For over 40 years, Dragon Ball has been a benchmark in shonen battle manga. Although it's not the top-selling manga of all time, it is one of the most iconic and influential, having a major impact on the industry and playing a pivotal role in popularizing anime and manga globally.
The Dragon Ball manga celebrated its 40th anniversary on November 20th, 2024, and to mark the occasion Shueisha is releasing a special box set of the entire manga series.
Celebrating four decades since the manga's debut, the Dragon Ball 40th Anniversary Edition Box Set includes all 42 volumes of the original Dragon Ball manga, each featuring unique double-cover illustrations.
If you recall, from August 2021 to November 2024, Shueisha's Saikyō Jump magazine ran the Dragon Ball Super Gallery Project. This special initiative saw each of the original 42 volume covers were reimagined by renowned manga artists, including prominent creators such as Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto), Tite Kubo (Bleach), Eiichiro Oda (One Piece), and Koyoharu Gotouge (Demon Slayer).
The culimation of this project is the Dragon Ball 40th Anniversary Edition Box Set, which is scheduled to release on February 4, 2026. Each volume in this collectio has a double cover featuring the original cover as wel as the newly re-imagined illustration.
The collection comes housed in four seaprate Dragon Ball-themed boxes. There are also additional exclusive extras such as post-card sized cover illustration cards and eight original index dividers.
Pre-orders for the Dragon Ball 40th Anniversary Edition Box Set are now available and close on August 3, 2025.
Dragon Ball is one of the most popular and beloved manga in the world, but its future remains clouded following the passing of its original creator Akira Toriyama, who died in March 2024. The series briefly returned from a hiatus with a special one-shot serving as a prequel to the Super Hero arc. It that was released in February 2025.
Although Toyotarō, Toriyama's chosen successor and long-time collaborator, has confirmed his committment to continue teh series, there's been no announcement for when the manga will cotinue its regular publication.
Helping hold fans over during the hiatus was the debut of a brand new anime series, Dragon Ball Daima, which debuted in October 2024. Akira Toriyama contributed to the original story and character designs, making it one of his last major projects before his passing.
Bandai Namco Entertainment recently announced that Dragon Ball returned to its No. 1 sales-ranking spot with a record-breaking 190.6 billion yen (approximately $1.3B) in revenue during the 2024 fiscal year.