When it comes to the growth of anime in America, a few factors weigh heavily on its spread. Most of them lead back to Toonami, and part of Toonami’s explosion was due to the wicked battles that made up the frenzied anime import, 1989’s Dragon Ball Z, which was the sequel to Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball, an anime from 1986 that followed Son Goku and his squad on adventures seeking all seven of the Dragon Balls. Dragon Ball Z was a sequel of sorts (although the time-jump between series happened one week after the other), following Son Goku as a father with his own sons, and even bigger beasts to battle with the fate of the Earth on the line!
When Toriyama’s sequel series hit American TV (shout out Toonami, always), the fast-paced action was like nothing seen on TV before, with some battles taking entire weeks to complete, full of characters leveling up and showing true grit during these earth-shaking, life-threatening fights. The series was such a ratings demon stateside that it would draw more viewers than Friends in some markets, spawning video games, movies, and a multitude of spin-offs.
But how much do you know about the Z fighters? Let’s test that out with a look at 10 things you didn’t know about Dragon Ball Z.
Dragon Ball Z began as an attempt to boost sluggish Dragon Ball ratings
After it was suggested that the Dragon Ball ratings were in a rut because the anime shared the same producer as another series, Dr. Slump. They wanted a more “serious” look like what they saw on Saint Seiya, with their creative team suggesting that a reboot featuring an adult Goku was the best bet. Oddly enough, Toriyama suggested adding the “Z” at the end of the title, primarily because he was trying to end the series. Joke’s on Toriyama, though; Dragon Ball Z ended up having 138 more episodes than its predecessor.
Dragon Ball Z voice actors often recorded different character dialogue at the same time
Because of the tight timing of the dialogue in Dragon Ball Z, the voice actors would often have to record lines for different characters on cue. Masako Nozawa, who voiced Goku, Gohan, and Goten, reportedly switched between characters with relative ease once she saw the character on screen.
Goku's Super Saiyan form is based on Bruce Lee
In the original Dragon Ball manga, when Goku turns Super Saiyan, the design of his eyes were based on the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee’s own stare, so it made sense for Bruce Lee’s physical demeanor to be utilized for Goku’s first Super Saiyan form in Dragon Ball Z. Dragon Ball Z character designer Tadayoshi Yamamuro says that when Goku "first becomes a Super Saiyan, his slanting pose with that scowling look in his eyes is all Bruce Lee."
Gohan was deadlier in the Dragon Ball Z series than in the manga
Son Gohan, Goku’s elder son, had a higher body count in Dragon Ball Z the series than in the manga, where he has eight confirmed kills. For some reason, in the anime, Gohan’s kill count climbs to 15. We know there was filler thrown into the series while they waited for the manga to catch up to the story, but damn!
Goku has two confirmed kills in Dragon Ball Z
To be one of the fiercest competitors on the planet, Goku exhibits restraint; you know damn well his Kill Count could be way higher. Both of his kills went down during the Buu Saga. The first was Yakon, a henchman for Babidi with the ability to absorb energy; Goku allowed Yakon to overload on Goku’s light, which ended up consuming Yakon…permanently. The second is Kid Buu, who had to go; it took the combined powers of Goku, Vegeta, Good Buu, and Mr. Satan to battle Kid Buu, and it was Goku’s Spirit Bomb that ended up doing the trick.
Vegeta was supposed to be a one-off character
“Blasphemy,” you may be shouting, but yes, according to Toriyama, Vegeta’s run was supposed to end early, with Goku taking him out at the end of the Saiyan Saga. The thing is, Vegeta ended up being super popular, and cooler heads prevailed (imagine the backlash). "I had thought about bringing an end to [his story] as just a villain, but as I was writing, I felt that his villainous [...] warped straightforwardness was unexpectedly interesting,” Toriyama said. “I couldn't imagine that a guy with this kind of hairstyle would become popular, and yet he'd get more votes than Goku in favorite-character polls." Vegeta was almost taken out during the Namek, Cell, and Buu sagas, but again, his popularity kept him from biting the big one. Toriyama even poked fun at himself over this ordeal in the past.
Goku and Frieza had the longest fight in anime history
Stretching across 30 episodes, Goku and Frieza’s epic battle redefined what final fights could look like. Stretching over four hours, the fight makes sense, as Frieza’s tyranny included taking the life of Goku’s homie Krillin, triggering Goku’s Super Saiyan transformation. Frieza was the biggest threat the Z fighters had faced in the series, and Goku was the last line of defense before the end of the Earth. (And keep in mind that half of this fight happens after Frieza says that Earth has five minutes before destruction!) Goku had to give it his all, and in doing so, Dragon Ball Z flipped the entire script on the art of fighting. (There’s also a lot of filler in those four-plus hours, but you gotta stick around for that BATTLE!)
Vegeta has only used the name “Goku” eight times in the series
As a proud Saiyan warrior, Vegeta despises that Goku doesn’t use his given name, “Kakarot,” which is one of the many instances of Z fighters having food-related names. That’s not to say that Vegeta wouldn’t utter the name, it was just a rarity, so rare that you won’t need all of your fingers to count the number of times (eight) he’s said it.
The “It’s Over 9000!” meme turns 20 this year
Don’t you feel old! In the episode “The Return of Goku,” Vegeta is scanning Goku’s power levels, getting flustered and ripping off his scanner while screaming, “It’s over 9000!” That scene became a meme largely thanks to a YouTube Poop of it that went from 20,000 views in a day to 200,000 views shortly later. Thanks to things like a 4chan filter that turned any mention of the number 7 into “over 9000,” it’s become one of the greatest phrases on the internet.
The best part? It was a mistake. If you know anything about the various dubs recorded over the last three decades, you know lines were altered and edited depending on who was paying for the studio sessions. During the Ocean dub of Z, the original line—“Over 8,000!”—was mistakenly recorded as as “9,000” instead. This mistake has lived in infamy ever since, largely due to the sheer popularity of Dragon Ball Z worldwide.
Mr. Satan’s real name is Mark
Confirmed by Toriyama himself in 2009, Mr. Satan—who’s name was changed to “Hercule” to avoid using “Satan” in the series they were aiming at kids—was just Mark’s stage name, with his real name written as māku, which apparently can be flipped and bounced to akuma, which basically means “demon” or “devil.” You slick AF, Toriyama!
