Move over "Avengers"! It's time to focus on Earth's ACTUAL mightiest heroes!
We're talking about power levels that over 9000, screaming so hard you pass out in the recording booth,
and battles long enough to fill up two feature films.
That's right, we here at ToonedUp have 107 facts on "Dragon Ball Z" that you need to know!
Let's get started!
"Dragon Ball Z" is the sequel to "Dragon Ball". Both were created by Akira Toriyama, a manga
artist who gained mainstream recognition through his manga "Dr. Slump", prior to the creation of "Dragon Ball".
Akira Toriyama has also served as a character designer for popular video games including
the "Dragon Quest" series and "Chrono Trigger".
Prior to becoming a manga artist, Akira Toriyama
worked at an advertising agency designing posters. After 3 years, he quit his job and entered an amateur
manga contest for Jump magazine but lost.
A line in the FUNimation dub of "Dragon Ball Z" states that Vegeta wears a size 9 boot.
Kazuhiko Torishima has said that Dragon Ball “should’ve wrapped up with the Frieza Saga".
Torishima’s disappointment in having Androids
19 and 20 as villains spurred Toriyama to create Androids 17 and 18.
But Torishima also disliked Androids 17 and 18, which led to the creation of Cell.
Following the creation of Cell, Toriyama’s actual editor at the time, Kondou, complained about the
character’s original insectoid appearance. He felt it was too ugly. So Toriyama had Cell
transform into his Semi-Perfect form, but Kondou dislike that design too, saying the
villain “looked like a moron.” Which is why Cell ended up undergoing his final transformation into Perfect Cell.
Before all the revisions to the Android Saga,
Android 19 and Android 20 were set to play the roles that Future Android 17 and Future
Android 18 ended up with. 19 and 20 would have been the culprits behind the massacre
of Future Trunks’ world.
Dragon Ball Z adapts the last 325 chapters
of the Dragon Ball manga series, which is the second best-selling manga of all time.
It has sold more than 230 million copies worldwide.
Dragon Ball Z first aired in Japan on Fuji TV on April 25, 1989. It completed its run on January 31, 1996.
Dragon Ball Z was produced by animation studio
Toei Animation. The studio has also worked on other hit series, including One Piece, Sailor Moon, and Digimon.
Akira Toriyama chose the title “Dragon Ball Z” because Z is the last letter of the alphabet.
Toriyama was running out of ideas for Dragon Ball and wanted the series to end.
The Dragon Ball Z anime includes original, or some would say filler, material, such as new attacks
and characters, that weren’t present in the manga. This is because Akira Toriyama
was still writing the manga while the anime was being produced.
The original Japanese voices of Dragon Ball
Z differ greatly from their English dub counterparts. For one thing, Goku is voiced by a female
actress named Masako Nozawa and has a much higher pitched voice than what dub viewers might be used to.
In addition to Goku, Masako Nozawa also voices
Gohan and Goten. Like father like son. And other son.
Dragon Ball Kai is a remastered version of Dragon Ball Z, broadcast as part of the series’
20th anniversary celebrations. It premiered on April 5, 2009.
When it originally aired in North America, Dragon Ball Z was subject to heavy censorship.
Content was heavily altered or removed, including character names, clothing, scenes, and dialogue.
One example would be the character Hercule.
His original name was Mr. Satan.
Akira Toriyama’s influences include Osamu
Tezuka’s Astro Boy and the early films of Jackie Chan. Watching the anime adaptation
of Dragon Ball also influenced his work and method of coloring.
Artists influenced by Akira Toriyama and Dragon Ball include Eiichiro Oda, the creator of
One Piece, Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto, Hiro Mashima, the creator of Fairy
Tale and Rave, Tite Kube, the creator of Bleach, Kentaro Yabuki, the creator of Black Cat,
and Jeff Franklin, the creator of Full House. Okay, the last one’s not true, but could you imagine?
Toriyama has said of Dragon Ball’s success,
“Frankly, I don’t quite understand why it happened. While the manga was being serialized,
the only thing I wanted as I kept drawing was to make Japanese boys happy.”
At its start, Dragon Ball was loosely based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the
West. Goku was based on Sun Wukong, and Bulma was based on Xuanzang.
When working on Dragon Ball, Toriyama didn’t plan the series out in advance. He would just
draw and write it as he went along. At times, he would forget things he had previously established.
This would force him into tough situations he would have to write himself out of.
The character Launch largely disappears from
Dragon Ball Z following the Vegeta Saga. Akira Toriyama has admitted that her absence stems
from the simple fact that he forgot she existed.
Goku’s house is located at 58N 018. In simpler
terms, his address is 439 East District. For some reason I can’t find this on Google Maps.
Android 17’s actual name is Lapis and Android 18’s is Lazuli. With their powers combined, they form Captain Planet!
Actually they just form Lapis Lazuli, which is a rock.
The battle between Goku and Frieza took around
four hours of total screen time. Supposedly, it’s currently the longest anime fight of all time.
Prior to the Saiyans taking over, Planet Vegeta was called Planet Plant.
If you add up the number of battles in Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball,
you’ll find that there have been 187 fights.
Bulma’s ID number is SSC 41453.
Between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, Bulma has had 17 different hair styles.
Akira Toriyama said at one point that Piccolo
was his favorite character. According to him, “It really is cliche when bad guys turn
into good guys, but it just feels great drawing it!”
It’s a well-known fact among fans that Goku’s father is Bardock, but his mother’s identity
is a bit lesser-known. She was a Saiyan named Gine and had a gentle nature, which was something uncommon among her kind.
The Yu-Gi-Oh card Tyler the Great Warrior was actually modeled after Future Trunks.
Namekians develop much faster than humans
or Saiyans. By the time he was 3, Piccolo was a full grown adult, and he’s actually
only four years older than Gohan.
Vegeta may be Prince of the Saiyans and one of the universe’s strongest warriors, but
even he isn’t immune to fear. He’s scared of worms.
Goku is afraid of needles and hospital food.
Goten was originally brought into the series to replace Goku as the main character. But
fans disapproved so much that the plan was scrapped.
By the time Dragon Ball Z ends, Master Roshi is 354 years old. The manga explains that
Roshi once consumed an immortality elixir.
Trunks’ favorite food is yakiniku, which translates to grilled meat.
One of Goten’s favorite foods is Pocky.
If you’re a Naruto fan, you may have spotted
Chiaotzu in Chapter 150 of the manga. As Naruto wanders around the festival, Chiaotzu’s
face makes a cameo as one of many masks on display.
For all the times he’s entered, Goku has actually only won the World Martial Arts Tournament once.
Yamcha is severely injured, killed, or already
dead in every saga of Dragon Ball Z.
Hi guys, you're watching ToonedUp's 107 on Cartoon Hangover.
This Thursday we'll be covering 107 "Nightmare Before Christmas" facts,
And next Tuesday for 107 facts on "Aqua Teen Hunger Force". Now let's get back to "Dragon Ball Z".
Yamcha also loses in the quarter finals of every World Martial Arts Tournament. He just can’t catch a break.
Bibidi, Babidi, and Buu’s names were taken, of course, from the famous Cinderella incantation.
James Wong, the director of the (awful) 2009 live-action film adaptation of Dragon Ball
Z, Dragonball Evolution, said that he had never seen a single episode or read any of
the series until he was involved with the film. Clearly this made him the best choice
to direct a movie for it, then.
Frieza is charge of the Galactic Trade Organization,
which conquers planets and then auctions them off at high prices. Toriyama based him off
of real estate speculators, who he considers to be “the worst kind of people.”
Broly was born with a power level of 10,000.
It took Goku a ton of training to get those kinds of numbers.
Excluding movies and specials, Goku has only been killed two villains in Dragon Ball Z. They were Yakon and Kid Buu.
His pacifist son Gohan, on the other hand,
has killed a total of fifteen enemies over the course of the series and its films. In
the manga, this number is cut down to eight. Seven Cell Juniors and then the big Cell himself.
“It’s Over 9000!” is one of the most famous lines from Dragon Ball Z. But it actually
contains a dubbing error. In the original Japanese, it was actually “Over 8000!” But it doesn't have that same kind of charm.
In order to obtain Planet Plant, the Saiyans had to battle the Tuffles. The war between
them is known as the Saiyan-Tuffle War and lasted 10 years.
Technically, Vegeta isn’t the Prince of all Saiyans. He’s the King because his father was killed by Frieza.
But more importantly, this makes Bulma a queen? Because she's totally a queen.
Frieza owns somewhere around 79 planets, but
his older brother Cooler owns over three times as many with around 259 planets to his name.
Goku has taken a bite out of every lead villain except for Cell.
King Kai’s pet monkey Bubbles is a reference
to Michael Jackson’s pet monkey of the same name. Does that make King Kai Michael Jackson?
There are over twenty-five variations of the Kamehameha.
Majin Buu is over five million years old! But that doesn’t keep him from acting like a baby.
But Majin Buu is nowhere near the age of Old
Kai, who is around 15 million years old during the Majin Buu Saga. There’s probably a reason why
he literally has “old” in his name.
Goku’s identity as a Saiyan was originally
going to be revealed during the Piccolo Jr. Saga, but Toriyama decided he should delay it until Raditz arrived.
After fusing with Kami, Piccolo was temporarily
the strongest Z Fighter. He even surpassed the Super Saiyan powers of Goku, Vegeta, and Future Trunks.
The Dragon Ball Z special, Dragon Ball Z:
Bardock - The Father of Goku, reveals that Nappa used to have hair. Shoulda used Rogaine.
Vegeta’s always calling Goku by his Saiyan name, Kakarot, but he has used the name Goku on a total of eight occasions.
Piccolo and Cell are the only two characters
in the Dragon Ball universe to have killed Goku.
Dragon Ball Z debuted on Toonami in September of 1998.
There are three types of Androids in the series. Cyborg, Total Artificial Construct Types, and Bio-Mechanical.
In the manga, the character Pui Pui is named Pocus. Yet another Cinderella reference.
Goten managed his first Super Saiyan transformation at the age of 7, granting him the title of youngest Super Saiyan.
Vegeta was born in Age 732.
Goku was born in Age 737, which makes him 5 years younger than Vegeta.
Gohan was born in May of Age 757.
After Goku’s battle with Vegeta, he ends up in Wukong Hospital. Wukong is the Chinese
name of the Journey to the West character Goku is based on.
From the day they’re born, pure-blooded Saiyan’s hairstyles never change.
At 7’4”, Piccolo is the tallest Z Fighter by far.
If you add up how many times the Spirit Bomb has been used in all Dragon Ball related series,
films, and specials, you’ll get eight.
The second battle between Goku and Vegeta
takes place exactly two hundred episodes after their first.
Guldo, the Ginyu Force mercenary squadron member, is a member of the alien race of Bas-jins.
Goku and his friends starred in a special titled Goku’s Fire Fighting Regiment. It
was used to teach fire safety to kids in Japan.
Tien has fought against every major Dragon
Ball Z villain besides Frieza. And the only reason he couldn’t fight Frieza was because
he was dead at the time.
The six dots on Krillin’s forehead are actually incense burns from when he was a monk at Orin Temple.
Goku was killed off during the Cell Games
in an attempt to start shifting the focus of the series onto Gohan. Clearly this idea didn’t last long.
The Garlic Jr. Saga, which sounds like a great
fast food restaurant, never takes place in the manga, and is entirely a filler arc for the anime.
But don’t write off Garlic Jr. just because
he’s filler. He’s the only villain to have succeeded in wishing for immortality with the Dragon Balls.
Over the span of all series, films, and specials, Frieza has been defeated five times. This makes him the villain with the most losses in the series.
Snoop Dogg, or rather Snoop Lion, has revealed on Reddit that he’s a fan of the character
Gogeta, the fusion of Vegeta and Goku. He’s said that “Gogeta is a g".
In the Dragon Ball universe, Earth has been
destroyed twice within a 15 year span of time. Once by Majin Buu in Dragon Ball Z, and once
by the Black Star Dragon Balls in Dragon Ball GT.
We’re only really familiar with Beerus, but there are a total of twelve Gods of Destruction. One for each universe.
The final episode of Dragon Ball Z to premiere
on Toonami aired on April 7th, 2003. It’s been over 12 years…
The force of Planet Vegeta’s gravity is ten times that of Earth’s.
Music by the American rock band Disturbed has been featured in the dubbed versions of
two Dragon Ball Z films. Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug and Dragon Ball Z: Cooler’s Revenge.
The music from the North American version of Dragon Ball Z differs from that of the
original Japanese version and was composed by Bruce Faulconer.
Bruce Faulconer has said that Future Trunks is his favorite Dragon Ball Z character.
Goku is completely pure of heart, which is why he can’t be harmed by the Devilmite
Beam, and why he can control the Spirit Bomb.
Master Roshi’s Immortal Phoenix died from food poisoning after eating some bad bird seed.
Chi-Chi was renamed for the Latin American
Dub because chichi means breast in Spanish.
In the manga, Chi-Chi originally had blue hair and Bulma had purple hair.
Akira Toriyama created a prototype for Dragon Boy.
Masako Nozawa has been voicing Goku since
1986. That means she’s had the job for almost 30 years now!
In the FUNimation dub of the series, voice actor Chris Sabat place Vegeta, Piccolo, and Yamcha.
The God of Destruction Beerus was originally
going to be called Virus, and would have been responsible for turning the Saiyan race evil in the first place.
Another initial plan for Beerus was to have
him turn Goku’s friends against him, forcing the Saiyan to think about what really makes
a hero. But Toriyama found the plot too dark and reworked it into a more light-hearted story.
Which is still why Goku doesn't know what makes a hero, I guess.
Tien was going to appear in the 2008 Dragon
Ball special, Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!?, but his voice actor Hirotaka Suzuoki
passed away so the character was removed out of respect.
Beerus’ name was derived from the word “virus”,
but Akira Toriyama mistakenly thought it came from the word “beer”. So he decided to
name Beerus’ attendant Whis, taken from the word “whiskey”, to match.
Namek is taken from the Japanese word “namekuji”, which means slugs.
Saiyan comes from rearranging the syllables of the Japanese word “yasai”, which means vegetables.
You may be wondering how Vegito’s name is
a combination of Goku and Vegeta. It’s actually Vegeta combined with the Japanese form of
Goku’s Saiyan name, Kakarotto.
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