History Franchise / DragonBall

To date, there have been only one [[LiveActionAdaptation live-action adaptation]]: The American-made ''Film/DragonballEvolution'', which came out in 2009. At one point ''Dragon Ball'' was turned into an [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMORPG]] by Netmarble, simply titled ''VideoGame/DragonBallOnline''. [[NoExportForYou It was only released in South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong]]. The game had three playable races: [[UnEvenHybrid Saiyan Hybrids]] ([[CallASmeerpARabbit called "Humans" in-game]]), Namekian, and Majin. The servers and website for the game were closed in 2013.

In 2012, Toei Animation started reworking on their classic animated adaptations, with brand new productions. ''Dragon Ball'' wouldn't be left out of the party, and it was announced that Toei was working on a new movie named ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods''. Toriyama was directly involved with the writing and it was to be set not long after the defeat of Kid Boo. The movie hit Japanese theaters on March 30, 2013 to wild critical acclaim. Two years later, Toriyama worked with Toei again to bring about a direct sequel to ''Battle of Gods'', titled ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'', [[SophomoreSlump to a little less acclaim...]]

* ''Dragon Ball: The Breakers''

** [[/index]]''VideoGame/JumpUltimateStars''[[index]] (2006)

From 2009-2011, Toei aired ''Dragon Ball Kai'' (or ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'' [[MarketBasedTitle outside Japan]]), a "[[{{Recut}} refreshing]]" of ''Dragon Ball Z'' initially only covering the material from the Saiyan arc to the Cell Games arc with a lot of {{filler}} and {{padding}} [[AdaptedOut removed]].[[note]]Though not nearly all of it; Goku rescuing Gohan from the waterfall in episode 1, Ginyu Frog harassing Bulma, Gregory's existence, and various other significant filler additions to the anime were left in, and they actually ADDED some material in the first episode, initially with a scene taken from the first TV special, somewhat spoiling Goku's alien heritage, and adding a recap of the events of ''Dragon Ball'' for those who haven't seen it in a while... [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory Or those who skipped it entirely, of course]]. Yet Kai still ends up at half the total episode count of its counterpart run of ''Z''.[[/note]] This initial run would be the prelude to Dragon Ball's return to producing new media in 2013. In 2014, ''Kai'' resumed but on a much lower budget, with different music, worse picture (notably, it was [[DigitalDestruction cropped to widescreen, had a persistent green tint, and had an even softer, less detailed picture than the already-rather-notoriously-blurry first run of Kai]]), and including a lot more filler than the previous run (to the point that a few fully-filler episodes were left in, exactly as they were in ''Z'').

* ''Manga/DragonBall'' (manga; 1984-95)
** ''Dragon Ball'' (anime; 1986-89)
** ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' (1989-96)
*** ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'' (2009-11, 2014-15)
* ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' (1996-97)
* ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' (2015-18)
* ''Manga/DragonBallSuper'' (manga) (2015-)

* ''Neko Majin'' (1999-2005) - A {{parody}} of the main series set in the same universe
* ''Dragon Ball SD'' (2010-) - A SuperDeformed {{parody}} of the main series
* ''Manga/DragonBallThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsYamcha'' (2016-2017) - A series about a ''Dragon Ball'' fan who dies and finds himself reincarnated as Yamcha
* ''Anime/SuperDragonBallHeroes'' (2018-) - An animated adaptation of the ''Prison Planet'' saga from ''Dragon Ball Heroes'' onwards, released for promotional purposes only in Japan.

* ''Manga/DoctorSlump'' (1980-84) - Crossed over in the original series during the Red Ribbon Army arc. The '90s ''Dr. Slump'' anime also had its own crossover episode. And ''Dragon Ball Super'' had both a cameo by Arale in one episode and a full episode crossover.
* ''Dragon Boy'' (1983) - two chapter series the served as a prototype for the series
* ''The Adventures of Tongpoo'' (1983) - one-shot that also inspired parts of the series
* ''Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman'' (2013-14) - [[spoiler: [[StealthSequel Stealth Prequel]] set before the first series. The title character would later return for ''Super''.]] Also part of the ''Galactic Patrol Series'' are:

** ''Dragon Ball Minus: The Departure of the Fated Child'' - one-shot featured in the collected volume covering the time period before Goku was sent to Earth

* ''Anime/DragonBallPlanToEradicateTheSaiyans'' (1993; original/2010; remake)

* ''Dragon Ball Z The Anime Adventure Game'' (1999-2002) - A [[/index]][[TheRoleplayingGame Tabletop RPG]] published by Creator/RTalsorianGames using the Fuzion D6 system.[[index]]

** ''Dragon Ball Super Card Game'' (2018) - A relaunch of the original Collectible Card game, adding Super-era elements and characters.

* ''Metal Shogi'' (2010) - [[/index]] A variant of ''TabletopGame/{{Shogi}}'' using dice-driven combat with card based modifiers.[[index]]

* ''VideoGame/DragonBallZArcade'' (1993-1995)

Later in 2015, 18 years after the end of ''GT'', Toei announced that the franchise was going to get a new TV anime called ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''. Premiering on Fuji TV on July 5, 2015, the series at first simply retold the events of ''Battle of Gods'' and ''Resurrection [='F'=]'' before moving on to its own new material.

To date, there have been three [[LiveActionAdaptation live-action adaptations]]: The American-made ''Film/DragonballEvolution'', which came out in 2009 and was the only officially licensed one, the earlier, campier, Taiwanese ''Film/DragonBallTheMagicBegins'', and the most loyal Korean-made ''Film/DragonBallFightForVictorySonGoku''. At one point ''Dragon Ball'' was turned into an [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMORPG]] by Netmarble, simply titled ''VideoGame/DragonBallOnline''. [[NoExportForYou It was only released in South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong]]. The game had three playable races: [[UnEvenHybrid Saiyan Hybrids]] ([[CallASmeerpARabbit called "Humans" in-game]]), Namekian, and Majin. The servers and website for the game were closed in 2013.

* ''Film/DragonBallFightForVictorySonGoku'' (Korea, 1990)
* ''Film/DragonBallTheMagicBegins'' (Taiwan, 1991)

The story follows Goku and a huge cast of friends and enemies as they search for the magical Dragon Balls that can make any wish come true if one collects all seven. Of course, no sooner has someone gathered and used the Dragon Balls than they have to be sought out again. On top of all this, Goku is training up to fight in the periodic "Strongest Under the Heavens" tournament. The first third of the original series is generally broken down into six arcs, with Emperor Pilaf, the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament, the Red Ribbon Army, the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, Demon King Piccolo, and the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, plus a few filler mini-arcs, comprising [[Manga/DragonBall the original]] ''Dragon Ball'' anime series, for a total of 153 episodes. After defeating these major threats to the world, Goku finally wins the tournament on his third attempt and goes off to get married. This portion of the story introduces and develop Goku's friends and enemies, as well as Goku himself as he discovers his love of fighting and adventure. Many tropes such as enemies becoming allies, facing off against [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil progressively more powerful]] villains and having to train and power up to defeat them were introduced here, but would not become the regularly repeating tropes the franchise is known for until a bit later...

The story follows Goku and a huge cast of friends and enemies as they search for the magical Dragon Balls that can make any wish come true. Of course, no sooner has someone gathered and used the Dragon Balls than they have to be sought out again. On top of all this, Goku is training up to fight in the periodic "Strongest Under the Heavens" tournament. The first third of the original series is generally broken down into six arcs, with Emperor Pilaf, the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament, the Red Ribbon Army, the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, Demon King Piccolo, and the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, plus a few filler mini-arcs, comprising [[Manga/DragonBall the original]] ''Dragon Ball'' anime series, for a total of 153 episodes. After defeating these major threats to the world, Goku finally wins the tournament on his third attempt and goes off to get married. This portion of the story introduces and develop Goku's friends and enemies, as well as Goku himself as he discovers his love of fighting and adventure. Many tropes such as enemies becoming allies, facing off against [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil progressively more powerful]] villains and having to train and power up to defeat them were introduced here, but would not become the regularly repeating tropes the franchise is known for until a bit later...

* ''Anime/DragonBallSuperSuper Hero'' (2022)

* ''Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero'' (2022)

From 2009-2011, Toei aired ''Dragon Ball Kai'' (or ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'' [[MarketBasedTitle outside Japan]]), a "[[{{Recut}} refreshing]]" of ''Dragon Ball Z'' initially only covering the material from the Saiyan arc to the Cell Games arc with a lot of {{filler}} and {{padding}} [[AdaptedOut removed]]. [[note]]Though not nearly all of it; Goku rescuing Gohan from the waterfall in episode 1, Ginyu Frog harassing Bulma, Gregory's existence, and various other significant filler additions to the anime were left in, and they actually ADDED some material in the first episode, initially with a scene taken from the first TV special, somewhat spoiling Goku's alien heritage, and adding a recap of the events of ''Dragon Ball'' for those who haven't seen it in a while... [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory Or those who skipped it entirely, of course]]. Yet Kai still ends up at half the total episode count of its counterpart run of ''Z''.[[/note]] This initial run would be the prelude to Dragon Ball's return to producing new media in 2013. In 2014, ''Kai'' resumed but on a much lower budget, with different music, worse picture (notably, it was [[DigitalDestruction cropped to widescreen, had a persistent green tint, and had an even softer, less detailed picture than the already-rather-notoriously-blurry first run of Kai]]), and including a lot more filler than the previous run (to the point that a few fully-filler episodes were left in, exactly as they were in ''Z'').

In the early 2000-aughts, the manga was re-released in Japan as the "Kanzenban" or "Perfect Edition," with brand-new covers drawn by Toriyama. This split the 519 chapters across 34 volumes instead of the original release's 42. The Kanzenban also included all of the original color pages, and every other issue included a booklet with a drawing by current, popular Shueisha artists, talking about how much ''Dragon Ball'' had influenced them. There were also some other adjustments in the Kanzenban edition; two title pages were redrawn (one featured Bulma smoking a cigarette originally; this was removed in the redraw), one of the members of the Pilaf gang, Shu, had his name fixed (in the manga, he was originally called Soba, but was renamed Shu in one chapter), a sign in chapter 205 saying "WELL COME" was changed to say "WELCOME", Vegeta's power level against Recoome was changed from 30,000 to 20,000, an instance of Goku saying "Ore" instead of "Ora" in Japanese was fixed, the date of the Cell Games was changed from "M 17" to "May 26th", and most critically, two chapters towards the end had some different and additional pages; Kid Boo's death was expanded slightly, with a little aftermath added (after Goku defeats Boo, Vegeta thinks to himself "Phew, took you long enough", then Goku gives him a thumbs up, and he thinks "What's with that goofy look on his face? I seriously can't stand you!..." then he loosens up and cracks a smile). Most significantly, however, the chapter included a new, adjusted ending written and drawn by Toriyama, drawing parallels between Goku and Oob as well as highlighting Vegeta's rivalry with him, though Toriyama's original farewell message to the fans from the chapter was removed.

From 2009-2011, Toei aired ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'' (''Dragon Ball Z Kai'' [[MarketBasedTitle outside Japan]]), a "[[{{Recut}} refreshing]]" of ''Dragon Ball Z'' initially only covering the material from the Saiyan arc to the Cell Games arc with a lot of {{filler}} and {{padding}} [[AdaptedOut removed]]. [[note]]Though not nearly all of it; Goku rescuing Gohan from the waterfall in episode 1, Ginyu Frog harassing Bulma, Gregory's existence, and various other significant filler additions to the anime were left in, and they actually ADDED some material in the first episode, initially with a scene taken from the first TV special, somewhat spoiling Goku's alien heritage, and adding a recap of the events of ''Dragon Ball'' for those who haven't seen it in a while... [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory Or those who skipped it entirely, of course]]. Yet Kai still ends up at half the total episode count of its counterpart run of ''Z''.[[/note]] This initial run would be the prelude to Dragon Ball's return to producing new media in 2013. In 2014, ''Kai'' resumed but on a much lower budget, with different music, worse picture (notably, it was [[DigitalDestruction cropped to widescreen, had a persistent green tint, and had an even softer, less detailed picture than the already-rather-notoriously-blurry first run of Kai]]), and including a lot more filler than the previous run (to the point that a few fully-filler episodes were left in, exactly as they were in ''Z'').

* ''Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero'' film (2022)

* Untitled ''Dragon Ball Super'' film (2022)

* ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'' (December 2018)

Initially covering the first 67 episodes, cut down into 53, plus the third movie, aired as a 3-part special, ''Z'' was at first dubbed using voice actors from Creator/{{The Ocean Group}} and distributed by Saban Entertainment in syndication, at first to early timeslots, but by the time the second season was underway, it was a huge hit. After Saban parted ways to focus on programming that they produced themselves, [[Creator/CartoonNetwork Cartoon Network]] picked the show up for their Creator/{{Toonami}} block in 1998 just after school at 5pm, exposing ''Z'' to hundreds of thousands of American kids. Problem was, Funimation had only dubbed those 53 episodes, which ran on repeat for a year. To save money, Funimation fired the Ocean cast and hired local Texas voice actors (some practically off the street) alongside newly-composed music for their first ever in-house dub, which began airing in late 1999. And let's be honest, if you're American, ''this'' dub is probably why most of you are even here. The in-house cast would become the de-facto English cast for the franchise, with a partial cast shake-up in 2009 for the dub of ''Dragon Ball Z Kai''. The 1999 dub is infamous among those in the know for heavy alterations, including replacement music, voice actor choices, erasing mystical and Main/{{Wuxia}} elements, changing names, "punching up" the dialogue in general, and mis-characterization. Regardless, ''Z'' continued to be a massive success in North America; the first anime would eventually be fully dubbed in English in 2001 while the ''Z'' dub was in the Cell arc. Meanwhile, the UK, Canada, and various English-speaking territories were treated to an alternate dub using much the same scripts as Funimation's dub, but with the Ocean cast, and using a score initially comprised of library tracks Ocean had built up from other productions, but became more and more its own original score as it went on. The alternate dub would then go on to dub the original series and GT, for which it would have its own cast replacement (moving voicework from Vancouver to Calgary), but they also switched to using scripts more faithfully translated from the original Japanese than Funimation's, and used the original Japanese score. They also did [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPDP3S4dYcY a really damn catchy version of the Japanese opening to GT]]. Though Funimation hit back hard against that with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0xvYlZM49Q their own version]] from their "Remastered" [=DVDs=] in 2008.

The success of ''Dragon Ball'', and its ''overwhelming'' influence on not just Japanese but ''global'' popular culture, is impossible to dispute. It became one of the biggest hits ever in Japan, and while it was hardly the first anime to be shown and become moderately popular in the west, it was the one that caused an exposure explosion in Europe and America. Americans and Europeans always have an idea of what it is when they hear its title, most Latinos and Americans who grew up during the 1990s have watched it, it's still running on TV internationally, and merchandising is alive and well. It is sometimes derided for being simplistic and for drawn-out multi-episode fights with little story progression (thanks to Main/{{Filler}}); however, one must keep in mind that the show is primarily aimed at [[{{Shonen}} kids and teens aged 10 to 18]], with [[PeripheryDemographic older adults not really in the picture]].

From 2009-2011, Toei aired ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'' (''Dragon Ball Z Kai'' [[MarketBasedTitle outside Japan]]), a "[[{{Recut}} refreshing]]" of ''Dragon Ball Z'' initially only covering the material from the Saiyan arc to the Cell Games arc with a lot of {{filler}} and {{padding}} removed. [[note]]Though not nearly all of it; Goku rescuing Gohan from the waterfall in episode 1, Ginyu Frog harassing Bulma, Gregory's existence, and various other significant filler additions to the anime were left in, and they actually ADDED some material in the first episode, initially with a scene taken from the first TV special, somewhat spoiling Goku's alien heritage, and adding a recap of the events of ''Dragon Ball'' for those who haven't seen it in a while... [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory Or those who skipped it entirely, of course]]. Yet Kai still ends up at half the total episode count of its counterpart run of ''Z''.[[/note]] This initial run would be the prelude to Dragon Ball's return to producing new media in 2013. In 2014, ''Kai'' resumed but on a much lower budget, with different music, worse picture (notably, it was [[DigitalDestruction cropped to widescreen, had a persistent green tint, and had an even softer, less detailed picture than the already-rather-notoriously-blurry first run of Kai]]), and including a lot more filler than the previous run (to the point that a few fully-filler episodes were left in, exactly as they were in ''Z'').

Initially covering the first 67 episodes, cut down into 53, plus the third movie, aired as a 3-part special, ''Z'' was at first dubbed using voice actors from Creator/{{The Ocean Group}} and distributed by Saban Entertainment in syndication, at first to early timeslots, but by the time the second season was underway, it was a huge hit. After Saban parted ways to focus on programming that they produced themselves, [[Creator/CartoonNetwork Cartoon Network]] picked the show up for their Creator/{{Toonami}} block in 1998 just after school at 5pm, exposing ''Z'' to hundreds of thousands of American kids. Problem was, Funimation had only dubbed those 53 episodes, which ran on repeat for a year. To save money, Funimation fired the Ocean cast and hired local Texas voice actors (some practically off the street) alongside newly-composed music for their first ever in-house dub, which began airing in late 1999. And let's be honest, if you're American, ''this'' dub is probably why most of you are even here. The in-house cast would become the de-facto English cast for the franchise, with a partial cast shake-up in 2009 for the dub of ''Dragon Ball Z Kai''. The 1999 dub is infamous among those in the know for heavy alterations, including replacement music, voice actor choices, erasing mystical and Main/{{Wuxia}} elements, changing names, "punching up" the dialogue in general, and mis-characterization. Regardless, ''Z'' continued to be a massive success in North America; the first anime would eventually be fully dubbed in English in 2001 while the ''Z'' dub was in the Cell arc. Meanwhile, the UK, Canada, and various English-speaking territories were treated to an alternate dub using much the same scripts as Funimation's dub, but with the Ocean cast, and using a score initially comprised of library tracks Ocean had built up from other productions, but became more and more its own original score as it went on. The alternate dub would then go on to dub the original series and GT, for which it would have its own cast replacement (moving voicework from Vancouver to Calgary), but they also switched to using scripts more faithfully translated from the original Japanese than Funimation's, and used the original Japanese score. They also did [[https://youtu.be/JPsgPWzgBYA?t=5 a really damn catchy version of the Japanese opening to GT]]. Though Funimation hit back hard against that with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0xvYlZM49Q their own version]] from their "Remastered" [=DVDs=] in 2008.

From 2009-2011, Toei aired ''Anime/DragonBallKai'' (''Dragon Ball Z Kai'' [[MarketBasedTitle outside Japan]]), a "[[{{Recut}} refreshing]]" of ''Dragon Ball Z'' initially only covering the material from the Saiyan arc to the Cell Games arc with a lot of {{filler}} and {{padding}} removed. [[note]]Though not nearly all of it; Goku rescuing Gohan from the waterfall in episode 1, Ginyu Frog harassing Bulma, Gregory's existence, and various other significant filler additions to the anime were left in, and they actually ADDED some material in the first episode, initially with a scene taken from the first TV special, somewhat spoiling Goku's alien heritage, and adding a recap of the events of ''Dragon Ball'' for those who haven't seen it in a while... [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory Or those who skipped it entirely, of course]]. Yet Kai still ends up at half the total episode count of its counterpart run of ''Z''.[[/note]] This initial run would be the prelude to Dragon Ball's return to producing new media in 2013. In 2014, ''Kai'' resumed but on a much lower budget, with different music, worse picture (notably, it was [[DigitalDestruction cropped to widescreen, had a persistent green tint, and had an even softer, less detailed picture than the already-rather-notoriously-blurry first run of Kai]]), and including a lot more filler than the previous run (to the point that a few fully-filler episodes were left in, exactly as they were in ''Z'').

*** ''Anime/DragonBallKai'' (2009-11, 2014-15)

* ''Famicom Jump & II''
* ''Cult Jump''
* ''VideoGame/JumpSuperStars''
** [[/index]]''VideoGame/JumpUltimateStars''[[index]]
* ''Battle Stadium DON''
* ''Dr Slump: Arale Chan''

* ''J Legend Retsuden''
* ''VideoGame/JStarsVictoryVS''
* ''VideoGame/JumpForce''

* ''Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies'' (1986)
* ''Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle'' (1987)

In the early 2000-aughts, the manga was re-released in Japan as the "Kanzenban" or "Perfect Edition," with brand-new covers drawn by Toriyama. This split the 519 chapters across 34 volumes instead of the original release's 42. The Kanzenban also included all of the original color pages, and every other issue included a booklet with a drawing by current, popular Shueisha artists, talking about how much ''Dragon Ball'' had influenced them. There were also some other adjustments in the Kanzenban edition; two title pages were redrawn (one featured Bulma smoking a cigarette originally; this was removed in the redraw), one of the members of the Pilaf gang, Shu, had his name fixed (in the manga, he was originally called Soba, but was renamed Shu in one chapter), a sign in chapter 205 saying "WELL COME" was changed to say "WELCOME", Vegeta's power level against Recoome was changed from 30,000 to 20,000, an instance of Goku saying "Ore" instead of "Ora" in Japanese was fixed, the date of the Cell Games was changed from "M 17" to "May 26th", and most critically, two chapters towards the end had some different and additional pages; Buu's death was expanded slightly, with a little aftermath added (after Goku defeats Buu, Vegeta thinks to himself "Phew, took you long enough", then Goku gives him a thumbs up, and he thinks "What's with that goofy look on his face? I seriously can't stand you!..." then he loosens up and cracks a smile). Most significantly, however, the chapter included a new, adjusted ending written and drawn by Toriyama, drawing parallels between Goku and Oob as well as highlighting Vegeta's rivalry with him, though Toriyama's original farewell message to the fans from the chapter was removed.

To date, there have been three [[LiveActionAdaptation live-action adaptations]]: The American-made ''Film/DragonballEvolution'', which came out in 2009 and was the only officially licensed one, the earlier, campier, Taiwanese ''Film/DragonBallTheMagicBegins'', and the most loyal Korean-made ''Film/DragonBallFightForVictorySonGoku''. At one point ''Dragon Ball'' was turned into an [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMORPG]] by Netmarble, simply titled ''VideoGame/DragonBallOnline''. [[NoExportForYou It was only released in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Korea]]. The game had three playable races: [[UnEvenHybrid Saiyan Hybrids]] ([[CallASmeerpARabbit called "Humans" in-game]]), Namekian, and Majin. The servers and website for the game were closed in 2013.

In 2012, Toei Animation started reworking on their classic animated adaptations, with brand new productions. ''Dragon Ball'' wouldn't be left out of the party, and it was announced that Toei was working on a new movie named ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods''. Toriyama was directly involved with the writing and it was to be set not long after the defeat of Kid Buu. The movie hit Japanese theaters on March 30, 2013 to wild critical acclaim. Two years later, Toriyama worked with Toei again to bring about a direct sequel to ''Battle of Gods'', titled ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'', [[SophomoreSlump to a little less acclaim...]]

Initially covering the first 67 episodes, cut down into 53, plus the third movie, aired as a 3-part special, ''Z'' was at first dubbed using voice actors from Creator/{{The Ocean Group}} and distributed by Saban Entertainment in syndication, at first to early timeslots, but by the time the second season was underway, it was a huge hit. After Saban parted ways to focus on programming that they produced themselves, [[Creator/CartoonNetwork Cartoon Network]] picked the show up for their Creator/{{Toonami}} block in 1998 just after school at 5pm, exposing ''Z'' to hundreds of thousands of American kids. Problem was, Funimation had only dubbed those 53 episodes, which ran on repeat for a year. To save money, Funimation fired the Ocean cast and hired local Texas voice actors (some practically off the street) alongside newly-composed music for their first ever in-house dub, which began airing in late 1999. And let's be honest, if you're American, ''this'' dub is probably why most of you are even here. The in-house cast would become the de-facto English cast for the franchise, with a partial cast shake-up in 2009 for the dub of ''Dragon Ball Z Kai''. The 1999 dub is infamous among those in the know for heavy alterations, including replacement music, voice actor choices, erasing mystical and Main/{{Wuxia}} elements, changing names, "punching up" the dialogue in general, and mis-characterization. Regardless, ''Z'' continued to be a massive success in the west; the first anime would eventually be fully dubbed in English in 2001 while the ''Z'' dub was in the Cell arc. Meanwhile, the UK, Canada, and various European territories were treated to an alternate dub using much the same scripts as Funimation's dub, but with the Ocean cast, and using a score initially comprised of library tracks Ocean had built up from other productions, but became more and more its own original score as it went on. The alternate dub would then go on to dub the original series and GT, for which it would have its own cast replacement (moving voicework from Vancouver to Calgary), but they also switched to using scripts more faithfully translated from the original Japanese than Funimation's, and used the original Japanese score. They also did [[https://youtu.be/JPsgPWzgBYA?t=5 a really damn catchy version of the Japanese opening to GT]]. Though Funimation hit back hard against that with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0xvYlZM49Q their own version]] from their "Remastered" [=DVDs=] in 2008.

And then of course came the dubs. While there have been many in all sorts of languages (and ''Z'' providing fertile ground for the fan-sub VHS market in the early 90s), the first English dub was in 1989 by Harmony Gold, who did at least the first five episodes and a combined version of the first and second movies, to middling reception due to its obscure timeslot. In 1995, Creator/{{Funimation}} would attempt to dub the first thirteen episodes using the Harmony Gold script as a starting point, which is where names such as Master Roshi, Power Pole, and the Flying Nimbus come from. This too did not take off ([[HistoryRepeats once again due to a poor timeslot]]), so in 1995 Funimation skipped ahead to the more overtly action-focused ''Z'' portion and hoped the audience would keep up with all the new characters and plot elements showing up with little-to-no introduction. They did, and the rest is history.

Initially covering the first 53 episodes, ''Z'' was at first dubbed using voice actors from Ocean Group and distributed by Saban Entertainment at very early syndication timeslots. After Saban parted ways, Funimation decided to run the show on [[Creator/CartoonNetwork Cartoon Network's]] Creator/{{Toonami}} block in 1998 just after school at 5pm, exposing ''Z'' to hundreds of thousands of American kids. Problem was, Funimation only dubbed those 53 episodes, which ran on endless repeat. Eventually they hired local Texas voice actors (some practically off the street) alongside newly-composed music for their first ever in-house dub. And let's be honest, ''this'' dub is probably why most of you are even here. The in-house cast would become the de-facto English cast for the franchise, with a partial cast shake-up in 2009 for the dub of ''Dragon Ball Z Kai''. The 1998 dub is infamous among those in the know for heavy alterations, including replacement music, voice actor choices, erasing mystical and Main/{{Wuxia}} elements, changing names, "punching up" the dialogue in general, and mis-characterization. Regardless, ''Z'' became a massive success all over again, with Funi's dub becoming arguably more well-known globally than the original in Asia. The first anime would eventually be fully dubbed in English in 2001 while the ''Z'' dub was in the Buu arc.

There are many {{non serial movie}}s (only a few could be wedged into the series' timeline) that were released at least once a year, three set in the ''Dragon Ball'' era and thirteen for ''Dragon Ball Z''. Two made-for-TV movies were made for ''Dragon Ball Z'' as well, with a third being produced for ''GT'' (two of which don't fit comfortably in a post-''Super'' world). Toei returned to this well in 1994 for the seventeenth movie to commemorate the [[MilestoneCelebration tenth anniversary]] of the franchise, and they did a web special in 2008 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of ''Magazine/ShonenJump'', the first ''Dragon Ball'' feature to be entirely digital. There have also been several TV specials and [=OVAs=] within the franchise, mostly based on the ''Dragon Ball Z'' portion of the story.

In the early 2000-aughts, the manga was re-released in Japan as the "Kanzenban" or "Perfect Edition," with brand-new covers drawn by Toriyama. This split the 519 chapters across 34 volumes instead of the original release's 42. The Kanzenban also included all of the original color pages, and every other issue included a booklet with a drawing by current, popular Shueisha artists, talking about how much ''Dragon Ball'' had influenced them. The final volume in 2004 included a new, adjusted ending written and drawn by Toriyama, drawing parallels between Goku and Oob as well as highlighting Vegeta's rivalry with him.

From 2009-2011, Toei aired ''Anime/DragonBallKai'' (''Dragon Ball Z Kai'' [[MarketBasedTitle outside Japan]]), a "[[{{Recut}} refreshing]]" of ''Dragon Ball Z'' initially only covering the material from the Saiyan arc to the Cell Games arc with almost no {{filler}} or {{padding}}. This initial run would be the prelude to Dragon Ball's return to producing new media in 2013. In 2014, ''Kai'' resumed but on a much lower budget, with different music, and including a lot more filler than the previous run.

In 2012, Toei Animation started reworking on their classic animated adaptations, with brand new productions. ''Dragon Ball'' wouldn't be left out of the party, and it was announced that Toei was working on a new movie named ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods''. Toriyama was directly involved with the writing and it was to be set not long after the defeat of Kid Boo. The movie hit Japanese theaters on March 30, 2013. Two years later, Toriyama worked with Toei again to bring about a direct sequel to ''Battle of Gods'', titled ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF''.