Daisuke Nishio

Goku and Krillin want Roshi as their sensei, but before he accepts them as apprentices, he has a little mission they need to complete. They are to retrieve the Sleeping Princess and bring her to Roshi. The princess is locked up in a rather perilous castle, and the two will have to learn to work together if they want to get out of there alive.

The art style is basic (but recognizable), and the animation is above-average. There's plenty of comedy and action to keep you distracted from the rudimentary plot, and with only 45 minutes to wrap everything up, you can be sure the pacing is nothing but slick. It's far from an absolute classic, but more than capable filler.

The plot isn't anything special. Apparently, it's an alternative retelling of the series, but being blissfully unaware of how everything is supposed to fit together, I can't really comment on that. What you get is several remarkable characters chasing the 7 dragon balls, as collecting them all will grant them a wish. There's nothing more to it I'm afraid.

The nice thing about this first film is that it still has that cute 80s comedy art style. The animation is actually quite good too. The action and comedy are pretty generic, but the short runtime, the slick pacing, and the quirky characters make up for that. Hardly the most notable anime I've ever seen, but not the crap I was expecting (mostly based on my experience with DBZ I guess). Onto the next!

No time for goofy fun or lengthy introductions this time around. Cooler is returning (as a robot) and targets the people of New Namek. Son Goku and his gang travel to this distant planet to prevent Cooler from doing any harm. What follows is a lengthy battle that takes up most of the film's runtime.

The animation quality is a step up again from earlier films, which makes the action scenes a tad more attractive. That's pretty nice, as that's about all there is. The fight itself isn't all that interesting though, as the powers are random and the outcome is predetermined. It's not the worst, but it's still lacking the charm of the original Dragon Ball.

The plot is as simple as can be. Two genius scientists gather the 7 Dragon Balls and wish to face the strongest man on Earth. One of the scientists wants to put his brain inside this vessel to become the most feared person on the planet. Roshi and Son Goku turn out to be the chosen ones, and they'll have to fight some pretty tough opponents to keep the Earth a safe place to live.

The first half of the film is spent on the setup, after that it's mostly just big fights without any clear sense or narrative. As there is no doubt who will come out as the winner, it's just not very tense or exciting. The animation is basic, the art style rather crude. It's a bit of a mystery to me why this series became so popular, but if it keeps the lighter mood then I might just get through it.

The Dragon Ball crew is enjoying some off-time, having a little camping trip in the woods. Little do they know an alien gang is targeting the Earth. They send a small seed our way, which quickly turns into a malicious tree that saps all the life force out of our precious planet. It's up to Gohan and friends to make sure the aliens don't win.

Though I clearly prefer the lighter side of Dragon Ball, it is mostly just by comparison, as watching some weirdo fighters camping in the woods isn't all that interesting either. Compared to the endless battles (now I'm mortally hurt, the next moment I'm even stronger than before, ad infinitum) it's not too bad though. The only really sad thing is that the animation quality is taking a small but definite dip with each new film. Still not great, but not quite as bad as I'd feared it would be.

A new film, a new supervillain. This time the crew is battling androids 13 to 15. Which each new film, more and more people are needed to kill the villains, and fights get bigger and grander, but the result is always the same. For some reason or other (often ill-explained or completely random), the good guys win.

The art style and animation are crummy, the villains are dull, the destruction grand but still unimpressive. The short intros are the best part of these films, but they seem to shrink with each new entry. Considering the popularity of the series I'm sure they made good money with them, but these films are clearly fans-only stuff.

The plot is as basic as can be. Young Gohan is kidnapped because of the dragon ball he wears on his head. Garlic Jr is behind the plot, as he needs all the dragon balls to wish for control over the entire universe. Garlic gets what he wants, but Son Goku and his friends band together to stop him in his tracks. It turns out that Gohan himself isn't exactly powerless either.

The art style is a big step down from the original. The animation isn't quite as good either, but still better than many similar projects of its era. The film itself is little more than a single, big fight, interrupted by uninteresting dialogue. Not my kind of anime, and I'm not sure if I'll get very far with the coming films.