What is Dragon Ball Z About?

Dragon Ball Z is the sequel that put the entire Dragon Ball series into the world superstardom. Dragon Ball started it all but what everyone knows is Dragon Ball Z, even until today!

Dragon Ball Z or DBZ to its international audience followed the story of Goku in the original Dragon Ball and adapted the 325 chapters of the original 519-chapter Dragon Ball manga by Akira Toriyama. It aired in Fuji TV Japan from April of 1989 to January 1996. After its Japanese broadcast, it was dubbed in English and other languages and was shown in almost 81 countries worldwide. 

As a whole, Dragon Ball Z continued and dived more deeply into the adventures of Goku. Here, Goku is already married. His son, Gohan, which is regarded by many as the second most important character of the entire series, was also introduced. In Z, aliens from his planet of origin hunted him on earth. A powerful Saiyan named Raditz was tasked to do the job and he and Goku ended up fighting. It spanned a lot more fights and adventures after. 

Dragon Ball Z also introduced a lot of notable characters that the global audience fell in love with. It became notably successful in the United States back in the 90s and it was released by Viz Media with the same title.

The franchise paved the way to many adaptations and remakes including 15 movies, 2 TV specials, and 148 video games, among with multiple figures of dragon ball saga which were only become available in Japan. 

Dragon Ball Z Story Arcs

The Dragon Ball Z series is divided into 4 arcs and 17 Sagas. The arcs are like chapters in books and the sagas are the stories in each chapter. Each of the sagas happened years apart and they each also featured a villain where the story focused. 

The Raditz Saga.

Raditz is one notable villain introduced in Dragon Ball Z. His saga is also known as the Saiyan Saga. 

Raditz was the biological brother of Goku. He was the one who told Goku the real reason why he was on earth and he wanted for them to work together to finish the plan of conquering it. Goku of course refused. It was Goku and Piccolo who worked together to destroy Raditz and save the earth from harmful Saiyans.

The Frieza Saga. 

Frieza is a tyrant alien and Emperor who committed genocide against the Saiyan race because he strongly feared their power. After Raditz is defeated which caused the life of Goku, Saiyan Vegeta and Nappa were sent to earth to finish the job of conquering it. Goku was revived and put back to life by the Dragon Balls to fight them. 

Frieza wanted to achieve endless power and immortality. He is cold, ruthless, and selfish. Frieza wanted to travel to the planet Namek in order to use the planet’s own version of the Dragon Balls to achieve an immortal state. Krillin, Gohan, and Bulma then travel to Namek to stop Frieza’s plans. Vegeta, who’s supposed to be on the size of Frieza also became an ally and help Goku and the team along the way. 

But Frieza managed to kill many Namekians as he searches for the Dragon Balls and he eventually succeeded in acquiring them. However, when trying to invoke the Dragon Balls, Frieza learned that he needed the help of the older Namekian in order to get the right phrase to make them work. Goku and Vegeta meanwhile battled Frieza’s army and eventually win.

But Frieza managed to inflict damage to Piccolo and killed Krillin, Goku’s best friend. This made Goku transformed into a classic Super Saiyan. Goku eventually defeated Frieza.

The Cell Saga.

This saga took place several years after the battle of Goku and Frieza. Powerful androids from the Red Ribbon Army were created to revenge against Goku for smashing its plan in the original Dragon Ball. It was the Red Ribbon Army who created Cell, an artificial yet powerful life form that can absorb the power of others. Cell is powerful because he was to have the genetic information of Frieza, Goku, Vegeta and Piccolo. Cell also traveled back in time from the future to absorb the androids and achieve a perfect life form.

After just absorbing two androids, Cell already intended to destroy the planet but being selfish as he is, he created a tournament named as “Cell Games” to test the limits of his powers. 

Goku is eventually defeated by Cell but Goku nominated Gohan to continue his fight with Cell. When Cell destroys Android #16, Gohan’s dear friend. Gohan became devastated and transformed into a powerful Super Saiyan 2. He then was able to destroy Cell with his powerful Kamehameha blast.

The Majin Buu Saga.

Majin Buu was actually created by an evil warlock named Bibbidi. He was made to destroy and conquer the galaxy with him being too powerful. Biddidi however, believed that Majin Buu was too powerful so he kept him away on Earth. But he was killed before he can release Majin Buu to work on his plans. His son Bobbidi however, arrived on earth and released Buu. 

At first, Majin Buu appeared like a fan, cute, and pink creature that is seemingly harmless. He did not know the extend of his power but he knew he needed to conquer the galaxy. Buu then killed the Bobbidi.

In order to defeat Buu, Goku and Vegeta performed the iconic “fusion” and turned into a character known as Vegetto. Buu eventually ate Vegetto but Goku and Vegeta were able to work together to free other people that were absorbed by him. 

Once outside Buu’s body, Goku and Vegeta traveled to the planet of the Kais, the gods of the Dragon Ball universe. In there, Goku defeated Buu and wished for him to be reincarnated as a good person. Buu then was reincarnated as Oob, whom Goku trained to become an ally.

The Majin Buu Saga marked the end of the series. Dragon Ball GT and other Dragon Ball Z spinoff followed after.