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Dragon Ball (DB/DBZ/DBGT)

The US has Superman, brought to the Earth by a destroyed alien civilization and granted super powers based on the color of our sun, but he's a perpetual bachelor. Japan has Dragon Ball, an epic manga-and-anime series about an alien superhero named Goku, and eventually his family. But don't think it's just a copy. After all, Superman never had kids to deal with, let alone kids that could kick his butt.

Story Intro

(DB) Once upon a time, there was a young boy named Son-Goku (or just Goku) who lived alone in the forest. Hunting (with his staff) and fishing (with his tail) were his favorite things to while away the days, until he met a loud demon racing through the forest. Only this "demon" turned out to be a girl named Bulma on a motorcycle. She was searching for something called Dragon Balls (why anyone would be looking for such a strange part of a dragon was beyond young Goku's understanding), so Goku brought her home to visit "Grandpa" and help her find them. "Grandpa", it turns out, is what Goku calls a small sphere that was left to him by a kind man who found him in the forest one day -- a Dragon Ball.

Bulma tells Goku that by collecting all seven Dragon Balls, a dragon can be summoned to grant any wish, and so they pair up to find the rest of the balls, meeting all sorts of creatures and dastardly humans along the way.

(DBZ) Years later, Goku has a son of his own, Son-Gohan (Gohan), and learns that he's an alien that was sent to Earth as an infant to practice destroying worlds. He hadn't done so, as he lost his memory in a childhood accident.

Other aliens show up, including Vegita, prince of the alien race that raised Goku before sending him to Earth. But Vegita isn't the only one after power; an alien named Freeza, who destroyed Vegita and Goku's true home planet, is also after them. All seems lost until a mysterious man appears with the same alien powers and defeats Freeza quite easily; this man named Trunks claims to have come from the future, and has the same heritage as Goku and Vegita. . . .

(DBGT) Years later, Gohan has a daughter of his own, Pan, and a dastardly group uses the Dragon Balls to turn Goku into a child again. Now it's up to a child-like Goku, his granddaughter Pan (who appears older), and their friend Trunks, to save the world yet again. . . .

(phew! And that's just an *intro* to the three series! I haven't even touched upon the movies and specials yet.)

Other Notes

Names and other silliness -- a horde of in-jokes are scattered along the way in both the manga series (which correspond nearly episode-to-episode to only the first two anime series) and the anime. A small sample of name-related jokes are listed here.

The "Z Fighters", most of whom are also in the original series, are almost all foods -- Goku's original name was Kakarot (carrot), then we have Vegita (vegetable), Gohan (rice), Krillin (chestnut), Yamcha (dim sum), Tien (a desert), Chiaotzu (dumpling), and the animals Oolong (tea) and Puar (tea). Radditz (radish) was Goku's brother, but an enemy.

One story arc features enemies named Cold and his sons Cooler and Freeza (freezer). Among other enemies are Salt, Spice, Mustard, and Vinegar.

"Bulma" is an alternate transliteration of the word "buruma", or bloomers, the gym shorts that school-girls wear in Japan. Her father's name is Dr. Briefs, and her son is Trunks. In GT, Bulma's daughter is named Bra.

Later in the "Z" series, we learn of the lineage of an enemy named "Majin Buu". His creater was "Babidi". His father's name was "Bibidi". So, we have an homage to Disney's Cinderella: Bibidi, Babidi, Buu.

Alternate worlds -- While the manga and TV anime roughly follow one long chronology, the TV specials and Movies are best seen as alternate realities, as many of them conflict with occurrences in the normal series. Two examples are History of Trunks, a TV special that showed what Trunks' world was like before he went back in time to help folks out -- at best a side-plot -- and Return My Gohan (released here in the US as Dead Zone), where Gohan is kidnapped by an entirely different fellow than the TV storyline.

Main storyline:

Dragon Ball (153-episode TV, 16-volume manga)

Dragon Ball Z (291-episode TV, 26-volume manga)

Dragon Ball GT (64-episode TV)

TV Specials (alternate storylines):

DBZ: Bardock: Father of Goku (TV Special)

DBZ: Future Trunks (TV Special, aka History of Trunks)

DBGT: Future Goku (TV Special)

Theatrical Movies (alternate storylines):

DB: The Legend of Shenlon (Movie)

DB: The Princess in Devil's Castle (Movie)

DB: Mysterious Adventures (Movie)

DBZ: Return My Gohan (Movie, aka Dead Zone)

DBZ: The World's Strongest Man (Movie)

DBZ: Ultimate Decisive Battle for Earth (Movie, aka Tree of Might)

DBZ: Super Saiya-jin Goku (Movie, aka Lord Slug)

DBZ: The Best of Strongest Vs. Strongest (Movie, aka Cooler's Revenge)

DBZ: Clash!! 10,000,000,000 Power Warriors (Movie)

DBZ: Utmost Limits of Battle!! The Three Super Saiya-jin (Movie)

DBZ: Burnout!! Fierce Fight, Violent Fight, Super-Exciting Fight (Movie)

DBZ: The Galaxy's in Danger! The Super Awesome Guy! (Movie)

DBZ: Dangerous Partners! Super Warriors Never Rest (Movie)

DBZ: Crushing Super Warrior!! I am the Winner (Movie)

DBZ: The Rebirth of Fusion! Goku and Vegita! (Movie)

DBZ: Dragon Fist Explosion!! If Goku Can't, Who Can? (Movie)

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