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Dragon Ball American Release Chronology: Difference between revisions

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!scope=row|2005
!scope=row|2005
|style="text-align:left"|[[FUNimation]] is acquired by the multimedia publisher and distribution company [[Navarre]]<ref>{{Cite web|URL=https://www.kanzenshuu.com/2005/05/11/navarre-acquires-funimation/|Website=Kanzenshuu|Title="Navarre Acquires FUNimation"|Date=11 May 2005|AccessDate=19 June 2026}}</ref>
|style="text-align:left"|[[FUNimation]] is acquired by the multimedia publisher and distribution company [[Navarre]]<ref>{{Cite web|URL=https://www.kanzenshuu.com/2005/05/11/navarre-acquires-funimation/|Website=Kanzenshuu|Title="Navarre Acquires FUNimation"|Date=11 May 2005|AccessDate=19 June 2026}}</ref>
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!scope=row|2006
|style="text-align:left"|[[FUNimation]] presents a limited theatrical release of [[Dragon Ball Z Movie 12|the twelfth ''Dragon Ball Z'' movie]] (as a double-feature with the [[Dragon Ball Z Movie 6|the sixth]]) ahead of its upcoming DVD release<ref>{{Cite web|URL=https://www.kanzenshuu.com/2006/03/26/podcast-episode-0019/|Website=Kanzenshuu|Title="Podcast Episode #0019"|Date=26 March 2006|AccessDate=19 June 2026}}</ref>
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!scope=row|2021
!scope=row|2021
|style="text-align:left"|[[Sony]] ([[FUNimation]]) completes acquisition of [[Crunchyroll]]<ref>{{Cite web|URL=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-08-09/sony-funimation-global-group-completes-acquisition-of-crunchyroll-from-at-t/.176073|Website=Anime News Network|Title="Sony's Funimation Global Group Completes Acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T (Updated)"|Date=09 August 2021|AccessDate=19 June 2026}}</ref>
|style="text-align:left"|[[Sony]] ([[FUNimation]]) completes their acquisition of [[Crunchyroll]]<ref>{{Cite web|URL=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2021-08-09/sony-funimation-global-group-completes-acquisition-of-crunchyroll-from-at-t/.176073|Website=Anime News Network|Title="Sony's Funimation Global Group Completes Acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T (Updated)"|Date=09 August 2021|AccessDate=19 June 2026}}</ref>
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!scope=row|2022
!scope=row|2022

Revision as of 14:00, 19 June 2026

This page is incomplete.
Kanzenshuu wiki team members are aware that they must edit this page to add missing information and complete it.


The following is a brief chronology of the Dragon Ball franchise's journey to the United States of America, starting back with its first official license attempt via Harmony Gold in 1989. From here, the series makes its way to certain cable channels for specialized broadcasts before ultimately landing in the hands of FUNimation as the primarily license holder in 1994.

Date Event
1989 Harmony Gold (known for the 1985 Macross-to-Robotech adaptation) attempts the franchise with a cut of Dragon Ball movies 1 and 3 (which air as a special feature on certain local networks) and the first five episodes[1]
1992 Nippon Golden Network, a channel out of Hawaii, begins playing the Dragon Ball television series with their own original subtitle translation[2][3], running through to completion in 1994[4]
1994 After completing the original series, Nippon Golden Network moves on to the Dragon Ball Z television series with their own original subtitle translation[5][6]; the subtitled broadcast gets through about 100 episodes subtitles before FUNimation's license kicks in and interrupts things
The brand new Texas company FUNimation gets the Dragon Ball license through co-founder Gen Fukunaga's uncle Nagafumi Hori, a producer at Toei; they produce a pilot version of of the first Dragon Ball movie titled "Curse of the Blood Rubie" (which never goes into wide distribution) and which uses the Harmony Gold character names (e.g., "Zero" for Goku)[7]
1995 FUNimation produces an English dub of the first Dragon Ball movie (this time redone with the new/original names) and first 13 episodes, which air in syndication; they had plans to go beyond this (in particular at least up through the 21st Tenka'ichi Budokai), but plans changed
1996 FUNimation shifts to Dragon Ball Z, and through 1998 they produce two seasons (covering roughly 68 episodes edited down to 53, plus a three-episode-cut of Dragon Ball Z movie 3) that air in syndication
1997 FUNimation and Pioneer release uncut/bilingual versions of Dragon Ball Z movies 1, 2, and 3 (out of order as 1, 3, and 2) on VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD
The International Channel begins playing the Dragon Ball Z television series in raw Japanese, running through to completion in 2002
1998 Viz begins releasing the Dragon Ball manga in monthly floppy format (akin to American comic books) as a split "Dragon Ball" and "Dragon Ball Z" production
After two seasons of Dragon Ball Z broadcast in syndication, Saban (the company handling the actual network distribution) exists the syndication business;
FUNimation produces an English-dubbed version of Dragon Ball movie 2 ("Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle") with local Texas voices while keeping the original Japanese score, which gets released on VHS; this marks the first total "in-house" production
Cartoon Network picks up the first two syndication seasons of Dragon Ball Z to air on their Toonami afternoon cartoon block
1999 A third season broadcast of Dragon Ball Z begins on Cartoon Network using yet another replacement score (from Faulconer Productions) and local Texas voice actors cast through an audition process largely meant to mimic the original Canadian cast; the series runs through to completion on Toonami in 2003
2000 FUNimation starts releasing uncut/bilingual DVDs of Dragon Ball Z beginning with their "Season 3" content
2001 FUNimation returns to the original Dragon Ball television series, redubbing the first 13 episodes and moving on to the entire rest of the series;
2002 The International Channel begins playing the Dragon Ball GT television series in raw Japanese, running through to completion in 2004
2003 FUNimation picks up with Dragon Ball GT, initially skipping the first 16 episodes (and creating their own, dub-only recap episode) before eventually looping back around to the beginning which they release as "The Lost Episodes" (which were never actually lost), and then ultimately just keeping it all together in order with subsequent re-releases
2005 FUNimation is acquired by the multimedia publisher and distribution company Navarre[8]
2006 FUNimation presents a limited theatrical release of the twelfth Dragon Ball Z movie (as a double-feature with the the sixth) ahead of its upcoming DVD release[9]
2017 Sony acquires a majority stake in FUNimation[10]
2021 Sony (FUNimation) completes their acquisition of Crunchyroll[11]
2022 "FUNimation" branding sunset begins with streaming content, marking the move for all future branding to/as/from Crunchyroll[12]


Notes

References

  1. ↑ "The Lost 80s Dragonball Dub" (14 August 2000). Temple O' Trunks. Retrieved: 19 June 2026.
  2. ↑ "Dragonball the series" (03 January 1992). rec.arts.anime. Retrieved: 19 October 2019.
  3. ↑ "Authorized Viewers Guide to Jones Spacelink of Hawaii, Inc". Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Sunday, January 5, 1992. (p. 51). Retrieved: 15 June 2021.
  4. ↑ "Authorized Viewers Guide to Jones Spacelink of Hawaii, Inc". Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Sunday, December 11, 1994. (p. 75). Retrieved: 15 June 2021.
  5. ↑ "Authorized Viewers Guide to Jones Spacelink of Hawaii, Inc". Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Sunday, December 18, 1994. (p. 74). Retrieved: 15 June 2021.
  6. ↑ "REQ; Dragon Ball Z In Hawaii??" (03 January 1995). rec.arts.anime. Retrieved: 19 October 2019.
  7. ↑ "A Different Missing Link: From Zero to Goku (Again)" (TBD). Kanzenshuu. Retrieved: 19 June 2026.
  8. ↑ "Navarre Acquires FUNimation" (11 May 2005). Kanzenshuu. Retrieved: 19 June 2026.
  9. ↑ "Podcast Episode #0019" (26 March 2006). Kanzenshuu. Retrieved: 19 June 2026.
  10. ↑ "Sony Pictures TV to Acquire Majority Stake in Funimation" (31 July 2017). Anime News Network. Retrieved: 19 June 2026.
  11. ↑ "Sony's Funimation Global Group Completes Acquisition of Crunchyroll from AT&T (Updated)" (09 August 2021). Anime News Network. Retrieved: 19 June 2026.
  12. ↑ "Funimation Content Moving to Crunchyroll for World’s Largest Anime Library" (01 March 2022). Crunchyroll. Retrieved: 19 June 2026.
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