Dragonball Z: World Tournament – Junior Division DVD
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Format Viewed - DVD |
| Dragonball Z: World Tournament
– Junior Division DVD
Reviewer: Zeroshen
Story: First off, I wanted to review this particular DVD because it was the first DVD I’ve seen to contain episodes where Son Gohan is older, Son Goten and Chibi Trunks are around, and the songs “We Gotta Power,” and “We Were Once Angels,” two of my favorites. The story is that Son Gokuu is granted one full day of life to participate in the Tenkaichi Budoukai. All the Z-senshi are participating for this tournament. Vegita, Piccolo, Artificial Human #18, Kuririn (who married #18 and had a child named Marron), Son Gohan (under the guise of The Great Saiya-man), Videl (daughter of Mr. Satan, and not really a Z Warrior…but oh well), and of course, Son Goten and Chibi Trunks. However, Trunks and Goten cannot participate in the regular tournament, and have to compete in the Junior Division of the Tenkaichi Tournament. Oh yes, some of you may be wondering what happened to Yamucha, Tenshinhan, and Choazu. Well, Yamucha has retired from the martial arts, and is a spectator along with Chi Chi, Bulma, Muten-Roshi, Oolong, and Gyuu Maou (aka Ox King). Tenshinhan and Choazu have not made an appearance in the series since the Cell Games, and will not appear until later in the series… Anyway, to qualify for the tournament, one must test their strength by punching a machine called “The Punch Machine” (obviously). The ones who place high scores on the Punch Machine qualify for the tournament. #18, Kuririn, Piccolo, and Son Gokuu carefully punch the machine as to not reveal themselves as “higher beings” to the other participants, and qualify. Vegita, on the other hand, doesn’t care about concealing his strength, and punches the machine normally. We’re talking “Vegita-normally,” so he destroys the machine quite easily. This puts a delay in the qualifying segment of the tournament, meaning Gohan, Videl, and many more participants must wait until the machine is fixed. While the machine is being fixed, Gokuu suggests that they all watch the Junior Division. Everyone agrees and proceed to watch young children compete for the Junior Championship. Second place in the Junior Division gets 5 million Zeni. And the first place winner wins 10 million Zeni, and a chance to fight Mr. Satan. Now, episode #210 (or #195
in FUNimation’s dub series) is where the DVD episodes begin. Before the
start of the Junior Division, Mr. Satan enters the ring to receive high
praise from the crowd, who believe him to be the one who saved the world
by defeating Cell seven years earlier. To commemorate this event, “ZTV”
puts together a small movie outlining the events that took place during
the Cell Games. Actors in the film portray Cell, Gokuu, Gohan, Kuririn,
Mirai no Trunks, Vegita, Piccolo, Yamucha, Tenshinhan, and Mr. Satan, all
with funny masks. This comes as quite a shock to the Z-senshi watching
it (Vegita and Piccolo seem quite angry, and even Mr. Satan is embarrassed).
It starts by Gokuu fighting Cell (on strings), which is pretty hilarious.
Then it shifts to the Z-senshi all beaten up, and Cell claims himself the
winner. Enter Mr. Satan, complete with dust unsettling to reveal himself.
Cell, undaunted, proceeds to fight Mr. Satan, by pressing a switch on the
ground to simulate a ki blast. Mr. Satan, “untouched,” begins to pound
on Cell, and knocks him into the rocks. This is especially funny, because
you could tell it was a dummy that crashed in the rocks. Gokuu’s actor
then says, “I-Incredible! Just what we’d expect from Satan-sama!” and Vegita’s
actor nods in agreement. Funny stuff. Then, Cell gets up, screams, and
explodes. Just like that. Satan gives his “V” sign, says “Justice Wins”
and the movie ends with great cheer from the crowd. After this, the first
eye-catch of the show comes on. I point this out because on past DBZ DVDs,
they aren’t any eye-catches. Eye-catches are the scenes they play when
they are going into a commercial. In this case, it is Gohan and Videl (with
long hair) driving around in a “Mr. Satan” car, which also has “666” in
a circle on it. It ends with them stopping and Goten is lifting the car
with one arm. The eye-catch that signifies coming back to the program is
Kaio-sama driving with Bubbles in his car, and running into Gokuu. The
car comes to an abrupt halt, and Gokuu isn’t budged at all. And all Gokuu
is doing is rubbing the back of his head and laughing. It’s actually quite
amusing to watch.
The next scene is where the combatants for the Junior Division are preparing. Goten and Trunks are discussing what they would do with the prize money if they won. Along come three young men who seem not impressed with the combatants. The leader of the three, Idasa, sees Trunks, who is his first opponent. He tries to intimidate Trunks, but knowing how much stronger he is than Idasa, Trunks doesn’t seem intimidated at all. Trunks also points out his “jerkwater hairstyle,” enraging Idasa. The participants for the Junior Division all proceed to the ring, and the tournament is soon underway. Many young participants fight, and provide quite a show for the spectators; a comedy show. Then Trunks and Idasa square off. Ironically, Bulma is sitting not too far from Idasa’s mother. Before the fight, Idasa points out how quickly he will dispose of Trunks. The match begins, and Trunks quickly trips Idasa, and before Idasa can hit the ground, Trunks kicks him high into the air. Before Idasa’s descent to the ground, Trunks is already walking away. Trunks is named the winner, and the crowd is stunned on how quickly Trunks dispersed of his older opponent, especially Idasa’s mom. In episode #211 (FUNi #196), Goten fights Idasa’s brother, Ikose. Ikose is just as arrogant as his brother, and is also confident he will disperse of Goten quickly. Goten easily stops Ikose’s attacks, even with one finger. Ikose decides to turn it up a bit, and releases an onslaught of punches toward Goten, but Goten is still blocking each and every one of them with extreme ease. Goten then decides to end it by one punch to the face. Winner: Goten. The episode then continues showing how Goten and Trunks are easily making their way to the top of the tournament. And not surprisingly, Goten and Trunks finish as the last two combatants. Before the fight, Goten and Trunks decide that they will not hold back against each other. Also, Mr. Satan looks on, and notices that Goten looks extremely familiar…The fight soon begins, and both impress the crowd with their incredibly fast moves. They even go airborne, making the crowd look in awe and wondering how they are able to fly. The visual representation of the fight is impressive animation-wise. The Punch Machine is finished in time for Gohan and Videl to see the beginning of the fight. Videl is just as amazed as the other spectators, while the Z-senshi are not surprised, but rather impressed at the strength the two were capable of achieving while so young. The fight continues, and both seem equally matched with each other. The episode ends when both meet at a stalemate, and the crowd is roaring with approval. But neither one has expressed their true strength just yet… Episode #212 (FUNi #197) continues the battle with Trunks and Goten. Trunks launches a Kikoha blast at Goten, which have Gohan and Kuririn worried that the blast will hit the spectator’s seats. But Gokuu isn’t worried, knowing that Trunks realizes that much, and that he deserves more credit than that. Trunks launches the blast, and Goten jumps over it. The blast seems to be heading toward the crowd, but Trunks re-directs the blast up at the last moment. Goten points out that he too can launch ki blasts. He proceeds to do a Ka-me-ha-me-ha blast, and mistakably calls it a “Ka-me-ka-me-ha.” Nevertheless, Goten launches it toward Trunks, and Trunks just moves his upper body to the right while it goes past him. It proceeds to only hit a little of the stadium set-up, but doesn’t hurt anybody. Trunks and Goten continue their fight, displaying their skills to the crowd. Trunks gets Goten in an arm lock, and Goten must resort to becoming a Super Saiya-jin in order to break free. Trunks sees this as un-fair, and Gokuu is amazed to see his son achieve the rank of SSJ at such a young age. Trunks then points out to Goten that he could win without even using his left arm. They continue their fight, with Trunks not using his left arm, and he seems to be holding his own. But Goten is taking advantage of Trunks’ handicap. Goten charges down from the air, watching where Trunks will move at the last moment. Trunks moves left and Goten follows. At high speed, both are heading toward the edge of the ring, when Trunks disappears and reappears behind Goten as a SSJ and uses a ki blast with his left arm, hitting Goten in the back. Goten is sent flying toward the stands, and uses all his strength to come to a halt, but he is too late. Goten’s feet barely touch the seats, and is ruled out of the ring. Trunks is the winner. Trunks explains to Goten that he didn’t actually touch Goten with his left arm. Goten is still upset until Trunks offers him any three toys he wants from his collection. This makes Goten extremely happy. Next, Trunks must face Mr. Satan…but who is more worried? This concludes the Junior Division DVD. Animation: The animation in the first two episodes of the DVD are the best style in the series. The details in the characters are high, and animation isn’t re-used. The third episode re-uses the final minutes of animation from the second episode, and then converts into some really bad animation compared to that of the first two episodes. The hair, for example, is drawn quite badly. It’s disproportioned to the point that they don’t look the same in the next scene. Also, the general body movements in fighting are reduced to about two to three frames of animation before restarting again. Now I can understand if it’s four to five frames before restarting, but two to three just makes the battle less exciting. It’s really disappointing to see such a great episode treated with such horrible animation. Music: The music for the Japanese version of the DVD is beautifully orchestrated for each scene. Unlike the dub version, the Japanese version has a few scenes of silence, to intensify the situation, or if music is not needed. The introduction song, “We Gotta Power,” is one of my favorite pieces of music. It is undoubtedly the better of the two existing intro songs for Dragonball Z. Like the first introduction song, the lyrics to “We Gotta Power” contain some strange words, like “RA-MEN ROPPAI,” and “NO…TEN P-KAN,” but it makes the song more enjoyable. The ending theme, “We Were Once Angels,” is also one of my favorite songs. It’s a really touching song, which plays while Gohan is walking on a road, and he runs into people he has met throughout his eventful life. He also sees his father flying by, and chases after him. The song ends with a picture of Gokuu waving to his son, complete with angel wings and halo. Kaio-sama is also shown, and instead of angel wings, he seems to have insect wings, and doesn’t look too pleased about it. I feel it’s a good ending, showing the affection Gohan has for his family and friends. Note that I watched a little of the dub intro, and it shows some scenes from the original introduction animation, along with their usual guitar riffs. The same can be said about the ending. It’s really a shame that FUNimation could not get the rights to the original Japanese soundtrack for their dub. But I’m not going to lose sleep over it, because I have the original stuff on this spectacular DVD. DVD Features: This DVD is produced by FUNimation. The DVD itself has the same picture from the front of the DVD case, which is Goten and Trunks sparring, and is centered on the DVD, with the words “Dragonball Z – World Tournament: Junior Division.” It looks quite good. There is no insert included in the DVD, which is strange, because most anime DVDs have them. I don’t see why inserts are not included, because it completes the DVD package in a way. It also provides some good scanning material… The DVD menu is brought up with some animation, unlike some of the Androids DVDs, which only have still screens. The main menu starts by having Trunks launching a ki blast toward Goten with dub voices and music, and the options “Play all episodes” (with the sub-options “With Recaps/Without Recaps”), “Episodes & Chapters,” “Languages,” and Extras.” The “Play all episodes” option just starts the introduction sequence. Choosing the sub-option “With Recaps” allows you to view the DVD with recaps of the last episode, and “Without Recaps” doing just the opposite. The “Episodes & Chapters” option begins with the animation of Trunks and Goten running toward each other with dub voices and music. Each episode has the option to view 6 chapters within that episode. Now here is where the DVD is unique compared to other anime DVDs. FUNi has taken the direction where they only have the intro song play only once in the DVD, rather than play before each episode. The same can be said about the ending theme, playing only once when the DVD episodes end. This doesn’t allow the option to view the katakana lyrics of the opening and ending themes. Also, the DVD does not contain a Japanese version of the coming episode, but only a dub version. I find this irregular, because if you have the Japanese track on the DVD, why not include the Japanese version of the preview? It doesn’t make sense to me. Hopefully FUNimation will include a Japanese preview in its future DVD releases. The “Language” option is also unique. Besides having another option where you choose subtitles or not, FUNi chose the shortcut and put it all in one convenient menu. The menu animation is Goten jumping over Trunks’ ki blast, with dub voices and music. The menu shows options for a Japanese language track, with sub-options “Subtitles: On or off,” or an English language track, with sub-options “Subtitles: On or off.” It’s very convenient when you don’t have to go through two separate menus in order to have Japanese with English subtitles. And the translation for the DVD is outstanding. Steven J. Simmons does an excellent job of translating. Although I cannot read or speak Japanese, I can really tell that the translation is the best I’ve seen in an anime DVD. Most other anime DVD translations aren’t right on; they usually use “shortcut” translations, and you can tell if you’ve watched a lot of anime, and know the common words. Also, the translation includes “-san,” “-chan,” “-kun,” and “-sama” in the subtitles, which I find unique. Other DVDs will replace that will “Ms./Mr.” or “Lord/Master.” FUNi did a great job in this department. The “Extras” option has animation of Mr. Satan lowering into a fighting stance while giving short little grunts, in his dub voice and with dub music. The extras contain a Cell, Bardock, DBZStore, Blue Gender, Great Saiyaman, and History of Trunks commercials. Nothing too special, but it was nice to see scenes of FUNi’s new licensed anime Blue Gender. The extras need to contain more options than what is given in my opinion. Yes it’s nice to see trailers, or commercials in this case, but it leaves you wanting more; something FUNi needs to think about. The DVD picture quality is top-notch. You can somewhat tell the animation is quite outdated compared to new anime series, and the film quality is old, but FUNi still did a great job of restoring the picture to a near-flawless look. You barely notice the very few slips in quality, which is great in my book, because it’s not distracting from the animation. Overall: Many people might not like the way FUNimation produced the dub version of DBZ, but rest assured that they more than make up for it in the quality of their DVDs. It’s great to be able to see the original Japanese version in great quality. Especially seeing episodes where the story is based after the Cell saga. This is a great collection of episodes, because it shows some good fights, good humor, and memorable characters. The DVD can be improved in some places, but overall it’s done really well. I suggest the purchase of this DVD if you’re a big fan of DBZ. I also suggest that you have prior knowledge of the story before hand, because you may wonder why Gokuu has a halo on his head, or why Gohan is dressed up like a super hero. If you aren’t a huge fan of DBZ, this may be worth your time to rent, and then decide from there. Overall, the DVD is a nice accomplishment for FUNimation. Zero’s Ratings: Story: 10/10 –A nice
prelude to a bigger event…
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