Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 individual chapters colle ...

'' is a Japanese

media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program ...

created by

Akira Toriyama is a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He first achieved mainstream recognition for his highly successful manga series '' Dr. Slump'', before going on to create '' Dragon Ball'' (his best-known work) and acting as a character des ...

in 1984. Five

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

instalments based on the franchise have been produced by

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

: ''

'' (1986); ''

Dragon Ball Z ''Dragon Ball Z'' is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 '' Dragon Ball'' anime series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original ...

'' (1989); ''

Dragon Ball GT is a 1996–1997 Japanese anime television series based on Akira Toriyama's ''Dragon Ball'' manga. Produced by Toei Animation, the series premiered in Japan on Fuji TV and ran for 64 episodes from February 1996 to November 1997. Unlike the ...

'' (1996); and ''

Dragon Ball Super is a Japanese manga series written by Akira Toriyama and illustrated by Toyotarou. A sequel to Toriyama's original ''Dragon Ball'' manga, it follows the adventures of Goku and friends during the ten-year timeskip after the defeat of Maji ...

'' (2015); followed by the

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

Super Dragon Ball Heroes is a Japanese trading card arcade game based on the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise. It debuted on November 11, 2010 in Japan. In 2016, an update launched that improved the user experience in the form of enhanced graphics and easier acc ...

'' (2018). Since 1986, twenty theatrical animated films based on the franchise have been released: four based on the original ''Dragon Ball'' anime, fifteen based on ''Dragon Ball Z'' and one based on ''Dragon Ball Super''. There are also several television specials that were broadcast on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

and two short films, which were shown at the 2008 Jump Super Anime Tour and Jump Festa 2012 respectively. A two-part hour-long crossover TV special between ''Dragon Ball Z'', ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chap ...

'' and '' Toriko'' aired on Fuji TV in 2013. Additionally, there is a two-part

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA ...

created as strategy guides for the 1993 video game '' Dragon Ball Z Side Story: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans'', which was remade in 2010 and included with the '' Raging Blast 2'' video game. As with the franchise's anime television series, all twenty films and the first three TV specials were licensed in North America by

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

. In Europe,

AB Groupe Mediawan Thematics (formerly known as AB Groupe) is a French business group in the field of broadcasting. It was founded in 1977 by Jean-Luc Azoulay and Claude Berda as a music production A record producer is a recording project's creative a ...

licensed the second and third ''Dragon Ball'' movies, the first nine ''Z'' movies and the first two TV specials. ''Dragon Ball'' is one of the most successful franchises in animation history. The anime series is broadcast in more than 80countries worldwide. In the United States, the anime series has sold more than 30million DVD and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

units as of 2017.

TV series

Web series

In May 2018, ''V Jump'' announced a promotional

for the game ''

'' that adapts the games story arcs.

Films

Television specials

The ''Dragon Ball'' franchise has spawned three one-hour long

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of e ...

s that aired on

, the first two based on the "Z" portion of the series and the third based on the "GT" portion. Of these specials, the first and third are original stories created by the anime staff, while the second is based on a special chapter of the manga. Though the specials aired on TV in Japan, Funimation's North American releases of the episodes are on home video, each one labeled "Feature" the same as their theatrical films. This, doubled with the inclusion of the "Z" specials in Funimation's remastered "Movie Double Features" has caused fans to continue to erroneously believe these to be theatrical films, when they are not. On April 7, 2013, a two-part hour-long crossover TV special, between ''Dragon Ball Z'', ''

'' and '' Toriko'', referred to as ''Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special!!'' aired on Fuji TV. The first part is named and the second is titled . The plot has the International Gourmet Organization (from ''Toriko'') sponsoring the Tenka'ichi Shokuōkai, a race with no rules that characters from all three series compete in. On October 8, 2017, a two-part TV special of ''

'' aired on Fuji TV. It counted as both episodes 109 and 110 of the series. On December 2, 2018, as part of promoting new film ''

Broly is a fictional character in the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise. Two different versions of the character exist: the original Broly, a major villain created by anime screenwriter Takao Koyama who appeared in a trilogy of 1990s ''Dragon Ball Z'' an ...

'', a one-hour television special aired on Fuji TV in Japan entitled "''Just Before the Dragon Ball Super Movie Debut! Looking Back on the TV Show's Climax ''".

Festival films

''Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!'' is a 35-minute anime

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

that was shown at the 2008 Jump Super Anime Tour, which visited ten Japanese cities to celebrate ''

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the '' Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that ru ...

''s 40th anniversary. It was later released as a triple feature DVD with '' One Piece: Romance Dawn Story'' and '' Tegami Bachi: Light and Blue Night Fantasy'' in 2009, that was available only through a mail-in offer exclusive to Japanese residents. In 2013, it was included in the limited edition home video release of '' Battle of Gods''. Another short film, ''Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock'', was shown at the Jump Festa 2012 event on December 17, 2011. It is an adaptation of the three part spin-off manga of the same name by Naho Ōishi that ran in ''

V Jump is a Japanese shōnen manga magazine, focusing on new manga as well as video games based on popular manga. The magazine's debut was in 1993 by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. History A prototype magazine called '' Hobby's Jump ...

'' from August to October 2011, which is a spin-off sequel to the '' Bardock – The Father of Goku'' TV special. It was later released on DVD in the February 3, 2012 issue of ''

Saikyō Jump is a Japanese monthly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published by Shueisha. The magazine was started on December 3, 2010 with three completely original titles and seven spin-off manga from series in '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' and ''V Jump''. Originally ...

'' together with '' Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans''. The film was included subtitled in the European and North American exclusive

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...

video game '' Dragon Ball Z: For Kinect'', released in October 2012.

Original video animations

In 1993, Toei Animation, in cooperation with ''

'' and ''

'', produced a two-part

(OVA) that serves as a video strategy guide to the

Family Computer The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redes ...

game titled '' Dragon Ball Z Side Story: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans''. The first volume was released on VHS on July 23, while the second was released on August 25. The animation was also used in the 1994 two part video games, ''True Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans'', released for the

Playdia The (developed under the codename "BA-X") is a fifth-generation home video game console released exclusively in Japan in 1994 at the initial price of ¥24,800. It was intended for a young audience and, like many consoles of the era (e.g. the ...

. The complete OVA was included in the second ''Dragon Ball Z Dragon Box'' DVD set released in Japan in 2003. The OVA was remade for the 2010

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

and

video game '' Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2'' under the title '' Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans''. It was included in ''Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2'' as a bonus feature, unlocked at the start of gameplay without any necessary cheat code or in-game achievement, presented in its original Japanese-language audio with subtitles appropriate for each region. It was later released on DVD in the February 3, 2012 issue of ''Saikyō Jump'' together with '' Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock''.

Educational programs

Two educational

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ...

based on the original ''Dragon Ball'' anime were produced in 1988. The first was a

traffic safety Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, horse riders, and passengers of on-roa ...

special titled , while the second was a

fire safety Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce the destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the development and eff ...

special titled . The two educational films were included in the ''Dragon Box'' DVD set released in Japan in 2004.

Commercial reception

''Dragon Ball'' is one of the most successful franchises in animation history. The anime series is broadcast in more than 80countries worldwide. DVD home video releases of the ''Dragon Ball'' anime series have topped Japan's sales charts on several occasions. In the United States, the ''Dragon Ball Z'' anime series sold over 25million DVD units by January 2012. , the ''Dragon Ball'' anime franchise has sold more than 30million DVD and

units in the United States. The following table lists

net Net or net may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Net (mathematics), a filter-like topological generalization of a sequence * Net, a linear system of divisors of dimension 2 * Net (polyhedron), an arrangement of polygons that can be folded up ...

earnings from ''Dragon Ball'' anime home media, including domestic and overseas licensing as well as overseas sales, between 2003 and 2019. It does not include sales or earnings from domestic or overseas licensee companies, such as

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affi ...

in Japan, or

in North America, for example, but only includes Toei Animation's earnings as an anime licensor and overseas distributor.

Individual series

The following table lists ''Dragon Ball'' anime DVD and Blu-ray sales in Japan (excluding home video sales of the anime films) and the United States.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Dragon Ball Films 1986 anime television series debuts

Anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...