As with the franchise's anime television series, all 20 films and the first three TV specials were licensed in North America by Funimation. In Europe, AB Groupe licensed the first three Dragon Ball movies, the first nine Z movies, and the first two TV specials.
Dragon Ball is one of the most successful franchises in animation history.[1] The anime series is broadcast in more than 80countries worldwide.[2] In the United States, the anime series has sold more than 30million DVD and Blu-ray units as of 2017.[1]
April 26, 1989 (1989-04-26) – January 31, 1996 (1996-01-31)
c. 1993 – c. 1996(First English dub on RPN 9) December 12, 1994 (1994-12-12) – August 8, 2000 (2000-08-08)(NGN subtitled broadcast) September 13, 1996 (1996-09-13)[c] – April 7, 2003 (2003-04-07)(Funimation[d] dub) c. January 2001 (2001-01) – May 7, 2003 (2003-05-07)(Westwood dub continuation) June 14, 2005 (2005-06-14) – October 10, 2005 (2005-10-10)(Funimation's Ultimate Uncut)
February 7, 1996 (1996-02-07) – November 19, 1997 (1997-11-19)
August 14, 2000 (2000-08-14) – March 26, 2001 (2001-03-26)(NGN subtitled broadcast) March 3, 2003 (2003-03-03) – June 30, 2003 (2003-06-30)(Blue Water dub) November 7, 2003 (2003-11-07) – January 29, 2005 (2005-01-29)(Funimation dub)
The Dragon Ball franchise has spawned three one-hour long television specials that aired on Fuji TV, the first two based on the "Z" portion of the series and the third based on the "GT" portion. Of these specials, the first and third are original stories created by the anime staff, while the second is based on a special chapter of the manga.
Though the specials aired on TV in Japan, Funimation's North American releases of the episodes are on home video, each one labeled "Feature" the same as their theatrical films. This, doubled with the inclusion of the "Z" specials in Funimation's remastered "Movie Double Features" has caused fans to continue to erroneously believe these to be theatrical films, when they are not.
On April 7, 2013, a two-part hour-long crossover TV special, between Dragon Ball Z, One Piece and Toriko, referred to as Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special!! aired on Fuji TV.[8] The first part is named "Run, Strongest Team! Toriko, Luffy, Goku!" (走れ最強軍団！トリコとルフィと悟空！, Hashire Saikyō Gundan! Toriko to Luffy to Goku!) and the second is titled "History's Strongest Collaboration vs. Glutton of the Sea" (史上最強コラボVS海の大食漢, Shijō Saikyō Collaboration vs. Umi no Taishokukan).[8] The plot has the International Gourmet Organization (from Toriko) sponsoring the Tenka'ichi Shokuōkai, a race with no rules that characters from all three series compete in.[9]
On October 8, 2017, a two-part TV special of Dragon Ball Super aired on Fuji TV. It counted as both episodes 109 and 110 of the series.
On December 2, 2018, as part of promoting new film Broly, a one-hour television special aired on Fuji TV in Japan entitled "Just Before the Dragon Ball Super Movie Debut! Looking Back on the TV Show's Climax ".[10]
Japanese title English translation
English title
Japanese air date
North American release
Tatta Hitori no Saishū Kessen ~Furīza ni Idonda Zetto-senshi Son Gokū no Chichi~ (たったひとりの最終決戦〜フリーザに挑んだZ戦士 孫悟空の父〜) A Lonesome, Final Battle - The Father of Z Warrior Son Goku, who Challenged Freeza
Kyokugen Batoru!! San Dai Sūpā Saiya-jin Supesharu (極限バトル!!三大超スーパーサイヤ人 スペシャル) Extreme Battle!! Three Great Super Saiyans Special
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August 3, 1992 (1992-08-03)
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Zetsubō e no Hankō!! Nokosareta Chō-Senshi•Gohan to Torankusu (絶望への反抗!!残された超戦士・悟飯とトランクス) Defiance in the Face of Despair!! The Remaining Super-Warriors: Gohan and Trunks
Korezo Zen Uchū Ichi no Kyūkyoku Batoru! Son Gokū bāsasu Jiren!! (これぞ全宇宙一の究極バトル！ 孫悟空ＶＳジレン!!) This is the Ultimate Battle in All the Universes! Son Goku vs Jiren!!
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October 8, 2017 (2017-10-08)
May 4 & May 11, 2019 (as Dragon Ball Super episodes 109 & 110)
Doragon Bōru no Chokuzen Sūpā Eiga Debyū! Terebi Bangu no Kuraimakkusu o Furikaette!! (ドラゴンボールの直前スーパー映画デビュー！テレビ番組のクライマックスを振り返って！！) Just Before the Dragon Ball Super Movie Debut! Looking Back on the TV Show's Climax
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December 2, 2018 (2018-12-02)
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Festival films
Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! is a 35-minute anime short film that was shown at the 2008 Jump Super Anime Tour, which visited ten Japanese cities to celebrate Weekly Shōnen Jump's 40th anniversary.[11] It was later released as a triple feature DVD with One Piece: Romance Dawn Story and Tegami Bachi: Light and Blue Night Fantasy in 2009, that was available only through a mail-in offer exclusive to Japanese residents.[12] In 2013, it was included in the limited edition home video release of Battle of Gods.
The OVA was remade for the 2010 PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 under the title Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans.[17] It was included in Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 as a bonus feature, unlocked at the start of gameplay without any necessary cheat code or in-game achievement, presented in its original Japanese-language audio with subtitles appropriate for each region. It was later released on DVD in the February 3, 2012 issue of Saikyō Jump together with Dragon Ball: Episode of Bardock.[15]
Two educational shorts based on the original Dragon Ball anime were produced in 1988. The first was a traffic safety special titled Goku's Traffic Safety (悟空の交通安全, Gokū no Kōtsū Ansen), while the second was a fire safety special titled Goku's Fire Brigade (悟空の消防隊, Gokū no Shōbōtai). The two educational films were included in the Dragon Box DVD set released in Japan in 2004. Both are written by Keiji Terui.
No.
Title
Directed by
Animation directed by
Art directed by
Original release date
1
Goku's Traffic Safety Transliteration: "Gokū no Kōtsū Ansen" (Japanese: 悟空の交通安全)
Goku's Fire Brigade Transliteration: "Gokū no Shōbōtai" (Japanese: 悟空の消防隊)
Kazuhisa Takenouchi
Yukio Ebisawa
Takeshi Waki
June 8, 1988 (1988-06-08)
Commercial reception
Dragon Ball is one of the most successful franchises in animation history.[1] The anime series is broadcast in more than 80countries worldwide.[2] DVD home video releases of the Dragon Ball anime series have topped Japan's sales charts on several occasions.[18][19] In the United States, the Dragon Ball Z anime series sold over 25million DVD units by January 2012.[20] As of 2017[update], the Dragon Ball anime franchise has sold more than 30million DVD and Blu-ray units in the United States.[1]
^Cut to 276 episodes in Funimation's North American broadcast
^The debut date varied significantly across regional TV networks at the time – with most networks airing the first episode during the weekend of September 14-15, but some as early as the 12th.[3]
^This dub was recorded at Ocean Productions before Funimation switched to an in-house cast in 1998. Both versions were produced by Funimation, though they are sometimes listed separately.
^Cut to 49 in Funimation's North American broadcast
^Only 158 episodes were broadcast in Japan. Episode 98 was not broadcast due to the 2011 earthquake, and the Final Chapters episodes were edited down heavily due to scheduling issues. The complete 167 episode version was only released internationally. The Japanese home media release includes episode 98, but uses the shorter cut of The Final Chapters for a total of 159 episodes.[4]
^The title is sometimes incorrectly romanized as "Chou" rather than Super. It is pronounced "Sūpā" in the series, akin to how the 超 kanji is used for "Sūpā Saiyajin" elsewhere in the franchise.
