Culture news The French version of this Dragon Ball manga is much better than the Japanese: the fans are categorical!
France is the second country with the most manga readers, which means this edition of Dragon Ball must be up to the task.
The French market
France has always been one of the countries with the largest number of manga readers. It is even the second largest consumer country in the world after Japan. This success is largely explained by the arrival of numerous anime in the 90s. Manga is now essential among young audiences, who even largely prefer it to traditional comics. According to a GfK Market Intelligence report published in 2022, nearly 85 million new copies are sold each year. With such a market, French publishers must keep up with the Japanese. Some even do better than their Japanese counterparts, as in the case of the Dragon Ball manga.
A worthy edition of Dragon Ball
If you are a fan of Dragon Ball, you may have had the opportunity to hear about Dragon Ball Full Color. This is a deluxe version of the manga, entirely colorized with the original colors of its mangaka, Akira Toriyama. Although the series has been available in Japan for more than 10 years, it has only just arrived in France. According to Saiyuke, enthusiast and journalist of the site db-z.com, this edition is fantastic and almost surpasses the Japanese one. The first advantage, and not the least: the French have the right to a reading format slightly larger than that of Japanese (14.5 x 21 cm), while the latter is more traditional (11.5 x 17.5 cm).
If you’re having trouble with colorized versions of manga, know that you’re not alone. Saiyuke understands the problem very well. The editor, however, reassures by explaining that it is only a habit to get into, since these colors are validated by Toriyama. We can even call them “canon”. It also promises that the reading experience is almost identical to the Japanese one, except for a few details. “Very clearly, everything is identical between the Japanese version and the French version. Only the size and a few micro-details change, but Glénat once again wanted to remain as faithful as possible to the original product.”
You will have understood: if you are fans of Dragon Ball, we recommend that you take a look at the Full Color version. For the moment, only the first two volumes have been published by Glénat. The sequel should arrive in July. If you have already had the opportunity to read the Japanese edition, you will find an almost identical experience there. As we told you, one of the main differences is in its format. On the other hand, in terms of price, it might sting. If, in Japan, you could read these volumes for less than 5 euros, this time, you will have to pay almost 15 euros per volume.