During the anime run of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball Z series that was running in the late 80s to early 90s, the show was very popular among viewers and fans. At the same time, in between every year the studio would release a film special. A tradition that doesn't just apply to this franchise, but also the predecessor (Dragon Ball) and even other anime properties. However, what made things eye popping was when the animation and finale of the main protagonist Goku went "Super Saiyan". Something that had only been illustrated in Toriyama's manga years before. This was on the small screen though. Low and behold, while that particular season has concluding, another film came out featuring this spectacular transformation on the big screen with this feature.
The story to this feature is about the brother of Frieza (Linda Young), Cooler (Andrew Chandler) happening to hear of his brother's death once Goku had destroyed him. Meanwhile, Goku (Sean Schemmel), Krillin (Sonny Strait) and Gohan (Stephanie Nadolny) are out minding their own business on Earth when Cooler shows up looking to take it upon himself to get rid of Goku. The screenplay was adapted by Takao Koyama who had worked on almost all the other annual features that were released between the seasons of the anime. Most of which were middling to okay at best. Directing this feature was also Mitsuo Hashimoto who also lead the production to a few of the previous features made in between the anime seasons. While the film is a great continuation of the Super Saiyan lore, the continuity as usual is not lined up correctly.
While the film's release was in 1991, season three had not finished yet. But the story takes place after the season had concluded. Additionally, after season three had ended, Goku did not return back to Earth until some time into season four. It's almost in the right place but not exactly. What makes it even more surprising is that in the start of season four, the anime introduces Garlic Jr., back as if he never got locked away in the Dead Zone as portrayed in the feature of 1989. Explain that one! The storyline though is captivating as it reveals that Cooler himself witnessed Goku's father, Bardock dying at the hands of Frieza as well as seeing Goku being sent off to Earth. Seeing the total impact and consequences of certain characters is interesting to watch play out.
When it came to the acting, performances were appreciated as usual from the official funimation crew. Sean Schemmel is the definitive English voice of Goku, as is Stephanie Nadolny as Gohan, and Sonny Strait as Krillin. There's also appearances from Chris Sabat, Linda Young and Kyle Herbert. Andrew Chandler as Cooler sounded fairly imposing too. Prior to Cooler, Chandler had only voiced a couple other Dragon Ball characters that didn't stick around too long. However since then, he has remained the voice of these characters. The other thing to be thankful for is the fact the voices selected for the English dub are now set in their place. There's no longer strange mismatching or odd choice selections for character voices. The action on film is fun to watch as well, the fight sequences are energetic and pack the punch to keep the attention of the viewer.
This also follows with the animation. The animation is also much more polished and scenes move much smoother than the TV episode counterparts. As to why camerawork is necessary, that's another thing to be debated. Masatoshi Fukui is credited as the cinematographer to this feature but it's unclear as to why. This was his first Dragon Ball Z film though, as his prior work consisted of a credit to The Transformers: The Movie (1986). Lastly for the music, Shunsuke Kikuchi's original music was apparently used but again ignored when it came to the English dub. It would only later contain Kikuchi's music in a rerelease. But for the original, various hard rock bands like Drowning Pool, Breaking Point, Finger Eleven and Deftones were placed instead. The concept kind of works but they really don't belong at all.
While the ability for this feature to correctly fit into the timeline between seasons still doesn't work, the storyline makes up for that with the way it expands connections between the protagonist and antagonists. The original release also contains music that don't mix well with the final product either. However, voice acting, and animation also remain strong components to the viewing experience.
