Dragon Ball Z.
Roughly a week ago, the passing of the creator of Dragon Ball Z, Akira Toriyama, was announced on Twitter. Ever since, the tributes have been flowing in. And rightfully so.
DBZ is one of the most famous anime franchises ever, with one of the strongest influences on worldwide culture.
It was a huge part of many people’s childhoods, and it’s been around so long that it’s touched 3 different generations and possibly every continent on the planet.
If you’re reading this, you might wonder what the hype around Dragon Ball Z, or maybe someone in your family is a fan and you don’t know why.
Either way, it’s a cultural phenomenon, and definitely worthy of talking about on this fine Friday.
Y’all know the vibes… Today is all about Dragon Ball Z.
In 1955…
Akira Toriyama was born in the town of Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. While in school he grew a liking to anime after being introduced to it by his grade school friends.
Though he could draw well, Toriyama didn’t initially pursue a career in manga. In fact, after graduating from high school, Toriyama attended a design school where he studied advertising.
He was roughly 3 years into his advertising career when his focus began to shift.
Long story short…
He quit his job.
After leaving, Toriyama drifted aimlessly (his words) until his parents told him that he had to figure out what his next move was.
Around that same time, he saw that a Weekly Shonen magazine was hosting a contest to see who could make the best anime.
The prize was 500,000 yen & a regular spot in the magazine.
Toriyama didn’t win the contest, BUT the editors reached out to him about continuing the work he created, which eventually led to his anime series entitled “Wonder Island.”
It was published Weekly in 1978, making it Toriyama’s first foray into manga.
Following up on Wonder Island, Toriyama made a popular manga called “Dr. Slump” which helped him become known inJapan.
He was getting to the point where he wanted to wrap up that story and start with a new character/series.
That’s when Toriyama came up with an idea for a news series entitled…
DRAGON BOY
“Back when I was still doing Dr. Slump , I was in love with Jackie Chan movies, so I had them playing in the background while I worked. Must’ve watched those videos a million times. I mentioned this, off-hand, to my editor, and he told me to try drawing a one-shot manga about kung fu. So I casually whipped up this piece with the iffy title of ‘ Dragon Boy .’ – Akira Toriyama, CBR
As the quote above affirms, before Dragon Ball, Toriyama started with a one-offs of “Dragon Boy.”
He was fresh off of making Dr. Slump, and wanted to try his hand at creating a new manga that would incorporate martial arts themes into the story. That series laid the groundwork for what would soon become “Dragon Ball.”
(notice the character at the bottom is basically Chi Chi, from Dragon Ball Z)
The one-offs were cool, but not close to the level of success of Dr. Slump. However, Toriyama was stubborn, and kept tweaking his idea using all of the skills he had learned over the years.
In 1984, all of his prior experience combined to make what would become his magnum opus…
Dragon Ball
IT BLENDED EASTERN & WESTERN CULTURE
Toriyama’s influences from his early work heavily play into what ultimately became Dragon Ball Z.
At the core of its success is a deep appreciation for Eastern & Western culture, and universal values that align to all humans.
In much of Toriyama’s earlier work, he cites western works like Star Wars as an influence.
When combined with the Eastern adoration for martial arts it created a unique world for DBZ to play in — one that includes everything from: Alien invaders with futuristic tech to foreign planets with peaceful races on the brink of extinction.
IT REACHED 3 GENERATIONS OF FANS
A key distinction that accounts for the impact of Dragon Ball is that they’ve told the same story over the years with only slight variation.
Whereas Pokemon (another beloved series), has new editions on a very regular basis, DBZ literally introduces the exact same story to new audiences sending them on a path of discovery that’s easy to follow long term.
As a result, DBZ touches 3 different generations of pop culture, and its merchandise extends far beyond what a lot of anime franchises offered.
Moreover, the fandom translated to different mediums — it created an opportunity for fans to express their fandom to younger generations and extend the life of the DBZ Franchise.
Below is a brief examination how each generation experienced Dragon Ball:
A. Gen X & Dragon Ball
As mentioned earlier, the OG series Dragon Ball premiered in 1984.
In 1986, Toei animation picked up Dragon Ball, and the TV adaption of Dragon Ball manga premiered over in Japan.
Prior fans of Toriyama’s work tuned into the Dragon Ball series and it’s first imprint on culture was being made.
B. Millennials & Toonami
By 1995, DBZ made its way to American viewers but the crazy thing is… it didn’t do well. In fact, they stopped dubbing new episodes because they couldn’t get good viewership for it.
But that changed by 1999.
By then, anime began making waves in the U.S. because of Cartoon Network & its Toonami programming block.
Toonami became many Millennials first introduction to Anime as a form of entertainment AND it just so happened that it included re-runs of Dragon Ball Z.
For the first time, kids in the U.S. were watching DBZ everyday at 5pm.
This caused the show to rise in popularity, and the big wigs figured it was time for move into a new space with merchandise.
At the same time, console gaming was entering into a new generation with the introduction of the Sony Playstation.
With the PS2 era came the release of games like Budokai, and Budokai Tenkaichi that allowed young fans to take their DBZ love to the next level even after the show ended.
C. Gen Z & Dragon Ball Z Kai
By the mid-2000s, Dragon Ball Z the corporate big wigs decided to remaster DBZ and create a new series called Dragon Ball Z: Kai.
The dialogue and art were updated, and for a new generation of kids in Gen Z, this was their first introduction to DBZ.
Some went on the binge the entire series from Dragon Ball all the way to Dragon Ball Super (the newer episodes) & just like that, a new generation of DBZ fans were born.
And, naturally, if you’re gonna refresh the show it’s only right to introduce a new suite of games to match. With that in mind, Toei animation & whoever else owns the rights have been creating a ton of new DBZ games for younger fans to enjoy`
IT BECAME A FIXTURE IN POP CULTURE
Another signal for how big The Dragon Ball franchise is can be the references to it that pop up in culture.
I mean… Goku was in the Macy’s parade last year, if that wasn’t a clue. Super Saiyan God Goku, to be exact.
Dragon Ball Z has also been referenced in songs by everyone from Frank Ocean to to Joey Bada$$.
Remember, Frank Ocean’s lyrics on Pink Matter? Cotton Candy, Majin Buu?
Majin Buu is a DBZ character who happens to be pink.
THE FIGHTS ARE ALSO LEGENDARY, AND THEY SHOW UP IN CULTURE TOO.
I. The Kamehameha Wave
Goku’s signature attack in the series is known as The Kamehameha wave. 9/10 at some point in an episode where Goku is fighting, this will appear.
For reference, this is an example of the attack below:
And this is one of the biggest pop culture references of the Kamehameha in culture. Drake using the wave in a fictional dance battle with Chris Brown:
II. Creed III Fight Scene
Creed III showed it DBZ influence towards the end of the movie.
The movie plot is about two frenemies engaging in an epic battle to see who’s the best — very similar to the source material of Dragon Ball Z and the relationship dynamic between the protagonists Goku & Vegeta.
Specifically, an interview with EW revealed that Dragon Ball Z inspired the scene below:
III. The Spirit Bomb
Whenever Goku was getting his ass kicked with no help in sight, he always had one move left to rely on:
The Spirit Bomb.
It was an attack that harnessed all of earth’s energy to create… well, a bomb. People would be compelled to raise their hands in the air and contribute energy to make the blast bigger.
It was something larger than life.
It’s alo the reason why thousands Argentinians got together to create a Spirit Bomb in Toriyama’s honor.
EPILOGUE
Dragon Ball Z is one of those franchises that sits above in terms of worldwide influences.
If you were to put a time capsule together for aliens to reference, there’s a fews that we can all agree would go inside.
The list would probably include an iPhone, a copy of Thriller by Michael Jackson, a Pikachu toy & Superman action figure and somewhere in there, a picture of Goku.
Stream some DBZ today for the GOAT Akira Toriyama.
One.