Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.




The Product

Dragon Ball began as a manga (Japanese comic book) created by Akira Toriyama (who is famous for crafting the artwork on numerous classic video game titles like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6). It was avaliable in the early 90s in a japanese comic strip series entitled Weekly Shonen Jump. The story was about a young child with a tail named Son Gokou who fights villains in an effort to collect the 7 magic Dragon Balls and have a wish granted. As the series progressed, it moved from being a slapstick humorous show to a more serious, heroic adventure show. Eventually it was changed to Dragon Ball Z, and the story gained a lot of popularity. The stories now revolved around enemies hell-bent on destruction or conquering the universe, and the characters had to get super-powered in order to stop them.

Dragon Ball Z is composed of four major story arcs revolving around the four major super villains: The Vegeta Era (Episodes 1-35), The Freezer Era (Episodes 36-117), The Cell Era (Episodes 118-199) and The Buu Era (Episodes 200-291). The Buu Era is where these particular episodes (The Kid Buu Saga) take place, chronicling the end of this epic series, which was in my opinion: the greatest animated series ever made.

Note: The following Contains Spoilers for Dragon Ball Z Television Show and Manga.

It seemed as if the evil Majin Buu was completely defeated by the fusion of Son Gokou and his rival Vegeta, creating the invincible Vegetto. However, something was missing. It appeared as if, despite the fact that he easily could, Vegetto was not destroying the powerful Majin Buu. The battle took a surprise turn when Buu absorbed Vegetto into his system (like he did several other characters), hence taking their powers. What Majin Buu didn't realize is that it was all a part of Gokou and Vegeta's plan to infiltrate Buu's body and to free their trapped friends and family.

After a tremendous struggle from inside of Majin Buu, several strange events occur. Gokou and Vegeta find the trapped Gohan, Goten, Piccolo, and Trunks, as well as the original, Fat Majin Buu. Vegeta and Gokou raise hell and manage to actually escape with the friends. On the outside, Buu is feeling rather strange. After numerous convulsions, complete with loud screaming, Buu transforms once again. This time however, he has become something sort of off. He has transformed into Kid Buu, the ORIGINAL ORIGINAL form of Majin Buu. This version of Buu is nothing but pure concentrated evil, and is the most powerful of them all.

Buu immediately shows his destructive power by destroying the entire Planet Earth, something that has been talked about for over 200 episodes of Dragon Ball Z, but never actually completed. Thanks to this, almost all of our main characters die. Once again, only Gokou and Vegeta are left to face the unstopable Kid Buu. Can they beat him? I won't spoil anything, but it's quite a rollercoaster ride.


Episodes Featured
(Original Japanese Episode Numbers 276-291, English Dubbed Episode Numbers: 261-276):

276. Where's the Exit!? Escape from the failing Buu
277. Good Bye Earth!! Buu falls into evil
278. Buu get over here! A Finale on Kaiou-Shin Planet
279. Seize the Future! The Huge Battle over the Universe
280. Vegeta's Hat's off; Gokou, You are #1.
281. Hold on Vegeta! A minute fight at the risk of life.
282. Don't Tease Satan!! The Original Majin Buu Returns!!!
283. Vegeta's Secret Plan!! Porunga's Two Wishes!
284. Our Final Hope! A Really Huge Genki-Dama.
285. Big Appreciation! It's here... Everyone's Genki-Dama
286. Gokou is the strongest after all; Majin Buu is Destroyed...
287. Peace is Restored! Friend of Justice, Majin Buu!?
288. You're late, Gokou! Everyone's Partying!
289. Grandpa Gokou! I'm Pan!!!
290. I'm Ubuu! The 10 years old former Majin Buu
291. To Succeed the Strongest; Gokou's Dream to Surpass it



My Thoughts

Well this is it! The end of Dragon Ball Z has finally come. After over 200 Episodes of mayhem, the show comes to a head with the final battle, pitting Gokou, Vegeta, and seemingly the entire universe until the Kid Majin Buu, the most powerful and destructive being in history. The first few episodes start out slow, with just some setting up, until it finally kicks into full gear in Episode 279, where the battle begins. A mixture of playful arrogance and serious fighting, Gokou and Vegeta take it to Buu and it seems like the battle is hopeless... or is it? The fight scenes in these episodes are the BEST drawn out of the whole series and the animation is beyond anything done before. Besides that, the fights themselves are incredibly intense, finding our heroes getting crippled and mangled by this ultimate evil. I refuse to spoil the ending, but it is truly emotional. The gathering of everybody in the universe, uniting against a common cause, the declaration of love from one character to another, and the ultimate victory and union of rivals is truly something breathtaking. Soon after, the final 3 episodes take you on a completely different journey and the true finale of the Dragon Ball story (Dragon Ball GT does not fit with the story and should not be taken as part of the saga).

Soundwise, this part of the show excells. Granted the DVDs are in Mono for the Original Japanese version, the music still soars out. The primarily modernized classical score from Shunsuke Kikuchi screams through with every waking moment of action. The poweful and dramatical themes here are, as I have said many times before, completely superior to the American version of the show. The sound quality has also been cleaned up a bit here, most likely because these episodes are the newest ones created (1996). The audio is much crisper than it is on previous DVD releases, and only has a tiny bit of cracking and graniness, primarily in the silent scenes, which can easily be overlooked (the show is incredibly old).

Everything is here, from the intros to the eyecatches to the preludes, but as many fans already know, the episode previews are nowhere to be found. Of course, this is TOEI animation's fault for not giving them to Funimation. For collectors, this indeed matters a lot, but for the casual or even hardcore DBZ fan, they won't be missed too sorely.

This set of DVD's is excellent to buy, but is hastly overpriced and I suggest shopping around to find a good deal. The DVDs have NO Extras of any kind with the exception of commercials for other freaking Funimation products, which irks me. Interviews? Nope. Audio Commentary? Nope. Character Bios? Not on your life. Make sure that you understand the show before buying this and doing your research. Oh yeah, ONLY watch the japanese version of the show, and DO NOT watch the english ones AT ALL. It is a true disgrace to the original vision of Akira Toriyama.



Conclusion


Story: 5 Stars
Animation: 5 Stars
Sound: 5 Stars
Music: 5 Stars
Subtitle Quality: 5 Stars
Video Quality: 5 Stars
Entertainment: 5 Stars
Dubbed Version: 1 Star
Box Art: 3 Stars
DVD Extras: 1 Star
Bang for the Buc: 3 Stars


To conclude, Dragon Ball Z has a magnificent, albeit open-ended, closure. After countless episodes of battling, the finale was definitely worth it, and it marks one of the best moments of the series. This set of episodes is excellent to get for Anime fans, but also remember that it is quite pricey. Personally, I consider the bang for the buc a bit of a rip-off considering the dub is awful and it has no extras, but the japanese versions are crystal clear DVD quality and everything else comes into shape well. Try to shop around for a low-price, but make sure you dig into this boxed set to complete your collection.

5 Stars






Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older