Dragon Ball Z Vol. 1 by Akira Toriyama

Before this week, I had never heard of the term Manga, but when I typed it into Iowa City Public Library's catalog, over 400 entries appeared. When I went to the section in the library, I was surprised how popular Mangas must be. I found row upon row of Mangas. This type of graphic novel reads from right to left. Having heard of the Dragon Ball series but not knowing what it is about, I thought it would be a good choice as my first Manga novel to read. I soon realized that Dragon Ball Z is the extension series of Dragon Ball. Full of action, Dragon Ball Z Volume 1 is a story of exciting twists and turns full of adventures and fighting scenes. It takes a while to get used to the Japanese names, but the character index in the front of the book with names, pictures, and a description of the character helped me better understand the histories of each character.

After five years, Son Goku, the greatest martial artist on earth, faces a new challenge. Now married and a father, Son Goku finds out that he has an alien brother, Raditz. They soon discover that Raditz is not a "nice brother" but a merciless warrior killer who goes from planet to planet destroying everything in his path, including people. In order to save his son from Raditz's grasp and to save all the people on Earth, Son Goku must join forces with his former archrival, Piccolo. Even though Raditz is eventually defeated, two others of his kind are bound to arrive in future volumes of Dragon Ball Z. No one is safe.

My first graphic novel experience was interesting. This genre definitely takes some getting used to based on the way you read the story from right to left. Besides the daily newspaper comics, I don't read comics. Although personally this genre didn'tinterest me, I can see the possibilities for this genre for reluctant readers. With the mix of words and pictures, these books read quickly and leave the reader hanging at the end of the book, making him want to read the next volume. During the action scenes, few words are used, and instead, the pictures display the action with sound effects such as "Zhoom!" and "Hwoo!" Alliances, enemies, and action-packed scenes are all part of the Dragon Ball Z package. Now when I see Dragon Ball on TV, I'll know some of the characters. This particular Manga is for any age, but other Mangas I found were geared towards teen girl audiences. I feel as though I've finally entered the 21st century since now I know about Japanese Manga.