Deep Thoughts: The World's Strongest

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ABED
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Deep Thoughts: The World's Strongest

Post by ABED » Thu Feb 02, 2023 8:18 am

The Japanese title, "The World's Strongest Guy" is interesting. It would be great if they didn't include the last word. "We've come up with the title for the second movie, 'The World's Strongest'" "Hell yeah!" "… Guy" "Woops, you went too far". Wisely, the dub title is just "The World's Strongest". I like it a lot, even if it were a generic action movie title. However, it's specific to this movie.

I enjoy this movie quite a bit. It doesn't quite feel like Dragon Ball, though the humor does. The action is good, the humor lands (including a clever play on words), and the villain's plan is interesting and makes sense. Sure, his ultimate goal is world domination (like it is for most self-respecting supervillains), his aim is to put his brain from the giant robot into the body of the world's strongest fighter. However, his idea of who the strongest is 50 years out of date. Kinda funny that characters as smart as these two don't stop to think that in 50 years, things had changed a lot. Regardless, I'm glad they did as it found a great way to include Muten Roshi in the story.

Taking a step back for a bit, the film begins with Oolong dragging Gohan along as he tries to gather the Dragon Balls so he can make the same wish he made in the first story arc. Gohan and Oolong are an odd pairing and I wouldn't have minded if this duo had been used more just to see where it went.

Going back to the humor, while I love badass Goku, an aspect of his character that makes what is an otherwise static generic martial arts hero is his humor. His naiveté is fun and doesn't get old (not for me, anyway), but I like when he slips up, in one case, literally. After fighting one of Uiro and Cochin's goons outside, he does some cool looking back handsprings, he falls on the side of his face and slides backwards. Far from undercutting heroism and ability, it's moments like those that make the character more accessible. We can more easily see ourselves in someone like Goku. He's strong and capable, but he's not above clumsiness.

My favorite part of the movie is Goku battling a brainwashed Piccolo all the while trying to keep Gohan safe. The coolest part is seeing his father and his uncle/father figure being forced to fight and this pushes him past his breaking point and unleashes his power.

These movies are formulaic so there isn't much for me to dissect, but one here are a few moments that always stick out to me as cool, fun, or interesting:
Cochin's arm turning into a Gatling gun is well animated.
Cochin being revealed as an android is a clever reveal. I don't know if anyone else saw it coming. Maybe the arm gun was the tip off, but I remember being surprised by the reveal before his death.
I still don't understand, is the glass magnifying the size of Uiro's brain or is that literally how big it is? If it's that big, does he think he's going to literally fit it in Goku's skull?

The dub:
Much like the music not leaving an impression, the new voices for the villains doesn't leave an impression. Granted I'm so used to the Ocean dub voices after watching these movies so many times, but it's not a good sign to leave zero impression. They aren't terrible at all, just not memorable.
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Re: Deep Thoughts: The World's Strongest

Post by Xeogran » Thu Feb 02, 2023 8:58 am

Why was Dr. Wheelo's brain THIS large? I still wonder. Did it continue growing/getting smarter overtime or what? :lol:

On a trivial note, it's fun that SDBH develops Dr. Wheelo a bit further by giving him a human design at last, in the form of Dr. W. That plus some more characteristics to his personality, such as he likes to analyze stuff.
And his brain there isn't that big anymore for reasons :P

If Kochin was an Android, does it mean that Wheelo is the one who made him before he got frozen? Since he was completely loyal to him and all.

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Re: Deep Thoughts: The World's Strongest

Post by MasenkoHA » Thu Feb 02, 2023 10:48 am

I think my problem with the Funimation/Pioneer title is The World's Strongest feels like it could be referring to multiple characters when it's just talking about Goku. I think The Strongest Man in the World would have sufficed.

One thing I like about this movie is that it's both embracing the more sci-fi heavy approach the main story had taken while also being a final hurrah for Classic Dragon Ball's iconography. It's the last time we see Goku use his Nyoi Bo as a weapon and his Kinto Un as a means of transportation and the last time Makafushigi Adventure will be used as a motif for Goku
Xeogran wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 8:58 am
If Kochin was an Android, does it mean that Wheelo is the one who made him before he got frozen? Since he was completely loyal to him and all.
I assume Kochin was a human given cybernetic modifications

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Re: Deep Thoughts: The World's Strongest

Post by Grimlock » Thu Feb 02, 2023 2:18 pm

Xeogran wrote: Thu Feb 02, 2023 8:58 amOn a trivial note, it's fun that SDBH develops Dr. Wheelo a bit further by giving him a human design at last, in the form of Dr. W. That plus some more characteristics to his personality, such as he likes to analyze stuff.
Much more than trivia. This is the kind of stuff we would never get except when, if ever, Toriyama decided to do something with this character. The change is "status quo" here is impressive and cannot be understated, considering it came from a game. To put in perspective, we never got anything related to teen Goten and Trunks in the franchise, but now that Dragon Ball Super Super Hero exists, there are already a lot of merchandising and other stuff related to them, all because Toriyama (finally!) decided to portray them as such.

I really thought we would all leave this planet without seeing Wheelo in his human form, but that changed, fortunately. Hope to see more of this in the future.
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Re: Deep Thoughts: The World's Strongest

Post by 8000 Saiyan » Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:52 pm

I enjoy the heck out of this movie, but I still don't understand how Wheelo was going to take over Goku's body with that huge brain of his.

Also, one of his minions is a yellow Dodoria.
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