'Dragon Ball Z Abridged' Makes its Grand Return

One of the highest forms of flattery is parody, and anime is rife with opportunities to do so. This has led to the burgeoning "abridged" community online, where fans take footage of their favorite anime series and insert their own takes.

With Dragon Ball Z being one of the most popular series out there, it was only natural for it to get one of the most popular fan-based parody series. Team Four Star's Dragon Ball Z Abridged has just made its grand return with its 60th episode, and it's a doozy.

Started by Scott T. Frerichs, Nick Landis, and Curtis Arnott (who go by their nicknames KaiserNeko, Lanipator, and Takahata101 respectively) in 2008, the parody series making light of some of Dragon Ball Z's most famous moments has morphed over the years into its own kind of narrative with its own characters.

It might seem weird to say, especially when so much is respectively drawn from the source material. But like how English dubs have their own personality apart from the original Japanese, Team Four Star has nailed their own personality and delivery over its many episodes.

This can be best seen in the series' special finale episodes such as the final battle between Goku and Vegeta, Goku and Freeza, and now Teen Gohan's battle with Cell. The latest episode is a major return to form as Teen Gohan goes Super Saiyan 2 along with a English rendition of one of Dragon Ball Z's most famous tracks.

What differs in Dragon Ball Z Abridged from other abridged series is that while there are jokes, it's never too much at the expense of the source material itself. It's more of a reward for fans of Dragon Ball Z (and fans of the Abridged series itself) as those jokes are pulled from the absurdity of the series' character interactions while taking the source material seriously.

Story beats stay the same, but the tone of the material changes. It's why the series has lasted for so long and still has a strong fanbase. And there's still more to go. You can find more of the series on Team Four Star's YouTube page here.

Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release of the series is complete, and available to stream on FunimationNOW, VRV, and Crunchyroll.

If you want to catch up with the English dub, the first 52 episodes of Dragon Ball Super are now available to stream on FunimationNOW, VRV, and available to purchase on Amazon Video as well. The 52 episodes span the full range of what has aired in the North America and covers the "Battle of Gods" arc, "Revival of F" arc, the "Universe 6" arc, and bringing the series right up to the "Future Trunks" arc.