Dragon Ball Z

Dragon Ball Z
File:Dragonballz.jpg Dragon Ball Z - The Freeza Saga.
Genre	Shonen Action / Adventure
Created by	Toei Animation Akira Toriyama
Anime
Directed by	Daisuke Nishio Osamu Kasai
Studio	Toei Animation

Dragon Ball Z is a very long-running sequel to the popular anime Dragon Ball. The series is a close adaptation of the second half of the Dragon Ball manga (in the United States, the manga's second half 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 Gokū who, along with his companions, defends the earth against assorted villains. While the original Dragon Ball anime followed Gokū 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 Gokū 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 Gokū, 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 Gokū 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 Gokū and his friends the foremost defenders of Earth, mankind and ultimately the whole universe.

Gokū later learns that his race was destroyed by the one and only Master Freeza, the planet-conquering maniacal onslaught of an alien. 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 Freeza's wrath. Freeza killed Gokū's father Bardock ( or in the manga Burdock) as well as King Vegeta when he attacked and obliterated the entire Saiyan planet from existence. After many years, Gokū comes face to face with Freeza and his wrath, in a decisive fight of good against evil.

As the series progresses, Son Gokū, his son, Son Gohan, and their companions age, get immensely stronger and fight increasingly more powerful and sinister villains. Many of the main characters die, are resurrected, get married and/or have children. The series progresses dramatically throughout its entire run.

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 anime fandom

Dragon Ball Z was (and largely still is) one of the most popular shōnen anime series in the US and worldwide. Due to its length, associated varying production quality, creative devices, and sometimes overenthusiastic young fanbase, anime fandom at large has mixed reactions to the series. 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, Son Gokū, is often compared to the DC Comics hero Superman, due to their outward similarities in origins (as redefined in DBZ) and abilities. Many of these connections are a deliberate attempt by Akira Toriyama to pay homage to the Western superhero archetype, just as the earlier Dragon Ball series paid homage to Chinese folk archetypes.

Because of inconsistencies both in the original manga and the anime series, and the common acceptance of the anime as canon, much debate is had by the younger fanbase as to the relative strength (or power levels, speaking in series terms) of the various characters.

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", and another where after a villian 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 (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 were not censored in any way. 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 Krillin during the Freeza saga was edited out on CN and merged with the other two episodes. Non-graphic scenes such as the beginning (Krillin getting stabbed) and the end (Krillin 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 original musical score. Combined with a widely criticized quality of 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 version.

Post 9/11

Shortly 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. Since the series is a continuing story, Cartoon Network held off the rest of the 5th season until a few months later.

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 darker opening theme, whereas the original OP themes were cheerful in tone and had bright, colorful animations.

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 Jeice saying "The crazy bastard killed Guldo!" and Vegeta shouting "Damn you, Kakarrot!" and numerous utterances of the words dammit, bastard and hell.

Scenes containing graphic violence, like Vegeta blowing a Saibaiman in half, Gokū shreding his hand on his training rope while on his way to Planet Namek, Vegeta slamming his arm clean through Zarbon's stomach, Vegeta decapitating Guldo and destroying his still-speaking disembodied head or Gohan getting severly beaten by Recoome are restored.

Scenes featuring Lunch also are restored; she was edited out of 4 episodes of the older version, because at the time they only dubbed the first 13 episodes of Dragon Ball, in which she did not appear. Other characters such as Korin, Piccolo, Tien, Chiaotzu, and Yajirobe had also not been seen in those 13 episodes, but since they were important to the plot, they were not cut. Since Launch was not though and her scenes included bank robbing, guns and alcohol, they decided to remove her. In the new release though, she is constantly following Tien, because she is in love with him.

Other new scenes include the showing of Gohan's lower central area (albeit not detailed) and Gokū's bare butt while bathing at Princess Snake's palace. The Saibaimen are also more sadistic.

A comedic scene that is reintroduced is when Gokū accidentally pulls out a beer from the fridge and asking "Hey what’s this doing in here?" puts the beer back and pulls out a healthy sports drink.

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".

Toonami Timeslot Controversy

After Cartoon Network completed its airing of the uncut version on weeknights at 10:30PM EST, it was put on Toonami on Saturdays at 7:30PM EST. While there weren't many complaints about earlier episodes, there was controversy from parents over episodes such as Gohan Goes Bananas (which shows Gohan transforming into an Oozaru and then back into a boy, during which his penis and testicles are shown) and Princess Snake (which shows Goku's bare buttocks while excercising in the spa and after he comes out. It also has a scene which shows one of Princess Snake's servents shooting herself in the head, but she doesn't die). Airing these episodes in the 7:30PM timeslot on Saturday nights makes this easier for young kids to watch them, as apposed to airing them at 10:30PM during the week, when most children are asleep.

In response to this controversy, Cartoon Network officially removed the uncut version from their schedule on January 21, 2006 and replaced it with the original Saban-edited version from 1996, which heavily altered the show's content for young children. Strangely, these episodes have aired at a TV-PG rating, though this is probably just a mistake due to the sudden schedule change.

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 waste time. 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 Junior arc, a.k.a. Garlic Junior'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 Animation's Sagas

1. Saiyan Saga (Episodes 1~35); 26 April 1989 - 7 February 1990
2. Freeza Saga (Episodes 36~125); 14 February 1990 - 29 January 1992
3. Cell Saga (Episodes 126~199); 5 February 1992 - 23 June 1993
4. Majin-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)

Freeza Saga:

• The Namek Saga
• The Captain Ginyu Saga (Episodes 68~74)
• The Frieza Saga (Episodes 75~106)
• The Garlic Junior Saga (Episodes 107~116)
• The Trunks Saga (Episodes 117~124)

Cell Saga:

• The Androids Saga (Episodes 125~138)
• The Imperfect Cell Saga (Episodes 139~151)
• The Perfect Cell Saga (Episodes 152~164)
• The Cell Games Saga (Episodes 165~193)

Majin-Boo Saga:

• The Great Saiyaman Saga (Episodes 194~208)
• The World Tournament Saga (Episodes 209~218)
• The Babidi Saga (Episodes 219~230)
• The Majin Buu Saga (Episodes 231~252)
• The Fusion Saga (Episodes 253~274)
• The Kid Buu Saga (Episodes 275~290)

Movies, TV Specials, & Other

Movies

Toei Animation's Titles

1. Return my Gohan!!
2. The World's Strongest Guy
3. Super Deciding Battle for the Entire Planet Earth
4. Super Saiyan Son Gokū
5. The Incredible Mightiest vs. Mightiest
6. Clash!! 10,000,000,000 Powerful Warriors
7. Extreme Battle!! The Three Great Super Saiyans
8. Burn Up!! A Close, Intense, Super-Fierce Battle
9. The Galaxy at the Brink!! The Super Incredible Guy
10. The Dangerous Duo! Super-Warriors Can't Rest
11. Super-Warrior Defeat!! I'm the One who'll Win
12. Fusion Reborn!! Gokū and Vegeta
13. Dragon Fist Explosion!! If Gokū Won't Do It, Who Will?

FUNimation's Titles

1. Dead Zone
2. The World's Strongest
3. The Tree of Might
4. Lord Slug
5. Cooler's Revenge
6. Return of Cooler
7. Super Android 13!
8. Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan
9. Bojack Unbound
10. Broly: The Second Coming
11. Bio-Broly
12. Fusion Rebirth
13. Dragonfist Explosion (FUNimation Title Unknown)

TV Specials

Toei Animation's Titles

1. A Lonesome, Final Battle: The Father of Z-Warrior Kakarrot, who Challenged Freeza
2. Resistance to Despair!! The Remaining Super-Warriors, Gohan and Trunks

FUNimation's Titles

1. Bardock - The Father of Goku
2. The History of Trunks

Other

• The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans (Video game footage)

Live Action Movie

In 2002, a rumor surfaced on the internet claiming that 20th Century Fox had acquired the rights to make a live action Dragon Ball Z motion picture. This created a furor in the online fan community. Online forums were created for the express purpose of relaying rumors and "insider information" about the live action movie. Magazines like Beckett Dragonball Z Collector as well as the official DBZ website began to write surveys and polls soliciting fan input about casting for the live action movie. Several fan sites were created for the movie, though few had any verifiable information about the movie. Official news about the movie was primarily relayed through the official DBZ website or via the Internet Movie Database. In early 2004, production was halted, but in June 2004, screenwriter Ben Ramsey (The Big Hit) signed on to adapt Dragon Ball Z for the big screen. The movie was considered to have been in development, though no director had signed on and no casting had taken place, and there was no scheduled release date for the film. Recently, the official Dragon Ball Z website and FOX Studios have confirmed that they have no current plans for a Dragon Ball Z live action movie.

Uncut DVDs

Dragon Ball Z has seen 2 types of DVD releases. These releases are the uncut and edited versions. Originally, the edited versions were aired on TV and were the first DVDs to be produced by Geneon [Pioneer]. If you wish to own every episode of Dragon Ball Z right now on DVD, this can be done with the edited version. If you want the uncut version which contains extra footage, blood, and some profanity, as well as Japanese audio, you're going to want to purchase the uncut DVDs by FUNimation. Starting with episode 68 (The Ginyu Saga), FUNimation has released all DVDs uncut. Movies 4-12 are also uncut and have been released by Funimation. Recently, Funimation has begun to re-release the first 67 episodes in uncut form. FUNimation is also re-releasing the first 3 movies as Ultimate Uncut Editions, but the original dubs were actually more uncut. The original dubs of the movies have the original music as well as scripts that are closer to the original.

Episode and Volume Numbering Descrepancy

The original Japanese episodes totaled to 291. FUNimation dubbed the first release of DVDs which consisted of episodes 1-53 (jap. 1-67), 14 episodes worth of scenes were cut. FUNimation later cut one in the Freeza saga as well (Episode 80, Piccolo the Super-Namek). This episode was released as a "Bonus" episode on the Frieza - Transformation DVD. Because of Saban's cuts, all FUNimation released uncut DVDs have incorrect episode and volume numbering. Most of the old uncut DVDs by FUNimation (Gi'nyu Saga and up) do not have volume numbers and if they do, the numbers are inaccurate. It is still unknown whether FUNimation will re-release all the DVDs with the correct episode and volume numbering but it is unlikely. Below is a list of every uncut DVD released (and too be released) by FUNimation. You can see the episode numbering given on the Uncut DVD releases, with the correct episode numbering listed beside it in brackets.

Episodes

• Vol. 1 Vegeta Saga 1: Saiyan Showdown Eps #1-3
• Vol. 2 Vegeta Saga 1: Piccolo's Plan Eps #4-6
• Vol. 3 Vegeta Saga 1: Into the Wild Eps #7-9
• Vol. 4 Vegeta Saga 1: Gohan's Trials Eps #10-12
• Vol. 5 Vegeta Saga 1: Goku Held Hostage Eps #13-15
• Vol. 6 Vegeta Saga 1: Doomed Heroes Eps #16-18
• Vol. 7 Vegeta Saga 1: Back From the Dead Eps #19-21

• Vol. 8 Vegeta Saga 2: Saiyan Invasion (Not yet released, coming 3/21/2006) Eps #22-24
• Vol. 9 Vegeta Saga 2: Ultimate Sacrifice (Not yet released, coming 5/16/2006) Eps #25-27
• Vol. 10 Vegeta Saga 2: ????? (Not yet released, coming ????? Eps #28-31
• Vol. 11 Vegeta Saga 2: ????? (Not yet released, coming ????? Eps #32-35

• Vol. 12 Namek - (Not yet released, coming ?????) Eps #36-38
• Vol. 13 Namek - (Not yet released, coming ?????) Eps #39-41
• Vol. 14 Namek - (Not yet released, coming ?????) Eps #42-44
• Vol. 15 Namek - (Not yet released, coming ?????) Eps #45-47
• Vol. 16 Namek - (Not yet released, coming ?????) Eps #48-50
• Vol. 18 Namek - (Not yet released, coming ?????) Eps #51-53
• Vol. 19 Namek - (Not yet released, coming ?????) Eps #54-57
• Vol. 20 Namek - (Not yet released, coming ?????) Eps #58-60
• Vol. 21 Namek - (Not yet released, coming ?????) Eps #61-63
• Vol. 22 Namek - (Not yet released, coming ?????) Eps #64-67

• Vol. 23 Captain Ginyu - Assault Eps #54-56 (Eps #68-70)
• Vol. 24 Captain Ginyu - Double Cross Eps #57-60) (Eps #71-74)

• Vol. 25 Frieza - The Summoning Eps #61-63 (Eps #75-77)
• Vol. 26 Frieza - Transformation Eps #64-66 + Bonus Episode (Eps #78-81)
• Vol. 27 Frieza - Revealed Eps #67-69) (Eps #82-84)
• Vol. 28 Frieza - Death of a Prince Eps #70-72 (Eps #85-87)
• Vol. 29 Frieza - Clash Eps #73-75 (Eps #88-90)
• Vol. 30 Frieza - Desperation Eps #76-78 (Eps #91-93)
• Vol. 31 Frieza - Super Saiyan Goku Eps #79-81 (Eps #94-96)
• Vol. 32 Frieza - Eleventh Hour Eps #82-85 (Eps #97-100)
• Vol. 33 Frieza - Fall of a Tyrant Eps #86-89 (Eps #101-104)
• Vol. 34 Frieza - Namek's End Eps #90-92 (Eps #105-107)

• Vol. 35 Garlic Jr. - Black Water Mist Eps #93-95 (Eps #108-110)
• Vol. 36 Garlic Jr. - Sacred Water Eps #96-98 (Eps #111-113)
• Vol. 37 Garlic Jr. - Vanquished Eps #99-102 (Eps #114-117)

• Vol. 38 Trunks - Mysterious Youth Eps # 103-105) (Eps #118-120)
• Vol. 39 Trunks - Prelude to Terror Eps # 106-110) (Eps #121-125)
• Vol. 40 Androids - Invasion Eps #111-114 (Eps #126-129)
• Vol. 41 Androids - Dr. Gero Eps #115-117 (Eps #130-134)
• Vol. 42 Androids - Assassins Eps #118-120 (Eps #133-136)
• Vol. 43 Androids - Invincible Eps #121-124 (Eps #137-139)

• Vol. 44 Imperfect Cel - Encounter Eps #125-127 (Eps #140-142)
• Vol. 45 Imperfect Cel - Discovery Eps #128-130 (Eps #143-145)
• Vol. 46 Imperfect Cel - Race Against Time Eps #131-133 (Eps #146-148)
• Vol. 47 Imperfect Cel - 17's End Eps #134-137 (Eps #149-152)

• Vol. 48 Perfect Cell - Hunt for 18 Eps #138-140 (Eps #153-155)
• Vol. 49 Perfect Cell - Temptation Eps #141-143 (Eps #156-158)
• Vol. 50 Perfect Cell - Perfection Eps #144-146 (Eps #159-161)
• Vol. 51 Perfect Cell - Unstoppable Eps #147-150 (Eps #162-165)

• Vol. 52 Cell Games - Ultimatum Eps #151-153 (Eps #166-168)
• Vol. 53 Cell Games - A Moments Peace Eps #154-156 (Eps #169-171)
• Vol. 54 Cell Games - A Guardians Return Eps #157-159 (Eps #172-174)
• Vol. 55 Cell Games - The Games Begin Eps #160-162 (Eps #175-177)
• Vol. 56 Cell Games - Surrender Eps #163-165 (Eps #178-280)
• Vol. 57 Cell Games - Earth's Last Hope Eps #166-168 (Eps #181-183)
• Vol. 58 Cell Games - Awakening Eps #169-171 (Eps #184-186)
• Vol. 59 Cell Games - Sacrifice Eps #172-175 (Eps #187-190)
• Vol. 60 Cell Games - Nightmares End Eps #176-179 (Eps #191-194)

• Vol. 61 Great Saiyaman - Opening Ceremony Eps #180-182 (Eps #195-197)
• Vol. 62 Great Saiyaman - Final Round Eps #183-185 (Eps #198-200)
• Vol. 63 Great Saiyaman - Gohan's Secret Eps #186-188 (Eps #201-203)
• Vol. 64 Great Saiyaman - Declaration Eps #189-191 (Eps #204-206)
• Vol. 65 Great Saiyaman - Crash Course Eps #192-194 (Eps #207-209)

• Vol. 66 World Tournament - Junior Division Eps #195-197 (Eps #210-212)
• Vol. 67 World Tournament - The Draw Eps #198-200 (Eps #213-215)
• Vol. 68 World Tournament - Blackout Eps #201-204 (Eps #216-219)

• Vol. 68 Babidi - Decent Eps #205-207 (Eps #220-222)
• Vol. 70 Babidi - Battle Royale Eps #208-210 (Eps #223-225)
• Vol. 71 Babidi - Dark Prince Returns Eps #211-213 (Eps #226-228)
• Vol. 72 Babidi - Rivals Eps #214-216 (Eps #229-231)

• Vol. 73 Majin Buu - The Hatching Eps #217-219 (Eps #232-234)
• Vol. 74 Majin Buu - Attonment Eps #220-222 (Eps #235-237)
• Vol. 75 Majin Buu - Revival Eps #223-225 (Eps #238-240)
• Vol. 76 Majin Buu - Tacticts Eps #226-228 (Eps #241-243)
• Vol. 77 Majin Buu - Defiance Eps #229-231 (Eps #244-246)
• Vol. 78 Majin Buu - A Hero's Farewell Eps #232-234 (Eps #247-249)
• Vol. 79 Majin Buu - Emergence Eps #235-238 (Eps #250-253)

• Vol. 80 Fusion - Evil Buu Eps #239-241 (Eps #254-256)
• Vol. 81 Fusion - Play for Time Eps #242-244 (Eps #257-259)
• Vol. 82 Fusion - Losing Battle Eps #245-247 (Eps #260-262)
• Vol. 83 Fusion - Ambush Eps #248-250 (Eps #263-265)
• Vol. 84 Fusion - Hope Returns Eps #251-253 (Eps #266-268)
• Vol. 85 Fusion - The Last Saiyaman Eps #254-256 (Eps #269-271)
• Vol. 86 Fusion - Internal Struggle Eps #257-260 (Eps #272-275)

• Vol. 87 Kid Buu - Regression Eps #261-263 (Eps #276-278)
• Vol. 88 Kid Buu - Saiyan Pride Eps #264-266 (Eps #279-281)
• Vol. 89 Kid Buu - Vegeta's Plea Eps #267-269 (Eps #282-284)
• Vol. 90 Kid Buu - The Price of Victory Eps #270-272 (Eps #285-287)
• Vol. 91 Kid Buu - A New Beginning Eps #273-276 (Eps #288-291)

Movies

• Movie #1: Dead Zone
• Movie #2: World's Strongest (uncut version not yet released, coming ?????)
• Movie #3: The Tree of Might (uncut version not yet released, coming ?????)
• Movie #4: Lord Slug
• Movie #5: Cooler's Revenge
• Movie #6: The Return of Cooler
• Movie #7: Super Android 13
• Movie #8: Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan
• Movie #9: Bojack Unbound
• Movie #10: Broly: Second Coming
• Movie #11: Bio-Broly
• Movie #12: Fusion Reborn (Not yet released, coming 3/28/2006)
• Movie #13: Dragonfist Explosion (FUNimation title unknown)

Tv Specials

• TV Special #1: Bardock: The Father of Goku
• TV Special #2: The History of Trunks

Theme Songs

Japanese Opening Themes (OP)

「CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA」 (Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Chiho Kiyooka, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama)

• Version 1: episodes 1~21
• Version 2: episodes 22~117
• Version 3: episodes 118~199

「WE GOTTA POWER」 (Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music & Arrangement: Keiju Ishikawa, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama)

• Episodes 200~291

English Opening Themes

Rock the Dragon DBZ Theme DBZ Uncut Theme Eternal Sacrific - Tendril (Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan theme song)

Ending Themes (ED)

「でてこいとびきりZENKAIパワー!」 「Detekoi Tobikiri ZENKAI Power!」 「Come Out, Incredible ZENKAI Power!」 (Lyrics: Toshihisa Arakawa, Music: Takeshi Ike, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: MANNA)

• Episodes 1~199

「僕達は天使だった」「Boku-tachi ha Tenshi Datta」 「We Were Angels」 (Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Takeshi Ike, Arrangement: Osamu Tozuka, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama)

• Episodes 200~291

Cast List

Character Name	Voice Actor (Japanese)	Voice Actor (English)
Son Gokū	Masako Nozawa	Ian James Corlett Peter Kelamis Sean Schemmel
Son Gohan	Masako Nozawa	Saffron Henderson Stephanie Nadolny Kyle Hebert
Son Goten	Masako Nozawa	Kara Edwards
Piccolo	Toshio Furukawa	Scott McNeil Christopher Sabat
Vegeta	Ryo Horikawa	Brian Drummond Christopher Sabat
Bulma	Hiromi Tsuru	Lalainia Lindbjerg Tiffany Vollmer
Kuririn (Kulilin) (Klylin) (Dub: Krillin)	Mayumi Tanaka	Terry Klassen Sonny Strait
Yajirobe	Mayumi Tanaka	Brian Drummond Mike McFarland
Yamcha	Tōru Furuya	Ted Cole Christopher Sabat
Tenshinhan (Dub: Tien)	Hirotaka Suzuoki	Matthew Smith John Burgmeier
Chiaotzu (Chaoz)	Hiroko Emori	Cathy Weseluck Monika Antonelli
Chi-Chi	Mayumi Sho (1-66) Naoko Watanabe (88-291)	Laara Sadiq Cynthia Cranz
Muten Rōshi/Kame Sen'nin (Dub: Master Roshi)	Kohei Myauchi (2-260) Hiroshi Masuoka (288-291)	Ian James Corlett Dave Ward Mike McFarland
Oolong	Naoki Tatsuta	Doug Parker Mark Britten Bradford Jackson
Pu-erh (Pu'er) (Dub: Puar)	Naoko Watanabe	Cathy Weseluck Monika Antonelli
Mr. Satan (Edited dub: Hercule)	Daisuke Gōri	Chris Rager
Videl	Yuko Minaguchi	Kara Edwards
Jinzōningen #18 (Cyborg #18) (Dub: Android #18)	Miki Itou	Meredith McCoy
Mirai Trunks	Takeshi Kusao	Eric Vale
Chibi Trunks	Takeshi Kusao	Laura Bailey
Uranai Baba	Junpei Takiguchi (9-34) Mayumi Tanaka (207-271)	Helen Kennedy Linda Young
Dende	Tomiko Suzuki (49-288) Hiro Yuuki (290-291)	Paulina Gillis Ceyil Dellgadillo Laura Bailey Justin Cook
Gyūmaō (Dub: Ox-King)	Daisuke Gōri	Dave Ward Mark Britten Kyle Hebert
Emma-Daiō (King Yemma)	Daisuke Gōri	Chris Rager
Umigame	Daisuke Gōri	Christopher Sabat
Mr. Popo	Toku Nishio	French Tickner Christopher Sabat
Karin (Dub: Korin)	Ichiro Nagai (26-192) Naoki Tatsuta (238-285)	Doug Parker Mark Britten Christopher Sabat
Kami-sama	Takeshi Aono	Ian James Corlett Christopher Sabat
Marron	Tomiko Suzuki	Laura Bailey
North Kaiō (Dub: King Kai)	Joji Yanami	Dave Ward Sean Schemmel
Dr. Brief	Joji Yanami	Alvin Sanders Chris Forbis
Bulma's Mom	Mariko Mukai (44-107) Youko Kawanami (124-256) Hiroko Emori (140)	Jane Perry Cynthia Cranz
Lunch (Dub: Launch)	Mami Koyama	Meredith McCoy
Raditz	Shigeru Shiba	Jason-Gray Standford Christopher Sabat Justin Cook
Nappa	Shouzou Iizuka	Scott McNeil Christopher Sabat Phil Parsons
Freeza (Dub: Frieza)	Ryuusei Nakao	Pauline Newstone Linda Young
Zarbon	Sho Hayami	Paul Dobson Christopher Sabat
Dodoria	Yukitoshi Hori	Ward Perry Chris Forbis
Captain Gi'nyu (Ginew)	Hideyuki Hori	Richard Newman Dale Kelly Brice Armstrong
Jeice	Kazumi Tanaka	Scott McNeil Christopher Sabat
Burter	Yukimassa Kishino	Alec Willows Mark Britten Christopher Sabat
Recoom	Kenji Utsumi	David Kaye Christopher Sabat
Guldo	Kouzou Shioya	Terry Klassen Dylan Thompson Bill Townsley
Saichourou	Junpei Takiguchi (53-75) Masaharu Satou (100-105)	Lee Tockar Christopher Sabat
Porunga	Junpei Takiguchi	Christopher Sabat
Garlic Junior	Akira Kamiya (Movie) Shigeru Shiba (TV Series)	Don Brown Chuck Huber
Maron	Yuuko Kobayashi	Tiffany Vollmer
King Cold	Daisuke Gōri (118-121) Masaharu Satou (195)	Bart Mayer
Dr. Gero	Kouji Yata	Kent Williams
Jinzōningen #16 (Dub: Android 16)	Hikaru Midorikawa	Jeremy Inman
Jinzōningen #17 (Cyborg #17) (Dub: Android #17)	Shigeru Nakahara	Chuck Huber
Cell	Norio Wakamoto	Dameon Clarke
Majin Buu (Majin-Boo)	Kouzou Shioya	Josh Martin Justin Cook
Babidi	Joji Yanami	Duncan Brannan
Dābura	Ryuuzaburou Ootomo	Rick Robertson
Kaiōshin	Yuuji Mitsuya	Kent Williams
Old Kaiōshin	Reizu Nomoto	Kent Williams
Kibito	Shin Aomori	Chuck Huber
Shen Long (Dub: Dragon God/Eternal Dragon/Shenron)	Kenji Utsumi (20-100) Masaharu Satou (193-283)	Christopher Sabat
Tenka-ichi Budōkai Announcer	Hirotaka Suzoki	Eric Vale
Narrator	Joji Yanami	Doc Harris Dale Kelly Kyle Hebert

Video Games

Games released in Japan, America, Oceania and Europe

Sony: PlayStation (PS1)

• Dragon Ball Z: Legends
• Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22
• Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout

Nintendo: Game Boy Color (GBC)

• Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors (Dragon Ball Z: Densetsu no Chou Senshi-tachi)

Sony: PlayStation (PS2)

• Dragon Ball Z: Budōkai (Dragon Ball Z)
• Dragon Ball Z: Budōkai 2 (Dragon Ball Z 2)
• Dragon Ball Z: Budōkai 3 (Dragon Ball Z 3)
• Dragon Ball Z: Sparking! (Dragon Ball Z: Budōkai Tenka-ichi)

Nintendo: Game Boy Advance (GBA)

• Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku
• Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II (Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Gokū 2: International)
• Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku I & II
• Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu
• Dragon Ball Z: Bukū Tōgeki (Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors)
• Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury

Nintendo: GameCube (GC)

• Dragon Ball Z: Budōkai (Dragon Ball Z)
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (Dragon Ball Z 2)

Nintendo: DS

• Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors 2 (Dragon Ball Z: Bukū Ressen)

Games only released in Japan

Nintendo: Family Computer Famicom (FC)

• Dragon Ball Z: Kyosho! Saiyan (1990)
• Dragon Ball Z 2: Gekishin Freeza!! 1991)
• Dragon Ball Z 3: Resen Jinzōningen (1992)
• Dragon Ball Z: Barcode Battler (1992)
• Dragon Ball Z Supplement: The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans (1993)

Nintendo: Super Family Computer Super Famicom (SFC)

• Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiyan Legend (1992)
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden (1993)
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2 (1993)
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 3 (1994)
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokū Den (1995)
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokū Den 2 (The last two thirds of the game) (1995)
• Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension (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)

• Dragon Ball Z: Gokū Hishō Den (1994)
• Dragon Ball Z: Gokū Gekitō Den (1995)

PlayDia

• The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans - Part 1
• The Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans - Part 2

Sony: PlayStation (PS1)

• Dragon Ball Z Legends

Sega: Saturn

• Dragon Ball Z Legends
• Dragon Ball Z: Shin Butoden

Games only released in America and Oceania

• Dragon Ball Z: Collectible Card Game for the GBA
• Dragon Ball Z: Sagas for the PS2, GC, and Xbox.

See also

• List of Dragon Ball Episodes
• List of Dragon Ball characters
• List of Dragon Ball animal characters
• Z Fighters
• CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA (The 1st opening theme song)
• WE GOTTA POWER (The 2nd opening theme song)
• Dragon Ball (franchise)

External links

• English Dragon Ball Z website
• YTV Dragon Ball Z Site
• Toei Dragon Ball Z website
• DaizenshuuEX
• Dranet.com
• Kanzentai
• Dragon Ball Polish
• Dragonball Series related website (English/Dutch)