Dragonball

      Not many people know this, but Dragonball is actually the prequel to the hit anime series Dragonball Z. Dragonball Z was one of the first anime to come to America and was brought here before it's prequel. When in reality Dragonball should've came here first.


     Dragonball is based on a story called "Journey To The West" which I have not read yet but am very curious about. The artwork on Dragonball is vey different than that of Dragonball Z. You can notice a huge increase in art skill by Akira Toriyama. You'd never be able to tell that it was the same anime.

     In reality, the Dragonball and Z series are one entire manga series, but for the anime it was divided in two like they did with Naruto. Kinda makes sense considering the huge differences. As I read the entire Dragonball manga you can see how it builds up to the DBZ we all know and love.

     In this prequel, the series actually had more of a story. It started out when Goku was just a kid and first meets Bulma mistaking her for a monster. Originally, Bulma wanted to get the Dragonballs in order to wish for the perfect boyfriend. Yamcha was a desert bandit and a goofy villian, and Tien and Choutzu were from a rival martial arts school than of Master Roshi's Turtle School.

    After reading Dragonball, I can finally understand DBZ better. The Picollo we all know and love is actually Picollo Jr. and was an evil villain trying to take over the world until he trains Gohan which slowly turns him into a good guy. King Picollo was his father whom Goku had killed and right before his death had spat out the egg in which PIcollo Jr. was born from. That battle was epic!

    I never understood who the Red Ribbon Army actually were until reading past its arc. They were the worlds most powerful and evil army hell bent on global domination. The leader wanted the dragonballs to wish himself to be taller lol. They were powerful until Goku single handly destroyed their headquaters in order get the dragonballs and revive Bora.

    The manga also reveals how Krillin had died the first time by the hands of one of King Picollo's demons. Master Roshi, Choutzu, and even Shenron had died at the hands of Kami's dark side. Yes that's right Shenron was killed and easily at that, but later ressurected by Kami (which means God btw).

    With that all being said and done it's incredible how long this anime really is and how it came to be from adventure and dragonball hunting to straight up screaming, fighting a new stronger enemy, and somehow in someway reviving people that had died over and over again.

    I trully enjoyed reading it and I hope more people will do so too.