Dragon Ball GT: Exploring non-canon anime

Dragon Ball GT

Accompany Goku on his journey through space in Dragon Ball GT! This was an anime series that was aired in the late 90's, and has become one of the most recognized titles within the universe of this franchise.

The series has been very popular among fans, thanks to its exciting plot and charismatic characters. In this text we will explore Dragon Ball GT in depth, analyzing its plot, characters, controversies and its place in the history of Dragon Ball.

Important data

This anime is created by Toei Animation and was broadcast from February 7, 1996 to November 19, 1997. It only had a total of 64 episodes and it does not have any manga because Akira Toriyama did not want to make it, so it is a spin-off.

This saga was given the letters GT in reference to Galaxy Tour (Galaxy Tour) which refers to the trips they make throughout outer space. Other ideas for the title were Dragon Ball Z2, Dragon Ball 21 and Dragon Ball WW in reference to Wonder World.

In 2005, a compilation with 12 DVDs was released in Japan. In addition, two compilation volumes called Dragon Ball GT Perfect Blue were published, which contain important information, characters, places, among others.

Soundtrack

The background music was composed by Akihito Tokunaga. Throughout this saga, you can enjoy the opening song Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku (little by little my heart is enchanted), which is performed by the group Yield of View, and for Latin America it is titled Mi Corazón Encantado (My Enchanted Heart), which was performed by Aaron Montalvo, this being one of the most captivating songs of Dragon Ball.

On the other hand, he had four endings:

1.- Hitori Janai (I am not alone) sung by Deen. In Latin America it was called "Sola Nunca Estarás" which is sung by Alejandro Arnais and with backing vocals by Marisa de Lille.

2.- Don't you see! It is the next one sung by the group Zard.

3.- Blue Velvet who is played by Shizuka Kudo.

Sabitsuita Machine Gun by Ima o Uchinuki (Let's cross this moment with a rusty machine gun) which is sung by the group Wands.

Synopsis

The story of GT begins ten years after the 28th Martial Arts Tournament. It is divided into four sagas, which are detailed below:

The Great Journey

Goku continues to train Uub at the Sacred Temple of Kami Sama. Meanwhile, Pilaf is still determined to find the dragon balls to fulfill his wishes, but he gets some black stars in a room in that temple.

At that, he summons the dragon, which is red in color and bigger than Sheng Long. However, when Pilaf is about to say his longed-for wish, Goku suddenly appears and Pilaf, in an act of anger, shouts at him that he wishes he were small again. To his surprise, the dragon interprets this shout as the wish and Goku becomes a boy again!

What Pilaf did not know is that the spheres he had used to make his wish were the ultimate Dragon Spheres, which, once used, disperse throughout the universe. If they are not gathered again within a year, the planet where the request was made and the wish granted will explode.

Faced with this threat, Bulma builds a spaceship so that Goku, Trunks and Goten can leave in search of him. But, Goten stays behind by mistake and goes on the Pan ship.

They end up making an emergency landing on the planet Imega due to some problems with the ship and he meets Giru.

Saga Baby

Goku, Trunks and Pan head to Planet Kelbo, the new destination that Giru has indicated to them, since he detected a new dragon ball. They discover that the ball is in the possession of Princess Lemu, who is willing to hand it over as long as they manage to defeat the monster Zuhnamer. Although they fail to defeat him, they manage to get him to serve as a seismic detector for the princess.

Suddenly, a strange being steals three spheres, which turn out to be the Dragon Spheres Bonpara, Donpara and Sonpara. Soon after, they discover that Dr. Myu has created a parasite called Baby with the purpose of conquering the galaxy, who heads to Earth and manages to infect almost the entire planet, including Goten and Vegeta.

Goku, in the heat of battle, manages to become Super Saiyan 4 and makes Baby flee, but Baby tries to escape into the sun. However, Goku stops him with a Kame Hame Ha and sends him straight into the sun, thus ending Baby's threat forever.

Super Android Saga Nº17

Dr. Myu and Dr. Gero have created a portal between Earth and Hell with the intention of conquering Earth and the Universe. To achieve this, they follow three steps:

- First, they open a portal between Earth and Hell using the powers of Hell's androids 17 and 17.

- Secondly, they bring back to Earth all the villains defeated by Goku and his friends.

- And third, they try to lock Goku in Hell through a trap by making him believe that he is going to fight.

In the midst of this chaos, Krillin sacrifices his life to stop Android 17 from Hell and bring his wife, Android 18, to her senses not to join the evil Android again.

Despite the sacrifices, Android 17 fuses with his counterpart to create Super Android 17, who turns out to be terribly strong and nearly wipes out Vegeta.

Goku tries to stop him by transforming into Super Saiyan 4, but is still defeated by the powerful android. At that moment, Goku discovers Super Android 17's weakness: while absorbing attacks, he can neither attack nor defend. So he takes advantage of that moment to finish him off once and for all with a powerful Kame Hame Ha.

With the defeat of Super Android 17 and the disappearance of the portal to Hell, Earth is safe once again, thanks to Goku and his friends.

Saga of the Dark Dragons

The final saga begins with the search for the Dragon Spheres, but when they use them, seven evil dragons are released and seek to regain their full form. Each dragon has an element and Goku and his friends must fight to defeat them.

The one-star dragon is the most difficult to defeat, because it absorbs the spheres of the other dragons and increases their power. Goku and Vegeta merge into Super Gogeta, but it is not enough and, therefore, Goku resorts to the Genkidama to finish him off.

After defeating the dragons, Shen Long decides not to grant any more wishes, but Goku asks to revive the humans who died during the fight against the dragons and Super Android Number 17. In return, Goku leaves with the dragon, ending the story of Dragon Ball GT.

Why is Dragon Ball GT not considered part of the official canon?

This saga is not and never was canon of the official Dragon Ball story. In fact, Toriyama did not want to continue with the manga in 1995, even though Toei Animation requested several times to continue with the project. Seeing that he did not change his mind, the studio asked for his blessing.

In fact, Toriyama only did some character sketches, some concept art and one or two machine designs. What he did suggest was the title of GT.

To confirm this, Akira in a collector's edition of Dragon Ball GT stated that this story is alternate and has no relation to its main canon. Therefore, it is clear that GT is not part of the official Dragon Ball story and he stated so in that publication:

"... Being lazy by nature, I was absurdly happy when I finally managed to finish the serialization of Dragon Ball, and it finally came out of 'Deadline Hell'. The TV anime people wanted to continue some more, but I (couldn't do) more than that... And so, I left the Dragon Ball anime completely in charge of the anime team, story and all. That was Dragon Ball GT (...)Dragon Ball GT is a great alternate history of the original Dragon Ball, and it will make me happy for us to watch it and enjoy it together." (Translation by Gamedots website)

So, in short, Super Saiyajin Phase 4 doesn't really exist.

The reception from fans and critics of Dragon Ball GT

This sequel has been considered by many fans as the worst of the series due to its lack of consistency with the source material and the repeated references to fillers created by Toei Animation. All this despite the fact that it retakes several elements of the original work, especially the touch of adventure characteristic of the first volumes of the manga.

As if that were not enough, the illustrations are of very poor quality in some episodes, which has been the subject of criticism. Not to mention the large amount of filler that Toei Animation added unnecessarily.

In short, both fans and critics consider it the worst sequel of this saga.

Why is Dragon Ball GT the most controversial anime in the saga?

This saga is very controversial because, although they tried to respect the story as it was taken, there are many details that completely contradicted the events that occurred in previous episodes. Some of these facts are listed below:

1.- In Dragon Ball Z it was stated that androids have no ki, but in GT Trunks assures that android 17 has the same ki as android 18.

2.- Also omitted was the fact that the merger of Piccolo and Kamisama ended the existence of what Kamisama had created, but in GT the final spheres were still intact after they were reunified.

3.- There were inconsistencies in the age and aging of characters such as Pilaf and his gang, Krillin and Bra, Vegeta and Bulma's daughter.

4.- The series also showed a lack of consistency in the petrification of the Dragon Balls, since, after making a wish, they remained inactive for a year. In GT they were still "alive" despite having been used.

5.- Characters were introduced who, according to Toriyama himself, should not be able to transform into Super Saiyajin, and yet, in GT, descendants of Goku and Vegeta appeared who could do so more easily than pure Saiyajin.

6.- In Dragon Ball GT it is mentioned that the Ultimate Dragon Balls were created by Kattatsu's son before expelling his evil side. However, this contradicts the original story since Piccoro, who possessed the same memories as the original until the moment of their separation, was unaware of the existence of the spheres until Pilaf mentioned them to him after releasing him.

In Z, Vegeta possesses the ability to recognize the ki of different living beings, including the tsufurujins, despite the fact that his race, the Saiyajins, were responsible for their extermination before Vegeta was born.

Despite not having had direct contact with the tsufurujins, Vegeta claims to have the ability to perceive their ki. It should be noted that Vegeta did not develop this ability until his adulthood.

8.- the alliance of Goku, Vegeta and Majin Boo resulted in a combination of powers so intense that even Rō Kaiō Shin, the Kaiō of the Eastern universe, allowed them to fight on his planet because other worlds would not withstand such an amount of energy.

Although their combined power was already impressive, during their confrontation against the One Star Dragon, the three warriors demonstrated even more strength. However, despite the display of power, they managed to avoid causing more damage than was done on the surface of the Earth.

9.- Ubb and Goku train in Kami Sama's palace and they are injured by their fight. At that moment, Dende asks Mr. Popo to find him a first aid kit. What happened to Dende's healing powers?

When an adult Saiyajin's tail is cut off, it does not grow back. But, in GT, they indicated that Goku should have it again to increase his powers and, with the help of tweezers, they manage to remove it.

And so we can go on and on about the many inconsistencies that this saga had in relation to the story that unfolded in Z.

Where can I watch Dragon Ball GT online?

The excellent thing that we have at the present time, is that there are several legal online methods available to watch this GT saga and thus detail in detail the blunders of this series.

The streaming channels that have this saga available are:

- Crunchyroll.

- Funimation.

- Anime Lab.

- JBOX.

- Hulu.

In conclusion

Despite the criticisms, we cannot say that this saga is totally bad. The music is undoubtedly magnificent, the characters' witticisms make us laugh, they showed us a plot that we might not have imagined and even had a somewhat strange transformation of the saiyajin, but that let us see a little more of Goku and Vegeta's potential.

Just enjoy it, laugh at the witticisms or contradictions and, especially, enjoy the nostalgia that this saga transmits to you.