Dragon Ball Z

My imagination as a child was overwhelmingly powerful. And I mean that in the most literal way because it often created problems in trying to live out a normal life. When I was a kid who you could lock in a room for 24 hours and not here me wine one bit; I already had everything I needed to entertain myself right inside my head. Most attractive to my imagination were the recent release of Japanese animation shows, or ‘manga’ series. When Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh exploded onto the scene in the mid-90s, there was no turning back for my generation. And while I know doubt collected my fair share or trading cards, the majority of these shows lost their appeal as I matured. Still, there was one cartoon that always stuck with me; the one that was and still is the undisputed best manga series of all time.

(From lef to right): Tien, Trunks, Goku, Krillin, Vegeta, and Piccolo

Kaaa…Meee…Haaa…Meee……HAAAAAA!!!

Yeah…Dragon Ball Z was the shiz! And just to be clear, while I truly enjoyed Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z was the first of the series to be broadcasted on Cartoon Network’s Toonami cartoon block.

We have one man to thank for this show’s creation and his name is Akira Toriyama. His amazing work has inspired countless other artists such as Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto and One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda for the plot of their shows. Both artists have stated that Son Goku, Dragon Ball Z’s main character, inspired their series' main protagonists as well series structure.

(From back to front): Goku normal, Super Saiyan, 'Ascended' Super Saiyan, and Super Saiyan x 3  The halo just signifies that Goku is dead in this picture.

Did you know?- In a survey completed by 1,000 people in 2007, Goku ranked first as the “Strongest Manga Character of All Time.”

For more information on the show’s creation, cool merchandise and polls, visit dragonballz.com.

While I take the series’ story line to heart, I realize how silly the show really is. Recently a channel on YouTube made a parody of the series that is absolutely hilarious. You can watch the first episode, of ten, below which follow through Vegeta’s arrival on Earth, or you can skip that to see a sneak peek at the Planet Namek series at tfsabridged.com.

I want to know…Who’s your favorite DBZ character and attack that he/she possesses? Leave a comment below.