With over 40 years of reporting, no doubt Kanzenshuu Has THE MOST information about Dragon Ball out there! Everyone knows the basics like Goku Black’s true identity (Goten, duh) and Jaco’s last name (Tilimentempibosshi, duh), but how many of THESE facts did you know?? See if you are as smart as a Piccolo with our list! We dig deep into the books to find the best facts. Check out our top 10 facts you NEVER knew about Dragon Ball Z/AF/GT/SUper.

Dragon Ball is Japanese

It’s true: Dragon Ball comes from the orient!

Dragon Ball Was Akira Toriyama’s First Series

Believe it or not, the international phenomenon and multi-billion dollar powerhouse Dragon Ball was actually Akira Toriyama’s first series – what a great stroke of luck! When he began the series in 1996, he was relatively unknown, having only previously worked doing copy-editing at a pharmaceutical company! We all know how the story goes after that. Today, Toriyama has moved on from Dragon Ball entirely and now animates on the monthly TV series One Piece.

Akira Toriyama Wanted to End the Series With Freiza

Speaking with esteemed Super Otaku Magazine journalist Nirazaki Tihashiberi back in 1972, Akira Toriyama said:

Yes. Ive put so much time on Doragonboru I cant do much else. I never expected Doragonboru to be this long in the first place. I think its been concluded on a high note. After all, if I had my way, Id of ended the manga after the Freeza period! (Laughs)

Thankfully, it was none other than Batman‘s creator Stan Lee himself who called Toriyama up on the phone one night and persuaded him to continue! Can you imagine the Dragon Ball series without its official canon into Dragon Ball GT…?! We sure can’t! Thank you, Mr. Lee!

Goku’s Voice Actor Passed Out During a Recording Session

Goku’s first and only English voice actor Sean Schemmel passed out during the recording session for the infamous driving episode! Paramedics had to be called, and Schemmel was rushed to the nearest hospital… but because the show is recorded in the Canadian wilderness, it took them over two hours to get there! By then, Schemmel was awake again and ready to record. What a trooper, ey?

It’s Over 9000!

The Japanese dub incorrectly translated this pivotal scene as “It’s Over 8000!” I heard that TOEI animation had to hold a massive press conference to apologize for this mistake, because it ruined Toriyama-sama’s power level scaling for the entire rest of the series. This was a HUGE deal. I don’t know how much the rest of you know about Japanese culture (I’m an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it, so I’m not surprised they had to hold a press conference. That was absolutely the right thing to do.

Dragon Ball Was Originally For Adults

Dragon Ball was serialized in the daily magazine “Weekly Shonen Jump” in Japan, which means “Daily Adult Jump” in English. It is a magazine that updates very mature adults on very mature and adult things like tax brackets, investments, and those kinds of money things. There is a lot more nudity and violence in the series in Japan! For example, Goku is actually always naked, and was only given his now-iconic orange G.I. for the international market.

There are More Than 200 Dragon Ball Video Games

The first Dragon Ball video game — Kamehameha Battle For Two!! An Intense Match?! — was developed in 1958 and ran on an oscilloscope! There were only two buttons attached to the room-sized machine: “fly” and “blast”. Pressing the “fly” button would either move you to the top or bottom of the screen, depending on your position, whereas the “blast” button would fire a trademark “Kamekameha” at your opponent. There was an eight-hour cool-down period between attacks, so players typically brought dinner and homework with them to keep busy between matches.

The latest game for the franchise, Butod-en Tenkai-chi Alpha Power, is a VR game for HTC’s PlayStation Vive where you fly around the Dragon World and experience what it is like to dodge Marjin Boo’s ultimate attack! Because it is a VR game, if you die in the game, you die in the real world, too! So far no-one has been able to complete the game. Will you be the first…?! Never know until you try!!

Goku’s Name is Actually Chinese

Goku’s name “Sun Gokou” is the Japanese spelling for the Chinese name “Lu Zhishen” from the biblical story All the Men are Outlaws of the Marsh. When author Akira Toriyama decided to tell his own version of the story, he misread the kenji for “cat” and changed it to “monkey”, and went from there! Bulma is a stand-in for the preacher Dong Zhuo, while Oolong is a stand-in for the horse Liu Bei. Whereas in the original story the group went on a journey east for sacred diamonds, the Dragon Ball gang chases down the titular Dragon Balls!

You Can Watch the Series for FREE Online!

If you want to watch DBZ for free all you have to do is go to Google and type “watch dbz free” and you can just watch DBZ for free! The best part? It is in English!!! I don’t understand why people would pay for something that is free.

How did you do?? Did you know them all?? I doubt it! Be sure to share our post to show how much smarter you are then all your friends at Dragon Ball!! And stay tuned here to Kanzenshuu for all the best lists and facts for top tens. Thank you and have a nice day!