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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Dragon Ball''}}
'''Dragon Ball''' (ドラゴンボール), ''created by [[Akira Toriyama]]'' in 1984, is an internationally popular teen and young adult franchise, though it is also popular among younger children. It consists primarily of one manga series, four anime series, seventeen animated feature films, an unofficial live-action Chinese feature film as well as an American live-action one, a collectible card game, a large number of video games, collectible products, and action figures. Dragon Ball has an extensive online fanbase and (as of [[File:Dragonball.jpg|frame|Dragon Ball manga cover.]] 2005) is consistently one of the most frequently searched-for terms on Google, Yahoo!, and Lycos.
 
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[[File:DB2013Books(VJump).jpg|thumb|''Chōzenshū'' and ''Dragon Ball Full Color'']] {{nihongo|'''''Dragon Ball'''''|ドラゴンボール|''Doragon Bōru''}} is an internationally popular media franchise. It consists primarily of [[Dragon Ball (manga)|a manga series]] created by [[Akira Toriyama]], five anime series (''[[Dragon Ball (anime)|Dragon Ball]]'', ''[[Dragon Ball Z|Z]]'', ''[[Dragon Ball GT|GT]]'', ''[[Dragon Ball Super (anime)|Super]]'' and ''[[Super Dragon Ball Heroes (anime)|Heroes]]''), twenty anime films, seven anime specials, three live-action films, five anime OVAs, four anime crossovers, two anime PSAs and [[Dragon Ball Z Kai|a high-def remastered recut of ''Dragon Ball Z'']] (truly faithful to Toriyama's manga). ''Dragon Ball'' has an extensive online fanbase and is consistently one of the most frequently searched-for terms on Google, Yahoo! and Lycos. As of January 2012, generating $5 billion in merchandise,<ref>''[http://www.thecnl.com/FunimationJan2012Catalog.pdf FunimationJanuary2012Catalog.pdf]''</ref> {{w|List of highest-grossing media franchises|''Dragon Ball'' is one of the most merchandisable anime based media franchises of all time}}.
   
The story of Dragon Ball got some of its inspiration and several characters from the Chinese folk novel Journey to the West, though it diverges from the novel very quickly. It follows the adventures of its lead character, Son Goku (based on the Monkey King of the folk legend, Sun Wukong) from his childhood into old age. The story includes both action and comedy elements, though the series became more action-oriented over time.
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The story and characters of ''Dragon Ball'' were partly inspired by the Chinese folk novel ''[[Journey to the West]]'', though they diverge from the novel very quickly. The plot follows the adventures of lead character [[Goku|Son Goku]] (just simply known as Goku, originally under his Saiyan name Kakarot and is based on the Monkey King of the folk legend, Sun Wukong) from his childhood through his adulthood. The story includes elements both of action and comedy, though the series became more action-oriented over time.
   
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==History==
== Before Dragon Ball ==
 
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===Before ''Dragon Ball''===
{{Main|Dragon Boy}} 14111
 
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{{Main|Dragon Boy}}
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Just prior to ending the successful six-year run of his humor manga ''[[Dr. Slump]]'', in the ''[[Shonen Jump|Weekly Shōnen Jump]]'' anthology magazine, Akira Toriyama started to toy with the ideas that he would later use in the [[Dragon Ball (manga)|''Dragon Ball'' manga]]. In 1983, he wrote two issues of the ''[[Dragon Boy]]'' manga for the ''Fresh Jump'' anthology magazine. This story, left unfinished, merges the comic style of ''Dr. Slump'' with an action-oriented plot. It includes many elements which would be reused in the later series, including a very different kind of [[Dragon Ball (object)|Dragon Ball]]. Additionally in 1983, he published (but also did not finish) ''[[The Adventures of Tongpoo]]'', a science fiction manga also featuring a Goku-like character and plot elements (such as Hoi Poi [[Capsule]]s) which he would reuse later.
   
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===''Dragon Ball'' Manga===
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{{Main|Dragon Ball (manga)}}
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[[File:Dragon Ball logo.png|thumb|left|''Dragon Ball'' logo]]
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The first issue of ''Dragon Ball'' debuted on November 20, 1984 in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump (#51)'', the same anthology magazine where ''Dr. Slump'' had previously been published. The series was then published weekly and on a very tight schedule (14 pages per week, plus title page) for nearly eleven years, ending on May 23, 1995. In total, 519 regular chapters and one bonus chapter were published. Unlike American-style comic books, ''Dragon Ball'' was largely produced in black and white. Some small number of pages in a subset of issues were colorized for emphasis. During the run of the manga in Japan, it was reprinted in (an eventual total of 42) tankôbon (Japanese graphic novels). Unlike the original print run of the manga, the previously colorized pages were reprinted only in grayscale.
   
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A year and a half into the story of ''Dragon Ball'', Akira Toriyama included an extended (three issue) cameo by some of the characters and locations from his previous popular manga, ''Dr. Slump''. This is perceived by many fans as tying the two fictional universes together, although the ''Dr. Slump'' characters never made any further appearances in the manga.
   
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===''Dragon Ball'' Anime===
Just prior to ending a successful six-year run on his humor manga, Dr. Slump, in the Weekly Shonen Jump anthology magazine, Akira Toriyama started toying with the ideas that he would later apply into the Dragon Ball manga. In 1983, he wrote two issues of Dragon Boy manga for the Fresh Jump anthology magazine. This story, left unfinished, merged in the comic style of Dr. Slump with an action-oriented plot. It includes many elements which would be reused in the later series, including a very different kind of Dragon Ball. Also in 1983, he published (but also did not finish) The Adventures of Tongpoo, a science fiction manga also featuring a Goku-like character and plot elements (such as Hoi Poi Capsules) which he would reuse later.
 
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{{Main|Dragon Ball (anime)}}
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[[File:ToeiAnimationRedlogo.png|thumb|Toei Animation logo]]
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Within a short time after the first publication of the manga, it had reached a level of popularity in Japan that convinced [[Toei Animation]] to produce both an anime series and a feature film based on the characters. The anime series premiered in February 1986 on [[Fuji Television]] (replacing the ''Dr. Slump'' anime), running weekly and in prime time with new episodes every Wednesday night.
   
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The anime series that was produced closely matched the manga that it was based on (as opposed to ''Sailor Moon'', for example, which the manga and anime diverged significantly), but this had the major drawback that the anime would often catch up to the current point in the manga and the animators were left to create additional episodes and situations (known by fans as [[filler]]) to allow them time for more source material to be written. This is perhaps unsurprising due to the difficulty of producing 20 minutes of animation each week, with only 14 pages of manga to work from.
== Dragon Ball manga ==
 
   
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[[File:Fuji-tv.png|left|thumb|Fuji TV logo]]
''Main article: [[Dragon Ball (manga)]]''
 
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In December 1986, the first theatrical film version of the anime was produced. Called simply "Dragon Ball" (in Japan, the movie's eventual English title is ''[[Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies]]''), it retold the events of the first several episodes of the anime series. That was followed by additional movies in July 1987 (''[[Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle]]'') and July 1988 (''[[Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure]]''). The first two films were directed by [[Daisuke Nishio]], the third by Kazuhisa Takenouchi.
   
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Because of the popularity of the title in Japan, three [[video game]]s for the Nintendo Famcom were produced. The first, released in 1986 as ''[[Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo]]'', is the only action game of the three. The other two (1988 and 1989) are RPG / card game hybrids.
In late 1984, the first issue of "Dragon Ball" appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump, the same anthology magazine where Dr. Slump had previously been published. The series was then published weekly and on a very tight schedule (14 pages per week, plus title page) for nearly eleven years, ending in May 1995. In total, 519 regular chapters and one bonus chapter were published. Unlike American-style comic books, Dragon Ball was largely produced in black and white. Some small number of pages in a subset of issues were colorized for emphasis. During the run of the manga in Japan, it was reprinted in (an eventual total of 42) tankôbon (Japanese graphic novels). Unlike the original print run of the manga, the previously colorized pages were reprinted only in grayscale.
 
   
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The anime series ended in April 1989 after 153 episodes (and Goku's marriage and transition to adulthood). Although the animated series ended, fans did not have to wait long for the continuation of the story. The sequel anime ''[[Dragon Ball Z]]'' debuted the following week.
A year and a half into the story of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama included an extended (three issue) cameo by some of the characters and locations from his previous popular manga, Dr. Slump. This is perceived by many fans as tying the two fictional universes together, although the Slump characters never make any further appearances in the manga.
 
   
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===First U.S. Release===
Among fans, the Dragon Ball manga is considered the "authoritative" source of the events in the Dragon Ball universe (called Dragon World by the author). Events that take place outside the manga are generally not considered canonical. For instance, the anime-only filler scenes often create plot holes.
 
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{{Main|Harmony Gold dub}}
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In the first years after the ''Dragon Ball'' manga and anime became successful in Japan, an initial attempt was made to export the show to an American audience. These initial attempts to gain a foothold in the large American market were unsuccessful and short lived.
   
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In 1986, right as the ''Dragon Ball'' anime was kicking off in Japan, the ''Dragon Ball'' video game known as ''Shenron no Nazo'' in Japan was produced by Bandai for the Nintendo Entertainment System and exported to the U.S. titled ''Dragon Power''. It is a [[martial arts]] action game which loosely followed the plot of the first thirteen issues of the manga. Sales figures for the game are not available, but no further ''Dragon Ball'' video games were released in the U.S. for another seven years.
== Dragon Ball anime ==
 
{{Main|Dragon Ball}}
 
   
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In 1989, a first attempt was made to release the ''Dragon Ball'' anime in the U.S. in the form of a limited number of episodes (and an edited form of the first and third movies) produced and dubbed by Harmony Gold USA. This dub was notable for renaming many characters, such as Goku being renamed "Zero." After being test marketed in several cities (with some resulting controversy over the subject matter of the early episodes, something that would strike again in later attempts), it was withdrawn from the marketplace without a full season produced. Because it was never broadcast to the general public, it is referred to as the "Lost dub" by fans.
Within a short time after the first publication of the manga, it had reached a level of popularity in Japan that convinced the people of Toei Animation to produce both an anime series and a feature film based on the characters. The anime series premiered in February 1986 on Fuji Television, running weekly and in prime time with new episodes every Wednesday night.
 
   
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===''Dragon Ball Z''===
The anime series that was produced closely matched the manga that it was based on (as opposed to Sailor Moon, for example, which the manga and anime diverged significantly), but this had the major drawback that the anime would often catch up to the current point in the manga and the animators were left to create additional episodes and situations to allow them time for more source material to be written. Such material in the series (known by fans as filler) was often of a lower quality than the original manga and occasionally would directly contradict information that would be provided in the source material later. This is perhaps unsurprising due to the difficulty of producing 20 minutes of animation each week, with only 14 pages of manga to work from.[[File:Dragon_ball_logo.png|thumb|Dragon Ball logo]]
 
 
In December of 1986, the first theatrical film version of the anime was produced. Called simply "Dragon Ball" (in Japan, the movie's eventual English title is "Curse of the Blood Rubies"), it retold the events of the first several episodes of the anime series. That was followed by additional movies in July 1987 ("The Sleeping Princess in the Devil's Castle") and July 1988 ("Mystical Great Adventure"). (The first two films were directed by Daisuke Nishio, the third by Kazuhisa Takenouchi.)
 
 
Because of the popularity of the title in Japan, three video games (all for the Nintendo Family Computer) were produced. The first, released in 1986 as "The Mystery of Shenlong", was the only action game of the three. The other two (1988 and 1989) were card game / board game hybrids.
 
 
The anime series ended in April 1989 after 153 episodes (and Son Goku's marriage and transition to adulthood). Although the animated series ended, fans did not have to wait long for the continuation of the story. The sequel anime, "Dragon Ball Z" debuted the following week.
 
 
== First US Release ==
 
 
In the first years after the Dragon Ball manga and anime became successful in Japan, an initial attempt was made to export the show to an American audience. These initial attempts to gain a foothold in the large American market were unsuccessful and short lived.
 
 
In 1986, right as the Dragon Ball anime was kicking off in Japan, a Dragon Ball video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System was produced by Bandai and exported to the US. Titled "Dragon Power" (or "Mystery of Shenlong" in Japan), it was a martial arts action game which loosely followed the plot of the first thirteen issues of the manga. Sales figures for the game are not available, but no further Dragon Ball video games were released in the US for another seven years.
 
 
In 1989, a first attempt was made to release the Dragon Ball anime in the US in the form of a limited number of episodes (and an edited form of the first and third movies) produced and dubbed by Harmony Gold. After being test marketed in several cities (with some resulting controversy over the subject matter of the early episodes-- something that would strike again in later attempts), it was withdrawn from the marketplace without a full season produced. Because it was never broadcast to the general public, it is referred to as the "Lost Dub" by fans.
 
 
== Dragon Ball Z ==
 
 
{{Main|Dragon Ball Z}}
 
{{Main|Dragon Ball Z}}
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[[File:DragonBallZ.png|thumb|''Dragon Ball Z'' logo]]
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Picking up exactly where the previous series left off, ''Dragon Ball Z'' began airing in Japan a week after the ''Dragon Ball'' anime ended, and in the same timeslot. A new series name was chosen by the producers to differentiate the current series, with its reduced emphasis on comedy and its new science fiction themes, from the previous one, even though both were still based on the same ''Dragon Ball'' manga. The new show also featured improved production values and animation quality. This transition point was attractive because not only did it follow a several year gap in the plot (one of several such gaps in the series), but it also featured revised origin stories for several lead characters and the introduction of several new characters. This made it a good jumping onpoint for new fans of the series.
   
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Three months after the premier of the Z anime, in July 1989, the first ''Dragon Ball Z'' movie (entitled ''Return my Gohan'' in Japanese and ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone]]'' in the U.S.) premiered in theaters. This was followed by two additional theatrical movies released per year (one in March and one in July) until 1995. In total, thirteen ''Dragon Ball Z'' movies were produced. In addition to the feature films, two movie-length television specials were also produced for the series. These initially aired in 1990 and 1993.
Picking up exactly where the previous series left off, Dragon Ball Z began airing in Japan a week after the Dragon Ball anime ended, and in the same timeslot. A new series name was chosen by the producers to differentiate the current series, with its reduced emphasis on comedy and its new science fiction themes, from the previous one -- even though both were still based on the same Dragon Ball manga. The new show also featured improved production values and animation quality. This transition point was attractive because not only did it follow a several year gap in the plot (one of several such gaps in the series), but it also featured revised origin stories for several lead characters and the introduction of several new characters. This made it a good jumping on[[File:Dragon_Ball_Z_logo.jpg|thumb|Dragon Ball Z logo]] point for new fans of the series.
 
   
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Like the original ''Dragon Ball'' anime, ''Dragon Ball Z'' suffered from the same manga-to-anime pacing problems which resulted in the excess of filler material in the previous anime. In some ways, the problem was more pronounced during the production of the "Z" series as the increased focus on action resulted in many issues of the manga devoted entirely to action sequences. These combat-oriented issues were more difficult to "stretch" into episodes than more diverse action and this resulted in pacing problems throughout some sections of the series.
Three months after the premier of the Z anime, in July 1989, the first Dragon Ball Z movie (entitled "Return my Gohan" in Japanese) premiered in theaters. This was followed by two additional theatrical movies released per year (one in March and one in July) until 1995. In total, thirteen Dragon Ball Z movies were produced. In addition to the feature films, two movie-length television specials were also produced for the series. (These initially aired in 1990 and 1993.)
 
   
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In May 1995, the long running ''Dragon Ball'' manga finally ended its run in ''Shōnen Jump''. Without additional issues of the manga to translate onto the small screen, the ''Dragon Ball Z'' series ended in January 1996 after 291 episodes. Once again however, Japanese fans would not have to wait more than a week for the continuation of the final story, in ''[[Dragon Ball GT]]''.
Like the original "Dragon Ball" anime, "Dragon Ball Z" suffered from the same manga-to-anime pacing problems which resulted in the excess of filler material in the previous anime. In some ways, the problem was more pronounced during the production of the "Z" series as the increased focus on action resulted in many issues of the manga devoted entirely to action sequences. These combat-oriented issues were more difficult to "stretch" into episodes than more diverse action and this resulted in pacing problems throughout some sections of the series.
 
   
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During the production of ''Dragon Ball Z'' in Japan, popularity for the franchise was at its peak. Production of video games (for the Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom), Super Famicom, PlayStation, Game Boy, and Sega Saturn) reached its peak during this period. Ironically, despite tremendous success in Japan and tons of marketable goods, the series had yet to take off in the U.S.
In May 1995, the long running "Dragon Ball" manga finally ended its run in Shonen Jump. Without additional issues of the manga to translate onto the small screen, the "Dragon Ball Z" series ended in January 1996 after 291 episodes. Once again however, Japanese fans would not have to wait more than a week for the continuation of the story, in "Dragon Ball GT".
 
   
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===Second U.S. Release===
During the production of Dragon Ball Z in Japan, popularity for the franchise was at its peak. Production of video games--first for the Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom), then later for Super Famicom, PlayStation, Game Boy, and Sega Saturn-- reached its peak during this period. Ironically, despite tremendous success in Japan and tons of marketable goods, the series had yet to take off in the US.
 
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{{Main|Ocean Group dubs}}
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[[File:FunanimatoinLOG.png|thumb|left|FUNimation logo]]
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Shortly after the release of ''Dragon Ball Z'' in Japan, momentum was building in the U.S. for a second attempt at releasing ''Dragon Ball'' to an American audience. In the fall of 1995, the first episodes of ''Dragon Ball'' began airing in first-run syndication on American television by the newly-formed [[Funimation|FUNimation Productions]]; collaborating with Seagull Entertainment and the Vancouver-based [[BLT Productions Ltd.]] Ultimately, the show only lasted for less than one season before being canceled in favor of jumping ahead to ''Dragon Ball Z''; the latter series was believed to have greater merchandise potential. In total, only 13 episodes (of the production order of 26) and the first ''Dragon Ball'' feature film were produced. In 1996, Vidmark Entertainment purchased the home video distribution rights for these dubbed episodes and movie.
   
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For the next five years, Vidmark retained these rights to ''Dragon Ball'' in the U.S. In 2000, Vidmark released these 13 dubbed episodes and movie on a DVD box set titled ''Dragon Ball: The Saga of Goku''. In 2001, Vidmark was acquired by Lionsgate Entertainment, making them the holder of the rights to these episodes and movie until 2009. This prevented FUNimation from releasing their later in-house dub of the first 13 episodes of ''Dragon Ball'' to home video in the U.S. during this time, though it was released in other countries. They were also unable to release an in-house dub of the first DB movie until 2010.
   
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After the two failed launches of the ''Dragon Ball'' anime in the States, FUNimation switched focus to the more action-oriented ''Dragon Ball Z''; this time collaborating with [[Saban Entertainment]] (at that time riding on the popularity of ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'', another Japanese import) to distribute the series to television, and using voice actors from the Vancouver-based [[Ocean Productions|Ocean Studios]] (several of which were involved in the earlier BLT dub of ''Dragon Ball''). ''Dragon Ball Z'' premiered on American television in the fall of 1996, once again airing in first-run syndication. However, the intended American audience of the series (young children) did not work well with the more violent nature of the DBZ anime. This resulted in extensive editing of the series (cutting out the equivalent of 14 of the first 67 episodes; almost 21%), including the complete removal of references to character death ("sent to another dimension"), blood, etc. To many fans of the series, these edits actually made the series worse as violence was always shown without consequence. Also, they made many changes to the original dialogue and also created many name changes to characters (i.e. [[Krillin]] and [[Tien Shinhan|Tien]], instead of "Kuririn" and "Tenshinhan") and special techniques (i.e. [[Spirit Bomb]] instead of "Genki Dama"), though not to the extent of Harmony Gold's previous dub.
   
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In addition to the anime series, Saban also edited the third ''Dragon Ball Z'' movie (''[[Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might]]'' in the U.S.) and released it as a [[The Tree of Might (three-part television episode)|three-part episode]] in the production run of the series. The first two ''Dragon Ball Z'' movies were subsequently released by [[NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan|Pioneer Entertainment]] direct to video. The third movie was later re-released by Pioneer to home video, only this version, like the first two films, featured dialogue more close to the original script and was unedited.
== Second US Release ==
 
   
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In part due to an early timeslot in most markets (6:30 AM), ''Dragon Ball Z'' also failed to find its target audience and was canceled in May 1998 after a two-season run of 53 episodes, or the equivalent of 67 Japanese episodes. However, this was still the most successful import of the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise to the U.S. at the time.
Shortly after the release of Dragon Ball Z in Japan, momentum was building in the US for a second attempt at releasing "Dragon Ball" to an American audience. In the fall of 1995, the first episodes of "Dragon Ball" were redubbed by Ocean Group for syndicated release on American television by FUNimation Productions through SeaGull Entertainment. Ultimately, the show only lasted for less than one season before being canceled in favor of jumping ahead to Dragon Ball Z. (The latter series was believed to have greater merchandise potential.) In total, only thirteen episodes (of the production order of 26) and the first Dragon Ball feature film were produced. In 1996, Vidmark Entertainment purchased the home video rights for the series.
 
   
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In 2013, FUNimation would re-release their entire Saban/Ocean dub of DBZ in the DVD collector's box set ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Rock the Dragon Edition]]''.
As of 2004, Vidmark still retained the rights to the first season of Dragon Ball in the US. This prevented FUNimation from releasing the first season unedited (with their dubbing) in the United States, though it has been released in other countries. Vidmark was acquired by Lionsgate in recent years, making them the holder of the rights for many years. However, FUNimation has since regained the rights, and will release the first season (Emperor Pilaf and Tournament Sagas) uncut here for the first time in September of 2009.
 
   
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===''Dragon Ball GT''===
After the two failed launches of the Dragon Ball cartoon in the States, FUNimation switched distribution companies to Saban (at that time riding on the popularity of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, another Japanese import) and began releasing Dragon Ball Z on American television in the fall of 1996, using voice actors of the Ocean Group. The intended audience of the series (young children) did not work well with the more violent and adult nature of the Z cartoon. This resulted in extensive editing of the series (cutting out the equivalent of 14 of the first 67 episodes-- almost 21%), including the complete removal of references to character death ("sent to another dimension"), blood, etc. To many fans of the series, these edits actually made the series worse as violence was always shown without consequence. Also, they made many changes to the original dialogue and also created many name changes to characters and techniques.
 
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{{Main|Dragon Ball GT}}
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[[File:DBGTLogo.png|thumb|''Dragon Ball GT'' logo]]
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Back in Japan, the third ''Dragon Ball'' series quickly followed the completion of ''Dragon Ball Z'' in February 1996. This new series, called ''Dragon Ball GT'' (for "Grand Tour"), was a complete departure from the previous two anime series. Unlike those series, GT was not based on the ''Dragon Ball'' manga (which ended in 1995) by Akira Toriyama. Instead, it was completely new material along with having the same characters and elements from the last two series and it continues the story where ''Dragon Ball Z'' had left off.
   
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From the beginning however, there were problems with the series. ''Dragon Ball'' fandom in Japan was waning and to help renew interest in the series and bring it back to its roots, a decision was made to return the series to the style of the original comedy ''Dragon Ball'' anime, rather than the more action-oriented ''Dragon Ball Z''. This decision led to the reintroduction of several villains not present since the original series, a return to the [[Emperor Pilaf Saga|"Dragon Ball quest"]]-style plot of that series and even the mystical de-aging of Goku, back to roughly the age he was when the first series began. Unfortunately, this creative change did not improve ratings and the series focus was changed again after the completion of only sixteen episodes. The remaining episodes of the series returned to the more action-oriented style of the latter series and as a result of declining interest, the show had ended in November 1997 after only 64 episodes. There was no sequel ''Dragon Ball'' series the following week (instead it was replaced by ''The New Dr. Slump'' anime).
In addition to the anime series, Saban also edited the third Dragon Ball Z movie ("Tree of Might" in the US) and released it as a three-part episode in the production run of the series. Two more movies (#1 and #2) were subsequently released by Pioneer Entertainment direct to video.
 
   
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''Dragon Ball GT'' was also less successful in its tie-ins than the previous series had been. Unlike the previous series, ''Dragon Ball GT'' did not spawn any theatrical films on its own. In March 1996, just one month after the introduction of the series, the ''Dragon Ball'' 10th Anniversary special (''[[Dragon Ball: The Path to Power]]'' in the U.S.) was released. Although produced in the artistic style of ''GT'', the plot was a modified retelling of the very beginning of the original ''Dragon Ball'' anime. This was the last ''Dragon Ball'' animated movie to be released to date. Other than that film, the final series was limited to a single television special that takes place after the events in GT, released in March 1997. In other product areas, such as video games and merchandise, ''Dragon Ball GT'' was also less successful than its predecessors.
In part due to an early timeslot in most markets (6:30 AM), Dragon Ball Z again failed to find its target audience and was cancelled in January 1998 after a two season run of 53 episodes, or the equivalent of 67 Japanese episodes. However, this was still the most successful import of the property to the US to date.
 
   
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===Third U.S. Release===
== Dragon Ball GT ==
 
{{Main|Dragon Ball GT}}
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{{Main|Funimation dub}}
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[[File:Toonami Pipe.jpg|thumb|left|Toonami logo]]
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In August 1998, after its modest success in syndication, FUNimation/Saban's Ocean dub of ''Dragon Ball Z'' began airing on Cartoon Network's weekday afternoon action block [[Toonami]]. The block gave the series new life and, combined with the DiC ''Sailor Moon'' dub, exposed the series to a much wider audience. With new success, FUNimation went forward in continuing the dub on their own instead of alongside the backing of a company such as Saban. The third season appeared on home video in 1999 and then on Cartoon Network soon after, featuring less editing restrictions than the previous dub, FUNimation's own in-house voice cast, and a new musical score. ''Dragon Ball Z'' was now in full production in the U.S. and continued to the end of the series in 2003. Still, it kept the name changes of characters and techniques that the previous dub had created. While still disliked from fans of the original Japanese version, FUNimation's in-house dub was a huge success and received the most popularity of all releases in the U.S.
   
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The success of ''Dragon Ball Z'' on Cartoon Network allowed FUNimation to go back and do a new dub of ''Dragon Ball'' as well, starting from the beginning and airing on the Toonami block as well. However, there were marked changes in the dubbing between this and its sequel series, most pronounced is the usage of the original Japanese music as opposed to new compositions for the dub. FUNimation also released ''Dragon Ball'' to DVD, but with a slight snag: since Lionsgate remained the distributor of the earlier DB dub, they could not release the first 13 episodes of the new dub until their license expired in 2009. The two remaining DB movies were also dubbed at this time, along with the ten remaining DBZ movies, the two DBZ TV specials, and the tenth anniversary movie.
Back in Japan, the third and final Dragon Ball series quickly followed the completion of "Dragon Ball Z" in February 1996. This new series, called Dragon Ball GT (for "Grand Tour"), was a complete departure from the previous two anime series. Unlike those series, GT was not based on the "Dragon Ball" manga by Akira Toriyama. Instead, it was completely new material.
 
   
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By 2003, with the completion of ''Dragon Ball Z'', FUNimation began dubbing ''Dragon Ball GT'', which would be released on both Cartoon Network and DVD. However, they were afraid they would experience the same drop off as Japan by starting with the lighter episodes at the beginning. In a controversial decision, FUNimation decided to start from the first action-intensive arc, connected with the first major villain of the series. Furthermore, a special episode was created for the beginning of this series that would fill in the material prior to the start of this arc (such as how Goku became a child again, thanks to [[Emperor Pilaf]], and went into space) using the clips of the first three episodes and the sixteenth episode. Similarly, DBGT would feature a new musical composer, pushing music with a harder sound and even creating a hip-hop-style opening. Eventually after the completion of the series, the earlier episodes prior to the starting point were released and aired as "The Lost Episodes" until 2005.
From the beginning however, there were problems with the series. Dragon Ball fandom in Japan was waning. To help renew interest in the series and bring it back to its roots, a decision was made to return the series to the style of the original comedy "Dragon[[File:Images_g.jpg|thumb|Dragon Ball GT logo]] Ball" anime, rather than the more action-oriented "Dragon Ball Z". This decision led to the reintroduction of several villains not present since the original series, a return to the "Dragon Ball quest"-style plot of that series, and even the mystical de-aging of the series' lead character, back to roughly the age when the first series began. Unfortunately, this creative change did not improve ratings and the series focus was changed again after the completion of only sixteen episodes. The remaining episodes of the series returned to the more action-oriented style of the latter series. As a result of declining interest, the series had ended in November 1997 after only 64 episodes. There was no sequel the following week.
 
   
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By 2004, Geneon Universal Entertainment (formerly Pioneer) had lost its licensing rights to the old Ocean dubbed episodes and movies of ''Dragon Ball Z'', allowing FUNimation to re-dub the first 53 dubbed episodes with their in-house voice cast and also restore them to the original 67 count. These re-dubbed episodes began airing on Cartoon Network during the summer of 2005, but were notably shown in the nighttime (10:30 PM) and in their completely unedited form. The first three DBZ movies were also re-dubbed by FUNimation's in-house voice cast and re-released together in a DVD box set titled ''Dragon Ball Z: First Strike''.
Dragon Ball GT was also less successful in its tie-ins than the previous series had been. Unlike the previous series, Dragon Ball GT did not spawn any theatrical films on its own. In March 1996, just one month after the introduction of the series, the Dragon Ball 10th Anniversary Special (called "The Path to Power" in the US) was released. Although produced in the artistic style of Dragon Ball GT, the plot was a modified retelling of the very beginning of the original Dragon Ball anime. This was the last Dragon Ball animated movie to be released to date. Other than that film, the final series was limited to a single television special, released in March 1997. In other product areas, such as video games and merchandise, Dragon Ball GT was also less successful than its predecessors.
 
   
  +
===''Nekomajin''===
  +
Originally a one-shot bearing little relation to Akira Toriyama's other series, the first chapter of ''[[Nekomajin]]'' appeared in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' in April 1999 (WJ #22-23). Though there were some similarities, it did not become a "self-parody" of the ''Dragon Ball'' manga until the "Neko Majin Z" chapters, which had cameos of characters from the author's magnum opus. As of 2005, the series was completed with eight total chapters (five of which are ''Dragon Ball'' parodies). These chapters were compiled into a "kanzenban"-style package for release in Japan on April 4, 2005.
   
  +
===''KochiKame''===
  +
For the 30th anniversary of ''[[KochiKame]]'' the longest running ''Shōnen Jump'' manga to date, special chapters that are crossovers between various different mangas and ''Kochikame'' characters were made. In one of them, co-written by Akira Toriyama, Ryo-san has been reassigned to planet [[Namek]] and runs across [[Frieza]]. He tries to arrest him for parking [[Frieza's spaceship|his spaceship]] illegally. Goku and [[Vegeta]] make appearances as well.
   
  +
===''Cross Epoch''===
== Third US Release ==
 
  +
''[[Cross Epoch]]'' is a Japanese manga by Akira Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda. It is a crossover between ''Dragon Ball'' and ''One Piece''.
   
  +
It was released on December 25, 2006 in the ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'', and later in English in the North American ''Shonen Jump'' issue #100 (April 2011).
In September 1998, after its failure in syndication, the Saban/Funimation dub of Dragon Ball Z found new life on Cartoon Network, particularly on the action-animation block Toonami. The block gave the series new life and, combined with the DiC Sailor Moon dub, exposed the series to a much wider audience. With new success, Funimation went forward in continuing the dub on their own instead of alongside the backing of a company such as Saban. The third season appeared on home video in 1999 and then on Cartoon Network shortly after. Dragon Ball Z was now in full production and continued to the end of series in 2003, with less editing restrictions than the previous dub, FUNimations own in-house voice actors, and new music. Still, it kept the name changes of characters and techniques that the previous dub had created. While still disliked from fans of the original Japanese version, it received the most popularity of all releases in the US.
 
   
  +
===''Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!''===
The success of DBZ on Cartoon Network allowed Funimation to go back and do a new dub of Dragon Ball as well, starting from the beginning and airing on the Toonami block as well. However, there were marked changes in the dubbing between this and its sequel series, most pronounced in the usage of the original Japanese music as opposed to new compositions for the dub. Funimation also released Dragon Ball to DVD, but with a slight snag: since Vidmark remained the distributor of the earlier DB dub, they could not release the first thirteen episodes of the new dub until their license expired. The two remaining DB movies were also dubbed at this time.
 
  +
{{Main|Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!}}
  +
''Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!'' is a 35-minute animated short film that premiered in Japan at the Jump Super Anime Tour on September 21, 2008. It was the first animated ''Dragon Ball'' feature in twelve years, following the tenth anniversary film ''The Path to Power''. It also featured the first ''Dragon Ball'' animations in nearly a decade, following a short story arc in ''The New Dr. Slump'' anime series crossing over Goku and the [[Red Ribbon Army]] in 1999.
   
  +
===''Dragon Ball Kai''===
By 2003, with the completion of Dragon Ball Z, Funimation began dubbing Dragon Ball GT, which would be released on both Cartoon Network and DVD. However, they were afraid they would experience the same drop off as Japan by starting with the lighter episodes at the beginning. In a controversial decision, Funimation decided to start from the first action-intensive arc, connected with the first major villain of the series. Furthermore, a special episode was created for the beginning of this series that would fill in the material prior to the start of this arc (such as how Goku became a child again and went into space). Similarly, DBGT would feature a new musical composer, pushing music with a harder sound and even creating a hip-hop-style opening. Eventually after the completion of the series, the earlier episodes prior to the starting point were released and aired as "Lost Episodes".
 
  +
{{Main|Dragon Ball Z Kai}}
  +
[[File:Images9.jpg|thumb|''Dragon Ball Kai'' logo]]
  +
''Dragon Ball Kai'' is an HD remastered anime, produced by Toei Animation as part of the 20th Anniversary of ''Dragon Ball Z'' in Japan. It premiered on Fuji TV in April 2009. The series is being extensively "refreshed" for Japanese TV. It is not a new series per se, but rather a revised, faster-paced version of ''Dragon Ball Z'' that cuts out most of the filler material not featured in the original manga. Part of this is reformatting and extending the picture to 16:9 Widescreen. Through digital processing, the image is made vibrant. All the grime, damage and noise remaining on the "Z" film is removed, making the image much clearer in HD. ''Dragon Ball Kai'' includes a complete re-recording of the dialogue by most of the original Japanese voice cast, as well as a new sound design with updated sound effects. The opening and ending themes are completely new and feature updated animation. The "Kai" in the series' title means "revised," "updated," "modified" or "altered". The series initially ended its run with the conclusion of the [[Cell Saga|Cell arc]] in March 2011, but later returned with the [[Buu Saga|Majin Buu arc]] in April 2014 on Fuji TV; ending its complete run in June 2015 with 159 episodes (in contrast to the original 291 episodes of ''DBZ''; though the international broadcast of ''Kai'' has extended the total episode count to 167).
   
  +
FUNimation licensed the series for an English-language release under the title ''Dragon Ball Z Kai''. The series began airing in the U.S. in May 2010 on the [[Nicktoons]] network, in contrast to the previous three ''Dragon Ball'' series airing on Cartoon Network. The majority of FUNimation's in-house voice actors returned for ''Dragon Ball Z Kai'', though several characters' voices were re-casted. The series was edited on Nicktoons to fit the expected audience, and occasionally contained different verbiage than the home video release, which is entirely unedited. Some special techniques regained their correct and untranslated-proper-noun announcements in the unedited dub, while most of the character names that have always been engraved in the English dub remained the same. Still, the dubbing of ''Kai'' is much more faithful to the Japanese script than previous dubs by FUNimation, and episode titles are mostly faithful translations of their original Japanese versions. In addition to Nicktoons, ''Kai'' also aired on The CW's "Toonzai" programing block (later renamed "Vortexx"), starting in August 2010. The Toonzai version of ''Kai'' was edited further than the Nicktoons version, and even more so than the 1990s Ocean dub of the original ''DBZ''. The uncut version of ''Kai'' began airing on Adult Swim's Toonami block in November 2014 (thus bringing the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise back to Cartoon Network). The Majin Buu arc of ''Kai'', under the title ''Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters'', made its U.S. debut on Toonami in January 2017.
Release of manga in US through comics and Shonen Jump.
 
   
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===''Episode of Bardock''===
== Neko Majin Z ==
 
{{Main|Neko Majin Z}}
+
{{Main|Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock}}
  +
''Episode of Bardock'' is a 2011 sequel to the 1990 TV special ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku]]''. It was made by [[Naho Ooishi]] and was adapted into an anime in December 2011.
   
  +
===''Dream 9''===
Originally a one-shot bearing little relation to Akira Toriyama's other series, the first chapter of Neko Majin appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump in April 1999 (WJ #22-23). Though there were some similarities, it didn't become a self-parody of the Dragon Ball manga, until Neko Majin Z, which had cameos of characters from the author's magnum opus. As of 2005, the series was completed with eight total chapters (five of which are Dragon Ball parodies). These chapters were compiled into a "kanzenban"-style package for release in Japan on 4 April 2005.However because the manga is intended as a parody of Dragon Ball, most fans do not consider it a sequel and do not consider the events canonical. (post DB projects
 
  +
''[[Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special]]'' is an anime TV crossover special between ''Dragon Ball Z'', ''One Piece'' and ''Toriko'' that aired in Japan in April 2013.
   
  +
===''Dragon Ball Super''===
== Kochikame 30th anniversary ==
 
  +
{{Main|Dragon Ball Super (anime)|Dragon Ball Super (manga)}}
  +
[[File:Dragon Ball Super Opening Logo.jpg|thumb|left|''Dragon Ball Super'' logo]]
  +
''Dragon Ball Super'' is the fourth ''Dragon Ball'' anime series, which debuted in July 2015 on Fuji TV in Japan, after the success of the ''DBZ'' movies ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods|Battle of Gods]]'' and ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’|Resurrection ‘F’]]''. It ran for 131 episodes until March 2018. It chronologically takes place just before the ending of ''Dragon Ball Z''. A companion manga adaptation of ''Super'' by [[Toyotarō]] has been published alongside the anime. Funimation's English dub of ''Super'' began airing in the U.S. on Adult Swim's Toonami block from January 2017 to October 2019.
   
  +
{{-}}
On the 30th anniversary of Kochikame's serialization in September, 2006, Ryo-san made a cameo in every serialized manga currently in Weekly Jump; most notably, he had a full appearance as a marine in One Piece (chapter 428) and drinking alongside Don Patch in Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo. At the same time, a special manga was published featuring the Kochikame characters in special chapters of series such as Golgo 13, Lupin III, Kinnikuman and Dragon Ball, as well as congratulatory pics from over 80 mangaka, many from Weekly Jump authors past and present, but also from other Shueisha mangaka and even from manga artists not associated with Shueisha such as Hiromu Arakawa (Fullmetal Alchemist) and Jyoji "George" Morikawa (Hajime no Ippo).
 
   
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===''Super Dragon Ball Heroes''===
  +
{{Main|Super Dragon Ball Heroes (anime)|Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission (manga)}}
  +
[[File:SDBH_Universe_Mission_anime_poster.jpg|thumb|''Super Dragon Ball Heroes'' logo]]
  +
''Super Dragon Ball Heroes'', also referred to as ''Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission'', is the fifth anime installment and the very first web series in the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise. The anime is primarily promotional for the ''[[Dragon Ball Heroes]]'' video game and is based upon the Prison Planet Saga. For the ''Dragon Ball Super'' characters, the events take place after the [[Universe Survival Saga]] and for the "Xeno" characters, the events occur after the [[Dark Empire Saga]]. It was pre-screened for the first time in AEON LakeTown on July 1, 2018.
   
  +
==''Dragon Ball'' Canon==
== Special Chapters ==
 
  +
The term canon, with respect to works of fiction, refers to the overall set of story lines, premises, settings, and characters offered by the source media text. Secondly, it is used as a descriptor of specific incidents, relationships, or story arcs that take place within the overall canon. Thus, all officially released ''Dragon Ball'' media falls within the definition of the term canon. Despite the literal meaning, certain fans maintain their own unique definitions of canon, sometimes excluding games, and/or movies, and/or the anime series, and/or the manga.
   
  +
===Manga===
1. Golgo 13 (The Holiday Runner) - Ryo-san and Nakagawa are on vacation in France when Ryo-san's luggage gets mixed up with Golgo 13's. So they chase after him in order to retrieve it.
 
  +
====''Dragon Ball''====
  +
In the universe of ''Dragon Ball'', the highest level of canon is the manga ''[[Dragon Ball (manga)|Dragon Ball]]''. Published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' in Japan, the comic was both written and drawn by Akira Toriyama. As such, it represents the ultimate and correct vision of his world as it was presented to his readers. Fortunately, the manga itself is relatively free from direct contradictions, though there are certainly some topics open for debate.
   
  +
Although [[Viz Media|Viz Communications]] is thought to do a good job translating the manga into English by fans, the final and authoritative source is the original Japanese comic.
2. Lupin III (Kankichi Ryotsu vs. Lupin III) - Ryo-san, Nakagawa, Reiko, and Bucho must prevent Lupin and the gang from stealing a diamond from a museum.
 
   
  +
====Kanzenban Re-release====
3. Kinnikuman (Seigi Choujin's Great Rendezvous in Kameari) - Kinnikuman and the Idol Choujins head to Kameari in order to fight Akuma Choujins, but each end up getting arrested for various reason.
 
  +
In the 2002-04 re-release of the ''Dragon Ball'' manga (called the Kanzenban, or "complete edition"), Akira Toriyama rewrote the final four pages of the series. However, this change has no impact on the storyline: at the conclusion of the series, after carrying the boy on his back a short time to [[Flight|fly]], Goku gives his [[Flying Nimbus]] to [[Uub]].
   
  +
The only change significant to the story in the re-release is that the date of the [[Cell Games]] is changed to the 26th of May, from the 17th of "M." This was done to remove a noticeable contradiction in the series, specifically that if the [[Red Ribbon Androids]] arrived on May 12 and at least 10 days elapsed between then and the start of the Cell Games, a date of May 17 for the latter event would be impossible.
4. Dragon Ball (Kochira Namek-Sei Dragon Kōen-mae Hashutsujo) - Ryo-san, having been reassigned to Planet Namek, runs across Frieza and tries to arrest him for parking his UFO illegally. Vegeta and Goku make appearances as well.
 
   
  +
====''Dr. Slump''====
5. Shinsetsu Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Pyuu to Fuku! Jaguar, Taizo Mote King Saga, Maison de Penguin (Ryo-san vs. Don Patch!! Jump Gag All Stars' Great Panic in Katsushika) - Don Patch, jealous of the attention Ryo-san is getting during the 30th Anniversary Celebration, tries to steal Ryo-san's statue. So Bo-bobo, Jaguar, and Taizo help Ryo-san stop him.
 
  +
Prior to writing ''Dragon Ball'', Akira Toriyama wrote a separate weekly humor manga for ''Shōnen Jump'' called ''Dr. Slump''. It featured the adventures of [[Senbei Norimaki]], an inept inventor, and his [[android]] daughter [[Arale]] in [[Penguin Village]]. During the [[Red Ribbon Army Saga]], Goku and [[General Blue]] wind up in Penguin Village and are assisted by characters from the previous series. ''Dr. Slump'' itself is not meant to be taken seriously, as it contains references to the real world, as well as generally "implausible" events such as the earth being cut in half (in a comedic fashion). While the characters in ''Dr. Slump'' exist as cameos in the ''Dragon Ball'' universe, it is debatable at best whether the ''Dragon Ball'' universe is truly compatible with the world portrayed in ''Dr. Slump''.
   
  +
====''Nekomajin''====
  +
Long after finishing up with ''Dragon Ball'', Akira Toriyama has written a short series of one-shot comics that parody ''Dragon Ball''. Called ''Neko Majin'', it features several characters from or inspired by ''Dragon Ball''; for example: the [[Saiyan]] [[Onio]] and [[Honey|his wife]], Frieza's son [[Kuriza]], and even appearances by Vegeta, Majin Buu, and Goku and [[Son family|his family]]. Kuriza appears in a few ''Dragon Ball Z'' video games.
   
  +
====30th anniversary of ''KochiKame''====
  +
To celebrate its thirtieth anniversary of the serialization of ''KochiKame'', in September 2006, special chapters were written with crossovers between ''KochiKame'' and other ''Shōnen Jump'' mangas. One was a ''Dragon Ball'' crossover in which Ryo-san is reassigned to planet Namek and has to deal with Frieza who parked his ship illegally.
   
  +
====''Cross Epoch''====
  +
''Cross Epoch'' is a Japanese manga by Akira Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda. It is a crossover between ''Dragon Ball'' and ''One Piece''. It was released on December 25, 2006 in the ''Weekly Shōnen Jump''. It features alternate versions of ''Dragon Ball'' characters and is a crossover manga.
   
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====''Dragon Ball Heroes''====
  +
The Japanese arcade game ''[[Dragon Ball Heroes]]'' has spawned several spin-off manga throughout its lifespan including two that are based around the game's concepts: ''[[Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission]]'' and ''[[Dragon Ball Heroes: Charisma Mission]]'', two manga detailing the story of the Time Patrol's battles with the Dark Demon Realm army and Fu and his prisoners: ''[[Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Dark Demon Realm Mission!]]'' and ''[[Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission (manga)|Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission]]'', and a what-if scenario based around Bardock: ''[[Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock]]''.
   
  +
In ''Episode of Bardock'', [[Bardock]] survives Frieza's attack and is sent to the past, on [[Planet Plant]]. There, he fights Frieza's ancestor [[Chilled]] and becomes a [[Super Saiyan]].
   
== Cross Epoch ==
+
===Anime===
  +
====''Dragon Ball'', ''Dragon Ball Z'', ''Dragon Ball GT'' and ''Dragon Ball Super''====
  +
[[File:Dragonballz 10000 by dragonballzCZ.jpg|thumb|''Dragon Ball'' anime and movie characters]]
  +
The second highest level of canon in ''Dragon Ball'' is the four-part anime series. Episodes often include [[filler]], which is material that was not in the manga. This is due largely to the manga and the anime being produced in parallel; it was often necessary for the anime to add filler material to keep from getting ahead of the manga. These extended sequences often add detail to the back story. The original Japanese version is considered by some to be a more authoritative source than other dubs due to occasional translation errors. Some of the filler contradicts later additions made by Toriyama itself, like ''[[Dragon Ball Minus]]''.
   
  +
''Dragon Ball GT'' is an anime original sequel series to ''Dragon Ball Z'' and is not based on manga. Akira Toriyama contributed basic materials such as early plot overviews, early character designs, and objects. The author himself has had no problems with the series, and has publicly stated on a number of occasions that he likes it. He also compliments some of the anime production staffs that were able to mimic his drawings correctly. He also redrew [[Super Saiyan 4]] that is designed by the anime character designer. The fan receptions relating ''Dragon Ball GT'' is divided. Some are able to accept while some do not. Akira Toriyama noted that it's up to fans to accept the ending in ''Dragon Ball Z'' or ''Dragon Ball GT''.
Cross Epoch is a Japanese manga by Akira Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda. It's a crossover between "Dragon Ball" and "One Piece".
 
   
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''Dragon Ball Super'' is also highly criticized due to the huge contradictions between the anime and manga. While both of them are being produced at the same time and the anime is ahead of the manga, there are many modifications done by both parties, making the story-line more diverged. Akira Toriyama gives the original story-line and major character designs and it's up to anime and manga production staffs to expand it. The manga is checked regularly by Akira Toriyama during the script-making stage as well as before the final release.
Released on December 25th, 2006 in the Weekly Shōnen Jump.
 
   
  +
====Garlic Jr. Saga====
There are currently no plans for "Cross Epoch" to be released as a Tankōbon or for it to be released in English.
 
  +
The [[Garlic Jr. Saga]] is an interesting exception to most of the filler used in the anime and its level of canon is disputed. Like much of the other filler, it does not include situations described in the original manga. However, it is a direct sequel to events from the first ''Dragon Ball Z'' movie "Return My Gohan!" (dub: ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone]]''). It details a second attempt by [[Garlic Jr.]] to take over the world and also features other elements which are more difficult to rationalize in the anime such as the appearance of [[Gohan]]'s pet dragon, [[Icarus]], from the movie ''The Tree of Might''.
   
  +
Because it does not have the level of contradictions found in other movies, some fans consider both the Garlic Jr. Saga and ''Dead Zone'' to have "happened" within the anime canon. This remains, however, a controversial topic. ''Dead Zone'' is considered to take place shortly before the start of ''Dragon Ball Z'', but two problems arise when fitting it into the flow of the series: given that the Dragon Balls are used in the film, Goku is alive, and Gohan is still very young, it must happen at least a full year before Goku is revived (and thus before the arrival of [[Raditz]] at the start of the series); on the other hand, Gohan is known to Krillin, [[Bulma]] and [[Master Roshi]] in the movie, whereas he was unknown to them at the start of the series itself.
   
  +
===Movies===
== Dragonball canon ==
 
  +
{{Main|List of Dragon Ball films}}
  +
''Dragon Ball'' and ''Dragon Ball Z'' each had a number of movies made, generally two each year (one each for the spring and summer recesses from school). While it is possible to relate the movies to a relative time period within the series itself, some movie events contradict events within the normal flow of the series. This is not uncommon with ''Dragon Ball'' media, as both the manga and anime series often contradict themselves.
   
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====TV Specials====
  +
There are two ''Dragon Ball Z'' television specials, which aired as special double-length episodes during the normal course of the series. The ''Dragon Ball Z'' television specials are noteworthy in that their content (for the most part) does not contradict the manga. The [[Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku|Bardock]] special contradicts the original manga only in that Goku appears happy (rather than violent and bloodthirsty) at the end, and Bardock himself later appeared in a two-panel stint in the manga; it however contradicts ''Dragon Ball Minus'', that was only added later to the canon by Toriyama itself. The [[Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks|Trunks]] special was actually based on a special chapter of the manga, though it presents an alternate version of certain events in that chapter (namely, it alters when [[Future Trunks|Trunks]] was able to achieve Super Saiyan, for dramatic effect).
   
  +
There is one ''Dragon Ball GT'' television special, which is grouped with that series in terms of canon level.
===The Manga===
 
   
====Dragonball====
+
===OVA===
  +
The OVA ''[[Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans|Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans]]'' is generally considered lower than the movies on the canon scale, though it is noteworthy in that its villain, [[Dr. Lychee]], was more-or-less rehashed into [[Dr. Myuu]] for ''Dragon Ball GT''. It should be noted that this OVA was originally released as an official visual guide for the NES game ''[[Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku (video game)|Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku]]''. Later, a [[Gaiden: Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku (series)|two-part 'digital comic' game series]] (composed of various parts of the OVA turned into interactive cutscenes) was released for the Playdia. A remade version of the OVA is also featured on ''[[Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2]]''.
   
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===Video Games===
In the universe of Dragon Ball, the highest level of canon is the manga Dragon Ball. Published in Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan, the comic was both written and drawn by Akira Toriyama. As such, it represents the ultimate and correct vision of his world as it was presented to his readers. Fortunately, the manga itself is relatively free from direct contradictions, though there are certainly some topics open for debate.
 
  +
{{Main|List of Dragon Ball video games}}
  +
Lower than the movies and OVA's in terms of canonocity is the world of video games followed by that of the collectible card games. These games often contain what-if stories. [[:Category:Video games with original storylines|Some video games]], such as ''[[Dragon Ball Z: V.R.V.S.]]'', the [[Dragon Ball Z: Budokai (series)#Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai|''Shin Budokai'' games]], ''[[Dragon Ball Online]]'', ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z]]'' ([[Special Age]] stories), and ''[[Dragon Ball Xenoverse]]'', contain unique stories which could be considered on the same level as the movies/OVAs. The ''Dragon Ball'' video game franchise also holds the fighting games with the most playable characters: ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3]]'' on console and ''[[Dragon Ball Heroes]]'' on arcade.
   
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===Daizenshuu===
Although Viz Communications is thought to do a good job translating the manga into English by fans, the final and authoritative source is the original Japanese comic.
 
  +
{{Main|Daizenshuu}}
  +
These "Perfect File" books are reference guides to the series and often contain character and attack names and other clarifications which are not present in the manga or anime themselves. There are no current plans to release these books in the U.S. and they are out of print even in Japan.
   
  +
Many fans, however, question how canon the books actually are, since they were not written by Akira Toriyama. The [[Power Level]]s given in the books are often disregarded by some fans who find inconsistencies in them. One notable example is that [[Nappa]]'s power level is stated to be 4,000 in the books, though this is never given in the manga along with assortment of other readings given. Both the manga and ''Daizenshuu'' state Goku's power level during the fight to be 8,000 which means he was twice Nappa's power level suggesting he should have had an easy time defeating him without using the [[Kaio-ken]]. However, as after Nappa powered up, he managed to trade blows with Goku, and after deflecting Nappa's strongest attack, Goku comments that the fight could take forever without the use of the Kaio-ken, contradicting the stated information in the ''Daizenshuu''. Also, the ''Daizenshuu'' list of the main characters' ages throughout the series is somewhat debatable as well. For example, in the ''Daizenshuu'', Goku is stated as being 13 years old when he participats in the 21st [[World Martial Arts Tournament]], yet in both the manga and anime Goku himself states that he is 12 (after revealing that he was taught how to count properly).
====Kanzenban Rerelease====
 
   
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==Real World Timeline==
In the 2002-04 rerelease of the Dragon Ball manga (called the Kanzenban, or "complete edition"), Akira Toriyama rewrote the final four pages of the series. However, this change has no impact on the storyline. (Son Goku gives Kintoun to Uub at the conclusion of the series, rather than carrying the boy on his back.)
 
  +
;1980
  +
*'''February''': ''[[Dr. Slump]]'' manga begins serialization in ''Shōnen Jump''.
   
  +
;1981
The only change significant to the story in the re-release is that the date of the Cell Game is changed to the 26th of May, from the 17th of "M." This was done to remove a noticeable contradiction in the series, specifically that if the Jinzōningen arrived on May 12th and at least 10 days elapsed between then and the start of the Cell Game, a date of May 17th for the latter event would be impossible. (Alternative theories, such as the month after May in the Dragon Ball universe starting with the letter "M", now appear to hold no weight.)
 
  +
*'''April''': ''Dr. Slump'' anime begins airing on [[Fuji Television|Fuji TV]] on April 8.
   
  +
;1983
====Dr. Slump====
 
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*''[[Dragon Boy]]'' and ''[[Adventures of Tongpoo]]'' appear in ''Fresh Jump''.
   
  +
;1984
Prior to writing Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama wrote a separate weekly humor manga for Shonen Jump called Dr. Slump. It featured the adventures of an inept inventor and his android daughter Arale in Penguin Village. During the Red Ribbon Army Saga, Son Goku and General Blue wind up in Penguin Village and are assisted by characters from the previous series. Dr. Slump itself is not meant to be taken seriously, as it contains references to the real world, as well as generally "implausible" events such as the earth being cut in half (in a comedic fashion). While the characters in Dr. Slump exist as cameos in the Dragon Ball universe, it is debatable at best whether the Dragon Ball universe is truly compatible with the world portrayed in Dr. Slump.
 
  +
*'''September''': ''Dr. Slump'' manga ends serialization in ''Shōnen Jump''.
  +
*'''November''': [[Dragon Ball (manga)|''Dragon Ball'' manga]] begins serialization in ''Shōnen Jump'' on November 20.
   
  +
;1985
====Neko Majin Z====
 
  +
*'''September''': ''Dragon Ball'' manga tankôbon begins publication in Japan.
   
  +
;1986
Long after finishing up with Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama has written a short series of one-shot comics that parody Dragon Ball. Called Neko Majin Z (because it stars a cat-warrior named "Z"), it features several characters from or inspired by Dragon Ball. (For example: the Saiyan Onio and his wife, Freeza's son Kuriza, Z's rival Neko Majin Usagi and even appearances by Vegeta, Majin Buu and Goku.)
 
  +
*'''February''': ''Dr. Slump'' anime ends its run on Fuji TV after 243 episodes on February 19; [[Dragon Ball (anime)|''Dragon Ball'' anime]] begins airing on February 26.
  +
*'''November''': ''[[Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo|Dragon Ball: Mystery of Shenlong]]'' video game for NES is released in Japan.
  +
*'''December''': [[Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies|DB Movie #1]] premieres in Japan.
   
  +
;1987
Because the manga is intended as a parody of Dragon Ball, most fans do not consider it a sequel and do not consider the events canonical. That has not prevented the characters of Neko Majin Z from appearing in Dragon Ball fan fiction or Kuriza from showing up in some Dragon Ball Z video games and being included in character lists by some fans.
 
  +
*'''July''': [[Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle|DB Movie #2]] premieres in Japan.
   
  +
;1988
====Kochikame 30th anniversary manga====
 
  +
*'''July''': [[Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure|DB Movie #3]] premieres in Japan.
  +
*'''August''': Famicom ''[[Dragon Ball: Daimaō Fukkatsu|Resurrection of the Demon King]]'' is released in Japan.
   
  +
;1989
For the 30th anniversary of kochikame the longest running manga to date, a special manga was made. The manga was a crossover between various different mangas and kochikame characters. Ryo-san, having been reassigned to Planet Namek, runs across Frieza and tries to arrest him for parking his UFO illegally. Vegeta and Goku make appearances as well. While it was co-written by Akira Toriyama and had appearances by Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, and took place on Namek it is not considered to be canon.
 
  +
*'''April''': ''Dragon Ball'' anime ends its run on Fuji TV after 153 episodes on April 19; ''[[Dragon Ball Z]]'' begins airing on April 26.
  +
*'''July''': [[Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone|DBZ Movie #1]] premieres in Japan.
  +
*'''October''': Famicom ''[[Dragon Ball 3: Gokuden|Story of Goku]]'' is released in Japan.
  +
*''Dragon Ball'' anime's first English dub by [[Harmony Gold dub|Harmony Gold USA]] arrives in the US, but is canceled after five episodes.
   
  +
;1990
====Cross Epoch====
 
  +
*'''March''': [[Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest|DBZ Movie #2]] premieres in Japan.
  +
*'''July''': [[Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might|DBZ Movie #3]] premieres in Japan.
  +
*'''October''': [[Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku|DBZ TV Special #1]] airs on Fuji TV; Famicom ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Kyōshū! Saiyan]]'' is released in Japan.
   
  +
;1991
Cross Epoch is a Japanese manga by Akira Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda. It's a crossover between "Dragon Ball" and "One Piece". It was released on December 25th, 2006 in the Weekly Shōnen Jump.
 
  +
*'''March''': [[Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug|DBZ Movie #4]] premieres in Japan.
  +
*'''July''': [[Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge|DBZ Movie #5]] premieres in Japan.
  +
*'''August''': Famicom ''[[Dragon Ball Z II: Gekishin Freeza|Battle Against Freeza]]'' is released in Japan.
   
  +
;1992
Because it features alternate versions of dragonball manga and is a crossover manga it is not considered canon.
 
  +
*'''January''': Super Famicom ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Densetsu|Legend of the Super Saiyan]]'' is released in Japan.
  +
*'''March''': [[Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler|DBZ Movie #6]] premieres in Japan.
  +
*'''July''': [[Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!|DBZ Movie #7]] premieres in Japan.
  +
*'''August''': Famicom ''[[Dragon Ball Z III: Ressen Jinzōningen|Battle Against the Androids]]'' and ''[[Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans|Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans]]'' are released in Japan.
  +
*'''December''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Gekitō Tenkaichi Budōkai]]'' is released in Japan.
   
  +
;1993
===The Anime===
 
  +
*'''February''': [[Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks|DBZ TV Special #2]] airs on Fuji TV.
  +
*'''March''': [[Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan|DBZ Movie #8]] premieres in Japan; Super Famicom ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden]]'' is released in Japan.
  +
*'''July''': [[Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound|DBZ Movie #9]] premieres in Japan.
  +
*'''December''': Super Famicom ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 2]]'' is released in Japan.
   
  +
;1994
The second highest level of canon in Dragon Ball is the two anime series based on the comic: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. This anime series significantly "fill out" the plot of the Dragon Ball comic with many extended sequences. This is due largely to the comic and the anime being produced in parallel; it was often necessary for the anime to add filler material to keep from getting ahead of the manga. These extended sequences often fill out the backstory, but frequently are contradicted by events later in the manga.
 
  +
*'''March''': [[Dragon Ball Z: Broly - Second Coming|DBZ Movie #10]] premieres in Japan.
  +
*'''April''': Mega Drive ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Buyū Retsuden]]'' is released in Japan.
  +
*'''May''': [[Funimation|FUNimation Productions]] is founded by Gen Fukunaga in the U.S. and later acquires the rights to dub the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise.
  +
*'''July''': [[Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly|DBZ Movie #11]] premieres in Japan.
  +
*'''September''': Super Famicom ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 3]]'' and Playdia ''[[Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Shin Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku - Chikyū-Hen|The Plan to Destroy the Saiyans Part 1]]'' are released in Japan.
  +
*'''November''': Turbo Duo ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Son Goku Densetsu|Legend of Son Goku]]'' and Game Boy ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Goku Hishōden|Goku Hishōden]]'' are released in Japan.
  +
*'''December''': Playdia ''[[Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Shin Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku - Uchū-Hen|The Plan to Destroy the Saiyans Part 2]]'' is released in Japan.
   
  +
;1995
Most fans consider the events in the anime to be somewhat canon, unless they are directly contradicted by events later in the series. Again, the original Japanese version is considered the authoritative source for anime canon, as the English dubs introduce inconsistencies and misinformation that further muddle the story.
 
  +
*'''March''': [[Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn|DBZ Movie #12]] premieres in Japan; Super Famicom ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Totsugeki-Hen|Super Gokuden 1]]'' is released in Japan.
  +
*'''May''': ''Dragon Ball'' manga ends serialization in ''Shōnen Jump'' on May 23.
  +
*'''July''': [[Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon|DBZ Movie #13]] premieres in Japan; PlayStation ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22]]'' is released in Japan.
  +
*'''August''': Game Boy ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Goku Gekitōden]]'' is released in Japan; ''Dragon Ball'' manga tankôbon ends publication in Japan.
  +
*'''September''': Super Famicom ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Kakusei-Hen|Super Gokuden 2]]'' is released in Japan; Funimation's [[Ocean Group dubs|first dub]] of ''Dragon Ball'' begins airing in U.S. syndication, but is canceled after thirteen episodes.
  +
*'''November:''' Saturn ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Shin Butōden]]'' is released in Japan.
   
  +
;1996
====TV Specials====
 
  +
*'''January''': ''Dragon Ball Z'' ends its run on Fuji TV after 291 episodes on January 31.
  +
*'''February''': ''[[Dragon Ball GT]]'' begins airing on Fuji TV on February 7.
  +
*'''March''': [[Dragon Ball: The Path to Power|''Dragon Ball'' 10th Anniversary Movie]] premieres in Japan; Super Famicom ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension]]'' is released in Japan.
  +
*'''May''': PlayStation / Saturn ''[[Dragon Ball Z: The Legend]]'' is released in Japan.
  +
*'''September''': Funimation's [[Ocean Group dubs|Ocean dub]] of ''Dragon Ball Z'' begins airing in U.S. syndication; DB Movie #1 is released to VHS in the U.S.
   
  +
;1997
There are two Dragon Ball Z television specials, which aired as special double-length episodes during the normal course of the series. The Dragon Ball Z television specials are noteworthy in that their content (for the most part) does not contradict the manga. The Bardock special contradicts the manga only in that Goku appears happy (rather than violent and bloodthirsty) at the end, and Bardock himself later appeared in a two-panel stint in the manga. The Trunks special was actually based on a special chapter of the manga, though it presents an alternate version of certain events in that chapter (namely, it alters when Trunks was able to achieve Super Saiyan, for dramatic effect).
 
  +
*'''March''': [[Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy|DBGT TV Special]] airs on Fuji TV.
  +
*'''August''': PlayStation ''[[Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout]]'' is released in Japan.
  +
*'''November''': ''Dragon Ball GT'' ends its run on Fuji TV after 64 episodes on November 19; ''The New Dr. Slump'' anime begins airing on November 26; ''Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout'' is released for the PlayStation in the U.S. (first DB video game to be released in the U.S.)
  +
*'''December''': DBZ Movie #1 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
   
  +
;1998
There is one Dragon Ball GT television special, which is grouped with that series in terms of canon level.
 
  +
*'''March''': DBZ Movie #3 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''May''': DBZ Movie #2 is released to VHS/DVD in the US; Funimation's Ocean dub of DBZ is canceled after two seasons in U.S. syndication.
  +
*'''August''': ''Dragon Ball Z'' arrives on Cartoon Network's [[Toonami]] block.
   
  +
;1999
====Garlic Jr. Saga====
 
  +
*'''April''': DB Movie #2 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''September''': Funimation's [[Funimation dub|in-house dub]] of ''Dragon Ball Z'' begins airing on Cartoon Network; ''The New Dr. Slump'' anime ends it's run on Fuji TV after 74 episodes on September 22.
   
  +
;2000
The Garlic Junior Saga is an interesting exception to most of the filler used in the anime and its level of canon is disputed. Like much of the other filler, it does not include situations described in the original manga. However, it is a direct sequel to events from the first Dragon Ball Z movie, "Return My Gohan!" (dub: "Dead Zone"). It details a second attempt by Garlic Junior to take over the world and also features other elements which are more difficult to rationalize in the anime such as the appearance of Son Gohan's pet dragon from Movie #3, Haiyaa Dragon.
 
  +
*'''October''': "Dragon Ball: The Saga of Goku" DVD box set is released in the U.S.
  +
*'''December''': DBZ TV Special #2 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
   
  +
;2001
Because it does not have the level of contradictions found in other movies, some fans consider both the Garlic Jr. Saga and Dead Zone to have "happened" within the anime canon. This remains, however, a controversial topic. Dead Zone is considered to take place shortly before the start of Dragon Ball Z, but two problems arise when fitting it into the flow of the series: given that the Dragon Balls are used in the film, Son Goku is alive, and Son Gohan is still very young, it must happen at least a full year before Goku is revived (and thus before the start of the series); on the other hand, Son Gohan is known to the characters in the movie, where he was unknown to them in the series itself. Thus, claims of canonicity are contentious at best.
 
  +
*'''January''': DBZ TV Special #1 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''February''': DB Movie #3 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''August''': DBZ Movie #4 is released to VHS/DVD in the US; FUNimation's in-house dub of ''Dragon Ball'' begins airing on Cartoon Network.
   
  +
;2002
====Dragon Ball GT====
 
  +
*'''January''': DBZ Movie #5 is released in the U.S.
  +
*'''May''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku]]'' is released for the Game Boy Advance in the U.S. (first DB video game to be produced in the U.S.)
  +
*'''August''': DBZ Movie #6 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''December''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Budokai]]'' is released for the PlayStation 2 in the U.S.
   
  +
;2003
Dragon Ball GT was an original sequel series to Dragon Ball Z, based on the manga by Akira Toriyama. Toriyama did contribute some material early on, such as character designs for the leads, their spaceship, and some of the aliens, but for the most part, it was the work of Toei Animation. The author himself has had no problems with the series, and has publicly stated on a number of occasions that he liked it and considers it something of a "sidestory." This view is shared (though usually with far less goodwill toward the series) among many fans.
 
  +
*'''February''': DBZ Movie #7 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''March''': [[Viz Media]] begins releasing the ''Dragon Ball'' manga tankôbon into English in the U.S.
  +
*'''April''': Funimation's in-house dub of DBZ ends its run on Cartoon Network; ''Dragon Ball'' 10th Anniversary Movie is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''June''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II]]'' is released for the Game Boy Advance in the U.S.
  +
*'''August''': DBZ Movie #8 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''October''': ''Dragon Ball Z: Budokai'' is released for the Gamecube in the U.S.
  +
*'''November''': ''Dragon Ball GT'' begins airing on Cartoon Network; ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2]]'' is released for the PlayStation 2 in the U.S.
  +
*'''December''': Funimation's in-house dub of ''Dragon Ball'' ends its run on Cartoon Network.
   
  +
;2004
Regardless of the creator's influence, a number of plot holes make the series difficult to classify as canon. These include, but are not limited to:
 
  +
*'''August''': DBZ Movie #9 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''September''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury]]'' is released for the Game Boy Advance in the U.S.
  +
*'''November''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3]]'' is released for the PlayStation 2 in the US; ''[[Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure]]'' is released for the Game Boy Advance in the U.S.
  +
*'''December''': ''Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2'' is released for the Gamecube in the U.S.
   
  +
;2005
Son Goku's immature behavior in his child form, despite retaining his adult memories and strength.
 
  +
*'''February''': DBGT Dragon Box is released to DVD in Japan.
  +
*'''March''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Sagas]]'' is released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Gamecube in the U.S.
  +
*'''April''': ''Dragon Ball GT'' ends its run on Cartoon Network; DBZ Movie #10 is released to DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''May''': DBZ Movie #1 is re-released to DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''June – October''': Funimation's re-dub of the first two DBZ seasons airs on Cartoon Network.
  +
*'''September''': DBZ Movie #11 is released to DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''November''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi]]'' is released for the PlayStation 2 in the U.S.
   
  +
;2006
Trunks and Son Goku not using Super Saiyan as often as they ought to, in fights where it would easily allow them to win.
 
  +
*'''March''': DBZ Movie #12 is released to DVD in the US; ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai]]'' is released for the PlayStation Portable in the U.S.
  +
*'''June''': Viz Media releases final ''Dragon Ball'' manga tankôbon into English in the US; ''[[Super Dragon Ball Z]]'' is released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan.
  +
*'''July''': ''Super Dragon Ball Z'' is released for the PlayStation 2 in the U.S. and Europe.
  +
*'''September''': DBZ Movie #13 is released to DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''November''': "Dragon Ball Z: First Strike" DVD box set is released in the US; ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2]]'' is released for the PlayStation 2 and Wii in the U.S.
   
  +
;2007
Vegeta growing (and then shaving off) a mustache, when Saiyans are previously stated to only have hair that grows in a set pattern, to a certain length. (There is no previous evidence of Vegeta shaving in the series, though his father, when depicted in the anime, had a mustache and beard.)
 
  +
*'''February''': [[Funimation Remastered Box Sets|Remastered ''Dragon Ball Z'' Season 1 Box Set]] is released to DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''March''': Announcement of a DRAGONBALL MMORPG, ''[[Dragon Ball Online]]''; ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road]]'' is released for the PlayStation Portable in the U.S.
  +
*'''May''': ''Dragon Ball Z'' Season 2 is released to DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''September''': ''Dragon Ball Z'' Season 3 is released to DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''November''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3]]'' is released for the PlayStation 2 in the U.S.
  +
*'''December''': ''Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3'' is released for the Wii in the U.S.
   
  +
;2008
Freeza and Cell being immortal in Hell, when in the final chapters of the manga it was revealed that someone dead can indeed be killed again, apparently totally destroying them.
 
  +
*'''February''': DBZ Season 4 and remastered DBZ TV specials 1 and 2 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; NTL expressed interest in releasing ''[[Dragon Ball Online]]'' to a worldwide audience.
  +
*'''May''': DBZ Season 5 and remastered DBZ movies 1 and 2 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''June''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit]]'' is released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the U.S.
  +
*'''September''': DBZ Season 6 and remastered DBZ movies 3 and 4 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; ''[[Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!]]'' premieres in Japan.
  +
*'''November''': DBZ Season 7, and remastered DBZ movies 5 and 6 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World]]'' is released for the PlayStation 2 in the US; ''[[Dragon Ball: Origins]]'' is released for the Nintendo DS in the U.S.
  +
*'''December''': Remastered ''Dragon Ball GT'' Season 1 Box Set is released to DVD in the U.S.
   
  +
;2009
Thus, Dragon Ball GT is often considered a non-canon "epilogue" to the main plot that takes place after the events of Dragon Ball Z.
 
  +
*'''February''': DBZ Season 8, DBGT Season 2, and remastered DBZ movies 7 and 9 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''March''': Remastered DBZ movies 8, 10, and 11 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''April''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z Kai|Dragon Ball Kai]]'' begins airing on Fuji TV; ''[[Dragonball Evolution]]'' is released in theaters (live-action film); Closed beta testing began for ''[[Dragon Ball Online]]'' in South Korea.
  +
*'''May''': DBZ Season 9 and remastered DBZ movies 12 and 13 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in U.S.
  +
*'''September''': Remastered ''Dragon Ball'' Season 1 Box Set is released to DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''October''': ''[[Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo]]'' is released for the Wii in the U.S.
  +
*'''November''': [[Funimation Dragon Box Sets|''Dragon Ball Z'': Dragon Box 1]] and ''Dragon Ball'' Season 2 are released to DVD in the US; ''[[Dragon Ball: Raging Blast]]'' is released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the U.S.
   
  +
;2010
====The Daizenshuu====
 
  +
*'''February''': Funimation acquires the rights to dub ''Dragon Ball Kai'', under the name "Dragon Ball Z Kai"; DBZ Dragon Box 2 and ''Dragon Ball'' Season 3 are released to DVD in the US; ''[[Dragon Ball Online]]'' is released in Korea.
{{Main|Daizenshuu}}
 
  +
*'''March–April''': ''[[Dragon Ball Kai: Super Battle Stage]]'' is played at the Three Great Hero Super Battle Stage event from March 27 to April 23.
The final component which most fans consider to be canonical information is the several daizenshuu which were released only in Japan. These "Perfect File" books are reference guides to the series and often contain character and attack names and other clarifiations which are not present in the manga or anime themselves. There are no current plans to release these books in the US and they are out of print even in Japan.
 
  +
*'''May''': DBZ Dragon Box 3 and ''Dragon Ball'' Season 4 are released to DVD in the US; ''Dragon Ball Z Kai'' begins airing on Nicktoons and its first DVD/Blu-ray set is released in the U.S.
  +
*'''June''': ''[[Dragon Ball: Origins 2]]'' is released for the Nintendo DS in the U.S.
  +
*'''July''': ''Dragon Ball'' Season 5 is released to DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''August''': ''Dragon Ball Z Kai'' arrives on The CW's Toonzai block.
  +
*'''September''': DBZ Kai Part 2, DBZ Dragon Box 4, and "Dragon Ball GT: The Complete Series" are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''October''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team]]'' is released for the PlayStation Portable in the U.S.
  +
*'''November''': ''[[Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2]]'' is released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the U.S.
  +
*'''December''': DBZ Kai Part 3 and remastered DB Movie #1 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; the first chapter of ''[[Dragon Ball SD]]'' is published in ''Saikyō Jump''.
   
  +
;2011
Many fans however question how canon the actual books are. The books were not actually written by Akira Toriyama. The Power Levels given in the books are often disregarded by some fans who find inconsistencies in them. One notable example is that Nappa's power level is stated to be 4,000 in the books, though this is never given in the manga along with assortment of other readings given. Both the manga and Daizenshuu state Goku's power level during the fight to be 8,000 which means he was twice Nappa's power level suggesting he should have had an easy time defeating him without using Kaiô-ken. This is not true as Nappa manages to trade blows with Goku and after deflecting Nappa's strongest attack, comments that the fight will take forever without the use of Kaiou-ken, contradicting the stated information in the daizenshuu.
 
  +
*'''January''': ''[[Dragon Ball Online]]'' is announced for Taiwan.
  +
*'''February''': ''[[Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butōden]]'' is released for the Nintendo DS in Japan; ''[[Dragon Ball: Zenkai Battle]]'' is released for Arcades in Japan; "Dragon Ball: 4-Movie Pack" DVD box set is released in the US.
  +
*'''March''': DBZ Kai Part 4 is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; ''Dragon Ball Kai'' ends its initial run on Fuji TV after 97 episodes on March 27.
  +
*'''April''': DBZ Dragon Box 4 and DBZ Dragon Box 5 released to DVD in the U.S. ''Cross Epoch'' released in English as part of issue 100 of English ''Shonen Jump''. The second chapter of ''Dragon Ball SD'' is published in ''Saikyō Jump''.
  +
*'''May''': The closed beta testing for ''Dragon Ball Online'' in Taiwan began on May 12, and ended on May 16.
  +
*'''June''': DBZ Kai Part 5 is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; The first chapter of ''[[Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock]]'' is published in ''V-Jump''.
  +
*'''July''': DBZ Dragon Box 6 is released to DVD in the US; The second chapter of ''Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock'' is published in ''V-Jump''.
  +
*'''August''': The final chapter of ''Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock'' is published in ''V-Jump''.
  +
*'''September''': DBZ Kai Part 6 is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''October''': DBZ Dragon Box 7 is released to DVD in the US; ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi]]'' is released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the US and EU.
  +
*'''November''': [[Dragon Ball SSSS]] is launched by Bandai in conjunction with ''V-Jump'' and ''Saikyō Jump''; "Dragon Ball Z Movie Collection One" is released to DVD in the U.S.
  +
*'''December''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi]]'' is released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in Japan; "Dragon Ball Z Movie Collection Two" is released to DVD in the US; "Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1" which includes the first 17 DBZ episodes on two discs) is released to Blu-ray in the US; the anime adaptation of ''Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock'' aired at Jump Festa 2012 and the streamed version was only available online until December 28.
   
  +
;2012
====The Movies====
 
  +
*'''January''': ''Dragon Ball Z Kai'' ends its run on Nicktoons; "Dragon Ball Z Movie Collection Three" is released to DVD in the US; ''Dragon Ball GT'' arrives on Nicktoons
  +
*'''March''': DBZ Kai Part 7 is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''June''': DBZ Kai Part 8 is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''August''': ''Dragon Ball Z Kai'' moves to The CW's Vortexx block.
  +
*'''October''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z For Kinect]]'' is released for the Xbox 360 in the US; The spin-off manga ''[[Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission]]'' begins its serialization in ''V-Jump''.
  +
*'''November''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Budokai HD Collection]]'' is released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in the U.S.
   
  +
;2013
Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z each had a number of movies made, generally two each year (one each for the spring and summer recesses from school). While it is possible to relate the movies to a relative time period within the series itself, they often contradict, make impossible, or completely replace the normal flow of the series. Several movies have relatively few such conflicts, but none are completely free of them except 9. The movies are generally considered to be "sidestories" or "what if?" situations based on (or in a parallel universe to) the series, but not part of the series itself.
 
  +
*'''February''': The first three ''Dragon Ball Full Color'' volumes ([[Saiyan Saga|Saiyan Arc]]) are released on February 4;<ref name="2013VJump#2">''[[V-Jump]]'' #2, 2013</ref> the first ''[[Chouzenshuu|Chōzenshū]]'' volume is released February 5 and ''[[Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission]]'' is released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming console on February 28.
  +
*'''March''': The second ''Chōzenshū'' volume is released on March 4;<ref name="2013VJump#2"/> special cast greeting message and preview of [[Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods|DBZ Movie #14]] across Japan (Wald 9 Cinema in Tokyo, Burg 7 Theater in Osaka, 109 Cinemas in Nagoya, T-Joy Hakata in Fukuoka, and Sapporo Cinema Frontier in Sapporo) on March 12;<ref>''[[Weekly Young Jump]]'' #5/6, 2013</ref> second preview screening at Differ Ariake in Tokyo on March 16;<ref>''[[V-Jump]]'' #3, 2013</ref> the ''Battle of Gods'' magazine is released on March 21; the traveling exhibition "[[The World of Dragon Ball]]" is held in Tokyo from March 27 to April 15,<ref name="2013VJump#2"/> ''[[Dragon Ball: Tap Battle]]'' is released on Android2.3 (Gingerbread) and higher; [[Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods|DBZ Movie #14]] premieres in Japan.
  +
*'''April''': The five ''Dragon Ball Full Color'' volumes covering the [[Frieza Saga (disambiguation)|Frieza Arc]], the third ''Chōzenshū'' volume,<ref name="2013VJump#2"/> and the first ''Dragon Ball SD'' volume are released on April 4. The crossover TV special ''[[Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special]]'' airs on Fuji TV on April 7.<ref>[http://www.shonenjump.com/j/news/toriko-corabo-html ''Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special'' announced on the ''Shonen Jump'' website]</ref> The traveling exhibition "The World of Dragon Ball" is held in Ōsaka from April 17 to April 23.<ref name="2013VJump#2"/>
  +
*'''May''': The fourth ''Chōzenshū'' volume and the ''[[Chōgashū]]'' are released on May 9.<ref name="2013VJump#2"/>
  +
*'''July''': The publication of ''[[Jaco the Galactic Patrolman]]'' debuts in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'', ''Dragon Ball: Tap Battle'' is released on iOS, the traveling exhibition "The World of Dragon Ball" is held in Nagoya from July 27 to September 1.<ref name="2013VJump#2"/>
  +
*'''August''': "[[Dragon Ball Z: Rock the Dragon Edition]]" DVD box set is released in the U.S.
  +
*'''October''': ''[[Dragon Ball RPG: Shōnen-hen]]'' is released for both Android and iOS devices.
  +
*'''November''': ''[[J Legend Retsuden]]'' is released for Nintendo 3DS.
  +
*'''December''': ''Dragon Ball Z'' Season 1 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
   
  +
;2014
====The OVA====
 
  +
*'''January''': The publication of the ''Dragon Ball GT'' anime comics debuts in ''Saikyō Jump''; ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z]]'' is released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.
  +
*'''February''': ''Dragon Ball Full Color'' vol. 1 of the Saiyan arc by Viz released on February 4; ''Dragon Ball Z'' Season 2 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''March''': ''[[J-Stars Victory Vs]]'' is released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, and ''[[Dragon Ball: Ultimate Swipe]]'' is released for both Android and iOS devices; ''Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods - Special Edition'' airs on Fuji TV.
  +
*'''April''': ''Dragon Ball Full Color'' vol. 2 of the Saiyan arc by Viz released on April 1; The first three ''Dragon Ball Full Color'' volumes of the [[Cell Saga|Android Arc]], the second ''Dragon Ball SD'' volume, and the collected volume of ''Jaco the Galactic Patrolman'' (featuring ''[[Dragon Ball Minus]]'') are released on April 4; ''Dragon Ball Kai'' returns to Fuji TV on April 6, with the [[Buu Saga|Majin Buu Arc]]; ''Dragon Ball Z'' Season 3 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''May''': ''Dragon Ball Full Color'' volumes 4–6 of the Android arc released on May 2; ''Dragon Ball Z'' Season 4 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''June''': ''Dragon Ball Full Color'' vol. 3 of the Saiyan arc by Viz released on June 3; ''Dragon Ball Full Color'' volumes 1–3 of the Majin Buu arc are released on June 4; ''Dragon Ball Z'' Season 5 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''July''': ''Dragon Ball Full Color'' volumes 4–6 of the Majin Buu arc are released on July 4; a ''Dragon Ball'' event which allows attendees to ride on their own Flying Nimbus and fire off their own [[Kamehameha]] is held in Nagoya City Science Museum from July 16 to August 31.<ref>''[[Weekly Shōnen Jump]]'' #21, 2014</ref>
  +
*'''August''': ''[[Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission 2]]'' is released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming console on August 7; ''Dragon Ball Z'' Season 6 is released to Blu-ray in the US; DBZ Movie #14 is given a limited theatrical release in the U.S.
  +
*'''September''': ''Dragon Ball Z'' Season 7 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''October''': ''Dragon Ball Z'' Season 8 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''November:''' ''Dragon Ball Z Kai'' uncut begins airing on Adult Swim's Toonami block.
  +
*'''December:''' ''Dragon Ball Z'' Season 9 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
   
  +
;2015
The OVA "Plot To Destroy the Saiya-jin!" is generally considered lower than the movies on the canon scale, though it is noteworthy in that its villain, Dr. Raichii, was more or less rehashed into Dr. Myuu for Dragon Ball GT. It should be noted that a two-part 'digital comic' videogame series (composed of various parts of the OVA turned into interactive cutscenes) was released for the Playdia.
 
  +
*'''January''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle]]'' is released for Android in Japan.
  +
*'''February''': ''[[Dragon Ball Xenoverse]]'' is released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows (Via Steam); ''Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle'' is released for iOS in Japan.
  +
*'''April''': [[Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’|DBZ Movie #15]] premieres in Japan.
  +
*'''June''': ''Dragon Ball Kai'' ends its run for the second and last time on Fuji TV after 61 episodes on June 28; ''J-Stars Victory VS+'' releases in the West on June 30; ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden]]'' is released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan.
  +
*'''July''': ''[[Dragon Ball Super (anime)|Dragon Ball Super]]'' begins airing on Fuji TV on July 5; ''Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle'' is released for both Android and iOS globally.
  +
*'''August''': DBZ Movie #15 is given a limited theatrical release in the U.S.
  +
*'''October''': ''Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden'' for the Nintendo 3DS'' ''is released in North America and Europe.
   
  +
;2016
====The Games====
 
  +
*'''May''': ''Dragon Ball Full Color'' vol. 1 of the Frieza arc by Viz released on May 3.
  +
*'''July''': ''[[Dragon Ball Z: The Real 4-D]]'' premieres at Universal Studios Japan on July 1; ''Dragon Ball Full Color'' vol. 2 of the Frieza arc by Viz released on July 5.
  +
*'''August''': ''[[Dragon Ball Fusions]]'' is released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan; ''Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ - Future Trunks Special Edition'' airs on Fuji TV.
  +
*'''September''': ''Dragon Ball Full Color'' vol. 3 of the Frieza arc by Viz released on September 6.
  +
*'''October''': ''[[Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2]]'' is released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows (Via Steam).
  +
*'''November''': ''Dragon Ball Full Color'' vol. 4 of the Frieza arc by Viz released on November 1; Funimation acquires the rights to dub ''Dragon Ball Super; Dragon Ball Fusions'' for the Nintendo 3DS is released in the U.S.
   
  +
;2017
At the very bottom rung of canon is the world of video games and collectible card games. These games usually are designed and built by people with little affiliation with the series itself and may contain inaccuracies.
 
  +
*'''January''': ''Dragon Ball Full Color'' vol. 5 of the Frieza arc by Viz released on January 3; ''Dragon Ball Super'' and ''Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters'' begin airing on Adult Swim's Toonami block.
  +
*'''February''': ''Dragon Ball Fusions'' for the Nintendo 3DS is released in Europe and Oceania.
  +
*'''April''': ''Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters'' Part One is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S; ''[[Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission X]]'' for the Nintendo 3DS is released in Japan.
  +
*'''May''': ''[[Dragon Ball Super (manga)|Dragon Ball Super]]'' Vol. 1 by Viz released on May 2; ''Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters'' Part Two is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''June''': ''Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters'' Part Three is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Super Tenkaichi Budokai]]'' premieres at Universal Studios Japan on June 30.
  +
*'''July''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' Part One is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''September''': ''Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2'' is released for the Nintendo Switch.
  +
*'''October''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' Part Two is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''December''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' Vol. 2 by Viz released on December 5.
   
  +
;2018
====Notes on Translations====
 
  +
*'''January''': ''[[Dragon Ball FighterZ]]'' is released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows (via Steam).
  +
*'''February''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' Part Three is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''March''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' ends its run on Fuji TV after 131 episodes on March 25.
  +
*'''May''': ''[[Dragon Ball Legends]]'' is released worldwide for iOS and Android.
  +
*'''June''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' Part Four is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; ''Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters'' ends its run on Adult Swim's Toonami block.
  +
*'''July''': [[Super Dragon Ball Heroes (anime)|''Super Dragon Ball Heroes'' anime]] premieres in Japan on July 1; ''Dragon Ball Super'' Vol. 3 by Viz released on July 3.
  +
*'''September''': ''Dragon Ball FighterZ'' is released for the Nintendo Switch.
  +
*'''October''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' Part Five is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''November''': ''[[Dragon Ball: That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha]]'' by Viz released on November 6.
  +
*'''December''': ''[[Dragon Ball Super: Broly]]'' is released in Japan on December 14.
   
  +
;2019
There are a large number of inconsistencies between the various English translation of the series with respect to character names and translations. Many fans do not agree which of the translations have the "correct" spelling and Romanization of names. Other solutions, such as using a standard Hepburn romanization, tend to make name puns and some of the fun of the series more obscure. As long as there are Dragon Ball fans, there will be arguments over the correct English names.
 
  +
*'''January''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' Vol. 4 by Viz released on January 1; ''Dragon Ball Super'' Part Six is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; ''Dragon Ball Super: Broly'' is given a limited theatrical release in the U.S.
  +
*'''April''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' Part Seven and ''Dragon Ball Super: Broly'' are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; ''[[Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission]]'' is released for the Nintendo Switch.
  +
*'''May''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' Vol. 5 by Viz released on May 7.
  +
*'''July''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' Part Eight is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''September''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' Vol. 6 by Viz released on September 3.
  +
*'''October''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' ends its run on Adult Swim's Toonami block; ''Dragon Ball Super'' Part Nine is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  +
*'''November''': Funimation's 30th Anniversary Collectors Edition comprising the full ''Dragon Ball Z'' anime series in a 4:3 aspect ratio is released to Blu-Ray.
  +
*'''December''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' Vol. 7 by Viz released on December 3.
   
  +
;2020
Although not universally agreed upon, the Viz Communications translations of the manga are a generally accepted source of "correct" names. Their translation is more direct than the anime translation and they have the advantage of working directly in a textual medium so that spelling is never in question. Of course, even that translation is imperfect and cannot be accepted as completely authoritative ("Mr. Satan," for example, is the original name of a character that was changed to "Hercule" by Viz).
 
  +
*'''January''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' Part Ten is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; ''[[Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot]]'' is released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows (via Steam).
  +
*'''March''': ''Dragon Ball Super'' Vol. 8 by Viz released on March 3.
   
  +
==Gallery==
  +
{{Scroll box
  +
|content=<gallery widths="125" captionalign="center" position="center">
  +
SANY2051.jpg|''Dragon Ball'' collectible products
  +
SANY1443.jpg|DVDs, figures, and various wallpapers and games related to the ''Dragon Ball'' series
  +
SANY0102.jpg|VHS/DVD collection
  +
DBScienceNagoya2014.jpg|Summer 2014 event at the Nagoya City Science Museum
  +
N2016122802.jpg|2017 event poster
  +
The Z-Soldier of Revival Spirit poster.jpg
  +
Goku's evolution till GT.jpg
  +
</gallery>
  +
}}
   
  +
==References==
==Real World Time line==
 
  +
{{Reflist}}
:1980 - "Dr. Slump" begins in Shonen Jump. (February)
 
:1983 - 'Dragon Boy and Adventures of Tongpoo" appear in Fresh Jump.
 
:1984 - Dr. Slump ends. (September)
 
:1984 - "Dragon Ball" (manga) begins in Shonen Jump. (December)
 
:1985 - Dragon Ball manga tankubon publication begins.
 
:1986 - Dragon Ball anime premiers of Fuji TV. (February)
 
:1986 - Dragon Ball "Mystery of Shenlong" game for NES released. (November)
 
:1986 - Dragon Ball Movie #1 premiers (December)
 
:1987 - Dragon Ball Movie #2 premiers. (July)
 
:1988 - Dragon Ball Movie #3 premiers. (July)
 
:1988 - Famicom game "Resurrection of the Demon King" released (Japan only). (August)
 
:1989 - Dragon Ball anime ends. (April)
 
:1989 - "Dragon Ball Z" anime begins. (April)
 
:1989 - DBZ Movie #1 premiers. (July)
 
:1989 - Famicom gane "Story of Goku" released (Japan only). (October)
 
:1990 - DBZ Movie #2 premiers. (March)
 
:1990 - DBZ Movie #3 premiers. (July)
 
:1990 - "Bardock" special airs on Fuji TV. (October)
 
:1990 - Famicom "Attack of the Saiyajin" released. (Japan only) (October)
 
:1991 - DBZ Movie #4 premiers. (March)
 
:1991 - DBZ Movie #5 premiers. (July)
 
:1991 - Famicom "Battle Against Freeza" released. (Japan only) (August)
 
:1992 - Super Famicom "Legend of the Super Saiyan" released. (Japan only) (January)
 
:1992 - DBZ Movie #6 premiers. (March)
 
:1992 - DBZ Movie #7 premiers. (July)
 
:1992 - Famicom "Battle Against the Androids" released. (Japan only) (August)
 
:1992 - Famicon "Plan to Destroy the Saiyajin" released. (Japan only) (August)
 
:1992 - Famicom "Dragon Ball Z Barcode Battler" released. (Japan only) (December)
 
:1993 - "Trunks" special airs on Fuji TV. (February)
 
:1993 - DBZ Movie #8 premiers. (March)
 
:1993 - Super Famicom "Super Butoden 1" released. (Japan only) (March)
 
:1993 - DBZ Movie #9 premiers. (July)
 
:1993 - Super Famicom "Super Butoden 2" released. (Japan only) (December)
 
:1994 - DBZ Movie #10 premiers. (March)
 
:1994 - Mega Drive "Buu Yuu Retsuden" released. (Japan only) (April)
 
:1994 - DBZ Movie #11 premiers. (July)
 
:1994 - Super Famicom "Super Butoden 3" released. (Japan only) (September)
 
:1994 - Playdia "The Plan to Destroy the Saiyans Part 1" (Japan only) (September)
 
:1994 - Turbo Duo "Legend of Son Goku" released. (Japan only) (November)
 
:1994 - Game Boy "Goku Hishouden" released. (Japan only) (November)
 
:1994 - Playdia "The Plan to Destroy the Saiyans Part 2" (Japan only) (December)
 
:1995 - DBZ Movie #12 premiers. (March)
 
:1995 - Super Famicom "Super Gokuden 1" released. (Japan only) (March)
 
:1995 - Dragon Ball (manga) ends. (May)
 
:1995 - DBZ Movie #13 premiers. (July)
 
:1995 - PlayStation "Ultimate Battle 22" (Japan only) (July)
 
:1995 - Game Boy "Goku Gekitouden" released. (Japan only) (August)
 
:1995 - Dragon Ball manga tankoubon releases finish. (August)
 
:1995 - Super Famicom "Super Gokuden 2" released. (Japan only) (September)
 
:1995 - Saturn "Shin Butoden" released. (Japan only) (November)
 
:1996 - Dragon Ball Z anime ends. (January)
 
:1996 - "Dragon Ball GT" anime begins. (February)
 
:1996 - Dragon Ball 10th Anniversary Movie released (March)
 
:1996 - Super Famicom "Hyper Dimension" released. (Japan only) (March)
 
:1996 - PlayStation / Saturn "Dragon Ball Z Legends" released. (Japan only) (May)
 
:1996 - Dragon Ball Z anime arrives in the U.S. (first edited seasons) (September)
 
:1997 - Dragon Ball GT "Goku" special airs on Fuji TV. (March)
 
:1997 - PlayStation "Dragon Ball GT Final Bout" released. (Japan only) (August)
 
:1997 - DBZ Movie #3 released to US. (broadcast) (November) (??)
 
:1997 - Dragon Ball GT ends. (November)
 
:1997 - DBZ Movie #1 released to U.S. (December)
 
:1998 - DBZ Movie #3 released to U.S. (March)
 
:1998 - Viz starts releasing DB & DBZ manga in US as comic. (March)
 
:1998 - DBZ Movie #2 released to U.S.(May)
 
:1998 - Dragon Ball Movie #1 released to U.S. (July)
 
:1999 - Dragon Ball Movie #2 released to U.S. (April)
 
:1999 - Dragon Ball Z 3rd Season (Ginyu and Frieza sagas) is released in the U.S. on Cartoon Network (September)
 
:2000 - "Trunks" special released to U.S. (December)
 
:2001 - "Bardock" special released to U.S. (January)
 
:2001 - Dragon Ball Movie #3 released to U.S. (February)
 
:2001 - DBZ Movie #4 released to US. (August)
 
:2001 - Dragon Ball anime released to U.S. again. (for real) (August)
 
:2002 - DBZ Movie #5 released to U.S. (January)
 
:2002 - DBZ Movie #6 released to U.S. (August)
 
:2002 - Playstation 2 "Dragon Ball Z Budokai" Released. (December)
 
:2003 - DBZ Movie #7 released to U.S. (February)
 
:2003 - Viz ends monthly publication of Dragon Ball manga in U.S. (compilations only)
 
:2003 - Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 released to U.S. (March)
 
:2003 - Dragon Ball 10th Anniversary Movie released to U.S. (April)
 
:2003 - Dragon Ball Z ends new episodes in U.S. (April)
 
:2003 - DBGT released on DVD in the U.S. (April)
 
:2003 - DBZ Movie #8 released to U.S. (August)
 
:2003 - Playstation 2 "Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2" Released. (November)
 
:2003 - Dragon Ball ends new episodes in U.S. (December)
 
:2004 - DBZ Movie #9 released to U.S. (August)
 
:2004 - Playstation 2 "Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3" Released. (December)
 
:2005 - DBGT Series Ends in U.S.
 
:2005 - DBZ Movie #10 released to U.S. (April)
 
:2005 - First two seasons of DBZ are re-released uncut in the U.S. (April)
 
:2005 - DBZ Movie #11 released to U.S. (September)
 
:2005 - Playstation 2 "Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi" Released. (November)
 
:2006 - DBZ Movie #12 released to U.S. (March)
 
:2006 - Re-released uncut DBZ is ended in U.S. (May)
 
:2006 - DBZ Movie #13 released to U.S. (August)
 
:2006 - Playstation 2 "Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2" Released. (October)
 
:2006 - "Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2" for the Wii. (November)
 
:2007 - Uncut Remastered Season 1 releasesd in U.S. (February)
 
:2007 - Annoucement of a DRAGONBALL MMORPG, "Dragon Ball: Online" (March)
 
:2007 - "Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3" released for Playstation 2. (November)
 
:2007 - "Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3" released for Wii. (December)
 
:2008 - DBZ movies 1 and 2 are remastered and re-released in a double feature (May)
 
:2008 - "The History of Trunks" and "Bardock: The Father of Goku" are remastered and re-released in a double feature. (July)
 
:2008 - DBZ movies 3 and 4 are remastered and re-released in a double feature. (September)
 
:2008 - DBZ movies 5 and 6 are remastered and re-released in a double feature. (November)
 
:2008 - Box sets of Dragon Ball remastered versions release throughout the year. (Feb. - November)
 
:2008 - "[[Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit]]" is released for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. (June)
 
:2009 - DBZ movies 7 and 9 are remastered and re-released in a double feature. (Feb.)
 
:2009 - DBZ movies 8, 10, and 11 are remastered and re-released in a triple feature. (March)
 
:2009 - "[[Dragonball Evolution]]" (live-action film) is released in theaters. (April)
 
:2009 - Remastered Dragon Ball GT box sets are released. (Spring - Summer)
 
:2009 - "[[Dragon Ball: Kai]]" (remastered Japanese version) airs on Fuji TV in Japan. (Spring - Summer)
 
:2009 - Final remastered Dragon Ball Z box sets are released. (Feb. - May)
 
:2009 - Movies 12 and 13 are remastered and re-released in a double feature. (May)
 
:2009 - Remastered version of [[Dragon Ball (anime)|Dragon Ball]] season one released (September)
 
:2009 - "[[Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo]]" released for the Wii. (June and October)
 
:2009 - [[Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans]] is released for Nintendo DS. (June and October)
 
:2009 - "[[Dragon Ball: Raging Blast]]" released for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. (November)
 
:2009 - [[Funimation Dragon Box Sets]] one released on DVD and Blu-ray (November)
 
:2009 - [[Dragon Ball (anime)|Dragon Ball]] season two remastered is released. (November)
 
:2010 - [[Funimation Dragon Box Sets]] two set to be released. (February)
 
:2010 - [[Dragon Ball (anime)|Dragon Ball]] remastered season three to be released. (February)
 
   
  +
==External links==
  +
;English
  +
*[http://www.dragonball.com/ Official Funimation's ''Dragon Ball'' website]
  +
*[http://www.dragonballz.com/ Official Funimation's ''Dragon Ball Z'' website]
  +
*[http://www.dragonballgt.com/ Official Funimation's ''Dragon Ball GT'' website]
  +
*[http://www.dragonballzkai.com/ Official Funimation's ''Dragon Ball Z Kai'' website]
  +
*[http://www.dragonballz.com.au/ Official Madman's ''Dragon Ball Z'' website]
  +
*[http://www.dragonballzuk.com/ Official Manga UK's ''Dragon Ball Z'' website]
  +
;Japanese
  +
*[http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/dragon/ Official Toei Animation's ''Dragon Ball'' website]
  +
*[http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/dragonz/ Official Toei Animation's ''Dragon Ball Z'' website]
  +
*[http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/dragongt/ Official Toei Animation's ''Dragon Ball GT'' website]
  +
*[http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/dragon_kai/ Official Toei Animation's ''Dragon Ball Kai'' website]
  +
*[http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/dragon_s/ Official Toei Animation's ''Dragon Ball Super'' website]
   
  +
==Site Navigation==
  +
{{DBProductionStaff}}
  +
{{Manga Series}}
  +
{{Sagas}}
  +
{{Dragon Ball films}}
  +
{{Dragon Ball games}}
   
[[de:Dragonball (Fernsehserie)]]un
+
[[es:Dragon Ball (franquicia)]]
  +
[[id:Dragon Ball (hak)]]
  +
[[ca:Bola de Drac (franquícia)]]
  +
[[de:Dragonball (Fernsehserie)]]
 
[[Category:Dragon Ball]]
 
[[Category:Dragon Ball]]
 
[[Category:Dragon Ball Z]]
 
[[Category:Dragon Ball Z]]
  +
[[Category:Dragon Ball GT]]
  +
[[Category:Dragon Ball Super]]

Revision as of 18:18, 1 December 2019

DB2013Books(VJump)

Chōzenshū and Dragon Ball Full Color

Dragon Ball (ドラゴンボール Doragon Bōru) is an internationally popular media franchise. It consists primarily of a manga series created by Akira Toriyama, five anime series (Dragon Ball, Z, GT, Super and Heroes), twenty anime films, seven anime specials, three live-action films, five anime OVAs, four anime crossovers, two anime PSAs and a high-def remastered recut of Dragon Ball Z (truly faithful to Toriyama's manga). Dragon Ball has an extensive online fanbase and is consistently one of the most frequently searched-for terms on Google, Yahoo! and Lycos. As of January 2012, generating $5 billion in merchandise,[1] Dragon Ball is one of the most merchandisable anime based media franchises of all time.

The story and characters of Dragon Ball were partly inspired by the Chinese folk novel Journey to the West, though they diverge from the novel very quickly. The plot follows the adventures of lead character Son Goku (just simply known as Goku, originally under his Saiyan name Kakarot and is based on the Monkey King of the folk legend, Sun Wukong) from his childhood through his adulthood. The story includes elements both of action and comedy, though the series became more action-oriented over time.

History

Before Dragon Ball

Main article: Dragon Boy Just prior to ending the successful six-year run of his humor manga Dr. Slump, in the Weekly Shōnen Jump anthology magazine, Akira Toriyama started to toy with the ideas that he would later use in the Dragon Ball manga. In 1983, he wrote two issues of the Dragon Boy manga for the Fresh Jump anthology magazine. This story, left unfinished, merges the comic style of Dr. Slump with an action-oriented plot. It includes many elements which would be reused in the later series, including a very different kind of Dragon Ball. Additionally in 1983, he published (but also did not finish) The Adventures of Tongpoo, a science fiction manga also featuring a Goku-like character and plot elements (such as Hoi Poi Capsules) which he would reuse later.

Dragon Ball Manga

Main article: Dragon Ball (manga)

Dragon Ball logo

Dragon Ball logo

The first issue of Dragon Ball debuted on November 20, 1984 in Weekly Shōnen Jump (#51), the same anthology magazine where Dr. Slump had previously been published. The series was then published weekly and on a very tight schedule (14 pages per week, plus title page) for nearly eleven years, ending on May 23, 1995. In total, 519 regular chapters and one bonus chapter were published. Unlike American-style comic books, Dragon Ball was largely produced in black and white. Some small number of pages in a subset of issues were colorized for emphasis. During the run of the manga in Japan, it was reprinted in (an eventual total of 42) tankôbon (Japanese graphic novels). Unlike the original print run of the manga, the previously colorized pages were reprinted only in grayscale.

A year and a half into the story of Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama included an extended (three issue) cameo by some of the characters and locations from his previous popular manga, Dr. Slump. This is perceived by many fans as tying the two fictional universes together, although the Dr. Slump characters never made any further appearances in the manga.

Dragon Ball Anime

Main article: Dragon Ball (anime)

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Toei Animation logo

Within a short time after the first publication of the manga, it had reached a level of popularity in Japan that convinced Toei Animation to produce both an anime series and a feature film based on the characters. The anime series premiered in February 1986 on Fuji Television (replacing the Dr. Slump anime), running weekly and in prime time with new episodes every Wednesday night.

The anime series that was produced closely matched the manga that it was based on (as opposed to Sailor Moon, for example, which the manga and anime diverged significantly), but this had the major drawback that the anime would often catch up to the current point in the manga and the animators were left to create additional episodes and situations (known by fans as filler) to allow them time for more source material to be written. This is perhaps unsurprising due to the difficulty of producing 20 minutes of animation each week, with only 14 pages of manga to work from.

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Fuji TV logo

In December 1986, the first theatrical film version of the anime was produced. Called simply "Dragon Ball" (in Japan, the movie's eventual English title is Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies), it retold the events of the first several episodes of the anime series. That was followed by additional movies in July 1987 (Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle) and July 1988 (Dragon Ball: Mystical Adventure). The first two films were directed by Daisuke Nishio, the third by Kazuhisa Takenouchi.

Because of the popularity of the title in Japan, three video games for the Nintendo Famcom were produced. The first, released in 1986 as Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo, is the only action game of the three. The other two (1988 and 1989) are RPG / card game hybrids.

The anime series ended in April 1989 after 153 episodes (and Goku's marriage and transition to adulthood). Although the animated series ended, fans did not have to wait long for the continuation of the story. The sequel anime Dragon Ball Z debuted the following week.

First U.S. Release

Main article: Harmony Gold dub In the first years after the Dragon Ball manga and anime became successful in Japan, an initial attempt was made to export the show to an American audience. These initial attempts to gain a foothold in the large American market were unsuccessful and short lived.

In 1986, right as the Dragon Ball anime was kicking off in Japan, the Dragon Ball video game known as Shenron no Nazo in Japan was produced by Bandai for the Nintendo Entertainment System and exported to the U.S. titled Dragon Power. It is a martial arts action game which loosely followed the plot of the first thirteen issues of the manga. Sales figures for the game are not available, but no further Dragon Ball video games were released in the U.S. for another seven years.

In 1989, a first attempt was made to release the Dragon Ball anime in the U.S. in the form of a limited number of episodes (and an edited form of the first and third movies) produced and dubbed by Harmony Gold USA. This dub was notable for renaming many characters, such as Goku being renamed "Zero." After being test marketed in several cities (with some resulting controversy over the subject matter of the early episodes, something that would strike again in later attempts), it was withdrawn from the marketplace without a full season produced. Because it was never broadcast to the general public, it is referred to as the "Lost dub" by fans.

Dragon Ball Z

Main article: Dragon Ball Z

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Dragon Ball Z logo

Picking up exactly where the previous series left off, Dragon Ball Z began airing in Japan a week after the Dragon Ball anime ended, and in the same timeslot. A new series name was chosen by the producers to differentiate the current series, with its reduced emphasis on comedy and its new science fiction themes, from the previous one, even though both were still based on the same Dragon Ball manga. The new show also featured improved production values and animation quality. This transition point was attractive because not only did it follow a several year gap in the plot (one of several such gaps in the series), but it also featured revised origin stories for several lead characters and the introduction of several new characters. This made it a good jumping onpoint for new fans of the series.

Three months after the premier of the Z anime, in July 1989, the first Dragon Ball Z movie (entitled Return my Gohan in Japanese and Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone in the U.S.) premiered in theaters. This was followed by two additional theatrical movies released per year (one in March and one in July) until 1995. In total, thirteen Dragon Ball Z movies were produced. In addition to the feature films, two movie-length television specials were also produced for the series. These initially aired in 1990 and 1993.

Like the original Dragon Ball anime, Dragon Ball Z suffered from the same manga-to-anime pacing problems which resulted in the excess of filler material in the previous anime. In some ways, the problem was more pronounced during the production of the "Z" series as the increased focus on action resulted in many issues of the manga devoted entirely to action sequences. These combat-oriented issues were more difficult to "stretch" into episodes than more diverse action and this resulted in pacing problems throughout some sections of the series.

In May 1995, the long running Dragon Ball manga finally ended its run in Shōnen Jump. Without additional issues of the manga to translate onto the small screen, the Dragon Ball Z series ended in January 1996 after 291 episodes. Once again however, Japanese fans would not have to wait more than a week for the continuation of the final story, in Dragon Ball GT.

During the production of Dragon Ball Z in Japan, popularity for the franchise was at its peak. Production of video games (for the Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom), Super Famicom, PlayStation, Game Boy, and Sega Saturn) reached its peak during this period. Ironically, despite tremendous success in Japan and tons of marketable goods, the series had yet to take off in the U.S.

Second U.S. Release

Main article: Ocean Group dubs

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FUNimation logo

Shortly after the release of Dragon Ball Z in Japan, momentum was building in the U.S. for a second attempt at releasing Dragon Ball to an American audience. In the fall of 1995, the first episodes of Dragon Ball began airing in first-run syndication on American television by the newly-formed FUNimation Productions; collaborating with Seagull Entertainment and the Vancouver-based BLT Productions Ltd. Ultimately, the show only lasted for less than one season before being canceled in favor of jumping ahead to Dragon Ball Z; the latter series was believed to have greater merchandise potential. In total, only 13 episodes (of the production order of 26) and the first Dragon Ball feature film were produced. In 1996, Vidmark Entertainment purchased the home video distribution rights for these dubbed episodes and movie.

For the next five years, Vidmark retained these rights to Dragon Ball in the U.S. In 2000, Vidmark released these 13 dubbed episodes and movie on a DVD box set titled Dragon Ball: The Saga of Goku. In 2001, Vidmark was acquired by Lionsgate Entertainment, making them the holder of the rights to these episodes and movie until 2009. This prevented FUNimation from releasing their later in-house dub of the first 13 episodes of Dragon Ball to home video in the U.S. during this time, though it was released in other countries. They were also unable to release an in-house dub of the first DB movie until 2010.

After the two failed launches of the Dragon Ball anime in the States, FUNimation switched focus to the more action-oriented Dragon Ball Z; this time collaborating with Saban Entertainment (at that time riding on the popularity of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, another Japanese import) to distribute the series to television, and using voice actors from the Vancouver-based Ocean Studios (several of which were involved in the earlier BLT dub of Dragon Ball). Dragon Ball Z premiered on American television in the fall of 1996, once again airing in first-run syndication. However, the intended American audience of the series (young children) did not work well with the more violent nature of the DBZ anime. This resulted in extensive editing of the series (cutting out the equivalent of 14 of the first 67 episodes; almost 21%), including the complete removal of references to character death ("sent to another dimension"), blood, etc. To many fans of the series, these edits actually made the series worse as violence was always shown without consequence. Also, they made many changes to the original dialogue and also created many name changes to characters (i.e. Krillin and Tien, instead of "Kuririn" and "Tenshinhan") and special techniques (i.e. Spirit Bomb instead of "Genki Dama"), though not to the extent of Harmony Gold's previous dub.

In addition to the anime series, Saban also edited the third Dragon Ball Z movie (Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might in the U.S.) and released it as a three-part episode in the production run of the series. The first two Dragon Ball Z movies were subsequently released by Pioneer Entertainment direct to video. The third movie was later re-released by Pioneer to home video, only this version, like the first two films, featured dialogue more close to the original script and was unedited.

In part due to an early timeslot in most markets (6:30 AM), Dragon Ball Z also failed to find its target audience and was canceled in May 1998 after a two-season run of 53 episodes, or the equivalent of 67 Japanese episodes. However, this was still the most successful import of the Dragon Ball franchise to the U.S. at the time.

In 2013, FUNimation would re-release their entire Saban/Ocean dub of DBZ in the DVD collector's box set Dragon Ball Z: Rock the Dragon Edition.

Dragon Ball GT

Main article: Dragon Ball GT

DBGTLogo

Dragon Ball GT logo

Back in Japan, the third Dragon Ball series quickly followed the completion of Dragon Ball Z in February 1996. This new series, called Dragon Ball GT (for "Grand Tour"), was a complete departure from the previous two anime series. Unlike those series, GT was not based on the Dragon Ball manga (which ended in 1995) by Akira Toriyama. Instead, it was completely new material along with having the same characters and elements from the last two series and it continues the story where Dragon Ball Z had left off.

From the beginning however, there were problems with the series. Dragon Ball fandom in Japan was waning and to help renew interest in the series and bring it back to its roots, a decision was made to return the series to the style of the original comedy Dragon Ball anime, rather than the more action-oriented Dragon Ball Z. This decision led to the reintroduction of several villains not present since the original series, a return to the "Dragon Ball quest"-style plot of that series and even the mystical de-aging of Goku, back to roughly the age he was when the first series began. Unfortunately, this creative change did not improve ratings and the series focus was changed again after the completion of only sixteen episodes. The remaining episodes of the series returned to the more action-oriented style of the latter series and as a result of declining interest, the show had ended in November 1997 after only 64 episodes. There was no sequel Dragon Ball series the following week (instead it was replaced by The New Dr. Slump anime).

Dragon Ball GT was also less successful in its tie-ins than the previous series had been. Unlike the previous series, Dragon Ball GT did not spawn any theatrical films on its own. In March 1996, just one month after the introduction of the series, the Dragon Ball 10th Anniversary special (Dragon Ball: The Path to Power in the U.S.) was released. Although produced in the artistic style of GT, the plot was a modified retelling of the very beginning of the original Dragon Ball anime. This was the last Dragon Ball animated movie to be released to date. Other than that film, the final series was limited to a single television special that takes place after the events in GT, released in March 1997. In other product areas, such as video games and merchandise, Dragon Ball GT was also less successful than its predecessors.

Third U.S. Release

Main article: Funimation dub

Toonami Pipe

Toonami logo

In August 1998, after its modest success in syndication, FUNimation/Saban's Ocean dub of Dragon Ball Z began airing on Cartoon Network's weekday afternoon action block Toonami. The block gave the series new life and, combined with the DiC Sailor Moon dub, exposed the series to a much wider audience. With new success, FUNimation went forward in continuing the dub on their own instead of alongside the backing of a company such as Saban. The third season appeared on home video in 1999 and then on Cartoon Network soon after, featuring less editing restrictions than the previous dub, FUNimation's own in-house voice cast, and a new musical score. Dragon Ball Z was now in full production in the U.S. and continued to the end of the series in 2003. Still, it kept the name changes of characters and techniques that the previous dub had created. While still disliked from fans of the original Japanese version, FUNimation's in-house dub was a huge success and received the most popularity of all releases in the U.S.

The success of Dragon Ball Z on Cartoon Network allowed FUNimation to go back and do a new dub of Dragon Ball as well, starting from the beginning and airing on the Toonami block as well. However, there were marked changes in the dubbing between this and its sequel series, most pronounced is the usage of the original Japanese music as opposed to new compositions for the dub. FUNimation also released Dragon Ball to DVD, but with a slight snag: since Lionsgate remained the distributor of the earlier DB dub, they could not release the first 13 episodes of the new dub until their license expired in 2009. The two remaining DB movies were also dubbed at this time, along with the ten remaining DBZ movies, the two DBZ TV specials, and the tenth anniversary movie.

By 2003, with the completion of Dragon Ball Z, FUNimation began dubbing Dragon Ball GT, which would be released on both Cartoon Network and DVD. However, they were afraid they would experience the same drop off as Japan by starting with the lighter episodes at the beginning. In a controversial decision, FUNimation decided to start from the first action-intensive arc, connected with the first major villain of the series. Furthermore, a special episode was created for the beginning of this series that would fill in the material prior to the start of this arc (such as how Goku became a child again, thanks to Emperor Pilaf, and went into space) using the clips of the first three episodes and the sixteenth episode. Similarly, DBGT would feature a new musical composer, pushing music with a harder sound and even creating a hip-hop-style opening. Eventually after the completion of the series, the earlier episodes prior to the starting point were released and aired as "The Lost Episodes" until 2005.

By 2004, Geneon Universal Entertainment (formerly Pioneer) had lost its licensing rights to the old Ocean dubbed episodes and movies of Dragon Ball Z, allowing FUNimation to re-dub the first 53 dubbed episodes with their in-house voice cast and also restore them to the original 67 count. These re-dubbed episodes began airing on Cartoon Network during the summer of 2005, but were notably shown in the nighttime (10:30 PM) and in their completely unedited form. The first three DBZ movies were also re-dubbed by FUNimation's in-house voice cast and re-released together in a DVD box set titled Dragon Ball Z: First Strike.

Nekomajin

Originally a one-shot bearing little relation to Akira Toriyama's other series, the first chapter of Nekomajin appeared in Weekly Shōnen Jump in April 1999 (WJ #22-23). Though there were some similarities, it did not become a "self-parody" of the Dragon Ball manga until the "Neko Majin Z" chapters, which had cameos of characters from the author's magnum opus. As of 2005, the series was completed with eight total chapters (five of which are Dragon Ball parodies). These chapters were compiled into a "kanzenban"-style package for release in Japan on April 4, 2005.

KochiKame

For the 30th anniversary of KochiKame the longest running Shōnen Jump manga to date, special chapters that are crossovers between various different mangas and Kochikame characters were made. In one of them, co-written by Akira Toriyama, Ryo-san has been reassigned to planet Namek and runs across Frieza. He tries to arrest him for parking his spaceship illegally. Goku and Vegeta make appearances as well.

Cross Epoch

Cross Epoch is a Japanese manga by Akira Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda. It is a crossover between Dragon Ball and One Piece.

It was released on December 25, 2006 in the Weekly Shōnen Jump, and later in English in the North American Shonen Jump issue #100 (April 2011).

Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!

Main article: Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! is a 35-minute animated short film that premiered in Japan at the Jump Super Anime Tour on September 21, 2008. It was the first animated Dragon Ball feature in twelve years, following the tenth anniversary film The Path to Power. It also featured the first Dragon Ball animations in nearly a decade, following a short story arc in The New Dr. Slump anime series crossing over Goku and the Red Ribbon Army in 1999.

Dragon Ball Kai

Main article: Dragon Ball Z Kai

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Dragon Ball Kai logo

Dragon Ball Kai is an HD remastered anime, produced by Toei Animation as part of the 20th Anniversary of Dragon Ball Z in Japan. It premiered on Fuji TV in April 2009. The series is being extensively "refreshed" for Japanese TV. It is not a new series per se, but rather a revised, faster-paced version of Dragon Ball Z that cuts out most of the filler material not featured in the original manga. Part of this is reformatting and extending the picture to 16:9 Widescreen. Through digital processing, the image is made vibrant. All the grime, damage and noise remaining on the "Z" film is removed, making the image much clearer in HD. Dragon Ball Kai includes a complete re-recording of the dialogue by most of the original Japanese voice cast, as well as a new sound design with updated sound effects. The opening and ending themes are completely new and feature updated animation. The "Kai" in the series' title means "revised," "updated," "modified" or "altered". The series initially ended its run with the conclusion of the Cell arc in March 2011, but later returned with the Majin Buu arc in April 2014 on Fuji TV; ending its complete run in June 2015 with 159 episodes (in contrast to the original 291 episodes of DBZ; though the international broadcast of Kai has extended the total episode count to 167).

FUNimation licensed the series for an English-language release under the title Dragon Ball Z Kai. The series began airing in the U.S. in May 2010 on the Nicktoons network, in contrast to the previous three Dragon Ball series airing on Cartoon Network. The majority of FUNimation's in-house voice actors returned for Dragon Ball Z Kai, though several characters' voices were re-casted. The series was edited on Nicktoons to fit the expected audience, and occasionally contained different verbiage than the home video release, which is entirely unedited. Some special techniques regained their correct and untranslated-proper-noun announcements in the unedited dub, while most of the character names that have always been engraved in the English dub remained the same. Still, the dubbing of Kai is much more faithful to the Japanese script than previous dubs by FUNimation, and episode titles are mostly faithful translations of their original Japanese versions. In addition to Nicktoons, Kai also aired on The CW's "Toonzai" programing block (later renamed "Vortexx"), starting in August 2010. The Toonzai version of Kai was edited further than the Nicktoons version, and even more so than the 1990s Ocean dub of the original DBZ. The uncut version of Kai began airing on Adult Swim's Toonami block in November 2014 (thus bringing the Dragon Ball franchise back to Cartoon Network). The Majin Buu arc of Kai, under the title Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters, made its U.S. debut on Toonami in January 2017.

Episode of Bardock

Main article: Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock Episode of Bardock is a 2011 sequel to the 1990 TV special Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku. It was made by Naho Ooishi and was adapted into an anime in December 2011.

Dream 9

Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special is an anime TV crossover special between Dragon Ball Z, One Piece and Toriko that aired in Japan in April 2013.

Dragon Ball Super

Main articles: Dragon Ball Super (anime) and Dragon Ball Super (manga)

Dragon Ball Super Opening Logo

Dragon Ball Super logo

Dragon Ball Super is the fourth Dragon Ball anime series, which debuted in July 2015 on Fuji TV in Japan, after the success of the DBZ movies Battle of Gods and Resurrection ‘F’. It ran for 131 episodes until March 2018. It chronologically takes place just before the ending of Dragon Ball Z. A companion manga adaptation of Super by Toyotarō has been published alongside the anime. Funimation's English dub of Super began airing in the U.S. on Adult Swim's Toonami block from January 2017 to October 2019.

Super Dragon Ball Heroes

Main articles: Super Dragon Ball Heroes (anime) and Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission (manga)

SDBH Universe Mission anime poster

Super Dragon Ball Heroes logo

Super Dragon Ball Heroes, also referred to as Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission, is the fifth anime installment and the very first web series in the Dragon Ball franchise. The anime is primarily promotional for the Dragon Ball Heroes video game and is based upon the Prison Planet Saga. For the Dragon Ball Super characters, the events take place after the Universe Survival Saga and for the "Xeno" characters, the events occur after the Dark Empire Saga. It was pre-screened for the first time in AEON LakeTown on July 1, 2018.

Dragon Ball Canon

The term canon, with respect to works of fiction, refers to the overall set of story lines, premises, settings, and characters offered by the source media text. Secondly, it is used as a descriptor of specific incidents, relationships, or story arcs that take place within the overall canon. Thus, all officially released Dragon Ball media falls within the definition of the term canon. Despite the literal meaning, certain fans maintain their own unique definitions of canon, sometimes excluding games, and/or movies, and/or the anime series, and/or the manga.

Manga

Dragon Ball

In the universe of Dragon Ball, the highest level of canon is the manga Dragon Ball. Published in Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan, the comic was both written and drawn by Akira Toriyama. As such, it represents the ultimate and correct vision of his world as it was presented to his readers. Fortunately, the manga itself is relatively free from direct contradictions, though there are certainly some topics open for debate.

Although Viz Communications is thought to do a good job translating the manga into English by fans, the final and authoritative source is the original Japanese comic.

Kanzenban Re-release

In the 2002-04 re-release of the Dragon Ball manga (called the Kanzenban, or "complete edition"), Akira Toriyama rewrote the final four pages of the series. However, this change has no impact on the storyline: at the conclusion of the series, after carrying the boy on his back a short time to fly, Goku gives his Flying Nimbus to Uub.

The only change significant to the story in the re-release is that the date of the Cell Games is changed to the 26th of May, from the 17th of "M." This was done to remove a noticeable contradiction in the series, specifically that if the Red Ribbon Androids arrived on May 12 and at least 10 days elapsed between then and the start of the Cell Games, a date of May 17 for the latter event would be impossible.

Dr. Slump

Prior to writing Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama wrote a separate weekly humor manga for Shōnen Jump called Dr. Slump. It featured the adventures of Senbei Norimaki, an inept inventor, and his android daughter Arale in Penguin Village. During the Red Ribbon Army Saga, Goku and General Blue wind up in Penguin Village and are assisted by characters from the previous series. Dr. Slump itself is not meant to be taken seriously, as it contains references to the real world, as well as generally "implausible" events such as the earth being cut in half (in a comedic fashion). While the characters in Dr. Slump exist as cameos in the Dragon Ball universe, it is debatable at best whether the Dragon Ball universe is truly compatible with the world portrayed in Dr. Slump.

Nekomajin

Long after finishing up with Dragon Ball, Akira Toriyama has written a short series of one-shot comics that parody Dragon Ball. Called Neko Majin, it features several characters from or inspired by Dragon Ball; for example: the Saiyan Onio and his wife, Frieza's son Kuriza, and even appearances by Vegeta, Majin Buu, and Goku and his family. Kuriza appears in a few Dragon Ball Z video games.

30th anniversary of KochiKame

To celebrate its thirtieth anniversary of the serialization of KochiKame, in September 2006, special chapters were written with crossovers between KochiKame and other Shōnen Jump mangas. One was a Dragon Ball crossover in which Ryo-san is reassigned to planet Namek and has to deal with Frieza who parked his ship illegally.

Cross Epoch

Cross Epoch is a Japanese manga by Akira Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda. It is a crossover between Dragon Ball and One Piece. It was released on December 25, 2006 in the Weekly Shōnen Jump. It features alternate versions of Dragon Ball characters and is a crossover manga.

Dragon Ball Heroes

The Japanese arcade game Dragon Ball Heroes has spawned several spin-off manga throughout its lifespan including two that are based around the game's concepts: Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission and Dragon Ball Heroes: Charisma Mission, two manga detailing the story of the Time Patrol's battles with the Dark Demon Realm army and Fu and his prisoners: Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Dark Demon Realm Mission! and Super Dragon Ball Heroes: Universe Mission, and a what-if scenario based around Bardock: Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock.

In Episode of Bardock, Bardock survives Frieza's attack and is sent to the past, on Planet Plant. There, he fights Frieza's ancestor Chilled and becomes a Super Saiyan.

Anime

Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super

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Dragon Ball anime and movie characters

The second highest level of canon in Dragon Ball is the four-part anime series. Episodes often include filler, which is material that was not in the manga. This is due largely to the manga and the anime being produced in parallel; it was often necessary for the anime to add filler material to keep from getting ahead of the manga. These extended sequences often add detail to the back story. The original Japanese version is considered by some to be a more authoritative source than other dubs due to occasional translation errors. Some of the filler contradicts later additions made by Toriyama itself, like Dragon Ball Minus.

Dragon Ball GT is an anime original sequel series to Dragon Ball Z and is not based on manga. Akira Toriyama contributed basic materials such as early plot overviews, early character designs, and objects. The author himself has had no problems with the series, and has publicly stated on a number of occasions that he likes it. He also compliments some of the anime production staffs that were able to mimic his drawings correctly. He also redrew Super Saiyan 4 that is designed by the anime character designer. The fan receptions relating Dragon Ball GT is divided. Some are able to accept while some do not. Akira Toriyama noted that it's up to fans to accept the ending in Dragon Ball Z or Dragon Ball GT.

Dragon Ball Super is also highly criticized due to the huge contradictions between the anime and manga. While both of them are being produced at the same time and the anime is ahead of the manga, there are many modifications done by both parties, making the story-line more diverged. Akira Toriyama gives the original story-line and major character designs and it's up to anime and manga production staffs to expand it. The manga is checked regularly by Akira Toriyama during the script-making stage as well as before the final release.

Garlic Jr. Saga

The Garlic Jr. Saga is an interesting exception to most of the filler used in the anime and its level of canon is disputed. Like much of the other filler, it does not include situations described in the original manga. However, it is a direct sequel to events from the first Dragon Ball Z movie "Return My Gohan!" (dub: Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone). It details a second attempt by Garlic Jr. to take over the world and also features other elements which are more difficult to rationalize in the anime such as the appearance of Gohan's pet dragon, Icarus, from the movie The Tree of Might.

Because it does not have the level of contradictions found in other movies, some fans consider both the Garlic Jr. Saga and Dead Zone to have "happened" within the anime canon. This remains, however, a controversial topic. Dead Zone is considered to take place shortly before the start of Dragon Ball Z, but two problems arise when fitting it into the flow of the series: given that the Dragon Balls are used in the film, Goku is alive, and Gohan is still very young, it must happen at least a full year before Goku is revived (and thus before the arrival of Raditz at the start of the series); on the other hand, Gohan is known to Krillin, Bulma and Master Roshi in the movie, whereas he was unknown to them at the start of the series itself.

Movies

Main article: List of Dragon Ball films Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z each had a number of movies made, generally two each year (one each for the spring and summer recesses from school). While it is possible to relate the movies to a relative time period within the series itself, some movie events contradict events within the normal flow of the series. This is not uncommon with Dragon Ball media, as both the manga and anime series often contradict themselves.

TV Specials

There are two Dragon Ball Z television specials, which aired as special double-length episodes during the normal course of the series. The Dragon Ball Z television specials are noteworthy in that their content (for the most part) does not contradict the manga. The Bardock special contradicts the original manga only in that Goku appears happy (rather than violent and bloodthirsty) at the end, and Bardock himself later appeared in a two-panel stint in the manga; it however contradicts Dragon Ball Minus, that was only added later to the canon by Toriyama itself. The Trunks special was actually based on a special chapter of the manga, though it presents an alternate version of certain events in that chapter (namely, it alters when Trunks was able to achieve Super Saiyan, for dramatic effect).

There is one Dragon Ball GT television special, which is grouped with that series in terms of canon level.

OVA

The OVA Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans is generally considered lower than the movies on the canon scale, though it is noteworthy in that its villain, Dr. Lychee, was more-or-less rehashed into Dr. Myuu for Dragon Ball GT. It should be noted that this OVA was originally released as an official visual guide for the NES game Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku. Later, a two-part 'digital comic' game series (composed of various parts of the OVA turned into interactive cutscenes) was released for the Playdia. A remade version of the OVA is also featured on Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2.

Video Games

Main article: List of Dragon Ball video games Lower than the movies and OVA's in terms of canonocity is the world of video games followed by that of the collectible card games. These games often contain what-if stories. Some video games, such as Dragon Ball Z: V.R.V.S., the Shin Budokai games, Dragon Ball OnlineDragon Ball Z: Battle of Z (Special Age stories), and Dragon Ball Xenoverse, contain unique stories which could be considered on the same level as the movies/OVAs. The Dragon Ball video game franchise also holds the fighting games with the most playable characters: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 on console and Dragon Ball Heroes on arcade.

Daizenshuu

Main article: Daizenshuu These "Perfect File" books are reference guides to the series and often contain character and attack names and other clarifications which are not present in the manga or anime themselves. There are no current plans to release these books in the U.S. and they are out of print even in Japan.

Many fans, however, question how canon the books actually are, since they were not written by Akira Toriyama. The Power Levels given in the books are often disregarded by some fans who find inconsistencies in them. One notable example is that Nappa's power level is stated to be 4,000 in the books, though this is never given in the manga along with assortment of other readings given. Both the manga and Daizenshuu state Goku's power level during the fight to be 8,000 which means he was twice Nappa's power level suggesting he should have had an easy time defeating him without using the Kaio-ken. However, as after Nappa powered up, he managed to trade blows with Goku, and after deflecting Nappa's strongest attack, Goku comments that the fight could take forever without the use of the Kaio-ken, contradicting the stated information in the Daizenshuu. Also, the Daizenshuu list of the main characters' ages throughout the series is somewhat debatable as well. For example, in the Daizenshuu, Goku is stated as being 13 years old when he participats in the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament, yet in both the manga and anime Goku himself states that he is 12 (after revealing that he was taught how to count properly).

Real World Timeline

1980
  • February: Dr. Slump manga begins serialization in Shōnen Jump.
1981
  • April: Dr. Slump anime begins airing on Fuji TV on April 8.
1983
1984
  • SeptemberDr. Slump manga ends serialization in Shōnen Jump.
  • November: Dragon Ball manga begins serialization in Shōnen Jump on November 20.
1985
  • September: Dragon Ball manga tankôbon begins publication in Japan.
1986
1987
1988
1989
  • April: Dragon Ball anime ends its run on Fuji TV after 153 episodes on April 19; Dragon Ball Z begins airing on April 26.
  • July: DBZ Movie #1 premieres in Japan.
  • October: Famicom Story of Goku is released in Japan.
  • Dragon Ball anime's first English dub by Harmony Gold USA arrives in the US, but is canceled after five episodes.
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
  • March: DBGT TV Special airs on Fuji TV.
  • August: PlayStation Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout is released in Japan.
  • November: Dragon Ball GT ends its run on Fuji TV after 64 episodes on November 19; The New Dr. Slump anime begins airing on November 26; Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout is released for the PlayStation in the U.S. (first DB video game to be released in the U.S.)
  • December: DBZ Movie #1 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
1998
  • March: DBZ Movie #3 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  • May: DBZ Movie #2 is released to VHS/DVD in the US; Funimation's Ocean dub of DBZ is canceled after two seasons in U.S. syndication.
  • August: Dragon Ball Z arrives on Cartoon Network's Toonami block.
1999
  • April: DB Movie #2 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  • September: Funimation's in-house dub of Dragon Ball Z begins airing on Cartoon Network; The New Dr. Slump anime ends it's run on Fuji TV after 74 episodes on September 22.
2000
  • October: "Dragon Ball: The Saga of Goku" DVD box set is released in the U.S.
  • December: DBZ TV Special #2 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
2001
  • January: DBZ TV Special #1 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  • February: DB Movie #3 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  • August: DBZ Movie #4 is released to VHS/DVD in the US; FUNimation's in-house dub of Dragon Ball begins airing on Cartoon Network.
2002
  • January: DBZ Movie #5 is released in the U.S.
  • May: Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku is released for the Game Boy Advance in the U.S. (first DB video game to be produced in the U.S.)
  • August: DBZ Movie #6 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  • December: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai is released for the PlayStation 2 in the U.S.
2003
  • February: DBZ Movie #7 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  • March: Viz Media begins releasing the Dragon Ball manga tankôbon into English in the U.S.
  • April: Funimation's in-house dub of DBZ ends its run on Cartoon Network; Dragon Ball 10th Anniversary Movie is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  • June: Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku II is released for the Game Boy Advance in the U.S.
  • August: DBZ Movie #8 is released to VHS/DVD in the U.S.
  • October: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai is released for the Gamecube in the U.S.
  • NovemberDragon Ball GT begins airing on Cartoon Network; Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 is released for the PlayStation 2 in the U.S.
  • December: Funimation's in-house dub of Dragon Ball ends its run on Cartoon Network.
2004
2005
  • February: DBGT Dragon Box is released to DVD in Japan.
  • March: Dragon Ball Z: Sagas is released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Gamecube in the U.S.
  • AprilDragon Ball GT ends its run on Cartoon Network; DBZ Movie #10 is released to DVD in the U.S.
  • May: DBZ Movie #1 is re-released to DVD in the U.S.
  • June – October: Funimation's re-dub of the first two DBZ seasons airs on Cartoon Network.
  • September: DBZ Movie #11 is released to DVD in the U.S.
  • November: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi is released for the PlayStation 2 in the U.S.
2006
  • March: DBZ Movie #12 is released to DVD in the US; Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai is released for the PlayStation Portable in the U.S.
  • June: Viz Media releases final Dragon Ball manga tankôbon into English in the US; Super Dragon Ball Z is released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan.
  • July: Super Dragon Ball Z is released for the PlayStation 2 in the U.S. and Europe.
  • September: DBZ Movie #13 is released to DVD in the U.S.
  • November: "Dragon Ball Z: First Strike" DVD box set is released in the US; Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 is released for the PlayStation 2 and Wii in the U.S.
2007
2008
  • February: DBZ Season 4 and remastered DBZ TV specials 1 and 2 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; NTL expressed interest in releasing Dragon Ball Online to a worldwide audience.
  • May: DBZ Season 5 and remastered DBZ movies 1 and 2 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • June: Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit is released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the U.S.
  • September: DBZ Season 6 and remastered DBZ movies 3 and 4 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! premieres in Japan.
  • November: DBZ Season 7, and remastered DBZ movies 5 and 6 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World is released for the PlayStation 2 in the US; Dragon Ball: Origins is released for the Nintendo DS in the U.S.
  • December: Remastered Dragon Ball GT Season 1 Box Set is released to DVD in the U.S.
2009
  • February: DBZ Season 8, DBGT Season 2, and remastered DBZ movies 7 and 9 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • March: Remastered DBZ movies 8, 10, and 11 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • April: Dragon Ball Kai begins airing on Fuji TV; Dragonball Evolution is released in theaters (live-action film); Closed beta testing began for Dragon Ball Online in South Korea.
  • May: DBZ Season 9 and remastered DBZ movies 12 and 13 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in U.S.
  • September: Remastered Dragon Ball Season 1 Box Set is released to DVD in the U.S.
  • October: Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo is released for the Wii in the U.S.
  • November: Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box 1 and Dragon Ball Season 2 are released to DVD in the US; Dragon Ball: Raging Blast is released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the U.S.
2010
  • February: Funimation acquires the rights to dub Dragon Ball Kai, under the name "Dragon Ball Z Kai"; DBZ Dragon Box 2 and Dragon Ball Season 3 are released to DVD in the US; Dragon Ball Online is released in Korea.
  • March–April: Dragon Ball Kai: Super Battle Stage is played at the Three Great Hero Super Battle Stage event from March 27 to April 23.
  • May: DBZ Dragon Box 3 and Dragon Ball Season 4 are released to DVD in the US; Dragon Ball Z Kai begins airing on Nicktoons and its first DVD/Blu-ray set is released in the U.S.
  • June: Dragon Ball: Origins 2 is released for the Nintendo DS in the U.S.
  • July: Dragon Ball Season 5 is released to DVD in the U.S.
  • August: Dragon Ball Z Kai arrives on The CW's Toonzai block.
  • September: DBZ Kai Part 2, DBZ Dragon Box 4, and "Dragon Ball GT: The Complete Series" are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • October: Dragon Ball Z: Tenkaichi Tag Team is released for the PlayStation Portable in the U.S.
  • November: Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 is released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the U.S.
  • December: DBZ Kai Part 3 and remastered DB Movie #1 are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; the first chapter of Dragon Ball SD is published in Saikyō Jump.
2011
  • January: Dragon Ball Online is announced for Taiwan.
  • February: Dragon Ball Kai: Ultimate Butōden is released for the Nintendo DS in Japan; Dragon Ball: Zenkai Battle is released for Arcades in Japan; "Dragon Ball: 4-Movie Pack" DVD box set is released in the US.
  • March: DBZ Kai Part 4 is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; Dragon Ball Kai ends its initial run on Fuji TV after 97 episodes on March 27.
  • April: DBZ Dragon Box 4 and DBZ Dragon Box 5 released to DVD in the U.S. Cross Epoch released in English as part of issue 100 of English Shonen Jump. The second chapter of Dragon Ball SD is published in Saikyō Jump.
  • May: The closed beta testing for Dragon Ball Online in Taiwan began on May 12, and ended on May 16.
  • June: DBZ Kai Part 5 is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; The first chapter of Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock is published in V-Jump.
  • July: DBZ Dragon Box 6 is released to DVD in the US; The second chapter of Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock is published in V-Jump.
  • August: The final chapter of Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock is published in V-Jump.
  • September: DBZ Kai Part 6 is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • October: DBZ Dragon Box 7 is released to DVD in the US; Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi is released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the US and EU.
  • November: Dragon Ball SSSS is launched by Bandai in conjunction with V-Jump and Saikyō Jump; "Dragon Ball Z Movie Collection One" is released to DVD in the U.S.
  • December: Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi is released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in Japan; "Dragon Ball Z Movie Collection Two" is released to DVD in the US; "Dragon Ball Z Level 1.1" which includes the first 17 DBZ episodes on two discs) is released to Blu-ray in the US; the anime adaptation of Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock aired at Jump Festa 2012 and the streamed version was only available online until December 28.
2012
  • January: Dragon Ball Z Kai ends its run on Nicktoons; "Dragon Ball Z Movie Collection Three" is released to DVD in the US; Dragon Ball GT arrives on Nicktoons
  • March: DBZ Kai Part 7 is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • June: DBZ Kai Part 8 is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • August: Dragon Ball Z Kai moves to The CW's Vortexx block.
  • October: Dragon Ball Z For Kinect is released for the Xbox 360 in the US; The spin-off manga Dragon Ball Heroes: Victory Mission begins its serialization in V-Jump.
  • November: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai HD Collection is released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in the U.S.
2013
  • February: The first three Dragon Ball Full Color volumes (Saiyan Arc) are released on February 4;[2] the first Chōzenshū volume is released February 5 and Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission is released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming console on February 28.
  • March: The second Chōzenshū volume is released on March 4;[2] special cast greeting message and preview of DBZ Movie #14 across Japan (Wald 9 Cinema in Tokyo, Burg 7 Theater in Osaka, 109 Cinemas in Nagoya, T-Joy Hakata in Fukuoka, and Sapporo Cinema Frontier in Sapporo) on March 12;[3] second preview screening at Differ Ariake in Tokyo on March 16;[4] the Battle of Gods magazine is released on March 21; the traveling exhibition "The World of Dragon Ball" is held in Tokyo from March 27 to April 15,[2] Dragon Ball: Tap Battle is released on Android2.3 (Gingerbread) and higher; DBZ Movie #14 premieres in Japan.
  • April: The five Dragon Ball Full Color volumes covering the Frieza Arc, the third Chōzenshū volume,[2] and the first Dragon Ball SD volume are released on April 4. The crossover TV special Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special airs on Fuji TV on April 7.[5] The traveling exhibition "The World of Dragon Ball" is held in Ōsaka from April 17 to April 23.[2]
  • May: The fourth Chōzenshū volume and the Chōgashū are released on May 9.[2]
  • July: The publication of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman debuts in Weekly Shōnen Jump, Dragon Ball: Tap Battle is released on iOS, the traveling exhibition "The World of Dragon Ball" is held in Nagoya from July 27 to September 1.[2]
  • August: "Dragon Ball Z: Rock the Dragon Edition" DVD box set is released in the U.S.
  • October: Dragon Ball RPG: Shōnen-hen is released for both Android and iOS devices.
  • November: J Legend Retsuden is released for Nintendo 3DS.
  • December: Dragon Ball Z Season 1 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
2014
  • January: The publication of the Dragon Ball GT anime comics debuts in Saikyō Jump; Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z is released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.
  • February: Dragon Ball Full Color vol. 1 of the Saiyan arc by Viz released on February 4; Dragon Ball Z Season 2 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • March: J-Stars Victory Vs is released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, and Dragon Ball: Ultimate Swipe is released for both Android and iOS devices; Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods - Special Edition airs on Fuji TV.
  • April: Dragon Ball Full Color vol. 2 of the Saiyan arc by Viz released on April 1; The first three Dragon Ball Full Color volumes of the Android Arc, the second Dragon Ball SD volume, and the collected volume of Jaco the Galactic Patrolman (featuring Dragon Ball Minus) are released on April 4; Dragon Ball Kai returns to Fuji TV on April 6, with the Majin Buu Arc; Dragon Ball Z Season 3 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • May: Dragon Ball Full Color volumes 4–6 of the Android arc released on May 2; Dragon Ball Z Season 4 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • June: Dragon Ball Full Color vol. 3 of the Saiyan arc by Viz released on June 3; Dragon Ball Full Color volumes 1–3 of the Majin Buu arc are released on June 4; Dragon Ball Z Season 5 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • July: Dragon Ball Full Color volumes 4–6 of the Majin Buu arc are released on July 4; a Dragon Ball event which allows attendees to ride on their own Flying Nimbus and fire off their own Kamehameha is held in Nagoya City Science Museum from July 16 to August 31.[6]
  • August: Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission 2 is released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming console on August 7; Dragon Ball Z Season 6 is released to Blu-ray in the US; DBZ Movie #14 is given a limited theatrical release in the U.S.
  • September: Dragon Ball Z Season 7 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • October: Dragon Ball Z Season 8 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • November: Dragon Ball Z Kai uncut begins airing on Adult Swim's Toonami block.
  • December: Dragon Ball Z Season 9 is released to Blu-ray in the U.S.
2015
  • January: Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle is released for Android in Japan.
  • February: Dragon Ball Xenoverse is released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows (Via Steam); Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle is released for iOS in Japan.
  • April: DBZ Movie #15 premieres in Japan.
  • June: Dragon Ball Kai ends its run for the second and last time on Fuji TV after 61 episodes on June 28; J-Stars Victory VS+ releases in the West on June 30; Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden is released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan.
  • July: Dragon Ball Super begins airing on Fuji TV on July 5; Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle is released for both Android and iOS globally.
  • August: DBZ Movie #15 is given a limited theatrical release in the U.S.
  • October: Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butōden for the Nintendo 3DS is released in North America and Europe.
2016
  • May: Dragon Ball Full Color vol. 1 of the Frieza arc by Viz released on May 3.
  • July: Dragon Ball Z: The Real 4-D premieres at Universal Studios Japan on July 1; Dragon Ball Full Color vol. 2 of the Frieza arc by Viz released on July 5.
  • August: Dragon Ball Fusions is released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan; Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ - Future Trunks Special Edition airs on Fuji TV.
  • September: Dragon Ball Full Color vol. 3 of the Frieza arc by Viz released on September 6.
  • October: Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows (Via Steam).
  • November: Dragon Ball Full Color vol. 4 of the Frieza arc by Viz released on November 1; Funimation acquires the rights to dub Dragon Ball Super; Dragon Ball Fusions for the Nintendo 3DS is released in the U.S.
2017
  • January: Dragon Ball Full Color vol. 5 of the Frieza arc by Viz released on January 3; Dragon Ball Super and Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters begin airing on Adult Swim's Toonami block.
  • February: Dragon Ball Fusions for the Nintendo 3DS is released in Europe and Oceania.
  • April: Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters Part One is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S; Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission X for the Nintendo 3DS is released in Japan.
  • May: Dragon Ball Super Vol. 1 by Viz released on May 2; Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters Part Two is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • June: Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters Part Three is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; Dragon Ball Z: Super Tenkaichi Budokai premieres at Universal Studios Japan on June 30.
  • July: Dragon Ball Super Part One is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • September: Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is released for the Nintendo Switch.
  • October: Dragon Ball Super Part Two is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • December: Dragon Ball Super Vol. 2 by Viz released on December 5.
2018
  • January: Dragon Ball FighterZ is released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows (via Steam).
  • February: Dragon Ball Super Part Three is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • March: Dragon Ball Super ends its run on Fuji TV after 131 episodes on March 25.
  • May: Dragon Ball Legends is released worldwide for iOS and Android.
  • June: Dragon Ball Super Part Four is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; Dragon Ball Z Kai: The Final Chapters ends its run on Adult Swim's Toonami block.
  • July: Super Dragon Ball Heroes anime premieres in Japan on July 1; Dragon Ball Super Vol. 3 by Viz released on July 3.
  • September: Dragon Ball FighterZ is released for the Nintendo Switch.
  • October: Dragon Ball Super Part Five is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • November: Dragon Ball: That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha by Viz released on November 6.
  • December: Dragon Ball Super: Broly is released in Japan on December 14.
2019
  • January: Dragon Ball Super Vol. 4 by Viz released on January 1; Dragon Ball Super Part Six is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; Dragon Ball Super: Broly is given a limited theatrical release in the U.S.
  • April: Dragon Ball Super Part Seven and Dragon Ball Super: Broly are released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission is released for the Nintendo Switch.
  • May: Dragon Ball Super Vol. 5 by Viz released on May 7.
  • July: Dragon Ball Super Part Eight is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • September: Dragon Ball Super Vol. 6 by Viz released on September 3.
  • October: Dragon Ball Super ends its run on Adult Swim's Toonami block; Dragon Ball Super Part Nine is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the U.S.
  • November: Funimation's 30th Anniversary Collectors Edition comprising the full Dragon Ball Z anime series in a 4:3 aspect ratio is released to Blu-Ray.
  • December: Dragon Ball Super Vol. 7 by Viz released on December 3.
2020
  • January: Dragon Ball Super Part Ten is released to DVD/Blu-ray in the US; Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows (via Steam).
  • March: Dragon Ball Super Vol. 8 by Viz released on March 3.

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