Zenkai Boost ?

[Draconic]

I am curious where the term "zenkai boost" came from. I know zenkai is an actual japanese word, but the term "zenkai boost" never appears anywhere in the manga/anime, to my knowledge. Can somebody explain me?

[Kaboom]

The word "zenkai" just means something along the lines of "refresh" or "restore," I think. Somewhere along the way it got adopted s a fan-term for the boosts in power that Saiyans get when they're healed from near death. But it's not an official term for it in any capacity, and as far as I'm aware it's never used in such a way in the story's Japanese dialogue.

[Draconic]

The word "zenkai" just means something along the lines of "refresh" or "restore," I think. Somewhere along the way it got adopted s a fan-term for the boosts in power that Saiyans get when they're healed from near death. But it's not an official term for it in any capacity, and as far as I'm aware it's never used in such a way in the story's Japanese dialogue.

I know that. I am asking where it came out and who used it first. It seems to become a widely accepted term, so I would like to know WHO created it.

[Sandubadear]

It comes from the first ending theme of DBZ, "Detekoi Tobikiri Zenkai Power!", and then was later used in a few episode titles, like episode 46, "Gokū pawā Zenkai!! Ginga no Hate made Muikakan", but wasn't used anywhere else (not even games).

[Herms]

I know that. I am asking where it came out and who used it first. It seems to become a widely accepted term, so I would like to know WHO created it.

It's typically hard or flat-out impossible to track that sort of thing. Most likely it developed organically in the English fan community, without any one person going "hey guys, let's start to use 'zenkai' as shorthand for the Saiyan near-death power-up thing!"

It comes from the first ending theme of DBZ, "Detekoi Tobikiri Zenkai Power!", and then was later used in a few episode titles, like episode 46, "Gokū pawā Zenkai!! Ginga no Hate made Muikakan", but wasn't used anywhere else (not even games).

If we're just talking about the Japanese word(s) "zenkai", then it's used several times throughout the series, although never as a specific term for the near death power-up thing. There are actually a few different Japanese words read as "zenkai" but written with different characters (this sort of thing happens a lot in Japanese). Probably the one most often used in the series is 全開, literally meaning "fully open" but often used to describe someone's power being at "full-throttle", ie when they're fighting their hardest. It ties into the notion of dormant power that must be unlocked or drawn out, and that's the sort of "zenkai power" the closing theme is talking about.

There's also 全快, meaning "full recovery", which obviously seems like a closer fit with the near-death power up idea. It's used a few times in the series in connection with people healing, but not as shorthand for the near-death power up the way the English fan community has taken to doing. It's also got nothing to do with the "zenkai power" from the closing theme.

There's also the arcade game Zenkai Battle Royale, presumably named after the closing theme, just as the Sparking! games were named after one of the lyrics from Chala Head Chala.

[Draconic]

I know that. I am asking where it came out and who used it first. It seems to become a widely accepted term, so I would like to know WHO created it.

It's typically hard or flat-out impossible to track that sort of thing. Most likely it developed organically in the English fan community, without any one person going "hey guys, let's start to use 'zenkai' as shorthand for the Saiyan near-death power-up thing!"

It comes from the first ending theme of DBZ, "Detekoi Tobikiri Zenkai Power!", and then was later used in a few episode titles, like episode 46, "Gokū pawā Zenkai!! Ginga no Hate made Muikakan", but wasn't used anywhere else (not even games).

If we're just talking about the Japanese word(s) "zenkai", then it's used several times throughout the series, although never as a specific term for the near death power-up thing. There are actually a few different Japanese words read as "zenkai" but written with different characters (this sort of thing happens a lot in Japanese). Probably the one most often used in the series is 全開, which literally means "fully open" but often used in the series to describe someone fighting "all-out" or at "full-throttle". It ties into the notion of dormant power that must be unlocked or drawn out, and that's the sort of "zenkai power" the closing theme is talking about.

There's also 全快, meaning "full recovery", which obviously seems like a closer fit with the near-death power up idea. It's used a few times in the series in connection with people healing, but not as shorthand for the near-death power up the way the English can community has taken to doing. It's also got nothing to do with the "zenkai power" from the closing theme.

Wow, I didn't think the word could have so many meanings, though, in hindsight, is not that different from other languages.