Navarre’s FUNimation Entertainment has announced the return of Dragon Ball Z to Cartoon Network’s weeknight schedule. The popular anime series will air Mondays thru Thursdays at 10:30 p.m.
“We are excited that Dragon Ball Z is coming back to week-night programming on Cartoon Network and that fans will again be able to enjoy their favorite anime series each night,” explained Gen Fukunaga, president and CEO of FUNimation Entertainment.
Based on a popular manga by Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball Z is an action adventure anime series that follows the adventures of Goku and the Z Warriors as they protect Earth and battle evil villains. The series is a close adaptation of the second half of the Dragon Ball manga. The series first aired in Japan on April 18, 1989 on Fuji TV. In the U.S., the series ran between 1996 and 2003, though not always on the same network. After Dragon Ball Z, the story of Son Goku and friends continues in the series Dragon Ball GT, but that sequel is not based on a manga by Toriyama.
To date, over 20 million home videos of Dragon Ball Z have been sold. In 2005, eight of the top 50 best-selling anime DVDs were Dragon Ball Z titles, according to Video Scan. There have been 20 video games based on the Dragon Ball franchise with life-to-date sales exceeding nine million units. In addition, the website www.dragonballz.com receives- over 1.5 million visitors per month.
