Scattered across the earth are seven mystical crystal spheres. If put together, one person could invoke the mighty dragon Shenlon and have one wish granted. Once the wish granted, the ball will scatter around the world, waiting to be found. These balls are called Dragon Balls.

Dragon Balls is mainly the story of Goku, a powerful Saiyan warrior trained in the martial arts, and his never ending battles against ever more powerful foes.

Dragon Ball is said to be really popular in Japan. The story goes over 42 mangas, a number I find quite impressive, and few hundred episodes (I've read something around 500 somewhere but I don't have exact number and the show is actually still running under it's third form, Dragon Ball GT). Personally, I have seen the 23 first dub episodes of Dragon Ball Z (Dragon Ball second series) and I have read mangas 21 to 28. I didn't go crazy for the anime (and no, I don't think it's because it was dubbed) and if I like the manga, I still find it far from Naoko Takeuchi's Sailormoon. Of course, these are radically different thing. I can't say about Dragon Ball, but Dragon Ball Z is clearly focused on martial art fights. Bad guys are coming, the good guys most train themselves in order to face them, some of them barely survive and most prepare to fight even tougher bad guys while thinking about brining back dead friends with the help of the Balls. Well, it's a bit more complex then that, but it's the pattern anyway. Personally, I find a plot like Fushigi Yuugi's an hundred time better then the one of Dragon Ball. But that's my personal taste. If your more appealed with pure fighting action and less intrigue, then you should try Dragon Ball.

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Updated December 24th 1997