Tuesday, 13 January 2015

DragonBall Z 4

Related media[edit]

Home releases[edit]

In Japan, Dragon Ball Z did not receive a home video release until 2003, seven years after its broadcast. This was a remastering of the series in two 26-disc DVD box sets, that were made-to-order only, released on March 19 and September 18 and referred to as "Dragon Boxes." The content of these sets began being released on mass-produced individual 6-episode DVDs on November 2, 2005 and finished with the 49th volume released on February 7, 2007.[37][38]
The international home release structure of Dragon Ball Z is complicated by the licensing and release of the companies involved in producing and distributing the work. Releases of the media occurred on both VHS and DVD with separate edited and uncut versions being released simultaneously. Both versions of the edited and uncut material are treated as different entries and would frequently make Billboard rankings as separate entries. Home release sales were featured prominently on the Nielsen VideoScan charts.[8] Further complicating the release of the material was Funimation itself; which was known to release "DVDs out of sequence in order to get them out as fast as possible"; as in the case of their third season.[39]Pioneer Entertainment distributed the Funimation/Saban edited-only dub of 53 episodes on seventeen VHS between 1997 and 1999,[40][41] and seventeen DVDs throughout 1999.[42][43] Two box sets separating them into the Saiyan and Namek arcs were also released on VHS in 1999,[44][45] and on DVD in 2001.[46][47] Funimation's own distribution of their initial in-house dub, which began with episode 54, in edited or uncut VHS ran between 2000 and 2003.[48][49][50] A DVD version was produced alongside these, although they were only produced uncut and contained the option to watch the original Japanese with subtitles.[51][52]
In 2005, Funimation began releasing their in-house dub of the beginning of Dragon Ball Z on DVD, marking the first time the episodes were seen uncut in North America.[53] However, only nine volumes were released, leaving it incomplete.[54]Instead, Funimation remastered and cropped the entire series into 16:9 widescreen format and began re-releasing it to DVD in nine individual "season" box sets; the first set released on February 6, 2007 and the final on May 19, 2009.[55][56] In July 2009, Funimation announced that they would be releasing the Japanese frame-by-frame "Dragon Box" restoration ofDragon Ball Z in North America. These seven limited edition DVD box sets were released uncut in the show's original 4:3 fullscreen format between November 10, 2009 and October 11, 2011.[57]
In July 2011, Funimation announced plans to release Dragon Ball Z in Blu-ray Disc format, with the first set released on November 8, 2011.[58][59][60] However, production of these 4:3 sets was suspended after the second volume, citing concerns over restoring the original film material frame by frame.[61] Only a year later, the company began producing a cropped 16:9 remastered Blu-ray release in 2013, with nine sets released in total.[62] On August 13, 2013, Funimation released all 53 episodes and the three movies from their first Dragon Ball Z dub created with Saban and Ocean Studios in a collector's DVD box set.[63]

Kai[edit]

In Japan, Dragon Ball Kai was released in wide-screen on 33 DVDs and in fullscreen on a single Blu-ray and eight four-disc Blu-ray sets from September 18, 2009 to August 2, 2011.
Funimation released eight DVD and Blu-ray box sets of Dragon Ball Z Kai from May 18, 2010 to June 5, 2012.[64][65] These sets contain the original Japanese audio track with English subtitles, as well as the uncut version of the English dub, which does not contain any of the edits made for the TV airings. Before the final volume was even published, Funimation began re-releasing the series in four DVD and Blu-ray "season" sets between May 22, 2012 and March 12, 2013.[66][67]

Manga[edit]

Main articles: Dragon Ball and List of Dragon Ball Z chapters
While the manga was all titled Dragon Ball in Japan, due to the popularity of the Dragon Ball Z anime in the west, Viz Mediachanged the title of the last 26 volumes of the manga to "Dragon Ball Z" to avoid confusion. The volumes were originally published in Japan between 1989 and 1995. It began serialization in the American Shonen Jump, beginning in the middle of the series with the Cyborg Saga; the tankōbon volumes of both Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball were released simultaneously by Viz Media in the United States.[68][69] In March 2001, Viz continued this separation by re-shipping theDragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z titles starting with the first volumes of each work.[70] Viz's marketing for the manga made distinct the differences between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z tone. Viz billed Dragon Ball Z: "More action-packed than the stories of Goku's youth, Dragon Ball Z is pure adrenaline, with battles of truly Earth-shaking proportions!"[71]

Films[edit]

Further information: List of Dragon Ball Z films
The Dragon Ball Z films will comprise a total of 15 entries by 2015. The films are typically released in March and July in accordance with the spring and summer vacations of Japanese schools. They were typically double features paired up with other anime films, and were thus, usually an hour or less in length. The films themselves offer contradictions in both chronology and design that make them incompatible with a single continuity. All 14 films were licensed in North America by Funimation, and all have received in-house dubs by the company. Prior to Funimation, the third film was a part of the short-lived Saban syndication, being split into three episodes, and the first three films received uncut English dubs in 1998 produced by Funimation with Ocean Studios and released by Pioneer. Several of the films have been broadcast on Cartoon Network and Nicktoons in the United States, Toonami UK in the United Kingdom (some featuring alternate English dubs produced with an unknown cast by AB Groupe), and Cartoon Network in Australia.
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Dragon Ball z 3

Dragon Ball Kai[edit]

Further information: List of Dragon Ball Z Kai episodes
In February 2009, Toei Animation announced that it would begin broadcasting a revised version of Dragon Ball Z as part of the series' 20th anniversary celebrations. The series premiered on Fuji TV in Japan on April 5, 2009, under the nameDragon Ball Kai. The ending suffix Kai (改「かい」?) in the name means "updated" or "altered" and reflects the improvements and corrections of the original work.[14] The original footage was remastered for HDTV, featuring updated opening and ending sequences, new music, and a rerecording of the vocal tracks.[14][15] The original material and any damaged frames were removed to more closely follow the manga, resulting in a faster-moving story.[16] The series concluded with the finale of the Cell arc as opposed to including the Majin Buu arc. It was originally planned to run 98 episodes, however due to theTōhoku offshore earthquake and tsunami, the final episode of Dragon Ball Kai was not aired and the series ended on its 97th episode in Japan on March 27, 2011.
In November 2012, Mayumi Tanaka, the Japanese voice of Krillin, announced that she and the rest of the cast were recording more episodes of Dragon Ball Kai.[17] In February 2014, the Kai adaptation of the final Majin Buu arc was officially confirmed. The series, which is said by Toei's European branch to be titled Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters and will run for 69 episodes, began airing in Japan on Fuji TV on April 6, 2014.[18][19]

English production and broadcasting[edit]

Funimation licensed Dragon Ball Kai for an English-language release in North America, under the title Dragon Ball Z Kai. The series was broadcast on Nicktoons from May 24, 2010 to February 8, 2013.[20][21] In addition to Nicktoons, the series also began airing on The CW's Saturday morning programming block Toonzai on August 14, 2010,[22] then on its successor, Vortexx, which began on August 25, 2012.[18] Both the Nicktoons and Toonzai/Vortexx airings have been edited for content, though the Toonzai/Vortexx version is censored even more so than Nicktoons, most likely due to The CW being a broadcast network. Kai began airing on Adult Swim's Toonami block in fall 2014.[23] CSC Media Group acquired the broadcast rights to Dragon Ball Z Kai in the United Kingdom and began airing it on Kix! in early 2013.[24][25][26]
Despite Kai '​s continuation not being officially confirmed at the time, Sean Schemmel and Kyle Hebert, the Funimation dub voice actors of Goku and Gohan, announced in April 2013 that they had started recording an English dub for new episodes.[27] In November 2013, Kai's Australasian distributor Madman Entertainment revealed that the Majin Buu arc ofKai would be released in 2014 and that they were waiting on dubs to be finished.[28]

Censorship[edit]

Dragon Ball Z '​s original North American release was the subject of heavy censorship which resulted in a large amounts of removed content and alterations that greatly changed the original work. Funimation CEO Gen Fukunaga is often criticized for his role in the censorship; but it was the distributor Saban which required such changes or they would not air the work, as was the case with the episode "Orphans".[29][Note 1] These changes included altering every aspect of the show from character names, clothing, scenes and dialogue of the show. The character Mr. Satan was renamed Hercule and this change has been retained in other English media such as Viz's Dragon Ball Z manga and video games, which includes referring to his name, erroneously, as "Hercule Satan" in Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22.[30] The dialogue changes would sometimes contradict the scenes itself; after the apparent fatal explosion of a helicopter, one of the characters said, "It's okay, I can see their parachutes!"[29] Funimation's redub for the 2005 release would address many of the censorship issues that were required by Saban, with the uncut releases preserving the integrity of the original Japanese release.
During the original Japanese TV airing of Dragon Ball Kai, scenes involving blood and brief nudity were censored. A rumor that Cartoon Network would be airing Kai uncut was met with an official statement to debunk the rumor in June 2010.[31]Nicktoons would also censor Kai; it released a preview showcasing these changes which included removing blood and cheek scar from Bardock and altering the color of Roshi's alcohol.[32] The show was further edited for its broadcast onToonzai and Vortexx, but the show's DVD and Blu-ray releases only contained the edits present in the original Japanese version.
Steven Simmons, who did the subtitling for Funimation's home video releases, offered commentary on the subtitling from a project and technical stand point, addressing several concerns.[33][Note 2] Simmons said that Gen Fukunaga did not want any swearing on the discs, but because there was no taboo word list Simmons would substitute a variation in the strength of the words by situation with the changes starting in episode 21.[34] The typographical errors in the script were caused by dashes (—) and double-quotes (") failing to appear, which resulted in confusing dialogue.[34]

Music[edit]

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Sample of "Cha-La Head-Cha-La" performed by Hironobu Kageyama, the opening theme song for the majority of the show.
Problems playing this file? See media help.
Shunsuke Kikuchi composed the score for Dragon Ball Z. The opening theme for the first 199 episodes is "Cha-La Head-Cha-La" performed by Hironobu Kageyama. The opening theme used for the series up until its finale at episode 291 is "We Gotta Power" also performed by Kageyama. The ending theme used for the first 194 episodes is "Detekoi Tobikiri Zenkai Power!" (でてこいとびきりZENKAIパワー! Detekoi Tobikiri ZENKAI Pawā!?, "Come Out, Incredible Full Power!") performed by MANNA. The ending theme used for the remaining episodes is "Boku-tachi wa Tenshi datta" (僕達は天使だった?, "We Used to be Angels") performed by Kageyama.
Kenji Yamamoto composed the score for Dragon Ball Kai. "Dragon Soul" by Takayoshi Tanimoto and Takafumi Iwasaki, performing under the name "Dragon Soul", is used as the series' opening theme song. Dragon Soul's "Yeah! Break! Care! Break!" is the ending theme for the first 54 episodes, with "Kokoro no Hane" (心の羽根?, "Wing's of Heart") by "Team Dragon from AKB48", a unit composed of seven members from AKB48, used for the remaining. On March 9, 2011, Toei announced that due to Yamamoto's score infringing on the rights of an unknown third party or parties, the music for remaining episodes and reruns of previous episodes would be replaced.[35] Later reports from Toei stated that with the exception of the series' opening and closing songs, as well as eyecatch music, Yamamoto's score was replaced with Shunsuke Kikuchi's original from Dragon Ball Z. The music for the Majin Buu arc of Kai is composed by Norihito Sumitomo.[36] The opening theme is "Kuu•Zen•Zetsu•Go" (空•前•絶•後?) by Dragon Soul, while the first ending song is "Haikei, Tsuratsusutora" (拝啓、ツラツストラ?, "Dear Zarathustra") by Japanese rock band Good Morning America, the second "Junjō" (純情?, "Pure Heart") by Leo Ieiri from episode 112 to 124 and the third "Oh Yeah!!!!!!!" by Czecho No Republic from 125 onwards.
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Dragon Ball Z 2

Production and broadcasting[edit]

Further information: List of Dragon Ball Z episodes
The title "Dragon Ball Z" was chosen by Akira Toriyama because Z is the last letter of the alphabet and he wanted to finish the series because he was running out of ideas for Dragon Ball.[1] Conventional knowledge in Japan used the "Z" only for the anime to separate Goku's childhood and adult life. Dragon Ball Z is adapted from the final 325 chapters of the manga series which were published in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1988 to 1995, it premiered in Japan on Fuji Television on April 26, 1989, taking over its predecessor's time slot, and ran for 291 episodes until its conclusion on January 31, 1996.[2]
Because Toriyama was writing the manga during the production of the anime,[3] Dragon Ball Z added original material not adapted from the Dragon Ball manga. Additional original material included lengthening scenes or adding new ones, including new attacks and characters not present in the manga.
Throughout the production, the voice actors were tasked with playing different characters and performing their lines on cue, switching between roles as necessary.[4] The voice actors were unable to record the lines separately because of the close dialogue timing. When asked if juggling the different voices of Goku, Gohan and Goten was difficult, Masako Nozawa said that it was not, and that she was able to switch roles upon seeing the character's picture.[4]
Series Director Daisuke Nishio left the series after personally directing Episode #202. Nishio left the series to become series director of Aoki Densetsu Shoot!. The role of series director was not officially filled for Episodes #200-291, despite Nishio's directing of Episode #202.[citation needed]

English production and broadcasting[edit]

In 1995, Funimation Productions licensed Dragon Ball Z for an English-language release in North America. They contractedSaban Entertainment to help finance and distribute the series to television, and Pioneer Entertainment to handle home video distribution. Saban hired the Vancouver-based Ocean Studios to dub the anime, and Shuki Levy (Saban's in-house musician) to compose an American background score and theme song (also known as "Rock the Dragon!"). This dub ofDragon Ball Z had mandated cuts to content and length, which reduced the first 67 episodes to 53.[5][6] The series premiered in the U.S. on September 13, 1996 in first-run syndication, but was cancelled after two seasons due to a lack of interest from syndication companies.[5] Pioneer also ceased its home video release of the series at volume 17 (the end of this dub) and retained the rights to produce an uncut subtitled version,[5] but did not do so. Instead, Pioneer produced a bilingual uncut home video release of the series' first three movies, also dubbed by Ocean Studios.
On August 31, 1998, re-runs of the cancelled dub began airing on Cartoon Network as part of the channel's weekday afternoon programming block Toonami. Due to the success of these re-runs on Toonami, Funimation resumed production on the series' English dub by themselves, but could no longer afford the services of Ocean Studios without Saban's financial assistance. This led to Funimation creating its own in-house voice cast at their Texas-based studio, as well as a new background score composed by Bruce Faulconer. This new dub featured less censorship (due to fewer restrictions oncable programming) and premiered on Cartoon Network's Toonami from September 13, 1999 to April 7, 2003, continuing in re-runs through 2008. KidsWB briefly ran Dragon Ball Z in 2001 on its short-lived Toonami block.[7]
In 2004, Pioneer lost its distribution rights to the first 53/67 episodes of Dragon Ball Z (as well as the first three movies), allowing Funimation to re-dub them with their in-house voice cast and restore the removed content.[8] This dub's background score was composed by Nathan Johnson. Funimation's new uncut dub of these episodes aired on Cartoon Network during the summer of 2005 (in late night, due to the unedited content).[9][10][11] Funimation's later remasteredDVDs of the series saw minor changes made to their in-house dub for quality and consistency, mostly after the episode 67 gap, and had the option to play the entire series' dub with both the American and Japanese background music.
In January 2011, Funimation and Toei announced that they would stream Dragon Ball Z within 30 minutes before their simulcast of One Piece.[12] As of 2013, Dragon Ball Z is being streamed on Hulu, containing the English dub with the Japanese music and uncut footage, as well as subtitled Japanese episodes.
The Funimation dubbed episodes also aired in Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand. However, beginning with episode 108 (123 uncut), AB Groupe and Westwood Media (in association with Ocean Studios) produced an alternate English dub to comply with Canadian broadcasting standards. The alternate dub was broadcast in the UK, the Netherlands, Ireland and Canada, while Funimation's dub continued to air in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. Dragon Ball Z originally aired on the British Comedy Network in Fall 1998.[13] This production used some of the same voices from the original short lived dub syndicated in the U.S. (that was later on Toonami), was edited for content, featured another alternate background score, and used much of the same script from Funimation's in-house dub.
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Dragon Ball Z

Dragon Ball Z (Japanese: ドラゴンボールZゼット Hepburn: Doragon Bōru Zetto?, commonly abbreviated as DBZ) is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Dragon Ball Z is the sequel to the Dragon Ballanime and adapts the last 325 chapters of the original 519-chapter Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama, that were published from 1988 to 1995 in Weekly Shōnen Jump. Dragon Ball Z first aired in Japan on Fuji TVfrom April 25, 1989 to January 31, 1996, before being dubbed in several territories around the world, including the United States, Australia, Europe, India, and Latin America.
Dragon Ball Z follows the adventures of the protagonist Goku who, along with his companions, defends the Earth against an assortment of villains ranging from intergalactic space fighters and conquerors, unnaturally powerful androids and near indestructible magical creatures. While the original Dragon Ball anime followed Goku from his childhood into adulthood, Dragon Ball Z is a continuation of his adult life, but at the same time parallels the maturation of his son, Gohan, as well as the evolution of his rivals Piccolo and Vegeta from enemies into allies.
Due to the success of the anime in America, the manga chapters comprising its story were released by Viz Media under the title Dragon Ball Z. Additional works called animanga were released, which adapt the animation to manga form. Dragon Ball Z's popularity has spawned numerous releases which have come to represent the majority of content in the Dragon Ball universe; including 14 movies and 148 video games, many of them being only released in japan, and a host of soundtracks stemming from this material. Dragon Ball Zremains a cultural icon through numerous adaptations, including a remastered broadcast as Dragon Ball Kai (ドラゴンボール改カイ Doragon Bōru Kai?, lit. "Dragon Ball Revised") from 2009 to 2011 and from 2014 onwards.

Plot[edit]

Dragon Ball Z picks up five years after the end of the Dragon Ball anime, withGoku as a young adult and father to his son Gohan. A humanoid alien named Raditz arrives on Earth in a spacecraft and tracks down Goku, revealing to him that he is his long-lost big brother and that they are members of a nearly extinct extraterrestrial race called the Saiyans (サイヤ人 Saiya-jin?). The Saiyans had sent Goku (originally named "Kakarot") to Earth as an infant to conquer the planet for them, but he suffered a severe head injury soon after his arrival and lost all memory of his mission, as well as his blood-thirsty Saiyan nature. Goku refuses to help Raditz continue the mission, which results in Raditz kidnapping Gohan. Goku decides to team up with Piccolo in order to defeat Raditz and save his son, while sacrificing his own life in the process. In the afterlife, Goku trains under King Kai until he is revived by the Dragon Balls a year later in order to save the Earth from Raditz' comrades; Nappa and the Saiyan prince Vegeta. During the battle Piccolo is killed, along with Goku's allies Yamcha, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu, and the Dragon Balls cease to exist because of Piccolo's death. Goku arrives at the battlefield late, but avenges his fallen friends by defeating Nappa with his new level of power. Vegeta himself enters into the battle with Goku and after numerous clashes Goku manages to defeat him as well, with the help of Gohan and his best friend Krillin. At Goku's request, they spare Vegeta's life and allow him to escape Earth.
During the battle, Krillin overhears Vegeta mentioning the original set of Dragon Balls from Piccolo's home planet Namek (ナメック星 Namekku-sei?). While Goku recovers from his injuries at the hospital, Gohan, Krillin and Goku's oldest friend Bulma depart for Namek in order to use these Dragon Balls to revive their dead friends. However, they discover that Vegeta's superior, the galactic tyrant Lord Frieza, is already there, seeking the Dragon Balls to be granted eternal life. A fully healed Vegeta arrives on Namek as well, seeking the Dragon Balls for himself, which leads to several battles between him and Frieza's henchmen. Realizing he's overpowered, Vegeta teams up with Gohan and Krillin to fight the Ginyu Force, a team of mercenaries summoned by Frieza. After Goku finally arrives on Namek, the epic battle with Frieza himself comes to a close when Goku transforms into a fabled Super Saiyan (超サイヤ人 Sūpā Saiya-jin?) and defeats him.
Upon his return to Earth a year later, Goku encounters a time traveler namedTrunks, the future son of Bulma and Vegeta, who warns Goku that a group ofAndroids (人造人間 Jinzōningen?, "Artificial Humans") will appear three years later, seeking revenge against Goku for destroying the Red Ribbon Army when he was a child. During this time, an evil life form called Cell emerges and after absorbing two of the Androids to achieve his "perfect form," holds his own fighting tournament to decide the fate of the Earth. After Goku sacrifices his own life a second time, to no avail, Gohan avenges his father by defeating Cell after ascending to the second level of Super Saiyan.
Seven years later Goku, who has been briefly revived for one day, and his allies are drawn into a fight against a magical being named Majin Buu. After numerous battles resulting in the destruction and recreation of the Earth, Goku (whose life is permanently restored by the Elder Kai) destroys Buu with a "Spirit Bomb" attack containing the energy of everyone on Earth. Goku makes a wish for Majin Buu to be reincarnated as a good person and ten years later, at another martial arts tournament, Goku meets Buu's human reincarnation, Uub. Leaving the match between them unfinished, Goku departs with Uub to train him to become Earth's new guardian.
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