Most Fusion World boosters follow a familiar recipe: new Leader Cards, a run of Alt-Arts, a Secret Rare or two at the top. The Manga Booster line breaks that recipe on purpose.
Across two sets — MANGA BOOSTER 01 [SB01] and MANGA BOOSTER 02 [SB02] — Bandai built an entire booster series around one idea: alt-art cards that, in the words of the official product pages, “are illustrated by Akira Toriyama himself.” No other product in the Dragon Ball Super Card Game Fusion World lineup makes that claim, and it is the reason “manga booster” has become its own search term among Dragon Ball collectors rather than just another set code.
This guide explains what the Manga Booster line actually is, what sits inside SB01 and SB02 set by set, how the two releases differ, and how to order the Japanese sealed boxes from Tokyo. Everything below comes from the official Bandai product pages for the sets — where the official pages don’t state something, we say so rather than guessing.
Manga Booster is a two-set sub-series inside Fusion World (SB01, June 2025; SB02, November 2025) defined by alt-art cards officially described as “illustrated by Akira Toriyama himself.” SB01 was the first Fusion World booster to include energy markers — 21 exclusive designs — and SB02 repeats the formula with 21 exclusive designs of its own, so the two sets together carry 42 marker designs you cannot get anywhere else.
What Is the Dragon Ball Manga Booster?
To place the Manga Booster line, it helps to start with the game it belongs to. Fusion World — full name DRAGON BALL SUPER CARD GAME Fusion World — launched in Japan on February 16, 2024. Bandai’s launch announcement described it as “an action-packed card game where you can turn the tables in an instant by awakening your Leader Card! Battles get more and more exciting as they go on, just like in the Dragon Ball original series!” The game debuted with its first booster, -AWAKENED PULSE- [FB01], alongside four starter decks (Goku, Vegeta, Broly, and Frieza), and every booster pack since has included a promotion code for the game’s official digital version, which Bandai released for PC with “the same rules and card pool used in the physical version.”
The main Fusion World release line runs FB01, FB02, FB03 and onward — numbered “FB” booster packs that each introduce new Leader Cards and mechanics. If you want the full picture of that main line, our Fusion World sets in order guide walks through every release chronologically.
The Manga Booster sits outside that numbering. Its two sets carry the prefix “SB” — MANGA BOOSTER 01 [SB01] and MANGA BOOSTER 02 [SB02] — and they are built around a specific artistic concept rather than a story-arc theme. Where a standard FB set is defined by its five new Leaders and its mechanics, a Manga Booster set is defined by its art treatment: manga-illustration alt-art versions of cards, drawn from the pen of the series’ creator. The cards remain fully part of the same game — SB01 and SB02 appear on the official Fusion World product pages alongside the FB sets, and each pack includes the same digital-version promotion code — but the reason the line exists is the artwork.
Two structural details reinforce that collector orientation. First, SB01 introduced something no Fusion World booster had carried before: energy markers, included in the booster packs themselves, with 21 original designs exclusive to the set. Second, both sets mix new Leader Cards with deliberately chosen reprinted Leaders pulled from earlier products — a curation approach rather than a pure expansion approach. We’ll cover both of these in the set breakdowns below.
You’ll see this line referred to as the “Dragon Ball Manga Booster,” “Fusion World Manga Booster,” or simply by the set codes SB01 and SB02. They all mean the same two products. On the official Bandai product pages the sets are titled “MANGA BOOSTER 01 [SB01]” and “MANGA BOOSTER 02 [SB02].”
The Headline Feature: Toriyama Alt-Art Cards
Every Fusion World booster includes alt-art cards of some kind — that has been true since FB01, which shipped with 23 alternative-art versions. What makes the Manga Booster different is who the official pages credit for the art. The SB01 product page states that the alt-art cards “are illustrated by Akira Toriyama himself,” and the SB02 page repeats it almost word for word: “The gorgeous Alt-Art ver. cards are illustrated by Akira Toriyama himself!”
That is the entire premise of the line, and it is worth pausing on. Akira Toriyama created Dragon Ball. The manga panels, the character designs, the visual language that every subsequent Dragon Ball product draws from — all of it originates with him. A trading card that carries his illustration is not an homage to the source material; per the official description, it is the source material, presented in card form. For collectors, that puts the Manga Booster alt-arts in a different category from the many excellent artist treatments elsewhere in the game.
The treatment is a manga-illustration focus — the cards present Toriyama’s drawn artwork rather than the rendered styles used across most of the standard sets. Bandai’s official pages describe the cards as “gorgeous Alt-Art ver.” versions; beyond that, the pages let the artwork speak for itself.
One thing the official pages do not do is quantify the Toriyama alt-arts per set the way FB pages sometimes do (FB01’s page, for instance, states “23 Alternative-art cards in this product”). For SB01 and SB02, the emphasis is on the treatment itself. What the pages do quantify precisely is everything else: card types, rarity counts, Leader composition, and the energy markers — which is what the next two sections cover.
SB01 — Manga Booster 01: Full Breakdown
MANGA BOOSTER 01 [SB01] launched the line. The Japanese release date was June 28, 2025, with the English release on June 27, 2025 — one of the rare cases where the EN street date landed a day ahead of the JP one.
The set totals 110 card types plus 21 energy marker designs, listed on the official page as “Total: 110 types + 21 types.” Here is the full rarity breakdown:
| Rarity | Count |
|---|---|
| Leader | 5 |
| Common | 37 |
| Uncommon | 32 |
| Rare | 25 |
| Super Rare | 10 |
| Secret Rare | 1 |
| Energy Markers | 21 |
The Leader lineup: three new, two curated reprints
SB01’s five Leader Cards split into “3 new Leader Cards and 2 reprinted Leader Cards,” per the official page. The two reprints were pulled from earlier main-line boosters: one from -RIVALS CLASH- [FB06] (the April 2025 set that introduced Leaders including Android 18, childhood Son Goku, and King Piccolo) and one from -ULTRA LIMIT- [FB04] (November 2024). Reprinting Leaders inside a special set gives players who missed those boosters a fresh route to the cards — and it ties the Manga Booster back into the main line rather than leaving it as an isolated novelty.
A first for the game: energy markers in a booster
SB01’s other claim to history is structural. It was the first Fusion World booster pack to include energy markers — “A total of 21 energy markers included,” as the official page puts it, adding that the “21 designs are originals that can only be obtained with MANGA BOOSTER 01.” Energy markers are play accessories, but making the designs set-exclusive turned them into collectibles in their own right: if you want these 21 designs, this product is the only place they exist.
As with every Fusion World booster, the official EN product page lists 12 cards plus one digital-version promotion code per pack. (Note that Japanese pack configurations can differ from English ones — Bandai’s JP page for FB01, for example, lists 6 cards per Japanese pack — and the official pages we verified do not state a packs-per-box figure for SB01, so we won’t invent one here.)
SB02 — Manga Booster 02: Full Breakdown
Four and a half months later, Bandai ran the formula back. MANGA BOOSTER 02 [SB02] released in Japan on November 8, 2025, with the English release following on November 14, 2025.
The set totals 132 types — and note the counting convention shift: unlike SB01’s “110 + 21” phrasing, SB02’s total of 132 includes its 21 energy marker designs, which means 111 card types plus 21 markers. The breakdown:
| Rarity | Count |
|---|---|
| Leader | 5 |
| Common | 37 |
| Uncommon | 32 |
| Rare | 25 |
| Super Rare | 10 |
| Secret Rare | 2 |
| Energy Markers | 21 |
Line by line, that is almost a mirror of SB01 — same Common, Uncommon, Rare, and Super Rare counts, same five-Leader structure, same 21 markers. The one rarity-sheet difference: SB02 carries two Secret Rares where SB01 carried one.
The reprinted Leaders: Frieza and Shenron
SB02’s two reprinted Leader Cards are named on the official page: Frieza, reprinted from Starter Deck FS04, and Shenron (Dragon Ball), reprinted from -WISH FOR SHENRON- [FB07], the September 2025 main-line booster whose entire theme was built around the eternal dragon. Where SB01 drew both of its reprints from main-line boosters, SB02 reached into the starter deck lineup for one of its picks — another sign that the Manga Booster functions as a curated cross-section of the game rather than a straight expansion.
Energy markers, round two
The energy markers returned, and Bandai kept the exclusivity rule intact: “As with SB01, energy markers are included in the booster pack! All 21 designs are originals exclusive to Manga Booster 02!” So the two sets do not share a marker pool — SB01’s 21 designs exist only in SB01, SB02’s 21 designs exist only in SB02, and a complete Manga Booster marker collection means 42 designs across both products.
And, as with SB01 and every other Fusion World booster, each pack includes a promotion code for the digital version (12 cards plus one code per pack on the official EN page; JP pack configuration and packs-per-box are not stated on the pages we verified).
SB01 vs SB02: Side-by-Side Comparison
Everything above, in one table:
| MANGA BOOSTER 01 [SB01] | MANGA BOOSTER 02 [SB02] | |
|---|---|---|
| JP release | June 28, 2025 | November 8, 2025 |
| EN release | June 27, 2025 | November 14, 2025 |
| Set total | 110 types + 21 energy markers | 132 types (incl. 21 energy markers) |
| Leaders | 5 (3 new + 2 reprints) | 5 (incl. 2 reprints) |
| Reprint sources | FB06 -RIVALS CLASH-, FB04 -ULTRA LIMIT- | FS04 starter deck (Frieza), FB07 -WISH FOR SHENRON- (Shenron) |
| Super Rare | 10 | 10 |
| Secret Rare | 1 | 2 |
| Energy markers | 21 exclusive designs (first booster ever to include them) | 21 exclusive designs |
| Toriyama alt-arts | Yes — “illustrated by Akira Toriyama himself” | Yes — same official description |
| Digital code per pack | Yes | Yes |
The practical read: these are sibling sets, not sequel-versus-original. SB02 is not a bigger or smaller product than SB01 in any meaningful structural way — the rarity sheets are nearly identical — so the choice between them comes down to which artwork, which Leaders, and which marker designs you want. Completists will note that neither set’s exclusives overlap with the other’s, which is precisely why many collectors treat the pair as a single two-box project.
The official Bandai product pages do not state packs-per-box for these sets, and we don’t publish pull-rate or ratio figures that Bandai hasn’t. If you see specific box-odds claims for SB01 or SB02 elsewhere, know that they aren’t sourced from the official product pages.
Why Collectors Focus on This Line
Strip away everything else and the Manga Booster’s appeal rests on three pillars, all of them structural rather than speculative:
- The creator’s own hand. The official description — alt-art cards “illustrated by Akira Toriyama himself” — is unique to this line within Fusion World. Plenty of card games commission tribute art in a manga style; these pages credit the manga’s creator directly. For a franchise whose identity is inseparable from Toriyama’s linework, that is the strongest art credential a Dragon Ball card product can carry.
- Set-exclusive contents that cannot be reprinted elsewhere by definition. The 21 energy marker designs in SB01 “can only be obtained with MANGA BOOSTER 01,” and SB02’s 21 designs are “exclusive to Manga Booster 02.” Exclusivity that Bandai states on the product page itself is a different thing from scarcity you have to infer.
- A first-in-game-history milestone. SB01 is the first Fusion World booster to include energy markers at all. Firsts matter to collectors in every card game, and this one is verifiable straight from the official page rather than from community lore.
There is also the quieter appeal of the curation itself. The reprinted Leaders — FB06 and FB04 picks in SB01, the FS04 Frieza and FB07 Shenron in SB02 — mean each Manga Booster box doubles as a snapshot of the wider game. If you came to Fusion World late, the pair of SB sets touches four other products’ Leader pools without requiring you to chase four other products.
We deliberately make no claims here about prices, pull rates, or market movement — that is not what this guide is for, and sealed Japanese boxes of both sets are quote-based at our store in any case. The collector case for the Manga Booster stands entirely on what Bandai printed on the box and stated on the product pages.
How to Order Manga Booster Boxes from Japan
We are a Tokyo-based exporter of Japanese sealed TCG product, and we stock both Manga Booster sets as Japanese sealed booster boxes. Because these boxes are quote-based, the product pages work on an ask-for-a-quote basis rather than a fixed cart price — open the page, request the current quote, and we’ll confirm availability and shipping from Tokyo with tracked delivery.
Three ways to browse and buy:
- Dragon Ball category — our full Dragon Ball collection covers the Manga Booster boxes alongside the main-line FB sets, so you can see everything Fusion World in one place.
- Product pages — the SB01 and SB02 pages linked above, for direct quote requests on a single box.
- Quick Order — if you’re building a mixed order (say, an SB01 box plus FB06 and FB07 boxes to pair the reprinted Leaders with their source sets), the Quick Order page is the fastest way to assemble it in one go.
New to the game’s sealed products generally? Start with our Japanese Fusion World booster box guide for the fundamentals, then use the sets-in-order guide to map where SB01 and SB02 landed in the release timeline — between FB06 and FB07, and between FB07 and FB08 respectively.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Dragon Ball Manga Booster?
It is a two-set special booster series within the DRAGON BALL SUPER CARD GAME Fusion World: MANGA BOOSTER 01 [SB01] and MANGA BOOSTER 02 [SB02]. The line is built around alt-art cards that the official Bandai product pages describe as “illustrated by Akira Toriyama himself,” plus set-exclusive energy marker designs included in the booster packs.
Who illustrated the Manga Booster alt-art cards?
Per the official Bandai product pages for both sets, the alt-art cards “are illustrated by Akira Toriyama himself” — the creator of Dragon Ball. This official credit is the defining feature of the Manga Booster line.
When were SB01 and SB02 released?
SB01 released in Japan on June 28, 2025 (English version June 27, 2025). SB02 released in Japan on November 8, 2025 (English version November 14, 2025).
What is the difference between Manga Booster 01 and Manga Booster 02?
The structures are nearly identical: five Leaders, 10 Super Rares, and 21 exclusive energy markers each. The differences: SB01 has 110 card types plus 21 markers with one Secret Rare, while SB02 totals 132 types including its 21 markers with two Secret Rares. SB01’s reprinted Leaders come from FB06 and FB04; SB02’s are Frieza (from Starter Deck FS04) and Shenron (from FB07). Each set’s marker designs are exclusive to that set.
What are the energy markers in the Manga Booster packs?
Energy markers are play accessories included inside the booster packs — SB01 was the first Fusion World booster ever to include them. Each set carries 21 original designs that are exclusive to that product: SB01’s 21 designs “can only be obtained with MANGA BOOSTER 01,” and SB02’s 21 designs are “exclusive to Manga Booster 02,” so both sets together hold 42 unique designs.
Are Manga Booster cards usable in regular Fusion World play?
SB01 and SB02 are official Fusion World booster products, listed on Bandai’s Fusion World product pages alongside the main FB sets, and each pack includes the same digital-version promotion code as other boosters. They are part of the same card game, not a separate spin-off game.
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