When he November 20, 1984 Akira Toriyama surprised all his Japanese readers with “dragonball“, very few expected Goku’s story to become one of the most iconic in all of manga historybut the truth is that his real global success came through the mediation of Toei-Animation.
animation workshop began adapting Toriyama’s work from 1986, and what at first was going to be one more anime, consolidated over time, and ended up pushing its author to continue the story. Although Toriyama designed “Dragon Ball” as a single storythe success he achieved prompted him to continue the work almost without interruption, and On April 26, 1989, its sequel was released with the suffix “Z”.. From there began the legend of its nomenclature.
Where do the names of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT come from?
“Dragon Ball Z” was the real take-off of the saga, and managed to stay on air until chapter 291, and number 519 of the manga. Although his progress was somewhat slowed by padding, it did not affect his popularity, and in 1995, Toriyama said goodbye after a decade its fans in a mythical number 25 of Shounen jump.
This caused a deep crisis in the publication, which saw its sales plummet, and was the main cause of In October of the same year the series will continue at least on television with a new name. “Dragon Ball GT”, despite many disappointments, helped increase the legend of the already popular series and closed the work’s story block with its third act. This differentiated structure has come to generate many rumors and theories as to the reason for their names.for letters had never aroused so much curiosity.
The true origin of Dragon Ball Z
When “Dragon Ball Z” came out, many thought it this would be the last season of the seriesand this has led to the popular theory that the “Z” was because Toriyama was out of ideas, and that would be the result represented by the last letter of the alphabet. In this sense, there was also speculation that the letter was the first of the word “Zenkal”, which in Japanese means “the last time”. And we even believed that the “Z” was a simple error of the designer who took it for a 2. However, his real rationale is much simpler than all that.
It should be specified that Toriyama never made a distinction between “Dragon Ball” and “Dragon Ball Z” since he designed everything jointly within the same mangaalthough the chronological ellipsis that occurred between chapters 194 and 195 made some sort of differentiation necessary. The passage from one episode to another was done without interruptionand the production company responsible for the series asked the designer to somehow separate the two seasons.
Toriyama said in an interview for the American version of the Shounen jump What suggested to Toei-Animation the “Z” and that his motive was, for the most part, that he should suppose the end of the series. Since the letter “Z” is the last letter of the alphabet, the author thought this badge would work wonderfully with the brand change that Toei Animation was also looking for.. Eventually, this name also allowed the main characters of the series to become known as “The Z Warriors”.
The true origin of Dragon Ball GT
After the Buu saga and the end of the series with the 291st episode of the anime and the 519th episode of the manga, Akira Toriyama finally seemed to say goodbye to all his followers. However, the disappearance of all content related to “Dragon Ball” on the Shounen jump this caused a major crisis, and pushed to continue the work at least on television. In October 1995, “Dragon Ball GT” was first released. and after a great initial commotion, the emotion faded.
The news of Toriyama’s absence from the series despite the involvement of The bird workshop -created by the cartoonist himself- ended up weighing too much, and although he managed to collect a large number of audiences, his popularity was stained forever.
However, despite criticism, Toei-Animation he only returned repeat the formula that 6 years before had been applied, differentiating the new season with a different nomenclature. The study first thought of calling it “Dragon Ball Z2”, “WW” (Wonder World), and even “G-UP” (Grow up), but they finally decided what we all know today. The initials “GT” corresponded to the meaning “Great Tour” and they referenced the journey that Goku, Pan, and Trunks take in the first episodes of the new series. The name of “Dragon Ball GT” ended up doing very welland even if for many it was a complete failurethe truth is that the last chapters left some pretty memorable moments for all the fans.
‘Dragon Ball’ has been dazzling millions of fans for over three decades all over the world, and it doesn’t look like Toriyama is planning to throw in the towel just yet. ‘Dragon Ball Super’ Started With A Small Stumble But It Seems Toyotaro has become a great successor to the father of the work, and is able to raise the name of the manga again. Nobody knows what the ending of the new work will be, but the truth is that the legend of Goku and company has already been placed in a special place in the hearts of everyone who has always dreamed of throw a Kamehameha or fly in the Kinton Cloud.