Japan Synopsis
ドラゴンボールＺ オラの悟飯をかえせッ!!
In order to wish for immortality and avenge his father, Garlic Jr. collects the dragon balls, kidnapping Goku's son Gohan in the process. Goku, Kami, Piccolo, and Krillin unite to rescue Gohan and save the world from being sucked into a dead zone.
Audience Engagement
480 audience reviews — more than 93% of Japan films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 94th percentile among Japan films.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
6 sharedDragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies
★ 6.8 · Japan
4 sharedDragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest
★ 6.5 · Japan
4 sharedDragon Quest: Your Story
★ 6.7 · Japan
4 sharedBeyond Skyline
★ 5.3 · Indonesia
3 sharedDemon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train
★ 8.3 · Japan
3 sharedDragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon
★ 7.2 · Japan
Other Titles From Toei Animation
Animation + Action in Japan
1178 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Animation and Action genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone itself).
The 1988–1990 Japan Window
Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone holds position #58 of 110 Japan films in the 1988–1990 window, below highlighted by audience rating.
The 1980s Japan Landscape
1989 was the decade’s peak output year for Japan — 44 titles released, including Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone. Bars below show how the 1980s stacked up year by year (280 total).
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 43 other Japan films in 1989.
The 789th Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- super villain · 5
- brawl · 2
- dragon · 26
- father son relationship · 26
- fighting · 22
- immortality · 14
- rescue · 13
- martial artist · 12
- martial arts master · 10
- good versus evil · 9
- wish · 7
- anime · 711
- martial arts · 369
- kidnapping · 72
- fight · 60
- alien · 51
- husband wife relationship · 46
- demon · 45
- battle · 34
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #2,713 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (41st percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is -0.2 points below the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Animation productions specifically: #1,774 of 2,532 (top 70%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | Toei Animation, Toei Company |
| Runtime | 41m |
| Release Date | July 15, 1989 |
| IMDb | tt0142235 |