Summary
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Dragon Ballis a long-running franchise with a vast universe to explore.Dragon Ballhas been around for over 40 years, and what started as a simple adventure has evolved into a fun universe filled with powerful aliens.
With an ever-expanding lore, many spin-offs have been released, focusing on different fronts of this beloved franchise. But, there are so many of them that fans may not even know what’s out there—don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Manga Adaptations of Anime Media
Let’s start with the spin-offs that are related to anime content in any way.
Start of serialization
2014
End of serialization
2023
Volumes (so far)
3
Magazine
Saikyou Jump
This one is not exactly a manga adaptation in the way we generally think of it: instead of an author rewriting the story with their own perspective, it is literallyDragon Ball GTturned into comics — they rearrange some frames of the anime in order to tell an illustrated story and add dialogue to them.
The good part is that it is fully colored (after all, the frames are colored). Other anime media, like the movies, were also “adapted” into anime comics.
End of serializaition
V-JUMP
Anadaptation of a special movie directed by Yoshihiro Ueda and released in Japan in 2008, during the Jump Super Anime Tour. It is a short story set two years after the end of the Buu Saga. It introduces Vegeta’s younger brother, Tarble, and his wife, Gure. The enemies this time are two soldiers who served Frieza. It is titledDragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!.
A three-chapter manga that introduces the events of the movieDragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’, directed by Tadayoshi Yamamuro and released in 2015. As the title suggests, Frieza is back to fight with the Z warriors.
2015
23
Dragon Ball Superinitially followed the same storyline as theDragon Ball Superanime — the manga and the TV anime debuted almost at the same time. After the anime ended, the manga continued to be serialized, creating new arcs (but still eventually adapting content from theDBSmovies). It is regarded as the “canon” sequel to the original story — or, at least,it was regarded that way beforeDragon Ball Daima.
The Galactic Patrol Series
TheGalactic Patrolseries is a broad name forstories featuring the Galactic Patrol, a space police that should enforce the law to keep the Milky Way safe. Sometimes, they may not be fully up to such a hard job.
2008 (Sachie-chan)
1
Jump SQ / Shonen Jump
These two spin-offs, born from a collaboration between Toriyama andZetmancreator Masazaku Katsura, were the first ones to establish the Galactic Patrol as a more solid concept. While they are separate stories, following, respectively, the average human Sachi (one chapter) and the alien patrolman Jiya (three chapters), they were compiled into a single volume in 2014 (titledKatsura-Akira).
Shonen Jump
Jacois a story penned by Toriyama himself, and it takes place about 11 years prior to the start ofDragon Ball. It follows Jaco, a patrolman sent to the Earth to deal with a Saiyan sent from Planet Vegeta. But things turned out quite different than he imagined.
Dragon Ball Crossovers and Parodies
Self-explanatory section title, there have been a fewDragon Ballself-parodies and crossovers since the series debuted. Let’s learn all about them.
1999
2005
Neko Majinis a parody series created by Akira Toriyama, best known for the Neko Majin Z arc, when the manga officially became aDragon Ballparody — theDragon Ballparody sums up five of the eight chapters of the manga. Neko Majin Z waslater featured in theDragon Ball Heroes: Victory Missionmanga by Toyotaro.
2016
2017
dragongarow LEE
Shonen Jump+(digital)
Maybe the best knownDragon Ballparody, the story follows aDragon Ballfan from our world who gets reincarnated in the series' universe as Yamcha, after dying in the real world. Knowing that his fate is to die (again), he will do everything he can in order to change the course of the story.
December 2006
Author
Akira Toriyama & Osamu Akimoto / Akira Toriyama & Eiichiro Oda
TheDragon Ball x KochiKamecrossover is titledKochira Namekku-sei Doragon Koen-mae Hashutsujo, and follows Ryo, the main character in KochiKami, as he goes about his daily routine in Namek during the Frieza Saga. As a police officer, it’s his duty to fine those who park their spaceship illegally and stuff like that.
This was part of aShonen Jumpissue celebratingKochikame’s 30th anniversary, and all the other series in the magazine had a special chapter featuring Ryo.
TheDragon Ball x One Piececrossover is titledCross Epochand shows the main characters of both series trying to make their way to a party hosted by Mr. Satan (or Hercule Satan) on an island.
Jump Gold Selection /Bardock - The Father of Goku
These were stories produced by the anime staff and the first two were included inDragon Ball-themedJump Gold Selectioneditions released back in the 1990s. They are not actually manga, but side-stories with illustrations by Minoru Maeda.
The first one wasIn the Name of Piccolo Daimaou(1989), focusing onPiccolo’s journey from villain to Gohan’s mentor. The second one,High Pride! The Saiya Prince Vegeta(1991) is about Vegeta’s childhood.The Lonely Future Warrior!! Trunks(1993), the only one written by Aya Matsui and not Takao Koyama, and included in theBardock - The Father of Gokuanime comic, and focuses on Future Trunks.
Game-Related Spin-Off Mangas
There are too many game-related manga, as mostDragon Ballgames have spawned at least one promotional manga. Here are some that have been followed by manga:
The most famous game-related manga is probably theDragon Ball Heroesseries, which even spawned theSuper Dragon Ball Heroesanime. The firstDBHmanga, DBH: Victory Mission, was serialized by Toyotaro from 2012 to 2016 (with an extra chapter in 2024), following Beat, a guy who joins theDBHarcade game.
There are alsoDBHmanga covering the in-game arc stories (Dark Demon Realm, Universe, Big Bang, Ultra God, Meteor)— these were all written by Yoshitaka Nagayama. OtherDBHmanga includeAvatars!!, by Yuji Kasai andCharisma Mission!, by Nagayama.
2010
11
Dragon Ball SDis basically aremake of the original manga drawn in achibistyle(that’s what “SD” means), aimed atveryyoung children — thus, the language is even simpler than in the original one.
Although it is mostly a remake, Oishi sometimes writes additional content that ends up included in the volumes, like the SD manga ofDragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods(it’s only 12 pages, so not exactly a faithful adaptation), which was included as an extra chapter in Volume 2.
VIZ Media licenses theDragon Ballmanga(and spin-offs) in the US, but some titles may not be available in English.
Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball is a franchise by Akira Toriyama which follows the adventures of Goku, a powerful warrior who protects the earth with his group of friends. A recent title from the series is Dragon Ball: The Breakers, an action style game where 7 players have to survive being hunted by the Raider.
