General Information

Introduction

The volume’s introduction from author Akira Toriyama is printed on the front flap of the dust cover and accompanied by a small color illustration.

EN

JP

半年ほど前の夜、ネコをひろってしまいました。雨ふりの夜だったもんですから、きのどくになって、せめて雨がやむまで家においてやろうと思ったのです。

ところが、これが人なつっこくてかわいいネコなもんですから、結局わが家で飼うことになってしまったのです。まっ黒なネコですんで名前はコゲ。おかげで大のネコ嫌いのアシスタント・松山くんは、仕事に来るたびおびえております。

One night about half a year ago, I took in a stray cat. It was a rainy night, so I took pity on it and figured that I would at least let it stay in the house until the rain let up.

But it was a really friendly, cute cat, so we ended up keeping it as part of the family. It’s a jet-black cat, so its name is Koge [“char”]. As a result, my assistant Matsuyama-kun, a major cat-hater, is in a state of terror every time he comes over to work.

Contents

This volume compiles chapters 25 to 36 as originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump, covering issues 1985 #25 to 1985 #36. All chapter title pages shown below are those included in this volume. The chapter premiere dates listed below are based on the sale date of their respective issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump, which is when that issue officially went on sale.

Chapters (025 – 036)

Dragon Ball Chapter 025Page 7

ライバル？参上！！
Raibaru? Sanjō!!
A Rival? Arrival!!

21 May 1985
Weekly Shōnen Jump 1985 #25

Dragon Ball Chapter 026Page 22

？な女の子
Fushigi na On’na no Ko
The Peculiar Girl

28 May 1985
Weekly Shōnen Jump 1985 #26

Dragon Ball Chapter 027Page 36

ランチのクシャミ
Ranchi no Kushami
Lunch’s Sneeze

04 June 1985
Weekly Shōnen Jump 1985 #27

Dragon Ball Chapter 028Page 50

修業はじまり！！
Shugyō Hajimari!!
The Training Begins!!

11 June 1985
Weekly Shōnen Jump 1985 #28

Dragon Ball Chapter 029Page 64

亀マークの石さがし
Kame Māku no Ishi Sagashi
The Search for the Turtle-Marked Stone

18 June 1985
Weekly Shōnen Jump 1985 #29

Dragon Ball Chapter 030Page 78

牛乳配達
Gyūnyū Haitatsu
Milk Delivery

25 June 1985
Weekly Shōnen Jump 1985 #30

Dragon Ball Chapter 031Page 92

亀仙流の厳しい修業
Kamesenryū no Kibishii Shugyō
The Kame-sen School’s Tough Training

02 July 1985
Weekly Shōnen Jump 1985 #31

Dragon Ball Chapter 032Page 106

天下一武道会はじまる！！
Tenka’ichi Budōkai Hajimaru!!
The Tenka’ichi Budōkai Begins!!

09 July 1985
Weekly Shōnen Jump 1985 #32

Dragon Ball Chapter 033Page 120

修業の威力！！
Shugyō no Iryoku!!
The Power of Training!!

16 July 1985
Weekly Shōnen Jump 1985 #33

Dragon Ball Chapter 034Page 136

天下無敵！
Tenka Muteki!
Completely Unrivaled!

23 July 1985
Weekly Shōnen Jump 1985 #34

Dragon Ball Chapter 035Page 150

対戦決定！！
Taisen Kettei!!
The Matchups are Decided!!

30 July 1985
Weekly Shōnen Jump 1985 #35

Dragon Ball Chapter 036Page 164

第１試合
Dai-Ichi Shiai
The First Match

06 August 1985
Weekly Shōnen Jump 1985 #36

Title Page Special Feature

As the tankōbon are compilations of pre-existing chapters, they are intended to be continuously read from beginning to end. Often times, any title pages not considered integral to the story, or due to page count issues between chapters, were moved to the back of the volume and collected in a special gallery following the volume’s final chapter. The gallery notes the title pages are “as they appeared in Weekly Shōnen Jump“, which include the original tag lines and “Bird Studio” logo. These features are typically removed from the title pages remaining in the volume’s main content.

Toriyama-san’s Dragon Ball Ask-Me-Anything Corner

Each of the first 12 tankōbon volumes contains a short, two-page Q&A session with Akira Toriyama (essentially the continuation of a similar section in Dr. Slump), where he answers questions sent in by readers. Anyone was able to send in a postcard to the address listed in the book, and individuals whose submissions ran in a subsequent volume were promised a signed illustration (shikishi) from Toriyama himself. This solicitation remained in place in all printings through mid-1995 (the end of the series’ run in Weekly Shōnen Jump), after which it was removed. The Q&A section is not included in the digital edition.

The first six volumes also included an invitation to join Toriyama’s official fan club, the “Akira Toriyama Preservation Society” (Toriyama Akira Hozon-Kai), whose members received a newsletter with “inside stories” and other bonus content that would “make the comics ten times more fun”. Readers were invited to send a ¥60 stamp in an envelope to the address given, after which they would receive a membership form. This invitation remained until May 1987 (concurrent with the publication of volume 7); it was then replaced with a notice that the club had reached its predetermined membership limit, and an apology to those who still wished to join. This notice remains in current printings, even though the club has long since disbanded, with the final newsletter (issue #25) published in September 1987.

Notes

• No chapter title pages were omitted from this volume.
• This is the first volume to include an interstitial page (a page presented before or after an expected content page; typically to fill a blank page) featuring an original illustration from Akira Toriyama. This page advertises the release of the next tankōbon volume:
  

  COMMERCIAL TIME

  Kuririn: “Sorry to interrupt for this commercial break, but the 4th Dragon Ball comic is currently on sale to rave reviews. Check out the Tenka’ichi Budōkai as it heats up!”

  Goku: “Watch us in action!”

  Presumably in initial prints the release date for Volume 4 or an “On Sale Soon” promotional line was included instead, as it would not have actually been released at the time.

Supplemental Images

The following supplemental images are included in this volume and are original illustrations drawn by Akira Toriyama exclusively for this tankōbon volume:

Staff Credits

Note that the publisher credited varies by print edition based on the staff at Shueisha at the time of its printing. The publisher listed below coincides with this volume’s first edition printing.