Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Dragon Ball is the first in a trilogy of anime adaptations of the Dragon Ball manga series by Akira Toriyama. Produced by Toei Animation, the anime series premiered in Japan on Fuji Television on February 26, 1986 and ran until April 12, 1989. Spanning 153 episodes (Episode 140 was delayed by the death of Emperor Sh wa), it covers the first 194 chapters of the 519 chapters-long manga series. It is followed by Dragon Ball Z, which covers the remainder of the manga, and Dragon Ball GT, the plot of which was created solely for the anime. Harmony Gold USA licensed the series for an English-language release in North America in the late 1980s. In the their voice dub of the series, Harmony renamed almost all of the characters, including the protagonist Son Goku, who was renamed to "Zero". In 1995, Funimation Entertainment licensed the series for both broadcast and distribution in North America. Funimation initially had BLT Productions create the English voice track for the series and the series was edited for content.