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Goku is killed in the fight with Raditz, and though he's resurrected by the Dragon Balls, the deaths of others, including Piccolo, jumpstarts an adventure off Earth for a new set of Dragon Balls. It would also introduce the fact that Piccolo was not some sort of demon but was, in fact, an alien from the planet Namek. Besides Goku's long-haired brother Raditz, the arc also introduced the villainous Nappa and the arrogant Saiyan prince Vegeta, who would begrudgingly join Goku's side later. It began by introducing new foes in the powerful alien Saiyans and revealed that Goku was actually one of them. The sequel series, Dragon Ball Z was more popular by leaps and bounds, adapting the latter half of the Dragon Ball manga. Dragon Ball ended with a now-adult Goku facing Piccolo's clone son, as well as marrying his childhood sweetheart, Chi-Chi. King Piccolo was supposedly a powerful demon lord, and at the time, Goku's fiercest opponent yet. The final stories in the series featured Piccolo, Jr. The next arc had a new tournament that introduced Tien, a pupil taught by Roshi's nemesis who would later become an ally of Goku's. The majority of the rest of the series had Goku facing the villainous Red Ribbon Army and its various generals, while also introducing Master Roshi's sister, Fortuneteller Baba.
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The next saga had Master Roshi training Goku and his Shaolin monk rival Krillin for a martial arts tournament, introducing the franchise's signature attack, the Kamehameha Wave.
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The first major arc had the team facing the evil Emperor Pilaf, a diminutive would-be conqueror who would essentially be forgotten in the franchise thereafter. The series, unlike most of its successors, focused more on adventure and comedy, with more light-hearted characters like the lecherous Master Roshi and the hot-and-cold, violent Launch being major cast members. Along with the adventurous teenager Bulma and a handful of talking animals, Goku searches for the legendary Dragon Balls, which can be used to summon the mystical Shenron and have his summoner be granted a single wish. It begins as a sort of parody of the Chinese legend Journey to the West, and stars a powerful young boy named Goku who has both a mysterious origin and a monkey tail. Despite most fans outside of Japan first watching it in the '90s and early 2000s, the show was actually first broadcast from 1986 to 1989.
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Based on the first huge chunk of the Dragon Ball manga, the Dragon Ball anime ran for 153 total episodes.
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