Dragon Ball GT is the black sheep of the beloved Dragon Ball franchise. Arriving immediately upon the conclusion of the incredibly popular Dragon Ball Z, GT took our heroes in a different direction that left many fans befuddled and turned off.
Goku was reverted back to a child, countless favorite characters were sidelined, the theme took on a harder sci-fi premise and the overall tone become more humorous, likening itself back to the original Dragon Ball.
When all was said and done, the series only lasted a measly 64 episodes and had one special, which was nothing when compared to Dragon Ball Z’s gargantuan 291 episodes (not including the hefty amount of movies and TV specials it was also graced with.)
While GT fizzled in Japan, DBZ was just hitting its stride in the West, and word of a mysterious, even legendary series known as “GT” made its way across the shores.
Despite the initial excitement over the continuation, GT’s poor reputation soured the would-be appeal, and the series has a generally bad reputation all across the globe as an inferior knock-off of the world-wide phenomenon of DBZ, and Super has all but totally erased its presence in the minds of fans.
Despite this, GT isn’t as bad as its reputation might lead you to believe, and there are a great many interesting tidbits about the show and its production that are worth discovering.
We’re hoping to shed some light on this misunderstood entry in the franchise, and possibly inspire you to reevaluate the series as a whole.
Here are the 20 Things Only True Fans Know About Dragon Ball GT.
Goku Was Turned Into A Child To Balance Power Levels
One of the main reasons people dislike GT is the fact that their hero, Goku, is transformed into a child, which severely limits his powers.
While it was certainly annoying to see Goku be turned into a child and have his powers sapped, it was done in order to prevent a problem that Super has fallen right into: believable power-scaling.
Thinking that it would be hard to believe that anyone or anything could be stronger than Goku after beating the perilously powerful Majin Buu, they felt that limiting the Saiyan’s might was the best option, and it generally works out.
The opposite problem takes place in Super, where Goku can literally turn into a god, and we’re expected to believe that a grey alien wearing spandex can somehow stand up against literal divinity by simply glaring at it.
"GT" Has Multiple Meanings
The “Z” in Dragon Ball Z puzzled Western fans for a few years, but it was officially revealed that it stood of “Zenkai,” meaning “last time,” since Z was supposed to finally conclude the long-running franchise.
When news of GT came around, there was similar discussion and theorizing, but in the end, it was revealed to mean “Grand Tour.”
The “grand touring” aspect was the intial space-faring adventure that Trunks, Goku and Pan go out on, and the name of their ship reflects this, known as the “Grand Tour Spaceship.”
GT ended up developing another meaning from fans, however, citing it as “Goku Time” in an off-handed reference to Goku essentially being the sole focus of the show while other beloved characters like Krillin and Piccolo got mistreated and left in the dust.
Toriyama's Super Saiyan God Was Likely Inspired By GT
In Battle of Gods and Dragon Ball Super, Goku faces off against the God of Destruction, Beerus, in a desperate battle for the fate of the Earth and, possibly, the universe.
Beerus comes to our world in order to track down the legendary “Super Saiyan God” and, after failing to discover him, Shenron was summoned to explain how, when and where this figure would appear.
In order for the god to show himself, five righteous Saiyans must encircle their subject and then pour their ki into him in order to trigger the transformation and ascension to godhood.
For those who watched GT, this ritual seemed awfully familiar, since it happens multiple time throughout the series, specifically when Super Saiyan 4 Goku needed a dramatic boost of power to fight Baby. Then there's the pink hair...
Its Concepts Live On In Dragon Ball Heroes
Super Dragon Ball Heroes, an update to the ultra-popular Japanese arcade game Dragon Ball Heroes, is finally making its way to the West (even if only temporarily) and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
The promotional anime adaptation of the Heroes series is making waves across the internet, particularly for its initial episode’s featured battle between Super’s Super Saiyan Blue Goku and GT’s Super Saiyan 4 Goku.
In fact, many of GT’s most memorable elements are featured prominently throughout the Heroes arcade games, particularly the idea of Super Saiyan 4.
In GT, only Goku and Vegeta (and Gogeta) managed to achieve this state, but that’s not the case in DBH: Gohan, Broly, Bardock and Vegito also the SSJ4 club, and we’re certain others will be, too.
Funimation Didn't Air The First Arc
The initial story arc in Dragon Ball GT, the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga, was hit with some of the worst criticism the show ever faced, and was one of the chief reasons that GT left a bad taste in the mouths of fans.
The saga, which featured child Goku, Trunks, and Pan going across the stars to acquire the Black Star Dragon Balls, was seemingly so reviled that when it came time for Funimation to localize and dub GT for American audiences, they opted to leave out the entire plot, cutting the first 16 episodes and then creating a new one which summarized the events of the arc.
Their hope was that by cutting to the “good part” of the series, apprehensive fans wouldn’t be turned off by the comparatively “boring” Black Star Dragon Ball arc.
There Weren't Female Super Saiyans Because Toriyama Didn't Know How To Draw Them
Another classic criticism lobbed at GT is the question as to why Pan, Gohan’s daughter and one of the main characters in the series, never became a Super Saiyan.
Apparently, the answer is far-less insidious than accusations of sexism: Akira Toriyama, the creater of the Dragon Ball franchise, simply didn’t know how to draw a female Super Saiyan.
Toriyama often designs and writes recklessly, creating things out of necessity, such as making Super Saiyans blonde because he didn’t want to ink in their hair in the manga.
We’re happy he got over this hurdle with Dragon Ball Super, however, where we have two prominent female Super Saiyans, along with their fused form.
It Had Two Companion Books
Entitled the Dragon Ball GT Perfect Files, these two encyclopedic publications contained immense amounts of information regarding Dragon Ball GT.
Originally released in 1997, the first volume addresses everything up to the Baby Saga, while the second focuses on the remainder of the series and the television special, A Hero’s Legacy.
Years later in 2006, these two books would be re-released with different covers.
Regardless of which editions you have, they both contain interesting details that are never revealed at any point throughout the series, such as behind-the-scenes information, a gallery of artwork, and production notes from the staff and curious plot details that weren’t mentioned during the actual show, making them a treasure trove for fans hungry for extra information.
The Theme Songs Were Eventually Localized
When Dragon Ball Z premiered in the United States, it was given a brand new theme song and musical score by Ron Wasserman of Power Rangers fame. After switching over to Funimation, the series would get another new score, this time by Bruce Faulconer and team.
This practice was common during the early days of anime adaptations, since producers felt that they needed to “westernize” the shows in order to be successful.
GT went through the exact same process, much to the dismay of fans who adored the series’ awesome opening and closing songs.
Thankfully, Funimation would appease these fans by releasing localized versions of these songs and sequences on GT’s DVD release, and we’re all better off for it.
Seriously, don’t listen to the awful rap theme song GT was initially saddled with. Please.
It Was More Popular In The US Than In Japan
Dragon Ball GT only lasted 64 episodes. In comparison, the original Dragon Ball lasted for 153 episodes, Z was a whopping 291, and the latest show, Super, is currently sitting at 131.
GT’s underwhelming performance is easy to see when compared to the incredible runtimes of all its direct peers, but while it may have fizzled out in Japan, its status was becoming increasingly mythic across the seas.
Whispers of a dark new series taking place after Z were feverishly spread across playgrounds and fan-circles thanks to info from the budding internet.
By the time DBZ had reached its peak, GT had become something of a legendary “lost show” to US fans.
This was even corroborated by Ryo Mito, the producer of Raging Blast 2, saying that “GT is popular with fans overseas. In Japan, it’s not as popular.”
Pan's Story Continued In Dragon Ball Online
Dragon Ball Online was an MMORPG based on the Dragon Ball universe, and it had a surprising amount of involvement from series’ creator, Akira Toriyama.
Taking place in the far future of the Dragon World, specifically 216 years after the defeat of Majin Buu, the game revolves around players doing battle against Mira.
Mira is a villain who uses time-travel and mind control while managing to rally a new-age Red Ribbon Army (known as the Red Pants Army) and the remnants of the Frieza Force, in order to acquire Goku’s DNA.
According to DBO, Pan would eventually create the Pan Fighting Network and become the lead instructor, while also going on an adventure at age 41 with Vegeta, Gohan, Krillin and Tien against the re-emerged Frieza Force.