Production Guide

The production aspect of the DragonBall anime series' and movies is something that most fans aren't too familiar with due to the numerous people and companies that were involved. This is especially true for the late-80's and early-90's when DragonBall was produced, as computers were not yet being utilized by animation artists and studios. As you'll see, the amount of work that went into the making of a single episode is simply mind boggling. So as a tribute, we've created this guide to acknowledge the hard work of all these fine individuals and companies.

Before diving straight into the numerous credit listings we have, I highly suggest you read the two "mini-guides" below. The first gives an overview of the how we'll be presenting the credits and how to interpret what they actually mean, somewhat of a reference as to how the guide works. It will also present you with a list of common credits found throughout the DragonBall series' and what it is they're responsible for doing. Secondly, we have a rough overview of the animation process itself, and how a typical episode of DragonBall was animated.

General Overview
A general overview of what all these credits really mean and how this guide works.
The Animation Process
A look at what all goes into the making of a typical episode of DragonBall.
Toriyama's Contributions to the Anime
A short guide to all of the officially confirmed contributions Toriyama made to the anime.
DragonBall Kai Remastering Process
Take a look at the remastering process used to bring DragonBall Z into the digital age.

Once you've given these "mini-guides" a thorough reading, it's time to move on to the real meat of the guide. Below we have broken up all of the credits between the series' (incl. TV specials) and movies. This was done because both have varying credit structures, which would create confusion. The three main series credits were very similar, but between the three they still were somewhat varried. For example, the "Chief Animator" credit was later replaced by the "Character Design" credit starting in episode 200 of DragonBall Z, which was previously uncredited throughout DragonBall and the majority of DragonBall Z, but continued to be used throughout all 64 episodes of DragonBall GT. Finally we have DragonBall Kai, which you'll find has the fewest credits of all. This is mostly because it is a "refreshed" broadcast of DragonBall Z, so the majority of the original credits are not listed.

The final section of the guide provides detailed biographies of some of the main production staff. However, with the hundreds of staff members involved, you may find that we don't have the biography you're looking for. Over time we'll be filling it in with more and more biographies, but for the time being we'll be sticking with the most essential staff members. Some staff biographies contain no profile photographs, so if you have any that we don't, please contact us.

Credit Lists

Follow the links below to view the credit list from that specific entity. Each section will present you with the full credits of that entity, organized as they originally appeared and within each credit title by the order of appearance. Please remember that we list staff names in the proper Japanese order (family name, given name) and use the full Romanized spellings (i.e. Tohru = Touru, etc.).

DragonBall | DragonBall Z | DragonBall GT | DragonBall Kai | Movie | Other

Main Staff Biographies

Follow the link below to view biographies of some of the main production staff of both the manga and anime. Each biography will present you with personal information, notes, DragonBall credits, and any notable anime credits. Please remember that this section is organized with respect to the fully Romanized spellings of the Japanese staff.

View Main Staff Biographies

Written by: Hujio