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Dragon Ball Z
Spikey-Haired aliens that blow up everything with lasers.
- URL: Unknown
- Location: Unknown
- Date: 04/1989
- Facebook: Unknown
- Twitter: Unknown
- Known For: Dragging on for long periods of time, Over 9000, Ridiculous power levels, IMMA CHARGIN MAH LAZER
Summary
Dragon Ball Z, part 2 of the Dragon Ball anime, introduced to the world a new generation of ADHD plagued children. Its fast paced action scenes and completely ridiculous feats of strength (blowing up planets with lasers) attracted the masses of bored children with nothing else but watch boring American cartoons and Pokemon. That is, of course, if you didn't watch about ten episodes of characters shouting and powering up first. These children still worship the show to this day, and still make up the main fanbase of the title, feeding it enough money to have tons of video games, movies, toys, and even multiple box sets produced by the masses.
The show's main character, Goku, has served as an idol for countless children (and adults) and has been valiantly defended against other superheroes, such as Superman, across the internet. The show has even served as the basis of other shows that run today, such as Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach.
As for the main story of Dragon Ball Z, there really isn't any. A villain shows up. Kills someone or blows up a city. Goku trains while the other characters distract the villain and/or gather the 7 Dragon Balls, which can't grant the wielder any one wish. Goku reaches a new level of power and defeats the enemy. Rinse, wash, repeat.
Memes
The show is also the source for some of the Internet's most famous memes, such as Over 9000, IMMA CHARGIN MAH LAZER, "The balls are inert", and the absurdly racist caricature Mr. Popo. The memes themselves are based on the over-the-top nature of the show.
Origins
Akira Toryama created the original manga, titled Dragon Ball. The manga, originally a parody of the Chinese story Journey to the West, covers everything from the first meeting of Goku and Bulma as children to the defeat of Majin Buu and the epilogue. The anime was split in two parts, with Dragon Ball Z being the second. While the first part, Dragon Ball, was a martial arts/comedy series in the vein of Jackie Chan, in Dragon Ball Z the focus shifted to blander superhero-style action with lots of grunting, yelling, and beamspam.
Dragon Ball Z began airing in Japan in April 1989, and ended in January 1996. In the United States Dragon Ball Z was successful, and the manga translation in that country was split in two parts according to how the anime was split.
Current status
No longer produced. Dragon Ball Kai, a recut version of DBZ, now runs on television networks in Japan and the United States. The Kai version removes all the filler of the original anime, making the plot tighter and easier to follow, and features cleaner animation.
Following the end of Dragon Ball Kai, Toei Animation has continued to put out a new Dragon Ball direct-to-DVD special every few years, with plans for a new theatrical movie in 2013.
Images
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 Dat Ass is over 9,000 |
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 d'awww |
 What exactly is going on here? |
 ~Moe |
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 NOBODY likes white Goku |
 ~So moe |
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 A good example of some amazing Dragon Ball Z fan art |
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 It's Alright... |
 "Mister Satan" mourns the death of his voice actor, Daisuke Gouri |
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Videos
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