kanna-chan's cafe

Hey guys, kanna here. And is it me, or is this summer HOT? I mean, I don't know about where in the world you guys are, but where I am, it's either really hot or really rainy. I guess I can't complain, too much, though.

Enough of me complaining about the heat. It's time for a trip to the past! Let's go!

The year we're headed to is 1995, the year when this was originally released in Japan. It was released into the U.S. in 2006. Our movie, if you haven't guessed already from the title, is part of the anime Dragon Ball Z, and it's the 13th movie. In Japan, this movie was known as Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Fist Explosion!! If Goku Can't Do It, Who Will?. Now, me being me with my habit of seeing things a tad out of order, I saw this before I actually saw the other movies. Yeah...not exactly what I had intended at the time, but oh well.


Anyway, this movie is set after (and this is the part where you will have need to have seen Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z) the events of the final battle with Majin Buu. And while you do need to know who the characters are in Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z in order to watch this film, you don't need to have seen the previous film before it, Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn. Actually, you don't need to have seen ANY of the previous films to understand this movie. That's part of what I love about Dragon Ball; you don't need to have seen the previous movie to understand the next.

Let's dive in!

NOTE: I'll mainly be talking about the English dub in this, as I haven't seen the original Japanese (primarily because I can't find the original Japanese anywhere). I'll make a couple references to the Japanese, but those will mainly be from research.

Our movie opens up on a distant planet with a young alien boy frantically searching his surroundings for...something. It's not really clear as to what he's looking for, but I guess it doesn't matter too much, as he's killed off by a giant foot while someone maniacally laughs in the background and declares that his next stop is Earth.

On Earth, it looks like an old, alien man is trying to commit suicide by jumping off a tower. So Gohan and Videl as Super Saiyaman I and II, respectively, go to rescue him. And, to be honest...this guy isn't much of a looker. I mean, every part of him practically SCREAMS villain. Look at this guy!

Tell me that doesn't SCREAM villain!

Anyway, this...alien...guy...whatever is Hoi. He presents his rescuers with a music box and claims that a great hero, Tapion, is trapped inside. Hoi additionally says that Tapion may be their only chance of survival against an approaching evil. The Z Fighters (too many to list) open the box with the help of Shenron and the Dragon Balls and release Tapion from the music box. He looks like this.


Tapion expresses anger at being released. He explains that inside him is the essence of half of a ferocious monster known as Hirudegarn, before he isolates himself in what appears to be an abandoned warehouse. Not much of a social person, are you, Tapion? Anyway, Trunks likes Tapion, and sneaks him food every now and then, despite Tapion angrily telling Trunks to leave him alone. However, Trunks continues to bring Tapion food day after day.

Shortly after Hoi's arrival and Tapion's release, the lower half of Hirudegarn is unleashed on the city. The Z Fighters are unable to do much (if any) damage against it, but when a mysterious tune is played by Tapion on an ocarina, the half is weakened and it disappears.

I'm not sure how much time has passed, so let's assume it's been a couple days. Anyway, a couple days later, Tapion is just playing his ocarina outside, because...reasons, and Trunks sneaks some food in. However, unbeknownst to Trunks, he was followed by Hoi, who's standing on top of a building looking quite sinister. Again, if that doesn't scream villain, I don't know what will.

Trunks tries to make light conversation with Tapion, but he's not having it. He walks inside, only to be followed in by Hoi. Tapion doesn't see him, but Trunks does, and yells out. Hoi hustles Tapion and knocks the ocarina right out of his hands. Trunks runs and grabs it and dodges Hoi's blows as he climbs on top of...something. Just as he's about to throw Tapion the ocarina, Hoi tries to convince Trunks that Tapion is evil. In the end, Trunks gives the ocarina to Tapion, and Hoi escapes. Just as Trunks is about to leave, however, Tapion invites him in and the two eat and talk about what happened.

Later on (seriously, they're not clear about how much time passes), Tapion explains to Bulma that Hoi is part of a race known as the Kashvaar, a race of evil alien magicians who destroy everything they believe is inferior to them. A thousand years ago, they awakened Hirudegarn, and their conquest to destroy the universe eventually brought them to Tapion's home planet, Konats.

During the battle, a priest from Konats found a magic sword and two ocarinas that could be used to destroy Hirudegarn. While Tapion and his younger brother, Minosha, kept Hirudegarn at bay with the ocarinas, the priest cleaved Hirudegarn in two with the sword. To prevent anything like that from ever happening again, the War Council decided to seal the two halves inside Tapion and Minosha, who would then be sealed inside music boxes and sent to opposite ends of the universe until the Kashvaar were brought to justice. Hoi is the last of the Kashvaar, and he has already killed Minosha (as seen in the first scene of the movie). Now he's seeking out Tapion to finish what he started and conquer the universe.

The next day (I think it's the next day), Hirudegarn is released and the two halves reunite to become one. Despite everything the Z Fighters try, their efforts are useless. However, Tapion plays a song on his ocarina and seals Hirudegarn inside of himself. He begs Trunks to kill him, but because of Trunks's hesitation, Hirudegarn is released once more, and the ocarina is destroyed. Hoi watches and gloats over his apparent victory, before he's killed the same way as Minosha in an ironic twist.

Then there's this huge fight scene where Goku goes Super Saiyan and...yeah, you know where this is going. The good guys win, Tapion goes back to his home world, the end.

So, rating: 10/10

Why: First of all, this is my favorite out of all the Dragon Ball Z movies that I've seen. Everything about this movie is fantastic. The voice acting is great, and the animation is pretty good, too (for 90s animation, anyway). We'll see better animation in the later 90s, but for 1995, the animation was pretty good. There wasn't a ton of CGI, if any, and for this movie, that was probably a good thing. I mean, just try imagining a CGI Hirudegarn. It's pretty hard to do.

Hoi is freaking badass, even if everything about him practically screams villain. He's smart, cunning, and a villain you start to love to hate. He's ALMOST the perfect villain.

Tapion is pretty badass, too. You can't help but feel bad for him, as he was forced into having half of Hirudegarn put inside him. He didn't choose it. It's understandable why he chose to isolate himself from everyone, but when he starts to fight alongside everyone, it was incredible.

As we all know, I'm a sucker for a good soundtrack, and this movie...somewhat disappointed...ish. See, there's two versions of the English dub: one that was released in the U.S. and another that was released in Malaysia under the title Explosion of Dragon Punch. I'm not sure which one got which theme song, but one got one that sounded...not so epic, and the other got this epic-ness:


Well, that's it for this Anime Monday. I'm working on one for Tokyo Ghoul, so that's likely to be next. See you next time! ~k