"What do we do about Moon festivals from now on?!! What about moon pies?! And what about those poor werewolves who want to transform?! This is terrible!!" |
The World Tournament Announcer[1][2] (天下一武道会アナウンサー Tenkaichi Budōkai Anaunsā, lit. "The Number One Under Heaven Martial Arts Gathering Announcer") is the man who hosts every World Martial Arts Tournament from the beginning of Dragon Ball to Dragon Ball GT. Along with commentating, he sometimes acts as a referee for tournament matches other than the preliminary matches, usually counting when a contestant is down.
Appearance
He has blonde hair, wears sunglasses, and a navy-blue/black business suit with a red necktie. Between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, he loses one tiny hair bang probably due to age. Ten years after Kid Buu's defeat, his age starts to show as he has lost hair and has very noticeable wrinkles.
Personality
For the most part, he is shown to have an eccentric personality, being very loud and demonstrative whenever describing the battle occurring in front of him, along with showing the amazement of the unique techniques every fighter he sees uses. But a major flaw he is shown to have is not starting the countdown at the correct time due to him being too distracted with the events occurring around him, and if he did not have this trait, many fights would have ended differently or earlier based on the time he started the countdown. He seems to have an understanding of ki techniques and is familiar with a select few of them.
Biography
Dragon Ball
Tournament Saga
Main article: Tournament Saga
The announcer is mostly known for forgetting to count when an opponent is down as he does this very often. In the 21st World Martial Art Tournament, during the first battle of Krillin vs. Bacterian, a helper is seen counting instead of the announcer.
Tien Shinhan Saga
Main articles: Tien Shinhan Saga and King Piccolo Saga
In the 22nd World Martial Art Tournament, when Krillin brings Goku down by grabbing his tail, the announcer gets distracted after he said '9' by an audience member who complemented him on his hair. In every tournament, aside from the 21st, an unfortunate event occurs that enhances his role, such as in the King Piccolo Saga when he witnessed Krillin slain by Tambourine.
Piccolo Jr. Saga
Main article: Piccolo Jr. Saga
Later, he becomes very important as he witnesses Goku's fight with Piccolo from the sidelines along with Goku's friends; the World Martial Arts Announcer is the only non-Z Fighter not to abandon the tournament when Piccolo states he will slaughter everyone. When Piccolo is later assumed knocked out when Goku uses his Meteor Combination, the announcer counts down, however, Piccolo makes a quick recovery when the announcer counts to 9 and use a mouth blast to impale Goku through the chest, continuing the brutal torture with Goku. He eventually declares Goku the winner of the tournament match when Piccolo is knocked out of the arena by Goku's headbutt, making him one of the few civilians to know the truth (this event was later referenced in the World Tournament Saga when Piccolo competes in the tournament, where he jokingly asks him not to destroy the ring again).
Dragon Ball Z
Majin Buu Saga
Main articles: World Tournament Saga, Babidi Saga, Majin Buu Saga, and Kid Buu Saga
Over the years, he has become an acquaintance with the Dragon Team, and knows that they, not Mr. Satan, are responsible for saving the Earth. He thought that it was Goku that killed Cell, as he was witness to Goku's feats of power in the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd tournaments (although it was Gohan who actually destroyed the villain, even though Goku did somewhat helped him to bring out the energy that was hidden in Gohan). He exhibits doubts over Mr. Satan's abilities, such as when Vegeta who was under the control of Babidi goes out of control. Although he believes Mr. Satan is not the hero he claims to be, he praises him in order to make fans cheer and hides the secret about Mr. Satan not being the one who defeated Cell.
Peaceful World Saga
Main article: Peaceful World Saga
He rates Goku on par with Majin Buu in the 28th World Martial Arts Tournament, saying they would be in the finals.
Dragon Ball GT
Super 17 Saga
Main article: Super 17 Saga
6 years later in Dragon Ball GT, he is seen hosting the 30th World Martial Arts Tournament, as Goku competes in the Junior Division, and Pan along with Mr. Satan and Majuub (as Papayaman) compete in the Adult Division.
Appearances in other media
Nippon Ijin Taishō
The World Tournament Announcer appears in anime segment in the 2007 Nippon Ijin Taishō · Saikyō no Ijin wa Dare? (日本偉人大賞・最強の偉人は誰?; lit. "Japan's Great Awards - Who is the Strongest Hero?"), along with Goku who is a commentator with the Fuji TV announcer Masaharu Miyake. The segment featured a special World Martial Arts Tournament that was to decide who was the greatest person in Japanese history. The fighters were Musashibo Benkei, Himiko, Prince Shotoku, and Amakusa Shiro. The winner was Prince Shotoku, who defeated Benkei in the final.
Dream 9 Toriko x One Piece x Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special
He appears as an announcer in the World's Best Eating Tournament (Tenkaichi Kuōkai) hosted by the International Gourmet Organization (IGO). He takes the commentary in the race and the battle between the lead characters Goku, Luffy, and Toriko.
Video Game Appearances
The announcer appears in the following games:
- Dragon Ball 3: Gokuden
- Dragon Ball Z Arcade
- Dragon Ball Z 2: Super Battle
- Dragon Ball Z: Idainaru Son Goku Densetsu
- Dragon Ball Z: Goku Hishōden
- Dragon Ball Z: Goku Gekitōden
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Totsugeki-Hen
- Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden: Kakusei-Hen
- Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22
- Dragon Ball Z: Shin Butōden
- Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors
- Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
- Dragon Ball: Advanced Adventure
- Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury
- Super Dragon Ball Z
- Dragon Ball Z: Bakuretsu Impact
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
- Dragon Ball: Origins
- Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans
- Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo
- Dragon Ball Online[3]
- Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 (talks but cannot be seen)
- Dragon Ball Heroes
- Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi
- Dragon Ball RPG: Shōnen-hen
Voice Actors
- Japanese: Kenji Utsumi (DB), Hirotaka Suzuoki (DBZ), Tamotsu Nishiwaki (DB Kai)
- English:
- Harmony Gold dub: Daniel Woren
- Ocean Group dubs: Michael Dobson
- Funimation dub: Eric Vale
- Latin American Spanish dub: Salvador Delgado (DB, DBZ, DBGT) Pedro D'Aguillón Jr (DBZ Kai)
- Brazilian Portuguese dub: Wellington Lima (21st Tournament), Tatá Guarnieri (22nd and 23rd Tournament), Cassius Romero (DBZ)
Trivia
- The announcer seems to have a form of dyslexia; he has trouble reading Goku's and Chiaotzu's names the first time they enter the tournament. He also announces one entrant as Wolf-Man instead of Man-Wolf.[4] This, however, is a dubism, as the Japanese versions have him mispronounce the Kanji used in their names. The change in setup is due to linguistic differences between written Japanese and written English.
- In the (English version) manga, the announcer says that Chi-Chi was the first female ever to be in the finals in the 23rd World Tournament, but Ranfan was in the finals of the 21st tournament.
- A joke in the game Shin Budokai - Another Road is that he understands "about half" of what Kid Buu says: according to him, Kid Buu will save half of the tournament's prize money and go shopping with the rest of it.
- In the last episode of Dragon Ball GT, there is a new announcer with white hair who is most likely a descendant of the announcer. However, this is not confirmed. He does seem to know Mr. Satan and Goku well since he introduces the Goku and Mr. Satan Statue at the beginning of the tournament. His enthusiasm is also identical to the previous announcer's.
- The announcer is one of the few humans to recognize Goku and the Z-fighters' power/talent, and that they are the true Earth's defenders, as shown when viewing them as the ones who saved Earth.
Gallery
See also
References
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi credits, 2005
- ↑ Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 credits, 2007
- ↑ Dragon Ball Online Opening Cinematic Video. mmorpg.
- ↑ Dragon Ball episode 97, "Yamcha vs. Tien"