The Dragonball Saga.....to my knowlege it is the longest running anime in Japan that features the the same cast throughout the entire series. It had two manga series, spawned thirteen theater movies, and three tv specials.
Story Line: A baby is left mysteriously in the woods alone and is found by an old man who lives near by. The old man, whose name is Son Gohan, raises the child and names him Goku. It roughly means “the one who came first” which turns out to be true because he is the first Sayian to actually set foot on earth. But more about that later on. Gohan teaches him the Marshal Arts, but very few manners. After all he had lived most of his life in the woods and didn’t know much about how city folks lived. At about the age of twelve, Goku met a pretty, 16 year old girl named Bulma who was hunting for something called “The Dragonballs” and so his adventures began. This lost child would soon grow up to be the savior of the universe. Trust me, he was just as surprised about this as everyone else was!
| The Monkey King |  | |
This painting on the left is from China used to illustrate the story of the Monkey King. Originally written by a monk as part of a book called "The Journey West" It tells the story of a monkey made of stone who came to life. It’s been retold many ways for thousands of years in Asia and Akira Toriyama used it as his basis for the dragonball tales. If you can get a copy of this book, read it and see how both stories are very much the same.
|
