Dragon Ball Z TV (OVA) Specials - Dragon Ball

There are four Dragon Ball Z TV specials and one crossover special. Some are purely one-off episodes, while others attempt to expand on an already established storyline. Many argue that since they were never in manga form by Akira Toriyama, these specials are non-canon and are unrelated to the original Dragon Ball Z storyline.

Bardock - The Father of Goku

This special was broadcast in Japan on October 17, 1990. It was directed by Mitsuo Hashimoto and distributed by Toei as the first Dragon Ball Z TV special.

Bardock - The Father of Goku follows the story of Bardock, Goku’s biological Saiyan father. Bardock is a low-class Saiyan warrior with his planet conquering team on the Planet Kanassa. The team are celebrating their victory, having exterminated all life on the planet, when Bardock is surprised by one last remaining survivor and given the gift of visions of the future. He then sees the destruction of his planet and the deaths of his friends and team at the hands of Frieza and his henchmen. He also sees the future of his son Kakarot (Goku), who is sent to conquer Earth.

Frieza, Dodoria and Zarbon discuss how the Planet Kanassa was on the agenda for a while and, while supposedly a difficult planet to conquer, a team of Saiyans had done so in a matter of days. The continual growth of the Saiyan’s power worried the tyrant and his elites. With the knowledge that the Saiyans grew stronger after every battle, they decided that something had to be done to proactively nullify the potential threat they would pose, namely the destruction of the race and their planet.

Meanwhile Bardock shrugs off the visions and heads to the Planet Meat to rendevouz with his team, only to find them all dead having been killed by the ruthless Dodoria and his squad. Bardock puts up a fight but is ultimately defeated by Dodoria and left for dead. He struggles to a space pod and makes for Planet Vegeta in a vain attempt to warn everyone of their impending doom at the hands of Frieza. No one heeds his warning, so he heads into space himself to confront the evil galactic warlord. Defeating many of Frieza’s army, he forces Frieza to leave his ship. Bardock, full of anger and pride, makes a final speech before launching a Final Spirit Cannon at Frieza. Frieza, sitting in his floating pod above his ship, fires back with his own Supernova, dissolving Bardock's attack and disintegrating the Saiyans in Planet Vegeta’s orbit and eventually blowing up the planet itself. In the moments before his death however, Bardock sees a vision of Goku defeating Frieza and a wry smile creeps across his face.

Dragon Ball Z: Summer Vacation Special (Movie Overview Special)

Dragon Ball Z: Summer Vacation Special is a one-time special that was broadcast on the 3rd of August, 1992 (one month after the release of the movie Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!).

Goku and Gohan appear in the street wearing tuxedos (the same setting as the previously mentioned movie) and discuss all of the Dragon Ball movies (Curse of the Blood Rubies, Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle, and Mystical Adventure) and the Dragon Ball Z movies up to that point (Dead Zone, The World's Strongest, The Tree of Might, Lord Slug, Cooler's Revenge, The Return of Cooler, and Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!, which Goku remarks as being a recent event).

In the final scene before we see Gohan prompting the audience to go and see the latest movie, Goku mentions how he dislikes wearing a tuxedo and powers up to change into his signature red/orange martial arts uniform. Gohan attempts to do the same but isn’t strong enough and remains in his tuxedo, somewhat comically defeated.

The History of Trunks

Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks is the second TV special to be based on the main Dragon Ball Z story, thus expanding the lore of the anime. The special was directed by Yoshihiro Ueda and was first broadcast on TV in Japan on the 24th of February, 1993. The History of Trunks is highly revered among fans, however, it’s canonical legitimacy is highly debated. The History of Trunks shows us the backstory of Future Trunks before he comes to the main timeline to kill Frieza and give Goku the heart medicine. Future Trunks and Gohan’s world is cruel and, while everyday life seems to be as normal, Android 17 and Android 18 run amok, causing death and destruction wherever they go.

The story begins with Goku dying from a heart virus and all of the Z Fighters (except Gohan) being wiped out by the Androids shortly after. Piccolo’s death unfortunately also means the death of Kami, resulting in the Dragon Balls disappearing.

Later, when Trunks is fourteen and Gohan is twenty-three, Gohan is the only fighter left alive able to stand up to the Androids and survive. Gohan trains Trunks as best he can, but Trunks never reaches the level of Super Saiyan despite coming close time and again. The Androids attack a theme park nearby and Gohan and Trunks intercept the menacing duo. The fight with Android 17 seems completely one-sided until Gohan transforms into Super Saiyan and starts taking back the reins of the battle. That is, until Android 18 joins the fray and once again the tide is turned against the now Super Saiyan Gohan. Trunks launches a fruitless attack on Android 18 and manages to hold her off for a second before quickly being defeated himself. Losing horrendously, the Saiyan pair decide to hide, forcing the Androids to blast the area with energy attacks before becoming bored and leaving. The blasts unfortunately left Gohan missing his left arm and Trunks in critical condition. Gohan gives Trunks a senzu bean before passing out. Trunks wakes up to find Gohan incapacitated and missing his left arm and carries him back home to his mother Bulma, who tends to the injured Gohan. After recovering, they continue their training together.

Some time later the Androids attack Pepper Town. Trunks is desperate to fight alongside Gohan to prove himself, but is knocked unconscious by Gohan in order to protect him. Gohan launches a furious offensive on the surprised Android 17 and manages to put up a decent fight. He is very quickly overpowered and outmaneuvered by the pair, partly due to his handicap and partly due to the perfect coordination of the Androids. After being knocked to the ground in the rain, a combined hail of energy blasts from the Androids spells doom for the valiant half-Saiyan. Trunks awakens and finds his dead mentor’s body lying lifeless on the ground in the rainy street. He is overwhelmed with grief and anger and finally manages to achieve the Super Saiyan transformation.

Trunks sees Bulma working on the time machine that he would eventually use to go to the past, but claims he doesn’t need any help to fight the Androids now that he is a Super Saiyan. Bulma reminds him that Gohan too was a Super Saiyan, but he still stood no chance. Trunk hears of an attack on Bridgetown and heads out, much to the dismay of his mother and disregarding her pleas. He finds and confronts the Androids but is shocked to find he is completely outclassed and overpowered even in his Super Saiyan form. Despite their toying with him, he is severely beaten by the pair and left for dead. Almost as if it were a miracle, Trunks manages to survive and wakes up in his house with his mother by his side. He decides that going to the past to seek help is likely the best course of action after all.

Looking Back at it All: The Dragon Ball Z Year-End Show!

Looking Back at it All: The Dragon Ball Z Year-End Show! is a TV special that was broadcast on Fuji Television on the 31st of December, 1993. This TV special is more like Dragon Ball Z: Summer Vacation Special in that it is more of a recap of the previous entries in the series.

Some time before the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament, Gohan and Goten are enjoying a traditional bath outside in the snow. Goku (still currently dead) appears via instant transmission and joins the two in taking a bath. They reflect on the events that occurred during the Cell Games and the battle with Cell. After going indoors, Goku tells his sons about the Other World, Pikkon, and the Other World Tournament. Finally, the whole family appears and goes on to explain that the World Tournament will continue in the new year.

Crossover Special: Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special

The Dream 9 Toriko & One Piece & Dragon Ball Z Super Collaboration Special is a crossover special that was broadcast on the 7th of April, 2013 on Fuji TV and features characters from Dragon Ball Z, One Piece, and Toriko.

An international food tournament is held where all contenders must race to the center of the island. Arriving at a three-way crossroad, the group of characters split up into three different groups. The first group (Sanji, Zoro, Setsuno, Komatsu, and Gohan) take a forest route. The next group (Brook, Nami, Roshi, Rin, Franky, 18, Trunks, Goten, Chopper and Sunny) take the desert route and the remaining contenders (Toriko, Luffy and Goku) take the difficult mountain path.

Goku takes the lead, but is called away to deal with an alien threat while Toriko and Luffy continue the race. Zoro appears at the edge of the forest completely lost and is challenged by Zebra. Vegeta then appears in search of Goku after hearing of the race.

Goku returns and grabs the finishing flag along with Luffy and Toriko. This forces a sudden death battle between the three. Mr. Satan accidentally falls into the ring and is hailed for joining the battle. The three fighters are so strong that all of the ring except for where Mr. Satan is standing is destroyed resulting in them all losing to Mr. Satan by ring-out.

Mr. Satan shares the prize with everyone, exclaiming that he is far happier to be enjoying it with friends. Soon after, some contenders question the reason behind the event and it is revealed that the IGO (International Gourmet Organization) were planning to capture the sea creature Akami using the strongest fighters in the world. Akami emerges from the sea and absorbs Usopp, Mr. Satan, and Gohan’s power increasing in size and strength before escaping. The fighters are told they have 30 minutes to save their friends following Akami’s attack.

Characters from all three franchises attack Akami, only to have their energy absorbed and further powering up the sea creature Akami. Luffy, Toriko and Goku also launch an attack on the foe, but realize that their attacks are ineffective. Goku asks the others to distract Akami while he gathers a spirit bomb. Akami starts to absorb the spirit bomb so Luffy and Toriko attack with an Elephant Gatling and Twin Kugi Punch respectively before Goku finishes the job with a Super Saiyan 3 Kamehameha. Everyone celebrates by eating the recently defeated Akami while Zoro, Zebra, and Vegeta continue their fight elsewhere.

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Akira Toriyama