CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA
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| CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA | |||
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| Tonality | D Major | ||
| Length |
3:20 (Full) 1:50 (TV Size) | ||
| Song Data | |||
| Vocals | Hironobu Kageyama | ||
| Lyrics | Yukinojō Mori | ||
| Composition | Chiho Kiyo'oka | ||
| Arrangement | Kenji Yamamoto | ||
| Debut and Release | |||
| Debut Year | 1989 | ||
| First Appears | Dragon Ball Z Episode 1 | ||
| Debut Release |
CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA / Detekoi Tobikiri ZENKAI Pawā! | ||
CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA (チャラ・ヘッチャラ, Chara Hetchara) is the first opening theme song for the Dragon Ball Z TV anime series, used from episode 1 until episode 199. It was written by Yukinojō Mori with vocals by Hironobu Kageyama. As the major theme used by the program for much of its run, the animation behind CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA was updated twice to reflect the changing plot and antagonists for the series. A widescreen version was also used for the first nine Dragon Ball Z movies, with special animation commissioned for Dragon Ball Z Movie 3 to reflect the plot of that film. Fifteen years after its last use in the anime, CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA was once again used as the opening theme of Dragon Ball: Heya! Son Goku and Friends Return!!, the Jump Super Anime Tour special. That version featured updated animation, as if the original has been further progressed into the Boo-arc and its characters. The song was also included in video games and other media. A recording by Flow was used as the ending animation for Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods.
Lyrics
| Lyrics in Japanese | Romanized Japanese Lyrics | Lyrics in English |
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| 光る 雲を突き抜け Fly Away (Fly Away) | Hikaru kumo o tsukinuke Fly Away (Fly Away) | Breaking through the flying clouds, I Fly Away (Fly Away) |
| からだじゅうに 広がるパノラマ | Karadajū ni hirogaru panorama | A panorama spreading throughout my body |
| 顔を 蹴られた地球が怒って (怒って) | Kao o kerareta chikyū ga okotte (okotte) | Kicked in the face, the Earth gets angry (angry) |
| 火山を爆発させる | Kazan o bakuhatsu saseru | And makes a volcano explode |
| 溶けた北極の中に | Toketa kōri[note 1] no naka ni | In the melted polar ice |
| 恐竜がいたら 玉乗り仕込みたいね | Kyōryū ga itara tamanori shikomitai ne | If there is a dinosaur, I want to train it to ride on a ball |
| ★ CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA | ★ CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA | ★ CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA |
| 何が起きても気分は へのへのカッパ | Nani ga okite mo kibun wa henohenokappa | Whatever happens, It won't bother me one bit |
| CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA | CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA | CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA |
| 胸がパチパチするほど | Mune ga pachi-pachi suru hodo | As loud as my heart pounds |
| 騒ぐ元気玉 ... Sparking! | Sawagu Genki-Dama... Sparking! | The Genki-Dama roars... Sparking! |
| 空を 急降下 Jet Coaster (Coaster) | Sora o kyūkōka Jet Coaster (Coaster) | Diving through the sky, a rollercoaster (Coaster) |
| 落ちてゆくよ パニックの楽園へ | Ochite yuku yo panikku no sono[note 2] e | I fall into a Paradise of panic |
| 景色 逆さになると愉快さ (愉快さ) | Keshiki sakasa ni naru to yukai sa (yukai sa) | When the scenery turns upside-down, I’m happy (happy) |
| 山さえ お尻に見える | Yama sae oshiri ni mieru | The mountains even look like butts |
| 悩む時間はないよ | Nayamu jikan wa nai yo | There’s no time for worrying |
| 何処かに潜む「ビックリ！」に逢いたいから | Doko ka ni hisomu “bikkuri!” ni aitai kara | 'Cause there’s a “surprise!” hiding somewhere, and I want to find it |
| CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA | CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA | CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA |
| 頭カラッポの方が 夢詰め込める | Atama karappo no hō ga yume tsumekomeru | A head that’s empty is easier to stuff with dreams |
| CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA | CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA | CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA |
| 笑顔ウルトラZで | Egao urutora zetto de | With a smile that’s Ultra Z |
| 今日もアイヤイヤイヤイヤイ | Kyō mo aiyaiyaiyaiyai | Even today is ai-yai-yai-yai-yai |
| ★ くりかえし | ★ Kurikaeshi | ★ Repeat |
Opening Animation
CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA was featured as the music behind the first opening animation for the Dragon Ball Z series, running from the first episode through the 199th. During that time, it was updated twice: once at the start of the 22nd episode to add Vegeta and Nappa as the focus villains, then again in the 118th to transition to the Artificial Humans. The opening animation pays homage to Mystical Adventure!, the opening of the original Dragon Ball anime, in several ways including the focus on Son Goku riding on Kintoun, the Chinese-inspired backgrounds, and a few of the animated sequences. It expands on this to depict the development of Son Gohan, highlighting him as the new key character in the Z series, while hinting at the arrival of three adversaries from the sky.
First Variation Breakdown
The first variation was used for the first twenty-one episodes, making it the least used of the several Dragon Ball Z opening animation variations. A widescreen version was used for Dragon Ball Z Movie 1.
| Scene | Notes | Visual Reference |
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The opening begins with an eclipse which quickly comes into focus as the One-star ball with a reverse "Z" moving over the surface. The styling on the "Z" echos the top and bottom strokes on the kame (亀) on Son Goku's gi, with the crossbar in the Z echoing in the whitespace in the kana. | |
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This transitions into the new series logo for Dragon Ball Z. The dragon from this logo, like that of the preceding series, is taken from the title page of the first chapter of the manga. The one-star ball gradually slides into the "O" in "Dragon" |  |
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The logo falls away to reveal a scene in the sky. Son Goku flies on the Kintoun with Son Gohan. Gohan is wearing his yellow and green Chinese clothes with the four-star ball on his hat. His design resembles that used in the first five episodes of the series, prior to being taken away by Piccolo. | |
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The scene shifts to a first-person view of flying between some oddly-shaped green hills. Suddenly, the Four-Star Ball slides into view before being passed by Goku and Gohan, still riding the Kintoun. The remaining Dragon Balls appear in the sky. This mirrors or pays homage to a similar scene in the opening for Dragon Ball which begins as a first-person view between similar hills, transitioning to an image of Goku on Kintoun. | 
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The view changes to an aerial view of the same area, featuring the strange hills as well as woods and plains. An ocean can be seen in the distance. | |
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The scene shifts again, this time to a view of an iceberg collapsing into an ocean. The lyrics of this section (溶けた北極の中に, Toketa kōri no naka ni) refer to melting polar ice, the likely inspiration for this scene. | |
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The view transitions to a brown landscape dominated by a red aura and explosion. Kintoun, too far away to see clearly, flies in front of the maelstrom. This section of animation appears to be calling back to a previous lyric (火山を爆発させる, Kazan o bakuhatsu saseru) about an exploding volcano. | |
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Raditz's pod zooms towards the camera. The pod is depicted as a nondescript silver ball, but this sequence closely matches the depiction of Radits'z pod in flight from Dragon Ball Z Episode 1. The view of his pod in space is anime-only; Dragon Ball Chapter 195 begins with with the capsule's descent in Earth's atmosphere. | 
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Three red streaks fall towards the Earth. Given the context from the preceding scene, these may hint at the arrival of Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta, however the pods did not arrive together in the story itself. | |
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A moon bathed in red. This is a redder (and rotated) version of the moon from Raditz's flashback in Dragon Ball Z Episode 2, rather than Gohan's transformation in episode 8. | 
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A billowing red cloud. | |
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A tight shot on Piccolo's eyes in a shocked expression is followed by an explosion, with Piccolo silhouetted from the back against a bright light. The context of this scene suggests that it refers to the destruction of the moon in Dragon Ball Z Episode 8, and that sequence also uses a similar strobe effect. However the mix of a reaction shot followed by an explosion more closely matches Dragon Ball Z Episode 6, where Gohan unlocks his hidden potential to destroy a mountain. It is possible this shot is meant to evoke both, but was based directly on neither. | 
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A repeat of the previous scene with Gohan fleeing from the dinosaur, except now he is joined by the Turtle Hermit, Turtle, Pu'ar, Bulma, and Oolong. Bulma appears to be riding a motorized unicycle similar to that driven by Lunch in Dragon Ball Chapter 26. Bulma and the Turtle Hermit's designs are based on what they wore in Dragon Ball Z Episode 2, although Bulma is not wearing her overcoat or earrings from that episode. Oolong is wearing his outfit from the final episodes of Dragon Ball rather than his Z design which will be introduced in episode 18. This sequence may be a homage to a similar running scene in the opening for Dragon Ball. | 
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Kuririn fires a kakusandan energy blast at the Saiyans after the death of Yamcha from Dragon Ball Z Episode 24, although both shots are adapted directly from a panel in Dragon Ball Chapter 215. |  |
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Tenshinhan also fires a powerful energy blast. This may be implied to be a Kikōhō (first seen in Dragon Ball Chapter 133), but the angle does not make it easy to see how Tenshinhan's hands are configured to identify the attack. The common depiction of a kikōhō is a concentrated and targeted ki blast, not the wider blast radius seen here. | |
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Yamcha, with just his eyes visible, powers up a Sōkidan, a special move that he first demonstrated in Dragon Ball Chapter 175. He also used the same move in Dragon Ball Z Episode 17 against the Saiyans that he fought in the Pendulum Room, however this particular image does not exactly match either of those appearances. |  |
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Against a black backdrop, Son Goku flexes and powers up for a genki dama, using the same pose as he does when he performs that technique for the first time in Dragon Ball Chapter 212. |  |
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Son Gohan races across a cloud-covered mountain with Shenlong emerging from the clouds behind him. He is wearing the white shirt and green pants that he wore starting in Dragon Ball Z Episode 7. | |
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Son Gohan, now wearing a Kame-style gi and sword, falls from a great height only to be picked up by Son Goku on Kintoun, calling back to them flying together earlier in the opening. This design for Gohan was introduced in Dragon Ball Z Episode 8 and Dragon Ball Chapter 208. In the series, Goku and Gohan never interact while he is wearing this gi. | |
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Son Goku, still in his genki dama pose, is surrounded by an explosion! | |
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The three red pods continue descending, causing the screen to be engulfed in red when they strike the ground. | |
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The camera pulls away from the red explosion to show Goku's friends lined up: Tenshinhan, Kuririn, Chiaotzu, Son Gohan, Turtle Hermit, and Yamcha. Both Turtle Hermit and Tenshinhan are depicted wearing their outfits from the end of Dragon Ball, rather than from their appearances in Z. (For Tenshinhan, the difference is only in the color shirt: it switches to white in Dragon Ball Z Episode 13.) Son Gohan appears, minus his sword, based on his design from episode 8. | |
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One more look at the one-star ball with an embedded "Z". | |
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A final group shot. The location from the previous group scene is changed to a natural blue background with the characters standing in midair (except for the Turtle Hermit). Goku leaps into the foreground wielding his Nyoibō. Goku is never depicted with the Nyoibō in Dragon Ball Z, although as an iconic part of the series, it continues to be depicted on chapter title pages and other external material. |
Characters Appearing:
Second Variation Breakdown
The second variation is used starting in Dragon Ball Z Episode 22, to coincide with Nappa's and Vegeta's arrival to Earth. This theme adds them as well as Yajirobe for the first time. A widescreen version of this opening was used on the second, fourth, and fifth movies.
| Scene | Notes | Visual Reference |
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After the close-up on the Four-Star Ball, the watercolor-like view of the hills is replaced by a short scene with Gohan (in his youngest attire with Four-Star Ball hat) running along Shenlong's back. Yajirobe runs along it as well. Gohan jumps and begins flying unsteadily before being passed in rapid succession by Yamcha, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, and Chiaotzu. This scene depicts a young Son Gohan being able to fly, but in the manga he is not shown to fly for the first time until Dragon Ball Chapter 227, after his training with Piccolo. Tenshinhan's design has also been updated to his Z depiction with a white shirt, rather than a yellow one. | |
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The scene after the collapsing glacier now features Vegeta and Nappa, both in silhouette, walking towards the camera with the same volcano background as before. | |
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Additional Characters Appearing:
Third Variation Breakdown
The third variation was used starting in Dragon Ball Z Episode 118 to transition into the Artificial Humans arc. Nappa is removed from the opening, replaced by Doctor Gero, Freeza, Future Trunks, and an unnamed Artificial Human. A widescreen crop of this variation was used for movies six through nine.
| Scene | Notes | Visual Reference |
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A quick image of Dr. Gero's eyes replace the scene with Vegeta and Nappa walking towards the camera. It is not clear in this image whether this is before or after his conversion to Artificial Human No. 20. | |
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This is followed by an image of an artificial arm being constructed from the inside out. As soon as the arm is complete, it makes a fist and fires a ki blast at the camera. It is unclear if this sequence is intended to depict a specific Artificial Human, but the image does not match any of the ones depicted in the series.[note 3] | |
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Instead of attack animations for Kuririn, Tenshinhan, and Yamcha, this variant highlights Vegeta and Future Trunks instead. In the first scene, Vegeta is in space and powers up to Super Saiyan. This sequence may be an earlier version or a reference to Vegeta's initial Super Saiyan transformation scene in Dragon Ball Z Episode 129. | 
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The opening ends with a new group shot. Vegeta and Future Trunks are depicted for the first time, while the Turtle Hermit no longer appears. This group shot is based directly on the title page to Dragon Ball Chapter 337. Although most of the characters are based on their depictions from after the 3-year timeskip, Trunks is missing his Capsule Corp jacket. | 
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Son Goku appears, for the first time without his Nyoibō, and transforms into a Super Saiyan. In the original manga panel, Son Goku was in his base form. |
Movie 3 Opening Breakdown
Dragon Ball Z Movie 3 features new animation over the opening theme, depiction Son Gohan and his friends searching for the Dragon Balls to help rescue animals after a forest fire. Although all new material, it pays homage to both the Dragon Ball Z series opening (at the time in its second variation), as well as makes possible visual references to Romantikku Ageru Yo, the ending theme for the original Dragon Ball series.
| Scene | Notes | Visual Reference |
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The Dragon Ball Z title card appears over a forested landscape with a meandering river. It fades away to reveal a Capsule Corp plane flying in the distance. Although not clearly seen yet, this plane appears to be the same model as one first seen flown by Yamcha in Dragon Ball Chapter 94. |
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The dragon radar is displayed showing a single Dragon Ball to the northwest. This and the following scenes may be a visual homage to Romantikku Ageru Yo, except featuring Son Gohan or Kuririn instead of Bulma. (See below.) | |
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Gohan, who is still approximately five years old, flies the Capsule plane to the location of the next Dragon Ball. This, combined with the depiction of the dragon radar, could be a homage to Bulma flying a plane in the Dragon Ball ending theme. (That scene in turn was taken from the title page to Dragon Ball Chapter 2.) | 
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Kuririn carries a dragon radar in his left hand in search of the next ball. Of the several depictions of the dragon radar in this opening, this one most closely matches the version in the Dragon Ball ending theme. | 
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Kuririn flies through a desert canyon with the dragon radar in search of the next ball. | |
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Gohan searches a field of flowers for the next ball. This is the clearest view of the Capsule Corp plane that we see in the opening. The pontoon-like protrusion and the spider-legs look identical to a Capsule Corp plane first seen in Dragon Ball Chapter 94. | 
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Gohan, holding the four-star ball flees from a dinosaur! This iconic depiction is a callback to the dinosaur-fleeing scene from the original opening, Dragon Ball Z Episode 7, and Dragon Ball Chapter 207. |
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Gohan slips on some rocks while climbing a mountain with the three- and four-star balls before falling into a river below. He appears to have forgotten that he can fly. | |
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Gohan runs down the side of an exploding volcano while carrying three dragon balls. As in the original, this section appears to be in reference to a lyric (火山を爆発させる, Kazan o bakuhatsu saseru) about an exploding volcano. Once again, Gohan neglects to remember that he can fly. |
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The dragon radar shows three balls collected and one more coming closer. | |
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It's Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu! The implication is that they were bringing a fourth dragon ball to Kuririn, although they are not seen to be visibly carrying one. | |
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Now Kuririn's dragon radar shows four balls collected with three more approaching from the east. | |
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Gohan runs towards Kuririn and the group at sunset near a waterfall. | |
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Finally, all the balls are collected! |
Jump Super Anime Tour Special Version Breakdown
Fifteen years after its last official use in Dragon Ball Z Episode 199, CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA was brought back as the opening them for the 2008 Jump Super Anime Tour special, Dragon Ball: Heya! Son Goku and Friends Return!!. This special episode, much like Dragon Ball Super that would follow it nearly a decade later, took place during the timeskip after the end of the Boo arc, but chose to use the more nostalgic original opening theme of the series instead and adapted it for the later time period.
| Scene | Notes | Visual Reference |
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The opening starts with the seven dragon balls over the opening notes of the theme. The reflections of key characters are reflected over the balls: Son Goku over the four-star ball, Son Goten over the six-star ball, Piccolo over the two-star ball, Vegeta over the five-star ball, Bulma over the seven-star ball, Kid Trunks over the three-star ball, and Son Gohan over the one-star ball. All characters appear as they did in the Boo arc. These reflections echo the reflection of the "Z" character over the one-star ball in the original opening. |
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The Dragon Ball logo appears over a shot of moving quickly over an ocean. Unlike the series, this special is explicitly branded as Dragon Ball product rather than Dragon Ball Z, but otherwise the logo is directly derived from that used in the original Z opening, albeit with a different font and coloration. |
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Goku rides in on Kintoun, as in the original opening, but he is with Son Goten instead of Son Gohan. Goten is dressed in a Chinese-inspired outfit, but with a green and red color scheme. Goku is wearing a gi with the kame kanji (亀) like he did in the original opening, but which he had largely stopped using by the Boo arc. |
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The pair are joined in flight by Vegeta with Trunks riding on his back, performing barrel-rolls around Goku and Goten. | |
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As in the original opening, this sequence is followed by a first-person perspective of flying between oddly-shaped hills before zooming in on the four-star ball. The remaining balls fly by as Goku and Goten, still on the Kintoun, quickly soar past the screen. |
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This is followed by the running-on-Shenlong sequence as in the second variation of the theme. Gohan has been replaced by Goten and Trunks running together, passing Yajirobe just as before. The boys are joined by Yajirobe, Karin, Kibito Kai, and Old Kaiōshin running in the opposite direction. Gohan and Trunks leap off to fly and are quickly passed by Yamcha, Kuririn, and Gohan carrying Chi-Chi. Goten and Trunks are notably more steady running and flying than Gohan was in the original animation. |
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The iceberg scene is reanimated, but otherwise identical to the previous version with no new character cameos. |
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The scene changes to a pleasant afternoon at Kame House with No. 18, Turtle, and Turtle Hermit looking on as Kuririn plays with his daughter, Marron. This scene replaces the volcano/emerging Saiyans/Doctor Gero sequence that had been modified in each of the previous variations. This sequence appears to be an homage to a similar scene in the We Gotta Power (second) Dragon Ball Z opening which shows a similar, but less blissful, scene of Kuririn's family together at Kame House. | 
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The depictions of family life continue as Gohan and Goten share a meal with their grandfather. | |
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Trunks, wearing a Capsule Corp shirt, sits on a fountain eating a donut when his grandmother arrives to offer him some juice. His grandfather cycles in and waves, with Tama riding on his shoulder. | |
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Trunks and Goten flee from a dinosaur, mimicking the iconic scene with Gohan from the original opening. Goten is now in his kame-style gi, while Trunks is wearing his green gi. |
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The image of Vegeta careening towards Earth in his pod is retained from the second version of the opening. This begins a short sequence of scenes which are reanimated copies of original scenes, with no new cameos or material. |
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Three red dots streak towards the ground, just as in the original animation. |
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A red moon appears, just as in the original animation. |
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The red moon is immediately followed by a red cloud, also from the original. |
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Gohan, as a Great Ape, stomps in a mountainous area. This is also a near-direct copy of the original, notable for being a rare instance where a depiction of child Gohan was not replaced by Goten and Trunks. (In the series, neither was ever depicted with tails or as Great Apes.) |
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Piccolo faces a blinding light, just as in the original animation. |
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Homage during the Cell Games
During the Cell Games, the animators made several callbacks to this original opening theme, already nearing the end of its run. In Dragon Ball Z Episode 178, Son Goku was in the early stages of his battle against Cell. As a display of power, Goku charged up his ki and then expelled it in a lightning-backed explosion that closely mirrored the same animation in the opening, albeit with Son Goku as a Super Saiyan rather than being in his base form. In the following episode, Piccolo was hit by a shockwave caused by that continuing battle. His silhouette against the explosion called back to a similar moment in the same opening animation.
- Episode 178 Homage
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Episode 178 features the same flex... -
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...and the same lightning and aura effect.
- Episode 179 Homage
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Episode 179 shows Piccolo silhouetted against an explosion with the same cape movement and light effects.
Notes
- ↑ The kanji supplied for “kōri” (“ice”) are pronounced “hokkyoku”, meaning “the North Pole”
- ↑ The kanji supplied for “sono” (“garden”) are pronounced “rakuen”, meaning “paradise”.
- ↑ Artificial Humans 19 and 20 both had power-draining gems in their hands, not depicted here. Artificial Humans 17 and 18 were not constructed in the way depicted. Artificial Human 16's hands were larger than depicted.
References
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