Top 10 Most Censored DragonBall Moments

Script written by Alex Crilly-Mckean

Top 10 Most Censored Dragon Ball Moments

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we are counting down our picks for the Top 10 Most Censored Dragon Ball Moments.

For this list, we’re going over the times that the Dragon Ball franchise was edited in some form or another to ensure that younger audiences couldn’t be corrupted by the evil that is typical anime tropes. And yes, this mostly stems from the dub. Think we glossed over a Super Saiyan sized piece of censorship? Let us know in the comments!

#10: Blue Popo

It’s almost a shame that this didn’t stick around longer, imagine the memes that could have spawned if Blue Popo had become a staple of Dragon Ball over in the west. Terrified that his pitch-black skin and exaggerated features would be seen as a racist caricature, certain broadcasting networks made the ungodly move to completely recolour him bright blue. And yes, it does look as stupid as you would have expected. We’re sure Toonzai had good intentions, but the final product is nonetheless insane.

#9: Guldo Decapitation

Vegeta had a lot of fun when it came to undoing many of the members of the Ginyu Force. Guldo, by far the weakest member, probably had it the worst when he got torn in half. Apparently being able to stop time does very little when you aren’t able to keep it up for very long. Not that you could tell if you saw the censored version, which displays Guldo still in one piece, like he had just got knocked out as opposed to eviscerated. Huh, never knew Vegeta was so merciful.

#8: All Things Bulma

The folks responsible for editing the original Dragon Ball back in the day must have been working overtime, because it’s fair to say there’s a lot of risqué scenes here and there, most of which include Vegeta’s future bride. Whether it comes to her top being taken down, dressing in a bunny suit or accidentally exposing her entire downstairs region, there was no shortage of content that licensors had to do away with. To think, a whole generation grew up without knowing about Bulma’s panty-less antics.

#7: Everyone’s Fine!

Sometimes just editing out a scene or cropping out a character isn’t enough, sometimes the dub has to lean on the voice actors to cover up any semblance of adult content. This is especially prevalent during Nappa’s rampage. Even though he’s going around destroying whole cities and ripping apart vehicles like it’s going out of fashion, there are constant reminders blurted out that what would normally be populated areas have been evacuated, bringing the casualty count to a whopping zero. Nappa, you’re a failure of a Saiyan.

#6: Recoome’s Middle Finger

Nearly beating a child to death? A-okay. Flipping someone the bird? Not on my watch. At least that seemed to be the mentality of some licensors. Case and point when Recoome gave Goku the universal sign of disrespect right before their showdown. Probably not the best move since he would end up getting his spine shattered moments later. Naturally, any raised middle fingers didn’t make the cut of the original dub. Though it does beg the question – does flipping the bird mean the same thing across all alien races?

#5: Goku’s First Death

While nowadays we could never imagine Raditz making Goku flinch yet alone defeating him, back in the day power levels weren’t on the level of deities. With no other recourse, Goku is forced to hold his sibling in place, giving Piccolo ample opportunity to blast them both with the Special Beam Cannon. Given how it tears through both of their chests, you’d think the aftermath would be a bloody and brutal one. Not if the editors have their way, since they swap out the hole for a bruise. Guess Piccolo isn’t as strong as he thought.

#4: Mr Satan

He’s the people’s champ, the true savior of Earth. His martial arts prowess knows no limit. His skills enough to best Cell and subdue the likes of Buu. What else can we say except, hail Satan? Yeah, it’s obvious that this wasn’t going to work, hence why most fans in the west grew up believing the blustering buffoon was actually called Hercule. It sort of fits, given his whole macho persona, though it would have been hilarious to see kids back in the day cheering for Satan!

#3: Tien's Bloodless Arm

The DB franchise has an interesting relationship with blood and gore, and by that we mean it’s constantly done everything possible to remove its existence, at least when it came to the dubs. One of the most egregious examples being the time that Tien got his arm ripped off. While we don’t expect them to animate rivers of blood gushing out, we would have liked at least a moderate amount of splashback. Instead, Tien’s horrifying wound is censored to such an extent that nothing spurts out after he loses the limb. What is he, a ken doll?

#2: Another Dimension

The afterlife is a paramount location in the Dragon Ball universe, just as much as other planets. Basically, life after death exists, and whether you’re human, Saiyan or whatever the hell Frieza is, you’re going to end up there sooner or later. Except in the Ocean dub. Doing everything possible to avoid discussing any possibility of there kind-of-maybe being a heaven, we’re instead bombarded with talks of another dimension. It gets brought up so many times that it’s borderline hilarious

#1: HFIL

While they might have gotten away with the whole dimension schtick, what the early dubs did to Dragon Ball’s version of hell is more infamous than anything the canon content could ever hope to conjure up. In a bid to do away with the fact that the word Hell is plastered over the attire of the demons that occupy it, the editors pulled off the genius move of altering the text to read HFIL, also known as the Home for Infinite Losers. It’s so stupid, so out of left field…and we’ve kind of come to love it.