[7][8] The series follows the adventures of Goku, a young eccentric boy with a monkey tail and exceptional strength who has a passion for fighting and battling evil-doers.

The English dubbed version of the original Dragon Ball series released in the United States was edited for content and dialogue.

The journey leads Goku to meeting Master Roshi and a confrontation with the shape-shifting pig Oolong, as well as a desert bandit named Yamcha and his companion Pu'ar, and the Ox-King, who all later become allies; Chi-Chi, whom Goku unknowingly agrees to marry; and Emperor Pilaf, a blue-skinned imp who seeks the Dragon Balls to fulfill his desire for world domination.

After defeating Baba's fighters and finding the last Dragon Ball, Goku resurrects Upa's father, Bora, and sets out on his own to train for three years.

Krillin is murdered after the tournament and Goku tracks down and is defeated by his killer, Tambourine, and the evil Demon King Piccolo, who was freed by Emperor Pilaf after being sealed away by Master Mutaito after destroying and trying to take over the world.

He also stays and trains under Kami for the next three years, once again reuniting with his friends for the World Martial Arts Tournament, as well as a now-teenaged Chi-Chi and a revived cyborg Mercenary Tao.

[11] Toriyama specified Kuririn's voice actress be Mayumi Tanaka after hearing her work as the main character Giovanni in Night on the Galactic Railroad.

[15] In 1995, Funimation (founded a year earlier in California) acquired the license for the distribution of Dragon Ball in the United States as one of its first imports.

Licensing director Bob Brennan firmly believed he had found the Japanese equivalent of Mickey Mouse but had trouble convincing Americans of this.

Thirteen episodes aired in first-run syndication during the fall of 1995 before Funimation canceled the project due to low ratings and moved on to Dragon Ball Z.

In March 2001, due to the success of their dub of Dragon Ball Z, Funimation announced the return of the original Dragon Ball series to American television, featuring a new English version produced in-house with slightly less editing for broadcast (though the episodes remained uncut for home video releases), and they notably left the original background music intact.

[21] References to alcohol and drugs were removed, for example, when Jackie Chun (Master Roshi) uses Drunken Fist Kung Fu in the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai, Funimation called it the "Mad Cow Attack."

Since then, Pony Canyon content of this set began being released on mass-produced individual 6-episode DVDs on April 4, 2007, and finished with the 26th volume on December 5, 2007.

Funimation released their initial dub, the edited and censored first thirteen episodes, on six tapes from September 24, 1996, to February 28, 1998, together with Trimark Pictures.

Including the initial 1996-1998 releases with Trimark, 86 episodes of Dragon Ball across 28 volumes were produced on VHS for North America.

[citation needed] Funimation released their own in-house dub to ten two-disc DVD box sets between January 28 and August 19, 2003.

After Lions Gate Family Entertainment's license and home video distribution rights to the first thirteen episodes expired in 2009, Funimation has released and remastered the complete Dragon Ball series to DVD in five individual uncut season box sets, with the first set released on September 15, 2009, and the final on July 27, 2010.

Madman Entertainment released the first thirteen episodes of Dragon Ball and the first movie uncut in Australasia in a DVD set on March 10, 2004.

[24] Additional games based on the series include Advanced Adventure, Dragon Ball: Origins, its sequel, and Revenge of King Piccolo.

In 1995 Dragon Ball: Original USA TV Soundtrack Recording was released featuring the music from the Funimation/Ocean American broadcast.

[25] In 2000 satellite TV channel Animax together with Brutus, a men's lifestyle magazine, and Tsutaya, Japan's largest video rental chain, conducted a poll among 200,000 fans on the top anime series, with Dragon Ball coming in fourth.

"[32][33] He had strong praise for the "deep, insightful, and well-developed" characters, writing "Few shows can claim to have a cast quite like Dragon Ball's, and that's a testament to the creative genius of Toriyama.

[35] Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network summed up Dragon Ball as "an action-packed tale told with rare humor and something even rarer—a genuine sense of adventure.

"[36] Kimlinger and Theron Martin, also of Anime News Network, noted Funimation's reputation for drastic alterations of the script, but praised the dub.

[12] Nozawa takes pride in her role and sends words of encouragement that have resulted in children in comas responding to the voice of the characters.