Listen to me; I'm not a rookie. I actually OWN that book and have physically, not a scan, for years.
That timeline is FROM 1996, is dated and was NOT written by Akira Toriyama. Not everything in the Daizenshuu is from Toriyama, hence why there are anime sections.
Sit down.
Reliable sources are, of course, Shueisha, as well as Toei Animation, and sometimes sales figures appear on the official Japanese Fuji TV channel (they had a program with the voice actress who voiced Goku, and as part of the promotion there was information about Dragon Ball manga sales).
I researched how many copies of the Dragon Ball manga have been sold and came to the conclusion that the number could exceed 450–500 million copies. I base this on the fact that officially, at a 2009 exhibition stand, it was announced that Dragon Ball had sold over 350 million copies. After that, many re-releases came out (with different covers and double covers), and according to their own reports, all of them sold quickly.
Regarding the most recent re-release, it was officially stated that the latest double-cover edition sold over 800,000 copies. Also, the Dragon Ball Super manga brought in about 12–13 million copies in 2024–2025.
The problem with exact numbers arises because the original Dragon Ball manga is already finished, and older completed projects are almost never updated. But even so, we have over 350 million copies sold as of 2009, plus about 12 million copies of Dragon Ball Super, plus approximately another 5 to 15 million copies from re-releases of the original manga, which gives around 377 million copies.
However, recently the official figure was updated to over 400 million copies. So it’s impossible to say exactly. It’s possible that the 400 million figure refers only to the original manga, and to this number you can safely add re-release sales plus Dragon Ball Super (not counting pirated copies, obviously, and there are many of those).
I personally lean toward a total somewhere between 450 million and over 500 million copies
Here is the Dragon Ball chronology based on official data from (Daizenshuu 7 and updates from the Chōzenshū 4 version). As you can see, the Garlic film and the first Cooler film are canon. Also, the DBZ film Battle of Gods belongs to GT. In DBS, the canon films are DBS: Broly and DBS: Super Hero.
After Dragon Ball Z, there are immediately three branches (DB GT, DBS, and DB Daima). All of them are official continuations of DBZ, but there is no connection between them; each is official within its own storyline
@_Kilo_G_@EmperorBigD The writers probably just decided not to include Yamcha and Tien Shinhan. As for the hair, of course it would be short, since the Cooler movie takes place after Goku returns from Yardrat—so Gohan was probably just given a haircut
@Turo_db@EmperorBigD lol Yamcha and Tien were also too weak for the cell games too, and for the arrival of 19 and 20, yet they still showed up.
Yeah Saiyans age slower, but they don’t age backwards. Gohan was older by the time Goku came back from Yardrat. Longer hair and all.
@_Kilo_G_@EmperorBigD All the characters were there except Vegeta, and Tien Shinhan and Yamcha probably didn’t show up because they were too weak. As for Gohan’s age, I think you already know that Saiyans grow slowly and stay youthful for a long time
@Turo_db@EmperorBigD If we going off the anime, vegeta was in an asteroid field or some shit. Okay. The others were not present. Goku had to be triggered in order to transform. And Gohan was Namek saga aged.
@_Kilo_G_@EmperorBigD All the characters were there, and Vegeta was absent because he had gone to another planet to train, where he achieved the Super Saiyan form. And in the movie, Goku was able to transform freely
@Turo_db@EmperorBigD During the three years… where Gohan is noticeably older, Goku can go Super Saiyan at will, has instant transmission, and yet the rest of the crew sans Krillin & Piccolo are no where to be seen? The same Z-Fighters who pulled up for Frieza’s return, the androids, and cell games.
@Turo_db@dbslat@DBDaimaOficial@DbsHype@DBZdaily_ All this being from books that are obviously outdated. I will only change my opinion on the canon if an official source releases new timeline that was created or orchestrated before Toriyama’s death. Adding new things is fine, but no one can change the established past, but Tori.
Of course he has a tail, because the events of the movie take place before the Androids appear. Just like Goku, Gohan’s tail grew back. After returning from Namek, Goku can transform at will, which is exactly what he did in the movie—he transformed when Cooler showed his full power. The fact that Goku was in his base form at first just shows how strong he had become—he could handle the soldiers without even paying attention to them. But when he saw Cooler’s true strength, he transformed
@Turo_db Gohan has a tail.
Goku can't transform at will, when he could upon returning to Namek.
Dende is the Guardian of the Earth, but Goku and Gohan are still in base form.
@_Kilo_G_@EmperorBigD I’ll surprise you, but the first Cooler movie takes place during those three years when the DBZ fighters are training to fight the Androids—and that’s when Cooler attacks in that time period. It’s literally stated in the chronology 🥀
@Turo_db@EmperorBigD Also the first cooler movie can’t happen because it takes place after namek but before Goku’s arrival back home. Gohan’s haircut gives it away. When Goku comes back Gohan’s hair grew longer. Also, Goku doesn’t have Instant Transmission in that movie, which he has when he returns.
@Turo_db "Chronology" only implies dates of events and order of causality, not whether or not said events happened in the same universe. The word "canon" or "original story" is not used at all.
Cooler is also impossible to happen.
@Rodrirogax@EmperorBigD What he’s saying is complete nonsense that isn’t backed by any official sources. Thanks, but I don’t listen to people like that — everything I’ve tweeted is based solely on official data and statements.