, likely either hates Fun itself, or more specifically just hates manga. I spit on such people.
Also, when I was a child, I thought it was weird that Zarbon had those thigh-highs. As an adult, it's just weird that he's too "swole" for them, as I guess I'm used to stuff like Astolfo from Fate/Apocrypha and others in that vein....
This is the first time we really get DB without Son Goku. He was dead and on his way back to life during the fights against Nappa, but that hardly counts. Too little "narrative movement." Taopaipai, in killing Upa's father so long ago also took the series's adventure elements as collateral. A tournament, a beeline toward King Piccolo, another tournament, and standing still to await the Saiyans. We finally move back into... moving. And Son Goku takes a break to give us more time to care about Krillin again, while also giving more time to develop interest in Son Gohan's character, and build on the threat of Vegeta (likewise setting up his eventual redemption - it's too weird to see Super, the Goku and Vegeta show, where no one else gets to shine, and look back and read Vegeta as a villain).
There is a concern in battle manga to focus on fighting at the cost of developing anything more interesting in the narrative. Son Goku is the hero. We've seen him defeat numerous threats. He took on the Red Ribbon Army almost singlehandedly. He killed King Piccolo so hard the demon lord gave birth. He put up great fights against Piccolo Jr. and Vegeta and spared him to keep his fight-boner going. Let's give him a break before Freeza! We saw Gohan's potential in the Saiyan arc. We need more to tide us over before the climax of the Cell Game. Krillin has always been a buddy to Goku, but he rarely gets to do anything. Bulma too. Let's have them do shit for a second! Let's build Vegeta's character beyond being a retread of King Piccolo (while Freeza becomes another King Piccolo...)! In adventure manga, the aim seems to be "movement" toward what I'd call "dynamic setpieces," big things happening in new settings to further build a sense of wonder. Battle manga is different. It relies more on "static setpieces." Fights. A fight can move around the world, go into space, but the changes in physical arena are not as important as the imaginary pseudo-arena linking the combatants. Manga battles may move around, but we're not exactly meant to care about changes in location so much as developments in the fight itself. Who has the upper hand now, &c. Namek is a different planet from Earth, but it doesn't offer much in terms of sightseeing. It is merely a large battlefield for the Earthlings, Vegeta, Freeza's forces, and eventually Goku and Piccolo. The premise, then, of this arc is to simulate the earliest adventures of Bulma and Son Goku while escalating the action as introduced with the first tournament way back when. Move around Namek to collect the Dragon Balls, dodge Freeza's army as needed, dodge Vegeta, and so on. An adventure for the Earthlings. In the meantime, Vegeta is our "hero" for the "action" side, maintaining a degree of "villainy" with the brutality by which he hunts Freeza's men, which will culminate in the summoning of the Ginyu Tokusentai next volume, forcing Vegeta to team up with Krillin and Son Gohan.
There is another concern in battle manga to introduce plot conveniences to blow over harsh developments and get our boys back to fighting. The title objects of this manga, the Dragon Balls, have the means of resurrecting the dead. A hero dies in a fight against a villain, but we can bring him back eventually. We also have senzu, which can fully recuperate a battered warrior rather than take the time to heal naturally or with medical science. Despite the room for "asspulls," Toriyama knows what he's doing. Goku has to stay in hospital because it takes time for senzu to grow, which is part an excuse to keep Goku away from action and part a way of giving Krillin, Gohan, Bulma, and Vegeta shit to do in the meantime. Goku will grow immensely strong. On the verge of becoming a "Super Saiyan." Hell, everyone knows by now that he is a Super Saiyan, and can even activate "god ki" later down the line, but the point is Goku is functionally a narrative tool himself. Raise the takes by putting Krillin and Gohan's lives in danger, and play with tension for the audience's amusement until we get release with Goku's eventual arrival (next volume). Tease us, blueball us for the entirety of this volume and the second "Full Color Freeza Arc" book before we can cum with Goku destroying the Ginyu Tokusentai. Let the man stay wrapped up in his casts in his hospital bed! Allow the senzu to grow! I'm enjoying the delay of my gratification!
Some really cool shit in these chapters, despite being only the beginning of the Freeza arc. Power-levels have increased so much since the origin of the series, and ki attacks have gotten absurd in their strength. Vegeta reduces Kiwi to nothingness, with a seemingly invisible attack that splatters Freeza's soldier into fireworks. Vegeta hits Dodoria with a ki blast so powerful the art makes it look like Dodoria's head is about to be pulled off by the force of the attack. Both instances feature Toriyama's brilliant cartoonish facial expressions to show the shock of the defeated enemies, as well as to highlight just how fucked up they've gotten in the battle (this will reach its zenith with the beautiful death of Cell by SS2 Gohan much later on). Krillin and Gohan get moments early on as well, when they strike Freeza goons with enough strength to seemingly break their nexts, also prompting goofy faces. We also get neat moments when Toriyama cheekily reveals the true purpose of Namek's topography: to be fodder for cool explosions. Several large ki attacks are shown to obliterate islands and have the void in the planet's surface filled in with the surrounding waters, an effect that's always fun to see.
Toriyama is truly a master at manga-drawing (or, he was), and honestly anyone who dislikes Dragon Ball, at least the stretch from Tenshinhan to Freeza arcs, likely either hates Fun itself, or more specifically just hates manga. I spit on such people.
Also, when I was a child, I thought it was weird that Zarbon had those thigh-highs. As an adult, it's just weird that he's too "swole" for them, as I guess I'm used to stuff like Astolfo from Fate/Apocrypha and others in that vein....
May 13, 2022
Dragon Ball goes intergalactic! The stakes have now leveled up to more cosinus levels, and the resurrection of some of our heroes hangs in the balance. And enter the villainous Freeza. A great start to this arc!
October 27, 2023
A nostalgic read for me and loved it even more this time around!
The full color edition is beautiful and the story is as epic as ever. Action packed with awesome comic relief with jokes that still does not feel childish or outdated.
The full color edition is beautiful and the story is as epic as ever. Action packed with awesome comic relief with jokes that still does not feel childish or outdated.
July 30, 2024
In questo volume Freezer e la sua squadra compaiono in una dinamica che va oltre i buoni e cattivi.
Vedremo delle inimicizie anche fra i cattivi che si fronteggiano fra di loro per ottenere le sfere del drago del pianeta Namecc.
Recensione completa alla fine della saga
Vedremo delle inimicizie anche fra i cattivi che si fronteggiano fra di loro per ottenere le sfere del drago del pianeta Namecc.
Recensione completa alla fine della saga
May 30, 2018
It didn't occur to me until I started reading this but when I watched Dragon Ball Z as a kid, it was the Freeza arc so this brought back some memories.
March 10, 2021
The full color version is much bigger than your standard black and white manga. If you are looking for epic battles, this is a great series.
June 29, 2021
The colors are great.
February 7, 2022
First time reading any Dragon Ball. Found it interesting and helped to explain some things I watched on anime shows. Entertaining and interesting to read.
February 12, 2023
DB se pone espaciaaaaaaaal.
March 20, 2023
On the next episode of DRAGON BALL Z!!!
So much nostalgia and also so good in color.
So much nostalgia and also so good in color.
May 12, 2023
Freeza!
The full color is beautiful! Brings back lot memories when I read it 20 years ago! Look forward to Cell story!
The full color is beautiful! Brings back lot memories when I read it 20 years ago! Look forward to Cell story!
November 17, 2025
Questo volume mi è piaciuto molto, soprattutto per le tavole a colori. La storia ci insegna che gli amici non vanno abbandonati come non va abbandonata la speranza che riponiamo nelle nostre capacità di affrontare una difficoltà, anche quando sembra non esserci modo.
September 23, 2017
~3/5
Since I’m not a normal reader of the Dragon Ball books nor do I watch the show, this was a little slow to start for me. I don’t really have any background for the characters or the storyline—I’ve really only read the one book. But it’s a pretty simple story to follow.
It’s surprisingly brutal, with a lot of character deaths happening, a lot of fighting, only most of it brushed off and eased over. But it is a story based on fighting, so I’m not surprised by that part.
Vegeta, Son Goku and Kuririn, and Freeza and his men, are all invading planet Namek to find the dragon balls and to stop each other from finding them all. Son Goku and Kuririn stay in the background mostly, out of the fighting because they know they’re weaker and they are waiting for backup, a.k.a. Goku. Vegeta and Freeza’s group are the ones doing most of the fighting and most of the killing. As we reached the end of the volume, Vegeta is fighting and Goku has almost reached the planet.
This is still a surprisingly fun read. I’m not the audience it’s aimed at, and I have barely read any of the books. But it’s still fun to read, easy to follow, a bit childish but in a good and purposeful way. It’s fun and I can see the appeal.
A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!
[Read more at my blog, Geeky Reading!]
Since I’m not a normal reader of the Dragon Ball books nor do I watch the show, this was a little slow to start for me. I don’t really have any background for the characters or the storyline—I’ve really only read the one book. But it’s a pretty simple story to follow.
It’s surprisingly brutal, with a lot of character deaths happening, a lot of fighting, only most of it brushed off and eased over. But it is a story based on fighting, so I’m not surprised by that part.
Vegeta, Son Goku and Kuririn, and Freeza and his men, are all invading planet Namek to find the dragon balls and to stop each other from finding them all. Son Goku and Kuririn stay in the background mostly, out of the fighting because they know they’re weaker and they are waiting for backup, a.k.a. Goku. Vegeta and Freeza’s group are the ones doing most of the fighting and most of the killing. As we reached the end of the volume, Vegeta is fighting and Goku has almost reached the planet.
This is still a surprisingly fun read. I’m not the audience it’s aimed at, and I have barely read any of the books. But it’s still fun to read, easy to follow, a bit childish but in a good and purposeful way. It’s fun and I can see the appeal.
A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!
[Read more at my blog, Geeky Reading!]
September 22, 2024
One of the greatest manga arcs ever written. Epic and iconic, on the level of Shakespeare.
November 13, 2025
Tomo 1 de 5 de la Saga de Freezer a todo color. Al igual que toda la etapa equivalente a DBZ, tuvo al menos dos impresiones con dos ISBNs distintos.
June 16, 2017
heck yus dragn ball
Read
March 8, 2018Dragon Ball full color, vol 1 freeza arc by Akira Toriyama is about Son Goku and his friends in a fight against Freeza's galactic empire. Goku's son Gohan arrive on Planet namek with their friends, and who is also their but Vegeta The evil saying prince. The whole reason they are on planet namek is to use their dragon balls to revive their friends and the guardian of earth Kami-Sama and replenish the power of the earths dragon ball's. To do it they must fight the galactic king freeza.
This book was very good and full to brink with action. It was heart pounding and at some parts even suspenseful. This book has amazing characters, some are evil, some are heroic, some are greedy, and some are power hungry. Some of the characters get a little wasted in the overall story and plot, but when their used they are amazing.
I would give this book a 8/10, it would get higher but i have read it before and have watched the show version before. All though someone who is new to this series I think would give this book a 9 or a 10. I would recommend this book to new fans and seasoned fans of the series.
This book was very good and full to brink with action. It was heart pounding and at some parts even suspenseful. This book has amazing characters, some are evil, some are heroic, some are greedy, and some are power hungry. Some of the characters get a little wasted in the overall story and plot, but when their used they are amazing.
I would give this book a 8/10, it would get higher but i have read it before and have watched the show version before. All though someone who is new to this series I think would give this book a 9 or a 10. I would recommend this book to new fans and seasoned fans of the series.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews