Expanding ideas and developing them further can give a
storyteller quite an advantage for their audiences. Akira Toriyama’s Dragon
Ball Z franchise alone had given the main character Goku way more depth than
the original Dragon Ball anime was able to provide. From originally just being
a random super strong martial artist, to an alien race that had ties to
intergalactic space lords is one heck of an extension. However, this wasn’t the
end of how much impact this protagonist had on his universe. When the
Saiyan/Namek/Frieza sagas had finished, the next layer to come about was the indestructible
androids built by the late Dr. Gero. Little did anyone realize the doctor had
ties to a piece of Goku’s past once thought was eradicated; the Red Ribbon
Army. Now a whole new dimension of evil was being revealed to fans of the
franchise.
Written by Takao Koyama who also penned for other Dragon Ball Z films, the story shows the mad scientist’s Androids 13, 14 and 15 take on the job of killing Goku. Leave it to Goku and his friends to be hanging out, only to be dragged into fending off the killer robots when they appear. The premise builds on the concept that Dr. Gero had built many androids in his time to finish off Goku but did not get the chance to activate them until much later. This indeed was true as in the Dragon Ball anime, Goku’s first encounter with Gero’s creations was Android 8. However, in the Dragon Ball Z anime, the only androids to appear first was 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20. The other three were never mentioned, which is okay if the placement in timeline worked. But alas, it doesn’t again here either.
Not even with the English workover from Neil Bligh or execution from the regular Daisuke Nishio could really make this fit in any way and it’s for the usual reasons. In this particular film entry, Dr. Gero is sent off the same way as told in the anime however who witnessed it is totally different from each other. Additionally, Goku and Vegeta are taking part in this story. In the anime Goku suffered from a fatal heart condition while fighting Android 19. So if this story lined up, it would fit sometime in between if Goku had recovered. At the same time though, it doesn’t fit in with the way the sendoff of Dr. Gero is depicted. It is really baffling why these stories always have one or two things off about them that do not allow them to fit in perfectly.
This doesn’t take away the quality of the voice acting though. Again as always the English Funimation dub consisting mainly of Sean Schemmel, Chris Sabat, Stelphanie Nadolny and Sonny Strait all do great. The new additional voices for Trunks (Eric Vale), Android 14 (Chris Rager), Android 15 (Josh Martin) and Android 13 (Phillip Wilburn) also do a great job. Chris Rager’s first major role was in Dragon Ball as Major Metallitron, a knockoff look of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Josh Martin’s first role was also in Dragon Ball as Commander Red, head of the Red Ribbon Army. Phillip Wilburn’s first role is from this film and as his first work, it sounds fine. Eric Vale who also started in Dragon Ball plays his first major role as Vegeta’s son his performance is appreciated too.
The one surprising thing is that this is the first Dragon Ball Z film that can be heard where the villain says they would kick someone’s ash*. Where did that come from? Cursing was never a thing in this franchise. The animation looks good too, as usual it has that classic 90s anime style most fans love. There was also cinematography credit to Toshiharu Takei but again that’s not totally clear why. Lastly for the musical score, Mark Menza was contracted to rescore the entire film instead of using the available music composition from Shunsuke Kikuchi. It seems producers felt a new musical touch was needed when clearly this was not needed. Menza’s music continues to suffice for an overlay composition but Kikuchi’s will remain the best no matter the case. Menza’s music though is much better than placing an outdated soundtrack on the movie instead.
Weirdly enough, some cursing was permitted in this feature and continuity as to where the story lines up still doesn’t fit. The animation, voice acting, music and deepening layers of the protagonist’s impact on others still make the story entertaining to watch.
Points Earned -->6:10
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