Originally published March 2018

With the recent release of Dragon Ball FighterZ, my forbidden love of Dragon Ball Z has been reinvigorated. As a result, I've requested that Dragon Ball Z Kai be played in my home, so that I may be able to enjoy the essential Dragon Ball Z experience once again. This is the first time I've revisited the show in any form since I've become old enough to drink alcohol. Thus, I have decided to write some new drinking game rules based on my experience revisiting the Dragon Ball franchise.

One important disclaimer to put upfront about these rules is that you really need to drink responsibly! The rules I've outlined here are meant to coincide with the tropes of the show while being fun and funny. However, following these rules too closely may cause some trouble because they can all stack on each other very fast and very frequently—it is anime after all. Your experience may also vary when watching the original Dragon Ball Z series instead of Kai. Kai cuts a lot of the filler episodes out that would probably not use as many of these rules. The original series will likely have more episodes that allow you to take a break from following the rules, so take that into consideration when deciding to play along. You can always just play along with a glass of water instead, anyway.

Without further ado, here are 7 rules for 7 Dragon Balls!

1. AHHHHHH!

If you've never seen an episode of Dragon Ball Z, chances are, you still know what the show is known for: Screaming and Fighting. The characters spend more time screaming than they do punching each other. This is done to power up an attack or to transform into a more powerful form. The original cut of Dragon Ball Z had entire episodes dedicated to the process of screaming and growling to power up. For this reason alone, I'd recommend not sipping your drink for as long as the character screams, unless you want to die. Maybe just take a sip of your drink whenever a character starts screaming, growling, or glowing to power up.

2. Explosions

When the character is finally done screaming, what happens? Usually, a fireball is sent flying through the air at the opponent, causing a big explosion. Sometimes it's a beam blast. Sometimes it's a small fireball with a big explosion. Sometimes it's just a strong punch that sends the character flying into a mountain that explodes. If the character is Vegeta, there's a strong possibility that many fireballs will be sent through the air. Therefore, if you want to die, you can take a sip for every fireball thrown. Or, you can just take a sip whenever a character shoots an energy blast or an explosion occurs.

3. It's Over 9000!

In the early seasons of the show up till the end of the Frieza saga, characters loved to talk about power levels. It's the favorite discussion point for every villain who wants to act tougher than their opponent. However, since actual "power levels" are no longer discussed once the Frieza saga is over, how do you keep the drinking rule active? Just make it a little broader and more vague! Take a sip of your drink whenever a character talks about how strong they are. This can be when they talk about training to get stronger, or when a character says something along the lines of: "I'm far stronger than you."

4. Death

Dragon Ball Z has a ton of heroes and villains over the course of its countless seasons. Some only survive the length of an episode. Some are given names only to die within a few episodes of their introduction. Regardless, at some point in this show, almost everyone dies. In fact, it is only 3 episodes into the first season of Dragon Ball Z Kai that one of the main characters of the show dies. So, it seems only natural to make a rule to coincide with this frequent occurrence. Take a sip of your drink whenever someone dies. If YOU want to die, you can take a sip for every single individual in the show who dies while watching the Buu saga: you will never stop drinking.

5. Titular Balls

If you've never watched the show, you may be curious how a show can kill so many characters off with such frequency. Well, the Dragon Balls that the characters are often hunting can grant wishes like a genie. This allows the dead to return to life with some regularity. This also makes the Dragon Balls a common desirable item for both the heroes and the villains. Thus, they are often mentioned by one of the characters, or by the narrator who says the name of the show at the beginning and end of every episode. Take a sip of your drink whenever the name of the show or the Dragon Balls are mentioned.

6. KA-ME-HA-ME-HA

This one is pretty straightforward. Dragon Ball Z has been around for a long time and is responsible for influencing other media, such as video games. One particular trope of the show that has been carried over to other media is the notion of calling out the name of your attack as you perform it, as seen in fighting games like Street Fighter. Goku has moves like the Kamehameha, or Kai-o-ken, or Spirit Bomb to name a few. Rather than just grunting or screaming like one would do throwing a normal punch or kick, it's much more necessary to say the name of the move as you do it. I'm not sure how much more powerful the move becomes by saying its name, but the characters do it a lot. Take a sip of your drink any time a character calls out their attack.

7. Shocked and Appalled

Characters are endlessly surprised in this show. On the episodes where not much fighting is taking place, you can still count on this rule to supply you with some drinks. Everyone is surprised by everything. It could be a simple, stupid statement that Goku makes. It could be a character surviving a vicious attack with ease. It could be the power level of another character shooting through the roof. You can count on someone's eyes getting wide and their jaw dropping open. Someone is going to be surprised or horrified by something, so take a sip when this happens.

Again, these rules can stack pretty quickly, so I strongly recommend using some discretion. You may spend entire episodes shouting out rule confirmations simply because of how this show operates. There are certainly more rules you could add to this list, like whenever someone says the names of main characters, such as Goku, Vegeta, Krillin, Gohan, Piccolo, etc. Or, you could make a rule for whenever someone says the words "super saiyan," which doesn't start occurring with rapid regularity until the Frieza saga is getting closer to a conclusion. Nonetheless, I don't think these main 7 rules will let you down.

Do you have any rule suggestions of your own? Any favorite moments? Are these rules too much to handle? Tell me what you think in the comments!

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