History Anime / DragonBallZ

While [[Manga/DragonBall the original manga and anime]] started out as a SupernaturalMartialArts {{comedy}} series inspired by ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'', by the Demon King Piccolo Arc it had become [[CerebusSyndrome more serious]] and featured [[DarkerAndEdgier violent and sometimes bloody battles]], and this continued throughout ''Z'' ([[MoodWhiplash with the partial exception of the Buu Arc]]). And since ''Z'' is easily one of, if not ''the'' most popular anime of all time, for better or worse it's [[PublicMediumIgnorance become associated with every anime stereotype in the west]] - [[ScreamingWarrior absurd levels of screaming]], constant SerialEscalation, BeamOWar battles and [[InactionSequence a whole lot of standing around doing nothing]] are all prominent tropes in this series that have practically become synonymous with anime as a whole (at least, when they're not referencing ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Pokémon]]'' or {{hentai}}).

Easily the most famous dub of ''Z'' is by Texas-based Creator/{{Funimation}}, starting in 1996. Since Texas lacked a voice recording industry they hired actors and writers in Vancouver, Canada, since they were cheaper than L.A.[[note]]This cast would be hired by Creator/TheOceanGroup again to produce their own dub for Canada and Europe after Funimation dropped them, hence why they're often called "the Ocean dub"[[/note]], while TV distribution was handled by Creator/SabanEntertainment for syndication. It was incredibly popular right off the bat, however Saban cancelled further distribution in favour of their own productions. After continued success in reruns on Creator/CartoonNetwork's Creator/{{Toonami}} block, Funimation dropped the Vancouver cast and set up their own local studio to pick up where they left off with their very first in-house cast, with the show continuing the remainder of its English broadcast run on Toonami. Their dub would eventually complete all ''Z'' episodes by 2003 in about the same amount of time as its original run in Japan, and reruns would continue on the block all the way until its initial termination in 2008. Funimation would later go back and redub the portion covered by the Vancouver cast for their own home video releases.

The globally enduring popularity of the series eventually led to ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'' in 2009, a more streamlined edit that removed most of the aforementioned {{filler}}. Following in the footsteps of the original ''Z'', the English dub and broadcast of ''Kai'' quickly became a cornerstone of the revived Toonami, and airings of Funimation's dub of both it and ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' would continue on the network up to the present day.

''Dragon Ball Z'' is Creator/{{Toei|Company}}'s anime adaptation of the latter two thirds of Creator/AkiraToriyama's ''Manga/DragonBall'' manga, originally broadcast from 1989 to 1996. While the manga kept its original name throughout its run everywhere in the world ([[MarketBasedTitle except in English]]), the anime's title [[LetteredSequel was changed]] from ''Dragon Ball'' to ''Dragon Ball Z'', which Toriyama suggested [[WordOfGod because he felt he would be ending the story soon]], with the last letter of the Latin alphabet meaning to indicate this. While ''Z'' is often considered a separate anime from [[Manga/DragonBall the preceding one]], in reality it's more of a marketing rebrand, since the production team was almost identical and it aired on the same schedule without missing a beat. However ''Z'' represents ''Dragon Ball'' at its most popular, and so is often treated as its own entire sub-franchise due to the overall obscurity of the first third of the story (in America, Creator/{{ViZ}} branded all the manga volumes adapted by this anime with the ''Dragon Ball Z'' name).

It got me aye-yi-yi-yi-yi!\\

Smiling away, away today, I'm ULTRA-Z!\\
It's going aye-yi-yi-yi-yi!\\

Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi!\\

Smiling away, away today, I'm ULTRA Z!\\

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[AnimeThemeSong Cha-la Head Cha-La!\\
With a smile that's Ultra-Z!\\
Even today goes aye-yi-yi-yi-yi!\\

With a smile that's Ultra-Z\\
Even today goes aye-yi-yi-yi-yi\\
SPARKING!]]]]''

%%"Cha-La Head-Cha-La", "We Gotta Power", "Rock the Dragon", "Dragon Ball Z Theme (Android Saga)", and the "English 'uncut' Dragon Ball Z Theme" (Toonami; Saiyan Saga)
(''For the proper reading experience, run the music from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCEdKLchk6A here,]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4vjJrGeh1c here,]] or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcV-73d_0YA here]] (or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuFd5a_XLhc here,]] if you're [[DarkerAndEdgier really hardcore]]) while reading this page.'')

''Dragon Ball Z'' is Creator/{{Toei}}'s anime adaptation of the latter two thirds of Creator/AkiraToriyama's ''Manga/DragonBall'' manga, originally broadcast from 1989 to 1996. While the manga kept its original name throughout its run everywhere in the world ([[MarketBasedTitle except in English]]), the anime's title [[LetteredSequel was changed]] from ''Dragon Ball'' to ''Dragon Ball Z'', which Toriyama suggested [[WordOfGod because he felt he would be ending the story soon]], with the last letter of the Latin alphabet meaning to indicate this. While ''Z'' is often considered a separate anime from [[Manga/DragonBall the preceding one]], in reality it's more of a marketing rebrand, since the production team was almost identical and it aired on the same schedule without missing a beat. However ''Z'' represents ''Dragon Ball'' at its most popular, and so is often treated as its own entire sub-franchise due to the overall obscurity of the first third of the story (in America, Creator/{{ViZ}} branded all the manga volumes adapted by this anime with the ''Dragon Ball Z'' name).

** FriendshipHatingAntagonist: Bibidi and his clone Babidi. Both are treating like crap their subordinates (despite them being [[BullyingADragon more powerful than them]]) and just using them. Babidi's abuse of Buu is what cost him his life when Buu [[TheDogBitesBack decided enough is enough and gets bored of Babidi]].

[[caption-width-right:350:''Cha-la Head Cha-La!\\

SPARKING!'']]

After defeating Piccolo Jr. and [[TimeSkip a five year period of peace]], it's revealed that Goku was not simply a strange boy with a tail but one of [[LastOfHisKind the last of an alien race called the Saiyans]], sent into space shortly before the Saiyan planet was destroyed (with shades of ''Anime/GoldenBat'', ''[[https://web.archive.org/web/20130627154545/http://www.animevice.com:80/prince-of-gamma/18-31482/ Prince of Gamma,]]'' and ''Franchise/{{Superman}}''). Goku and his friends, reinforced by former enemies (a recurring theme) had to fight [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil progressively more powerful]] villains. Although Goku and his martial arts skills (which let him and his friends fly, throw energy blasts and read minds) dominated the battles, the story also focuses on his son Gohan as he grew up. Running seven years and nearly 300 episodes, the series can be broken down into the four primary {{big bad}}s of the series: Vegeta, Frieza, Cell, and Majin Buu. Both ''Dragon Ball'' the manga and ''Dragon Ball Z'' the anime came to a triumphant conclusion where [[DistantFinale Gohan's daughter, Pan, enters the "Strongest Under the Heavens" tournament]].

(''For the proper reading experience, run the music from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCEdKLchk6A here,]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFKroyqq8eE here,]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4vjJrGeh1c here,]] or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcV-73d_0YA here]] (or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuFd5a_XLhc here,]] if you're [[DarkerAndEdgier really hardcore]]) while reading this page.'')

** [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome/DragonBall Surprisingly Realistic Outcome]]

While [[Manga/DragonBall the original anime]] started out as a SupernaturalMartialArts {{comedy}} series inspired by ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'', by the Demon King Piccolo Arc it had become [[CerebusSyndrome more serious]] and featured [[DarkerAndEdgier violent and sometimes bloody battles]], and this continued throughout ''Z'' ([[MoodWhiplash with the partial exception of the Buu Arc]]). And since ''Z'' is easily one of, if not ''the'' most popular anime of all time, for better or worse it's [[PublicMediumIgnorance become associated with every anime stereotype in the west]] - [[ScreamingWarrior absurd levels of screaming]], constant SerialEscalation, BeamOWar battles and [[InactionSequence a whole lot of standing around doing nothing]] are all prominent tropes in this series that have practically become synonymous with anime as a whole (at least, when they're not referencing ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Pokémon]]'' or {{hentai}}).