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Dragon Ball

Dragonball Z's predecessor was called Dragon Ball. It was based on a manga (comic book; manga literally translates as: "irresponsible pictures") by Akira Toriyama, and follows the adventures of a young boy named Son Goku, who had astounding strength for a child, but bizarrely, also had a simian tail. Goku was found in a space pod by a kindly old man named Son Gohan, and he took in the young boy, raising him as his own grandson. Goku was an unusually violent and destructive child, but after an accident in which Goku was dropped, and subsequently bumped his head; Goku became as kind and as good natured as his adoptive grandfather.
Unfortunately, Goku accidentally kills Gohan when after seeing the full moon, he transformed into an Oozaru, (giant were-monkey) and crushed him to death. It later transpired that it is Goku's tail that caused him to transform, and it was later removed by Kami-sama (who happens to be God).
The story follows Goku as he tries to collect all seven of the mysterious Dragon Balls, in order to summon the eternal dragon, Shenlong. Legend has it that this dragon will grant any wish to the person who manages to collect the Dragon Balls.
On his journeys, Goku meets many friends, such as: Bulma, a stroppy, but scientifically brilliant girl; Yamcha, a desert rebel with an extreme love of fighting, matched only by an extreme fear of women; Oolong, a perverted talking Pig with a panty fetish, who has the ability to shape shift; Master Roshi, the turtle master, who shares Oolong's love of women's underwear; and Krillen, a bald Buddhist monk who becomes Goku's best friend.

Goku encounters many enemies along his journey, also. Amongst them: The Red Ribbon Organisation, and Piccolo Diamou (Piccolo the Demon) - a pointy toothed green 'monster'.

The show ends with Goku finally getting to make his wish, (after the first attempt was foiled by Oolong, who accidentally wished for some panties) and by the end of the show, Goku is a young man, and is the most powerful fighter in the world.

Dragonball Z

At this point, the name of the show was changed to Dragonball Z. This show is set five years after Dragon Ball, and Goku is now around 21. He is now married, and has a young son named Gohan, after his adoptive grandfather. Everything is peaceful, until one day, Goku's past catches up with him. A space pod lands on Earth, containing a strange man with a simian tail exactly like Goku's. It turns out that this man is called Raditz, and is Goku's older brother. It turns out that Goku is part of an alien race called the Saiyans, and was sent to Earth to destroy it (but as we know, he forgot his mission when he bumped his head). It transpires that Goku's Sayan name is Kakkarot, and he was sent to Earth by their father, Bardock. However, their home planet, Vegita, has in the meanwhile been destroyed, and the entire race with it, bar 4 survivors: Crown Prince Vegita, Nappa (an elite warror), Raditz (a common soldier), and Goku.
When Raditz sees that Earth is still intact, and Goku is a peace loving citzen of this planet, he becomes enraged, and kidnaps the young Gohan. He threatens to kill Gohan if Goku doesn't kill 100 people by the next day, and dump their bodies on the beach. Goku then, suprisingly, joins forces with his old enemy Piccolo (who is the son of Piccolo Diamou), to kill Raditz (Piccolo only agrees because HE wants to be the one who kills Goku). Raditz is too strong however, and manages to stave off both of them. It is only when Goku gets Raditz in an arm lock, and allows both of them to be killed, that Piccolo manages to have time to use an attack powerful enough to kill Raditz.

However, before Raditz died, he managed to summon the other two Sayan survivors, to come and avenge him, and they will arive on Earth in one years time. Piccolo decides to train Gohan to be a fighter, as Goku is dead, and cannot do it himself. Gohan becomes Piccolo's very first friend, and Gohan's innocence and kindness finally melts the evil Piccolo's heart, and he becomes one of the good guys. Goku meanwhile, is in heaven; and is receiving training from a God called King Kai. He intends to become powerful enough to defeat the Saiyans, when they arrive. The plan is to wish Goku back to life with the Dragon Balls, just prior to the Saiyan warriors arrival.
This is the beginning of a long and excellent show, of which I have seen only around half. There is one more show afterwards, called Dragonball GT.

NB: Dragonball Z is a Japanese show. Since the show had to be transliterated into Roman script, there were some problems. Mainly, the spelling of the names can vary due to personal interpretation. Therefore you may see names spelled in many different ways (even on this page, if I haven't been vigialant). So don't think "Oooohhh, he's wrong!", OK?! :-)