Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn & Wrath of the Dragon (Double Feature)by Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Studio
Credits Grade: 6 This nice metallic case contains two movies. Fusion Reborn has Goku and Vegeta fusing into Gogeta to defeat an evil energy in the afterlife that threatens all worlds and dimensions while Goten and Trunks fight Hitler and an army of the undead on Earth. Wrath of the Dragon has our heroes fighting a monster called Hirudegarn with the help of Tapion, the alien who once defeated Hirudegarn by sealing half of it within himself.These movies have been remastered, and you have the option of watching them three different ways: original Japanese version, English with Japanese music, and English with US music. One word of advice, if you've seen any part of this series before, just keep watching it in English. One of the things that makes this series really work here is the masculine voices of the English voice actors. In the Japanese, Goku sounds like a whiney little girl - all the time! It totally ruined my image of Dragon Ball Z the first time I heard the Japanese voices - normally they do an excellent job of matching voice actors with characters so that each really works. Not with this series. There are some language things and jokes you may miss out on if you watch it without subtitles, but it watches just fine without them. There's really not much of a difference between US and Japanese music either. These movies are really more for those who are fans of Dragon Ball Z already. They take place later in the series so you have to deal with the goofy-ness of Gohan and Videl (superhero costumes and everything) and the rather dense nature that Goku displays when not fighting. Plus there's the appearance of Freeza, and mention of Majin Buu, alone with displays of advanced techniques like Fusion and going to SuperSaiyan level 3. If you're new to this anime, you may not understand what's going on. But for those of us who know and love it, these movies are a great addition. Fusion Reborn is very much on the silly side. The afterlife area is full of jellybean-like floating blobs of color, Janemba is just ridiculous (especially shooting things out of his vacuous nipples), the first Gogeta attempt uses "gas attacks" (yay first grade humor), and the explanation of the fusion "dance" to Vegeta is just priceless - I have to laugh at that every time! There are plenty of good fight scenes as well though. I especially like the puzzle-like fading in and out of Janemba's second form, and his ability to punch through little "worm holes" to hit Goku while he's far away. Wrath of the Dragon does answer the question of where Trunks gets that magic sword. Yes, he is a goofy little kid in this movie, but he also does a lot of growing up thanks to his encounter with Tapion. Tapion himself reminds me a little of Zelda (complete with magic ocarina). I enjoyed his encounter with our Earth-bound heroes, but I'm glad he's taken off again at the end. The monster is awesome and horrible. The end attack made me want to smack Goku and ask him why he didn't do that to begin with, but it does make for a really neat visual with dragon and explosion. Overall, the movies are a lot of fun to watch, and this double feature is a great find for any DBZ fan, but strangers to the series may be a little lost. Written: June 8, 2009
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