Dragon Ball Z Vol-1: Saiyan Showdown (1989)
Released by: Funimation
Animation Production: Toei
Running Time: 75 Minutes
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

The anime world is extremely rich in shows and movies that invite the viewer to join in on a great adventure. Some succeed more than others in this task and a select few achieve something that is beyond their initial scope, becoming full fledged classics that others are inspired by or try to benchmark in the process.

One of these select few series that have gone on to become not only a success in their home country, but all across the world is Dragonball Z a show that takes concepts from the classic Chinese literary work by Wu Ch'eng-en, Monkey King (or Journey to the West as it’s known in China), and transforms them into a legendary story that will takes us through some of the most amazing battles, duels and adventures that the anime world has ever experienced.

At the center of it all is one single character, Son Goku, the most powerful and bravest warrior in the universe, and this is his tale, Dragonball Z, one of the greatest TV shows ever produced.

Let the adventure begin!

Story

"Earth's peace is forever shattered by the hostile arrival of an alien mercenary whose evil knows no bounds. This new menace's campaign of terror begins by ruthlessly beating Earth's greatest hero within an inch of his life. Complicating matters is the shocking revelation that there is more to this sinister invader than meets the eye. Contains three classic episdes: The New Threat, Reunions and Unlikely Alliance." -- DVD Box

Review

This first volume in Funimation’s re-release of Dragon Ball Z features uncut versions of episodes one through three in the series, which include:

Episode 1: The New Threat
Son Goku has fathered a son, Son Gohan, a smart young man who is captivated by the natural world that surrounds him. Today Gohan is going to meet some of his father’s old friends. The festivities may be cut short however as a strange man from space arrives and decides to track down Goku, but why is he so interested in our hero? Are they somehow related…?

Episode 2: Reunions
Goku is in for a shock as he learns of his origins as a member of a legendary race of warriors whose powers are feared by all the people of the universe. More horrific to Goku is that he learns that the reason he was sent to Earth was to take over the planet and kill all human beings! Thankfully a sharp blow to his head when he was young helped turn Goku from humanity’s greatest potential threat to its greatest hero.

Unfortunately the man from space, Radditz, who as we learn is Goku’s brother demands that his younger brother fulfill his destiny or else he will kill Gohan! Can Goku figure a way out of this situation!?

Episode 3: Unlikely Alliance
An unlikely alliance is formed when Goku teams up with Piccolo to put a stop to Radditz’s plans! Can this uneasy alliance help Goku save his son and protect the world!? Everything depends on how well he and Piccolo work together…

Coming off of the success of the first Dragon Ball series, Dragon Ball Z, evolved the character of Goku and introduced us to the son he and Chi Chi conceived, Gohan. This time out Goku would begin facing even stronger opponents that came not only from Earth, but also space, and in the process learn that he too is in fact an extraterrestrial, who was originally destined to be Earth’s conqueror on behalf of the Saiyajins, the race from which Goku descends.

The series gets started with what starts off as a fairly simple setup that has us following young Gohan around as he experiences the wonders of the forest environment where he lives. Later, after Goku rescues him from falling down a waterfall, Gohan meets his father’s friends from his past adventures for the first time, an experience that brings about his shy side. Not too long into Goku’s reunion the party is quickly broken when a powerful warrior shows up out of nowhere and begins addressing Goku with a high degree of familiarity despite our hero having never seen this person before. It doesn’t take too long for things to unfold and Goku having to take a fighting stance against his much more powerful older brother.

As our introduction to the Dragon Ball Z series these three episodes do a nice job at re-introducing us to many of the characters from Dragon Ball and injecting new faces into the mix that will ultimately take the story further than it has ever gone before. As far as the character introductions, Gohan’s is probably the best as it perfectly encapsulates his father’s adventurous spirit and light-hearted approach to the world. While we know he will become a powerful warrior one day, for now he is a very young child and as such his view of the world is one of innocence, that comes across perfectly in the first episode of the series.

Radditz, the other main character to be introduced here, is on the other hand a villainous mercenary who despite being Goku’s older brother is depicted as being quite the opposite of his sibling. More than simply providing a Ying to Goku’s Yang Radditz's insertion into the series is a very important moment as it provides Goku with one of his first big challenges that pushes our hero to improve himself and ultimately come out on top despite all odds (something that would be somewhat of a repetitive hallmark of the series over it's long run). This villainous character also helps bring about Gohan’s hidden powers, which at the beginning of the show are beyond even Goku’s much to Radditz surprise.

All in all while the whole DVD goes by surprisingly quickly, but it really packs a wallop, especially now that these episodes are finally available in their full un-edited form. In fact if you have seen these in their prior form it is highly recommended that you check Funimation’s new version out because with the inclusion of all the edited scenes it’ll come across as an almost entirely different experience. It’s amazing how much a few scenes can add to the atmosphere and story development of a series like Dragon Ball Z, but it does, especially in episode one.

On the technical side, Dragon Ball Z comes to us from 1989, so it’s a little dated in terms over animation style and quality, but the show is still quite beautiful to look at, not to mention that nothing beats Toei’s classic hand drawn animation! As far as I’m concerned this is the pinnacle of the studio’s animation efforts (well this along with all the super robot shows from the 70’s and early 80’s). The frame rate is smooth and the color palette is filled with many bright pastels, so visually, it’s very pleasant to the eye. Visual effects are for all intents and purposes limited to energy attacks.

In the audio department this show is just amazing with music that will stick in your head all day and that will make you cheer during the exciting battles that the series is known for. I can’t get enough of the original Japanese background music and theme songs, what else could I say! In the voice acting department I can’t imagine a better cast for this series, especially on the Japanese dubbed soundtrack side. Very, very good in this front!

On the DVD front this is another nice release from the folks at Funimation that features a terrific video and audio transfer of the show. In the audio front the original Japanese soundtrack is included alongside two English dubbed tracks (one of which is encoded in 5.1 surround sound). Extras included include previews for other Funimation releases, a follow the Nimbus cloud feature that allows you to see exactly what was edited for TV broadcast, trivia section, a Goku VS Vegeta feature and a small fold out brochure inside the DVD box with the company’s release schedule for the next couple of months and info on several of their properties.

Final Thoughts

This show along with Urusei Yatsura and Mazinger-Z is part of my top anime series of all time and I think that anyone who watches anime or takes the hobby seriously should absolutely include this series in their collection.

A lot has been said about Dragon Ball Z, I’ll just say this; experience it, own it, love it!

An essential piece for your anime collection.

Jeffrey Couto