Dragon Ball: El camino hacia el poder

So, look, I'll be honest: I don't know a dang thing about 'Dragon Ball.' Nothing meaningful, anyway: sights unseen, I can name exactly two characters (I know Goku and Vegeta), I'm aware of two meme-ready tropes ("super-saiyan" and "power level yada yada"), and I think at some point years ago (nearly twenty of them) I might have seen one or two episodes. But I'll watch just about anything, and I think all this puts me in a prime position to watch this 1996 feature with fresh eyes and judge it on its own merits. The violence in the opening scene raises a skeptical eyebrow, and the astoundingly sexist lines to follow before four minutes elapsed make for an inauspicious start, but there was still room for this to grow. Incredibly, however, the sexism continues to be a very consistent strain, alongside strangely simplistic, childish writing, and some animation that fits neatly alongside that juvenility. We can make an allowance to some degree that this may have been made for a younger audience in the first place, but that only gets us so far at best, and at worst raises more questions since the most boorish and toxic facets are decidedly inappropriate for young viewers (and just exhausting and inappropriate generally). Speaking as someone who sat for 'The path to power' with no real background on the franchise, this does not make a good first impression.

Granted, this is nothing if not a saga of science fiction and fantasy, ready-made for action and adventure. It only wants to entertain. Not knowing anything else of substance about 'Dragon Ball,' neither the manga nor the subsequent anime, I still recognize great, flavorful ideas in the characters, scene writing, story, and general concepts for storytelling of this ilk. And, hey, there's a lot to like in this one picture. Tokunaga Akihito's music is sometimes a little gauche, whether in and of itself or in how it is used, but mostly it's a delightful complement. I can't fault the cast for their spirited voice acting. The action sequences tend to be really fun. And above all, the artists of Toei Animation turned in terrific work. The series tends toward the more cartoonish side of anime, yes, but even so we're treated to lovely backgrounds and environments of every stripe, and fetching, creative designs for characters, creatures, and other active elements. The visuals are bright and colorful, making this easy on the eyes, and there's some nice consideration at times for lighting and shading in addition to overall detail. On a side note, it's not lost on me that filmmaker Hosoda Mamoru got his start working for Toei as an animator, and in that capacity, this is a fine credit. The movie is quite well made, and the production values hold up.

So it's unfortunate that those good ideas in the writing, Matsui Aya's adaptation of Toriyama Akira's manga and accordingly reimagining a plot already seen in the anime, is treated so poorly. I, a newcomer, easily discern that the full scope of the narrative has been pointedly abridged to fit into a concise runtime, and that truncation chops it up into a form that is less than satisfying. That's on top of unsophisticated dialogue, scene writing, characterizations, and plot development that were clearly penned with the false, condescending notion that kids wouldn't be smart enough to grasp the material if it were fleshed out into something judicious and meaningful with nuance and depth. And for as dubious a first impression as this makes with regards to how Bulma is written, and how she's treated at large in the screenplay as the sole female character, it actually gets worse. The character Oolong is basically a half-step away from being a sexual predator as he gazes lasciviously at Bulma. Worse, wherever the responsibility lies between source material, adaptation, and direction, I lost track of how many times we catch a flash of Bulma's panties (I wish I were kidding). And still worse, about halfway through we're treated to a scene - played for laughs - that goes a step further. Also: that said scene comes at the halfway point rather accentuates the fact that for how questionably this is written and sequenced, it frankly feels longer than a mere 80 minutes.

Then there's the bad writing, storyboarding, and editing that poorly establishes various minutiae, and which moreover inserts extraordinary leaps in the plot development - as in, "wait, how did we get here?" And did I mention that the writing of the chief villain is kind of ableist? Or how one character spontaneously changes sides? To be blunt, all told the title loses its appeal rather quickly. I don't think this is altogether rotten, yet the value that it boasts can be had elsewhere without also suffering through the most objectionable qualities and those aspects most deserving of criticism. Some of the animation and action are downright brilliant, a real feast for the eyes, but it's not as if there aren't other example of Japanese animation in the world. 'The path to power' isn't abjectly terrible, but it some ways it rather tries to be, and elsewhere the necessary care was simply not applied to make this the quality film that it could have been. I suppose I'm glad for those who find it more enjoyable than I do, but for my part, with this effectively being my introduction to 'Dragon Ball,' I'm given pause about dipping my toes any further into the franchise. And maybe even that's being too kind.

Very few times have I been able to convey the heart and describe the wonderfuly crafted story behind Dragon Ball to people who have never seen anime or read manga. It is definitely an art that requires the reader/viewer to see past the cultural differences and conventionalisms between Western (American and European animation mainly like Disney and DreamWorks) and Eastern Animation, and embrace the different approaches people make while telling the same kind of heartfelt and endearing stories.

Dragon Ball overall is a very long story divided in the so-called "arcs", an arc is a period of time where an enemy is introduced and developed while the main characters are meant to fight it culminating in a final confrontation in the end while they each complete their respective character arcs (growths). Dragon Ball was one of the first to introduce a repetitive yet coherent and well-crafted way of placing these "arcs" to make up the overall story. Some American and Western TV Shows' Seasons and Book Sagas work the same way.

Why am I explaining this? Well, because the main reason why Dragon Ball was really hard to explain to people not used to the Japanese way of storytelling (at least in manga) was that because there were so many enemies and so many characters being introduced in each one of them, you couldn't really tell the overall story in a few lines as you'll be missing important details that would explain the reason for these characters to be introduced or even their role in the rest of the story. While serially told stories like The Avengers movies have different villains too, these are merely unique to a certain character. In Dragon Ball there isn't much individuality to the characters, each have their own personality but they shine when they interact with the rest of the crew. And the enemies they face they face together, it's the same for all of them. (there are very few exceptions)

So what does this movie do right? It condensates many of the first arcs of Dragon Ball while keeping many memorable moments spanning from the first time Goku and Bulma meet (the sort of "main characters" of this story) all the way to one of the considerably big first threat the gang faces: The Red Ribbon. I wouldn't be spoiling much by saying this because for those who haven't seen it won't know what I'm talking about and those who know what I'm talking about it's because they already, well, know.

The movie has very gorgeous shots which surprises given the aesthetic of the anime and other Dragon Ball movies don't take a moment to do so and focus more on the action. There are shots of characters framed in landscapes that were really greatly captured and the expressions of the characters speak for themselves. Unfortunately the movie is not well dubbed in my mother tongue (Spanish) nor is it well captured in other similar ones for what I've heard (Latin Spanish, Italian) and I'm not sure why. Even as I watched it subtitled in Spanish the subtitles put words that didn't match the spoken ones and that could be annoying for some who haven't seen it and might want to know exactly what they are saying. Eitherway, this movie has a great balance of tone and diversity. The journey takes them to all sorts of different places like snowy mountains and warm beaches. Normally in Dragon Ball manga/anime there are so many things happening it takes a while until they get to a different setting.

IN CONCLUSION, this movie condensates the very best aspects that make the Dragon Ball story and anime great. It's a summarized version of the first arcs which may ignore some little ones or even some other character developments and moments but it however keeps the spirit of the story and the same characters. Not only does it respect many moments and the overall spirit and feeling the story conveys, but it was animated at the peak of 90s Dragon Ball traditional animation and it shows specially in the final battle. If there was ever a way of "adapting" the Dragon Ball manga/anime to a single hour and a half movie, this would be the right way to do it. Although it is still a Dragon Ball produced Dragon Ball movie so, not sure why this exists other than to, in fact, present the story to new comers. But basically this movie has it all, great portrayal of the characters just like in the anime/manga, splendid action scenes reminiscent of Dragon Ball Z anime as well as power ups, emotional moments and funny scenes. It just FEELs like a condensed DragonBallZ-anime-styled manga adaptation that, while different in some modified moments that serve this version of the story nicely, maintains the integrity of what makes Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball.

(Reason for not giving 10/10: Although the animation was spectacular and top notch like Dragon Ball GT's at its peak --which I'm one of the few who actually like it because I grew up with it and also the song played in the end credits almost made me cry of nostalgia-- I couldn't help but feel there were some stiff stills in some scenes and an overall drop of quality in the audio, at least in other languages that weren't Japanese. Also, the modifications and lack of certain moments had me a little estranged from this version of the story. But still, I believe it is the perfect glimpse of adventurous wonder of the real deal and a well, small-packaged enough taste for the average non-anime viewing people to get into the game)

This is just the very best movie that DragonBall has to show. I think that even the DragonBall Z movies arent made as good as this one. Everything is made great in this movie. Im really looking forward to 20th anniversary special.

Let me just start by saying out of all 20 films, this one is the best. However, I do have a few gripes as well. One thing I loved, was it's animation. It's honestly some of the greatest animation, losing only to super broly. I also LOVED the art style, which ended up looking like the manga. I mean, everything about the visuals in this film were gorgeous. Another thing that I liked, was the soundtrack. It's basically a remastered dragon ball gt soundtrack by Akihito Tokunaga (My favorite composer after Kikuchi). This movie feels extremely alive, in many aspects. As for the things I DIDN'T like. The biggest drawback with this movie, is it's breakneck pacing. It moves around pretty quickly. Another gripe I have, is the ending. I'm not going to spoil it, just don't get your hopes up. It's not terrible, it just, ends too quickly. We'll that's my review, this is by far the most unique dragon ball movie I've EVE watched. Besides my few gripes, this movie is a spectacular retelling of dragon ball's original story.

Let's get this out of the way. We have the original anime telling the story of Bulma meeting Goku. Then we had the "Curse of the Blood Rubies" that tells us the story of how Bulma met Goku. Then 10 years later, we had this movie "Path to Power". What is the point of rehashing the same story yet again? Well, perhaps I am being too harsh. Admittedly I am not a fan of the GT style animation that this movie goes with. That is more due to my bias against GT opposed to the animation style itself.

The movie condenses the opening Pilaf saga and combines it with the Red Ribbon Army saga. It cuts out Pilaf, Chi Chi and Mercenary Tao in attempt to pace it out to a solid 80-minute runtime. Once again setting this timeline apart, as if to say what if the Red Ribbon Army would have gone after the Dragon Balls a year earlier.

This DB movie has the gift of hindsight, in that they made this movie after the whole run of DBZ movies and show had completed its run. Watching it, there is a distinct DBZ feel that perinates through different parts. Goku screams to power up like in DBZ, despite that not being a major part of the original DragonBall. They don't use this hindsight to add in Dr. Gero to the timeline, but that's a nerdy nitpick.

I don't think they get the characterization of Goku right in this. I am aware that Goku was a happy go lucky kid in the original Dragon Ball. But in this one, he laughs almost constantly, it gets really annoying.

It is a shame that they didn't pick up where they left off in the previous DB movie timeline. They recap the events of the Pilaf Saga twice but never recap the King Piccolo Saga. Once again, just a nerdy nitpick moment.

There isn't anything retold here that I do not prefer in either the "Curse of the Blood Rubies" of more importantly, the series proper. If you think this movie is fine away to abridge those original Dragon Ball Arcs you are mistaken. I still recommend watching the original instead of this truncated version. There are no shortcuts on the path to power.