General Information

Movie Premiere & Promotion

Following the success of Battle of Gods, the franchise’s first film in 17 years, a sequel was announced in mid-July 2014 to debut during the 2015 “Golden Week” holidays nationwide in Japan. Shortly after the movie was announced, and prior to its official title being established, a small flyer featuring promotional artwork by director Tadayoshi Yamamuro was distributed at the Jump Victory Carnival to attendees. The flyer prominently displayed the movie’s tagline, “The worst wish in history. That is the beginning of despair.”, and a comment from Akira Toriyama on the reverse side.

Toei eventually released a teaser trailer for the yet unnamed Dragon Ball Z movie on 24 July 2014, shortly following its tease on the Japanese morning program Mezamashi TV a few days prior. The movie’s official title, “Revival of ‘F'”, was later confirmed by Shueisha in November 2014, and the official trailer followed shortly thereafter in December 2014. Between then and the movie’s release on 18 April 2015, a second full-length trailer was released.

Along with confirmation of the movie’s official title, Shueisha unveiled the movie’s official promotional poster. Shortly thereafter, Jump Festa ’15 hosted a 40 minute “One Piece x Dragon Ball Panel” on 20 December 2014, which included Masako Nozawa (Son Goku), Ryūsei Nakao (Freeza), and Mayumi Tanaka (Kuririn). Along with revealing a few elements of the movie’s story, the panelists noted that the film’s dialogue had not yet been recorded. Additionally, the Toei Animation goods booth handed out a new promotional pamphlet for the movie which featured the movie’s official poster on the cover, a very brief introduction and movie synopsis on the inside, and a special message from Akira Toriyama on the back.

In the months leading up to the movie’s premiere, an official promotional blog run in-character by “Bulma” opened to provide daily countdown posts, beginning with “Day 59” (Go-kū), with thoughts and comments from various other characters, staff, and voice actors from the movie. Joint promotional campaigns and product tie-ins were also launched with several major companies in Japan, including Kirin Beverage, Lawson, HMV, Kura Corporation, JoySound, Honya Club, Meitetsu, First Kitchen, and Curry House. There were also numerous magazines and websites that featured interviews with the movie’s staff, voice actors, and original author Akira Toriyama.

Movie Synopsis

Down in Hell, a gaggle of cute angels and stuffed animals crowd around a lone tree in a verdant field. Encased in a pod suspended from the tree’s branches is Freeza, looking thoroughly displeased.

Sorbet, the de facto leader of Freeza’s remaining forces, reluctantly orders their withdrawal from Planet 448 as the inhabitants rebel. He inquires of his soldiers’ progress in locating the Namekians’ new planet, but in spite of their many spy robots, they have found nothing. In disgust, he orders Tagoma, his top lieutenant, to accompany him to Earth to return Lord Freeza to life!

From orbit, Sorbet and Tagoma see that someone besides “that woman” can collect Dragon Balls, and this group already has six! Bringing the Pilaf Trio aboard, the group goes on to obtain the seventh ball at the bottom of the ocean.

Elsewhere, Piccolo is babysitting an infant Pan in front of Mr. Satan’s mansion, rocking her cradle with his foot. Videl and Gohan apologize for being late as Piccolo acts embarrassed. He suddenly notices an unusual ki in the distance.

In a rocky, barren landscape, Sorbet orders Pilaf to summon Shenlong, and orders that Lord Freeza be returned to life! Though Shenlong initially resists reviving a chopped-up body, the minions go through with it anyway. Freeza’s body lands in a pile of chunks in front of them. The Dragon then demands a second wish, so Shuu hastily wishes for one million zenny. The Dragon takes its leave, leaving Sorbet and Tagoma to collect the pieces of Freeza before departing.

Freeza pieces himself back together in a healing chamber on Sorbet’s ship. Freeza emerges in his first form, surveying his surroundings. Sorbet hastily introduces himself, as do his lieutenants Tagoma and Shisami, who Sorbet claims are equal in ability to the late Zarbon and Dodoria. Sorbet suggests reviving his father as well, but Freeza refuses, citing “Papa’s” egotism. After killing a random minion and grousing about the state of his own power, Freeza says it will take some time before his revenge. Tagoma attempts to reason with him, suggesting that it would be wiser to simply ignore the Saiyans; Freeza lifts him up telekinetically, then tosses him through the viewport into space. Soldiers are sucked out into the vacuum, as Sorbet orders the shields raised. Sorbet attempts to explain that Son Goku has become much, much stronger since their last encounter, but in spite of this massive power-up, Freeza, who has never trained before in his life, believes that if he trains for a few months, he will be able to surpass even that Saiyan…!

After a brief argument with a Capsule Corporation receptionist, Jaco, a member of the Galactic Patrol, is able to meet up with his old friends Dr. Brief and Bulma. Jaco says he’s heard that she was friends with the one who defeated Freeza… who has been revived, and is on his way to Earth with a thousand soldiers! Bulma attempts to summon Whis through a strawberry sundae offering, but when nothing happens, she decides to let everyone know about the situation herself.

Kuririn’s arrest of two thugs is interrupted by a call from Bulma. He hurries home to prepare, where he puts on his dōgi, and gets No. 18 to shave his head. He tells his wife and daughter to stay safe. As he flies away, No. 18 whispers, “So cool….”

Goku and Vegeta are sparring against Whis. While both appear to be going all-out, neither is able to touch him, and when they attempt to attack in tandem, they merely get in each other’s way. Both are thinking before they attack; they need to let their bodies take the initiative and act. Vegeta is always tense and slow to react, while Goku is too relaxed and open to attack. At this point, Beerus appears: he can’t get any sleep with that racket going on. He sneezes, and sends an energy ball hurtling towards a nearby planet, which explodes. Whis complains about the time that he had to fix Beerus’ destruction of several nearby suns. Goku is surprised, and asks if Whis can create worlds, but Whis says he can merely rewind time a bit and do things over. Vegeta asks what he is; Whis supposes he is… a life-form called “Whis”.

Back on Earth, Freeza’s ship arrives, and troops spill out. Earth’s fighters can feel Freeza’s ki and head in that direction, but not before he, as a greeting, obliterates North City with a single blast.

Gohan purposely avoided telling Goten and Trunks about the impending fight because the two of them might do something rash. Freeza notices the heroes, and singles out the one he remembers killing on Namek. A spaceship arrives and Bulma hops out. She wastes no time in unloading a verbal barrage on Freeza, who responds asking where Son Goku is. She engages in provocation until Kuririn points out to her that Freeza has in fact gotten much, much stronger, like he’s a different person. She quickly changes her tune and asks for Freeza to wait until Son-kun shows up, but when Freeza gives only 10 seconds, she unloads on him again. Freeza unleashes his army, while each hero is forced to engage multiple enemies at a time. Freeza dryly notes that Earth’s fighters are intentionally avoiding killing their foes.

As the crowd of soldiers thins, Piccolo is taken on directly by Shisami, who proves a more formidable challenge than the others. Gohan steps in, however, and makes quick work of him after becoming a Super Saiyan. Sorbet is horrified, and Freeza says he didn’t know how truly fearsome a Super Saiyan was.

Earth’s fighters take a senzu each to recover from their fight. Freeza laments the pitiable state of his forces, as one soldier apologizes for being no match for the Earthlings. Freeza comments that their lying around like that is an eyesore, and dispatches them all in an instant.

Freeza eyes Gohan and knocks him down with a single punch. Kuririn panics when he realize that Gohan has no pulse. There’s no way for him to eat a senzu like this, either…! Piccolo uses a kiai as a form of chest-compression which gets Gohan’s heart beating and enables him to down the second-to-last senzu.

The Oracle Fish shows up to tell Whis that there was a message for him earlier. Whis is excited at the thought of there being something tasty waiting for him, but his joy is quickly interrupted by Bulma shouting at him for not getting back earlier and that Freeza has returned. Whis notes that it would take 35 minutes, but Bulma interrupts to tell Goku to just teleport there already!

Goku tells Vegeta to hurry up and grab his hand, which flusters him. Goku reminds him that if they don’t hurry, Bulma might get killed, and he reluctantly puts his hand in Goku’s. The two of them disappear from Beerus’ planet.

Goku teleports to Earth, and Vegeta hastily lets go of his hand. Freeza speaks of his suffering in Hell, but at last the day of his revenge has arrived. He can’t bear the thought of Son Goku alive, to the point that he trained for the first time in his life. Goku says his power has indeed increased, but he himself has also gotten a lot stronger. Freeza acknowledges that he was caught a bit off-guard, but no matter: this time, he will start fighting right in his final form!

Goku is impressed, and comments that if Freeza weren’t such an evil guy, he’d make a good rival. This just annoys Freeza even further. After a moment, he also expresses his confusion at Goku’s lack of a Super Saiyan transformation. Goku responds that he does not need to. The two clash, and while the fighting is fierce, it becomes clear to the others that Freeza hasn’t landed a single hit. Realizing this, Freeza attacks with a renewed ferocity. However, Goku is not seriously perturbed, and Vegeta starts to get annoyed. Eventually, he flies up to where the two are fighting… and starts fighting against Goku, shouting for him to give him a turn instead. Freeza, misunderstanding the situation, assumes Vegeta still has a bit of loyalty to him, and tells the Saiyan prince to stand back to let him have his vengeance.

Vegeta grudgingly obliges, and Goku and Freeza pause their fight. Freeza is impressed that Goku has improved this much, even if it took him quite a while. Goku senses that Freeza is still hiding something, and Freeza expects the same of him. They agree not to hold back any longer, and Goku goes first, warning Freeza that he won’t want to fight anymore once he sees it. He concentrates, and his hair stands on end as he is enveloped by an ethereal blue aura.

Goku says it’s hard to explain, but basically it’s Super Saiyan with the power of Super Saiyan God. Freeza is glad, then, that he decided to attempt attaining a further transformation. Freeza concentrates, and powers up a great deal, surrounding himself in a blinding light. Freeza acknowledges the cheap name, but refers to it as “Golden Freeza” anyway. Goku is impressed, but it also makes him excited. Goku offers to let Vegeta fight now, but he nervously declines, saying that Freeza’s opponent is Kakarrot.

The battle begins in earnest this time, and is much more evenly matched than before. Beerus notes that Vegeta isn’t fighting together with Goku, and that the two of them are just too proud. Beerus calls them both fools, which Whis says is just like the God himself.

As he begins to lose the battle, Goku compliments how amazing Freeza is, to have come so far when it took him so long to get this strong. Freeza is apparently tickled by this, but says it won’t do him any good. It is then, however, that Freeza notices the presence of Beerus, who complains that Freeza is going to get dust all over the food if he doesn’t fight somewhere else.

Goku thinks Freeza should quit while he’s ahead and go home: after all, they’ve spotted his weak point. Freeza is incredulous, but Vegeta pointedly explains that Freeza, consumed with the idea of revenge, probably came to Earth as soon as he achieved his “Golden Freeza” form. He hasn’t had time to get used to it, so it’s rapidly consuming his strength.

After holding him under water for a bit, Freeza sends a volley of energy blasts after Goku, who manages to evade or deflect them all. Finally, Freeza manages to land a solid punch directly to Goku’s face… but Goku is completely unfazed.

Finally, Goku launches a massive Kamehameha at Freeza, which he attempts to repel with a blast of his own. It is no use, however; the tyrant is utterly defeated. As Goku stands above him, Freeza hauls himself up on the water’s edge, erupting in rage and humiliation… followed by a smirk. Just then, a bolt of energy comes from behind Freeza and pierces Goku straight through the heart: it was Sorbet with his ring. Freeza then takes out his pent-up rage on Goku, kicking and stomping on his chest repeatedly.

Freeza gloats over Goku’s softness, mocking the “bad habit” of letting down his guard that left even his powerful body vulnerable to a mere beam attack. Freeza offers to let Vegeta have the final blow against the Saiyan he hates. Vegeta flies over, calling Goku an idiot for not listening to Whis’ warnings. However, he also refuses to kill him, saying that as much as Goku pisses him off, he needs him around for his own purposes. Freeza attempts to sweeten the deal, by offering to make Vegeta the supreme commander of his forces. However, Vegeta chooses instead to utterly obliterate Freeza. There’s no way he’d have any loyalty to the one who destroyed Planet Vegeta!

Vegeta tells Kuririn to give Kakarrot the last senzu, or else he’ll die. Kuririn does so, but Freeza tries to interfere, sending energy blasts towards them. However, Vegeta deflects them away, and one ends up killing Sorbet in a fitting comeuppance. Goku thanks Vegeta for saving him; Vegeta scoffs, and says in exchange, he’ll be taking the best part of the fight. Vegeta powers up, and reveals that he can also use the form Goku demonstrated earlier. Freeza freaks out, and unleashes a torrent of energy blasts at Vegeta, but to no avail. What follows is a one-sided beating in which Freeza is humiliated even further, to the point that he even loses his much-vaunted “Golden” form. Back in his fourth form, he pounds against the ground in despair. Standing before Freeza, Vegeta prepares to deliver the final blow…

Freeza sends a ball of energy straight into the ground below him. The Earth’s crust cracks and distorts, revealing magma underneath that rushes to the surface. Earth is engulfed in fire, and explodes in a giant shockwave.

Only Beerus, Whis, and those near them survive the destruction, thanks to Whis’ barrier. Goku laments not finishing Freeza off when he had the chance. “In that case… why don’t you?” asks Whis, as Beerus tells Goku it was his softness that invited Freeza’s victory. Goku asks what Whis means, and he responds that he will be turning back time. Goku had best hurry, as he can only go back three minutes. He taps his staff twice on the ground, and the events are undone.

Once again, Freeza is on his hands and knees, with Vegeta preparing to deal the final blow. As Freeza shouts his retort, Goku screams “FREEZA!” and hits him full-force with a massive Kamehameha. Freeza screams in defeat as his body is completely disintegrated.

The moment of relief is broken by Vegeta shouting at Kakarrot for stealing the coup de grâce out from under him. Goku apologizes as Vegeta chews him out for not switching out like he said he would, but Bulma tells him it’s all right, and that Son-kun actually saved him. Vegeta demands an explanation.

Beerus says it’s unbecoming for a God of Destruction to restore a planet, but Bulma says that as thanks, she’ll prepare them a feast… as soon as they restore North City with the Dragon Balls, that is. Whis is pleased. Bulma asks Jaco if it’s really all right for him not to be arresting Whis, since control over time is a serious offense.

Even after having things explained to him, Vegeta is less than pleased. Goku tries to add that, like Whis said, if they’d simply fought together from the beginning, none of that would have happened in the first place. Vegeta refuses point blank, saying he’d never do that. Goku laughs and says he feels the same way. Vegeta notes it’s the first time they’ve shared the same opinion on something.

After the credits, the angels and stuffed toys in Hell gather around the tree, shouting “Welcome back!” Freeza is back where he started, suspended once more in his pod.

Original Concept

• Following the success of Battle of Gods, both domestically and abroad, the production committee wanted to take advantage of the franchise’s significant momentum and the decision was made to move forward with the production of a sequel film. From the onset, it was requested that Akira Toriyama be directly involved with its production.

  After the last movie premiered, the momentum was high to go make another movie without leaving too big of a gap between the two, but it was decided to have Toriyama-sensei write the script next. We conveyed just how strongly everyone involved felt about it, and Shueisha and Toriyama-sensei gladly agreed.

  — Norihiro Hayashida, Flying Postman Press, April 2015 Issue (read full interview)

  Once the theme, of Freeza’s resurrection at the very least, was set, since Freeza is an extremely distinct character, even a forgetful person like me remembered him well. Plus, this time I had also decided to increase the amount of action scenes, so more and more story ideas came easily. All I had left was [to decide] how to upgrade the rejuvenated Freeza. Luckily, the characters of Beerus and Whis, who I took some hints for from the scriptwriter for the last movie, Battle of Gods, stood out plenty already. Combining these [elements] together, the story was completed smoothly, which is rare for me.

  — Akira Toriyama, V-Jump, May 2015 Issue (read full comment)

Akira Toriyama’s Character Designs

In addition to establishing the original concepts for the movie and writing its script, author Akira Toriyama also provided all of the movie’s initial character designs.

• Golden Freeza (ゴールデンフリーザ; gōruden furīza)
  After training for the first time in his life, Freeza achieves an “ultimate evolution” in power, transforming him into what he dubs, “Golden Freeza”.

  Since there was no way I could possibly make his design any simpler than it already was, I opted to mostly just change his color. This color feels strongest, maybe because I associate it with Gold Medals?

  — Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball Volume “F”

• Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan (超サイヤ人ゴッドＳＳ; sūpā saiya-jin goddo sūpā saiya-jin)
  Akira Toriyama further expanded on the concept of the “Super Saiyan God” transformation featured in Battle of Gods by incorporating its power into that of a Super Saiyan. As Toriyama explained it, and as Son Goku similarly mentions in the movie, “This Super Saiyan is a Saiyan with the power of Super Saiyan God”.

  Son Goku
  I made his hair light blue to express how “by overcoming a certain limit he has become both strong and tranquil, able to keep his composure in a fight”.

  Vegeta
  I gave Vegeta black clothes because I figured that maybe Bulma had modified his combat uniform to add some slight improvements. On that note, it was constructed by the [Capsule Corp.] development branch under Bulma’s instructions.

  — Akira Toriyama, Dragon Ball Volume “F”

Movie Characters

• Sorbet (ソルベ; sorube)
  A remnant of Freeza’s army, he has risen to its top position following Freeza’s death. Although his body is small, he is quite cunning. To resurrect Freeza’s army, he travels to Earth to revive Freeza with the Dragon Balls, in hopes he can bring their once formidable army back to its former greatness.

• Tagoma (タゴマ; tagoma)
  As Sorbet’s personal bodyguard, he travels to Earth with his comrade to revive Freeza with the planet’s Dragon Balls.

  If you’re a soldier in Freeza’s army, you can have [a Scouter] made to order to fit your ear. The different screen colors can be chosen to fit the peculiarities of different aliens’ eyes, or to suit one’s tastes. Also, dual-eye types exist as well.

  — Akira Toriyama, Saikyō Jump Q&A with Naho Ooishi, July 2014 Issue (read full interview)

Movie Notes

• The movie’s title was established by Akira Toriyama and is based on the Freeza tribute song “F” by Japanese rock metal group Maximum the Hormone. In October 2012, Toriyama attended a concert held by Maximum the Hormone (and jealkb) in Nagoya, and met the band backstage. He presented the group with an autographed illustration commemorating their song dedicated to Freeza. Years later, when thinking of a new story for the upcoming movie, Toriyama recalled the song and used it as inspiration. To pay tribute to Maximum the Hormone, he also included the title of the song in the movie’s title.

  And so this time, as a way of saying “thank you”, I went and took the cool-looking spelling of “F” from the song.
  — Akira Toriyama, V-Jump, January 2015 Issue (read full interview)

Name Puns

• Akira Toriyama has often mentioned his idea of grouping like characters into specific naming schemes in order to more easily determine new character names as needed. The members of Freeza’s forces are no exception, as these new characters — Sorbet, Tagoma, and Shisami — fall into the scheme as Toriyama described it:

  For example, the one in control of the Saiyans and other villainous aliens is Freeza. Strictly speaking, Freeza is “freezer”, but I envisioned a refrigerator when I named him. So, I grouped the names according to foods that go inside it. The Saiyans are vegetables [yasai, “vegetables”], and the Ginyu Special-Squad are dairy products [gyūnyū, “cows’ milk”], like that.
  — Akira Toriyama, Super Exciting Guide: Character Volume interview (read full interview)

• Sorbet gets his name from the popular frozen dessert “sorbet” (ソルベ), which is written exactly the same as his namesake.
• Tagoma’s name is taken from the Japanese word for “egg”.
  卵 (ta·ma·go)  ›  タゴマ (ta·go·ma)
• Shisami’s name is an anagram of the word “sashimi”, a Japanese delicacy consisting of very fresh raw meat or fish sliced into thin pieces.
  刺身 (sa·shi·mi)  ›  シサミ (shi·sa·mi)

Movie Credits

The movie credits are listed below as originally presented in the feature. For more detailed information about the series cast, visit the Cast Guide.

Cast Credits

Production Credits

Future Trunks Edition Production Credits