Dragon Ball (Doragon Boru) started off as a manga series called Dragon Boy, a series that Akira Toriyama started while he was in college. The story depicted a young boy named Goku and his quest to find the seven magical Dragon Pearls. The series was a loose adaptation of the Chinese legend, The Journey to the West, depicting the pure hearted monkey king Sun Wukong.

It was originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1984 through 1995, and later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankobon volumes by Shueisha. Inspired by the Chinese folk novel Journey to the West, it follows the adventures of Son Goku from his childhood through adulthood as he trains in martial arts and explores the world in search of the seven mystical objects known as the Dragon Balls, which can summon a wish-granting dragon. Along his journey, Goku meets several friends and fights against several villains who also seek the Dragon Balls.