Dragon Ball Z is of the most beloved anime in the history of the medium. When it first appeared, there was nothing quite like it. Since its inception, the franchise has gone on to inspire anime after anime. The tropes found in early Dragon Ball Z , are still used to this day in other shows. Dragon Ball , along with its sequels, has garnered millions of fans worldwide.
Lasting for several decades already, Dragon Ball shows absolutely no sign of slowing down. To that end they opted to make animated movies to accompany the show. A few of the movies are often repeat stories of whichever saga they happen to be in, think Cooler and Frieza, and Super Android 13 and Cell. Yet the biggest problem is most of the movies are considered outside of DBZ canon; there are one or two exceptions.
In spite of being nearly as bland as Bio-Broly where storytelling is concerned, Broly - Second Coming is an unabashed action flick through and through. The action is actually really strong here; this is one of the few instances Adult Gohan gets the spotlight. Essentially, Slug shows up and takes over Earth. The story was unoriginal, but it did provide insight about the history of Namek and Super Namekians.
There are some cool fight sequences with Piccolo, Gohan, etc. In the lead up to Super Saiyan, but with zero clue about how it would look, Toei ran with their best guess as to how they thought Super Saiyan would turn out.
If anything, it only made the world of DBZ more confusing. Super Android 13! The film is entirely action, with fight sequences taking place all over the world, and ending in the Arctic.
There are a lot of nifty moments, including Vegeta and Piccolo getting epic introductions, along with the triple Super Saiyan power up. Granted, Goku saves the day by absorbing the Spirit Bomb, but even that was a unique representation of the power.
Alas, the villains were uninteresting and Dr. In fact, including Gero only demonstrated how similar the movie is to the Android and Cell sagas. Though it has flaws, Super Android 13! Unfortunately, there are few memorable moments in the third DBZ movie to set it apart from the rest. He and Goku share exciting battle sequences, but for every action scene, there are Gohan and Icarus scenes that weigh on the story. However, the premise of the fruit of the Tree of Might was a gnarly one. We all know how popular Frieza is. So what do you do when the evil space tyrant is unavailable for a movie?
You introduce his big brother, Cooler. The premise has Frieza conveniently forgetting to mention he had an older, stronger, brother who seeks revenge on Goku, is simple but effective. Upon seeing the movie, their elation was tempered. Seeing Whis train Goku and Vegeta is cool, but when it's time to fight Frieza, things get a little wonky.
Of course what really troubled fans was Goku getting taken down with a tiny laser gun and then going back in time to steal the win against Frieza from Vegeta. For better or worse, Broly is one of the most iconic villains in Dragon Ball. Despite never appearing in canon, the legendary Super Saiyan left a tremendous impression on viewers. Essentially, Goku cried a lot as a baby and that… annoyed baby Broly? The film is definitely novel, but its execution left something to be desired.
Someone probably wondered what would happen if Godzilla ever fought the Z-Fighters. Wrath of the Dragon was a fresh idea and it worked for the most part. The film starts similarly to the Buu saga with Gohan, Goten, and Trunks as the central protagonists. Alas, that all changes when big beastie Hirudegarn shows up. What followed was a high stakes battle with genuine character moments. And then Goku ruins it all by beating Hirudegarn.
Nearly every character gets involved, but they all fall to the wayside when Goku finally decides to step up. It then made sense that Gohan got a whole movie built around him afterwards. Bojack Unbound , took place shortly after the the Cell Games, with the movie opening to most of the Z-Fighters involved in a World Martial Arts Tournament-style knockout event held by Mr.
The tournament featured fun match-ups like Future Trunks and Tien, but the movie went up a notch once Bojack arrived. Even though Vegeta and Piccolo help, Gohan is the last one standing. Bojack Unbound is a pretty coherent film and one of the few to work within DBZ canon. Bardock — The Father of Goku let audiences finally glimpse Saiyan life. The movie primarily focuses on Bardock, but serves more as a captivating history lesson of the Saiyan race. Though we know the end result is Frieza killing everyone, this is one story where the journey matters more than the destination.
Bardock is great too. At no point is he your traditional hero. He is a cold-blooded killer who only changes his ways after an injury lets him see into the future. Before there could be a litany of movies, something had to start things off. Dead Zone was that something.
With some of the best-choreographed fights in Dragon Ball history, Dead Zone was also the only movie to have Kami get in on the action. Dead Zone really shines with its villains. Somehow, they are just as fantastic as the heroes. Garlic Jr.
All in all, aside from one or two missteps and plot holes, Dead Zone is a good movie. The introduction of fusion in the Dragon Ball Z universe was a unique and celebrated concept. Rarely do audiences get to see anyone fuse, making any fusion all the more exciting. Some might criticize Fusion Reborn for feeling more like a collection of awesome scenes than a movie with a plot, but you have to admit, those scenes are amazing and hilarious.
With iconic moment after iconic moment, the only real negative is that Gogeta leaves us far too quickly, lasting just long enough to defeat Janemba. Battle of Gods came after 17 years without an official Dragon Ball Z movie. For all its little hiccups, it was a perfect return to the franchise. In the nearly two decades since DBZ ended, animation had improved drastically, leading to flawless-looking fight sequences. In looking beyond the new bells and whistles are the new characters and the expansion of the Dragon Ball universe.
Their motivations and character designs were a breath of fresh air, making them as distinctive as Super Saiyan God. An interesting aspect of The World Strongest is that you can see the seeds for future story arcs in the franchise moving forward.
Preliminary signs of the Android arc are on full display: an evil genius scientist creates artificial humans and tries to destroy Goku. You have Goku versus Piccolo in one of their best, and only fights, Master Roshi getting to fight for the last time in decades, and even the bio-warrior henchmen and their unique powers are captivating. Nearly every Dragon Ball Z movie starts and ends the same way. A massive threat surfaces, Goku and company fight it, and after some trouble Goku wins the day. A History of Trunks was not that. Rather, it was a bleak, depressing story where the good guys die.
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