The big ones. The origin of this site's name. The daizenshuu. Each book covers something new. The first one's all-original illustrations, the second one's a story guide, others are TV animation books, there's a movie & TV special animation book, there's tons of pure information about the manga and show, newer ones concerning all the bazillions of cards released in Japan... *trails off*

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Even though the Daizenshuu are certainly the most visible all-encompassing guides to DB, they don't have a monopoly on that market. Over the years, Shueisha has put out a number of smaller, paperback guides, with a more specific focus than their larger brethren. Among them, the "DragonBall GT Perfect Files," are guides to the ins and outs of DBGT; "DragonBall Z: Son Gokû Densetsu" and "DragonBall: Tenka-ichi Densetsu" are anime guides to their respective series, with special focus on either Goku (for the DBZ guide) or the Tenka-ichi Budôkai (for the DB guide); and "DragonBall Landmark" and "DragonBall Forever" are companion volumes to the Kanzenban re-release of the manga. All have some interesting, unique information, and the two GT guides (being out of print) are especially rare. So, if you see 'em, don't hesitate!

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The original Japanese DragonBall manga lasted for a whopping 42 volumes. It ran from 15 September 1985 all the way to 9 August 1995. Each of the 42 volumes ("tankôbon") has its own cover art, drawn by Toriyama-san, in full color.

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There has been a full-color tankôbon released for every single DragonBall and DragonBall Z movie, plus the two DBZ and one GT TV specials (creating twenty, in all). They contain a few pages of brief character introductions, so that just in case you don't know someone here and there, you can still keep up with what's going on.

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Late 2002, for Japan, was the beginning of a re-release of every volume of the DragonBall manga, called the "Kanzenban" (Perfect Edition). Instead of the original 42-volume tankôbon set, the Kanzenban will take up a mere 34 volumes, having about 15 chapters in each book. Each Kanzenban volume sports a newly-drawn cover by Akira Toriyama, himself. Every other issue also includes a brochure with an image of DB characters drawn by other popular manga artists (which you can see in the Other Artists Draw DB section). The character names in parentheses, next to the volume numbers, refer to what character(s) is/are featured on each cover.

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Viz originally began releasing the DB and DBZ Graphic Novels at a larger-than-tankôbon size, priced at $14.95 US (later reduced to $12.95). DBZ volumes 1-10 were released before switching over to the smaller "Shonen Jump" sizes (1-10 were reprinted at the new size, and 11+ only have a SJ printing). For more information about the different editions of the English manga, be sure to check out our "Manga Reference Guide."

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The "Shonen Jump" versions of the Viz DB and DBZ Graphic Novels are actually the second (or even third) version that many of these volumes have had in English! The "Shonen Jump" printings are a slightly-larger-than-tankôbon-sized release of the manga, priced at $7.95. For more information about the different editions of the English manga, be sure to check out our "Manga Reference Guide."

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While DragonBall originally ran in Shonen Jump in Japan, American fans had been subject to painfully short monthly installments like every other American comic for quite some time. In January 2003, Viz Communications released the first issue of "Shonen Jump" in America, which includes a few chapters of the DBZ era of the manga every month. May 2004 is the first domestic Shonen Jump to feature new kanzenban artwork by Akira Toriyama. DBZ has officially ended its publication in Shonen Jump as-of April 2005; it will continue on in graphic-novel form only, as published by Viz.

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