Welcome to the Monthly Dragon Ball Report, a monthly column series where we take a look back at pages that appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump when the Dragon Ball manga was still being serialized.
For the ninth installment in this series, we'll be looking back on how our heroes lived during times of peace up to the revival of Majin Buu, the new threat to the universe!

Majin Buu's Revival: Weekly Shonen Jump 1993 No. 23 - 1994 No. 13

With Cell having finally been defeated, fans were brimming with anticipation for where the story would go next. When Weekly Shonen Jump 1993 No. 23 hit store shelves, they had their answer: Gohan was now the main character!
Even more astonishing was that he was no longer the child they had come to know, but had grown into a fine and upstanding young man.

The annual "Slogan Grand Prix!", where longtime readers submitted slogans for popular Jump manga, was also featured in this issue!
The slogan chosen for Dragon Ball this time was "This is no time for me to lose!!", which was accompanied by an awesome illustration featuring some of Goku's most fearsome foes up to that point!

Around the same time, Dragon Ball Z Side Story: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans went on sale for the Famicom.

Getting back to the story, Goku made his first appearance in a while and it was great to see him looking well and training as intensely as ever in the heavenly realm!

Gohan and the others also started training in preparation for the upcoming Tenkaichi Budokai. Videl, who first appeared with long hair, suddenly emerged sporting a new, shorter hairstyle, and was ready to begin her training in earnest!

Fans were also treated to this bonus calendar featuring an illustration of Gohan and Videl enjoying a leisurely drive.
It was clear they were going to make a great couple right from the start!

Meanwhile, that summer saw the release of the movie Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound, which featured Gohan playing a huge role as the protagonist!
In this movie, the space pirate Bojack and his gang of scoundrels suddenly appear to wreak havoc on Earth, and the resulting battle recalls the fire and intensity seen during the Cell Arc!

The highly anticipated 25th Tenkaichi Budokai finally began in Weekly Shonen Jump 1993 No. 33! The cover of this issue featured an illustration of Gohan, and it was actually the first time he appeared by himself on the magazine's cover!

In issue No. 44, Videl and Spopovich face each other in a brutal match. However, the cover is quite lively and features Goten and Trunks, who made a big splash during their tournament matches, front and center!
The calendar included in this issue has an illustration that also depicts the two boys being particularly rambunctious!

As a testament to Dragon Ball's explosive popularity, a huge exhibition known as "World of Akira Toriyama" kicked off and began to make its way around Japan in December of 1993.
In addition to displaying over 400 original illustrations, a video created using a combination of groundbreaking CG technology, cel animation and live action was screened at the event!

Dragon Ball games continued to be all the rage, and Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2, the sequel to one of the most popular Dragon Ball Z fighting games at the time, was announced!
As you can see by this insert illustrating the moves the game would feature, this was one highly anticipated release!

Speaking of games, an event for the new 3DO console featured an exclusive Dragon Ball game, and it was the talk of the town at the time!

In celebration of over 6.48 million copies of Weekly Shonen Jump sold, Goku appeared alongside many other popular Shonen Jump manga characters on this front cover!
Not to be outdone by his father, a gallant-looking Gohan was drawn alongside his Shonen Jump contemporaries for the "Battle Carddass Calendar" New Year's gift project!

Back in the main story, the opening pages of this chapter saw the fearsome Dabura take to the stage in full color, ready for battle!
Gohan was next in line to fight and fans eagerly read these pages to see how the young warrior would fare in combat!

Back at the Tenkaichi Budokai, the remaining three participants, Mr. Satan, Android 18, and Mighty Mask (who was actually Goten and Trunks in disguise in order to sneak into the tournament's adult division) were about to face off in a three-way battle royale!

In this announcement for the "New Year's Drawing J Manga Contest", Vegeta was depicted aiming for a strike at a bowling alley in the first three panels. While Toriyama had his own idea on how the fourth panel would play out, it was up to participants to bring their own ideas to the table and draw the final panel for themselves!

However, the Saiyan Prince had no time for such leisurely activities in the main story, as after having the evil in his heart drawn out by the sorcerer Babidi, he challenged Goku to a long-awaited rematch!
The way the story progressed from that point on stirred up a never-ending series of emotions among readers!

That spring, the next movie, titled Dragon Ball Z: Broly – Second Coming, hit theaters!
Fans at the time couldn't stop talking about the return of the Legendary Super Saiyan Broly and his intense battle against Gohan and co.!

In the main story, despite Gohan's best efforts, the terror known as Majin Buu was revived!
His appearance was definitely much cuter than our heroes might have expected, but considering how afraid even the Supreme Kai was of Buu, nobody knew just what terrible feats this new villain was capable of!
And just like it felt to wait for the next Weekly Shonen Jump issue, we're sure that you'll have fun waiting for the next column!