Dragon Ball Z

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Dragon Ball
ドラゴンボールＺ Doragon Bōru Zetto
Original Run	26 April 1989 – 31 January 1996
Broadcast	Fuji TV (Wednesday, 7:00 – 7:30PM)
Animation	Toei Animation
Production	Fuji TV Toei Animation
Episodes	291 (List of Episodes)
Chapters	Chapter 195 to Chapter 519
Main Staff
Series Director	Daisuke Nishio (1-199)
Series Organizer	Takao Koyama
Planning	Keizō Shichijō (Toei Animation) Kenji Shimizu (Fuji TV)
Character Design	Minoru Maeda (1-199) Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru (200-291)
Art Design	Yūji Ikeda (1-199) Tokushige Ken (200-291)
Music	Shunsuke Kikuchi

"Dragon Ball Z" is a Japanese animated television series produced by Toei Animation. The animated series is adapted from the final 325 chapters of the Dragon Ball manga series by Akira Toriyama, which was originally published in the Japanese manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump.

The anime series is comprised of 291 episodes and 2 television specials that were broadcast from 26 April 1989 to 31 January 1996 on Fuji TV.

History

Japan

As the Dragon Ball anime series approached one of the manga's major turning points, the anime staff approached Akira Toriyama about changing the name of the anime series to help change the "image" of the series. Thinking he would be ending the series sometime soon, Toriyama decided to signify this by simply adding the last letter in the alphabet to the series name. Little did he know that Dragon Ball Z would go on to be one of the most successful, popular, and recognized action anime series of all time.

Taking over the Dragon Ball time slot at 7:00PM every Wednesday on Fuji TV, the first episode of Dragon Ball Z aired on 26 April 1989. The main staff of the series remained relatively unchanged from its predecessor and they continued on right where they had left off the week before. The story picked up five years after the end of Dragon Ball, and would greater explore Goku's mysterious background. With each villain stronger than the last, the series' battles and popularity quickly escalated, reaching new heights. The series TV ratings were amongst the best in Japan, with Dragon Ball Z remaining in the "Top 10" rated animated shows during its entire run.

In May 1995, Toriyama announced he would be ending the manga series after 519 chapters, spelling the inevitable end for one of the most successfully popular action anime series of all time. After 291 episodes, 2 feature length TV specials, and 13 theatrical films, the Dragon Ball Z anime series came to an end when the final episode aired on 31 January 1996. However, Toei Animation had no intention of letting the fabled franchise die just yet and created an anime-only series of their very own — Dragon Ball GT.

Characters

Further information: Dragon Ball Characters

Main Staff

• Original Author: Akira Toriyama
• Planning: Kōzō Morishita (Toei Animation) & Kenji Shimizu (Fuji TV)
• Production Supervisor: Matsuji Kishimoto (1-58), Take Torimoto (59-109), Akihiko Yamaguchi (110-169), Yūichi Matsue (170-291)
• Series Organization: Takao Koyama
• Music: Shunsuke Kikuchi
• Chief Animator: Minoru Maeda (1-199)
• Character Design: Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru (200-291)
• Chief Designer: Yūji Ikeda (1-199), Tokushige Ken (200-291)
• Series Director: Daisuke Nishio (1-199)
• Producer: Kenji Shimizu (1-291), Kōji Kaneda (118-291)
• Art Progression: Minoru Nakamura (1-171), Haruo Tamura (172-192), Tomō Fukumoto (193-291)
• Editing: Shin'ichi Fukumitsu
• Recording: Kenji Ninomiya
• Sound Effects: Hidenori Arai
• Music Selection: Shigeru Miyashita
• Audio Director: Nobuhiro Komatsu
• Recording Studio: TAVAC
• Film Development: Toei Chemistry
• Production: Fuji TV & Toei Animation

Themes & Insert Songs

Opening Theme

"CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA" (Episodes 1-199)

Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori / Composition: Chiho Kiyo'oka / Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto / Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama

"WE GOTTA POWER" (Episodes 200-291)

Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori / Composition & Arrangement: Keiju Ishikawa / Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama

Ending Theme

"Come Out, Incredible ZENKAI Power!" (Episodes 1-199)

Lyrics: Naruhisa Arakawa / Composition: Takeshi Ike / Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto / Vocals: MANNA

"Light's Journey" (1st TV Special; "A Final Solitary Battle")

Lyrics: Dai Satō / Composition: Chiho Kiyo'oka / Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto / Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama & KUKO

"The Blue Wind's Hope" (2nd TV Special; "Defiance in the Face of Despair!!")

Lyrics: Dai Satō / Composition: Chiho Kiyo'oka / Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto / Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama

"We Were Angels" (Episodes 200-291)

Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori / Composition: Takeshi Ike / Arrangement: Osamu Totsuka / Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama

Insert Songs

"Battle-Colored Warriors" (Episode 20)

Lyrics: Sakiko Iwamuro / Composition & Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto / Vocals: Kōji Kaya

"Fly High" (Episode 46)

Lyrics: Sakiko Iwamuro / Composition: Chiho Kiyo'oka / Arrangement: Ken'ichi Sudō / Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama & Broadway

"Solid State Scouter" (1st TV Special; "A Final Solitary Battle")

Composition & Arrangement: Iwasaki Yasunori / Performance: Dragon Magic Orchestra / Vocals: TOKIO

"Battle Point Unlimited" (Episode 120)

Composition & Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto / Vocals: MONOLITH

"MIND POWER ...Energy..." (Episode 139)

Lyrics: Sakiko Iwamuro / Composition: Chiho Kiyo'oka / Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto / Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama & YUKA

"Day of Destiny –Spirit vs Spirit–" (Episode 184)

Lyrics: Sakiko Iwamuro / Composition: Chiho Kiyo'oka / Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto / Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama

"If I Don't Do It, Who Will?" (Episode 289)

Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori / Composition: Tetsuji Hayashi / Arrangement: Osamu Totsuka / Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama

Episodes

Further information: List of Dragon Ball Z Episodes

Television Specials & Theatrical Films

Television Specials

• A Final, Solitary Battle: The Father of Z-Warrior Son Goku, who Challenged Freeza
  17 October 1990 (Between Dragon Ball Z Episodes 63 & 64)
• Extreme Battle!! The Three Great Super Saiyans – Special
  Summer 1992
• Defiance in the Face of Despair!! The Remaining Super-Warriors: Gohan and Trunks
  24 February 1993 (Between Dragon Ball Z Episodes 175 & 176)
• We'll Show You Everything: Forget the Year's Cares with Dragon Ball Z
  31 December 1993 (Between Dragon Ball Z Episodes 211 & 212)
• Toriko × One Piece × Dragon Ball Z: Super Collaboration Special!!
  07 April 2013

Theatrical Films

• Dragon Ball Z – Return My Gohan!! (15 July 1989)
• The World's Strongest Guy (10 March 1990)
• A Super Decisive Battle for Earth (07 July 1990)
• Super Saiyan Son Goku (09 March 1991)
• The Incredible Strongest vs Strongest (20 July 1991)
• Clash!! 10,000,000,000 Powerful Warriors (07 March 1992)
• Extreme Battle!! The Three Great Super Saiyans (11 July 1992)
• Burn Up!! A Red-Hot, Raging, Super-Fierce Fight (06 March 1993)
• The Galaxy at the Brink!! The Super Incredible Guy (10 July 1993)
• The Dangerous Duo! Super-Warriors Can't Rest (12 March 1994)
• Super-Warrior Defeat!! I'm the One Who'll Win (09 July 1994)
• The Rebirth of Fusion!! Goku and Vegeta (04 March 1995)
• Dragon Fist Explosion!! If Goku Won't Do it, Who Will? (15 July 1995)
• Battle of Gods (30 March 2013)
• Revival of "F" (18 April 2015)

Home Video Releases

Japan

VHS

Unlike many other countries around the world, the Dragon Ball TV series had no proper home video release in Japan following its initial television run. This was in large part due to the high VHS retail pricing at the time and the continuous re-runs of the series on numerous cable and satellite channels.

DVD Box Sets

Beginning in 2003, Toei Animation, in cooperation with the DVD manufacturing company Pony Canyon, began releasing a series of four box sets in Japan covering the entire Dragon Ball TV series property, which were dubbed the "Dragon Boxes". By mid-2005, all three TV series had been released, although out of chronological order, which marked the first time that any of these properties were available on a home video format in Japan.

Release	Date	Retail	Episodes	Chart Ranking
Dragon Ball DVD Box – Dragon Box	07 July 2004	¥105,000	1-153	10th

Individual DVD Volumes

Following the release of the TV series Dragon Boxes, Toei announced the release of their individual discs, giving fans that didn’t own the Dragon Boxes a chance to own these properties. Unfortunately, these individual discs wouldn't contain any of the extras that came with the Dragon Boxes, but instead special diorama sets were created exclusively for those that purchased all of the individual discs.

Release	Date	Episodes	Chart Ranking
Dragon Ball Volume #1	04 April 2007	1-6	8th
Dragon Ball Volume #2		7-12	11th
Dragon Ball Volume #3		13-18	13th
Dragon Ball Volume #4	02 May 2007	19-24	11th
Dragon Ball Volume #5		25-30	13th
Dragon Ball Volume #6		31-36	14th
Dragon Ball Volume #7	06 June 2007	37-42	13th
Dragon Ball Volume #8		43-38	14th
Dragon Ball Volume #9		49-54	15th
Dragon Ball Volume #10	04 July 2007	55-60	12th
Dragon Ball Volume #11		61-66	13th
Dragon Ball Volume #12		67-72	14th
Dragon Ball Volume #13	01 August 2007	73-78	20th
Dragon Ball Volume #14		79-84	21st
Dragon Ball Volume #15		85-90	23rd
Dragon Ball Volume #16	05 September 2007	91-96	13th
Dragon Ball Volume #17		97-102	14th
Dragon Ball Volume #18		103-108	15th
Dragon Ball Volume #19	03 October 2007	109-114	6th
Dragon Ball Volume #20		115-120	7th
Dragon Ball Volume #21		121-126	8th
Dragon Ball Volume #22	07 November 2007	127-132	15th
Dragon Ball Volume #23		133-138	11th
Dragon Ball Volume #24		139-143	14th
Dragon Ball Volume #25	05 December 2007	144-148	18th
Dragon Ball Volume #26		149-153	20th

External Links

• Toei Animation's Official "Dragon Ball Z" Website