So let's do this.
===
A Final Solitary Battle ~The Z Warrior Kakarotto's Father Challenges Freeza~:
Spoiler:
In this TV special, we don't get the usual hero's journey, or the usual villain pulling a heel/face turn, like Dragon Ball is mostly accustomed to. We get the story of a random, lowly, planet conquering, blood knight Saiyan who tries to fight fate, but ultimately fails, horribly dies a terrible death along with 99% of his race. And that random, lowly, planet conquering, blood knight Saiyan also happens to Goku's father. And that's the beauty of this story. Not just the fact that work extremely well as tragedy, but the fact the story doesn't try to consistently highlight that Bardock is Goku's father. This TV special wants to stand on its own two feet as its own unique story with its unique central character, and triumphs greatly because of that.
Bardock is not a paragon of justice. He's not an unscrupulous hero. Hell, he's not even an anti-hero. He's... well... a villain. And trying to write a story from the point of view of a villain has never really been attempted in Dragon Ball, at least in stand-alone works. Which just makes this TV special stand out even more. But what clinches this piece of Dragon Ball media as particularly special is how well it pulls off in making Bardock a sympathetic character, without coming across as trite and/or forced.
Despite knowing what is going to happen to his race -- through pretty contrived circumstances -- Bardock doesn't compromise his original personality. He doesn't become a better person. Hell, one of the notable scenes in the TV special is him dismissing his newborn son because of his low power level. And that scene in itself would work wonders for the dramatic irony that would later ensue with Bardock's visions, and services as a great further highlight of the underlying theme of the Saiyan arc -- being that fighters of a lower class can surpass elite fighters if they work hard enough.
There's no epiphany that leads to a significant shift in characterization, there's no redemption, there's no last gasp victory, there's no heroic second wind. There's just one Saiyan, who knows the terrible outcome for himself, his family and his people, and tries to fight a fate that he knows deep down he can't change. And in his last moments, he's given a vision of his son Kakarot, challenging the mighty tyrant that betrayed him and committed mass genocide against his race just for the idea that the Saiyans could one day overpower him. And he dies with a smile on his face, knowing that there is the chance that not just any Saiyan, but his son, the very same son he dismissed for his low battle power, could avenge his race. That is... so powerful. And so poignant.
In a story -- that Toriyama himself said was too dark to be something he'd write -- we see Dragon Ball tell its first story where Goku is a completely minor character and in a contemporary dark setting where the ending is already long decided... and it's magnificent. Bardock works as such a strong, tragic protagonist, that we can root for despite recognizing that he's not a perfect man. He's an evil person that is fighting a much larger evil. He's not staging an uprising for political reasons, like looking to usurp power and gain control of an empire. He's not trying to pull a Starscream.
Instead, the centre of the conflict is born from Bardock's comrades being tricked and murdered by Freeza's orders, with plans of mass genocide of the entire Saiyan race being in order, purely because they were too good at what they were doing. And Bardock reacting to this revelation by deciding to fight back, knowing there's nothing he can do to prevent anything Freeza is planning from being carried out carries such wonderful pathos that is so rare in Dragon Ball storytelling. It's made even better by the fact the even when Bardock spells out what is going to happen to his fellow Saiyans, he's immediately laughed at and dismissed, and despite that, he doesn't compromise and still faces the impossible challenge of trying to change his fate, even if he has to do it all by himself. It all feels like a classic Greek tragedy.
I do have one major issue with the TV special: Bardock's battle power. I find it very dumb that a "low class" warrior-like Bardock would end up having a power level of 10,000 considering that an elite warrior like Nappa is not even half as strong as him. How can Bardock be considered a low-class fighter when he's more than twice as strong as a person who's considered to be an elite Saiyan fighter? It becomes an even bigger issue when Bardock cuts through Freeza's army, whose average battle power is much stronger than Bardock's, like a hot knife through butter. The whole scenario is fucking stupid and nearly undermines the whole image of Bardock being a low-class nobody.
There are four additional issues I have with the TV special:
1. The method by which Bardock receives his psychic abilities are quite contrived. I understand that there needs to be a plot happening, but I never would have thought that striking some on the head would them the ability to see into the future.
2. Where's Raditz? You'd think in a movie about Bardock, that his son would at least make a cameo, but that doesn't happen. Hell, he's not even mentioned by name!
3. Bardock's comrades share no personality between the four of them. Which make it more apparent that they exist solely for Bardock to renegade against Freeza and his lackeys.
4. I just can't get behind Nozawa voicing Bardock. I mean, yeah, he is Goku's dad and looks exactly like Goku, but I think this would have been the time where some vocal differentiation would have been appreciated.
While those fours issues are not as big as Bardock's Battle Power, there are still problems I have with the TV special that drag it down slightly. But even with the issues I've listed, none of them takes away from how fantastic this TV special is. And I haven't even talked about great the TV special looks. Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru does such an amazing job as Animation Director that you wish he'd done all the movies and TV specials, as well as more of the episodes of the anime. Not to mention this TV special give us the sensational song "Solid State Scouter" from the Japanese pop/rock band TOKIO. And I really can't overstate how much that song fucking rocks.
Writing prequels can be very difficult. Because often prequels can fall into trap of deciding to spend time on a character that was popular in the main (and continued) setting of the story, rather than developing their own story or just basically be glorified exposition dumps for the sake of trying to expand the universe of the story. This TV special not only works extremely well as a story in its own right but also seamlessly fits into the main plot of the story. This TV special is, in my opinion, one of the most well-written pieces of Dragon Ball content you'll ever come across. It's dark, tragic, has a well written central character and manages to be a prequel that tells its own story with being tied down to what happened afterwards.
But the best thing about this is the whole scenario is that three years later, Toei would somehow outdo themselves with another TV special concerning another side character. But that's a story for another time.
9.5/10
===
Episode of Bardock:
Spoiler:
Alright, alright. I'll cover it in more detail.
In a time when new Dragon Ball content was few and far in between, I never thought in my wildest dreams that out of all the characters and concepts in the Dragon Ball mythos to expand upon, the Powers That Be chose Bardock as an avenue for spinning out a new yarn. Considering Bardock had his own already very satisfactory TV special, where he was the focal point, I don't understand why it was necessary to open the door again on Bardock's narrative. Yes, I know this story is a "what-if" sequel to the TV special, but I still have to take into consideration the implications this movie creates within the context of its narrative. And the implications are... not good.
Right of the bat, we get treated to a flashback of when Bardock confronts Freeza. And straight away the issues become very apparent. Instead of Freeza watching on silently and preparing his giant death ball attack that will kill Bardock and destroy Planet Vegeta, as Bardock confronts him, Freeza speaks to Bardock and gloat about how he had planned to kill all of the Saiyans to prevent the Legendary Super Saiyan from happening.
No, no, no.
Part of what made the TV special work so well was Bardock was portrayed as a nobody from the beginning of the story to the end. Even when he dared to stand up to Freeza, against all the odds, Freeza didn't bother to acknowledge Bardock and just went ahead with his plan to kill all the Saiyans and destroy Planet Vegeta. That's what makes Bardock's last stand so poignant and unique. From Bardock's perspective, this is some grand final stand against a tyrant, with the idea that he can change the fate of himself, his son and his race. But for Freeza, it's just Tuesday. It may seem like a minute detail, but those kinds of minute details can play a huge difference in the complexity of your story.
Speaking in regards to complexity in the story, let's talk about the premise of the plot, because, good Lord, is it stupid. So instead of being killed by Freeza's death ball, Bardock is somehow sent back in time and is relocated to Planet Plant. Which also happens to be the same planet that the Saiyans would eventually colonise and turn into Planet Vegeta. He fights Freeza's ancestor Chilled, and then Bardock becomes not just any Super Saiyan, but THE Super Saiyan. As in, the Super Saiyan that would be talked about in Dragon Ball folklore and eventually lead to Freeza committing mass genocide against the Saiyans because of it. I lost about 15 IQ points from typing that out.
Aesthetically speaking, this movie is... acceptable. It has that annoying plastic action figure look that would plague modern Dragon Ball until the Universal Survival arc. But the animated cut of when Bardock becomes a SSJ is pretty damn good looking.
I also don't like how Episode Of Bardock decides to give Bardock the "hero's journey". In the sense that his personality softens up due to his interactions with inhabitants of Planet Plant, and Berry specifically. Godammit, no. Again, what made the original TV special work was that Bardock never went through any shift in personality, despite the visions he experienced. Having the trigger for Bardock becoming a SSJ being based around Berry getting hurt, a character that has zero personality and has the most thinly veiled relationship imaginable, just make Bardock into generic Shonen anti-hero #6739. Something he never was, and never should have become.
There is such a fundamental misunderstanding of Bardock's character and story that permeates throughout Episode Of Bardock. Part of what makes Bardock special is that he's not special. He lives as a nobody and dies as a nobody. Having Bardock live through the events of the TV special, and then become THE Super Saiyan of legend -- which in itself kick starts the entire plot of Dragon Ball -- completely undermines everything about Bardock's story before that. Episode Of Bardock give Bardock the prestige of becoming the most important character in all of Dragon Ball.
No, no, no.
What makes Bardock stand out as a character is that he has no bearing on the story. He doesn't change anything despite knowing exactly what going to happen to him. That's part of the great tragedy of the character and his story. And Episode Of Bardock completely disregards that in favour of fanservice with no substance. It also has an extensional effect on Goku's character growth but implying that Goku's path to power and great strength was less due to him working hard and more to his special lineage.
I know there are a lot of people that say this story shouldn't be taken seriously. And I know it may even seem a bit unfair to review this story given the very apparent corporate-mandated obligation behind the conception of this story. But at the end of the day, I need to judge this for what it's worth. And for what it's worth... Episode Of Bardock is fucking awful. If not for Dragon Ball Minus, I'd say this is the worst portrayal of Bardock's character.
Fuck. This. Story.
0/10
===
Ah, what the hell. Let's throw in Minus as well and get it over with.
Dragon Ball −(Minus) The Departure of the Fated Child:
Spoiler:
You know, when I first heard the news about Toriyama proving a short story revealing Goku's mother, my initial reaction was, "Did we need this?" It felt quite inconsequential to reopen the chapter of Goku's family, as I felt that Toriyama and Toei had already done an adequate job of exploring the dynamic of Goku's relationship with his pure-blooded Saiyan kin. Raditz provided the earth-shattering reveal that Goku was an alien that was sent to Earth to conquer it, kill all its species and sell it off to the highest bidder for Freeza's planet trading empire. And Bardock's TV special -- despite being quite isolated in the grand scheme of Dragon Ball's plot -- provided the more than satisfactory plot infused backstory that set up the wonderfully cathartic overreaching theme concerning the dynamic between Goku and Freeza and their battle on Namek. But perhaps the introduction of Gine could provide the same wonderful pathos as the TV special or unveil a significant new part of lore that we didn't previously about.
*sigh*
Dragon Ball Minus suffers in many aspects. The biggest being that, well, there's really no story being told. As much as it pains me to say this, Episode Of Bardock, as offensively bad as that was, has some kind of narrative to at least elicit your attention on a surface level. Dragon Ball Minus only provides the most bare-bones of context imaginable regarding what it wants to cover. Mainly being that Goku had a mother, Goku was sent of to Earth by Bardock for his safety, and that Freeza was planning on destroying the Saiyans out of fear of their power. Two of those apsects was already covered in the Bardock TV special, so it begs the question of why that information needed to be regurgitated.
This leaves us with the sole "original" aspect that this side-story can provide... Goku's mother. Now, what do know about Goku's mother. Her name is Gine and she's Bardock's wife. That's it. There's is nothing compelling about Gine -- the main selling point of this entire side story -- for the reader to grab onto and be invested in. I can honestly say without exaggeration that Gine isn't even a character. She's just exists to provide the vindication to the fans(?) who have been pinning over the years to know what Goku's mother looked like. And after all these years, we got an answer... and I couldn't be anymore underwhelmed.
But what about Gine's partner, Bardock. Well, this is where shit get's really messy. We're introduced to Bardock fighting on an alien planet. Keep in mind, I use the term "introduced" rather than "reintroduced". Because the Bardock we see in Dragon Ball Minus is fundamentally a different characterization to what the 1990 TV special provided. In the TV special, we're provided a character who thrives in combat, doesn't think much of maternal or paternal bonds, places stocks in battle powers, but still has the foresight to think of what's best for his race -- given how he desperately tries to to warn them of Freeza's plans to kill them all -- and has some kind of pride in those of his comrades, given how he battles to avenge their murder and betrayal. Bardock in Dragon Ball Minus is nothing like his TV counterpart.
And given how Dragon Ball Minus is in itself meant to be a re-imaging of Goku's origins, it's pretty damn vital that you spend the time to build up Bardock's character. Because to some of the audience, they won't know who the hell Bardock is. They're going into this story treating it as a completely new narrative -- as they rightfully should -- because that's what Dragon Ball Minus is... a completely new narrative, with a completely new Bardock. What can be taken away from Dragon Ball Minus about Bardock as a character? Not much. He fights aliens and cares for his kin. It's as one dimensional as you could possibly get. I'm not asking for a fully fleshed out story, but I'd like to get some kind reason to be invested into Bardock's journey, that by proxy, makes Goku's origins all the more interesting to revisit. I mean, Dragon Ball Minus does give Bardock the motive that what he wants to send his son to Earth for his safety, but there isn't enough done within Dragon Ball Minus to empathize with Bardock's character. And that has knock-on effect with how much you can actually give a shit about Bardock doing, well, anything in Dragon Ball Minus.
Additionally, with Bardock's new personality and motivations, significant aspects on the original story, with regards to the revelation for why Goku was sent to Earth initially, have been retroactively altered and introduces three major issues:
1. It makes Goku's origin into a poor man's imitation of Superman's backstory
2. It destroys the wonderfully dramatic irony of how Goku's grows as a person
3. It paints an unflattering image of Raditz's character
Prior to Minus, people often tried to bring about comparisons with Goku and Superman, using their backstory as a point for similarities. But the only real similarities there was between Superman and Goku in terms of their backstories is that they were both sent to Earth as infants. That's it. The similarities between the backstories are extremely superficial at best. Taking Minus into account, the similarities between Goku and Superman's backstories become far more overt than they should have any right to be. Superman was sent to Earth for his own safety following the impending doom that faced his birth planet. In Minus, Bardock, fearing the death of his race and destruction of Planet Vegeta, send his infant child to Earth to ensure his safety. This has such a negative impact on the wonderful dramatic irony of Goku's growth as a character.
For Goku's entire life he dedicated himself to becoming stronger, saving the world from threats, while also forming bonds with all kinds of unique people. Then we get the reveal from Raditz that Goku was meant be a threat to the very world that he ended up protecting from several other threats. It's a reveal that brings about such wonderful dramatic irony for Goku's character. He was a Saiyan sent to Earth with the intention of conquering it and destroying all life on it. But instead, he was the very person who was preventing other threats, otherworldly or not, from conquering the Earth and/or destroying all life on it.
Then there's the fact that the main reason Goku was sent to Earth to even begin with was because he was born with such a low battle power, and to accommodate his lowly status as a Saiyan, he was sent to a backwater trash-level planet like Earth. But it was only because of those circumstances that Goku grew into the person he became and was able to train with the some of the most extraordinary martial artists in the universe and earn the respect of God himself. And it was only because Goku was sent to Earth in the fashion that he was able to continuously prove himself superior to the "elite" class of Saiyan warrior like Vegeta, despite Goku himself being a "low class" Saiyan. Dragon Ball Minus completely shits all over this wonderful twist of fate by having Goku being sent to Earth, not because his goal was the destroy all life on the planet, not because of his low classification as a Saiyan, or even by the fact he's a member of race of blood knights, but out of the concern of his mother and father for the safety of their child. A mother and father that, among their race of blood knights, were unique people for how much their valued and cared for their kin, and also somehow figured out that Freeza was planning something sinister against the Saiyans. It's so goddamn trite and shallow. All of this makes Goku seem too "special". Gone is the fantastic irony of Goku's origins and upbringing, and in its place is a watered down and shameless imitation of Superman's past.
*sigh*
Then there's Raditz. That poor fucker. The reveal of Planet Vegeta being destroyed by a meteor ends up being reconnected into Freeza being the one who destroyed it. Then the reveal that Goku was sent to Earth to conquer it turns out to be a big bag full of shit. However, the big problem that concerns Raditz with the circumstances of Goku being sent to Earth is how he interacts with Goku when he sees him for the first time in many years in the Saiyan arc. Raditz states that Goku should have destroyed all life on the Earth, as that is why he was sent to the planet in the first place. But that's not true at all. And just to make matters even worse, Gine specifically mentions that she would tell Raditz about what was going on with Goku being sent to Earth. But despite all that, Raditz is under the pretence that Goku was sent to Earth to take over the planet, instead of being sent their for his own safety.
Keep in mind, according the events in Dragon Ball Minus, one month passes from the moment Goku is sent to Earth to when Freeza kills all the Saiyans. So it's safe to say that Raditz was told about what was going on with Goku, right? However, given how hostile and indifferent Raditz acts towards Goku for not following through with his original plan was of conquering Earth when he sent there as an infant, it's obvious that Gine never told Raditz about the circumstances of why Goku was sent to Earth in the first place. And because of that lack of basic fucking communication, Raditz got the completely wrong understanding as to why Goku was sent to Earth in the first place, and the confrontation with Goku about that circumstance lead to both Raditz and Goku dying, making the whole point of Goku being sent to Earth for his own safety completely fucking pointless.
Raditz and Goku could have avoided any violent confrontation if Gine, or Bardock for that matter, had bothered to tell Raditz what the fuck was going on with Goku. Instead, Raditz is left in the dark, makes a common accusation based on the circumstances of Saiyans being sent to foreign planets to conquer them and sell them off for Freeza's empire and dies because of poor communication (or lack thereof). Either that, or Raditz was told about what happened to Goku and just forgot. Or perhaps he knew the truth and just didn't care. Which I guess would fall into line with the stupid underlying theme that Dragon Ball Minus is trying to push, being that that Goku's unique character development was more to due with the unique specific family ties he had. Or maybe Raditz is a colossal fucktard. Jesus Christ, this is all so goddamn stupid.
*sigh*
You know, I used to be one of the people that often gave Dragon Ball Minus a bit of a pass in the past because it's only 16 pages. But then three things quickly dawned on me after I read Dragon Ball Minus:
1. Dragon Ball Minus wastes a quarter of it's material on pointless cameos for Raditz and Vegeta, the Galactic Patrol sending Jaco (something the Jaco The Galactic Patrolman manga already tells us) and Freeza's exposition about how he is going to kill the Saiyans just so that Super Saiyan God, a form that has nothing to do with the events of Dragon Ball Minus, could be named dropped as a way of promoting the at time recently released Battle Of Gods movie that introduced that form.
2. I've read several one shot stories that have had similar length, and even less length, in terms of pages to work with compared to Dragon Ball Minus and have still managed to produce much better storytelling and characterization.
3. Toriyama has previously produced an underwhelming backstory in the form of the Future Trunks in the manga side story Trunks The History - The Lone Warrior. And in that case, that side story had more than twice the amount of pages to work with Dragon Ball Minus.
Look... I'm not averse to change. I don't mind revising certain story threads on one simple condition: they contribute something worthwhile. Dragon Ball Minus brings nothing worthwhile to table. As a matter of fact, it takes away an aspect of Dragon Ball that was so unique to it. Dragon Ball Minus does far more harm to the original story's themes than Toriyama perhaps intended for it too.
I can honestly say with no hesitation and hyperbole that Dragon Ball Minus is the worst thing Toriyama has ever contributed to the franchise.
It's astonishing how much 16 pages of material can damage the perspective of how you can view the original story, at least within the thematic sense of Goku's character. But the saddest thing about this scenario is that this could have easily been a decent abridged version of Toei's Bardock TV special with Goku's mother sprinkled in there for good measure. Redundant that may have been in the end, but at least there would have been some kind of merit and/or value. Dragon Ball Minus has no value. It's 16 pages of glorified bullet points. There's no story, no characterization and nothing positive to take away from it. Dragon Ball Minus is a marketing tool. And even worse, it's not even a superficially entertaining marketing tool like Dragon Ball Super.
Dragon Ball Minus exists as a recton solely for the sake it. And all this coming from a person like Akira Toriyama is such a colossal fucking letdown.
-1/10
SPECIAL NOTE: Covering Minus was a last minute decision on my part. This personal assessment was originally meant to be focused on the 1990 TV special and Episode Of Bardock. But I decided to thrown in Minus because... when am I ever gonna get the chance to talk about Minus in detail again? And because of that, this little essay ended up being delayed for several days because there was a lot I needed to say after reading that and I got super busy in middle of reading and doing the write up.
