the first episode of dragon ball aired in japanese on february 26, 1986.
when did the first episode of dragon ball air in japanese?
february 26, 1986
list of dragon ball episodes





























"dragon ball" is the first of two 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 hirohito), it covers the first 194 chapters of the 519 chapter-long manga series. it is followed by "dragon ball z", which covers the remainder of the manga.





























section::::episode list.





























section::::episode list.:emperor pilaf saga (1986).





























bullet::::- notes
list of dragon ball episodes
while the manga was all titled "dragon ball" in japan, due to the popularity of the "dragon ball z" anime in the west, viz media initially changed the title of the last 26 volumes of the manga to ""dragon ball z"" to avoid confusion. the volumes were originally published in japan between 1988 and 1995. it began serialization in the american "shonen jump", beginning in the middle of the series with the appearance of trunks; the "tankōbon" volumes of both "dragon ball z" and "dragon ball" were released simultaneously by viz media in the united states. in march 2001, viz continued this separation by re-shipping the "dragon ball" and "dragon ball z" titles starting with the first volumes of each work. viz's marketing for the manga made distinct the differences between "dragon ball" and "dragon ball z" tone. viz billed "dragon ball z": "more action-packed than the stories of goku's youth, "dragon ball z" is pure adrenaline, with battles of truly earth-shaking proportions!" between 2008 and 2010, viz re-released the two series in a format called "viz big edition," which collects three individual volumes into a single large volume. however, in 2013 viz began publishing new 3-in-1 volumes collecting the entire manga series, including what they previously released as "dragon ball z", under the "dragon ball" name.
dragon ball z