Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 8

Dragon Ball #13

by Akira Toriyama

Change your perspective: get BIG

Reads R to L (Japanese Style).

Boo Who? Kaiô-Shin--the Lord of Lords, the mightiest deity in the universe has summoned Son Goku and pals to try to avert certain doom for the entire universe. A djinn created eons ago by the wicked warlock Bibiddi is about to be resurrected by the Bibiddi's son, Bobiddi. The djinn possesses unfathomable power and is virtually indestructible once unleashed. Even his name strikes fear in the hearts of all humans: Boo! Kaiô-Shin leads Goku to Bobiddi's spaceship, where Boo is gestating until he comes to full power. The crew battles Bobiddi's minions while the clock is ticking, but Dabra, the king of the demon plane, spots a weakness in their midst that he can easily manipulate: Vegeta's pride. The former prince of the Saiyans has been waiting impatiently to prove that he is the supreme member of his race--not Goku. Vegeta allows Bobiddi to enter his heart and feed him strength, just as long as it will allow him to finally defeat Goku. Vegeta's antics give Bobiddi all the time he needs to introduce the universe to its demise: a bouncing baby Boo!Change Your Perspective, Get BIG!! A Collection of Volumes 22 - 2

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Comics, Comics Manga, Science Fiction

560 pages, Paperback

First published March 27, 2002

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

[Molly™☺ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being predominantly made up of setup for the Buu saga, it may not have as many wow moments as the previous collections, but there's still a lot to enjoy. The younger generation get to take centre stage for a bit, and it's a nice change to go from the Vegeta and Goku dynamic to Goten and Trunks.

actual rating 3.5 stars

[dukester · Rating 4 out of 5]

The black sheep of the Z villains. Buu might be the most underrated, and even underutilized character in the series. Buu's fighting choreography is the best in the entire series, the peak of toriyama's skills as a manga artist imo.

[Matisse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll say this about Toriyama's writing: it's quite thrilling and engaging on the page. Stretching this material out for a zillion episodes sounds horrifying, especially since this isn't the densest plot in the world. There are fun twists, but if you stretch it thin, you'll feel it.

And yet...there are bits that I assumed would take longer, and were over much too quickly. Majin Vegeta and the dramatic outcome of that mini-arc, Buu's briefly being a being of pure good, Goku's SS3 transformation, and the eventual Gotenks taking on Super Buu all seem like huge moments in the greater Anime world. Perhaps in the Anime of DBZ, they are. Here, they're just plot beats that could have been expanded.

But hey, if Toriyama expanded anything, the DBZ manga would lose its lightning-fast, almost uncontrollable feel. Even the humor (it's of the "I only write this thing" variety) feels like it's Toriyama's way of acknowledging this.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the B side villains are bad even at a design angle it all amounts to summoning Buu. I find a few things interesting. The translation on these volumes, what I’m assuming is official, is different than what I’ve found to be popularized. Boo= Buu, Dabra = Dabura, the constant referral of Buu as a djinn, there’s plenty and it spans more than just names.

We’re given quite a few cinematic moments from the Buu saga. Ultimately, I think it wraps up Dragon Ball Z extremely well. I feel that every arc brings something new to the table, there’s beauty to be found all throughout DBZ, and that’s why it’s art. In terms of entertainment and where I personally believe it to be at its best I look no further than the saiyan saga.

I could go for in depth plot analysis or character reviews but if you’ve read or even watched the series what’s the point? It speaks for itself. That is why it’s considered one of the best.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The boo saga is just an amazing story. Vegeta's character gets tons of depth as the tension between Goku and Vegeta finally come to a climax. Hercule and boo because lovable antagonists. And unlike the cell game the story is futile and always moving forward with goals similar to the namek saga. Unfortunately the art starts to suffer here. Also goku is always the strongest but he never seems to beat anyone Lolz.

[Chuy Ruiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boo series starts in this one. Still enjoying it quite a bit. Only 1 book left!

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

"NNNNNGH!!! There's the suction!!! Keep it comin'!!!"

It's just still so tricky to tell the difference between SS1 and SS2 for Bejita. Like, aside from knowing when he is in which form based on dialogue, or of course the electricity characteristic of 2. SS2 Bejita maybe has more delineated spikes in his hair. It's ridiculous because I was flipping back and forth between panels when Majin Vegeta is definitely SS2 and earlier panels when he was SS1 to find good shots of his full head to see differences in hairstyle, and so. Many. God. Damn. Panels. Are just Vegeta's face in the center of the frame and the border cutting off just above his hairline. Making me put in work to get this thing figured out! And I'm still not quite successful!!

This is the second-to-last VIZBIG omnibus, so it's really late to do this (I'll go back when I re-read the series, which will be soon enough anyway), but I want to make like a "Note to Self" to cover what happens in each volume, at least in broad strokes.

38: First chapter ends with the appearance of Babidi and Dabra. Last chapter ends with Buu starting to hatch. Between, covers the defeat of Pui Pui and Yakon, as well as the rise of Majin Vegeta.

39: Buu is awakened. Vegeta kills himself. Fusion and the Zetto Sword are introduced, and training is started for both.

40: Son Goku displays the three main levels of Super Saiyajin. Buu kills Babidi. The Zetto Sword breaks, releasing Old Kaioshin, who starts unlocking Son Gohan's Ultimate power. The kids make Fat Gotenks, Skinny Gotenks, true Gotenks, and Super Saiyajin Gotenks. Buu makes friends with Mr. Satan and Bē. Evil Buu is born, who consumes regular Buu, and the volume ends with the appearance of Super Buu.

By the way, kind of funny VIZ gave the whole of the "Z" portion of the manga an "All Ages" rating when there's so much gore here....

Oh, and something underrated: it seems VIZ forgot to black out Mr. Popo's lips in the color chapter of Fusion practice.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Volume 8, Akira Toriyama's opus nears its ending, and he re-embraces the humor with which he started the series, before it became way too serious. He even makes fun of his own tropes.

Volume 22 is where the action really gets started. Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, and Kuririn follow Yamu and Spopovich to Bobbidi's ship. He kills his two servants, and then Dabra, the king of the Demon Plane, kills Kibito and turns Piccolo and Kuririn to stone. The Saiyans and the Lord of Lords follow into Bobbidi's ship, where they have to face a gauntlet of opponents, and Toriyama starts letting his humor shine through. It's clear none of the henchmen are a match for our heroes. He also makes fun of the situation, calling it akin to the video game, or situations like Goku has faced in the past, when he had to fight his way through a tower of the Red Ribbon Army. There are four stages, and the heroes roshambo for who gets to fight first. Another trope; the Saiyans have gotten so ridiculously overpowered that nothing stands against them. Vegeta easily defeats Pocus, and Goku cleverly takes out a creature called Yakon.
Meanwhile, at the tournament, they decide to have a battle royale with the five remaining fighters. 18 easily exposes Goten and Trunks, and then takes a dive to Hercule for 20 million zeni. It was her idea. Trunks and Goten then run into Videl, and they go to see what the fuss is about. Gohan is fighting Dabra, and is having a lot of trouble. Vegeta gets angry, and Bobbidi possesses him, and sens them back to the tournament. Vegeta kills hundreds of people in the stands to incite Kakarrot to fight, and so they do. It's a masterful encapsulation of Vegeta's character; he wants so bad to win, he will embrace evil for the power. It's great. Vegeta and Goku fight at Super Saiyan 2, while Gohan and Shin go to confront Bobbidi and Dabra before Buu can awaken. However, another trope is inverted, as Buu awakens before Gohan can even start fighting. They spent too much time standing around talking. It's hilarious, because particularly in the anime, they are stereotyped as talking way too much.

Volume 23 has Buu emerge, and despite his harmless appearance, he easily defeats Gohan and Shin. Dabra tries to fight him but is easily defeated. Vegeta tricks Goku and goes to face Buu,a nd quickly realizes he's outmatched, as he can't make any damage stick against Buu. Trunks leaps in to save Vegeta, but Vegeta immobilizes him and Goten and tells Piccolo to take them away. Vegeta has a truly human moment, hugging Trunks. It's actually adorable. Vegeta has gone through true character development over the course of the series, and this day of the tournament has had it crystallize. Piccolo attempts to kill Bobbidi, and is cold-blooded, but the Warlock survives. Vegeta blows himself up to kill Buu, but Buu puts his pieces back together. He seems immortal.
Bulma and Yamcha summon Shenlong to bring everyone back to life, and Goku can't stop them in time. This means Kibito is saved, however, and he heals the Lord of Lords and Gohan. Goku plans to teach the kids about Fusion.

Volume 24 continues the story, as the kids get insubordinate, angry over the death of Vegeta and supposed death of Gohan. Bobbidi calls out Piccolo and the kids, and so Goku has to stall him while Trunks get the Dragon Radar. Goku shows Buu and the readers what he's been working on. He goes from Super Saiyan, to Super Saiyan 2, to Super Saiyan 3, a whole new level of power. However, it shortens the time he's allowed to stay on Earth; it's too powerful for the land of the living. It is powerful enough to fight Buu. Goku also talks Buu into killing Bobbidi, freeing him, but turning him into an unguided avatar of destruction. Goku teaches the kids Fusion, while Gohan, in the realm of the Lord of Lords, is able to pull the Zeta Sword from its resting place and trains with it. Kibito is shocked. The fusion dance is ridiculous and hilarious; it calls back to the Great Saiyaman and the Ginyu Force. Goku says his goodbyes again, and finds Gohan's chi and teleports. Meanwhile, Buu is destroying the Earth for fn, but he only likes to destroy the things that run away.
Once Gohan is able to easily wield the Zeta Sword, they decide to test it, but the Lord of Lords wants to test it on Klangite, the hardest metal in the universe. The sword shatters, but an old Lord ofLords from 15 generations ago emerges. He is the same dirty old man trope as the Turtle Guy, and Goku exploits this hilariously. Again, Toriyama has learned to make fun of himself again. This Lord of Lords also knows how to draw out the innate power of a fighter, which both Goku and Gohan laugh at, because they've seen that happen repeatedly. Goten and Trunks fuse, but it takes a few tries before they don't fuse into a hideously disfigured being. Kuririn makes a comment about Toriyama photocopying the Fusion dance panels, which really calls attention to it and is hilarious. I love how he pokes fun at himself in this storyline.
Hercule goes to face Buu, but winds up as his servant. Buu is rampaging, but brings back a dog, who doesn't run away, but adopts Buu as his master, and Hercule talks Buu into ceasing his destruction. It works until two idiots who have been murdering people under the cover of Buu's rampage that was wiped out 80% of Earth's population shoot Buu's dog. Hercule intervenes to fght them, but they shoot Hercule, freeing a different Buu, this one of wrath, who defeats the fat Buu and eats him, thus reconfiguring Buu into a more normal being, presumably a more dangerous form. It's actually quite a touching story, of Hercule earning his place as champion of the world by reaching out to Buu.

So the story moves along to a tremendous conclusion, as the heroes once again have to face a foe more dangerous than any they've ever known. But I really do like how Toriyama is taking the opportunity to subvert all of his usual tropes, from the usefulness of the Dragon Balls to standard story structures to character archetypes. But even in this deconstruction, there's a lot of real heart, with Vegeta's transformation being the best.

[Joey Amorim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the volume where you really start to see Toriyama’s burnout. I don’t have any real complaints about the story, but the art takes a noticeable dip in multiple chapters, something you could never really say at any point prior in the series. Proportions can get wonky at times, especially in wide shots, and some panels just look low effort/phoned in. Can’t believe I only have one volume of the original run of Dragon Ball left!

[Trey S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome story regarding the whole boo saga after cell and how things have changed since the time skip. I loved this too but it’s definitely unique, it is great but has a whole different tone compared to the other sagas and arcs. This one has more humor that’s slapstick I guess, while it always had it with people falling over once shocked, nosebleeds, etc. this time it’s different. Idk how to describe it in words really, but I digress, the story was still great.

5/5

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stuff. Boo looks like Patrick from Spongebob, which is amusing. The ridiculous machismo is cranked back up to max. What an extremely Vegeta way to die. Godspeed, you egomaniac. I’ll be sad to finally finish the series, but it’s probably for the best that it’s coming to an end because I’m not sure how much farther the story could get drawn out without becoming unreadably silly.

[David Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so damned goofy.

The villains named Bibbidi, Bobbidi, and Boo. The fusion dance. Goku's majestic super saiyan level 3 nerd mane. Gotenks. Just Hercule in general.

5/5 stars.

[Ruz El]

It basically sets up the final volume, but is still a lot of fun. What;s great is that Toriyama is able to keep upping the ante so far over the top, and then keep going.

[Andre]

entertaining book maintaining the excellence of martial arts and super sayian warriors who protect there land against evel creatures / warriors

[Angelo]

interesting, violent, and funny

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just awesome. The Boo saga is not the best, but very good nonetheless.

[Brian G · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like to read this searies and this one was as good as the rest

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual character interaction between Boo and Hercule make this somewhat entertaining.