When Fritz Holznagel left us earlier this week, we asked him what was the most interesting thing he had found in fifteen months of doing the Lycos 50. "No contest," he said. "It has to be the popularity of Dragonball."
Dragonball, for those who do not know, is a Japanese cartoon saga and marketing juggernaut, similar to the better-known Pokemon. Back in February Fritz wrote an article called "The Mystery of Dragonball Z," in which he pointed out that Dragonball was rarely mentioned on TV or in newspapers, yet for six months it had been one of the Web's hottest topics.
Nine months later, and Dragonball is one of only nine items to remain on the Lycos 50 every week since our inception. In fact, while Pokemon and Sailor Moon have faded, Dragonball keeps going strong. This week, when the irresistible force that is Election 2000 swept the top of the Lycos 50, the immovable object that is Dragonball dropped only one slot.
Election aside, Dragonball is the most popular topic among web searchers. It is more popular than George W. Bush and Al Gore combined. It is more popular than Britney Spears, 'N Sync, and the Backstreet Boys combined. It is only slightly less popular than Christmas and Thanksgiving combined.
Since Dragonball was a long-standing Japanese cartoon series with a number of sequels, we get a number of searches for Dragonball online, including searches for Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT, Dragonball AF, and just plain Dragonball. Sometimes it is spelled Dragon Ball, other times just DBZ.
What are Dragonball fans looking for online? Here's a summary of specific Dragonball-related searches, with a percentage of how many of these searches fell into each category:
43.0% Dragonball pictures
21.5% Dragonball movie clips
7.2% Dragonball ROMs
5.1% Dragonball games
4.7% Dragonball images
4.1% Dragonball role-playing game
2.0% Dragonball video games
1.7% Dragonball wallpaper
1.5% Dragonball music videos
1.4% Dragonball downloads
1.4% Dragonball episode guide
1.2% Dragonball animations
1.2% Dragonball toys
0.9% Dragonball power levels
0.7% Dragonball music
0.6% Dragonball character biographies
0.5% Dragonball desktop themes
0.5% Dragonball screen savers
0.5% Dragonball fan fiction
0.4% How to draw Dragonball characters
Dragonball ROMs is a request for computer files of Dragonball video games. Dragonball power levels seems to be a request for information about the characters' strengths in battle. Music videos, toys, games - Dragonball is quite a marketing force.
What makes Dragonball so popular? Well, that's a discussion best left to Lycos 50's very own boards.
