Dragon Ball has always been among the most popular anime, especially in the 2000s. It was so big that it helped the Japanese animation style expand beyond its native country in ways previous undreamt of. Of course, western cartoons aren't oblivious to such big successes overseas.
Several U.S. and European shows have sought to emulate Dragon Ball. Most of them have done so for comedy, spoofing the fighting franchise in short sketches. Since the series is so prominent in pop culture, even non-fans get the jokes.
7 "Chicken Ball Z" - The Grim Adventures Of Billy & Mandy
An early episode of this Cartoon Network show (back when it was called Grim & Evil) involves Mandy entering a kids' karate tournament. To quickly gain the skills to win, she eats a mystical chicken ball. This grants her godlike strength, spiky hair, and the battle-lust of a Saiyan. Grim uses his supernatural powers to gift Billy with the same abilities, and the fight is on.
The resulting brawl runs down the DBZ checklist. It has high-speed punches, energy auras, and bloody battle damage on both characters. In addition, it all has tinges of the bizarre humor that Billy & Mandy typically falls back on, such as the former flexing his nose like a bicep. As hilarious as this battle is, it's a shame that it's over so soon.
6 "Operation: R.E.P.O.R.T." - Codename: Kids Next Door
This episode recounts the team's effort to pick up a pizza, each member's tale coming with a different animation style. Numbuh Four must have been into Japanese entertainment at the time since his segment is a DBZ/kaiju brawl. He frames himself as Super Saiyan Goku, repurposing his orange hoodie into the hero's gi. On the other hand, the Delightful Children are a genre mix. They're shaped like a five-headed monster akin to King Ghidorah from Godzilla. Their aesthetic, meanwhile, is similar to Frieza, each head resembling one of the villain's forms.
Armed with these designs, the creators spoof many conventions associated with Dragon Ball. They have melodramatic voice acting, complete with screaming matches during power-ups. The transformations make the fighters bulkier and spikier. Numbuh Four even performs a Kamehameha, albeit with a gumball instead of an energy wave. The satire isn't quite as snappy as Billy & Mandy, but the imagery is good for a laugh.
5 "Channel Chasers" - The Fairly OddParents
The sky's the limit with magic in this Nickelodeon show, and the Channel Chasers movie affords a chance to lampoon popular properties of the time. As the heroes travel between TV channels, they undergo several shifts in animation and even live action formats. The finale is a Dragon Ball knockoff, where they adopt a shonen anime art style.
They go here for their climactic showdown. It takes place in a tournament arena, which predictably gets blasted apart. In addition, Timmy and Vicky grow more muscular as their magic remotes power them up. The sequences clearly spoof Super Saiyan transformations; the intense close-ups are an especially nice touch. Sadly, the fight doesn't end with a bombastic energy struggle, but rather a magic loophole. What a letdown.
4 "A Very Dragon Ball Z Christmas"/"Piccolo Gets Arrested" - Robot Chicken
No IP is safe from this show's stop-motion satire. Dragon Ball gets this treatment twice, and both times involve the series' rampant disregard for child safety. The first sees Goku and Goten helping Santa Claus fight off some bad guys. It doesn't go well, and St. Nick resolves to never deliver Christmas presents to Japan again.
The second sketch focuses on Piccolo and Gohan training for the eventual Saiyan invasion. Before they get far, though, folks from child protective services come to arrest the Namekian. He's charged with kidnapping, brainwashing, and child endangerment. The sad part is that it's all true.
3 "Starfire The Terrible" - Teen Titans Go!
This reimagining of Teen Titans throws everything at the wall to see what sticks, so it makes sense that Dragon Ball would eventually show up in some form. That time comes when Starfire ruins Robin's hair gel. As a result, his spiky locks go limp. He attempts to salvage them result in a plethora of shapes.
One of these is a split hairdo with spikes going every which way. It's the spitting image of Goku's unkempt look. Sure, it's part of a series of styles shown in rapid succession, but the hero's Saiyan hair is so distinctively weird that he stands out in any crowd. Because of that, fans will instantly recognize it and at least get a small chuckle from the sophomoric show.
2 "Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake!" - Ducktales
This is a brief callback, but it's an obvious one thanks to memes. In the Ducktales remake, Huey plays an online game with his mom, Della Duck. In a moment of anger, he uses all the experience he's accumulated thus far, and his power level grows to epic proportions.
Right on cue, his mom shouts, "It's over 9,000!". Yeah, the reference is clunky and out-of-date, but such a dated dig is oddly appropriate for Della. After all, she's been stuck on the moon for ten years. Her pop culture knowledge is behind the times by her own admission. Not to mention, the message is clear, either way. Huey definitely needs to give the game a rest.
1 Various - The Amazing World Of Gumball
This animated sitcom has several odd asides to Dragon Ball throughout its run. One comes when Darwin turns into "Darkwin." To convey the change, his transformation has the whooshing power-up sound effect which DBZ fans know and love. Believe it or not, that's actually on the subtler side.
The subsequent satire is more blatant. In the other episodes, Gumball and his friends literally want to become Super Saiyans. They have the golden hair superimposed onto their heads, which is impressive since they have no hair normally. The creators even brought in Studio 4C to do the animation. That extra bit of authenticity almost makes up for how on-the-nose these gags are.