For Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga series, many readers were enamored with the main character Goku. And for viewers of the anime once it aired, fans were all the more interested by the lore created around the characters. How was there such an incredible boy that defied the odds in so many ways and yet still managed to overcome such challenges? Goku was no ordinary child, not solely because of his skill but most notably because of the strange anatomical feature no other human had – a tail. Topping that off was that during the full moon, Goku would transform into a great rampaging ape. Little did anyone know that Toriyama would end up creating the story to how Goku came to be. Not to mention that it would end up being one of Toriyama’s favorite stories.
The narrative is centered around Bardock, as mentioned in the title, the father of Goku. Essentially serving as the prequel to Goku’s origins, Bardock is the unsung hero who tried to do something only his son would end up finishing. After completing a routine mission with his team ordered by his boss Frieza (Linda Young), Bardock (Sonny Strait) is magically gifted the ability to foresee future events. These events give him glimpses of his son and Frieza. With that, he sets out to learn the truth. Directed by Mitsuo Hashimoto and Daisuke Nishio who both worked on episodes of the show headed this project. When it came to the English dub, Neil Bligh again handled this part with Takao Koyama and Katsuyuki Sumizawa penning the original script. For the most part this feature is watchable albeit some minor issues.
For one, the concept that Toriyama had created and bringing it to screen is great. As mentioned before, the mystery of Goku and his history is revealed here which is unlike any other story told before. Learning of where Goku came from, his ancestry and how his lineage ties to the overall bout between him and Frieza is one big twist. The fact that Frieza thought he would never come across another person like Goku is one big kick from karma. There is a little continuity error fans may notice and wonder why it was never referred to. That being Raditz who openly confirmed his relationship to Goku at the start of Dragon Ball Z. Here though, Bardock makes no acknowledgement of his other son. Strange, it makes sense if there was no good way to put Raditz in the story, but at least make a reference.
From the acting side, all the English dubbing is performed well. Sonny Strait better known for his role as adult Krillin, is also a strong force as Bardock. His voice has just enough gruff to make the character sound like a much more hardened Goku, being that he looks almost exactly the same. Linda Young as Frieza in her starting stages as the ruler of the universe definitely knows how to play the role well. Throughout the special, audiences will also see other treats like Zarbon and kid Vegeta voiced by Chris Sabat. Unfortunately, Sabat also voices Nappa instead of Phil Parsons, which doesn’t sound right but its only for a line or two. Lastly there’s little tidbits of Chris Forbis as Dodoria, Stephanie Nadolny as baby Goku and Sean Schemmel as adult Goku. All of them give performances fans will recognize.
The animation to this project looks great. Like all other films in this franchise, it very much has all the same look. Especially since this is late 1980s, early 1990s anime. Surprisingly there is no person credited for cinematography in this film. This honestly, makes more sense since animation would not require a physical camera to film what’s being put to screen. However, music is a bit of a disappointment. For some reason, instead of sticking to Shunsuke Kikuchi’s score used in all previous projects, a new score was composed by Mark Akin, Andy Baylor and Dale Kelly. This background music is unfortunately very dated sounding and does not match the setting used except for a few scenes. A lot of it sounds like hard rock, metal and rap. This just isn’t what this franchise is.
This feature provides a wonderful eye opener to those who want to know the origins of Dragon Ball’s favorite main character. The animation and voice acting are all spot on (minus one). The music to this though is less than to be desired.
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