Anime has exploded in North America in more recent years and there are multiple streaming services with robust libraries of classic anime for audiences to binge on. In spite of how many new series have gotten people’s attention, some older series like Dragon Ball never went out of fashion and have always remained in the public consciousness. Dragon Ball has always had luck with appealing to a mass audience, but the series has hit a second wind and is currently more popular than ever.
With a wealth of new video games and series that continue to explore the exploits of Goku and his friends as they keep Earth and the universe safe, there’s never been a better time to brush up on the iconic anime. However, even those that are experts on the material are likely to have missed details the first time around.
15 Yamcha's Baseball Failure References His Popular Meme
Dragon Ball is typically singled out for its thrilling fight scenes, but the show also has a wonderful sense of humor and it knows how to really push a joke over the edge when necessary. One of the silliest, but most entertaining, episodes of Dragon Ball Super sees Universe 7 engage in a baseball match against Universe 6. Yamcha's eventual failure on the field is an exact visual recreation of his death by the Saibamen. The show knows the notoriety of this moment and plays into it.
14 Copy-Vegeta Is Voiced By Vegeta's Original English Actor
One of the most brilliant casting decisions the Dragon Ball Super dub has done came during the Copy-Vegeta mini-arc. Rather than just having Christopher Sabat do double duty on the roles, Funimation instead hired Brian Drummond, Ocean Studios' original Vegeta voice actor. It's a great blast of nostalgia, a great way to respect Drummond's work, and it makes the superfluous saga more fun.
13 Vegeta Officially Has A Brother
Fans were very excited when one of the Dragon Ball OVAs featured the appearance of Tarble, Vegeta's younger brother, but it left many wondering about the character's existence in the main series. However, Dragon Ball Super makes some sly allusions that confirm that Tarble does exist and is still out there. Shenron mentions six Saiyans, which is an oblique nod to him, but in Dragon Ball Super: Broly, Nappa explicitly asks Vegeta if his brother survived Planet Vegeta's destruction. Tarble is out there.
12 Scouters Have Evolved Over The Years
During the infancy of Dragon Ball Z, scouters were a trendy way to identify how strong characters are, but they quickly wore out their importance over time. Dragon Ball Super: Broly turns the clock back for Frieza & his forces and during this time it looks like everyone used a much more rudimentary and less sleek version of the scouters. This is a fun nod to just how this technology has evolved over time. Maybe a more practical version of scouters could have been continued if anyone was interested in furthering the science.
11 An Actor From The Live-Action Dragon Ball Movie Secretly Voiced Zamasu
The Dragon Ball live-action feature film is an unmitigated disaster. This was especially disappointing to James Marsters, who plays Piccolo in the movie, because he was a fan of the series. Many years later, Marsters decided to vindicate himself by voicing the villain Zamasu in the dub– albeit under an alias so as to not steal focus. Marsters' work is incredible here and he finally gets to play a good Dragon Ball villain.
10 The "Waves And Rocks" Gag Is A Shot At TOEI
TOEI is the company responsible for adapting Dragon Ball and their simple coastal production logo has become iconic as a result. Mr. Satan's recreation of the Cell Games starts off with the same TOEI film logo, only the dub adds the jingle, "Waves and Rocks," to poke fun at the important detail from Dragon Ball's history.
9 Future Trunks' Hair Changes Color
It's a very exciting moment in Dragon Ball Super when Future Trunks returns to lend a hand. However, the character has gone through some minor changes, mostly his hair color changing from purple to blue. Toriyama has owned up to simply forgetting what color Future Trunks' hair used to be (to say nothing of the Dragon Ball manga being published in black & white,) but it's even odder when he's right there alongside regular Trunks.
8 Krillin's Love For One Piece
A very fun Easter Egg that's hidden in Dragon Ball Super is that the ringtone for Krillin's cell phone is the opening theme song for One Piece, "We Are!" This joke has another layer added to it because Krillin's Japanese voice actor, Mayumi Tanaka, is also the voice of Luffy on One Piece, so this is definitely an intentional nod.
7 Dragon Ball Z's 2nd Opening Shows What Could Have Been
It's no secret that after the Cell Saga, DBZ was supposed to pivot towards Gohan as the main character. Goku had sacrificed himself and his son was ready to carry on the torch. The new opening theme for this saga is all about Gohan and paints him as a courageous hero. Of course, Toriyama changed his plan and decided to stick with Goku, but these credits don't give any indication of that. Curiously, Dragon Ball Z Kai's opening theme song for the Buu Saga is all about Goku since these episodes know that Gohan never gets to rise to the occasion here.
6 Young Trunks Nearly Gets A Sword As A Gift
Part of the fun of Dragon Ball's characters from the future is that it hints at certain things that will come to pass. One such area is how Trunks gets the sword that becomes Future Trunks' trademark weapon. The 13th Dragon Ball Z film sees Trunks get a sword from Tapion, which he retains in Dragon Ball GT, but all of this is erased in Dragon Ball Super– along with being incompatible with either the anime or manga canon. However, Monaka accidentally gifts young Trunks a package that contains a sword. For a moment it looks like timelines will align and this is how he gets the weapon, but it's just an error on Monaka's part and a way to tease the audience.
