Aaron and Josh Sarnecky are here to talk about Dragon Ball GT for the 20th anniversary of its American debut.
Dragon Ball GT is a sequel to the anime Dragon Ball Z. First airing in Japan in 1996, it premiered in the US on Toonami on November 7, 2003. It ended on April 16, 2005. In addition to the show’s 64 episodes, a TV special titled A Hero Legacy was released to home video.
In the series, a wish gone wrong turns Earth’s defender Goku (Stephanie Nadolny, Sean Schemmel) back into a child. With the help of Trunks (Eric Vale), his granddaughter Pan (Elise Baughman), and the robot Giru (Sonny Strait), Goku must return the Black Star Dragon Balls to Earth in one year or the planet will explode.
Unlike its predecessors, Dragon Ball GT is not based on a pre-existing manga by Akira Toriyama, though Toriyama was involved to a limited degree. The first saga was originally condescended into one episode in the US, to prevent alienating viewers with its tone. Regardless, fan opinion of GT is mixed at best.
Aaron and Josh talk about their history with the show before going into its plot, characters, animation, and signature transformation, Super Saiyan 4. They also discuss if GT is canon or if new series have replaced it.
For more anime, you can listen to Josh and Aaron’s podcast on Dragon Ball & Dragon Ball Z. You can also listen to Josh and Amanda Rivas on Anime x Pop.
