Some anime only run for a few dozen episodes, but still leave permanent marks on the industry, while others accrue hundreds or even thousands of installments. Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball falls into the latter category and it’s been a mainstream hit ever since its manga debut in 1984.
Dragon Ball has always been around in some capacity, whether it’s as an anime, manga, or video games, which has built quite the sprawling franchise. Dragon Ball is hardly the most complicated of series and audiences are able to relatively jump in at any point and understand what’s going on. That being said, the number of different series and timeline placements can seem overwhelming to outsiders and only emphasize what a commitment it is to experience the entire thing.
Dragon Ball fans who want to learn the full story of Goku and his heroic friends owe it to themselves to watch and read each respective Dragon Ball series. However, this goal becomes much more manageable when each series gets broken down and viewed on its own. The upcoming Dragon Ball Daima is set to rewrite the franchise’s status quo in 2024, which makes it the perfect time to brush up on each major Dragon Ball series and how long they last, separately and collectively.
Updated on June 30, 2024: Dragon Ball has been a fan-favorite series for decades. With the unfortunate passing of series creator Akira Toriyama, the series has been put on indefinite hiatus. This article has been updated to include the last entries made by Toriyama and to meet CBR’s editorial and formatting standards.
Dragon Ball Arcs That Lived Up to the HypeThe Original Dragon Ball Mixes Gag Comedy & Powerful Action
Goku’s Humble Beginnings
Number Of Manga Volumes:
16 Volumes (194 Chapters)
Number Of Anime Episodes:
153 Episodes
Number Of Movies:
4 Movies
Dragon Ball Super’s Latest Special Reveals New Toyotarou-Original Trunks and Goten Artwork
While Dragon Ball Super fans eagerly await the manga’s return, Toyotarou presents brand-new interval artwork featuring teenage Trunks and Goten.
Dragon Ball Z, the franchise’s sequel, is arguably the most popular of Toriyama’s shōnen series and what many international audiences first experienced. However, it goes without saying that none of Dragon Ball Z’s accomplishments would be possible without Dragon Ball’s impressive foundation and trajectory. The original Dragon Ball chronicles Goku’s earliest adventures after he first meets Bulma at the young age of 12 and begins to hunt for the wish-granting Dragon Balls. Goku masters martial arts basics and meets many of his oldest friends in Dragon Ball, which effectively functions as a satisfying prequel series for anyone who happened to first watch his adult adventures in Dragon Ball Z.
The original Dragon Ball finds the perfect length that’s neither too cumbersome nor brief, which is appropriate as Toriyama tests the waters and sees what audiences think of his work. As a manga, Dragon Ball ran for 194 chapters, which have been compiled into 16 volumes. It’s a respectable length for a starter shōnen series. Alternatively, Dragon Ball’s anime adaptation is 153 episodes, and it doesn’t stray very far from its source material. There are a handful of filler episodes, but the Dragon Ball anime is quite faithful to its manga and doesn’t indulge in any wild detours.
The Dragon Ball franchise is also prone to feature films that tell new stories that often aren’t found in Toriyama’s manga. The original Dragon Ball released three movies during its run: Curse of the Blood Rubies, Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle, and Mystical Adventure, all of which re-adapt events from the anime, albeit with a fresh coat of paint. Dragon Ball later released a fourth movie, The Path to Power, in 1996 to celebrate the series’ tenth anniversary, which covers the Red Ribbon Saga and adopts the same approach as its predecessors.
Dragon Ball Z Begins Goku’s Extreme, Overpowered Saiyan Struggles
Experience the Rise of the Saiyan Warrior
Number Of Manga Volumes:
26 Volumes (325 Chapters)
Number Of Anime Episodes:
291 Episodes
Number Of Movies:
15 Movies
Number Of Specials/OVA:
6 Specials/OVA
Number Of Dragon Ball Z Kai Episodes:
167 Episodes (159 In Japan)
10 Dragon Ball Z Plot Twists That Changed Everything
Dragon Ball Z has some surprisingly solid plots, and these were the 10 twists that helped make them so memorable across generations.
There was originally no official delineation between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z in Toriyama’s manga. Chapter 196 just kicked off with a five-year time-jump that ushers in Goku’s adult adventures, now with a wife and young child. Dragon Ball saw plenty of success, but Dragon Ball Z catapulted this fame to new heights with a greater emphasis on action, ki-based combat, and powerful Super Saiyan transformations. Dragon Ball Z is significantly longer than its predecessor, and it makes up the majority of the Dragon Ball franchise.
The manga ran for 325 chapters across 26 volumes, which brings it and the original Dragon Ball to a combined 519 chapters of material. Dragon Ball Z’s anime is also not one for brevity, and it nearly doubles the original series’ episode count at 291. Dragon Ball Z doesn’t remove any of its manga’s storylines, but it does get more indulgent with filler material, particularly when it comes to extending fights.
Dragon Ball Z also does much more with its feature-film adventures than the original Dragon Ball. The anime released 13 movies during its run (and then two more, decades later, that bridge the gap between Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super) that specifically focus on fierce villains like Cooler, Broly, Bojack, and Super Android 13. These movies become impressive distillations of action, and it’s easy to see why so many movie-exclusive characters have become popular additions to the many Dragon Ball video games.
Fifteen movies is a lot of additional content to explore, but Dragon Ball Z also goes one step further when it comes to TV specials and OVA installments. There are six core examples: Bardock – The Father of Goku;The History Of Trunks;Plan To Eradicate The Saiyans;The Return of Son Goku and Friends!;Episode of Bardock; and the One Piece and Toriko crossover event, Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special. These entertaining stories add even more Dragon Ball content to discover.
In fact, there’s so much Dragon Ball Z anime material out there that a condensed version of the series, Dragon Ball Z Kai, made its debut in 2009. Dragon Ball Z Kai aimed to stick closer to Toriyama’s original manga and remove any anime-exclusive filler and extraneous material. The end result is a 167-episode (or 159 in Japan) version of Dragon Ball Z that’s much more manageable to get through than the original. It’s certainly not necessary to watch both Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Z Kai, but it does become a fascinating experiment in terms of what material gets removed and if it ultimately improves the series.
Dragon Ball GT Returns To Goku To Juvenile Hijinks, Albeit With A Twist
The Return of a Youthful Goku
Number Of Anime Episodes:
64 Episodes
Number Of Specials:
1 Special
10 Best-Written Dragon Ball Villains, Ranked
Akira Toriyama proved he was a master of character development with Dragon Ball, and most of his best writing was done on the villains.
Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga ended after 519 chapters, but Toei Animation was interested in extending Dragon Ball’s story for as long as possible. Accordingly, Dragon Ball Z’s final episode avoided melancholy through the reveal that a new Dragon Ball series, Dragon Ball GT, would begin airing the following week. Dragon Ball GT is set five years after Dragon Ball Z’s conclusion, but supernatural circumstances transform Goku back into a child.
Dragon Ball GT is an original anime production that doesn’t adapt an existing manga, although Toriyama still helped assist with some crucial character designs. Dragon Ball GT has become the franchise’s black sheep, and it undergoes an identity crisis where it’s unsure if it wants to be more like the original Dragon Ball or its action-packed sequel. These growing pains are felt by the production and Dragon Ball GT surprisingly ran for only 64 episodes, which is by far the shortest and most binge-able Dragon Ball series.
Dragon Ball GT has a polarizing reputation, but it was still able to release a TV special that’s set 100 years in the future. Dragon Ball GT‘s A Hero’s Legacy follows Goku Jr., Pan’s grandson, in a story that’s fresh and familiar. It wouldn’t have been difficult for yet another Dragon Ball series to be told in this new future timeline, but A Hero’s Legacy becomes a fitting farewell to Dragon Ball GT. For what it’s worth, there’s no official Dragon Ball GT manga. However, the anime’s popularity did prompt a three-volume “anime comic” that ran in Shueisha’s Saikyo Jump in 2013, starting with Dragon Ball GT’s Shadow Dragon Saga.
Dragon Ball Super Takes Goku & Friends’ Journey To Godly New Heights
Goku Ascends to Divine Power Levels
Number Of Manga Volumes:
23 Volumes (103 Chapters; Indefinite Hiatus
Number Of Anime Episodes:
131 Episodes
Number Of Movies:
2 Movies
Dragon Ball Super is the latest canonical Dragon Ball entry, and it continues to turn out new content and contribute to the greater Dragon Ball lore. Dragon Ball Super was developed as an alternate sequel series to Dragon Ball Z that disregards Dragon Ball GT. However, Dragon Ball Super is curiously set right after Kid Buu’s defeat. This means that the entire series takes place before Dragon Ball Z’s Peaceful World Saga ending, which turns the clock forward ten years to its epilogue at the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament. Dragon Ball Super has crammed a tremendous amount into this ten-year window, even if some of it pushes the limits of incredulity. Dragon Ball Super produced 131 episodes before its relatively abrupt finale during the Tournament of Power’s conclusion.
That being said, Akira Toriyama and Toyotaro’s companion manga is still going strong, and it’s far surpassed the anime’s endpoint. This is a unique scenario for Dragon Ball where the most up-to-date material comes out of its manga, which currently has no official plans for an anime adaptation that builds upon Dragon Ball Super. There are currently 103 chapters, or 23 volumes, in Dragon Ball Super’s manga. Since the unfortunate passing of Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball Super is on indefinite hiatus.
Another curious detail about Dragon Ball Super is that it’s decided to use feature film stories as a way to canonically continue the anime, rather than them being standalone entries that get released during the anime’s run. This is a fresh approach for Dragon Ball and the colossal success of Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Super Hero proves that it’s a winning strategy. The franchise’s attitude regarding non-canonical movies has even come full circle with Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero receiving a full adaptation in the series’ manga.
Along with Super’s manga, it’d be a genuine shock if more Dragon Ball Super movies didn’t come out in the next few years. This, of course, leaves the upcoming Dragon Ball Daima, which appears to be a tonal mash-up of every Dragon Ball series before. There’s been no official confirmation on the anime’s length, but there’s speculation that it will run for 20 episodes. In the meantime, Dragon Ball fans and curious newcomers still have a whole year to brush up on the collective franchise’s 806 episodes, 622 manga chapters, 21 movies, and seven specials.
