Dragon Ball Z
Dragon Ball Z | |
File:Dragonballz.jpg Dragon Ball Z - The Freeza Saga. | |
Genre | Shonen Action / Adventure |
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Created by | Toei Animation Akira Toriyama |
Anime | |
Directed by | Daisuke Nishio Osamu Kasai |
Studio | Toei Animation |
Movies | |
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TV Specials | |
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Dragon Ball Z is the long-running sequel to the popular anime Dragon Ball. The series is a close adaptation of the second (and far longer) portion of the Dragon Ball manga (in the United States, the manga's second portion is also titled Dragon Ball Z to prevent confusion), but also features characters, situations and backstories not present in the original.
The series follows the adventures of the adult Son Goku who, along with his companions, defends the earth against assorted villains. While the original Dragon Ball anime followed Goku through childhood into adulthood, Dragon Ball Z is a continuation of his adulthood life. The separation between the series is also significant as the latter series takes on a more dramatic and serious tone.
Originally, creator Akira Toriyama had planned to end the series after the Freeza Saga, but was made a significant offer to keep it going due to the story's continued value.
The anime first premiered in Japan on April 18, 1989 (on Fuji TV) at 7:00 PM and ended on January 31, 1996. In the U.S., the series ran between 1996 and 2003, though not always on the same networks or with continuity of dubbing. It aired in the UK, albeit with the same dubbing problem, on Cartoon Network, premiering on March 6, 2000 and running until 2002, with the final few episodes being shown on CNX starting from October 14, 2002, before that channel relaunched as Toonami, on which it was repeated daily.
After Dragon Ball Z, the story of Son Goku and friends continues in the anime-only series Dragon Ball GT. This series is not based on a manga by Akira Toriyama.
Toriyama's humor/parody manga Neko Majin Z features several concepts introduced in Dragon Ball Z (several Dragon Ball Z characters even make various appearances), but that manga is designed as a parody and not a true continuation of the series.
Plot summary
Template:Spoiler Son Goku, the protagonist, is an extremely powerful but somewhat naïve martial artist. After a visit from his previously unknown brother Raditz, he discovers that he belongs to an alien race called Saiya-jin or Saiyan and that his kind once sent him to Earth to destroy it. When he refuses to reassume this task, Raditz challenges him to a lethal battle in which Goku sacrifices himself to beat his brother (with the prospect of resurrection by the Dragon Balls). This, however, is the trigger for events of even greater magnitude to happen, making Goku and his friends the foremost defenders of Earth, mankind and ultimately the whole universe.
Goku was given back his flesh body by Kami-sama and told to seek out greater training, for a new enemy would come in a year. He does so, is wished back after a year, and ends up fighting a fellow Saiyan with much greater power: Vegeta, the prince of all remaining Saiyans. By luck Vegeta is defeated, but in his naïvete Goku lets him go. Vegeta swore he'd get vengeance, but instead he ultimately ended up on Goku's side. He only sided with Goku begrudgingly, however, in a futile attempt to find a way to surpass Goku in power.
Goku later learns that his race was destroyed by the one and only Frieza, the planet-conquering maniacal onslaught of an alien emperor. Zarbon, Freeza's top henchman, had requested that the best solution would have been the complete annihilation and extinction of the Saiyan race, thus triggering Frieza's wrath. Frieza killed Goku's father Bardock (or Viz's translation "Burdock") as well as King Vegeta (Vegeta's father) when he attacked and obliterated the entire Saiyan planet from existence. After many years, Goku comes face to face with Frieza and his onslaught, in a decisive fight of good against evil.
Several years after the fight on Namek, Frieza returns to take his revenge upon earth. However, a teenage half-Saiyan by the name of Trunks appears and skillfully defeats Freiza and King Cold (Freiza's father). The series does not end with Frieza's demise. Several years later, Dr. Gero, who once worked with the Red Ribbon Army and was its only surviving member (see Dragon Ball; Dr. Gero was not an official character, but there was a shadowy figure behind the creation of Android 8, which is assumed to be him), sought vengeance on Goku by creating several androids. His androids, however, turn on him. They are joined by Gero's ultimate creation, Cell, who was created with the DNA of most of Earth's fighters, including Goku. With the help of Trunks, the son of Vegeta and Bulma from a future where the Androids dominated Earth, they manage to defeat Cell, with the final blow coming from Son Gohan, his own son. Goku, however, sacrificed himself yet again and decides not to return this time.
As the series progresses, Son Goku, and their companions age, get immensely stronger and fight increasingly more powerful and sinister villains. Many of the main characters die, are resurrected (few of them stay dead), get married and/or have children. The final portion of DBZ is set when Gohan is 17, and centers on Earth's warriors fighting a new evil: Buu, a creation of intergalactic sorcerer Bibidi that feels no emotion and is powerful enough to destroy the universe.
The overall mood changes significantly from the one of Dragon Ball, as tournaments and personal vendettas are replaced by wars against alien villains threatening earth in its whole, changing the focus to violent battles and the feeling of a power struggle. There also is a change from the rather myth-oriented theme to a more science fiction oriented one, interpreting several facts from a very different point of view.
DBZ and Fandom
Dragon Ball Z was (and largely still is) one of the most popular shōnen anime series' worldwide. Due to its length, associated varying production quality, creative devices, and sometimes overenthusiastic younger fanbase, anime fandom at large has mixed reactions to the story. These range from simple lack of interest to downright vocal hatred of the series as overrated and superficial. In response, fans of Dragon Ball Z have countered that many who criticize the series sound as though they don't know it as well as they'd like to think. While contributing much to the shōnen genre in Japan, some feel Dragon Ball Z has created a stereotype associated with anime at large in the West amongst those outside the anime community.
The main character of Dragon Ball Z, Gokū.
Censorship Issues
One of the biggest criticisms of the series in North America from fans is the extensive amount of editing and other changes it faced, in order to be broadcast.
Dragon Ball Z was marketed to appeal to a wide range of viewers from all ages, and contains crude humor and occasional excesses of violence which are commonly seen as inappropriate for younger audiences by American standards. When it was marketed in the US, the distribution company FUNimation alongside with Saban decided to initially focus exclusively on the young children's market, because the anime market was still small compared to the much larger children's cartoon market. The series underwent many changes, with the removal of nudity and partial nudity, references to sex, alcohol, and smoking. For example, FUNimation digitally removed the cigarette from one character's mouth, and digitally pasted the word ROOT above a sign that said BEER to make it say "ROOT BEER." Clear glasses with beer were recolored blue to create frothy mugs of water. Many violent scenes were left on the cutting room floor and others had wounds digitally removed or blood re-colored as spit. Dead bodies lingering on the battlefield during ongoing fights were not shown, implying they were taken away or vaporized altogether. The dialogue was changed, removing references to Heaven, Hell, God, and death. The most infamous dialogue edits would be the characters saying "I will send you to another dimension," rather than "I will kill you" (or, as said in the manga, "I will send you to Hell"), and another where after a villain destroys a helicopter, one of the characters exclaims "It's okay, I can see their parachutes!" when in the original version the crew died with the vehicle.
This amount of editing led to characters' speech not matching what occurred on screen, unrealistic and twisted plots with major holes, and obviously altered images. These changes left many fans irate, and some Dragon Ball purists refuse to watch the American version of the show. One of the biggest points raised by critics of the editing of violence is that the removal of wounds, blood, and death from a show ultimately about fighting will encourage violence without showing any of the consequences.
Starting with the Gi'nyu arc (3rd US season) on Cartoon Network, censorship was reduced due to fewer restrictions on cable programming. FUNimation did the dubbing on their own this time around with their own voice actors, meeting again with mostly critical reactions. Some censoring, of nudity, however, was still unavoidable. Subsequent DVD and VHS releases of those episodes still have some censorship. FUNimation still used toned down words like "heck", "darn", "oh my gosh" instead of "hell", "damn", "oh my god" even on their uncut DVDs and VHS tapes. In 2003, FUNimation decided to redub the first two sagas of Dragon Ball Z, to remove the problems that were caused from their previous partnership with Saban. They also redubbed the first three movies that were also dubbed by the Ocean Group voice actors but were distributed by Pioneer. The distribution of the redubs started in April 2005.
The character "Mr. Satan" was changed to "Hercule" in the edited dub.
A very violent scene with the extended version of Freeza's impalement of Kuririn during the Freeza saga was edited out on CN and merged with the other two episodes. Non-graphic scenes such as the beginning (Kuririn getting stabbed) and the end (Kuririn getting thrown into the water) were kept in. All blood was removed from the already edited version. The full scene is viewable by purchase of the Frieza-Transformation (Uncut version) VHS or DVD.
Creative Changes
To an equal extent, many fans who object to censoring have taken issue with changes that are not seen as necessary, such as extraneous dialogue not found in the original, dubbing that sways the English version in its own creative direction (example: the TV audience booing Gokū's appearance during the dubbed Cell Saga while cheering him in the Japanese series), and the replacement of the entire original musical score. Combined with widely criticized voice acting, many feel that the English version of Dragon Ball Z almost seems like an entirely different show than the original, and this has led many familiar with the Japanese series to dislike FUNimation's English dub.
Post 9/11
The day after the September 11 attacks, CN cut an episode of Dragon Ball Z where Gohan saves a plane from crashing, then later has to deal with a burning skyscraper office building, due to the obvious parallel imagery. This episode was skipped on the first run of the Great Saiyaman Saga, but it returned in all later running of the series.
Uncut Version
In 2005, Cartoon Network started showing the uncut and unedited version of the first two seasons of Dragon Ball Z, similar to the Japanese original, although the English version features a new darker opening theme, whereas the original Japanese themes were cheerful in tone and had bright, colorful animations. The "new" English dub still doesn't have the original Japanese soundtrack.
Most importantly, all fighting scenes are totally uncut, but several other differences can be seen, like foamy water now actually being beer, blood being red again (whereas the edited version showed purple) and shots of characters sticking up their middle fingers being left in. References to death and killing can be heard and Muten Rōshi's lecherous attempts on Bulma are shown at their fullest, too.
Mild use of profanity is also heard, like Jheese (Dub: Jeice) saying "The crazy bastard killed Guldo!" and Vegeta shouting "Damn you, Kakarrot!" and numerous utterances of the words dammit, bastard and hell. Still, the first 23 episodes of the "Ultimate Uncut Special Edition" were profanity-free, just like all the episodes of the FUNimation dub of DBZ. Those still contained euphemisms for profane words such as "darn", "heck" and "gosh". Episodes 24-67 did, however.
Scenes containing graphic violence, like Vegeta blowing up a Saibaiman, Goku shredding his hand on his training rope while on his way to Planet Namek, Vegeta slamming his arm clean through Zarbon's stomach, Vegeta decapitating Gurd (Dub: Guldo) and destroying his still-speaking disembodied head, and Gohan getting severely beaten by Recoome are restored.
Scenes featuring Lunch also are restored; she was edited out of 4 episodes of the older version, because only the first 13 episodes of Dragon Ball had been dubbed at the time in which she did not appear. Other characters such as Karin, Piccolo, Tenshinhan, Chiaotzu, and Yajirobe had also not been seen in those 13 episodes, but they were important to DBZ's plot. Since Lunch was not, and her scenes included bank robbing, guns, and alcohol, they decided to remove her. In the new release, she is constantly following Tenshinhan due to her love for him.
Other new scenes include the showing of Gohan's penis (albeit not detailed) and Goku's bare butt while bathing at Princess Snake's palace. The Saibaimen are also more sadistic.
Even missing episodes that were totally left out by FUNimation are now shown, such as young Gohan helping out a robot that refused to help him as an act of teaching him to take care of himself, and eventually saved his life before he shut down and "died".
Filler
Filler is used to pad out the series for many reasons; in the case of Dragon Ball Z, more often than not, it was because the anime was running alongside the manga, and there was no way for the anime to run ahead of the manga (since Toriyama was still writing it, at the same time).
The company behind the anime, Toei Animation, would occasionally make up their own little side stories to either further explain things, or simply to extend the series. Filler doesn't come only in the form of side stories, though; sometimes it's as simple as adding some extra attacks into a fight.
As the anime series was forced to expand 12 pages of manga text into 20 minutes of animation footage, these changes were introduced to kill time or to allow the (anime) writers to explore some other aspect of the series' universe (the Anoyo-ichi Budōkai (Afterlife tournament) between the Cell Saga and Majin Buu Saga and the Garlic Jr. arc, a.k.a. Garlic Jr.'s return from the Return my Gohan!! (Dead Zone) movie between the Freeza Saga and Trunks arc (pre-Cell Saga) are both good examples of this). They have also been known to contradict the manga and often create new plot holes. For example, during the Freeza Saga, there is a flashback showing that Vegeta, Raditz and Nappa were already aware that Freeza destroyed their home planet long before the events in DBZ took place even though the series showed that Vegeta was not aware until Dodoria told him on Planet Namek.
Sagas
- Toei Sagas
- Saiyan Saga (Episodes 1~35); 26 April 1989 - 7 February 1990
- Freeza Saga (Episodes 36~125); 14 February 1990 - 29 January 1992
- Cell Saga (Episodes 126~199); 5 February 1992 - 23 June 1993
- Buu Saga (Episodes 200~291); 30 June 1993 - 31 January 1996
- FUNimation's Sagas
Saiyan Saga:
The Vegeta Saga (Formerly known as the Saiyan Saga)
- Vegeta Saga I (Episodes 1~21)
- Vegeta Saga II (Episodes 22~35)
Frieza Saga:
- The Namek Saga
- The Captain Ginyu Saga (Episodes 68~74)
- The Frieza Saga (Episodes 75~107)
- The Garlic Junior Saga (Episodes 108~117)
Cell Saga:
- The Trunks Saga (Episodes 118~125)
- The Androids Saga (Episodes 126~139)
- The Imperfect Cell Saga (Episodes 140~152)
- The Perfect Cell Saga (Episodes 153~165)
- The Cell Games Saga (Episodes 166~194)
Buu Saga:
- The Great Saiyaman Saga (Episodes 195~209)
- The World Tournament Saga (Episodes 210~219)
- The Babidi Saga (Episodes 220~231)
- The Majin Buu Saga (Episodes 232~253)
- The Fusion Saga (Episodes 254~275)
- The Kid Buu Saga (Episodes 276~291)
Movies, TV Specials, & Other
- Movies
- Toei Titles
- Return my Gohan!!
- The World's Strongest Guy
- Super Deciding Battle for the Entire Planet Earth
- Super Saiyan Son Gokū
- The Incredible Mightiest vs. Mightiest
- Clash!! 10,000,000,000 Powerful Warriors
- Extreme Battle!! The Three Great Super Saiyans
- Burn Up!! A Close, Intense, Super-Fierce Battle
- The Galaxy at the Brink!! The Super Incredible Guy
- The Dangerous Duo! Super-Warriors Can't Rest
- Super-Warrior Defeat!! I'm the One who'll Win
- Fusion Reborn!! Gokū and Vegeta
- Dragon Fist Explosion!! If Gokū Won't Do It, Who Will?
- FUNimation's Titles
- Dead Zone
- The World's Strongest
- The Tree of Might
- Lord Slug
- Cooler's Revenge
- Return of Cooler
- Super Android 13!
- Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan
- Bojack Unbound
- Broly: The Second Coming
- Bio-Broly
- Fusion Reborn
- Assault of the Dragonfist (FUNimation's title is unknown)
- TV Specials
- Toei Titles
- A Lonesome, Final Battle: The Father of Z-Warrior Kakarrot, who Challenged Freeza
- Resistance to Despair!! The Remaining Super-Warriors, Gohan and Trunks
- The Legacy of Gokou: 100 Years Later!
- FUNimation's Titles
- Other--(OVA)"Lost Movie"
- The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans (Video game footage)
Theme songs
Japanese Themes
- OP
- "CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA"
- Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Chiho Kiyooka, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama
- Version 1: episodes 1~21 (Not on FUNimation's DVDs, but is on movie 1, Pioneer's DVDs only)
- Version 2: episodes 22~117
- Version 3: episodes 118~199
- Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Chiho Kiyooka, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama
- "WE GOTTA POWER"
- Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Keiju Ishikawa, Arrangement: Keiju Ishikawa, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama
- Episodes 200~291
- Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Keiju Ishikawa, Arrangement: Keiju Ishikawa, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama
- "CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA"
- ED
- "Detekoi Tobikiri ZENKAI Pawā!"; でてこいとびきりZENKAIパワー! (Come Out, Incredible ZENKAI Power!)
- Lyrics: Toshihisa Arakawa, Music: Takeshi Ike, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: MANNA
- Episodes 1~199
- Lyrics: Toshihisa Arakawa, Music: Takeshi Ike, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: MANNA
- "Boku-tachi ha Tenshi Datta"; 僕達は天使だった (We Were Angels)
- Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Takeshi Ike, Arrangement: Osamu Tozuka, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama
- Episodes 200~291
- Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Takeshi Ike, Arrangement: Osamu Tozuka, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama
- "Detekoi Tobikiri ZENKAI Pawā!"; でてこいとびきりZENKAIパワー! (Come Out, Incredible ZENKAI Power!)
FUNimations Themes
- OP
- "Main Title" (AKA "Rock the Dragon")
- "DragonBall Z" (AKA "DBZ Theme")
- "DBZ Uncut Theme"
- "Eternal Sacrifice" (Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan theme song)
- Vocals: Tendril
Cast List
Video games
Games released in Japan, America, Oceania and Europe
Sony: PlayStation (PS1)
- Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 (Bandai, 1995 JP, 1996 EU, 2003 US)
Nintendo: Game Boy Color (GBC)
- Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors (2002 JP/US/EU)
Sega: Genesis
- Dragon Ball Z: Buyuu Retsuden (1994 US/JP)
====Sony: Playstation 3 (PS3)==== * Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2(Dragon Ball Z:Sparking! 2) Spike,2007 JP/US/EU
Sony: PlayStation 2 (PS2)
- Dragon Ball Z: Budōkai (Dragon Ball Z) (Dimps Corporation, 2002 US/EU, 2003/JP)
- Dragon Ball Z: Budōkai 2 (Dragon Ball Z 2) (Dimps Corporation, 2003 US/EU, 2004/JP)
- Dragon Ball Z: Budōkai 3 (Dragon Ball Z 3) (Dimps Corporation, 2004 US/EU, 2005/JP)
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi (Dragon Ball Z: Sparking!) (Spike, 2005 JP/US/EU)
Nintendo: Game Boy Advance (GBA)
- Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II (Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Gokū 2: International) (Webfoot Technologies, 2003 US/EU, 2004/JP)
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors (Dragon Ball Z: Bukū Tōgeki) (Banpresto, 2004 JP/US/EU)
Nintendo: GameCube (GC)
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai (Dragon Ball Z) (Atari, 2003 US/EU/JP)
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (Dragon Ball Z) (Atari, 2004 US/EU/JP)
Nintendo: DS
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors 2 (Dragon Ball Z: Bukū Ressen) (Banpresto, 2005 US/JP, 2006 EU)Dragon Ball Z: Budōkai 2
Games only released in Japan
Nintendo: DS
- Jump Superstars (Ganbarion, 2005)
Nintendo: Family Computer Famicom (FC)
- Dragon Ball Z (1990)
- Dragon Ball Z II: Gekigami Freeza!! (1991)
- Dragon Ball Z III: Ressen Jinzou Ningen (1992)
- Dragon Ball Z: Gekitou Tenkaichi Budokai (1992)
- Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Saiya-jin Zetsumetsu Keikaku (Dragon Ball Z Supplement: The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans) (1993)
Nintendo: Super Family Computer Super Famicom (SFC)
- Dragon Ball Z: Chou Saiya Densetsu (Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiyan Legend) (Bandai, 1992)
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden (Bandai, 1993)
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Kakusei-Hen (Bandai, 1995)
- Dragon Ball Z Super Gokuden: Totsugeki-Hen (The last two thirds of the game) (Bandai, 1995)
- Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension (Bandai, 1996)
Sega: Mega Drive
- Dragon Ball Z: Buyū Retsuden (1994)
PC-Engine Duo
- Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Son Gokū Densetsu (Three out of the seven levels) (1994)
Nintendo: Game Boy (GB)
PlayDia
- Dragon Ball Z: Shin Saiyajin Zenmetsu Keikaku: Chikyuu-Hen (Dragon Ball Z: The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans - Part 1) (Bandai, 1994)
- Dragon Ball Z: Shin Saiyajin Zenmetsu Keikaku: Uchuu-Hen (Dragon Ball Z: The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans - Part 2) (Bandai, 1994)
Sony: PlayStation (PS1)
- Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Dragon Ball Densetsu (Dragon Ball Legends) (1996)
Sega: Saturn
- Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Dragon Ball Densetsu (Dragon Ball Legends) (1996)
- Dragon Ball Z: Shin Butoden (1995)
Games only released in America, Europe, and Oceania
Nintendo: Game Boy Advance (GBA)
- Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku (Webfoot Technologies, 2002 US/EU)
- Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu (Webfoot Technologies, 2003 US, 2004 EU)
Nintendo: GameCube (GC)
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (Dragon Ball Z 2) (Dimps Corporation, 2004 US, 2005 EU)
Sony: Playstation Portable (PSP)
- Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai (Dimps Corporation, 2006 US/EU)
Games only released in America and Oceania
Microsoft: Xbox
Nintendo: Game Boy Advance (GBA)
- Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury (Webfoot Technologies, 2004)
- Dragon Ball Z: Collectible Card Game (Atari, 2002)
- Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku (Webfoot Technologies, 2005)
- Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II (Webfoot Technologies, 2005)
Nintendo: Game Cube (GC)
- Dragon Ball Z: Sagas (Avalanche Software, 2005)
Sony: PlayStation 2 (PS2)
- Dragon Ball Z: Sagas (Avalanche Software, 2005)
Games only released in Japan and Europe
Nintendo: Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden 2 (Dragon Ball Z: La Legende Saien) (Bandai, 1993 JP, 1994 EU)
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Butouden 3 (Dragon Ball Z: Ultime Menace) (Bandai, 1994 JP/EU)
See also
- List of Dragon Ball Episodes
- List of Dragon Ball characters
- Z Fighters
- CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA (The 1st opening theme song)
- WE GOTTA POWER (The 2nd opening theme song)
- Dragon Ball (franchise)
- Dragon Ball Canon
- Dragon Ball Movies
- Power Levels