Pros: I so love Vegeta
Cons: A few here and there - read the review.
The Bottom Line: Always was and forever will be my other favorite Dragon Ball Z movies
Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot. Dragon Ball Z – long running series with a total of 13 movies and a special here and there, all created by Akira Toriyama. I can’t deny my anime roots – DBZ was one of them. But then again, if you’re reading this, it’s because you like DBZ just as much as I do, so yippee! That’s what makes me so excited to be the first one to review this movie! *rocks out*
Finally, the 12th movie has been released! That only leaves one more, but we might have to wait a while for that one. But let’s get right down to business so you can see what Movie 12 is all about.
It’s a normal day in the world of the living and the world of the dead. Sounds good. Souls are going to Heaven, souls are going to Hell; all is as it should be. Now, souls that go to Hell have to go through a huge spirit washing machine, cleaning them up as much as possible – you can actually see the nasty purple goo seeping out of a pipe into a large container. Kind of makes you think of evil character toxic waste. Whatever you want to call it, a little demon kid who is supposed to be switching out containers to keep things running smoothly is busy rocking out on his headphones. Even a rebuke from his boss doesn’t deter him so what happens? The container overflows, explodes, and causes the numerous (full) containers around it to explode as well. Evil essence everywhere. Messy.
Yelling at the kid won’t do any good because he’s been in the middle of all the goo and is now possessed by an evil being calling itself Janenba. What makes things worse is that Janenba has control over the spirit world and begins turning the laws upside-down. The dead are coming back to life on Earth, the spirit world is starting to look like a sky full of jelly beans, and the whole thing interrupts Goku’s fight with Paikuhan (Japanese spelling, right on!). So who has to save the day? Well, Goku of course! (Paikuhan gets asked too, and he comes into use, but we all know Goku does most of the work) All Goku has to do is take out Janenba and things will be back to normal. Sounds easy, right? Sure it does… He might need a helping hand straight from Hell, and who’s still down there that we all know and love?! Vegeta of course!
Sha-zam!
Issues with the movie itself? (I’ll get to voices and music in a bit) Well, I do have to remind you that this is a bit kiddish in a way because there are a lot of goofy things that happen that I just sort of think, “…Oh boy,” at. Some of the dead people that come back are a little weird/awkward, such as Dracula and Hitler’s army (yes, Hitler – wait till you see what happens to him and his army). The dead people are really more for amusement than posing any serious threat to anyone (zombie or not), but I can look past that. Okay, now maybe I’m the only one who doesn’t think the screwed-up fusion of Goku and Vegeta isn’t that funny, but I don’t. It’s sort of amusing, but it doesn’t crack me up and a part of me simply thinks, “Um, this is kind of stupid.” The end, when everything went as planned was a bit short – I was hoping for just a little more, but I’m able to settle with what we were given without much of a problem.
Now the Japanese version is good – I’d seen it long before this ever came out (yeah, I managed to download it yikes, years ago – back in the 90s, but its quality was sub-par and I don’t have it anymore anyway), but there are some things that I don’t think match up to the new version. The voices are no problem – I’ve long since been accustomed to them or simply liked them from the start, aside from young Trunks. I really don’t like his voice. Then there’s the music. Maybe if I were Japanese and watching this when it first came into existence, I wouldn’t care, even now I don’t mind too much, but it’s just so dated. It doesn’t provide as good of an atmosphere as you wish it would.
So with all the issues I seem to have with this movie, why do I like it so much? Basically because what I do enjoy outweighs any problems I have.
Like I said, aside from young Japanese Trunks, I enjoy all the voices, that includes English and Japanese alike. As the English VAs have been the same characters for quite some time (like Sean Schemmel for Goku and Chris Sabat for Vegeta), they’re all accustomed to their personalities and know how to work with them. I absolutely love Goten in Japanese – he is just so cute (female VA or not). Paikuhan and what he ends up doing cracks me up, Kaio-sama (King Kai) cheering for Goku makes for great amusement, and then there’s Goku himself. He is so loopy sometimes it’s just hilarious. There is one face he makes when he finds out that Janenba wants to deal with him and it’s the most ridiculous face I’ve ever seen Goku make. I love it. And of course, I can’t forget about my one and only love, Vegeta. He’s still a prideful jerk in this movie, but by this time he’s used to Goku and his stupid ways, so he’s pretty much come to terms (well, almost, my poor baby) with Goku’s power. Still, I love that look he has when Goku calls him on what should have been an insult, also making Vegeta realize he really is out of options.
Other good times include the bad guys. Janenba, though he never has any actual lines, has some really unique abilities that are really fun to watch, my favorite would be his pixelated-like fade-in, fade-out move. The sword was pretty nifty too. When so many dead people come back to life, why not other bad guys as well? Hehe, good call. Who shows up? I’m actually not going to tell you, but I will say to look beyond the one who takes the center screen, because not only will you see villains from the series, but also from some of the other movies. It’s always fun to look around to see if you can identify so-and-so from here and there.
Everything is overall very good. I must say I prefer the English music used, as old school as I may seem, but it just works out better. So watch whatever version you prefer (hey, might as well do both since you can!) and have a good time. Bring some popcorn and a friend and prepare for some great DBZ entertainment!
NT
The Series
Dragon Ball Z - Saiyan Saga: 8-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Namek Saga: 9-Volume Set
Dragon Ball Z - Captain Ginyu Saga: 2-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Frieza Saga: 10-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Garlic Jr. Saga: 3-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Trunks Saga: 4-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Androids Saga: 4-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Imperfect Cell Saga: 4-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Perfect Cell Saga: 4-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - World Tournament Saga: 3-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Babidi Saga: 4-Volume Box Set
Dragon Ball Z - Majin Buu Saga: 7-Volume Box Set
The 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 – 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
Recommended:
Yes
Viewing Format: DVD
