"White/Red Series" Edition | Original Dragon Ball Manga
Everything about the 1st edition of the Dragon Ball manga in Spain, the White/Red Series.
Details about its formats, release, issue count, binding, and some curiosities of this first edition of DB.
Here you will find everything you need to know about the first edition of the original Dragon Ball manga in Spain, the "White and Red Series" collection. We explain in which formats it was printed, the reason for its division, all its covers, the number of issues, release year, and curiosities about this Spanish edition of DB.
What is the "White/Red Series" edition of Dragon Ball?
The "White/Red Series" edition holds the honor of being the first printing of the original Dragon Ball manga in Spain, based on the tankobon released by Shueisha since 1985. It arrived in Spain in 1992 through Planeta DeAgostini Cómic, even before its conclusion in Japan in 1995 (after 11 years of monthly publication in Weekly Shōnen Jump).
The features, data, and trivia of this first edition of the Dragon Ball manga in Spain.
This is the first "standard" or "basic" edition of the Dragon Ball manga released in Spain starting in 1992 by Editorial Planeta, and it came with certain characteristics.
Two Different Formats
Just like in Japan, where fans could enjoy the manga in Weekly Shonen Jump every month in magazine format, along with the tankōbon volumes that compiled the chapters from the magazine into 42 volumes, Planeta Cómic also brought this collection to Spain in both formats.
The biggest difference from its Japanese versions is that, in this Spanish edition, due to the lack of awareness about manga in 1992, the original reading format was not preserved and was instead adapted to the Western style. This resulted in all pages being printed in a mirrored format, making the characters appear "left-handed."
The Tankōbon Format (The "Serie Blanca" Volumes)
Spread across 42 volumes, with the original covers and colors from the Japanese version, this edition included some of the title pages at the beginning and end of each volume, as well as Akira Toriyama's original comments and drawings on the flaps of the books. In Spain, this collection is known as the "Serie Blanca" in volume format.
The Magazine Format (A Bit of History)
In Japan, from 1984 to 1995, a chapter of the Dragon Ball manga was published weekly in Weekly Shonen Jump, totaling 519 chapters.
In 1992, in Spain, Planeta de Agostini Cómic, due to the growing popularity of the anime on regional TV channels, decided to bring this manga, which had been publishing in Japan for several years, although it hadn't concluded yet.
It's worth noting that, although the anime was very popular and had reached the Cell saga, it was unexpectedly canceled on the regional TV channels and had a break for several years, during which time the conclusion of this arc was unknown.
Now that we know this, and that Shueisha already had 8 years of individual chapters, Planeta de Agostini took advantage of the success of DBZ and its popularity to release the manga in two different runs. One was called the "Serie Blanca" and the other was called the "Serie Roja." The Serie Blanca started from the very beginning of the manga with Goku and Bulma, while the Serie Roja jumped straight into the action of the battle between Goku and Frieza on Namek.
Additionally, the Serie Blanca had fewer chapters per volume and a weekly release, knowing there would be 153 issues since all that material had already been published in Japan, giving that series a clear start and end date. On the other hand, the Serie Roja had more chapters per volume and a monthly release, although it started at the end of the Frieza saga out of fear of catching up with the Japanese publication (which never happened). In addition, each issue included a section where readers could send questions, drawings, and more. In the Serie Blanca, it was called "Goku's Corner."
Thus, for several years, the collection was published in parallel. Those who wanted to read everything could collect both series, and those who only wanted to follow what happened with Goku and his friends in the episodes not shown on TV could read and collect only the Serie Roja.
Printing Specifications of the Volumes:
- Reading Direction: Western.
- Cover: Softcover (The tankōbon with a flap).
- Formats: Tankobon and magazine.
- Binding: Staples (Magazine Serie Blanca) and Paperback (Tankōbon and Serie Roja).
- Number of Pages:
- Yellow Series Magazine: ~32 pages.
- Blue Series Magazine: ~48 pages.
- Tankobon: ~200 pages.
- Number of Volumes:
- Magazine: 211.
- Tankobon: 42.
Magazine Format | The complete list or checklist with the 211 issues of the White and Red Series of Dragon Ball, featuring illustrations of the covers
Here is the complete list or checklist of this edition of DB, including illustrations of all the covers, their numbers, and their original release year in Spain. Additionally, all issues have links to stores where you can check availability and compare prices.
Tankobon Format | The complete list or checklist with the 42 volumes of the White Series of Dragon Ball, featuring illustrations of the covers.
Here is the complete list or checklist of the tankobon format of this edition of DB, including illustrations of all the covers, their numbers, and their original release year in Spain. Additionally, all volumes have links to stores where you can check availability and compare prices.
Are you looking for information about another edition of the original manga?
Some individual issues from the other collections and formats of the original DB.
This is a sample of some covers from the different issues or volumes of the other 4 collections published in Spain of this manga.
The other paper collections from the Dragon Ball universe.
