Dragon BallandDragon Ball Z’s release in the west was so complicated that it’s almost surprising that the franchise caught on. A quarter-century later,Dragon BallZand its chronological sequelDragon Ball Superare beloved the world over, and fans are looking forward to the release of a new movie,Dragon Ball Super: Super Herothis June. And of course,Dragon Ball Zremains emblematic as one of the first anime to gain major cultural attention from Western audiences.
But what of the originalDragon Ball?It’s talked about far less frequently than its sequels, and is largely ignored by the Western fanbase. This isn’t becauseDragon Ballis bad, or even because it’s inferior toDragon Ball Z.Instead,Dragon Ball’sinvisibility in the west is the result of deliberate corporate decisions made by Funimation and their colleagues in the late 1990s. Consequently, while theDragon Ballfranchise was released chronologically (both as an anime and manga) in Japan,Dragon Balllargely came second in the West, with one notable exception.
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Dragon Ballis Not A Prequel (But It Was Treated Like One)
Time for a history lesson: When Funimation acquired the rights toDragon BallandDragon Ball Zfor American release in 1995, it was a small and relatively unknown company, having been founded the year prior. Due to its small size, it outsourced its dubbing to other production companies in the late 1990s, leading toDragon Ball Z’s well-known initial dub by Ocean (the source of the “Over 9000” meme). The fact that there have been various separate English dubs ofDragon Ball Zmakes assessing its initial release difficult, but what can be definitively stated is that Funimation, to their credit, did try to air the originalDragon Ballfirst, but backtracked after it received poor ratings due to its time slot.
The first 13 episodes ofDragon Ballwere aired byFunimationfrom September to December of 1995, almost a full year before the first dub ofDragon Ball Zaired. The poor ratings led Funimation to put dubbingDragon Ballon hold until 2001, while they instead shifted toDragon Ball Z.Unlike the originalDragon Balldub,Dragon Ball Zwas a massive success, and the rest is history. Eventually, bothDragon BallandDragon BallZwere re-dubbed by Funimation themselves, and the cast has remained similar ever since.
In the realm of manga,Dragon Ballalso got a faulty release in the West. Viz began publishing English-language volumes ofDragon BallandDragon Ball Zconcurrently in March of 2003, rather than finishingDragon Ballfirst. Once again, chronology was undermined in the name of profit. For better or worse, this solidifiedDragon Ball’s relative Western obscurity, with many fans erroneously treating it like a prequel.
Why New Fans Should FinishDragon BallFirst (And Old Fans Should Watch It)
In all fairness, there were factors other than ratings leading to Funimation’s choice to postponeDragon Ball’sdub. WhileDragon Ball Zis almost purely action-based,Dragon Ballblends action with adventure and comedy, and lacks its sequel’s singular focus on fighting.Dragon Ballalso incorporates far more risqué elements into its pages thanZ,including brief nudity, leading to a significant degree of censorship by Viz and Funimation. This also makesDragon Ballmarkedly less kid-friendly.
Taking all these variables into account, it’s no wonderDragon Ball Zseemed like a safer bet. And given American and European cultural preferences, it probably was. But adult fans are doing themselves a disservice by ignoringDragon Ball.In many ways, it’s actually the superior entity. It largely lacks thepoor pacing and filler of its sequeldue to a less heavy emphasis on fights overall, and provides a great deal of context forDragon Ball Z.It shows how Goku met the other Z Fighters and other friends like Bulma and Oolong, and shows his growth from an isolated boy in the mountains to the greatest martial artist on Earth, ending in a battle with Piccolo.
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Characters that are largely relegated to supporting roles inDragon Ball Zget their time in the limelight here, and in most cases it’s not disappointing. Of particular significance is Master Roshi, who taught Goku martial arts but was relegated to comedy relief inZbefore thankfully being rehabilitated inSuper.Outside of its three tournament arcs (which are all great),Dragon Ballalso places a lot more emphasis on theeponymous objects themselves. While the dragon balls do play a major role in Z, the act of searching for them, and the adventures that come along with that, are tossed aside almost entirely.
Some fans were lucky enough (or perhaps had enough OCD) tofinishDragon Ballbefore moving on toits sequels, and they were rewarded with the experience of going on an uninterrupted journey akin to Japanese fans. Those that missed that opportunity, however, shouldn’t skipDragon Ballbecause it lacks the cosmic scale and pure action ofZandSuper(and to a much lesser extent,Dragon Ball GT).It’s to this day one of the greatest manga and anime ever conceived, and it deserves to be loved in the West the way it is in Japan.
