{"id":565,"date":"2024-10-03T09:24:56","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T09:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.test.ate.otgs.work\/testqa201\/?page_id=565"},"modified":"2024-10-03T09:24:56","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T09:24:56","slug":"dragon-ball","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.test.ate.otgs.work\/testqa201\/dragon-ball\/","title":{"rendered":"Dragon ball"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dragon Ball<\/strong><\/em> (Japanese<\/a>: \u30c9\u30e9\u30b4\u30f3\u30dc\u30fc\u30eb, Hepburn<\/a>: Doragon B\u014dru<\/em>) is a Japanese media franchise<\/a> created by Akira Toriyama<\/a> in 1984. The initial manga<\/a>, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized<\/a> in Weekly Sh\u014dnen Jump<\/a><\/em> from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters collected in 42 tank\u014dbon<\/a><\/em> volumes by its publisher Shueisha<\/a>. Dragon Ball<\/em> was originally inspired by the classical 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West<\/a><\/em>, combined with elements of Hong Kong martial arts films<\/a>. Dragon Ball<\/em> characters also use a variety of East Asian martial arts<\/a> styles, including karate<\/a>[1]<\/a><\/sup>[2]<\/a><\/sup>[3]<\/a><\/sup> and Wing Chun<\/a> (kung fu<\/a>).[2]<\/a><\/sup>[3]<\/a><\/sup>[4]<\/a><\/sup> The series follows the adventures of protagonist Son Goku<\/a> from his childhood through adulthood as he trains in martial arts. He spends his childhood far from civilization until he meets a teen girl named Bulma<\/a>, who encourages him to join her quest in exploring the world in search of the seven orbs known as the Dragon Balls, which summon a wish-granting dragon when gathered. Along his journey, Goku makes several other friends, becomes a family man, discovers his alien heritage, and battles a wide variety of villains, many of whom also seek the Dragon Balls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toriyama’s manga<\/a> was adapted and divided into two anime<\/a> series produced by Toei Animation<\/a>: Dragon Ball<\/a><\/em> and Dragon Ball Z<\/a><\/em>, which together were broadcast in Japan from 1986 to 1996. Additionally, the studio has developed 21 animated feature films<\/a> and three television specials, as well as an anime sequel series titled Dragon Ball GT<\/a><\/em> (1996\u20131997) and an anime midquel series titled Dragon Ball Super<\/a><\/em> (2015\u20132018). From 2009 to 2015, a revised version of Dragon Ball Z<\/em> aired in Japan under the title Dragon Ball Kai<\/a><\/em>, as a recut that follows the manga’s story more faithfully by removing most of the material featured exclusively in the anime. Several companies have developed various types of merchandise based on the series leading to a large media franchise that includes films (both animated and live-action<\/a>), collectible trading card games<\/a>, action figures<\/a>, collections of soundtracks<\/a>, and numerous video games<\/a>. Dragon Ball<\/em> has become one of the highest-grossing media franchises<\/a> of all time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dragon Ball<\/em> manga has been sold in over 40 countries and the anime has been broadcast in more than 80 countries. The manga’s 42 collected tank\u014dbon<\/em> volumes have over 160 million copies sold in Japan and 260 million copies sold worldwide,[5]<\/a><\/sup>[a]<\/a><\/sup>[c]<\/a><\/sup> making it one of the best-selling manga series<\/a> of all time. Reviewers have praised the art, characterization, and humor of the story. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential manga series ever made, with many manga artists<\/a> citing Dragon Ball<\/em> as a source of inspiration for their own now-popular works. The anime, particularly Dragon Ball Z<\/em>, is also highly popular around the world and is considered one of the most influential in boosting the popularity of Japanese animation in Western culture. It has had a considerable impact on global popular culture<\/a>, referenced by and inspiring numerous artists, athletes, celebrities, filmmakers, musicians, and writers around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

See also: List of Dragon Ball characters<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earth, known as the Dragon World (\u30c9\u30e9\u30b4\u30f3\u30ef\u30fc\u30eb\u30c9) and designated as “Planet 4032-877” by the celestial hierarchy, is the main setting for the entire Dragon Ball series, as well as related media such as Dr. Slump<\/a><\/em>, Neko Majin<\/a><\/em>, and Jaco the Galactic Patrolman<\/a><\/em>. It is mainly inhabited by Earthlings (\u5730\u7403\u4eba, Chiky\u016bjin<\/em>), a term used inclusively to refer to all of the intelligent races native to the planet, including humans, anthropomorphic beings, and monsters. Starting from the Dragon Ball Z<\/em> series, various extraterrestrial species<\/a> such as the Saiyans (\u30b5\u30a4\u30e4\u4eba, Saiya-jin<\/em>) and Namekians<\/a> (\u30ca\u30e1\u30c3\u30af\u661f\u4eba, Namekku-seijin<\/em>) have played a more prominent role in franchise media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The narrative of Dragon Ball<\/em> predominantly follows the adventures of the Saiyan Son Goku<\/a>; upon meeting Bulma<\/a> at the beginning of the series, the two embark on an adventure to gather the seven Dragon Balls, a set of orbs that summon the wish-granting dragon Shenlong<\/a>.[ch. 1<\/a>]<\/sup> Goku later receives martial arts training from Kame-Sen’nin<\/a>, meets his lifelong friend Kuririn<\/a>, and enters the Tenkaichi Bud\u014dkai<\/em> (\u5929\u4e0b\u4e00\u6b66\u9053\u4f1a, lit. “Strongest Under the Heavens Martial Arts Tournament”) to fight the world’s strongest warriors. When Piccolo Daimao<\/a>, and later his offspring Piccolo<\/a>, tries to conquer the planet, Goku receives training from Earth’s deities to defeat them. Goku later sacrifices his life to save the planet from his estranged brother Raditz<\/a>,[ch. 205<\/a>]<\/sup> but is revived after training in the afterlife under the tutelage of the North Kaio<\/a> to combat the other incoming Saiyans, Nappa<\/a> and Vegeta<\/a>. He later becomes a Super Saiyan and defeats the powerful alien tyrant Freeza<\/a>; this sets the tone of the rest of the series, with each enemy the characters face becoming stronger than the last, requiring them to attain further training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dragon Ball Super<\/em> establishes that the franchise is set in a multiverse<\/a>[11]<\/a><\/sup> composed of twelve[d]<\/a><\/sup> numbered universes, with the majority of the Dragon Ball<\/em> series taking place in Universe 7 (\u7b2c\uff17\u5b87\u5b99, Dai-Nana Uch\u016b<\/em>, lit. “Number Seven Universe”). Each universe is ruled by a number of benevolent and malevolent deities, respectively called Kaioshin and Gods of Destruction who are appointed by a higher being called Zeno<\/a>, who watches over the multiverse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Production<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

See also: List of Dragon Ball characters<\/a> and Dragon Ball (manga) \u00a7 Production<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akira Toriyama<\/a> was a fan of Hong Kong martial arts films<\/a>, particularly Bruce Lee<\/a> films such as Enter the Dragon<\/a><\/em> (1973) and Jackie Chan<\/a> films such as Drunken Master<\/a><\/em> (1978), and wanted to create a manga inspired by martial arts films<\/a>.[12]<\/a><\/sup>[13]<\/a><\/sup>[14]<\/a><\/sup> This led to Toriyama creating the 1983 one-shot<\/a> manga Dragon Boy<\/em>, which he later redeveloped into Dragon Ball<\/em>.[15]<\/a><\/sup> Toriyama loosely modeled the plot and characters of Dragon Ball<\/em> on the classic Chinese novel<\/a> Journey to the West<\/a><\/em>,[16]<\/a><\/sup>[15]<\/a><\/sup> with Goku being Sun Wukong<\/a> (“Son Goku” in Japanese), Bulma as Tang Sanzang<\/a>, Oolong<\/a> as Zhu Bajie<\/a>, and Yamcha<\/a> being Sha Wujing<\/a>.[17]<\/a><\/sup> Toriyama wanted to create a story with the basic theme of Journey to the West<\/em>, but with “a little kung fu<\/a>“[18]<\/a><\/sup> by combining the novel with elements from the kung fu films of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee.[19]<\/a><\/sup> The title Dragon Ball<\/em> was inspired by Enter the Dragon<\/em> and later Bruceploitation<\/a> knockoff kung fu films<\/a> which frequently had the word “Dragon” in the title,[12]<\/a><\/sup> and the fighting scenes were influenced by Jackie Chan movies.[20]<\/a><\/sup>[17]<\/a><\/sup> Since it was serialized in a sh\u014dnen<\/a> manga magazine<\/a>, he added the idea of the Dragon Balls to give it a game-like activity of gathering something, without thinking of what the characters would wish for.[18]<\/a><\/sup> His concept of the Dragon Balls was inspired by the epic<\/a> Japanese novel<\/a> Nans\u014d Satomi Hakkenden<\/a><\/em> (1814\u20131842) from the late Edo period<\/a>, which involves the heroes collecting eight Buddhist<\/a> prayer beads<\/a>, which Toriyama adapted into collecting seven Dragon Balls.[21]<\/a><\/sup>[22]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He originally thought it would last about a year or end once the Dragon Balls were collected.[23]<\/a><\/sup> Toriyama stated that although the stories are purposefully easy to understand, he specifically aimed Dragon Ball<\/em> at readers older than those of his previous serial Dr. Slump<\/a><\/em>.[24]<\/a><\/sup> He also wanted to break from the Western influences common in Dr. Slump<\/em>, deliberately going for Chinese scenery, referencing Chinese buildings and photographs of China<\/a> his wife had bought.[25]<\/a><\/sup> Toriyama wanted to set Dragon Ball<\/em> in a fictional world largely based on Asia<\/a>, taking inspiration from several Asian cultures<\/a> including Japanese<\/a>, Chinese<\/a>, South Asian<\/a>, Central Asian<\/a>, Arabic<\/a> and Indonesian cultures<\/a>.[26]<\/a><\/sup> The island where the Tenkaichi Bud\u014dkai<\/em> is held is modeled after Bali<\/a> (in Indonesia<\/a>), which he, his wife and assistant visited in mid-1985, and for the area around Bobbidi<\/a>‘s spaceship he consulted photos of Africa<\/a>.[25]<\/a><\/sup> Toriyama was also inspired by the jinn<\/a> (genies) from The Arabian Nights<\/a><\/em>.[27]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Earth of Dragon Ball<\/em>, as published in Daizenshuu 4: World Guide<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During the early chapters of the manga, Toriyama’s editor, Kazuhiko Torishima<\/a>, commented that Goku looked rather plain. To combat this, he added several characters like Kame-Sen’nin and Kuririn, and created the Tenkaichi Bud\u014dkai<\/em> martial arts tournament to focus the storyline on fighting. It was when the first Tenkaichi Bud\u014dkai<\/em> began that Dragon Ball<\/em> truly became popular, having recalled the races and tournaments in Dr. Slump<\/em>.[17]<\/a><\/sup> Anticipating that readers would expect Goku to win the tournaments, Toriyama had him lose the first two while planning an eventual victory. This allowed for more character growth as the manga progressed. He said that Muscle Tower in the Red Ribbon Army storyline was inspired by the video game Spartan X<\/a><\/em> (called Kung-Fu Master<\/em> in the West), in which enemies appear very fast as the player ascends a tower (the game was in turn inspired by Jackie Chan’s Wheels on Meals<\/a><\/em> and Bruce Lee’s Game of Death<\/a><\/em>). He then created Piccolo Daimao as a truly evil villain, and as a result called that arc the most interesting to draw.[17]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once Goku and company had become the strongest on Earth, they turned to extraterrestrial opponents including the Saiyans (\u30b5\u30a4\u30e4\u4eba, Saiya-jin<\/em>); and Goku himself was retconned<\/a> from an Earthling to a Saiyan who was sent to Earth as a baby.[28]<\/a><\/sup> Freeza, who forcibly took over planets to resell them, was created around the time of the Japanese economic bubble<\/a> and was inspired by real estate<\/a> speculators<\/a>, whom Toriyama called the “worst kind of people.”[17]<\/a><\/sup> Finding the escalating enemies difficult, he created the Ginyu Force to add more balance to the series. When Toriyama created the Super Saiyan (\u8d85(<\/rp>\u30b9\u30fc\u30d1\u30fc<\/rt>)<\/rp><\/ruby>\u30b5\u30a4\u30e4\u4eba, S\u016bp\u0101 Saiya-jin<\/em>) transformation during the Freeza arc, he was initially concerned that Goku’s facial expressions as a Super Saiyan made him look like a villain, but decided it was acceptable since the transformation was brought about by anger.[29]<\/a><\/sup> Goku’s Super Saiyan form has blonde hair because it was easier to draw for Toriyama’s assistant (who spent a lot of time blacking in Goku’s hair), and has piercing eyes based on Bruce Lee’s paralyzing glare.[30]<\/a><\/sup> Dragon Ball Z<\/em> anime character designer Tadayoshi Yamamuro also used Bruce Lee as a reference for Goku’s Super Saiyan form, stating that, when he “first becomes a Super Saiyan, his slanting pose with that scowling look in his eyes is all Bruce Lee.”[31]<\/a><\/sup> Toriyama later added time travel<\/a> during the Cell arc, but said he had a hard time with it, only thinking of what to do that week and having to discuss it with his second editor Yu Kondo.[17]<\/a><\/sup> After Cell’s death, Toriyama intended for Gohan to replace Goku as the series’ protagonist<\/a>, but later felt the character was not suited for the role and changed his mind.[17]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going against the normal convention that the strongest characters should be the largest in terms of physical size, he designed many of Dragon Ball<\/em>‘s most powerful characters with small statures, including the protagonist, Goku.[32]<\/a><\/sup> Toriyama later explained that he had Goku grow up as a means to make drawing fight scenes easier, even though his first editor Kazuhiko Torishima<\/a> was initially against it because it was rare to have the main character of a manga series change drastically.[33]<\/a><\/sup> When including fights in the manga, Toriyama had the characters go to uninhabited locations to avoid difficulties in drawing residents and destroyed buildings.[25]<\/a><\/sup> Toriyama said that he did not plan the details of the story, resulting in strange occurrences and discrepancies later in the series, including changing the colors of the characters mid-story and few characters having screentone<\/a> because he found it difficult to use.[20]<\/a><\/sup>[18]<\/a><\/sup>[23]<\/a><\/sup>[34]<\/a><\/sup> Since the completion of Dragon Ball<\/em>, Toriyama has continued to add to its story, mostly background information on its universe, through guidebooks published by Shueisha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the second half of the series, Toriyama has said that he had become more interested in coming up with the story than actually drawing it, and that the battles became more intense with him simplifying the lines.[20]<\/a><\/sup> In 2013, he stated that because Dragon Ball<\/em> is an action manga the most important aspect is the sense of speed, so he did not draw very elaborate, going so far as to suggest one could say that he was not interested in the art.[33]<\/a><\/sup> He also once said that his goal for the series was to tell an “unconventional and contradictory” story.[32]<\/a><\/sup> In 2013, commenting on Dragon Ball<\/em>‘s global success, Toriyama said, “Frankly, I don’t quite understand why it happened. While the manga was being serialized, the only thing I wanted as I kept drawing was to make Japanese boys happy.”, “The role of my manga is to be a work of entertainment through and through. I dare say I don’t care even if [my works] have left nothing behind, as long as they have entertained their readers.”[35]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dragon Ball (Japanese: \u30c9\u30e9\u30b4\u30f3\u30dc\u30fc\u30eb, Hepburn: Doragon B\u014dru) is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in Weekly Sh\u014dnen Jump from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters collected in 42 tank\u014dbon volumes by its publisher Shueisha. Dragon Ball was originally inspired […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-565","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.test.ate.otgs.work\/testqa201\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.test.ate.otgs.work\/testqa201\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.test.ate.otgs.work\/testqa201\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.test.ate.otgs.work\/testqa201\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.test.ate.otgs.work\/testqa201\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.test.ate.otgs.work\/testqa201\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":576,"href":"https:\/\/wp.test.ate.otgs.work\/testqa201\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/565\/revisions\/576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.test.ate.otgs.work\/testqa201\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}