Dragon Ball GT (ドラゴンボールGT, Doragon Boru Ji Ti; meaning "Grand Tour") is the sequel to Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball GT opening title card
Z, whose material is produced only by Toei Doga. The Dragon Ball GT series is the shortest of the Dragon Ball series, consisting of only 64 episodes; as opposed to its predecessor Dragon Ball Zwhich consisted of 291 episodes, and Dragon Ball which consisted of 153. Originally intended to span 40 episodes (ending after the Baby Saga), the series continued for another 24 episodes, before being concluded by the movie Dragon Ball GT:
FUNimation's GT logo
A Hero's Legacy.
Series history
The series again continues the adventures of Goku who is turned back into a child in the beginning of the series by the Black Star Dragon Balls and is forced to travel across the galaxy to retrieve them. The first half of the series focuses on Goku, Pan, and Trunks, while the second half brings back most of the prominent characters from Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. It is the only series that is not based directly on the original story by Akira Toriyama. The series follows the Z Fighters against far more powerful foes such as Baby, Super 17 and the Shadow Dragons.
The first two anime series were directly based off the manga, which took much longer to produce than the anime did. This often resulted in "filler" episodes, one of the most obvious of which is when Frieza tries to destroy Planet Namek with a five-minute timer, yet the battle lasted well over five episodes, much less five minutes. Since Dragon Ball GT was not based off of the manga, no filler episodes were required. As a result, four entire sagas (the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga, the Baby Saga, theSuper 17 Saga, and the Shadow Dragon Saga) were completed in only 64 episodes.
Dragon Ball GT began on Fuji TV at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 7, 1996, exactly one week after the final episode of Dragon Ball Z. It ran for 64 episodes, the last of which aired on November 4, 1997. It has also been aired across Japan by the anime television network, Animax, where it is currently being regularly broadcast. Unlike the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z series, the creator Akira Toriyama had only minor involvement in the show's early stages, setting forth the initial premise of the series, as well as creating designs for most of the villains and main characters , including newcomer Giru. Early episodes are much more comedic in tone, reminiscent of earlyDragon Ball. The later episodes, however, are action-packed and feature the same sort of dramatic tone that existed in Dragon Ball Z. However, the series was ended after less than two years on the air, a move many believe to be the result of declining popularity. There are no subsequent Dragon Ball anime or manga (rumors of new series, such as Dragon Ball AF, also rumored as "Dragon Ball Another Future", have existed since the end ofDragon Ball GT in 1997 and are untrue), except the new Dragon Ball Kai series, which is simply a condensed remake of Dragon Ball Z, rather than being an entirely new plotline.
There are two companion books to the series, called the Dragon Ball GT Perfect Files, released in May 1997 and December 1997 by Shueisha's Jump Comics Selection imprint. They include series information, illustration galleries, behind-the-scenes information, and more. They were out of print for many years, but were re-released in April 2006 and this edition is still in print.
On June 15, 2005, Toei Animation (in conjunction with distributor Pony Canyon) released the entire series (including the Gokū Jr. TV special) in an extremely limited-edition DVD boxed set (called "Dragon Box GT"), along with a Dragon Radar remote control and an exclusive booklet. While the set features remastered audio and video, there are no subtitles, English or otherwise. It's also unavailable to general public due to its scarce numbers and its huge cost.
Canon Debate and Inconsistencies/Mistakes[]
The cast as they appear in Dragon Ball GT
Main article: 'Inconsistencies in Dragon Ball GTSome do not consider GT canon due to the fact that this series was not directly written by Akira Toriyama. Additionally, GT was not originally produced as manga, like its predecessors Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. Finally, GT contains several events which are inconsistent with its predecessor series.
Though Toriyama did not personally write GT, he did strictly oversee its production. This was the same process that was used during the production of the anime series Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. Characters and events from GT have also been included in more recent Dragon Ball video games. With regards to inconsistencies, GT in fact has the least inconsistencies of all three anime series, making it difficult to cite the few that exist as reason for the series to be set aside as non-canon.
FUNimation Remastered Box Sets
Toriyama seems to have positive feelings towards his works' continuation, as he drew his version of Super Saiyan 4 Goku, exclusively for the GT Dragon Box.
In 2008 FUNimation began production of remastering the entire Dragon Ball GT series similar to the remastering process of Dragon Ball Z. Unlike theDragon Ball Z remastered sets, the Dragon Ball GT Remastered Season Sets are presented in a 4:3 full frame and come with 5 discs rather than 6. The GT Sets are not presented in high definition. Just like the Dragon Ball Z remastered sets, the GT Sets include English dialogue with original Japanese background music, 5.1 surround sound, English dialogue with US broadcast stereo and original Japanese mono. Both Dragon Ball GT Season Box sets include a booklet including character profiles" and an episode guide.
Dragon Ball GT: Season One was released on December 9, 2008. The box set includes the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga and most of the Baby Saga, spanning the first 34 episodes over 5 discs.
Dragon Ball GT: Season Two was released on February 10, 2009. The box set includes the last six episode of the Baby Saga, Super 17 Saga and Shadow Dragon Saga, spanning the final 30 episodes concluding the series. TheDragon Ball GT movie, Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy is included as part of the Box set.
On September 21, 2010 Funimation released Dragon Ball GT: The Complete Series which featured all 64 episodes of the show and A Hero's Legacy movie.
| Season | Release Date | Sagas |
|---|---|---|
| Dragon Ball GT: Season 1 | December 9, 2008 | The Lost Episodes and Baby Saga |
| Dragon Ball GT: Season 2 | February 10, 2009 | Super 17, Shadow Dragon Sagas and Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy Movie |
| Dragon Ball GT: The Complete Series | September 21, 2010 | All 64 episodes and Dragon Ball GT: A Hero's Legacy Movie |
English adaptations[]
US (FUNimation) version[]
The English adaptation of Dragon Ball GT ran on Cartoon Network between 2003 and 2005, but the version by FUNimation had a major alteration: the first 16 episodes of the series, the "Black Star Dragon Ball Saga", were cut and replaced by a single US-only episode which summarized the episodes; this became the new series premiere. This edit was implemented by the producers of the English dub to prevent viewers from possibly being put-off by these differently-toned early episodes. The missing episodes have since been released as the "Lost Episodes". When first aired, FUNimation recorded a new musical score and the openings and closings were replaced with something completely different from the original. For example, a rap was used for the opening and used different clips from the show to make up the visuals. However, when FUNimation released the series to two remastered boxed sets in 2008, the original Japanese music was restored, and English versions of the opening and all four closings were created, which are all very close to the original versions.
International (Blue Water)[]
Outside of the United States, (excluding Australia and New Zealand) a different English dub of the series was aired, featuring the voice actor of Canadian voice acting group Blue Water Studios. While the voices are different from both the American and international English dubs of Dragon Ball Z, the original background music by Akihito Tokunaga was kept, the episodes were aired in their proper order, and the scripts were kept much closer to the original Japanese version. However, the international version kept the original Japanese theme song but used English subtitles. An English version of the GT theme song was sung while this dub aired on Toonami in the UK, however these were different lyrics to the original song and not a direct translation.
TV special[]
Japanese title[]
Gokū Sidestory! The Proof of his Courage is the Si Xing Qiu [Four-Star Ball]
- (悟空外伝! 勇気の証しは四星球 Gokū Gaiden! Yūki no Akashi wa Sūshinchū)
FUNimation title[]
- A Hero's Legacy
Theme songs[]
- Opening
- "Dan Dan Kokoro Hikarete 'ku" (DAN DAN 心魅かれてくBit by Bit, You're Charming my Heart)
- Lyrics: Izumi Sakai, Music: Tetsur Oda, Arrangement: Takeshi Hayama, Performance: Field of View
- Version 1: episodes 1-26
- Version 2: episodes 27-64
- Lyrics: Izumi Sakai, Music: Tetsur Oda, Arrangement: Takeshi Hayama, Performance: Field of View
- "Dan Dan Kokoro Hikarete 'ku" (DAN DAN 心魅かれてくBit by Bit, You're Charming my Heart)
- Ending
- "Hitori ja nai" (ひとりじゃないI'm Not Alone)
- Lyrics: Shûichi Ikemori, Music: Tetsurō Oda, Arrangement: Hiroto Furui, Performance: Deen
- Used for the Black Star Dragonball Saga and beginning of the Bebi saga (1-26)
- "Don't you see!"
- Lyrics: Izumi Sakai, Music: Seiichirō Kuribayashi, Arrangement: Takeshi Hayama, Performance:Zard
- Used later in the Bebi Saga and the Beginning of the Super 17 saga (27-41)
- "Blue Velvet"
- Lyrics: Aeri, Music: Hatake, Arrangement: Hatake, Performance: Shizuka Kudō
- Used for the Super 17 saga and beginning of the Shadow Dragon Saga (42-50)
- "Sabitsuita Mashingan de Ima o Uchinukō" (錆びついたマシンガンで今を撃ち抜こうLet’s Blast through this Moment with a Rusted Machinegun)
- Lyrics: Miho Komatsu, Music: Miho Komatsu, Arrangement: Daisuke Ikeda, Performance:Wands
- Used for the Shadow Dragon Saga to the end of series (51-64)
- "Dan Dan Kokoro Hikarete 'ku" (DAN DAN 心魅かれてくBit by Bit, You're Charming my Heart)
- Lyrics: Izumi Sakai, Music: Tetsurō Oda, Arrangement: Takeshi Hayama, Performance: Field of View
- Used for the final episode 64
- Used during the montage of Goku's life, prior to the ending theme
- "Hitori ja nai" (ひとりじゃないI'm Not Alone)