Customer Reviews

Dragon Ball, Vol. 1 (VIZBIG Edition)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

::: Edit to my original review.

(THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE RELEASE, NOT THE CONTENT!!!! The Dragonball story is excellent, 5 stars.)

Not only is it censored in a really odd way that just didn't need to be done, but they only include a FEW of the original color pages, about 20%!!! What is the point of making it so close to perfect and yet so far?

All the pages you see that have an ugly grayscale shading, like the first appearance of Kamesennin, were actually in COLOR, but Viz just didn't want to cut into their profits by printing them the original way.

They were re-released in Japan about 3 years ago in 35 Volumes, with all the color pages in tact. So it's not like they weren't available.

This release drops down to 2 stars. That's just shady what they did.

If you haven't bought any of the books though, I still recommend this set as it's the closest to the original Japanese version.

:::

One word, CENSORED.

They included the beautiful full and spot color pages, smaller than the original pulp release in Shonen Jump but larger than and higher quality than the small reprint versions.

They put 3 volumes together so you get a nice big chunk of story.

Great translations, except that they translate certain Japanese dialects as "American Hillbilly". VERY annoying.

But what boggles the mind is that they leave in young Goku's naked genitals, which is fine, because that's how it appeared in the original manga. But then they go and censor "the middle finger", essentially changing that part of the story to something that is not in the original manga. They also censor, REDRAW, certain female body parts.

It seems so pointless to go through the trouble of creating a "definitive" edition, but then go backwards and make it "un-definitive".

I was never into Dragonball when the anime premiered when I was young, and I did not grow up idolizing it like several other boys of my generation. However, after beginning to appreciate the works of more modern mangaka, I decided that it's time to read on the most influential classic that inspired so many of my favorite artists: Akira Toriyama's "Dragonball".

I will point out right now that this VIZBIG edition is the first three volumes of Dragonball in one large volume at a more economically friendly price. A wise move since the entire series has been available for quite a while now. Not only that, but the page size is larger, giving you a larger view, and two chapters are in full color.

The story, for those who need to know, is that a brilliant teenage girl named Bulma is searching for seven mystical "Dragonballs" that, when all found, summon the dragon-god Shenlong(Shenron in the Funimation anime dub), and he will grant the person a single wish, whatever it may be. On her quest, she runs into a strange young boy named Son Goku who has a mysterious tail and a bo staff that can extend at his will. Added to that, the boy has unnaturally powerful strength and NO knowledge of civilization abroad. What results is one comical misadventure after the other as the two meet more strange and interesting individuals, some good, some evil, as they try to find the remaining Dragonballs.

This set takes you through the beginning, to the meeting of individuals such as Kame Senn'in(Master Roshi in Funimation dub), Oolong, Yamcha, Reich Pilaf (Emperor in the anime dub), and Kuririn (Krillin in the dub)up until the first fights of the Tenka'ichi Budokai ("Strongest Under Heaven" Tournament, roughly).

Those who have watched Dragonball's sequel set, Dragonball Z, will quickly note a greater emphasis on comedy than action, and indeed the manga is silly. I would not recommend this to young children as there is lots of sexual-based humor. While the story is interesting, it only gets to some real interesting stuff near the later half of the entire book when a bit more combat occurs. Two significant cons of the set are as follows:

1. The colored pages. Don't get me wrong, I like colored pages, but the coloring in this set is mediocre at best. While some things, like the backgrounds, are colored nicely, there are inconsistencies in the color of Bulma's hair and Pilaf's skin. Both are colored as turquoise-to-purple and blue-to-green, respectively. Also, this makes the chapters that were once color(now grey-scale in the manga) to look weak in outline and detail, making some panels appear to be poorly printed.

2. Some of the writing. Many know that Viz is big on softened, somewhat childish dialog for some series, but I believe Dragonball is one of the most infamous. They use a lot of contractions for simple words, making them out to be spoken by someone with poor diction("for" becomes "f'r", "what are you" becomes "wha'cha", etc.). And sometimes, the characters say some pretty lame puns that I'm sure were not in the original. Bad like 4kids Entertainment bad(Pilaf: Soba! Are things going okay?! Soba: So ba, so good!).

However, none of this takes away TOO much to the manga, and it is still largely enjoyable to read. Many of the names are translated well, as well as keeping the original names of some objects. There are also several editor's notes to let you know of stuff that needs reference to Japanese culture, and whatnot.

If you've never read or watched this series before, then you'll probably enjoy the cartoony designs and comical characters. There is not much in terms of action, but that changes when Dragonball Z starts. Buy all means, if you want this, get this version, its cheaper and you get more manga for your money.

This is a rerelease of the earlier Tankonbons (graphic novels). These have three of those in one, with some (about 20%) of the color pages restored and higher quality paper. The higher quality paper can unfortunately, however, make the grayscale pages look worse. There are two bigger flaws, however. Firstly, they can sometimes be hard to hold. It's pretty easy to get used to, though. Secondly, even bigger, is censorship. These compilations have been censored. For example, Bulma is taking a shower. Originally, her breasts were visible, but here, they have soap bubbles drawn over. [...] The good news is, unlike the lottery that is the Tankonbons, the censorship is consistent with each reprint. Overall, flawed, but recommended.

The first volume of the Dragon Ball 3-in-1 releases combines the first three volumes of the Dragon Ball manga into one edition. In addition to putting three volumes into one book, the physical size of the book has also increased. It's also interesting to note that roughly the first forty pages of the first volume and about fifteen pages of the second volume are printed in color. In both instances, the early color pages have a lot of color, but by the end of the color section, the amount of color being used is diminished. At the back of the volume, there is a title page gallery that includes the title pages for the individual chapters as they appeared in their original serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. There are also selected questions and comments from Japanese readers in the first three volumes of the original Dragon Ball manga, and the author notes from the first three volumes.

For the most part, the story from the anime series follows the first three volumes of the manga rather closely; the big exception is Pilaf and his cronies, because they appear much earlier in the anime than they do in the manga. This 3-in-1 edition covers the start of the story through Kuririn's battle with Bacterian at the Tenkaihci Tournament. It should also be noted that the English adaptation of the manga uses a combination of the original Japanese names for the characters with some of the renaming from the English dub of the anime. In some respects, I wish there had been more consistency when it came to using either all of the Japanese names or all of the English names when the translation for the English version of the manga was done.

Something I noticed while reading this volume is that for Dragon Ball, Toriyama tended to utilize more panels per page than the average manga that I have read. Because of this, I found that it took me a little longer to read this omnibus edition of Dragon Ball than it has for me to read the omnibus editions of the Inuyasha manga series. When it comes to the art, you can definitely see Toriyama's touch; if you have familiarity with Toriyama's work, then you can see all of the "hallmark Toriyama look" in this manga volume. Also, as I read through this volume, I saw that Toriyama really seemed to like utilizing "sound effects" in his panels when it's appropriate. For a shonen series, I'm actually pleasantly surprised to see that Toriyama doesn't rely too much on the "busy panel" tricks to convey the battle sequences.

My husband and I purchased the copy of the Dragon Ball 3-in-1 manga that I read to write this review.

The original series is so fun! The art amazing! I got hooked in quick. Im reviewing

Book 1 only because you have to get them all if you love the first one, but beware,

Book 5 is extremly rare and out of print. Expect to pay at least 50 dollars for it!

The DragonBall series has always been known or it's martial arts action, quirky humor, and of course, Akira Toriyama(Dr. Slump). But what happens when you put the 3 first volumes of his acclaimed series together in one volume? You get 3 times the fun!!! In the first volume Goku meets Bulma and Oolong, and the trio set off to find the legendary DragonBalls, which grant you one wish by Shen-long, the Dragon God. Then in the second volume, they must face the evil of Emperor Pilaf, and his crew. Soon after, in volume three, Goku is trained by the legendary Kame-senin, or Turtle Hermit. Will he, and his rival/friend Kirurin, along with mood-swinging Lunch, go to "The Strongest Under The Heavens?" Find out in my personal favorite manga. Highly recommended, 5 stars, or a Grade: A+.