The Meaning of Z, in Dragonball Z.

Snail · Post by **Snail** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 6:39 am

So apparantly, in this video contestants try their luck to explain the correct intended meaning behind the added 'Z' to the title.

From the video description the 'Z' is the final letter in the alphabet, therefore Z represents that the series at the time was intended to be the end.

So, my question is; is this the actual answer? I never really knew why Z was added.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2hJNLmTiGs

Anyways, enjoy, discuss, contemplate.

Kendamu · Post by **Kendamu** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 6:43 am

Wow. Funny part is, after one semester of Japanese I'm somewhat understanding what they're saying. Must be the visual references...

[edit]About 5 minutes and 11 seconds into the video it says in Katakana at the bottom "arareparare" unless I'm mistaken. What the Hell does that mean?[/edit]

Tyro · Post by **Tyro** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 6:46 am

Wikipedia wrote:(in the United States, the manga's second portion is also titled Dragon Ball Z to prevent confusion). The 'Z' was originally added to the title by Toriyama to signify it as being the ending portion of the Dragon Ball series.

Take it as it's worth. It's from Wikipedia, but, to me, it sounds legit.

caejones · Post by **caejones** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 7:45 am

As seems to have been mentioned in various places around Daizex... [The end-of-series intention, I mean...]
It only really seemed important when the Z Sword appeared... just hearing that was like, "Ah! Z! And a Sword! In DBZ!".

Tyro · Post by **Tyro** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 8:02 am

Yes! I've found the answer. Do you remember the Shonen Jump that came out not to long ago with the Toriyama interview in it? Yeah, that's the one.

"What does the "Z" mean? It's just a subtitle invented for the second season of the Japanese anime, distinguishing the earlier, funnier stories from the later, more intense stories when the characters are grown up."

BrollysKin · Post by **BrollysKin** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 2:44 pm

Sorry I don't know japanese.

Snail · Post by **Snail** » Sun Dec 31, 2006 5:12 am

Lol, obviously the question was directed towards the fellow members of the forum here, of whom could understand the content on the video, and then confirm the meaning behind the added 'Z'.

Grandmaster J · Post by **Grandmaster J** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 1:34 am

Well, as one poster mention there, I too have always thought that the "Z" never had a meaning, and that it was put there to symbolize the end of the Dragon Ball anime, since Z is the last letter in the alphabet. It makes sense, but is still a little silly IMO. Mr. Toriyama, or whoever put that Z there, should've just left it alone and kept the series title as Dragon Ball.

Chibi Mystic Gohan · Post by **Chibi Mystic Gohan** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 12:09 pm

Tyro wrote:Yes! I've found the answer. Do you remember the Shonen Jump that came out not to long ago with the Toriyama interview in it? Yeah, that's the one.

"What does the "Z" mean? It's just a subtitle invented for the second season of the Japanese anime, distinguishing the earlier, funnier stories from the later, more intense stories when the characters are grown up."

And in an even earlier interview (issue 3 perhaps?) he stated that it represents the fact that the series would be ending soon (even though it didn't work out as planned).

DaemonCorps · Post by **DaemonCorps** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 3:01 pm

Well, episode 55 of the podcast has Julian explaining that the Z was used by Toriyama in the anime to signify that the series was going to end soon. The Z then krept its way into the series as terms for other stuff (the Z warriors, the Z sword, Z TV Station, etc).

mAcChaos · Post by **mAcChaos** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 5:17 pm

I always hear "Duragonburo Zetto" or something like that, so it sounds like the Z stands for something. Not just a letter.

veshira · Post by **veshira** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 5:52 pm

Toriyama once said in an interview that when Toei asked for a name for the new series, he chose to add a "Z", to signify the series was almost over.

mAcChaos wrote:I always hear "Duragonburo Zetto" or something like that, so it sounds like the Z stands for something. Not just a letter.

What you're hearing is Doragon Booru Zetto; it's pronounced that way because... well, that's how it's written in katakana (ドラゴンボールＺ), and the Japanese have trouble pronouncing English the same way native English speakers do.

As for "Zetto", that may be the Japanese term for the letter one it's own. Remember that the Japanese don't use the roman alphabet.

Swift · Post by **Swift** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:45 pm

mAcChaos wrote:I always hear "Duragonburo Zetto" or something like that, so it sounds like the Z stands for something. Not just a letter.

As Veshira pointed out, that's just an approximation of "Dragonball Z" using the Japanese phonetic system. "Zetto", however, is an approximation of the British pronunciation of the letter Z, "Zed", as opposed to the American pronunciation of Z, "Zee". That's why Zetto sounds completely different than the American Z.

Edit: (Oh, and that'd be Doragonbôru Zetto, technically.

)

Sebastian (SB) · Post by **Sebastian (SB)** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 10:49 pm

Grandmaster J wrote:Well, as one poster mention there, I too have always thought that the "Z" never had a meaning, and that it was put there to symbolize the end of the Dragon Ball anime, since Z is the last letter in the alphabet. It makes sense, but is still a little silly IMO. Mr. Toriyama, or whoever put that Z there, should've just left it alone and kept the series title as Dragon Ball.

I couldn't have put it better myself. I just completely ignore saying Z as much as I can.

BlueSky · Post by **Kaboom** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 11:08 pm

If the "Z" was Toriyama-sensei's attempt at signifying the series' end, then "GT" must stand for "Good Try."

Grandmaster J · Post by **Grandmaster J** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 12:02 am

SSj Kaboom wrote:If the "Z" was Toriyama-sensei's attempt at signifying the series' end, then "GT" must stand for "Good Try."

Nice. That's good stuff.

I chuckled.

fps_anth · Post by **fps_anth** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 12:19 am

Grandmaster J wrote:
SSj Kaboom wrote:If the "Z" was Toriyama-sensei's attempt at signifying the series' end, then "GT" must stand for "Good Try."
Nice. That's good stuff. I chuckled.

I second that.

Also, it could...you know...stand for...Good Tunes! Dan Dan is pwnage!

Olivier Hague · Post by **Olivier Hague** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 7:39 am

SSj Kaboom wrote:If the "Z" was Toriyama-sensei's attempt at signifying the series' end, then "GT" must stand for "Good Try."

"Gomen nasai Toriyama sensei" always sounded so likely...