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Dragon Ball Omnibus #9
Dragon Ball (3-in-1 Edition), Vol. 9
Akira Toriyama's groundbreaking, iconic, best-selling series now in an omnibus edition!
Dragon Ball introduces a young monkey-tailed boy named Goku (a wry update of the classic Chinese "Monkey King" legend), whose quiet life changes when he meets a girl named Bulma who is on a quest to collect seven "Dragon Balls." If she gathers them all, an incredibly powerful dragon will appear and grant her one wish. But the precious orbs are scattered all over the world, and Bulma could use the help of a certain super-strong boy...
Captain Ginyu has used his transforming power to exchange bodies with Goku. With Goku's friends in a pinch, and Goku's life hanging by a thread, Gohan and Kuririn must use the the seven Dragon Balls of Namek to summon the mighty Dragon Lord, who can grant any three wishes. Can Goku get his body back and defeat Captain Ginyu? And if the Dragon Lord is summoned, can Gohan and Kuririn prevent Vegeta and Freeza from wishing for immortality for themselves?
Dragon Ball introduces a young monkey-tailed boy named Goku (a wry update of the classic Chinese "Monkey King" legend), whose quiet life changes when he meets a girl named Bulma who is on a quest to collect seven "Dragon Balls." If she gathers them all, an incredibly powerful dragon will appear and grant her one wish. But the precious orbs are scattered all over the world, and Bulma could use the help of a certain super-strong boy...
Captain Ginyu has used his transforming power to exchange bodies with Goku. With Goku's friends in a pinch, and Goku's life hanging by a thread, Gohan and Kuririn must use the the seven Dragon Balls of Namek to summon the mighty Dragon Lord, who can grant any three wishes. Can Goku get his body back and defeat Captain Ginyu? And if the Dragon Lord is summoned, can Gohan and Kuririn prevent Vegeta and Freeza from wishing for immortality for themselves?
512 pages, Paperback
First published June 2, 2015
4 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
About the author
Akira Toriyama
1,907 books1,725 followersAkira Toriyama (鳥山明) was a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He first achieved mainstream recognition for creating the popular manga series Dr. Slump, before going on to create Dragon Ball (his most famous work) and acting as a character designer for several popular video games such as the Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon. Toriyama came to be regarded as one of the most important authors in the history of manga with his works highly influential and popular, particularly Dragon Ball, which many manga artists cite as a source of inspiration.
He earned the 1981 Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen/shōjo manga with Dr. Slump, and it went on to sell over 35 million copies in Japan. It was adapted into a successful anime series, with a second anime created in 1997, 13 years after the manga ended.
His next series, Dragon Ball, would become one of the most popular and successful manga in the world. Having sold 260 million copies worldwide, it is one of the best-selling manga series of all time and is considered a key work in increasing manga circulation to its peak in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. Overseas, Dragon Ball's anime adaptations have been more successful than the manga and are credited with boosting anime's popularity in the Western world. In 2019, Toriyama was decorated a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contributions to the arts.
In October 2024, Toriyama was inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame.
He earned the 1981 Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen/shōjo manga with Dr. Slump, and it went on to sell over 35 million copies in Japan. It was adapted into a successful anime series, with a second anime created in 1997, 13 years after the manga ended.
His next series, Dragon Ball, would become one of the most popular and successful manga in the world. Having sold 260 million copies worldwide, it is one of the best-selling manga series of all time and is considered a key work in increasing manga circulation to its peak in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. Overseas, Dragon Ball's anime adaptations have been more successful than the manga and are credited with boosting anime's popularity in the Western world. In 2019, Toriyama was decorated a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contributions to the arts.
In October 2024, Toriyama was inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 7, 2018
Finally Goku has fulfilled his destiny. Though his warriors pride still overrides his intelligence. A great action packed collection. I have to admit the continues "turning tables" did get a bit annoying but it did make for exciting reading. Anyone who sees the cover would know what was to happen in this book. So I regret saying Goku achieves a incredible new power level of legendary proportions. A great battle by everyone against overwhelming odds. Freeza unleashes his full power finally but someone is there to meet him every step of the way. I remember getting goosebumps the first time I saw this on the screen, and I got them reading this even though I knew what was going to happen. One of my favourites of the series so far.
November 5, 2019
The final fight is HERE! Funny enough story this is actually where Akira wanted to end his story. He wanted Goku and Frieza, who was the strongest being in the universe at this point, to go out in a bang. However, this is where DBZ popularity skyrocketed. So we got years more of DBZ (and eventually Super!)
So this starts off where the last one left off. Ginyu is in Goku's body and he's being a real asshole. Thinking he's some tough guy now. However, what happens? Oh yeah, he doesn't know how to use the awesome power Goku obtained and is useless. So after Goku gets his body back, which we all knew he would, it's a race to summon the dragon before Frieza returns. What's next is basically everybody trying their hardest to take on Frieza but of course not doing too well till Goku comes back ready to fight.
What makes this fight legendary is how big and massive, and how dire it all is, compared to most fights in this series. While the last one was great, this is the one to really hit when it comes to Goku and everyone else's life on the line. Not to mention this is the arrival of the Super Saiyan form, which is legendary in itself. The brutal fight is about to reach it's exciting climax when the volume ends right before the fight. Really annoyed at that.
Overall though, Frieza is a great villain and this is a great volume.
So this starts off where the last one left off. Ginyu is in Goku's body and he's being a real asshole. Thinking he's some tough guy now. However, what happens? Oh yeah, he doesn't know how to use the awesome power Goku obtained and is useless. So after Goku gets his body back, which we all knew he would, it's a race to summon the dragon before Frieza returns. What's next is basically everybody trying their hardest to take on Frieza but of course not doing too well till Goku comes back ready to fight.
What makes this fight legendary is how big and massive, and how dire it all is, compared to most fights in this series. While the last one was great, this is the one to really hit when it comes to Goku and everyone else's life on the line. Not to mention this is the arrival of the Super Saiyan form, which is legendary in itself. The brutal fight is about to reach it's exciting climax when the volume ends right before the fight. Really annoyed at that.
Overall though, Frieza is a great villain and this is a great volume.
January 1, 2025
This is my favorite part of the series. I love this arc, Freeza is just a really great character to hate.
I remember the anime, and how long it felt that Goku finally dropped that Genki Dama, and overall how long the fight with Freeza was (too long in my opinion), but reading it in manga, this felt super quick. However great are the fight scenes, I felt a little bit quick how Freeza was transforming; the way Goku just popped into Super Saiyan form was a bit sudden, so these two moments were a bit disappointing.
Anyway, this is still the best part of Dragon Ball, and I loved it.
I remember the anime, and how long it felt that Goku finally dropped that Genki Dama, and overall how long the fight with Freeza was (too long in my opinion), but reading it in manga, this felt super quick. However great are the fight scenes, I felt a little bit quick how Freeza was transforming; the way Goku just popped into Super Saiyan form was a bit sudden, so these two moments were a bit disappointing.
Anyway, this is still the best part of Dragon Ball, and I loved it.
June 10, 2024
Really, really good! For Goku to transform into a Super Saiyan now. And I doubt we have even seen the extent of his power.
And I don't like the villain in this arc. He seems pure evil, and plainly just someone who wouldn't turn his life around. But Goku is indeed really a bigger protagonist.
---
"How sad to cling to hope even when things are so pointless..."
- Freeza
But isn't that what hope is all about?!
And I don't like the villain in this arc. He seems pure evil, and plainly just someone who wouldn't turn his life around. But Goku is indeed really a bigger protagonist.
---
"How sad to cling to hope even when things are so pointless..."
- Freeza
But isn't that what hope is all about?!
August 22, 2018
Another great volume! I'm a little irked that I have to wait for the next one to see the conclusion of Goku v Freeza, but hopefully that'll mean Cell will show up in it too since this arc is almost done. I can see why Freeza is a lot of people's favorite villain but he's just not that interesting to me tbh. But anyway this series is really fun and definitely worth the read!
Edit 8/21/18: Decided not to continue with this series. I've seen the anime enough and enjoy it. I don't feel the need to continue reading this, thought I did enjoy the Z arc (the original Dragon Ball wasn't as interesting to me because it, mostly, lacks the sci-fi elements).
Edit 8/21/18: Decided not to continue with this series. I've seen the anime enough and enjoy it. I don't feel the need to continue reading this, thought I did enjoy the Z arc (the original Dragon Ball wasn't as interesting to me because it, mostly, lacks the sci-fi elements).
June 1, 2023
The moment that everyone knows. The first appearance of Super Sayin. As a reader who is very familiar with the franchise I knew well in advance exactly what was going to happen and when. Some interesting notes are that there are several typos found in the page numbers and that volume 27 has a single panel of Bardock. Which I always thought was a fan edit in the past but was happy to see is cannon.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2020
The last volume ended with a great cliffhanger, which is that Goku gets his body swapped by Captain Ginyu, who is determined to gain Goku’s power. As Vegeta, Gohan and Kuririn confront Ginyu, now in Goku’s body, we have a brief but inventive fight on how does the heroes fight someone, who they don’t want to entirely damage the body. Obviously Vegeta doesn’t hold back, because he’s still a prick, but Ginyu doesn’t know how to control Goku’s power. As great as Toriyama is towards action, he never forgets his roots as a gag manga artist as he comes up with a hilarious resolution for the switcheroo conflict and how they defeat Ginyu, who was established as a powerful figure.
With Goku returned to his body, which is all bruised up, he is left in a healing tank, hopefully with enough time to be healed before the arrival of Freeza, who easily takes down Namek’s top warrior Nail. As Vegeta sleeps before the big battle, Gohan and Kuririn sneak away with all seven Dragon Balls and with the help of the young Namekian, Dende, the Dragon Lord Porunga shall grant three wishes. Through Kaiō-Sama’s communication technique, Piccolo asks to be resurrected as the first wish, so that Kami will also be alive and thus Earth’s Dragon Balls can return. With the second wish that is Piccolo being transported to his home planet to be granted, the third wish ultimately doesn’t due to the death of the Namek Dragon Balls’ creator, the Great Elder. Vegeta may be pissed for not getting his wish for immortality, but when Freeza arrives, there are worse things to worry about.
Most of this volume is about the final battle with Freeza being the big baddie that the few heroes that are left on the planet to go up against. This is a fight that is always changing, not just with Freeza’s multiple transformations, but how each character is giving everything they’ve got, from Gohan’s hidden power, Vegeta’s arrogance as thinks he’s the Super Saiyan, to Piccolo merging with Nail so that the former’s power can be greater. With Freeza is becoming stronger with each new transformation and continues to be merciless, it’s also a turning point for Vegeta, who becomes scared and realises his own weakness. Whatever salvation he hopes to achieve is the defeat of Freeza, if not by his own hands, then perhaps Goku.
Speaking of Goku, once he’s finally healed, he does not hesitate as he swiftly flies into the battlefield. Before his fight with Freeza, Goku shows some sympathy towards the defeated Vegeta and for the first time, seems to embrace his part as a Saiyan. He will always be Goku as he still has his quips when facing off against Freeza, who is now his final elegant form. What became the longest fight in the TV adaptation of DBZ, the Goku versus Freeza fight in the source material has been just as iconic, with every chapter giving us something new as these two super-powered figures are equal in strength, so the outcome can go either way. Based on the front cover, you notice that Goku goes his own transformation as we finally get the Super Saiyan and is glorious as he looks bad-ass and ditches the quips.
As this volume concludes, we haven’t reached the very end of this epic battle and there are twists and turns among the supporting cast, the next volume will begin with something literally world-shattering.
With Goku returned to his body, which is all bruised up, he is left in a healing tank, hopefully with enough time to be healed before the arrival of Freeza, who easily takes down Namek’s top warrior Nail. As Vegeta sleeps before the big battle, Gohan and Kuririn sneak away with all seven Dragon Balls and with the help of the young Namekian, Dende, the Dragon Lord Porunga shall grant three wishes. Through Kaiō-Sama’s communication technique, Piccolo asks to be resurrected as the first wish, so that Kami will also be alive and thus Earth’s Dragon Balls can return. With the second wish that is Piccolo being transported to his home planet to be granted, the third wish ultimately doesn’t due to the death of the Namek Dragon Balls’ creator, the Great Elder. Vegeta may be pissed for not getting his wish for immortality, but when Freeza arrives, there are worse things to worry about.
Most of this volume is about the final battle with Freeza being the big baddie that the few heroes that are left on the planet to go up against. This is a fight that is always changing, not just with Freeza’s multiple transformations, but how each character is giving everything they’ve got, from Gohan’s hidden power, Vegeta’s arrogance as thinks he’s the Super Saiyan, to Piccolo merging with Nail so that the former’s power can be greater. With Freeza is becoming stronger with each new transformation and continues to be merciless, it’s also a turning point for Vegeta, who becomes scared and realises his own weakness. Whatever salvation he hopes to achieve is the defeat of Freeza, if not by his own hands, then perhaps Goku.
Speaking of Goku, once he’s finally healed, he does not hesitate as he swiftly flies into the battlefield. Before his fight with Freeza, Goku shows some sympathy towards the defeated Vegeta and for the first time, seems to embrace his part as a Saiyan. He will always be Goku as he still has his quips when facing off against Freeza, who is now his final elegant form. What became the longest fight in the TV adaptation of DBZ, the Goku versus Freeza fight in the source material has been just as iconic, with every chapter giving us something new as these two super-powered figures are equal in strength, so the outcome can go either way. Based on the front cover, you notice that Goku goes his own transformation as we finally get the Super Saiyan and is glorious as he looks bad-ass and ditches the quips.
As this volume concludes, we haven’t reached the very end of this epic battle and there are twists and turns among the supporting cast, the next volume will begin with something literally world-shattering.
August 11, 2017
Damn, this installment was pretty awesome! We finally get to see Goku's showdown with Freeza, and it's amazing, featuring the characters unleashing new powers and increasingly explosive attacks, with the landscape around them being devastated and the scale of their battle ramping up and up until the entire planet is threatened and eventually destroyed. It's incredible, dramatic stuff, with Goku pulling off what seems like a last minute victory (but Freeza doesn't die that easily, of course), then discovering his next-level Super Saiyan powers when all seems lost. I'm not sure how things are going to get bigger from here, but I expect it will continue to be awesome.
December 11, 2017
Thus far, this has been the best entry in the Dragon Ball series. Granted, I have a ways to go before I finish the series, but this has been my favorite so far. This was a turning point for the franchise; when we see Goku accept rage if it means attaining the greater good. Absolutely beautiful artwork, as always.
November 15, 2019
It’s kind of ridiculous how long this whole fight with Freeza and his goons has gone on. (And it’s still not finished!)
It’s more of the same larger than life fights, which is fun and all, but the “flying by the seat of our pants” style of writing starts to wear thin after a while.
It’s more of the same larger than life fights, which is fun and all, but the “flying by the seat of our pants” style of writing starts to wear thin after a while.
March 3, 2020
The fight scenes are amazing!!
May 16, 2020
I have been waiting for so long and avoiding spoilers for SO LONG just to see Goku go super saiyan
May 11, 2021
** 3.5 stars **
July 25, 2021
SUUUUPPPEEEERRR SAAAAIIIIYYYAAANNNNSSS!!
January 22, 2023
Son Goku keeps fighting in this, book 9 which contains volumes 25, 26 and 27, with chapters 289 to 325. As fun as crazy as always!
June 12, 2023
SUPER SAIYAN
December 17, 2023
A masterpiece!
December 20, 2023
The best Omnibus up until now
September 29, 2024
I forgot how long these fight scenes go on for. Seemingly never-ending.
March 11, 2019
2019 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge: A book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie
2019 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge: A book of manga
2019 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge: A book of manga
August 17, 2025
Honestly, the Namek arc ending is a little disappointing. All the Dragon Ball rules were retconned (oh your earth dragon balls can only bring someone back from the dead once? ours can do it forever) which makes death practically meaningless.
The Super Saiyan moment is still badass. Toriyama has been building to it the whole arc, both Freeza and Vegeta fear this "super saiyan," but you have no idea what that really means, and they don't either. Then it happens and it's sick.
As a side note, Toriyama does the same thing to Freeza in this arc that he did to Taopai-pai the assassin. He definitely dies, cut in pieces and exploded, but we don't see his body and he comes back as a cyborg. Lame, just let him die. King Cold would have been enough of a threat and given the same power scaling for the next arc. But because he actually dies so soon into the cell arc, it's not a big deal.
The cleanup at the end of this arc is kind of messy, but overall the experience is just so good, I love this storyline.
The Super Saiyan moment is still badass. Toriyama has been building to it the whole arc, both Freeza and Vegeta fear this "super saiyan," but you have no idea what that really means, and they don't either. Then it happens and it's sick.
As a side note, Toriyama does the same thing to Freeza in this arc that he did to Taopai-pai the assassin. He definitely dies, cut in pieces and exploded, but we don't see his body and he comes back as a cyborg. Lame, just let him die. King Cold would have been enough of a threat and given the same power scaling for the next arc. But because he actually dies so soon into the cell arc, it's not a big deal.
The cleanup at the end of this arc is kind of messy, but overall the experience is just so good, I love this storyline.
March 21, 2017
This book is literally just everyone in the world trying to beat Frieza. This gets carried out for WAY too long.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews