Dragonball Z has been heralded by many as the greatest action anime series of all time. But often overlooked are the movies that accompany the overarching series, from humble beginnings with Dead Zone to much more ambitious projects such as Cooler’s Revenge and Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan. While some films are more directly tied to the main series than others, few of the films require much background information for new viewers, making them very accessible and easy to enjoy.
In 1995, with the Majin Buu saga well under way, the film Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn was released and set the stage for a battle that would travel from Earth to the afterlife. As Goku and Pikkon enter the final round of the Other World Tournament, an accident with an evil-purification machine causes one of King Yemma’s underlings to absorb the energy and mutate into a gigantic being of immense power. The creature, known as Janemba, wreaks havoc on the Other World and causes elements of it to collide with Earth. Goku and Pikkon decide to hold off on completing the tournament for the time being and head out to investigate the cause of all the unusual phenomenon.
On Earth, Chi-Chi and Videl are having a chat about Videl’s potential future with Gohan when the barrier between worlds is broken. The dead rise again all around the world and Gohan and Videl decide to fight them off while Goten and Trunks search for the Dragonballs. Hercule even receives a brief moment of spotlight, as he finds it nearly effortless to pick off half-decomposed zombies.
Having experience exclusively with the English dub of any Dragonball works, It’s nice to see that all the English voice actors return to reprise their respective roles. There are a number of characters completely absent, such as Yamcha, Krillin, and Piccolo, but that has to do with the original Japanese script. Even so, it would have been nice to receive some sort of explanation as to where they were during all of these events – Piccolo especially, considering he was supposed to be training Goten and Trunks to perfect their abilities as Saiyans. As for the three main characters, Pikkon is included largely for comic relief - while it would have been interesting to see him go toe-to-toe with Janemba, he wouldn’t have stood much of a chance and - in Dragonball fashion – this is a story about Goku at its core.
Making a much-welcomed return is Vegeta, who regains the use of his body after the events set in motion by Janemba. Full of pride as ever, Vegeta tells Goku that he has plenty of strength to defeat Janemba, only to subsequently have his butt handed to him. The two then must use the fusion technique to form Gogeta and take down the menace of Janemba. And that’s the real selling point of this film – the fusion technique used to form someone other than Gotenks.
Speaking of Gotenks, while Goten and Trunks play a significant role in fighting off zombies on Earth, Gotenks doesn’t show up until about the last ten minutes of the film, as if the creators wanted to include a reminder to viewers as to what was happening with Majin Buu in the main series. Gohan’s major role in the film is summoning the dragon Shenron. Shenron explains that he is unable to intervene in the dead arriving on Earth, as the source of the problem is in the Other World.
A brief appearance by Frieza explores who all has been brought back from the dead, though Gohan swiftly deals with him. The inclusions of Dracula and Hitler (the latter of whom spends a fair portion of the film ordering his troops to fire upon Goten and Trunks) add some cheap laughs to the story and are reminiscent of the storytelling style of the original Dragonball. All in all, the events on Earth provide some prime examples of the consequences of Janemba’s actions, but don’t really advance the plot much. The conclusion of the film is a major letdown, as everything just sort of ends without much time spent on wrapping the story up, though the film in its entirety is a mere fifty minutes long.
The story isn’t as serious as that of Tree of Might or Cooler’s Revenge, but it isn’t as goofy and loosely-tied together as the Majin Buu saga. Fusion Reborn does a good job of balancing elements of the older Dragonball Z style with the newer material. The plot may seem a tad forced and the main villain rather plain, but the pacing is strong and the film doesn’t overstay its welcome.
My rating: 7.25 (out of 10)
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