Dragon Ball Z

= Dragon Ball Z............ = Dragon Ball Z  is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Dragon Ball Z is the sequel to the Dragon Ball animeand adapts the last 325 chapters of the original 519-chapter Dragon Ball manga series created by Akira Toriyama, that were published from 1988 to 1995 in Weekly Shōnen Jump. Dragon Ball Z first aired in Japan on Fuji TV from April 25, 1989 to January 31, 1996, before being dubbed in several territories around the world, including the United States, Australia, Europe, India, and Latin America.

Dragon Ball Z follows the adventures of the protagonist Goku who, along with his companions, defends the Earth against an assortment of villains ranging from intergalactic space fighters and conquerors, unnaturally powerful androids and near indestructible magical creatures. While the original Dragon Ball anime followed Goku from his childhood into adulthood, Dragon Ball Z is a continuation of his adult life, but at the same time parallels the maturation of his son, Gohan, as well as the evolution of his rivals Piccolo and Vegeta from enemies into allies.

Due to the success of the anime in America, the manga chapters comprising its story were released by Viz Media under the title Dragon Ball Z. Additional works called animanga were released, which adapt the animation to manga form.  Dragon Ball Z' s popularity has spawned numerous releases which have come to represent the majority of content in the Dragon Ball universe; including 14 movies and 148 video games, many of them being only released in japan, and a host of soundtracks stemming from this material. Dragon Ball Z remains a cultural icon through numerous adaptations, including a remastered broadcast as Dragon Ball Kai from 2009 to 2011 and from 2014 onwards.

Plot
Dragon Ball Z picks up five years after the end of the Dragon Ball anime, with Goku as a young adult and father to his son Gohan. A humanoid alien named Raditz arrives on Earth in a spacecraft and tracks down Goku, revealing to him that he is his long-lost big brother and that they are members of a nearly extinct extraterrestrial race called the Saiyans The Saiyans had sent Goku (originally named "Kakarot") to Earth as an infant to conquer the planet for them, but he suffered a severe head injury soon after his arrival and lost all memory of his mission, as well as his blood-thirsty Saiyan nature. Goku refuses to help Raditz continue the mission, which results in Raditz kidnapping Gohan. Goku decides to team up with Piccolo in order to defeat Raditz and save his son, while sacrificing his own life in the process. In the afterlife, Goku trains under King Kai until he is revived by the Dragon Balls a year later in order to save the Earth from Raditz' comrades; Nappa and the Saiyan prince Vegeta. During the battle Piccolo is killed, along with Goku's allies Yamcha, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu, and the Dragon Balls cease to exist because of Piccolo's death. Goku arrives at the battlefield late, but avenges his fallen friends by defeating Nappa with his new level of power. Vegeta himself enters into the battle with Goku and after numerous clashes Goku manages to defeat him as well, with the help of Gohan and his best friend Krillin. At Goku's request, they spare Vegeta's life and allow him to escape Earth.

During the battle, Krillin overhears Vegeta mentioning the original set of Dragon Balls from Piccolo's home planet Namek  While Goku recovers from his injuries at the hospital, Gohan, Krillin and Goku oldest friend Bulma depart for Namek in order to use these Dragon Balls to revive their dead friends. However, they discover that Vegeta's superior, the galactic tyrant Lord Frieza, is already there, seeking the Dragon Balls to be granted eternal life. A fully healed Vegeta arrives on Namek as well, seeking the Dragon Balls for himself, which leads to several battles between him and Frieza's henchmen. Realizing he's overpowered, Vegeta teams up with Gohan and Krillin to fight the Ginyu Force, a team of mercenaries summoned by Frieza. After Goku finally arrives on Namek, the epic battle with Frieza himself comes to a close when Goku transforms into a fabled Super Saiyan  and defeats him.

Upon his return to Earth a year later, Goku encounters a time traveler named Trunks, the future son of Bulma and Vegeta, who warns Goku that a group of Androids,  will appear three years later, seeking revenge against Goku for destroying the Red Ribbon Army when he was a child. During this time, an evil life form called Cell emerges and after absorbing two of the Androids to achieve his "perfect form," holds his own fighting tournament to decide the fate of the Earth. After Goku sacrifices his own life a second time, to no avail, Gohan avenges his father by defeating Cell after ascending to the second level of Super Saiyan.

Seven years later Goku, who has been briefly revived for one day, and his allies are drawn into a fight against a magical being named Majin Buu. After numerous battles resulting in the destruction and recreation of the Earth, Goku (whose life is permanently restored by the Elder Kai) destroys Buu with a "Spirit Bomb" attack containing the energy of everyone on Earth. Goku makes a wish for Majin Buu to be reincarnated as a good person and ten years later, at another martial arts tournament, Goku meets Buu's human reincarnation, Uub. Leaving the match between them unfinished, Goku departs with Uub to train him to become Earth's new guardian.

Production and broadcasting
The title "Dragon Ball Z" was chosen by Akira Toriyama because Z is the last letter of the alphabet and he wanted to finish the series because he was running out of ideas for Dragon Ball. Conventional knowledge in Japan used the "Z" only for the anime to separate Goku's childhood and adult life. Dragon Ball Z is adapted from the final 325 chapters of the manga series which were published in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1988 to 1995, it premiered in Japan on Fuji Television on April 26, 1989, taking over its predecessor's time slot, and ran for 291 episodes until its conclusion on January 31, 1996.

Because Toriyama was writing the manga during the production of the anime, Dragon Ball Z added original material not adapted from the Dragon Ball manga. Additional original material included lengthening scenes or adding new ones, including new attacks and characters not present in the manga.

Throughout the production, the voice actors were tasked with playing different characters and performing their lines on cue, switching between roles as necessary. The voice actors were unable to record the lines separately because of the close dialogue timing. When asked if juggling the different voices of Goku, Gohan and Goten was difficult, Masako Nozawa said that it was not, and that she was able to switch roles upon seeing the character's picture.