The Shadow Dragon Saga is the final arc of Dragon Ball GT: seventeen episodes broadcast on Fuji TV between June 11 and November 19, 1997. This time the enemy is the Dragon Balls themselves: decades of wishes have built up a negative energy that bursts out all at once and takes the shape of seven dragons, one for each ball. Stopping them takes Vegeta's Super Saiyan 4, a fusion and a Spirit Bomb gathered from the whole universe, and at the end Goku leaves for good.
How the saga is split
On this point the sources agree. Funimation's American split and the Japanese one, which calls it the "Seven Shadow Dragons arc", both run it from episode 48 to 64, the last episode of the series. The first dragon actually shows up at the very end of episode 47, which closes the Super 17 Saga. In Japan the broadcast had two breaks, between episodes 53 and 54 (two weeks without a new episode) and between 59 and 60 (four). Funimation's English dub, which renamed the dragons, reached American TV between August 2004 and January 2005.
Cracked Dragon Balls and Black Smoke Shenron
After the battle with Super 17, Goku's friends gather the Dragon Balls to bring the victims back, only to find them covered in cracks. The summoning releases dark smoke and a red-eyed dragon, Black Smoke Shenron, who ignores their wish, swallows the balls and splits into seven creatures.
Elder Kai and Kibito Kai, speaking to the group through King Kai, explain what went wrong. Every wish leaves negative energy inside the balls, which were meant to be used rarely, with roughly a century between wishes for that energy to fade: that is why they scatter across the world after each use. Bulma's Dragon Radar turned the hunt into a formality, and the wishes piled up. Goku, feeling responsible, sets out alone; Pan and Giru follow him with the radar.
The seven Shadow Dragons
Each dragon holds one of the Dragon Balls, controls a natural element and was born from a specific wish in the story's past. Funimation gave them new names whose initials spell out "SHENRON"; the Japanese ones simply mean "One-Star Dragon", "Two-Star Dragon" and so on.
| Ball | Dragon (Japanese name) | Element and powers | Born from the wish to… | Episodes | How he is beaten |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 stars | Haze Shenron (Ryan Shinron) | poison: pollutes water and air and weakens every living thing | revive Bora, Upa's father | 48-49 | a clean spring restores Goku and Pan |
| 5 stars | Rage Shenron (Ū Shinron) | electricity, a rubbery body that bounces attacks back | bring Goku back before the Saiyans arrive | 50 | the rain short-circuits him |
| 6 stars | Oceanus Shenron (Ryū Shinron) | wind and tornadoes; disguises herself as Princess Oto | Oolong's wish for panties, the very first wish | 51 | Pan's first Kamehameha opens the way for Goku |
| 7 stars | Naturon Shenron (Chī Shinron) | earth and earthquakes; uses host bodies and absorbs Pan | revive Majin Vegeta's victims | 52-53 | Goku frees Pan, then destroys him |
| 4 stars | Nuova Shenron (Sū Shinron) | fire, up to 6,000 degrees | restore King Piccolo's youth | 54, 56-57, 62 | killed by Syn; returns as an ally |
| 3 stars | Eis Shenron (San Shinron) | ice | erase the memory of Majin Buu | 54, 56-57 | Super Saiyan 4 Goku's Dragon Fist |
| 1 star | Syn Shenron (Ī Shinron), later Omega Shenron | negative energy and his brothers' powers | revive Frieza's victims | 57-63 | the Universal Spirit Bomb |
The anime lets the dragons reveal their own origins, with two exceptions: the wishes behind Eis and Syn are only given in the Dragon Ball GT Perfect Files, the official guidebooks published in 1997.
One dragon at a time, then the brothers
In its first half the saga goes back to the road-trip format: Giru picks up a dragon, and Goku and Pan work out its weak spot. The tone shifts with the twins of the four-star and three-star balls. Nuova Shenron is a fighter with a code of honor, who knocks Pan out to keep her safe instead of killing her; Eis is his opposite and has no problem using the girl, or his own brother, as a shield. Super Saiyan 4 Goku brings him down with the Dragon Fist but is left blind. As Nuova hands him medicine for his eyes, Syn Shenron arrives and kills him on the spot.
Syn Shenron and Vegeta's Super Saiyan 4
The one-star dragon is the strongest and cruelest of all. Goku, blind and then back in his child form, is saved by Gohan, Goten and Trunks, who give him their energy; Syn answers by absorbing the other six balls and becoming Omega Shenron, able to use his brothers' powers.
Meanwhile Vegeta has found his own path thanks to Bulma, who has built a machine that reproduces the waves of the full moon: without a tail, it is his only way to turn into a Great Ape and then reach Super Saiyan 4. The prince arrives just as Goku is about to blow himself up while holding the dragon, stops him and transforms: Great Ape, Golden Great Ape and finally Super Saiyan 4, as our guide to Super Saiyan transformations explains.
Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta
In episode 60 the two perform the Fusion Dance and Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta is born. He outclasses Omega: he sends the dragon's ball of negative energy into space, cleanses the Earth and hits him with the Big Bang Kamehameha. Instead of finishing the job, though, he toys with his opponent, and the fusion wears off early. The Dragon Balls burst out of the dragon's body and Goku grabs the four-star ball.
The four-star ball and Nuova's last stand
To keep the enemy from regaining full power, Goku swallows the four-star ball. Every new fusion attempt fails, and an exhausted Goku shrinks back to a child. Then the ball appears on his forehead and Nuova Shenron emerges: he seems to side with Omega, but instead attacks him together with Goku and wraps him in flames. Omega takes shelter inside his brother's heat-proof body, Nuova dies, and the dragon recovers all seven balls. Vegeta loses Super Saiyan 4 as well, and Bulma's machine is destroyed.
The Universal Spirit Bomb
In episode 63 Goku tries with everything he has to push back an energy ball hurled at the Earth: the explosion spares the planet, but he seems to be dead. Vegeta, remembering the fate of his own planet, attacks alongside Gohan, Goten and Trunks and is overwhelmed. Then Goku rises from the crater holding a Spirit Bomb: Earth's energy is not enough, and King Kai asks the entire universe for help. Omega tries to stop him, but it is too late. When the dust settles, the balls are purified and Shenron appears without being summoned.
The ending: Goku leaves with Shenron
Shenron explains that he can no longer let people abuse the Dragon Balls and that he is leaving. He grants one last wish, reviving everyone killed by Super 17 and the Shadow Dragons, then asks Goku to come with him. Goku says goodbye to Master Roshi and Krillin at Kame House and stops in Hell to thank Piccolo, who stayed there after opening Goku's way back in the previous saga. Pan finds her grandfather's clothes, and Vegeta tells her to keep them; the seven balls merge into Goku's body.
A century later, at the World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku Jr. and Vegeta Jr. face off in the junior division. In the crowd, an elderly Pan thinks she sees her grandfather, grown up again; he slips away and flies off on the Flying Nimbus, Power Pole in hand.
Main characters in this saga
Episodes
| No. | Title (literal translation) | First aired (Japan) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 48 | A Shocking Surprise! Shenron Is Our Enemy?! | June 11, 1997 | Funimation: The Shadow Dragons |
| 49 | The Strongest Enemy!? The Fearsome Underhanded Dragon | June 18, 1997 | Haze Shenron; Funimation: The Two-Star Dragon |
| 50 | Down Goes Saiya-Power!? Electro-Dragon Wu Xing Long | June 25, 1997 | Rage Shenron; Funimation: The Five-Star Dragon |
| 51 | Liu Xing Long! Find the Big Tornado Attack's Weak Point | July 2, 1997 | Oceanus Shenron; Funimation: The Six-Star Dragon |
| 52 | Look Out, Pan! Possessed by Qi Xing Long | July 9, 1997 | Naturon Shenron; Funimation: The Seven-Star Dragon |
| 53 | Pan Dies!? A Tearful 10-Fold Kamehameha | July 16, 1997 | Goku rescues Pan; Funimation: Saying Goodbye |
| 54 | 6000 Degree Celsius Power! The Warrior of the Sun | August 6, 1997 | Nuova Shenron; Funimation: The Four-Star Dragon |
| 55 | Bulma's On the Job! The Vegeta-Remodeling Plan | August 13, 1997 | Bulma's plan; Funimation: The Heart of the Prince |
| 56 | After the Sun, the Freeze! Fire and Ice Dragons | August 20, 1997 | Nuova and Eis; Funimation: The Three-Star Dragon |
| 57 | The Ringleader of the Evil Dragons | September 3, 1997 | Syn Shenron arrives; Funimation: The One-Star Dragon |
| 58 | Time to Strike Back! Surpassing Super Saiyan 4 | September 10, 1997 | Omega Shenron; Funimation: Shadow Dragons Unite |
| 59 | Friend or Foe? Great Ape Vegeta on the Rampage | September 17, 1997 | Vegeta goes Super Saiyan 4; Funimation: Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta |
| 60 | Fusion!! The Ultimate Super Gogeta | October 22, 1997 | Funimation: Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta |
| 61 | I Will Win!! Goku Swallows the Four-Star Ball | October 29, 1997 | Funimation: The Limits of Power |
| 62 | Rescue Goku!! The Last Ally Enters the Fray | November 5, 1997 | Nuova's sacrifice; Funimation: Rescue Goku |
| 63 | Miraculous Comeback!! Goku Saves the Universe | November 12, 1997 | Funimation: Universal Allies |
| 64 | Goodbye, Goku... 'Till the Day We Meet Again | November 19, 1997 | series finale; Funimation: Until We Meet Again |
Did you know? In the Japanese version of the final episode, the opening theme, Field of View's DAN DAN Kokoro Hikareteku, plays over the end credits in an edit that runs even longer than the full-length song.
Our take
The first half of the saga has an obvious flaw: one dragon per episode, each with a weak spot to figure out, like the bosses of a video game. Some work, like the fake princess of the fishing village; some don't. And Pan, once again, gets knocked out, swallowed or taken hostage.
The core idea, though, is the best one GT ever had. For more than a decade the Dragon Balls had erased deaths and disasters with a wish; here the show hands over the bill. Each dragon is a piece of memory, from Oolong's first wish to Goku's resurrection, and the journey turns into a tour of Dragon Ball's own history. The twins Nuova and Eis then give the saga its best pairing, honor against treachery.
The ending makes up for a lot. Gogeta is wasted on a fusion that runs out at the worst moment, but the Spirit Bomb drawn from the whole universe and Goku's farewell, as he says goodbye to his friends and becomes one with the Dragon Balls, close a circle that opened in 1986, when a boy with a tail, keeper of his grandfather's four-star ball, set off with Bulma to find the others.
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