Dragon Ball Fans Are Celebrating the Series' 35th Birthday

It is hard to believe, but Dragon Ball has grown another year old. With each passing month, the series becomes even more iconic with fans around the world. Today, fans in the U.S. are celebrating the latest Dragon Ball anniversary, and you may not believe how old the manga is now.

It's time to make your guess! After a handful of decades, Dragon Ball is celebrating is 35th anniversary following its publication in 1984.

For those unaware, Dragon Ball was first published as a serial on November 20, 1984. Shueisha took a chance on the epic story by putting Son Goku in Weekly Shonen Jump. Akira Toriyama, the creator of the series, was on a high after his success with Dr. Slump. But 1984 would usher in the introduction of all new superpower in the industry.

The first chapter of Dragon Ball published is one which many fans will know. "Bloomers and the Monkey King" went live in Weekly Shonen Jump #51 and paved the way for 518 more chapters. Toriyama hit a goldmine with his creation of the Saiyans, and fans from around the world are paying tribute to the series as you can see in the slides below.

After 35 years in print, Dragon Ball is going on strong today. Nowadays, Toriyama oversees the publication of Dragon Ball Super which the artist Toyotaro pens. To celebrate this milestone year, the on-going series put out a new chapter today, and it saw Goku training for a huge fight. Earth is in peril once more from the ancient wizard Moro, and none of Goku's usual moves even bother the baddie. But by the end of his latest training stint, fans believe Goku will finally show Moro who's the boss.

What message would you send to Toriyama today? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block on Saturday evenings, and is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese-language release of the series is complete, and available to stream on FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll. The manga has chapters that can currently be read for free thanks to Viz Media, and Dragon Ball Super's big movie, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.