The Blue Wave that swept through Texas this week also has some Dragon Ball Z energy.
Nathan Johnson, a veteran litigator and Texas state senator, was elected this week as attorney general of the Lone Star State, assuming the role in January 2027.
Johnson lists swimming, reading “boring books,” and making peanut butter as his guilty pleasures, but his interest in the popular anime television seriesDragon Ball Z became an early career move.
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“If you grew up watching Dragon Ball Z, you might know me better than you think: I composed the musical scores for 67 episodes and five movies, and had a great time doing it,” he writes on his Facebook page.
Those “wall to wall” scores were cut in the 2000s and include Dragon Ball Z: The World’s Strongest, Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might, Dragon Ball Z: Broly — Second Coming, Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn and Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon.
“It was a lot of fun,” Johnson recounts in a video posted in June. “I had a one-year-old at the time, and I remember him sitting on my knee and stuff blowing up. He was like ‘oh, daddy, Goku,’” he continued, identifying the show’s lead character.
“He just thought it was super cool. Even then it just gave me street cred with my kids’ friends and it gave me a creative outlet and a cultural connection that very few people had the opportunity to have.”
Created by Akira Toriyama and produced by Toei Animation, Dragon Ball Z is a sci-fi fantasy that follows the adventures of Goku, an alien warrior. The anime premiered in 1989 in Japan and was syndicated in the United States on Cartoon Network from 1998 until 2008. Its celebrity fans include Kendrick Lamar, Steve Aoki, Bad Bunny, Big Sean and Anuel AA.
The multihyphenate Johnson holds a B.S. in physics from the University of Arizona and a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and took office in 2019. Since then, he has authored at least 433 bills and more than 130 into law.
Johnson won the Texas attorney general election on Wednesday, Nov. 3 as the Democrats routed the Republicans in the midterms, seizing control of the Senate and the House of Representatives. On the way to an historic victory, the Dems flipped seven Senate seats, nearly 30 House districts, five governorships and up to 12 state legislative chambers.