As it has been quoted by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, the power level gimmick used in the Dragon Ball Z series was never meant to become a mainstay for the franchise. However, because of how it made fans latch onto the story, it was something he had to continue going with. The unfortunate thing is, because every new villain had to one up the previous, the ability to quantify the topic at hand just loses all of its heft. With every successive antagonist Toriyama’s hero Goku (Kakarot) was able to knock down, there’s always someone else that needed to fill that void. Although becoming a Super Saiyan was supposed to be it in terms of power limits, many forms came after. However, this particular entry was to bring in the real original.
The plot is about another Saiyan prodigy who was forgotten just like Goku (Sean Schemmel). This one was named Broly (Vic Mignogna) of which his father Paragus (Dameon Clarke) did his best to convince his king that Broly would become the legendary super saiyan. His efforts fell on deaf ears. As time passed, Paragus would find his way to Earth where in order for Broly to claim his right as the only title, Goku would need to be defeated. Written by Takao Koyama who has been penning the script since the first Dragon Ball Z film and directed by first timer to the franchise Shigeyasu Yamauchi, this duo makes this feature interesting for its contextual background. It seems as though that is one of the stronger traits to this franchise despite how good the action is.
Whenever it comes to giving background to certain characters, there’s always something new a fan didn’t know about. Similar to how Goku’s father encountered Frieza, and Cooler could have almost intercepted Goku’s pod flying to Earth. This time, Broly was the one who missed being decimated. This just gives the character of Goku far more depth than any character introduced before and the scope of his impact continues to increase. As usual though, timelines do not fall into place for when this entry takes place in the shows chronology. It’s just a big mess. Trunks is still around, and again Goku is alive as well. So, did this all happen before the androids even made their appearances? But that’s the whole reason why Trunks came to Goku’s timezone. Seems like there’s a lot of things going on before the meat and potatoes of the cell saga even starts.
When it comes to the voice cast, everyone on board now is pretty much solidified their parts where nothing is questioned. If there was anything to callout on it, there would be something said about it, but that’s not the case for this entry. Dameon Clarke as Paragus is no stranger to the series and plays Paragus fine. For Vic Mignogna as another first timer to the franchise, he would also cement his place as Broly with a fairly intimidating voice. Everyone else still has a voice cameo here and there. The main voices to be prominent in this feature though are Sean Schemmel, Eric Vale, Chris Sabat, Dameon Clarke, Vic Mignogna and Stephanie Nadolny. For the action, the fights between the heroes and Broly is pretty intense. As the original super Saiyan, Broly has no cares on how low he goes.
The fights are well staged and choreographed fluidly. This goes hand in hand with the animation which continues to have the well detailed drawings of the characters and backgrounds. Credit to animation director Tadayoshi Yamamuro for keeping things looking good. Sadly, for the musical end, the original American release of this feature has the dated mix of new instrumentals from Mark Menza and Bruce Falconer along with inserted tracks from Pointy Shoe Factory, Tendril, Pantera and others. For those whole love heavy metal, have at it. But Dragon Ball Z properties are not the right avenue to have this kind of music overlaid in the scenes. They just don’t match and only further date the production of what studio producer said would be the “in” thing to have at the time.
Aside from the story not finding any real place where it falls within the timing between the show’s episodes, this is a fair entry. The story gives another interesting aspect of the main protagonist, with entertaining animation and voice acting. The contemporary music again used is less than to be desired.
Points Earned --> 6:10
