A collection of terms used for Dragon Ball and general anime for newbies. Don't know what something is and would like a definition of it added to the encyclopedia? E-mail the webmaster using the Contact Form.
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Anime - The word derives from the French word anime, meaning cartoons. There is a longer form of the word, animeshon, which comes from the English word animation.
Bansho Fan - This is the fan that supposedly puts out the flames on the magical fire mountain of Mt. Frypan. However, after all that Gokuu and Chichi went through to get it, in the end it didn't work.
Bloomers - Inspired by the old fashioned women's undergarment, these loose fitting, wide leg underpants are now sold as pajamas or loungewear. The Japanese version of bloomers has the entire legs exposed and are pronounce buruumaa. Hence the jokes about Bulma (Buruma) and underwear.
Capsule Corporation - Founded by Bulma's scientist father, Dr. Briefs. Later the company is taken on by Bulma and then Trunks. Capsule Corp. is responsible for much of the world's technology, such as Hoi Poi Capsules.
Disclaimer - Claiming a certain material and or idea that is not his/her own.
Dragon Ball - A magical orb that, when brought together with its counterparts, summons Shenron and will grant thee any one wish. Later in the series the balls are modified so that two wishes can be made. After the wish has been granted the seven Dragon Balls separate into all parts of the world and turn to stone to rejuvenate for one year. There are also two more sets of Dragon Balls, the Namekian set and the Dark Star set. Each set has their own dragon and different rules depending on it's creator.
Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins - The Cantonese live action Dragon Ball adaptation. See Live Action Movie on the side menu for more information under Humor.
Dragon Box - In 2003, FUJI TV and TOEI decided to make DBZ available on DVD. This started out in two 1000 dollar volumes, with many special features for a limited time release. Because these boxes did so well they continued to work on DB and then DBGT in 2005.
Dragon Radar - A device used to locate Dragon Balls. Invented by Bulma. In the release of the Dragon Ball GT Dragon Box, a Dragon Radar remote control came with it. Although it only works on certain Japanese DVD Players and TVs.
Dub - Short for dubbed. Another language dialect that replaces the the foreign dialect, used for translation purposes.
Dubbie - A person who prefers to watch dubbed film.
Ecchi - See hentai.
Fanfic - Short for fanfiction, see fanfiction.
Fanfiction - Fictional stories based off usually copy written material by it's fans. Not for profitable reasons but for entertainment.
Famicom - The Japanese name for the popular Nintendo game console. Famicom is short for Family Computer.
Fansub - Short for fan subtitled. Typically cheap and very poor quality videos with poor translations that are illegally distributed by fans. Used to be one of the only ways to get the Japanese version of an anime series.
Flying Nimbus - See Kinto-un.
Mt. Frypan - A magical mountain that bursts into flames, the flames can only be put out by the Bansho Fan (or can it?).
Fusion - When a specific dance is performed by two people with similar physical properties, they can merge into one person. The merge makes the beings more powerful. However if the dance is done incorrectly, they will either turn out incredibly fat or skinny with no real power.
Genkidama - Literally it's a ball of life. This attack is a last resort move performed by Gokuu. It asks for everyone's life power on the planet (or sometimes even on a larger scale) to combined into one condensed attack. Although it's incredibly powerful it takes a long time to gather and poses the risk of dropping it. Called Spirit Bomb in the American dub.
Hentai - Japanese word for pornography. Also called 'ecchi' which is the Japanese phonetic for the English letter 'H'.
Hoi Poi Capsules - Capsules that can hold very large objects, such as a car or house inside, it's very a small container. Invented by Capsule Corporation.
Hyperbolic Time Chamber - See Room of Spirit and Time.
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Janken Punch - One of Gokuu's attacks from when he was little. Janken is the equivalant of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Jinzouningen - Literally artificial human, andriod, and/or cyborg.
Journey to the West - The Chinese legend that Dragon Ball was based off of as are many other series.
Kaiouken - The martial art that Kaiou-sama teaches Gokuu, that he himself could not master. The attack significantly strains the body and raises one's battle power, however only lasts for short bursts. The attack became obsolete after the fight with Vegeta.
Kame - Japanese word for turtle. The turtle represents longevity.
Kamehameha - An attack invented by Kamesennin. Widely used by Gokuu, Gohan, and Goten throughout the show. It seems to be an all purpose attack and has no limit. Pronounced like a Japanese word (kah meh hah meh hah) and not the name of a Hawaiian king (ka meh yah meh yah). The translation of Kamehameha to English is similar to 'turtle-hurtle-attack'.
Kamekameha - The famous mispronunciation of the Kamehameha by Goten.
Kami - The Japanese word for god and also a name of one of the characters.
Kamikaze Ghost Attack - An attack developed by Gotenks in which ghost like beings of himself are produced. When touched by one of these ghosts they'll explode, in mass they can be very dangerous. A little bit of a parody on WWII Japanese Kamikaze air fighters.
Karin Tower- The tower that you must climb to become a great warrior, or so they say, to be trained by the great Karin. Other than that it's place to get Senzu beans.
Ki - The Japanese word for spirit and or life force. Best translated to the Chinese word Chi. Often talked about in DBZ about 'feeling' a person's presence.
Kienzan - An attack developed by Kuririn. It's a powerful disc of energy that can cut through almost anything and is very dangerous, but it can be easily dodged.
Kinto-un - A magical cloud that may only let pure of heart people ride. It comes when it is called and is a mode of transportation. The dub name is Flying Nimbus.
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Makankosappo - An attacked developed by Piccolo to kill Gokuu with. Although the attack is strong it takes immense concentration and power. Named Special Beam Cannon in the dub.
Manga - Japanese comics. Usually read from left to right and in black and white. Very big industry in Japan.
Masenko - An attack that is similar to the Kamehameha, but less common. Invented by Piccolo and taught to Gohan.
Mega Drive - See Sega Mega Drive.
Namek - The original home to the Namekians, however due to Frieza's intervention, the planet exploded.
Namekian - Literally meaning "the people of the planet Namek". An all male race divided into healers and fighters while reproduction is asexual. This race is responsible for the creation of the Dragon Balls. Characteristics of being large, green people with antennas.
Nyoibo - This is the magic Chinese pole that extends at Gokuu's command. It was given to him by his Grandpa Gohan. According to the anime the pole somehow had gotten into Maron's hands and lost it in a bet to Karin, then never seen until GT in Gokuu's possession.
Orange Star High - The high school that Gohan attends and meets Videl. Gohan has an extensive record of bathroom usage as a cover for his absences to perform Saiyaman duties, even after everyone knows. Orange Star High is unusual for it's lack of uniforms.
Oozaru - Literal translation means "big monkey". This is the name of the giant ape like form that Saiyajins transform into when they look at a full moon while having their tail intact.
Golden Oozaru - This is a hightened transformation of Oozaru which carries the characteristics of golden colored fur. This can be achieved by seeing a full planet, like a full moon.
Mt. Paouzu - The mountain the Gokuu was raised on with his Grandpa. Gokuu and his wife Chichi also live there after they get married. Then Gohan and Videl move in next to Gokuu and Chichi. The mountain is in a remote forest.
Planet Namek.com - An extremely popular DBZ website that ran in the late 1990's but came to an unfortunate end do to server complications and budget.
Planet Plant - The original name of the Planet Vegeta before the Tsufurujins were killed.
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Room of Spirit and Time - This is that alternate dimension/reality that resides in Kami's lookout. Here a person may spend two days in and it will be two years inside. However you can only use it for a maximum of two Earth days in you entire life. The Dub name is Hyperbolic Time Chamber (yuck!).
Ryuuken - Translates to Dragon Punch. It's one of Gokuu's later attacks which involves his attack taking on the attributes of a dragon.
Saiyajin - The name of a race of typically barbaric aliens. They are similar to monkeys and humans but are incredibly powerful. They also have the power of turning into giant apes (see Oozaru) and naitive to the the planet Vegeta. Gokuu and Vegeta are Saiyajins. Also spelt Saiyan.
Saiyaman - The super hero name Gohan gives himself and fights the normal criminals of Satan City. He tries too hard to be cool when he actually looks like a dufus. Later he ditches part of the costume because he couldn't enter the Tenkaichi Budoukai with a helmet. After the battle of Buu, Videl becomes the Great Saiyaman No. 2.
Saiyan - See Saiyajin.
Satan City - After the Cell Games, West Metro was renamed Satan City to commemorate Mr. Satan for (supposedly) deafeating Cell. Capsule Corp. and Orange Star High reside here.
Sega Mega Drive - Known as Sega Genesis in North America, because Sega could not obtain legal rights for the name "Mega Drive" in that area.
Seiyuu - Japanese voice actor, such as Ryou Horikawa, the Seiyuu for Vegeta (see Interviews on side menu).
Senzu Beans - These magical beans, grown on Karin Tower, restore one's body health in an instant, but are frequently few in stock. Sometimes they also have the power to restore already expelled blood and torn clothing. Hmmn...
Shounen Ai - Literally "boy love". Similar to like puppy love between two boys.
Solar Flare - See Taiyouken.
Souki Dan - An attack of Yamucha's that involves using your mind to control an energy ball.
Special Beam Cannon - See Makankosappo.
Spirit Bomb - See Genkidama.
Sub - Short for subtitle.
Subbie - A person who prefers to watch the original film with subtitles.
Sun Wo Kong - Gokuu's Chinese name which means 'born from rock'. If you take the Chinese characters (also called kanji) of Gokuu's name they sound phonetically like Sun Wo Kong in Chinese, but in Japanese it's Son Gokuu. The kanji meaning is the same in Chinese as it is in Japanese.
Super Famicom - The Japanese name for the popular Super Nintendo game console. Famicom is short for Family Computer.
Super Saiyajin - A transformation usually triggered by intense anger. Due to the high voltage of power running through a Super Saiyajin it causes their hair to stick up and turn golden, as well as their eyes change into a light blue-green color. It is often abbreviated as SSJ or SS.
Ultra Super Saiyajin - A form of SSJ that is between SSJ1 and SSJ2. Although it does increase the power of the idividual, their muscules become too bulky which decreases their agility.
Super Saiyajin 2 - The second level of SSJ. It resembles SSJ1 very much, except for the hair tends to stick up more.
Super Saiyajin 3 - The third level of SSJ. The appearance changes to where their hair grows to be more lengthy, they develop a pupil in their blue eyes, and their eyebrows dissapear.
Super Saiyajin 4 - It is a common misconception that SSJ4, or SS4, is the forth level of Super Saiyajin, however SSJ4 has nothing to do with the Super Saiyajin transformation. It is actually a super form of Oozaru, which can only be achieved after reaching the Golden Oozaru transformation.
Taiyouken - A move characterized by Tenshinhan. By flaring out your fingers in front of your face you create a bast of light from yourself as harmful as the sun. This attack temporarily blinds the opponent and is typically used to buy more time or to escape. Dub name is Solar Flare.
Tenkaichi Budoukai - The World's Greatest Martial Arts Tournament held around every three years until it was destroyed in the 23rd year. It was rebuilt after the Cell games, but became more commercial than tradition. This tournament determines the strongest man or woman in the world.
Tsufurujin - The race of people that inhabited the same planet as the Saiyajins, until killed off. They are the opposite of Saiyajins being smaller and dependant on technology.
Tsuru - Japanese word for crane. The crane is a symbol of longevity and is Tsurusennin's totem animal.
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Planet Vegeta - The planet once inhabited by Saiyajins and Tsufurujins. In popular belief the planet had came to an end due to a catestrophic medeor shower, although in reality was destroyed by Frieza. Originally named Plant until the Tsufurujins were wiped out by the Saiyajins and was renamed Vegeta. Also spelt Vegetasei.
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Yaoi - Japanese word for male to male relationships.
Yuri - Japanese word for female to female relationships.
Zenkai - This is the "Z" of Dragon Ball Z. Zenkai means full throttle or full force. Zenkai was used to describe DBZ, because of it's content was based more on fighting than plot and character developement. Thus is also the reason for the first ending theme song, "Detekoi Tobikiri ZENKAI Pawaa" [Bring Out That Full Force Power].