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When
Greg Werner
posted up images of the new ending to the DragonBall manga (from
the final volume of the Japanese re-release), it was still April 1st in the
United States... leading many fans to dismiss it as a hoax (many coming right
off of our own "DragonBall AF" prank!). What they failed to realize,
however, is that it was actually April 2nd in Japan, and the images were real~!
The 34th and final Kanzenban volume really does have a completely new,
four-page, semi-color ending, written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama, himself.
The
purpose of this section is to showcase both the original
manga ending, as well as the new one, but also much more;
we'd like to discuss the differences between the two,
and explain why it is so significant that a mere four
pages is actually a big deal. So, while this may not be
your typical "image section" for a manga, we
hope you enjoy what you see!
We've
given a few pages of a lead-in for the original manga
ending, so you can figure out just where to situate yourself
in the story. Also, note that we've provided completely
raw Japanese scans of both the original and new ending;
obviously, Viz Comics
owns the right to produce this manga in English (as seen
by their distribution of the DragonBall manga
in the US), so we will not be stepping on their feet,
so to speak. We have provided text files with translations
of all dialogue and sound effects, though, so you're not
completely on your own!
If
you'd like to purchase the final kanzenban, here's
the direct link to its entry over on Amazon Japan;
note that most of the reviews mention the new ending,
as well~!
After
you're done reading and checking out both the original
ending and new ending, come
tell us what you think of them over on our dedicated thread
on the forums!
| Original
Shônen Jump / Tankôbon
Ending (1995) — by Akira Toriyama |
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The
final pages of the original ending to DragonBall,
as written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama in
1995. These particular scans were taken from the
second daizenshuu ("Story Guide"),
which presents the entire final chapter in a large-size
full-color presentation.
All
images JPEG; 660x1010; 60% |
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| New
Kanzenban Ending (2004) — by Akira
Toriyama |
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On
2 April 2004, the final two volumes of the kanzenban
were released. Much to our surprise, a completely
new four-page ending to DragonBall had
been drawn by Akira Toriyama specifically for this
release! These pages are scanned from their full-color
release in the final, 34th kanzenban. Note
that page 229, here, takes the place of page 17
from the original ending's chapter.
All
images JPEG; 660x1010; 60% |
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| Thoughts
On the New Ending — The Daizenshuu EX
Staff |
Julian:
I've personally always felt that the original manga
ending was a bit too abrupt — I guess this
means that Toriyama thought so, too! I especially
like how Uub gets to ride on Kinto-Un. Not only
does this show a cute moment that this character
doesn't originally get (after all, the next time
you see him is in the GT anime, where he's all grown
up!), but it also shows that Goku's put some thought
into this. By showing that Uub is pure of heart,
it also shows that Goku had actually picked a worthy
successor. It also completes the circle of Goku's
progression from student to teacher more fully,
just as the upper panel on page 230 (recalling Goku
as a child) hints.
However, I don't like the fact that Toriyama removed
his original "farewell" message from the
very last page. It was touching... and besides,
the Vegeta panel serves no real point. If anything,
it makes the series a better setup for GT. O_o;;
I mean, Vegeta was supposed to be over his rivalry
by then! But still, it doesn't detract too
much from an otherwise much more satisfying ending,
which is why I like this version better.
VegettoEX:
One thing that Julian pointed out to me
was the mention of the Dragon Balls, themselves,
in the original ending. The original hints that
the world will be OK thanks to the Dragon Balls...
isn't this exactly what the story was going against
at this point, though?! Rather than depending on
the Dragon Balls, the heroes were taught and told
to rely on themselves to save the planet and friends
that they loved so much; by inferring that since
they had Dragon Balls everything would be OK...
well... that just kinda went against the flow of
things.
The
new ending changes this, and says that the world
will be OK thanks to the great bunch o' guys that
live on the planet. It's a much more uplifting message,
and brought a much wider smile to my face.
I,
too, miss Toriyama's farewell message, and feel
that ending it on Vegeta was a little strange...
but whatever. I agree that the new ending fits the
story in a more fitting way, and was extremely excited
to read it.
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