Dragon Ball references in other media

[Melee_Sovereign]

Overwatch has a few.





"Over 9000 donations" in the lower left corner of D.Va's projection screen.



Overwatch is known for making a lot of cultural references to many different things.

[Robo4900]

There's a rather awesome one in Gintama, which the dub enhanced through perfect casting.

I also recall there's an episode of Duck Dodgers that has a lot of that show's kung-fu silliness going on in one particular fight, then at the end, Duck Dodgers realises everyone's gone home; he asks Porky what happened, and he says "They got bored and went home to watch some Dragon Ball reruns."
(Bonus round: Duck Dodgers also has an episode that's a full-on homage/parody of Samurai Jack, and there's an episode that's basically a tribute to Megadeth, which Dave Mustaine is in. This show was NUTS!!)

There's also a Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy episode called Chicken Ball Z. Its general setup may be a reference to the numerous tournament arcs from before the Raditz timeskip.

[coola]

Ishuzoku Reviewers episode 2

[Melee_Sovereign]

Fairly Oddparents has an episode where Timmy enters the world of various TV shows, all of which are a reference to real life TV shows. One of them is a clear DBZ reference. Time stamp at 11:29.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvREIlxLWtM&t=683s

[FortuneSSJ]

Shenlong's reference in Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers trailer


(On the left side)

[Grimlock]

It was never confirmed, but we know where it comes from.




By the way, this is one of the best PlayStation 2 RPGs out there, Legaia 2: Duel Saga. Check it out!

[Dr. Casey]

It was never confirmed, but we know where it comes from.




By the way, this is one of the best PlayStation 2 RPGs out there, Legaia 2: Duel Saga. Check it out!

Broken image link.

I got Legaia 2 for Christmas back in 2006. It's pretty great.

[Grimlock]

Hey, thanks for the heads-up! I always click on "preview" and stick around after submitting it to make sure the images will work. It was fine... Until I was gone. Hopefully it stays this time.

I got Legaia 2 for Christmas back in 2006. It's pretty great.

I also grew up playing it (and the first one, of course!). It's just too bad lack of popularity killed this series. Imagine if we got a third installment...

[KPike87]

The movie Boyhood was filmed over the course of 12 years to tell the story, and there's a lot of references to popular things of the day (like Halo 2, and a couple years later, Wii Sports). Early in the movie the main character, a kid, is actually really into Dragon Ball Z, watching an episode of one of the Buu arcs, and having DBZ themed blankets and posters. I recall not many liking that movie, but I really enjoyed it at the time.

Edit: Forgot one, but there's this stupid Scooby Doo game I grew up that had Scooby dress up in certain costumes as powerups. The first one is a Gi IIRC, and while the attack itself that he preforms looks more like a Hadouken more than anything, the way he pronounces his name as he charges it up is oddly familiar to Dragon Ball (Ka-Me-Ha-Me-HA; Scoo-Be-Doo-Be-DOO). Stupid I realize, but it's something I don't see anyone talk about.

[MCDaveG]

Well, Gintama is like golden well for everything anime and classic shows like Gundam, Saint Seiya, Ghibli works and yeah, DBZ.

Like the episode where smoking is banned around Japan and the heavy smoker chief of Police Hijikata goes on a quest to get a cigarette and ends up fighting Breeza after witnessing the death of Guririn and hunts down slippery slippery balls on planet Hamek to call out slippery dragon, is total nuts!

Also Celo has the same voice actor, Norio Wakamoto as he already stars in Gintama!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRL8a_xQWCs

What surprised me a lot is that there is english dub of Gintama???

[FortuneSSJ]

Elden Ring has a spell called Comet Azur which seems like a Kamehameha: https://youtu.be/52BMkw7A08I?t=25

[Hellspawn28]

I wonder what is the first pop culturce reference to DB in the United States?

[KPike87]

I wonder what is the first pop culturce reference to DB in the United States?

I hear a crappy game called Kasumi Ninja on the Jaguar has 'Son Goku' somewhere in the game (either the credits or high score screen); the game is from 1994. There was a thread on this a while ago if you search for it.

[coola]

I wonder what is the first pop culturce reference to DB in the United States?

I hear a crappy game called Kasumi Ninja on the Jaguar has 'Son Goku' somewhere in the game (either the credits or high score screen); the game is from 1994. There was a thread on this a while ago if you search for it.

In that case, maybe it was Journey to the West reference?

[KPike87]

I wonder what is the first pop culturce reference to DB in the United States?

I hear a crappy game called Kasumi Ninja on the Jaguar has 'Son Goku' somewhere in the game (either the credits or high score screen); the game is from 1994. There was a thread on this a while ago if you search for it.

In that case, maybe it was Journey to the West reference?

Probably tbh. I haven't checked for myself since I saw the thread, however.

[KPike87]

Oh, how could I forget one of the most obvious Dragon Ball references from my youth? Channel Chasers was a Fairly OddParents TV movie that had a whole bunch of cartoon and even a handful of anime homages. The climax was for a show in the universe called Mahou Mushi or something, it was a mix of Dragon Ball and Gundam (I think). There's a whole bunch of little things but I'll show off my favorites:

Cosmo and Timmy have eyes drawn in the same way as Krillin. Not the best shot, but Timmy's gi, shoes, and wristbands are basically the same as Krillin's, just with a different palette.

Spoiler:

Cosmo fires two energy blasts towards the spectators.

Spoiler:

The announcer wears shades, a suit, and has the same haircut, though a different color.

Spoiler:

Vicky's shoulder pads look sort of like Piccolo Jr's in this first few appearances (shorter, slanted upwards more).

Spoiler:

[coola]

From 5th episode of Mayonaka Punch

[Vhanos]

From 5th episode of Mayonaka Punch

Wasn't there a reference to the infamous Yamcha death in it too? I recall that being in that show, but forgot when and what episode.

There are two other anime that came out the same time as Mayonaka Punch that also made a reference to Dragon Ball.

In episode 3 of The Elusive Samurai. One of the characters is explaining stuff to the other characters and they show him doing Goku's spirit bomb. It is 13 minutes into the episode.

An anime called VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral after Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream. A girl with brown/tan/yellow/orange hair has a scouter (green) on and it explodes. Referencing to the times when the enemies of the Z fighters had their scouter blown off. Then a little bit later there's a word saying Piccolo's Makankosappo when the characters are getting in on a ride at the amusement park they are at. This is in episode 7 of the anime. It is 16 minutes into the show.

Every year an anime has made a reference to Dragon Ball. So far these are the 3 anime series that have a Dragon Ball reference in 2024.

[Vhanos]

Here's the reference/homage on The Elusive Samurai.

[coola]

Hyakkano episode 18

Spoiler:

Spoiler: