One of the most enduring and iconic manga series in the world is Dragon Ball, created by Akira Toriyama. Since launching in 1984, the Dragon Ball manga has spawned several sequels and non-canonical spin-offs to consider when seeking to read it in order.
Focusing on the adventures of martial artist protagonist Goku, Dragon Ball is inspired by the classic fantasy story Journey to the West, though expanding on it to incorporate science-fiction elements spanning worlds and timelines. Initially published by Shueisha, Dragon Ball has received an English-language translation through Viz Media. Here’s how to read the Dragon Ball manga in order, from its original volumes to the ongoing Dragon Ball Super manga written by Toriyama and illustrated by Toyotarou.
How to Read the Dragon Ball Manga in Order
The Japanese manga maintains the Dragon Ball title across all 42 volumes, including the latter portion of the story that was adapted into the Dragon Ball Z anime. Conversely, the English-language version mirrors the anime series’ titles to avoid potential audience confusion, with the first 16 volumes published as Dragon Ball and the latter 26 as Dragon Ball Z. The story unfolds in chronological order across these volumes, with Dragon Ball Z following Dragon Ball.
Launching in 2015, Dragon Ball Super takes place before Chapter 324 in the 26th and final volume of Dragon Ball Z, documenting Goku and his friends’ adventures after the defeat of Majin Buu but before the epilogue ten years later. At the time of writing, there are plans for 22 collected volumes of Dragon Ball Super, with the series currently ongoing. Like Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, these stories unfold largely in chronological order.
Beyond the main series, the seventh volume of Dragon Ball reveals it is connected to Toriyama’s previous manga series, Dr. Slump, as Goku encounters that story’s protagonist Arale and her friends. Toriyama’s 2013 manga series Jaco the Galactic Patrolman also takes place in the same world as Dragon Ball, albeit as a prequel to Dragon Ball, ending with a young Bulma beginning her quest to recover all seven Dragon Balls, which kicked off the original series.
Non-Canonical Dragon Ball Manga
There are a number of Dragon Ball manga titles that are not in the continuity of the main series as headed by Toriyama. Dragon Ball SD by Naho Ōishi is a condensed retelling of Goku’s adventures while Ōishi’s one-off story Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock provides a what-if tale of Bardock surviving his confrontation with Frieza. Toriyama’s own 1999 manga series Neko Majin Z features Dragon Ball characters but is a self-aware parody of Toriyama’s previous work.
Another self-aware parody is Dragon Garow Lee’s 2016 manga series Dragon Ball: That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha!. This series has a high school Dragon Ball fan wake up in the body of Yamcha and, aware of how the story unfolds, decides to improve the life and reputation of the maligned character with a combination of intense training and knowledge of future events.
The most famous non-canonical Dragon Ball story is Dragon Ball GT, which began as a sequel anime series to Dragon Ball Z in 1996. DBGT would receive its own manga adaptation shortly after the anime’s conclusion in 1997. As DBGT wasn’t written by Toriyama, its narrative was rendered out-of-continuity by changes introduced years later by Dragon Ball Super.
