Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 36 - DBZ movie 1

[Robo4900]

Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone between and beyond, and welcome to week 36 of the first Dragon Ball rewatch of the decade.
We're doing five episodes a week, and we'll be watching every single episode of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT. All 508 episodes. Plus the TV specials and the movies.
I encourage you all to watch in Japanese with subtitles, especially if you have never done so before, but watch along in whichever way brings you the most joy.

The first Z movie! My personal favourite.

Previous thread: Week 35 (DBZ 3-7)
Next thread: Week 37 (DBZ 8-12)

Anyway, without further ado...

Dragon Ball Z
"Return My Gohan!!"
Dub title: Dead Zone
Originally released 15th of July 1989
Director: Daisuke Nishio
Animation supervisor: Minoru Maeda
Written by: Takao Koyama

Far off, in a remote location, Piccolo is training for his next battle with Goku. Without warning, he is attacked by a mysterious group of powerful fighters. Back on Mount Paozu, the mysterious group easily defeats Gyūmaō and Chichi, and kidnaps Gohan, who has the Four-Star Ball. Goku returns home to find Chichi beaten up, and learns that Gohan has been taken. Using the Dragon Radar, Goku determines his location and heads out to retrieve his son.

Elsewhere, the leader of the mysterious group is revealed to be Garlic Jr., whose goal is to obtain the seven Dragon Balls and be granted immortality so he can take the throne of God.

Interesting trivia:

• This film first premiered as part of the Summer 1989 "Toei Cartoon Festival" on the 15th of July 1989.
• The movie initially did not have a subtitle, instead being called "Dragon Ball Z" like the anime. The Japanese subtitle, "Return My Gohan!!", is taken from the back of the 1990 VHS and LaserDisc releases where an upper quote is placed next to the DBZ logo in the corner, and wouldn't be used officially until Daizenshuu 6.
• As with all the Dragon Ball features of the 80s and 90s, this movie was animated with both a full 4:3 frame and a cropped 1.85:1 frame in mind. This allows it to be shown both in a movie theatre at the festival and viewable on home TVs without issue, and is why Kanzenshuu stalwarts don't get too upset with widescreen crops of the movies. The anime itself meanwhile was never intended for a theatrical presentation, so its shots are composed with only 4:3 in mind.
  • The exceptions are the opening and closing, which instead have a selective 16:9 crop similar to The Final Chapters.
• This movie also contradicts the manga/anime in three major ways:
  • First, Kuririn is heavily involved with Gohan's rescue, and should have recognized him when they arrived at Kame House at the start of Z. Kuririn knows he's Goku's son in the later scenes of this movie, because he says "Where's Goku's kid?!" after he wakes up during Garlic Jr. opening the Dead Zone portal, and Goku refers to him as Gohan in front of him at the end of the movie. Similarly, Bulma and Roshi seemed to know about Gohan when the gang are at Kame house at the beginning of the film, implying Goku had explained the situation to them earlier off-screen.
  • Second, Garlic Jr. uses the Dragon Balls to wish for immortality. Gohan's Four Star Ball isn't stone when he arrives at Kame House, and the Dragon Radar can't detect the Dragon Balls when they're stone either. As such, the movie needs to take place at least one year before Raditz arrives.
  • Lastly, Gohan reveals his hidden strength in front of Piccolo. In the Raditz arc, Piccolo doesn't learn this until Gohan deals a major headbutt on the titular Saiyan.
• Daizenshuu 6 says that the movie does in fact take place after Goku and Chichi get married and before Goku dies to Raditz, but does not offer an explaination regarding Kuririn.
• Garlic Jr. and his squad are all given names inspired by spices. Garlic Jr. and Ginger are obvious, while Nikki is named after the Japanese word for cinnamon, while Sansho is named after "Zanthoxylum piperitum", or the Japanese prickly ash pepper.
• The Funimation dub meanwhile would call Garlic Jr.'s squad The Spice Boys, which doubles as a reference to The Spice Girls.
  • Additionally Garlic Jr.'s henchmen become giant by calling out various foodstuffs that use their namesake as ingredients, including throat lozenge (Nikki), ginger pork (Ginger) and eel over rice (Sansho).
• This movie has been dubbed into English several times. The first was in about 1996, dubbed by the same crew as Funimation's 1995 dub of Dragon Ball episodes 1-13 and movie 1. It's likely this was used to help pitch DBZ to Saban. It featured the debut of Ian Corlett as Son Goku, but little is known about it. Garlic Jr. was renamed to something along the lines of "Vendar" in this dub. In 1997, a second dub of this movie was done by Pioneer, subcontracted from Funimation, recorded at and produced in association with Ocean, and done uncut. In 2005, Funimation did an in-house dub of the movie; it mostly recycled the Pioneer script, though it censored references to hell, and made some other random changes. Sometime in about 2000, there was also a Big Green dub of this movie.
• Some dialogue comparisons between the Pioneer and Funimation dubs, courtesy of MasenkoHA:
  • Subbed Chi Chi: W-Who are you? What do you want with us?
    Pioneer Chi Chi: Hey who are you! Speak up? What the hell do you want?!
    Funimation Chi Chi: "So just who do you think you are are? Come on answer me?
  • *After eating the apple*
    Subbed Gohan: Delicious!
    Pioneer Gohan: Yummy!
    Funimation Gohan: Taste like apples!
  • Subbed Nikki: When children eat those... They become inebriated.
    Pioneer Nikki: Children musn't eat those... Cause they see things...
    Funimation Nikki: Kids aren't suppose to have those... It will make you weird.
  • Subbed Garlic Jr: Rain blood mercilessly over the entire world!
    Pioneer Garlic Jr: All will fear my wrath, let this world be drenched in blood!
    Funimation Garlic Jr: All who live shall fear my wrath, let this world be drenched in the blood of the righteous!
  • Subbed Goku: Give me back my Gohan!
    Pioneer Goku: Return Gohan!
    Funimation Goku: Give me back my son!
  • Subbed Piccolo: ... But even if your life goes on, if you cannot do anything, it will indeed be hell for you, I will give you a taste of the pain of hell.
    Pioneer Piccolo: Try to imagine how it would feel to live unable to do anything with all that power you possess, then you'll know what hell is really like.
    Funimation Piccolo:Try to imagine how it would feel to live on forever, unable to do anything with all your power, an eternity where there's nothing but you.
  • Subbed God: He fell into the very hell he created. Garlic must go on living in there forever.
    Pioneer Kami: He fell into the hell he created and he will live forever there.
    Funimation Kami: He fell into the Dead Zone of his own creation and he will live forever there.
• Forgot to mention this with Z episode 1, but the opening at Gohan's hut is the first time we've seen this location since Goku stopped by before he returned to Kame House to train with Master Roshi.
• Garlic Jr's attack on Gyuumao has literally no sound.
• The detail of the Dragon Balls pulsing when they get close to each other is an invention of the anime.
• Garlic Jr. is only the second villain to be able to sense ki, after Piccolo Jr.
• The basic setup of this movie is similar to the Raditz opening where Gohan is kidnapped by the villain and the Goku+Piccolo track them down thanks to the Dragon Ball on Gohan's hat. The battle requires the removal of weighted clothing, Piccolo also declares that he'll kill Goku next, and Gohan's hidden power is revealed and used against the villain.
• The Dragon Radar is depicted showing co-ordinate readouts, the first time they've ever done so. Previously they only showed how many balls were gathered in a cluster with a number tag (which is also depicted in the movie).
• Yet again Goku is depicted with Nyoi-Bo, when it should actually be connecting Karin's Tower to God's Lookout.
• Alcohol is actually poisonous for young children even in small doses, as it lowers blood pressure and sugar levels, resulting in a coma, seizures and even death. Perfect material for a goofy song for children!
• Going by rough KBABZ research and guesstimations, the fruit Gohan ate contained about 10 grams of alcohol in it, or half a drink's worth.
• Unless the fruit contained carbon dioxide, Gohan should not be hiccuping while drunk.
• Shen Long being summoned uses both his classic sound effects from the anime, as well as some which would be used for the Super Saiyan transformation (formerly used for General Blue's paralysis vision).
• Shen Long is also much, MUCH longer here than he usually is.
• The music during Shen Long's summoning are a re-scored version of his TV anime summoning music.
• The visuals of Garlic Jr.'s forces swarming the lands, as well as the Garlic Sr. flashback, are strikingly similar to the opening of the second Dragon Ball feature, Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle.
• Garlic Jr. is only the second villain to have his wish granted, after Piccolo Daimao.
• Fittingly, it is the Four Star Ball that shoots past Goku after Garlic Jr. has his wish granted.
• According to God's dialogue, Namekians live for at least 300 years, at least in the movies.
• Presumably Gohan having to pee is another drunk joke. Similar to the hiccuping however this shouldn't be something he does, as Gohan didn't consume any liquid to get drunk.
  • The TV edit of Pioneer's uncut dub cut the shots of Gohan peeing on Kuririn.
• This is the first time in the series we've seen Kami get into an actual fight.
• Interestingly, when Goku blocks the sword with Nyoi-bo, a crack is seen on it.
• Goku's hair is also cut in this sequence. The last time it happened is against Tao Pai-Pai, and just like that time, it grows back a few shots afterwards.
• Garlic Jr.'s Hulk-like form was inspired by the comic book character himself.
• When God meets back up with Goku and Piccolo, his shoes are blue rather than tan.
• It takes 34 minutes (or 90% of the movie) for anyone to mention the Dead Zone, which must be bizarre for anyone used to the American subtitle for the film.
• The aftermath music is very similar to the music that ended the original Dragon Ball movie.
• The closing credits for this feature only show Gohan running over the grassy hill, and doesn't feature the cutaways or the rest of the cast running up behind him like in the anime version.

Episode summaries, airdates, and titles courtesy of Kanzenshuu's episode guide. Filler breakdowns and Dragon Ball logo provided, and trivia co-written, by KBABZ. Additional trivia courtesy of MasenkoHA

[Matches Malone]

Despite having a similar story to the Raditz part of the manga with Gohan being kidnapped, I think this was pretty good. The art and animation are nice, I liked Piccolo still being seen as a threat, the fights were well done, and Garlic Jr was a fun villain. If you've got 45 minutes to spend on something DB related, you can't go wrong with this.

[MasenkoHA]

Easily my favorite Dragon Ball movie, the story is simple but fun, the backgrounds are great, the fighting choreography is top notch. The score is awesome (I’m particularly fond of the Makafushigi Adventure instrumental/Piccolo’s theme mash up when Goku and Piccolo team up against Garlic Jr and the battle is over music cue at the end)

I’ve seen many argue that this feels more like a Dragon Ball movie than a Z movie and if we’re making a distinction between the two I agree. Piccolo is still evil, God is a prominent character still, Goku rides Kinto Un and used Nyoibo and Makafushigi Adventure’s instrumental is used as his motif. It also lacks the sci fi bent of Z.

The Pioneer dub is solid work. The script is faithful but adjusted to flow like natural English dialog, the Japanese score is left intact, most of the actors sound better than normal (sans Kelamis and Brown)worth noting Karl Willem was the voice director here where Barry Watson and Sarah-Ann Dafoe were co-directors for the first two seasons with the Ocean cast.

The Pioneer movies were essentially a glimpse into what Dragon Ball in English could have looked liked had it fallen into the hands of a more competent company. Both Watson and Fukunaga talked about producing fainthful uncut English dubs with the Japense music intact since 1997 and it’s shame the 3 movies is all what we got until Kai (and even than Kai has issues)

My only issues is I really don’t like Peter’s performance here and Don Brown’s Roshi is laughably bad (but at least he’s barely in it)


Now the Funi dub...hmmm. Well I’m gonna be blunt there’s no reason for this or the redubs of Z movie 2 and 3 to exist. They were already dubbed uncut. The best argument people will make is “consistent cast” but then we have the Dragon Ball movies going through 3 different Gokus and Bulmas so it’s a rather weak defense. I also found it laughable they removed all uses of the word hell from the Pioneer dub and (initially) used a replacement score. Thereby making this “Ultimate Uncut”’version more censored. Even when the Japanese score was restored Head Cha La and Tenkaichi Gohan are absent. I will say Schemmel sounds better than Kelamis here though.


Lastly, I want to address the obvious distinction between Pioneer’s regard for the original Japanese version and Funimation’s regard (or disregard) Pioneer actually translate the text in the OP and in the end credits they credit the Japanese cast and crew first including the key animators, in betweeners, script writer etc and THEN they credit the English cast and crew. Funimation though? No credit to the animators or the writer. The Japanese cast isn’t credited at all. Only Toriyama, Daisuke Noshio, and the people responsible for the Japanese music and Op and ed receive any credit. It just screams disrespectful to me and it took until fucking Dragon Ball Z Kai for Funimation to finally acknowledge the Japanese cast and crew.

It’s rather annoying watching the Japanese sub and seeing people who had nothing to do with what I watched (and only those people) being credited.

Again Pioneer or a like minded company should have received the license.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Well, we have the first DBZ based movie and for basically being a partial rehash of the Raditz kidnaps Gohan plot of the first few episodes of the series it's an overall good adventure that still has some feeling of OG DB in there without the heavy sci fi direction Z itself went in pretty quickly. I like the references such as Goku using the Nyoibo/Power Pole even when some of them contradict things already established within the continuity of the manga and anime. Of course, the Pioneer dub is great and definitely the best way hands down to watch the film in English over the 2004/2005 in house FUNi redubbed version and same goes with World's Strongest and Tree of Might. This also happens to have the distinction of being the only movie in the original run to get an entire episodic based follow up arc within the show itself just about two years later.

The Big Green dub is absolutely hilarious as all of them are, mostly due to the rapid fire way in which the VA's deliver their lines leading to some real meme worthy gems.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BQhHqX3NbR0

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OOVxs2Iu6m8

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=if5ZwtkruiQ

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=29udfP-AEFs

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_B_EQG0nRQU


There's the Speedy dub as well, which is also laughable in its own way.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZoHBCZllU0

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tbe6YuJD65g

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlPBldh4N_0

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Yg6GglCO4

[Robo4900]

The Pioneer dub is solid work. The script is faithful but adjusted to flow like natural English dialog, the Japanese score is left intact, most of the actors sound better than normal (sans Kelamis and Brown)worth noting Karl Willem was the voice director here where Barry Watson and Sarah-Ann Dafoe were co-directors for the first two seasons with the Ocean cast.

I think Karl Willems directed some of the Ocean TV stuff in season 2. He may have also been one of the many directors of the Westwood dub, though I don't know which episodes he directed. He also directed the Kai dub, as well as the English dub of Death Note.

[KBABZ]

Aside from the drunk Gohan scene, I liked this movie a lot. Because it's not trying to capture an adventure like the Dragon Ball movies and instead focus on a central conflict, it has a lot more focus and momentum, which makes it more compelling to watch. Given the fourteen movies that followed it, it seems like Toei agreed!

[Zestanor]

Actually I’ve never seen the movies. What’s the best way to buy this? I assume the Dragon Boxes have been superseded, and there’s a competent HD North American release.

[MasenkoHA]

Actually I’ve never seen the movies. What’s the best way to buy this? I assume the Dragon Boxes have been superseded, and there’s a competent HD North American release.

I just got the 5 movie pack that has the first 5 Z movies. It looked fine to me.

[Robo4900]

Actually I’ve never seen the movies. What’s the best way to buy this? I assume the Dragon Boxes have been superseded, and there’s a competent HD North American release.

To be honest, there aren't really any bad releases of the movies. Pick whichever one is most convenient.

If you're looking to watch dubbed, though, try to get the original Pioneer DVD single.

For Japanese viewing, though, I would say your best bet is either the Ultimate Uncut DVD or the Blu-ray, depending on whether you would prefer 4:3 (the DVD) or HD (the Blu-ray, which is 16:9). Both look very nice, and as noted in the OP, the movies were meant to be seen in either 4:3 or 16:9, so you can pick whichever you prefer.
I personally prefer to see the full 4:3 frame, but the benefits of HD visuals are hard to ignore.

[Zestanor]

I might just skip the movies because I don’t feel like buying DVDs at this point in my life.

[Robo4900]

I might just skip the movies because I don’t feel like buying DVDs at this point in my life.

They're also on streaming. I think you can get them on iTunes, and they're on FunimationNow, I believe.

[Matches Malone]

Actually I’ve never seen the movies. What’s the best way to buy this? I assume the Dragon Boxes have been superseded, and there’s a competent HD North American release.

Funimation released all 13 movies in 3 packs, each no more than $20. If you're lucky, you might find them on sale for $15.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Great movie, I'd say it and World's Strongest are among the few Dragon Ball movies that are perfect. Just everything, the visuals, the action and the score are all top notch.

I still remember when OG Dragon Ball finished up on Toonami UK in 2004 I always wanted more content set before Z when Piccolo was still evil and still Goku's rival. This movie fits that bill quite well.

[MyVisionity]

This movie is basically a retelling of the Raditz arc, and Garlic Junior's character and backstory is taken from Piccolo Daimao. I can understand why some fans referred to him as an "evil Namek" back in the day. The Garlic Junior filler saga will also borrow from the Daimao arc.

The artwork and animation in this is wonderful. It really leaves a lasting impression. I like that shot with Gyuumao and Chichi on the ground calling out for Gohan. The detail is great. I also dug the sequence showing Garlic Senior and his army of demons rebelling against God.

The score music also leaves an impression. These tracks are all great and instant favorites. The insert song, "Tenkaichi Gohan" was a nice touch as well.

Garlic Junior is voiced by Akira Kamiya, Kenshiro of Hokuto no Ken fame. Shigeru Chiba, another Hokuto no Ken regular, plays the henchman Nikki. And of course Garlic faces off against Piccolo, Toshio Furukawa, in a Kenshiro/Shin rematch.

The action sequences in this are both exciting and funny. My favorite fight is Goku versus Ginger and Nikki outside the castle. Just awesome. I thought Garlic grabbing Goku and Piccolo and crashing through the wall and out into the ground was pretty funny. As was Garlic being overtaken by Goku and Piccolo's energy wave.

It's impossible for me to watch this movie and not hear the Ocean cast and dialogue in the back of my head. The nostalgia factor plus they were just that good. I can't even attempt to watch the in-house crew's version, although I saw it once years ago. I recall that Chuck Huber and Chris Cason did an audio commentary that I remember being funny.

I love Peter Kelamis as Goku and enjoyed him here as well.

It takes 34 minutes (or 90% of the movie) for anyone to mention the Dead Zone, which must be bizarre for anyone used to the American subtitle for the film.

I don't think it's so unusual. Some story titles go for a straightforward approach and reference something that is central to the plot, others reference more marginal elements. It's a stylistic choice that I appreciate.

[WittyUsername]

I never understood why they decided to have random musical numbers for the first two DBZ movies. Dragon Ball is not a musical, and it’s not like the previous three movies had those. They only serve to disrupt the flow of the story.

[MyVisionity]

I never understood why they decided to have random musical numbers for the first two DBZ movies. Dragon Ball is not a musical, and it’s not like the previous three movies had those. They only serve to disrupt the flow of the story.

Maybe Toei was just experimenting with something new. And they're movies, so adding a special musical number makes sense. I don't really see how the story flow is disrupted. I thought their timing and placement was appropriate.

[WittyUsername]

I never understood why they decided to have random musical numbers for the first two DBZ movies. Dragon Ball is not a musical, and it’s not like the previous three movies had those. They only serve to disrupt the flow of the story.

Maybe Toei was just experimenting with something new. And they're movies, so adding a special musical number makes sense. I don't really see how the story flow is disrupted. I thought their timing and placement was appropriate.

They just come out of nowhere, and are never addressed. It’s like when the John Favreau version of The Jungle Book randomly has King Louie doing a musical number, even though the rest of the movie isn’t a musical.

Mind you, I don’t particularly care for musicals in general, so take that as you will.

[MasenkoHA]

Neither are really “musical numbers”’ per se in the sense the character break out into song though. Masako Nozawa is singing them as Gohan but Gohan isn’t actually singing a song. It’s not much different from Son Goku’s song about his Kinto Un in episode 43


I would hardly say Tenkaichi Gohan came out of nowhere as there was an actual set up with Gohan eating a hallucinogenic apple.

[KBABZ]

I liked the movie a lot, but the drunk apple scene means it is automatically not a perfect movie.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I liked the movie a lot, but the drunk apple scene means it is automatically not a perfect movie.

I don't think it's bad per se but by the same token not quite great either, and same as I Love Piccolo in World's Strongest plus Gohan's instrumental whistle song scene along with Hiya Dragon in Z movie 4 (though a lyrical version of Kuchibu no Kimochi with Nozawa singing does exist) but overall i'd say that it's one of those your mileage may vary sort of things. Personally, i find the scene cutesy and funny but at the same time can also see why some fans wouldn't exactly be keen about it.