Dragon Ball Z (ドラゴンボールZ), is the 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 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 Frieza 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, 1995. 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

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 ressurection 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.

As the series progresses, Son Goku, 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:

• Son Goku is an alien from Planet Vegeta, sent to destroy Earth by his kind and who bumped his head upon landing as an infant, forgetting his mission. This is the source of his previously unexplained abilities and why he has a tail (which was later removed and not seen again until the next series, Dragon Ball GT).

• Son Goku 's former archenemy, Piccolo, is an alien from Planet Namek. He is the product of Kami (God of Earth) splitting himself in an attempt to purge the evil from himself.

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 (or even of its fans) as overrated and superficial. In response, vocal 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 Goku, 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 (few, but some) and the anime series (many), and the common acceptance of the anime as canon, much debate is had by the younger fanbase as to the relative strength (power levels, speaking in series terms) of the various characters and in their other abilities. This conflict has not only helped to grow the community, but also often defines it negatively as one of the most otaku of the current anime imports.

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 broadcasted.

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 edit would be the characters saying "I will send you to another dimension," rather than "I will kill you." Also, the word "HELL" shown on shirts of some characters was overlaid with the acronym HFIL (Home For Infinite Losers). There are also a few bits of swearing that are edited in the US version.

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 Ginyu Saga (3rd US season) on CN, 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.

A very violent scene with the extended version of Freeza's impalement of Kulilin during the Freeza saga was edited out on CN and merged with the other two episodes. Non-graphic scenes such as the beginning (Kulilin getting stabbed) and the end (Kulilin 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 Goku'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, CN held off the rest of the 5th season until a few months later.

Uncut Version

In 2005, CN started showing the uncut and unedited version, similar to the Japanese original, which also features a darker opening theme.

Most importantly, all fighting scenes are totally uncut, but several other differences can be seen, like foamy water now actually beeing beer, blood being red again (whereas the edited version showed purple) and shots of characters sticking up their middle fingers beeing left in. References to death and killing can be heard and Muten Roshi's lecheroios attempts on Bulma are shown at their fullest, too.

Mild use of profanity is also heard, like Jeice saying "The crazy bastard killed him!" and Vegeta shouting "Damn you, Kakarot!" and numerous utterances of the words dammit, bastard and hell.

Scenes containing graphic violence, like Vegeta blowing a Saibaman in half, Goku shreding his hand on his training rope while on his way to Namek or Vegeta decapitating Guldo and destroying his still-speaking disembodied head are restored.

Scenes featuring Launch 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, Tenshinhan, 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 Tenshinhan, because she is in love with him.

Other new scenes include the showing of Gohan's lower central area (albeit not detailed) and Goku's bare butt while bathing at Princess Snake's palace. The Saibamen are also more sadistic. A comedic scene that is reintroduced is when Goku 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.

Ending on October 10, 2005, the uncut version, which wasn't part of Adult Swim, was shown Monday - Thursday nights at 10:30PM EST. Since Saturday, October 15, 2005, it is re-aired on Saturday nights at 7:30PM EST during Toonami.

Filler

Filler is used to pad out the series for many reasons; in the case of Dragon Ball, more often than not, it was because the anime was running along-side 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 Afterlife tournament between the Buu and Cell Saga and the Garlic Junior saga, AKA Garlic Junior's return from the Deadzone movie between the Freeza and Trunks (pre-Android) saga are both good examples of this). They have also been known to contradict the manga and often create new plotholes. 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

Saiyan Series:

• The Vegeta Saga (Formerly known as the Saiyan Saga)

• The Namek Saga
• The Ginyu Saga
• The Frieza Saga
• The Garlic Junior Saga (not based on the original manga; serves as transition into the Cell Series)
• The Trunks Saga (can be placed into either the Freeza Series or the Cell Series)

• The Androids Saga
• The Imperfect Cell Saga
• The Perfect Cell Saga
• The Cell Games Saga

• The Great Saiyaman Saga
• The World Tournament Saga
• The Babidi Saga
• The Majin Buu Saga
• The Fusion Saga
• The Kid Buu Saga

Movies

There are quite a few Dragon Ball Z movies made based on the popular series. Some can be counted as side stories (gaiden) that happen between sagas. These movies include:

• Bardock: Father of Goku (TV Special)
• The History of Trunks (TV Special)
• The Plan to Destroy the Saiyajin (Direct to Video)

1. Dead Zone (Return My Gohan!)
2. The World's Strongest (The World's Strongest Guy)
3. The Tree of Might (Ultimate Decisive Battle For Earth)
4. Lord Slug (Super Saiyan Son Goku)
5. Cooler's Revenge (Best of Strongest Verses Strongest)
6. Return of Cooler (Warriors Clash! The 10 Billion Powerful Warriors)
7. Super Android 13 (Extreme Battle! The Three Great Super Saiyans!)
8. Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan (Burn Your Spirits to the Max!! Close Battle, Violent Battle, Super Bloody Battle)
9. Bojack Unbound (The Galaxy is in Danger! The Super Awesome Guy!)
10. Broly: The Second Coming (Dangerous Partners! Super Warriors Never Rest!)
11. Bio-Broly (Crushing Super Warrior! I Am The Winner)
12. The Rebirth Of Fusion (Fusion Reborn - slated for a Spring 2006 US release)
13. Dragon Fist Assault! If Goku Can't Do It, Who Can? (Not yet released in English)

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 Dragonball Z website and FOX Studios have confirmed that they have no current plans for a Dragonball Z live action movie.

Japanese Cast

Video Games

Games only released in Japan:

• Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyajin for the Famicom.
• Dragon Ball Z: Battle against Freeza for the Famicom.
• Dragon Ball Z: Battle against Androids for the Famicom.
• Dragon Ball Z: Barcode Battler for the Famicom.
• Dragon Ball Z: Plan to destroy the Sayajin for the Famicom.
• Dragon Ball Z: Legend of the Sayajin for the Super Famicom.
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden for the Super Famicom.
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 2 for the Super Famicom.
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Butoden 3 for the Super Famicom.
• Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension for the Super Famicom.
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden 2 for the Super Famicom (the last two thirds of the game).
• Dragon Ball Z: Buu Yuu Retsuden for the Mega Drive.
• Dragon Ball Z: The Legend of Son Goku for the PC-Engine Duo (three out of the seven levels).
• Dragon Ball Z: Goku Hisouden for the Game Boy.
• Dragon Ball Z: Goku Gekitouden for the Game Boy.
• Plan to Destroy the Saiyajin Part 1 for the Playdia.
• Plan to destroy the Saiyajin Part 2 for the Playdia.
• Dragon Ball Legends for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn.
• Dragon Ball Z: Shin Butoden for the Sega Saturn.

Games only released in America and Oceania:

• Dragon Ball Z: Collectible Card Game for Game Boy Advance
• Dragon Ball Z: Sagas for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox.

Games released in Japan, America, Oceania and Europe:

• Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors/Dragon Ball Z: Densetsu no Chou Senshi-tachi for the Game Boy Color.
• Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku for Game Boy Advance.
• Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II/Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku 2 International for the Game Boy Advance.
• Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury/Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku 3 for agame Boy Advance.
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai/Dragon Ball Z for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube.
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2/Dragon Ball Z 2 for the PlayStation 2 and (only outside Japan) Nintendo GameCube.
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3/Dragon Ball Z 3 for the PlayStation 2.
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi/Dragon Ball Z: Sparking for the PlayStation 2.
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors/Dragon Ball Z: Bukû Tôgeki for the Game Boy Advance.
• Dragon Ball Z: Super Sonic Warriors 2/Dragon Ball Z: Bukû Ressen for the Nintendo DS.
• Dragon Ball Z: Taiketsu for Game Boy Advance.
• Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 for the PlayStation.

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
• Kanzentai
• DBZ Uncensored
• SteveoDBGT.NET DB/Z/GT game media & information
• Dranet
• Dragon Ball Polish
• Dranium Forums
• Twisted King DBZ info, media, reviews and more.
• DBZGT Information Database
• first DBZ croatian site
• Dragonball Series related website (English/Dutch)
• Eternal Dragon's DBZ Lair

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