Dragon Ball. Nothing else in fiction captures the imagination of adults and children quite like the adventures of Goku and friends. We laughed, we cried, we raised our arms for the Spirit Bomb, we did it all. With a new film on the horizon, let’s have a quick refresher of the history of Dragon Ball’s many incarnations… in five minutes.
The Original
Dragon Ball follows the adventures of Son Goku, a young martial arts prodigy who befriends scientist and troublemaker Bulma. Together, they sought to gather the seven Dragon Balls to summon Shenron, the magical, wish-granting dragon. From regained youth to wishing the dead back to life, these Dragon Balls could do it all, and were the cornerstones of this sprawling adventure. Along the way, Goku fights and later befriends the likes of Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, and strikes up a heated rivalry with totally-a-demon and not-at-all-an-alien-Piccolo.
Dragon Ball Z
With Dragon Ball Z, everything in Goku’s world was flipped on its head. Goku’s brother Raditz comes to Earth and reveals that they are Saiyans – an infamous warrior race, notorious throughout the galaxy. They fight, Piccolo kills them, and we start to learn that death doesn’t quite pack much of a punch in the world of Dragon Ball, as Goku’s back in action later in the arc.
Dragon Ball Z is a dramatic sci-fi turn for the franchise. While Dragon Ball dabbled in the world of sci-fi with androids and cyborgs, it also had dinosaurs, martial arts masters, and a talking dog for a king. We went to alien worlds in Dragon Ball Z, with their own even bigger and better Dragon Balls.
As if it has to be said, Dragon Ball Z was a monumental success in the West, paving the way for the anime invasion of the late ‘90s along with Sailor Moon and Pokémon.
Dragon Ball Movies
While the shows were airing, we started seeing more and more Dragon Ball movies. These self-contained stories often mirrored what was going on in the show – Frieza’s brother, Dr. Gero’s other three androids, a goofy blob that turns into a cunning monster – but no movie villain could surpass the shock, awe, and occasional stupidity of the Legendary Super Saiyan, Broly. This hulked-out prodigy had a whopping three movies to his name, with an in-canon reboot hitting theaters soon.
Dragon Ball GT
Dragon Ball GT was an immediate follow-up to Dragon Ball Z that took place ten years after the series concluded. The series hearkened back to the comical, adventuring days of the original Dragon Ball, but GT struggled to find its own identity. Out of all GT had to offer, Super Saiyan 4 is the series most lasting contribution.
Dragon Ball Z Kai
In 2009, Dragon Ball Z Kai set a new direction for the franchise. It was much more faithful to the source material, but unfortunately butchered by localization efforts in the US. Look upon the blue Mr. Popo and shudder. In spite of those blunders, Dragon Ball Z Kai brought Dragon Ball back into the limelight, and the franchise was once again on the upswing.
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods
2013 was a monumental year for Dragon Ball. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods was the first Dragon Ball film since 1996’s Dragon Ball: Path to Power. Battle of Gods ushered in the return of Dragon Ball in full-force. Set between the death of Kid Buu and the end of Dragon Ball Z, this series filled a huge gap in the Dragon Ball timeline.
New transformation? Check. New bad guy? Check. New scene where Vegeta gets a cool moment only to be one-upped by Goku? Check. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods was a resounding hit, a shot in the arm the franchise was already building towards. A lot of this film’s credit goes to God of Destruction Beerus and his assistant and trainer, Whis. These two alone gave new life to the franchise by not being just another big bad guy to defeat, but by being mentor figures and huge comedic forces. What other Dragon Ball villain would party with our heroes on a yacht?
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F
The success of Battle of Gods led to a follow-up movie featuring everyone’s favorite galactic overlord, Frieza. Brought back to life and powered up to the likes of present-day Goku and Vegeta, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F saw the introduction of Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan, AKA Super Saiyan Blue for those that don’t want to say all that. And we got to see Vegeta beat the crap out of Frieza.
Dragon Ball Super
Following Resurrection F, we got an all-new Dragon Ball series overseen by creator Akira Toriyama. Dragon Ball Super followed the adventures of Goku and his pals, surprising no one. But the surprise was that it was kind of a letdown… The first two arcs were drawn-out interpretations of Battle of Gods and Resurrection F, and boy, were these absolute stinkers. In the early days of Dragon Ball Super, the show had questionable animation — characters looked completely unrecognizable at times – and it was plagued with pacing problems.
But Dragon Ball Super stayed the course, and slowly came into its with some original arcs. While never reaching the heights of its predecessors, Dragon Ball Super found success in its unique rogues gallery and fantastic action set pieces. The series wrapped up the Tournament of Power arc and then was unexpectedly cancelled. It was around this time that murmurings of a new Dragon Ball movie were rising to the surface.
Dragon Ball Super: Broly
Dragon Ball Super: Broly is a reboot of the iconic, yet divisive movie villain, written from the ground-up by Akira Toriyama. More focused on the history of the Saiyan race, the movie is helmed by Naohiro Shintani, delivering a fresh art style that really makes the movie stick out. That’s exciting and the movie’s animation style looks amazing. The Dragon Ball fandom is ready for what’s next in franchise’s future!
