# Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies (ドラゴンボール 神龍の伝説)
**Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies** (ドラゴンボール 神龍の伝説, *Doragon Bōru: Shenron no Densetsu*, literally "Dragon Ball: The Legend of Shenron") is a 1986 Japanese animated theatrical film, the first cinema adaptation of [Akira Toriyama](https://www.edgepedia.org/akira-toriyama)'s *Dragon Ball* manga. It was produced by [Toei Animation](https://www.edgepedia.org/toei-animation) and released in Japan on December 20, 1986.[1](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_dragonball_shenron/story/) The film retells the opening of the story, in which the boy Son Goku and the girl Bulma search for the seven Dragon Balls, which summon the dragon Shenron (神龍) and grant one wish, but replaces the manga's original villains with King Gurumes, a tyrant whose mining of Blood Rubies has devastated his kingdom and whose insatiable hunger drives him to seek the Dragon Balls.[1](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_dragonball_shenron/story/) • [2](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/017445) • [13](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/dragon-ball-curse-of-the-blood-rubies/2030288528/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Japanese title | ドラゴンボール 神龍の伝説 (*Doragon Bōru: Shenron no Densetsu*)[1](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_dragonball_shenron/story/) |
| Release | December 20, 1986, distributed by Toei[1](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_dragonball_shenron/story/) • [3](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/149984) |
| Running time | 50 minutes (some sources list 51)[3](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/149984) • [2](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/017445) |
| Director / script | Daisuke Nishio (director); Toshiki Inoue (script), with script composition by Yoshifumi Yuki[2](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/017445) • [4](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/program/toeianimation202607-35/) |
| Original work | Akira Toriyama's *DRAGON BALL* manga[2](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/017445) |
| Music | Shunsuke Kikuchi[2](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/017445) |
| Reported gross | ¥1.36 billion[5](https://dragonball.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Ball%3A_Curse_of_the_Blood_Rubies) |
## Spoilers
### Story
The film is built on the legend at the center of the franchise: whoever gathers the seven Dragon Balls can summon Shenron, who grants any single wish.[1](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_dragonball_shenron/story/) Bulma sets out on a journey hoping to wish for a wonderful boyfriend. Goku, who owns the four-star [Dragon Ball](https://www.edgepedia.org/dragon-ball), a memento of the guardian who raised him, has it seized by Pasta and Bongo, henchmen of King Gurumes, a tyrant who has devastated his kingdom through Blood Ruby mining and hunts the balls so he can cure his insatiable hunger.[1](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_dragonball_shenron/story/) • [2](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/017445) • [13](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/dragon-ball-curse-of-the-blood-rubies/2030288528/)
Goku and Bulma travel together to recover the stolen ball and meet Panji, a girl distressed by the devastation of the Gurumes Kingdom, where ruby mining has enriched the crown while impoverishing the land.[1](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_dragonball_shenron/story/) • [6](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/47539/dragon-ball-curse-of-the-blood-rubies-movie-1/) The four of them, Goku, Bulma, Oolong, and Panji, infiltrate the kingdom, and the film turns on the question of who will get to make the wish to Shenron.[1](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_dragonball_shenron/story/)
### Place in the franchise
As the first of the *Dragon Ball* theatrical films, it set the pattern for the early movies: each retold or extended material from the manga with new villains and film-original characters, running about 50 minutes and premiering at the Toei Manga Matsuri.[3](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/149984) • [4](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/program/toeianimation202607-35/) The Pia film database credits the film series, of which this is the opening entry of what it counts as 17 works, with introducing film-original characters in every installment as Goku and his companions battle evil over the seven Dragon Balls.[12](https://lp.p.pia.jp/event/movie/31824/index.html) One detail the film contributed to the franchise's mythology is the first on-screen depiction, by original Japanese publication date, of the sky darkening when the Eternal Dragon is summoned, a plot point later used during the Namek arc of *Dragon Ball Z*.[5](https://dragonball.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Ball%3A_Curse_of_the_Blood_Rubies)
## Relationship to the TV series
The film opened while the *Dragon Ball* television anime, which began broadcasting in February 1986, was already on the air.[2](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/017445) • [7](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/tv/dragon/) It is not a continuation of that series. Toei's own catalog describes it as an original story built on the opening portion of the manga, and the National Film Archive of Japan's program notes call it the first theatrical *Dragon Ball* film, a parallel story to the TV episodes.[2](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/017445) • [4](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/program/toeianimation202607-35/) The allcinema database likewise notes that the theatrical films ran parallel to the TV version rather than connecting to it.[3](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/149984)
The retelling compresses the manga's early material into a short feature. A DVD Talk review describes it as the beginning of the TV series retold with new animation in a movie format, and notes that at about 50 minutes it runs roughly the length of two television episodes.[6](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/47539/dragon-ball-curse-of-the-blood-rubies-movie-1/) Familiar characters appear along the way, including Master Roshi (Kame-sen'nin), Yamcha, Puar, and the sea turtle, voiced by the same cast as the TV series: [Masako Nozawa](https://www.edgepedia.org/masako-nozawa) as Goku, Hiromi Tsuru as Bulma, Naoki Tatsuta as Oolong, Naoko Watanabe as Puar, Toru Furuya as Yamcha, and Kohei Miyauchi as Roshi.[1](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_dragonball_shenron/story/) • [8](https://tv.apple.com/ca/movie/dragon-ball-curse-of-the-blood-rubies/umc.cmc.w8zqyu08i01iesdbrh7qewnq) King Gurumes was voiced by Shuichiro Moriyama, Pasta by Nami Koyama (listed as Naomi Koyama on Toei's page), Bongo by Goro Naya, and Panji by Tomiko Suzuki.[1](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_dragonball_shenron/story/)
## Production and release
The film was directed by Daisuke Nishio, with animation direction by Minoru Maeda, art direction by Yoshiyuki Yamamoto, cinematography by Motoaki Ikegami, and music by Shunsuke Kikuchi; the executive producer was Chiaki Imada and the planner was Keizo Shichijo.[4](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/program/toeianimation202607-35/) • [2](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/017445) It was produced by Toei (animation by Toei Doga, Toei Animation's name at the time) and distributed by Toei.[4](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/program/toeianimation202607-35/) • [3](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/149984)
It premiered on December 20, 1986 as one of the features of the "'87 Otoshidama Toei Manga Matsuri," a [New Year](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-year) children's program that also included the *GeGeGe no Kitaro* film *Clash! The Great Rebellion of the Dimensional Yokai* and the seventh *Kinnikuman* film; the three features totaled 149 minutes.[4](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/program/toeianimation202607-35/) The Toei Manga Matsuri was a seasonal compilation billing, fixed under that name from spring 1969, that packaged children's animation and tokusatsu films for theatrical release.[4](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/program/toeianimation202607-35/)
The film was followed theatrically by *Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle* (1987).[5](https://dragonball.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Ball%3A_Curse_of_the_Blood_Rubies) Shueisha later issued the film as a full-color anime comic, *Dragon Ball Anime Comics 1: Shenron no Densetsu*.[9](https://www.shueisha.co.jp/books/items/contents.html?jdcn=83421314100314335501)
## English versions and availability
In English the film is known as *Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies*, a title that does not translate the [Japanese name](https://www.edgepedia.org/japanese-name).[5](https://dragonball.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Ball%3A_Curse_of_the_Blood_Rubies) A 1995 dub was first released on VHS by KidMark Home Entertainment on September 24, 1996, a year after the movie premiered in American syndication.[5](https://dragonball.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Ball%3A_Curse_of_the_Blood_Rubies) [Funimation](https://www.edgepedia.org/funimation) later released a DVD of the film in 2010 with a new English 5.1 dub alongside the original Japanese mono track, presented in its original 4:3 aspect ratio.[6](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/47539/dragon-ball-curse-of-the-blood-rubies-movie-1/)
The film remains in circulation on Japanese streaming services. As of 2026 listings, it streams on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and U-NEXT in Japan, among other services.[10](https://www.justwatch.com/jp/%E6%98%A0%E7%94%BB/dragon-ball-curse-of-the-blood-rubies) • [11](https://subsnavi.jp/vod/anime/doragon-bo-ru-shinryu-no-densetsu/) The National Film Archive of Japan scheduled 35 mm screenings of the film, in its original VistaVision-format ratio, in August 2026 as part of a Toei Animation retrospective.[4](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/program/toeianimation202607-35/)
## References
1. [ストーリー - ドラゴンボール 神龍の伝説, 東映アニメーション作品ラインナップ](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/movie/movie_dragonball_shenron/story/)
2. [ドラゴンボール 神龍の伝説, WOWOWオンライン](https://www.wowow.co.jp/detail/017445)
3. [映画アニメ ドラゴンボール 神龍の伝説 (1986), allcinema](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/149984)
4. [フィルムでみよう！東映アニメーション-35, 国立映画アーカイブ](https://www.nfaj.go.jp/program/toeianimation202607-35/)
5. [Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies, Dragon Ball Wiki (Fandom)](https://dragonball.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Ball%3A_Curse_of_the_Blood_Rubies)
6. [Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies (Movie #1), DVD Talk, review by Neil Lumbard](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/47539/dragon-ball-curse-of-the-blood-rubies-movie-1/)
7. [ドラゴンボール, 東映アニメーション作品ラインナップ](https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/ja/tv/dragon/)
8. [Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/ca/movie/dragon-ball-curse-of-the-blood-rubies/umc.cmc.w8zqyu08i01iesdbrh7qewnq)
9. [ドラゴンボール アニメコミックス 1 神龍の伝説, 集英社](https://www.shueisha.co.jp/books/items/contents.html?jdcn=83421314100314335501)
10. [ドラゴンボール 神龍の伝説のストリーミング詳細, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/jp/%E6%98%A0%E7%94%BB/dragon-ball-curse-of-the-blood-rubies)
11. [ドラゴンボール 神龍の伝説の配信サービス比較, subsnavi](https://subsnavi.jp/vod/anime/doragon-bo-ru-shinryu-no-densetsu/)
12. [ドラゴンボール 神龍の伝説の作品情報, ぴあ映画](https://lp.p.pia.jp/event/movie/31824/index.html)
13. [Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies - Where to Watch and Stream - TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/dragon-ball-curse-of-the-blood-rubies/2030288528/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Japanese anime features › Released 1932 to 1998*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license