Manga Review: Dragon Ball Full Color Freeza Arc, Volume 1, by Akira Toriyama

Rating (Out of 5): ~3
Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)
Release Date: May 3, 2016
Spoilers?: No.
Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble.
Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Akira Toriyama's original, bestselling series now in a full-color version!


After his epic battle with Vegeta, Son Goku must obtain the wish-granting Dragon Balls in order to resurrect their fallen allies! Their search will take them all the way to the planet Namek, where the evil Freeza and his minions are slaughtering the Namekians in order to fulfill Freeza’s wish for immortality. What will it take to defeat this great evil?

Review:

Since I’m not a normal reader of the Dragon Ball books nor do I watch the show, this was a little slow to start for me. I don’t really have any background for the characters or the storyline—I’ve really only read the one book. But it’s a pretty simple story to follow.
It’s surprisingly brutal, with a lot of character deaths happening, a lot of fighting, only most of it brushed off and eased over. But it is a story based on fighting, so I’m not surprised by that part.
Vegeta, Son Goku and Kuririn, and Freeza and his men, are all invading planet Namek to find the dragon balls and to stop each other from finding them all. Son Goku and Kuririn stay in the background mostly, out of the fighting because they know they’re weaker and they are waiting for backup, a.k.a. Goku. Vegeta and Freeza’s group are the ones doing most of the fighting and most of the killing. As we reached the end of the volume, Vegeta is fighting and Goku has almost reached the planet.
This is still a surprisingly fun read. I’m not the audience it’s aimed at, and I have barely read any of the books. But it’s still fun to read, easy to follow, a bit childish but in a good and purposeful way. It’s fun and I can see the appeal.


A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!