Cultural impact of Dragon Ball

Since its debut, the Dragon Ball franchise has had a considerable impact on global popular culture.[1][2] In 2015, the Japan Anniversary Association officially declared May 9 as "Goku Day" (悟空の日, Gokū no Hi) after the main character; in Japanese, the numbers five and nine can be pronounced as "Go" and "Ku".[3] It is similarly influential in international popular culture across other parts of the world.[1] Dragon Ball is widely referenced in American popular culture, from television and music to celebrities and athletes, and the show has been celebrated with Goku making an appearance at multiple Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades, and with murals based on Dragon Ball appearing in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Kansas City, and Denver.[2]

Fandom

A group of cosplayers dressed as Dragon Ball characters at FanimeCon 2017.

Dragon Ball is immensely popular in Latin America, where public screenings of the Dragon Ball Super finale in 2018 filled public spaces and stadiums in cities across the region, including stadiums holding tens of thousands of spectators.[1] Illegal screenings the 2018 finale even caused a diplomatic incident between Mexico and Japan.[4] Mexico has more Dragon Ball fans than even Japan,[5] and Goku has been referred to as "a Latino icon" due to his popularity there.[6]

Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama was decorated a Chevalier (Knight) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in May 2019 for his contributions to the arts, particularly for Dragon Ball which has been credited with popularizing manga in France.[7][8]

Vegeta's quote "It's Over 9000!" from the Saiyan Saga in the English dub of Dragon Ball Z is a popular Internet meme.[9]

Impact on comics and animation

Further information: Dragon Ball (manga) § Legacy and cultural impact

Dragon Ball has been cited as inspiration across various different media. Dragon Ball is credited with setting trends for popular shōnen manga and anime since the 1980s, with manga critic Jason Thompson in 2011 calling it "by far the most influential shōnen manga of the last 30 years." Successful shōnen manga authors such as Eiichiro Oda (One Piece), Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto), Tite Kubo (Bleach), Hiro Mashima (Fairy Tail) and Kentaro Yabuki (Black Cat) have cited Dragon Ball as an influence on their own now popular works. According to Thompson, "almost every Shōnen Jump artist lists it as one of their favorites and lifts from it in various ways."[10]

Ian Jones-Quartey, a producer of the American animated series Steven Universe, is a fan of Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, and uses Toriyama's vehicle designs as a reference for his own. He also stated that "We're all big Toriyama fans on [Steven Universe], which kind of shows a bit."[11] Comic book artist André Lima Araújo cited Dragon Ball, along with several other manga and anime, as a major influence on his work, which includes Marvel Comics such as Age of Ultron, Avengers A.I., Spider-Verse and The Inhumans.[12] Filipino comic artist Dexter Soy, who has worked on comics such as Captain America, cited Dragon Ball as a major inspiration.[13] Tony Stark: Iron Man #11 (2019) makes references to Dragon Ball Z, including Miles Morales as Spider-Man referencing the Super Saiyan transformation.[14] Goku is occasionally compared to or identified as a superhero by media due to the similarities shared between Western comics and the Dragon Ball franchise.[15][16]

Impact on film and television

In December 1990, an unofficial live-action Korean film adaptation Dragon Ball: Ssawora Son Goku, Igyeora Son Goku was released.[17][18] Another unofficial live-action film adaptation of the series, Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins, was released in Taiwan in November 1991.[19] In the Philippines, a children's musical titled Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z: Myth, Magic, Music, was staged in June 1996.[20]

Action film star Jackie Chan is a fan of the franchise, and said Goku is his favorite Dragon Ball character. In 1995, Chan had expressed some interest in adapting Dragon Ball into a film, but said it would require "a lot of amazing special effects and an enormous budget."[21] Later in 2013, Toriyama said his ideal live-action Goku would have been a young Jackie Chan, stating that "nobody could play Goku but him."[22]

The Matrix franchise echoes Dragon Ball Z in several action scenes, including the climactic fights of the 2003 films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.[23] Filipino-American film storyboard artist Jay Oliva has cited Dragon Ball as a major inspiration on his work, particularly the action scenes of 2013 Superman film Man of Steel, which launched the DC Extended Universe.[24] Several films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have also been visually influenced by Dragon Ball Z. Erik Killmonger's battle armour in Black Panther (2018) bears a resemblance to Vegeta's battle armour,[25][26] which actor Michael B. Jordan (himself a Dragon Ball fan) said may have inspired Killmonger's battle armor.[27] The fiery look of Carol Danvers' Binary powers in Captain Marvel (2019) also drew some influence from Dragon Ball Z.[28] In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), Katy refers to one of Shang-Chi's techniques as a "Kamehameha fireball";[29] the film's director Destin Daniel Cretton cited Dragon Ball Z as an inspiration behind the film's climactic fight scene.[30]

A key characteristic that set Dragon Ball Z (and later other anime shows) apart from American television shows at the time was a serialization format, in which a continuous story arc stretches over multiple episodes or seasons. Serialization has since also become a common characteristic of American streaming television shows during the "Peak TV" era.[31]

Impact on music and sports

Ronda Rousey (right, with Dwayne Johnson), wearing a tank top referencing Vegeta and the quote "It's Over 9000!".

Dragon Ball has been channeled and referenced by numerous musicians. It is popular in the hip hop community, and has been referenced in numerous hip hop songs by rappers and artists such as Chris Brown, Chance the Rapper, Big Sean, Lil Uzi Vert, G-Mo Skee, The Weeknd, Childish Gambino,[2] Denzel Curry, Thundercat, B.o.B, Soulja Boy,[32] Drake,[33] Frank Ocean, and Sese.[34] Mark Sammut of TheGamer notes that Gohan occasionally performed the dab move (as the Great Saiyaman) decades before it became a popular hip-hop dance move in American popular culture.[35]

Numerous athletes have also channeled and referenced Dragon Ball, including NBA basketball players such as Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox, Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, Golden State Warriors player Jordan Bell, and Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball, American football NFL stars such as Cleveland Browns players Darren Fells and David Njoku, mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey,[2] and WWE wrestlers such as The New Day.[36][37] Japanese kickboxer Panchan Rina took her nickname from the Dragon Ball character Pan.[38] Japanese mixed martial artist Itsuki Hirata is nicknamed "Android 18" due to her resembling the Dragon Ball character.[39] Canadian mixed martial artist Carlos Newton dubbed his fighting style "Dragon Ball jiu-jitsu" in tribute to the series.[40] Other mixed martial artists inspired by Dragon Ball include Kana Watanabe, Yushin Okami, Yoshihiro Akiyama and Yuya Wakamatsu.[41][42] The French group Yamakasi cited Dragon Ball as an influence on their development of parkour, inspired by how the heroes attain extraordinary abilities through hard work.[43]

For her appearance at WrestleMania 31 in 2015, American professional athlete Ronda Rousey wore a tank top which referenced the character Vegeta and the quote "It's Over 9000!" from the English dub of Dragon Ball Z.[44]

Impact on video games and technology

The producer of the Tekken video game series, Katsuhiro Harada, said that Dragon Ball was one of the first works to visually depict chi and thereby influenced numerous Japanese video games, especially fighting games such as Tekken and Street Fighter.[45] Masaaki Ishikawa, art director of the video game Arms, said that its art style was largely influenced by Dragon Ball and Akira.[46] French video game designer Éric Chahi also cited Dragon Ball as an influence on his 1991 cinematic platformer Another World.[47] Other video game industry veterans who were inspired by Dragon Ball include Suda51, SWERY, Insomniac Games, Nina Freeman, Heart Machine, Iron Galaxy, and Mega64.[45]

The neologism puff-puff, coined by Akira Toriyama in Dragon Ball, is frequently used in the Dragon Quest video game series, which he was the lead artist of.[48] Due to the term's usage in Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest, it has also been referenced in games such as 3D Dot Game Heroes,[49] Yakuza: Like a Dragon,[50] and Final Fantasy XIV.[51]

Motorola's Freescale DragonBall and DragonBall EZ/VZ microcontroller processors, released in 1995, are named after Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, respectively.[52]

See also

References

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