"Dragon Ball Z" (1989/I) TV series 1989-2003

User Rating:

9.0/10   

Director:

Daisuke Nishio

Writers:

Andrew Rye (writer) (episodes)
Akira Toriyama (comic book)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | unknown

Release Date:

13 September 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Thriller

Tagline:

The Saiyans have returned...

Plot:

In the version that is shown on YTV in Canada, the story begins mid-way through the Dragon Ball Z series...

Plot Keywords:

Training | Super Power | Famous Opening Theme | Full Moon | Manga

Cast

Jôji Yanami	...	Narrator / ... (280 episodes, 1996-2003)
Masako Nozawa	...	Son Goku / ... (278 episodes, 1996-2003)
Christopher Sabat	...	Vegeta / ... (269 episodes, 1996-2003)
Sean Schemmel	...	Goku / ... (253 episodes, 1996-2003)
Doc Harris	...	Narrator (232 episodes, 1996-2003)
Mayumi Tanaka	...	Kuririn / ... (224 episodes, 1996-2003)
Sonny Strait	...	Krillin / ... (215 episodes, 1996-2003)
Brian Drummond	...	Vegeta / ... (197 episodes, 1996-2003)
Ryô Horikawa	...	Vegeta (193 episodes, 1996-2003)
Terry Klassen	...	Krillin / ... (193 episodes, 1996-2003)
Toshio Furukawa	...	Piccolo (190 episodes, 1996-2003)
Stephanie Nadolny	...	Gohan / ... (184 episodes, 1996-2001)
Tiffany Vollmer	...	Bulma / ... (173 episodes, 1996-2003)
Scott McNeil	...	Piccolo / ... (167 episodes, 1996-2003)
Hiromi Tsuru	...	Bulma / ... (165 episodes, 1996-2003)
Jillian Michaels	...	Goten / ... (156 episodes, 2000-2003)
Kyle Hebert	...	Narrator / ... (155 episodes, 1996-2003)
Mike McFarland	...	Master Roshi / ... (134 episodes, 1996-2003)
Kirby Morrow	...	Goku (134 episodes, 2000-2003)
Tôru Furuya	...	Yamcha (133 episodes, 1996-2003)
Cynthia Cranz	...	Chi-Chi / ... (132 episodes, 1996-2003)
Takeshi Kusao	...	Trunks (129 episodes, 2000-2003)
Daisuke Gôri	...	Gyuumao / ... (128 episodes, 1996-2003)
Ted Cole	...	Yamcha / ... (125 episodes, 1996-2003)
Naoko Watanabe	...	Puar / ... (121 episodes, 1996-2003)
Hirotaka Suzuoki	...	Tenshinhan / ... (114 episodes, 1996-2003)

Also Known As:

DBZ (USA) (short title)
As bólas máxicas (Spain: Galician title) [gl]
Dragon Ball Z (Spain: Galician title) [gl]

Runtime:

26 min (291 episodes)

Country:

Canada | USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Denmark:7 (DVD) | Denmark:7 | Netherlands:MG6 | USA:TV-Y7 (edited version) | South Korea:All | Australia:PG | Germany:12 | USA:TV-PG (uncensored version) | Canada:PG (some episodes)

Company:

FUNimation Entertainment

Trivia:

Like in the previous series Dragonball, Dragon Ball Z has many naming conventions/jokes. Saiyans are all named after vegetables. Vegeta, both the prince, his king father and the Saiyan home planet (originally named Planet Plant), means Vegetable; Raditz is 'radish', and Kakkorotto is 'carrot'. The villain Freeza (originally Friezer) comes obvious, and his brother Cooler and their father King Cold. All Namekians born from the villain in Dragonball were named after instruments (Piccolo, Drum, etc.) The Briefs family were all named after underwear, Bulma meaning panties, Doctor Briefs himself, Trunks, and Bra. And of course, various characters named after foods. Oolong, as in the tea; Videl, like the onion variety; Ginger, obvious; Spice; Blueberry; Raspberry; Raisin; Almond; Apple; and in Dragonball there was an entire family (of about 12) named after desserts. The name Videl is actually an anagram of "Devil" because her dad is Mr. Satan (at least in the Japanese version).

Goofs:

Continuity: English dubbed version: Early in the series, Raditz states that the planet Vegeta was destroyed three years prior to the beginning of the series. Later on, this is changed to twenty years (which is accurate to the original Japanese version). When they went back and did the "uncut dubbed" version that aired on Cartoon Network, they still used the inaccurate "three years" quote.

Quotes:

Android 17: Tell me, are all you Saiyans so full of yourselves? Is this how you hide your incompetence? We androids will always be superior to your kind.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Anime Talk Show (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

We Gotta Power

Animation Of Epic Proportion

Dragon Ball Z was, to many, one of the most influential cartoon series ever in the world. When I was younger I grew up watching the whole series from start to finish, read the comic books, and played the video games. The Dragon Ball Z series contain some of the most charismatic characters, great fighting sequences, and strong plots that covered thousands of years. Originally created in the 1980's, it's truly a blessing that western audiences finally gets to see it in english. However I wish the series would start from the very beginning, the story when Son Gokou was a courageous little boy who uses his innate fighting talents to help out others.

It's only a shame though that the western TV version are heavily censored, causing disorientation and lack of flow to some of the original fight scenes. The Japanese version showed no-holds barred violence and the use of strong words (aka swearing), creating emotional tension that is not present in the english-language version. Also, die-hard Dragon Ball fans out there will agree with me that the voice acting is nowhere as good as the Japanese version.

Still, revisiting Dragon Ball in any language still stirs some of the fondest memories in my heart. Kame Hame Ha!!!! See it's still there.

Highly recommended viewing.