Dragon Ball Episode Summaries
ドラゴンボール
(Dorgaon Boru)
Dragon Ball
153 Episodes
February 26, 1986 ~ April 19, 1989 (Japan)
August 20, 2001 ~ December 1, 2003 (US)
Series Director(s): Minoru Okazaki & Daisuke Nishio
Dragon Ball is the story of Goku, a brave, innocent young boy with incredible powers who is plunged into a mystical adventure in exotic lands filled with noble warriors, shape-shifting monsters, and armies of ruthless villains where magical powers and futuristic technology exist side by side.
Dragon Ball is the inescapable battle of good versus evil, right versus wrong, and pure hearts versus empty souls. It's the continuing saga of the quest for fervent dreams, the realization of secret innermost wishes, and the insatiable hunger for a ham sandwich.
Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール; Doragon Boru) is the first in a trilogy of anime adaptations of the Dragon Ball manga series by Akira Toriyama. Produced by Toei Animation, the anime series premiered in Japan on Fuji Television on February 26, 1986 and ran until April 19, 1989. Spanning 153 episodes (Episode 140 was delayed by the death of Emperor Shōwa), it covers the first 194 chapters of the 519 chapters-long manga series. It is followed by Dragon Ball Z, which covers the remainder of the manga, and Dragon Ball GT, the plot of which was created solely for the anime.
Harmony Gold USA licensed the series for an English-language release in North America in the late 1980s. In the their voice dub of the series, Harmony renamed almost all of the characters, including the protagonist Son Goku, who was renamed to "Zero".
In 1995, Funimation Entertainment licensed the series for both broadcast and distribution in North America. Funimation initially had BLT Productions create the English voice track for the series and the series was edited for content. Thirteen episodes aired in syndication before Funimation canceled the project[2] due to low ratings, switching to the sequel anime series Dragon Ball Z. In March 2001, Funimation announced the return of Dragon Ball to American television, featuring a new English audio track produced in house and with less editing. The re-dubbed episodes ran on Cartoon Network from August 2001[4] to December 2003. Funimation also broadcast the series on Colours TV and their own Funimation Channel starting in 2006. Funimation began releasing the uncut episodes to two-disc sets in March 18, 2003. Funimation will be re-releasing the series including the first thirteen episodes in season sets, with the first set due to be released on September 15, 2009. Funimation re-released Season 2, which contains the next 30 episodes in the series, on November 10, 2009.
In Canada and the UK, an alternative dubbed version was created by the Blue Water Studios and was aired there, as opposed to the Funimation version.
Dragon Ball uses two pieces of theme music for the entire series. "Makafushigi Adventure!" by Hiroki Takahashi is used for the series opening theme and Ushio Hashimoto's "Romantic Ageru Yo" is used for the ending theme.
Click on the Saga for its Summaries
- Emperor Pilaf Saga (Episodes 1~13)
- Tournament Saga (Episodes 14~28)
- Red Ribbon Army Saga (Episodes 29~45)
- General Blue Saga (Episodes 46~57)
- Commander Red Saga (Episodes 58~67)
- Fortuneteller Baba Saga (Episodes 68~83)
- Tien Shinhan Saga (Episodes 84~101)
- King Piccolo Saga (Episodes 102~122)
- Piccolo Jr. Saga (Episodes 123~153)