"Dragon Ball Z" (1989) TV series 1989-2003

Writers:

Eric Vale (episodes)
Andrew Rye (episodes)
(more)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | unknown

Release Date:

13 September 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The Saiyans have returned...

Plot:

Earth's defender Goku learns that he is from another planet. Now Goku and his allies must defend the planet from an onslaught of new extraterrestrial enemies.

Plot Keywords:

Warrior | Training | Anti Hero | Anime | Giant Ape

Cast

Jôji Yanami	...	Narrator / ... (280 episodes, 1996-2003)
Masako Nozawa	...	Son Goku / ... (278 episodes, 1996-2003)
Christopher Sabat	...	Vegeta / ... (267 episodes, 1996-2003)
Sean Schemmel	...	Goku / ... (250 episodes, 1996-2003)
Doc Harris	...	Narrator (229 episodes, 1996-2003)
Mayumi Tanaka	...	Kuririn / ... (223 episodes, 1996-2003)
Sonny Strait	...	Krillin / ... (214 episodes, 1996-2003)
Brian Drummond	...	Vegeta / ... (197 episodes, 1996-2003)
Ryô Horikawa	...	Vegeta (193 episodes, 1996-2003)
Terry Klassen	...	Krillin / ... (192 episodes, 1996-2003)
Toshio Furukawa	...	Piccolo (188 episodes, 1996-2003)
Stephanie Nadolny	...	Gohan / ... (181 episodes, 1996-2001)
Tiffany Vollmer	...	Bulma / ... (173 episodes, 1996-2003)
Hiromi Tsuru	...	Bulma / ... (165 episodes, 1996-2003)
Scott McNeil	...	Piccolo / ... (165 episodes, 1996-2003)
Jillian Michaels	...	Goten / ... (156 episodes, 2000-2003)
Kyle Hebert	...	Narrator / ... (152 episodes, 1996-2003)
Kirby Morrow	...	Goku (134 episodes, 2000-2003)
Tôru Furuya	...	Yamcha (133 episodes, 1996-2003)
Mike McFarland	...	Master Roshi / ... (133 episodes, 1996-2003)
Cynthia Cranz	...	Chi-Chi / ... (130 episodes, 1996-2003)
Takeshi Kusao	...	Trunks (129 episodes, 2000-2003)
Daisuke Gôri	...	Gyuumao / ... (128 episodes, 1996-2003)
Ted Cole	...	Yamcha / ... (125 episodes, 1996-2003)
Naoko Watanabe	...	Puar / ... (121 episodes, 1996-2003)
Hirotaka Suzuoki	...	Tenshinhan / ... (114 episodes, 1996-2003)

Series Directed by
Daisuke Nishio		(96 episodes, 1996-1999)

Series Writing credits
Akira Toriyama		(282 episodes, 1996-2003)
Jack Phelan		(unknown episodes)
Andrew Rye		(unknown episodes)
Eric Vale		(unknown episodes)

Series Produced by
Kôzô Morishita	....	producer (282 episodes, 1996-2003)
Justin Cook	....	producer (21 episodes, 1996-2003)
Gen Fukunaga	....	executive producer (21 episodes, 1996-2003)
Carly Hunter	....	producer (21 episodes, 1996-2003)
Daniel Cocanougher	....	producer (20 episodes, 2002-2003)
Cindy Brennan Fukunaga	....	executive producer (20 episodes, 2002-2003)
Barry Watson	....	producer (20 episodes, 2002-2003)
Ian James Corlett	....	producer: early episodes (unknown episodes)
Terry Klassen	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Bruce Faulconer		(11 episodes, 1999-2002)
Shunsuke Kikuchi		(unknown episodes, 1989-2003)
Shuki Levy		(unknown episodes)
Haim Saban		(unknown episodes)
Jeremy Sweet		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
Daisuke Nishio	....	storyboard artist (6 episodes, 1996-1997)

Series Sound Department
Rusty Dunn	....	adr recordist (88 episodes, 2000)
Mike McFarland	....	adr director (56 episodes, 1996-1998)
Ryan Nowak	....	sound effects editor (33 episodes, 2000-2003)
Sonny Strait	....	adr director (30 episodes, 1997-1998)
Hennie Britton	....	adr recordist (27 episodes, 1996-2000)
Chris Ove	....	adr editor (23 episodes, 2000)
Christopher Bevins	....	adr looping (8 episodes, 2002-2003)
Jeremy Butler	....	sound effects editor (5 episodes, 2000)
Gord Hillier	....	sound effects editor (unknown episodes)
Tyler Walker	....	adr looping engineer (unknown episodes)
Matthew Wilson	....	supervising sound editor (unknown episodes)

Series Visual Effects by
Jeffrey Miller	....	digital compositor (3 episodes, 1996-1999)

Series Editorial Department
Leland Miller	....	video post-production (155 episodes, 2000-2003)

Series Music Department
Julius Dobos	....	music editor (127 episodes, 2000-2003)
Drew DeAscentis	....	music editor (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Jeremy Carlile	....	script supervisor (1 episode, 1996)
David Stewart Cowles II	....	web consultant (unknown episodes)
Ward Perry	....	adr script: English dub (unknown episodes)
Jennifer Wilson	....	assistant to director (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• FUNimation Entertainment
• Ocean Group (1996-1998)
• Toei Animation Company
• Toei Company

Distributors

• AB Distribution (Europe)
• Cartoon Network (1999-)
• FUNimation Entertainment (USA) (season 3-)
• Kids' WB (2001) (USA) (TV)
• Pioneer Entertainment (1996-1998)
• Saban Entertainment (USA) (seasons 1 and 2)
• Sociedade Independente de Comunicação (SIC) (1996-) (Portugal) (TV)
• YTV
• Yorin (200?) (Netherlands) (TV)

Also Known As:

"DBZ" - USA (short title)

Runtime:

26 min (291 episodes)

Country:

Canada | USA | Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Australia:PG | Germany:12 | USA:TV-PG (uncensored version) | Canada:PG (some episodes) | Denmark:7 (DVD) | Denmark:7 | Netherlands:MG6 | USA:TV-Y7 (edited version) | South Korea:All | USA:PG

Company:

FUNimation Entertainment

Trivia:

Originally airing in the United States in 1996, its initial run was heavily edited from the Japanese version, so much that out of the first 68 episodes, the American version was cut down to 53 episodes, 15 episodes worth of content. This was mostly due to the partnership between FUNimation productions (Who owned the rights) and Saban Entertainment (Who was responsible for the dubbing and editing) When the show gained a following on Cartoon Network, it was renewed and FUNimation had sole control. As a result, the episodes were not as clipped as before, following the Japanese episode number precisely from then on.

Goofs:

Plot holes: In one of the episodes when Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin put Goku in the recovery chamber in Frieza's ship in the Frieza Saga, Vegeta says "By typing into this system, we should have Goku up to speed in no time." when he's supposed to call him "Kakarot" since both Goku and Vegeta were from Planet Vegeta before it got destroyed by Frieza. All of the Saiyans from Planet Vegeta called him "Kakarot" since "Goku" wasn't his real name.

Quotes:

Vegeta:~evil laugh~... And then there was one...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Atop the Fourth Wall: The Invincible Four of Kung-Fu & Ninja #1 (#5.11)" (2012)

Soundtrack:

We Gotta Power

Utterly brilliant

This won't give you the best impression the first time you see it but it just keeps getting better and better and can eventually become dangerously addictive. It takes action and story to all new levels. A lot of the dialog actually does make sense even if sometimes cliché'd. This is actually one of the few shows that is actually worthy of all the hype and popularity surrounding it. Although it may drag a lot, and the characters spend a lot of time staring at each other, what eventually happens at the end makes up for the waiting. I've only seen this up to the end of the freiza saga and that saga was slightly less impressive than the former few sagas. As the sagas progress, you'd better start seeing the uncut versions instead.