History Anime / DragonBallZ

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Cha-la Head Cha-La! With a smile that's Ultra-Z,\\
Even today goes Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi... Sparking!"'']]

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1450364793094516000

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dbz02.jpg]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cha_la_head_cha_la.png]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"With a smile that's Ultra-Z, Even today goes Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi... Sparking!"'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Cha-la Head Cha-La!..."'']]

Easily the most famous dub of ''Z'' is by Texas-based Creator/{{Funimation}}, starting in 1996 after Gen Fukanaga saw the show while in Japan[[note]]He wanted to begin with ''Z'' but Toei told him to start from the beginning of the story with ''Dragon Ball'', which was very different in tone from the show he saw. After dubbing the first 13 episodes, Gen successfully lobbied to skip ahead to the part he originally wanted to do[[/note]]. 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 on Kids' WB. 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.

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 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}}).

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 just about 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}}).

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 just about 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/{{Pokemon}}'' or {{hentai}}).

While [[Manga/DragonBall the original anime]] started out as a SupernaturalMartialArts {{comedy}} series inspired by ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'', by the Piccolo Daimao 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 just about 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/{{Pokemon}}'' or {{hentai}}).

''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 [[Anime/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).

While [[Anime/DragonBall the original anime]] started out as a SupernaturalMartialArts {{comedy}} series inspired by ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'', by the Piccolo Daimao 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 just about 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/{{Pokemon}}'' or {{hentai}}).

''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 [[Anime/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 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).

The anime is also notorious for [[OvertookTheManga running up against the manga at essentially all times by the second arc]]. This forced Creator/ToeiAnimation to create loads and loads of {{Filler}} in an effort to allow the manga to forge ahead. At best, this allowed for [[BreatherEpisode zany, ridiculous episodes]] like Goku and Piccolo trying to learn how to drive. At worst, it led to some of the most dragged out fights and storylines in anime history, the absolute low point being when a supposed five-minute countdown for a planet to explode [[MagicCountdown took over ten 26-minute episodes]].

''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 thought it would be ending soon]], with the last letter of the Latin alphabet being meant to indicate this. While ''Z'' is often considered a separate anime from [[Anime/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 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).

''Dragon Ball Z'' is Creator/{{Toei}} 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 thought it would be ending soon]], with the last letter of the Latin alphabet being meant to indicate this. While ''Z'' is often considered a separate anime from [[Anime/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 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).

''Dragon Ball Z'' is Creator//{{Toei}} 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 thought it would be ending soon]], with the last letter of the Latin alphabet being meant to indicate this. While ''Z'' is often considered a separate anime from [[Anime/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 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).

''Dragon Ball Z'' is the 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 thought it would be ending soon]], with the last letter of the Latin alphabet being meant to indicate this. While ''Z'' is often considered a separate anime from [[Anime/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 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).

After [[TimeSkip a seven 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]].

Easily the most famous dub of ''Z'' is by Texas-based Creator/{{Funimation}}, starting in 1996 after Gen Fukanaga saw the show while in Japan[[note]]He wanted to begin with ''Z'' but Creator/{{Toei}} told him to start from the beginning of the story with ''Dragon Ball'', which was very different in tone from the show he saw. After dubbing the first 13 episodes, Gen successfully lobbied to skip ahead to the part he originally wanted to do[[/note]]. 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 on Kids' WB. 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 anime is also notorious for [[OvertookTheManga running up against the manga at essentially all times by the second arc]]. This forced Creator/ToeiAnimation to create loads and loads of {{Filler}} in an effort to allow time for the manga to catch up. At best, this allowed for [[BreatherEpisode zany, ridiculous episodes]] like Goku and Piccolo trying to learn how to drive. At worst, it led to some of the most dragged out fights and storylines in anime history, the absolute low point being when a supposed five-minute countdown for a planet to explode [[MagicCountdown took over ten 26-minute episodes]].

The anime is also notorious for [[OvertookTheManga running up against the manga at essentially all times by the second arc]]. This forced Creator/ToeiAnimation to create loads and loads of {{Filler}} in an effort to allow time for the manga to catch up. At best, this allowed for [[BreatherEpisode zany, ridiculous episodes]] like Goku and Piccolo trying to learn how to drive - at worst, it led to some of the most dragged out fights in anime history. The absolute low point being when a supposed five-minute countdown for a planet to explode [[MagicCountdown took over ten 26-minute episodes]].

Easily the most famous dub of ''Z'' is by Texas-based Creator/{{Funimation}}, starting in 1996 after Gen Fukanaga saw the show while in Japan[[note]]He wanted to begin with ''Z'' but Creator/{{Toei}} told him to start from the beginning of the story with ''Dragon Ball'', which was very different in tone from the show he saw. After dubbing the first 13 episodes, Gen successfully lobbied to skip ahead to the part he originally wanted to do[[/note]]. Since Texas lacked a voice recording industry they hired actors and writers in Vancouver, Canada, since the 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 on Kids' WB. 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.

''Dragon Ball Z'' is the anime adaptation of the last 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 in Japan, the anime's title [[LetteredSequel was changed]] from ''Dragon Ball'' to ''Dragon Ball Z'', concurrently with a shift in focus from a SupernaturalMartialArts {{comedy}} series (inspired by ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'') to [[CerebusSyndrome more serious]] [[DarkerAndEdgier and violent battles]]; as for why it's called ''Dragon Ball Z'' instead of a more traditional title like ''[[NumberedSequels Dragon Ball 2]]'', Toriyama [[WordOfGod thought it would be ending soon]], with the last letter of the Latin alphabet being meant to indicate this. As such, ''Z'' is often used to refer both to the anime and this portion of the manga.

At the start, it's revealed that Goku was not simply a boy with a tail but one of [[LastOfHisKind the last of an alien race called the Saiyans]]. He was 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 focused more on Goku's 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 after Gohan marries a woman named Videl and their daughter, Pan, enters the "Strongest Under the Heavens" tournament.

Easily one of, if not ''the'' most popular anime of all time, ''Dragon Ball Z'' has, for better or worse, [[PublicMediumIgnorance come to define just about 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/{{Pokemon}}'' or {{hentai}}).

The anime is also notorious for [[OvertookTheManga running up against the manga at essentially all times]]. This forced Creator/ToeiAnimation to create loads and loads of {{Filler}} in an effort to allow time for the manga to catch up. At best, this allowed for [[BreatherEpisode zany, ridiculous episodes]] like Goku and Piccolo trying to learn how to drive - at worst, it led to some of the most dragged out fights in anime history. The absolute low point being when a supposed five-minute countdown for a planet to explode [[MagicCountdown took over ten episodes]]. The original ''Dragon Ball'' anime had this problem, too, but any sort of buffer that was present during that series had been fully run dry by the time ''Z'' rolled around.

Followed by ''Anime/DragonBallGT'', which was an original story not based on the manga and had minimal involvement from Toriyama, which facilitated a lukewarm response.

Creator/{{Funimation}} produced the English dub, which started in 1996 and finished airing in 2003, covering roughly the same length of time as the Japanese broadcast. Initially, the dub was outsourced to Creator/TheOceanGroup in Canada, and TV distribution was handled by Creator/SabanEntertainment for syndication on Kids' WB. It didn't take the world by storm at first, and in fact was a ratings flop on the network, leading it to be cancelled partway through. After [[VindicatedByCable belated success in reruns]] on Creator/CartoonNetwork's Creator/{{Toonami}} block, however, Funimation managed to claim full ownership of distribution rights, set up their own offices in Texas, and picked up with an in-house dub where Ocean left off, with the show continuing the remainder of its English broadcast run on Toonami; reruns would also continue on the block all the way until its initial termination in 2008. Funimation would later go back and redub the portions covered by Ocean as well as the first portions of the in-house dub, which were a major OldShame due to their poor quality compared to later episodes. As such, fans tend to differentiate between the Ocean and Funimation-produced portions as the "Ocean/Saban dub" and the "Funimation dub." To say the least, the latter is a cornerstone that allowed Funimation to flourish to this day, quickly climbing up to the position of the biggest figure in the anime dubbing industry.

The 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.

This sub-series spawned an [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMORPG]] continuation known as ''VideoGame/DragonBallOnline'' for a time, but also spanned fifteen theatrical movies and two special tv episodes. The first thirteen movies are NonSerialMovie[=s=] that primarily reflected the concurrent story of the show. The fourteenth movie, ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods'', made ''years'' later under the direct involvement of Toriyama, is a canonical continuation to the manga and set some time after the Buu Saga. ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'' was a direct sequel, and the wild success of both films led to ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', a whole new series set between the Buu arc and ''Z's'' DistantFinale.

The enduring popularity of the series eventually led to ''Anime/DragonBallKai'' 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 the anime adaptation of the last two-thirds of Creator/AkiraToriyama's ''Manga/DragonBall'' manga. While the manga kept its original name throughout its run in Japan, the anime's title [[LetteredSequel was changed]] from ''Dragon Ball'' to ''Dragon Ball Z'' in 1989, and the focus had changed from a SupernaturalMartialArts {{comedy}} series (inspired by ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'') to [[CerebusSyndrome more serious]] [[DarkerAndEdgier and violent battles]] (as for why it's called ''Dragon Ball Z'' instead of a more traditional title like ''[[NumberedSequels Dragon Ball 2]]'', Toriyama [[WordOfGod thought it would be ending soon]], with the last letter of the Latin alphabet being meant to indicate this). As such, ''Z'' is often used to refer both to the anime and this portion of the manga.

Creator/{{Funimation}} produces the English dub, which started in 1996, though the dub was outsourced to the Canadian production, Creator/TheOceanGroup, at the time and TV distribution was handled by Creator/SabanEntertainment for syndication. After the success of the series, Funimation managed to claim full ownership of distribution rights, set up their own offices in Texas and started dub work in-house (primarily from the ''Ginyu Force'' arc which is where the original dub stopped), selling the dub to ''Creator/{{Toonami}}'' where it would remain for the reminder of the original run of the series. To say the least, the dub is a cornerstone that allowed the company to flourish to this day.

The enduring popularity of the series eventually led to ''Anime/DragonBallKai'' in 2009, a more streamlined edit that removed most of the aforementioned {{filler}}.

''Dragon Ball Z'' is the anime adaptation of the last two-thirds of Creator/AkiraToriyama's ''Manga/DragonBall'' manga. While the manga kept its original name throughout its run in Japan, the anime's title [[LetteredSequel was changed]] from ''Dragon Ball'' to ''Dragon Ball Z'' in 1989, and the focus had changed from a SupernaturalMartialArts {{comedy}} series (inspired by ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'') to [[CerebusSyndrome more serious]] [[DarkerAndEdgier and violent battles]] (and Toriyama [[WordOfGod thought it would be ending soon]]). As such, ''Z'' is often used to refer both to the anime and this portion of the manga.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dbz_title.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dragon_ball_z_op.png]]

(''For the proper reading experience, run the music from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFl6ydm7O-w 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.'')

''Dragon Ball Z'' is the anime adaptation of the last two-thirds of Creator/AkiraToriyama's ''Manga/DragonBall'' manga. While the manga kept its original name throughout its run in Japan, the anime's title [[LetteredSequel was changed]] from ''Dragon Ball'' to ''Dragon Ball Z'' in 1989, and the focus had changed from a SupernaturalMartialArts {{Comedy}} series (inspired by ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'') to [[CerebusSyndrome more serious]] [[DarkerAndEdgier and violent battles]] (and Toriyama [[WordOfGod thought it would be ending soon]]). As such, ''Z'' is often used to refer both to the anime and this portion of the manga.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dragon_ball_z.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: ''"Cha-la Head Cha-La!..."'']]