I suddenly realized I had yet to review this movie – so here I am, pretty much finishing off all my Dragon Ball Z reviews (save maybe a volume or two. Ah well, I’m DBZ’d out).

In case you’re not familiar with DBZ, you should go click the first link at the bottom to get acquainted. You could watch the movie on it’s own, but you don’t get an intro to all the characters (after all, this is the 13th DBZ movie, so they assume viewers are established by now). I’ve been there and done that, and I recommend seeing some of the series first, it makes things much easier.

It’s a normal day for everyone, Gohan out saving the day with Videl like good superheroes should. Then they come across an old (obviously alien, but no one asks questions in this series) man, who tells them of a hero named Tapion. However, Tapion is trapped inside some kind of magic box. He requests Gohan open it and free Tapion. Awed by all the hero talk, Gohan agrees...but fails. So of course he gets everyone else involved. But even Goku can’t open the box! So what do they do? Get the dragonballs and wish it open! Except there’s a small problem. Once Tapion is freed, he’s ticked and would like to take out the old man. What’s more, a monster appears and starts thrashing the town. What’s the real deal? Is Tapion a real hero? Where did the monster come from? What does the old man really want? In the end, it’ll be up to Goku and the others to save the day (as usual).

If you’ve ever seen any DBZ movie, you’ll know how this all ends. Haha. This movie has no real spot in the regular DBZ timeline. Sure, you’ll see how Trunks gets his sword, but it’s still in a really awkward spot. I don’t think anyone has been able to figure it out. It’s a romping good time though, complete with all of Goku’s little tribe as well as Vegeta. His part is pretty short, but as usual he makes quite a bang and shows up with flare. Love that guy. There’s no Piccolo (sorry Piccolo fans!), but at least Tapion is pretty cool looking. I’m not sure why Trunks is so awed by Tapion (“Wow, a real hero!” Um, dude, who do you think Goku or your dad is??), but oh well. Fun times with a giant monster and four Saiyans.

Voices are the same as they have been for quite some time, both in Japanese and English. You can listen to whichever suits your fancy. I don’t mind either one, though I do have to say, I really don’t like Trunks’s Japanese voice. It annoys me. A lot. It just doesn’t work. But Tapion’s voice made up for that so hey, what else can I do? Otherwise, everything is fine and dandy.

Animation is exactly what you’d expect since this is from the DBZ era. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s good, detailed stuff, but slightly dated. The music in the Japanese version is dated as well, as opposed to the English update. Again, it depends on your preference. Sometimes the English stuff is so different I just kind of giggle. I do like the music for Tapion’s music box and the notes he has to play on his little ocarina to deal with the monster.

All in all, it’s what you’d expect from a DBZ movie. They don’t slack off because it’s the last movie, which is nice. It’s a unique plot, for sure, and you even get Tapion’s back-story, which is an interesting one. Not a bad way to finish off the long string of movies.

Cheers!

NT

DBZ Sagas:
Dragon Ball Z: The Saiyan Saga
Dragon Ball Z: The Namek Saga
Dragon Ball Z: The Captain Ginyu Saga
Dragon Ball Z: The Frieza Saga
Dragon Ball Z: The Garlic Jr. Saga
Dragon Ball Z: The Trunks Saga
Dragon Ball Z: The Androids Saga
Dragon Ball Z: The Imperfect Cell Saga
Dragon Ball Z: The Perfect Cell Saga
Dragon Ball Z: The World Tournament Saga
Dragon Ball Z: The Babidi Saga
Dragon Ball Z: The Majin Buu Saga

Movies:
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – Dead Zone
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – The World’s Strongest
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – The Tree of Might
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie - Lord Slug
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – Cooler’s Revenge
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – The Return of Cooler
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – Super Android 13
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – Bojack Unbound
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – Broly: Second Coming
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – Bio-Broly
Dragon Ball Z: The Movie – Fusion Reborn

Specials:
Dragon Ball Z: Special – The History of Trunks

Recommended:
Yes