Daizenshuu EX

So apparantly, in this video contestants try their luck to explain the correct intended meaning behind the added 'Z' to the title.

From the video description the 'Z' is the final letter in the alphabet, therefore Z represents that the series at the time was intended to be the end.

So, my question is; is this the actual answer? I never really knew why Z was added.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2hJNLmTiGs

Anyways, enjoy, discuss, contemplate.

Wow. Funny part is, after one semester of Japanese I'm somewhat understanding what they're saying. Must be the visual references...

[edit]About 5 minutes and 11 seconds into the video it says in Katakana at the bottom "arareparare" unless I'm mistaken. What the Hell does that mean?[/edit]

Take it as it's worth. It's from Wikipedia, but, to me, it sounds legit.

As seems to have been mentioned in various places around Daizex... [The end-of-series intention, I mean...]
It only really seemed important when the Z Sword appeared... just hearing that was like, "Ah! Z! And a Sword! In DBZ!".

Yes! I've found the answer. Do you remember the Shonen Jump that came out not to long ago with the Toriyama interview in it? Yeah, that's the one.

"What does the "Z" mean? It's just a subtitle invented for the second season of the Japanese anime, distinguishing the earlier, funnier stories from the later, more intense stories when the characters are grown up."

Sorry I don't know japanese.

Lol, obviously the question was directed towards the fellow members of the forum here, of whom could understand the content on the video, and then confirm the meaning behind the added 'Z'.

Well, as one poster mention there, I too have always thought that the "Z" never had a meaning, and that it was put there to symbolize the end of the Dragon Ball anime, since Z is the last letter in the alphabet. It makes sense, but is still a little silly IMO. Mr. Toriyama, or whoever put that Z there, should've just left it alone and kept the series title as Dragon Ball.

And in an even earlier interview (issue 3 perhaps?) he stated that it represents the fact that the series would be ending soon (even though it didn't work out as planned).

Well, episode 55 of the podcast has Julian explaining that the Z was used by Toriyama in the anime to signify that the series was going to end soon. The Z then krept its way into the series as terms for other stuff (the Z warriors, the Z sword, Z TV Station, etc).

I always hear "Duragonburo Zetto" or something like that, so it sounds like the Z stands for something. Not just a letter.

Toriyama once said in an interview that when Toei asked for a name for the new series, he chose to add a "Z", to signify the series was almost over.



What you're hearing is Doragon Booru Zetto; it's pronounced that way because... well, that's how it's written in katakana (ドラゴンボールＺ), and the Japanese have trouble pronouncing English the same way native English speakers do.

As for "Zetto", that may be the Japanese term for the letter one it's own. Remember that the Japanese don't use the roman alphabet.

As Veshira pointed out, that's just an approximation of "Dragonball Z" using the Japanese phonetic system. "Zetto", however, is an approximation of the British pronunciation of the letter Z, "Zed", as opposed to the American pronunciation of Z, "Zee". That's why Zetto sounds completely different than the American Z.

Edit: (Oh, and that'd be Doragonbôru Zetto, technically. )

I couldn't have put it better myself. I just completely ignore saying Z as much as I can.

If the "Z" was Toriyama-sensei's attempt at signifying the series' end, then "GT" must stand for "Good Try."

Nice. That's good stuff. I chuckled.

I second that.

Also, it could...you know...stand for...Good Tunes! Dan Dan is pwnage!

"Gomen nasai Toriyama sensei" always sounded so likely...