
Watch Dragon Ball
- TV-14
- 1986
- 5 Seasons
-
8.6 (60,739)
Dragon Ball began as a Japanese comic book, commonly known as Manga. The series both on air and in print is about a young boy called Goku going on a quest to find Dragon Balls. These Balls will grant whom ever has them all one wish, before spreading back out across the world. Through out the show the young protagonist must battle others seeking to use the Dragon Balls for their own nefarious purposes. The majority of the villains in this show belong to an origination called The Red Ribbon Army. The Red Ribbon Army is led by Commander Red, until his staff officer Black realizes that Reds' ambition for the dragon balls comes from his own personal wish to be taller, not the world domination he has promised the army. Black over-throws Red and becomes the new commander, renaming the army, in the English series, to The Black Ribbon Army. The Dragon Ball series was written by Akira Toriyama. Toei Animation in Japan produced the anime series based on the original manga. The directors were Minoru Okazaki and Daisuke Nishio, both working closely with Toriyama to preserve his vision. In Japan the series lasted for 153 episodes; these ran from 1986 until 1989. Dragon Ball was acquired by Funimation Entertainment in the U.S. They broadcast 13 episodes in America in the fall of 1995; these were canceled after one series due to budget shifting and low ratings. It was picked back up in 2001 after the sequel "Dragon Ball Z" was highly successful on Cartoon Network. Dragon Ball aired new episodes on Cartoon Network until 2003. Reruns were run on Colours TV and Funimation Channel starting in 2006. Dragon Ball was released to a boxed DVD set from 2009-2010. This delay in part was due to Lionsgate Entertainment owning rights to the first season, the set was delayed until Funimation could gain the rights back.