Dragon Ball Z Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Dragon Ball Z (Japanese: ドラゴンボール Z, romaji: Doragon Bōru Z) is the long-running sequel to the popular Anime, Dragon Ball. To reduce confusion for the American audience, the second part of the manga Dragon Ball is also called "Dragon Ball Z" in the United States.The anime is a close adaptation of the manga, though it also features characters, situations, and backstory which were not present in the original. (This "filler" material is generally considered non-canonical and occasionally contradicts itself.)
Specifically, it follows the adventures of the adult Son Goku (a Saiyan) and company as they defend the Earth and other planets against assorted villains. The distinction here is that while the original Dragon Ball anime followed Goku through childhood into adulthood, Dragon Ball Z continues his adventures until he is a grandparent. The distinction between the two is significant in that Goku's earlier adventures were much more comedy oriented, while as an adult the series took on a more dramatic and decidedly serious tone.
The anime first premiered in Japan on April 18, 1989 (on Fuji TV) and ended on January 31, 1996. In the US, the series ran between 1996 and 2003, though not always on the same networks or with continuity of dubbing.
After "Dragon Ball Z", the story of Son Goku and friends continue in the anime-only series Dragon Ball GT. That series was not based on a manga by Akira Toriyama and many fans reject it as an entire series of "filler." Toriyama's humor/parody manga Neko Majin Z features several concepts introduced in Dragon Ball Z (and Vegeta even makes an appearance), but that manga is designed as a parody and not a true continuation of the series.
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2 Post 9/11 3 Plot Summary 4 Characters 5 Characters 6 Sagas 7 Movies |
One of the biggest criticisms of the series in North America from fans is the extensive amount of editing it faced, especially when it was on network television.
The original series was created for teenagers and adults, and accordingly has adult humor in it and the violence can be over the top. When it was marketed in the United States, the distribution company FUNimation decided to focus it as a children's show, because the market for Japanese animation was still relatively small, while the children's cartoon market was much larger. The series underwent many changes, with the removal of nudity, partial nudity, references to sex, alcohol, and smoking (they went so far as to digitally remove the cigarette from one character's mouth, and digitally paste the word ROOT above a sign that said BEER to make it say "ROOT BEER".) A lot of violent scenes were left on the cutting room floor, and others had wounds digitally removed, and blood removed or re-colored as spit. The dialogue was changed, removing references to Heaven, Hell, God, and death.
Naturally, this amount of censorship lead to characters saying things which didn't match what was occurring on screen, unrealistic and twisted plots, major plot holes, and obviously altered images. Combined with the replacing of the original musical score, all this left many fans irate, resulting in some Dragon Ball purists who refuse to watch the American version of the show. One of the biggest points raised by critics of the censorship 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 Cartoon Network, censorship was reduced due to fewer restrictions on cable programming. Some types of censorship, nudity for example, was still unavoidable. Subsequent DVD and VHS releases of those episodes were not censored in any way.
The main character is Son Goku, an extremely powerful, yet simpleminded and kindly character. After a visit from his previously unknown brother Raditz, he discovers that he is an alien that was sent to Earth to destroy it. When he informs Raditz that he has no intention of doing this, Goku and his friends become the erstwhile defenders of the Earth from the oncoming invasion by more of his kind.
As the series progresses, Son Goku, his son, Son Gohan, and their companions age, get immensely stronger, and fight increasingly powerful and sinister villains. Many of the main characters die, are resurrected, get married and/or have children. The series has had a dramatic progression throughout its entire run.
Many important facts were introduced into the series that add a different, more Sci-Fi oriented, story arc to Dragon Ball Z from its predecessor:
Saiyan Series:
Censorship Issues
Post 9/11
Shortly after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Cartoon Network cut an episode of Dragon Ball Z where Son Gohan saves a plane from crashing, then later has to deal with a burning skyscraper office building, due to the obvious parallel imagery.Plot Summary
Characters
Characters
Dragons
Sagas
The Dragon Ball Z series can be (sometimes) logically broken into 4 series, which can be broken further into sagas, based on the current enemy or theme:
Frieza Series:
Cell Series:
Buu Series:
Movies
Dragon Ball Z has had several movies made based on the popular series. Although some can be counted as side stories that happen between sagas many are based in their own universe having nothing to do with the series timeline. These movies include:
See: Dragon Ball Z movie
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