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Dragon Ball [ドラゴンボール] #4

Dragon Ball, Vol. 4: Strongest Under the Heavens

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Goku has made it to the Tenka'ichi Budôkai, the world's #1 martial arts tournament...but even the training of the martial arts master Kame-Sen'nin hasn't prepared him for this! Only seven finalists remain. Will the champion be Goku? His fellow student Kuririn? Yamcha, master of the "Fist of the Wolf Fang"? Fighting woman Ran Fuan? Giran, a rubbery monster who's part dinasaur? Namu, an Indian mystic? Or Jackie Chun, the mysterious old man who may be the toughest fighter of all? There can be only one winner in the wildest, craziest battle ever!

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 1986

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2484 people want to read

About the author

Akira Toriyama

1,919 books1,727 followers
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.

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5 stars
3,882 (60%)
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1,699 (26%)
3 stars
684 (10%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 196 reviews
Profile Image for Urbon Adamsson.
1,959 reviews103 followers
May 10, 2025
PT Este volume é inteiramente dedicado ao torneio 'O Mais Forte Sob os Céus' e termina com o combate final ainda em curso.

A verdadeira identidade de Jackie Chan também é revelada.

--

EN This volume is entirely dedicated to the 'Strongest Under the Heavens' tournament and concludes with the final match still underway.

Jackie Chan's true identity is also revealed.
Profile Image for Ray.
Author 19 books435 followers
April 14, 2024
Dragon Ball's evolution continues, as the tournament is underway and it's still very much a comedy. That said, the nature of tournament-style Shonen stories is all about those powerups and fighting.

It's much simpler than what will come later. Which is kind of why this early era is so great

(Sans, of course, the various inappropriate pervy jokes here and there!)
Profile Image for Jan Philipzig.
Author 1 book310 followers
June 29, 2016
The tournament continues. I don't want to write that it drags on, as the story's over-the-top nature still provides a few fun moments, but I do hope things will go completely off the rails again soon!
Profile Image for Ola G.
521 reviews52 followers
March 29, 2021
All stars!

I loved this one! Had such a laugh at both the wonderfully funny portrayal of the fights and Goku's continued unabashed innocence and ingenuity in his improvement. My favorite volume to date.
Profile Image for Himanshu Karmacharya.
1,148 reviews113 followers
August 31, 2022
The tournament is underway and it was fun to see some old characters back. What makes this even more enjoyable apart from the humor and action is the details Akira Toriyama went through by adding different nuances, back stories and fighting styles to all of the new characters introduced.
Profile Image for Sam Quixote.
4,804 reviews13.4k followers
August 10, 2014
The Tenka’ichi Budokai, or “Strongest Under the Heavens” fighting tournament is in full swing, taking up this entire book. Yamcha squares off against “Jackie Chun” (the Turtle Master in the worst disguise ever!), a couple of minor characters called Ran Fuan (a sex object pretending to be a character) vs Namu, probably the only character in the contest who has real impetus to win the prize money: so he can buy water for his dry village. Son Goku takes on Giran Kaiju and Kuririn waits for his second round, having won his fight in the last book.

Whenever I read a comic book full of superhero fighting, usually by Marvel or DC, I end up hating it or being bored with it, but I wasn’t with Dragon Ball Volume 4, though it’s basically non-stop fighting. Why? I think it’s partly due to Akira Toriyama being both artist and writer. With superhero comics, there’s usually a writer and an artist and, if you read some of the scripts to those comics, the writer will basically hand over to the artist with the fight scenes, saying something like “Wolverine and villain fight for 5 pages”, leaving it up to the artist to figure out the most entertaining way to portray that.

That method’s fine but it feels like filler more than anything because superhero comics always need fighting - the story is already plotted, we’re just watching things play out before the story resumes once the writer takes over. Because Toriyama is both artist and writer, there’s no such gap - the story and the fighting are intertwined so each fight is part of the overall narrative, meaning there’s never a pause while characters battle pointlessly before going back to the story.

At least, that’s how it seems to me!

I won’t give away who beats who because finding out is part of the fun of this volume, but each fight is interesting in its own way because of the different personalities of the characters. Goku continues to improve at an incredible pace, with his kamehameha becoming as strong as Kame-Sen’in’s already! With so much potential, who knows where Goku’s powers will end?

Volume 4 is a super-awesome, enjoyable book that I blew through because it was so enthralling. Toriyama keeps up the fun and invention of Dragon Ball while ramping up the action and drama with this brilliant fighting contest. Who will win the final round? Find out in the next volume. Wonderful stuff!
Profile Image for Lashaan Balasingam.
1,478 reviews4,622 followers
July 1, 2022
It's time for the Tenka'ichi Budôkai (Strongest Under the Heavens) as Goku and Kuririn enter the tournament hoping to come out as champions. This was a fun volume displaying the silly yet impressive growth of their powers while facing just as silly opponents.
Profile Image for Krystal.
2,195 reviews487 followers
December 2, 2022
Fight scenes in comics are usually a bit hard to follow but somehow this series makes it work.

This was another really fun volume. It follows the tournament and has some excellent moments, as well as the usual humour.

Some of the fight scenes start to get a little long but they're cut off just in time so I never found them tedious.

All in all, more fun. Ready to move on to adventure, now, I think!
Profile Image for Blake the Book Eater.
1,273 reviews409 followers
May 7, 2022
I love a tournament arc. And this was just plain FUN! The characters are goofy, the art is soft yet fierce!
Profile Image for Nura Lou.
210 reviews3 followers
June 5, 2025
The tournament continues and we get to discover how strong Goku is. We see more fighting drawings where movements are so distinctive and defined. It's a pleasure for the eyes.
Profile Image for Drew.
376 reviews5 followers
April 13, 2023
This is easily the most hilarious volume of any Dragon Ball series I've read! I laughed out loud throughout the entire tournament. The extended fight between Kuririn and "Jackie Chun" alone is worth owning this volume. Jackie's musical intro and the pause in mid-fight while they explain what happened and re enact it for the crowd since it happened too fast for them to see, and then the "panties trick" -- absolute gold. On top of that, all of the fights in the tournament were so entertaining! And of course there's just enough heart in the story with the story of Namu to check all the boxes. Sensational volume. 5 stars easily.
Profile Image for Meg.
120 reviews3 followers
March 26, 2024
So badly want to give this a 5/5 but the sexism is so tasteless and dehumanising I have to take a star away for that alone.
Profile Image for Lorelupin Acevedo (El Caldero Literario).
730 reviews25 followers
June 2, 2023
Como les digo me gusto mucho la historia que aquí sigo leyendo, se que como dije antes, no es mi fuerte leer sobre acción y mucho menos las historias como lo del torneo pero el mangaka le pone ciertas cosas que creo le dan un pluss para seguir leyendo y que no dejes de hacer y te intereses en la historia.

Es que aquí ya estamos en la final del torneo de artes marciales y vamos a ver quien gana, pero hay un competidor medio raro que se llama Jackie Chun y al parecer a pesar de ser un viejtio es muy bueno en lo que hace y se perfila en uno de los grandes finalistas y favoritos para ganar el torneo, pero hay muchas cosas que nos hacen pensar que capaz y es el maestro Roshi de incógnito, pero no sabemos y a lo largo de este tomo veremos su participación y si es o no el maestro de Goku.

Es tomo lo disfrute mas que el otro, ya que me encanto estar viendo como participa Goku, su amigo y Jackie Chun, creo que este ultimo le puso lo que le faltaba a la historia para hacerla divertida, por que en verdad te mueres de la risa de todo lo que te cuenta y todo lo que hace para participar y estar ganando en sus peleas, pero hubo una parte que me gusto mucho cuando Jackie Chun se da cuenta de un participante que necesita ganar para ayudar a su pueblo y se me hizo muy noble lo que sucede en esta parte de la historia.

Pude ver el buen corazón que tiene el mangaka, por que pone este tipo de temas y muy sutilmente a los lectores nos da la enseñanza de ayudar al que lo necesita y como siempre la cultura Japonesa de que los adultos mayores son los sabios y los que saben que hacer en los malos momentos y te ayudan a ser mejor.

Creo que eso es lo que más me gusto de este tomo, que tiene un mensaje extra que el que va te decía de por si la historia, por que a pesar de ser todo lo sexosa y para adultos tiene un tanto escondidas enseñanzas que son buenas y que creo que nunca es malo que te las digan, ese es el pluss que le encuentro a esta historia que no me voy a cansar de recomendar, haber cuantos tomos me leo para el mes de Junio, pero ustedes deberían empezar de una vez Dreamers, por que se van a pasar un gran rato leyéndolo y haber si pronto me inicio el anime que le traigo ganas también.

Entrada completa en: http://calderoliterario7.blogspot.mx
Profile Image for cobwebbing.
371 reviews23 followers
July 20, 2023
Volumes 4 and 5 mark me genuinely officially having a good time with this series. I was irked that all of the tournaments in DBZ don’t go properly from start to finish, so it was nice to just see one played out normally instead of being completely thrown out the window by unrelated plot shenanigans. Don’t get me wrong, there were some definite flaws in volume 3 with the minor characters in the tournament, but once we got to the main characters it was all fun.

There was finally some humor I could jive with, too; Goku declaring that his cheek “got an owee” after suffering a seemingly devastating attack had me in stitches. The drawn-out explanation of a long series of happenings that were too fast for anyone to follow in a fight was also funny.

GEE… IT’S ALMOST LIKE WHEN THERE ARE JOKES ABOUT MARTIAL ARTS AND NOT SEXUAL ASSAULT THERE’S A BETTER TIME TO BE HAD. WHAT A CONCEPT.

To be clear, though, there’s still a good bit of panty-stealing and contemplating being creepy and nudity in this arc and I imagine there will continue to be.

It’s interesting how it feels like there’s so much and yet so little of Great Ape Goku. I guess in the grand scheme of things having your main character in your goofy manga turn into a giant monster is only appropriate insofar as it plays to his Sun Wukong origins. It’s a shame, really; the retroactive lore with making him from a weird race of aliens is among one of the things I find most interesting about him and it is stunningly obvious that at this point that that wasn’t planned, coy blurbs written on reprints be darned.

Oh, well. I’m having a much better time now than I was having with the first couple of issues and am starting to recognize aspects of what I liked so much in DBZ.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Yoyomaus Die Büchereule.
2,222 reviews31 followers
May 17, 2020
Das große Turnier hat in der westlichen Hauptstadt begonnen und Son-Goku darf mit Kuririn als Schüler von Muten-Roshi, dem Herrn der Schildkröten, antreten. Gemeinsam mit seinem Freund Yamchu und Kuririn muss sich Son-Goku den unterschiedlichsten Gegnern stellen, um ins Finale zu kommen. Dabei scheuen die Gegner nicht einmal vor fiesen Tricks zurück, die es zu überlisten gilt. Neben Son-Goku und seinen Freunden tritt auch ein älterer Herr namens Jachie Chun an, welcher Muten Roshi zum Verwechseln ähnlich sieht... Son-Goku ist gewillt dieses Turnier für sich zu entscheiden.

Dieser Band der Dragon-Ball-Reihe dreht sich hauptsächlich nur ums Kämpfen und das große Turnier in der westlichen Hauptstadt. die Freunde feuern sich gegenseitig an und zeigen, was sie in der letzten Zeit bei Meister Roshi gelernt haben. Während des Kampfes scheint Yamchu dem Geheimnis des alten Mannes auf die Schliche zu kommen, doch dieser weiß sein Geheimnis geschickt zu wahren. Während der Szenen wird für den Leser schnell klar, dass sich zwischen Son-Goku und Kuririn eine ganz besondere Freundschaft entwickelt hat. Akira Toriyama hat es sich auch hier wieder nicht nehmen lassen Szenen und vor allem Charaktere vielschichtig auszuarbeiten. Es macht Spaß den kleinen Son-Goku bei seiner Reise zu begleiten. Die Geschichte ist wie immer spannend, zeigt aber immer wieder humorvolle Szenen auf, bei denen man herzhaft lachen muss.

Broschiert: 192 Seiten
Verlag: Carlsen (15. Februar 2001)
Sprache: Deutsch
ISBN-10: 3551732965
ISBN-13: 978-3551732965
Vom Hersteller empfohlenes Alter: 10 - 12 Jahre
Größe und/oder Gewicht: 11,3 x 1,7 x 17,5 cm
Profile Image for XOX.
768 reviews21 followers
November 11, 2023
Dragonball Vol 4 Strongest Under the Heavens

Continuing from Vol 3, Son Goku is at a competition where he fights his opponent one-on-one.  The fight was fun as he tried to test his skill. His opponents are considerably not as strong except the old guy who is Turtle Hermit in disguise.

The overall fight is okay but limited as there isn't much one can do in a fight.

The highlight of it is probably how Goku's tail grows back.
Profile Image for Daniel Greear.
480 reviews13 followers
July 19, 2025
Dragon Ball Vol 4:

I’m flying through these, so forgive me followers for the updates and the padding of my stats for my yearly challenge.

This was great, honestly the story and the excitement keeps growing with each book. The tournament is the centerpiece of volume four and it’s exciting. I’ve learned quite a lot about martial arts. I think the characters are interesting and Goku is so lovable and funny.

Again, I know almost nothing about Dragon Ball and nothing hardly at all about Dragon Ball Z, so this is all new to me and I’m incredibly excited to see where it continues to grow.
Profile Image for Natalie Dunn-Billings.
204 reviews1 follower
December 7, 2023
Oh yeah, that's why I'm wading through this...these fights are good. Unlikely to rate any volume higher than three stars on principle, because the gross stuff never goes away, but I am at least into the part where the story gets good.
Profile Image for Travis.
852 reviews6 followers
October 1, 2017
Finally into the action that I love Dragon Ball for!! The entire tournament is full of excitement and little comedy which is fine. Still enjoying my read through!!
Profile Image for Ben Kimpell.
13 reviews1 follower
May 11, 2018
I love these books! They are just really fun to read
Profile Image for Moe Nishijima.
18 reviews1 follower
July 18, 2018
It's about World Martial Arts Tournament. I like battle scenes because I can go into the world of the manga. So I can read faster than other pages. I feel the time when I read battle scenes passed by fast. I like Chun VS Goku scene. Actually Chun is Kamesennin. But Goku doesn’t know that. Kamesennin wants Goku to inform that there are more strong person in the world. Consequently, Goku is defeated by a Chun. Goku want to be strong solidier.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Brandon.
2,836 reviews39 followers
December 16, 2021
This volume encapsulates so much of what I love about Dragon Ball, especially early pre-DBZ stuff. The battles of the Tenkaichi Budokai are ridiculous and fun, pulling out booger attacks and drunken fist, fighting mid-air battles without being able to fly and instead shifting your form in the air to dodge attacks. Chapter 42, "The Big Fight", is maybe my favourite thus far in the series. Kuririn and Jackie Chun start their fight, a crack of lightning happens, and then they spend the rest of the chapter explaining to the audience what happened in the mere seconds that they were moving so fast the regular people (and us readers) couldn't see. And what did they do with this superhuman speed? Booger blasts, roshambo... oh and some flips which, to reenact, they have to get the referee/announcer to hold them in the air. It's a work of genius with some of the most inventive and hilarious fighting approaches.

And of course we get Goku's matches, featuring bravado and trash talk, inventing new fighting techniques on the fly, and some physics-defying ridiculous ass-pulls to make it all work. And the motivation of "Jackie Chun", who isn't a villain or even really an antagonist but still very much an opponent, is beautiful. This whole saga/arc is a feast for the eyes, densely packed with new tricks, sharp perspective changes, and equal parts gripping fight scenes and hilarious gags.
Profile Image for Chelsea.
2,095 reviews63 followers
September 3, 2018
The Strongest Under the Heavens Tournament continues in Volume 4! Familiar face Yamcha faces the elusive Jackie Chun and is quickly K'O'd. The competition is tough when there's an entire village at stack with Namu but Goku strategies and is victorious. Kuririn puts up a decent fight against Jackie that befuddles the on-lookers but is unfortunately taken out by the older man. Than it's Goku in the finals and the two are evenly paired.
Watching fights is much more enjoyable via anime, but the shortened versions of the fights in the manga weren't awful either. It was nice to see Goku try to problem-solve and even Kuririn grow as a fighter in these short chapters. Ends with the cliffhanger in the middle of the Goku vs. Jackie fight.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 196 reviews

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