What.

What.

This one gets bogged down by superfluous misogyny. Even the woman’s arc is completely undone by the end of the story explicitly admitting her entire character was built on lies. Those lies added nothing to the story.

Goku as a character isn’t as consistent with his origins in the previous movie which makes everything just a little less interesting and flatter. While the first ended had me going, “damn, Goku is a bad ass,” this one had me thinking what was the point.

Thankfully i still love the animation and the action is still great. Also includes this futuristic car that looks like it came out of f zero and could have used more screentime. Also features a weapon called an interdimensional missile which is cool. So overall still good but less important and less memorable.

This one gets bogged down by superfluous misogyny. Even the woman’s arc is completely undone by the end of the story explicitly admitting her entire character was built on lies. Those lies added nothing to the story.

Goku as a character isn’t as consistent with his origins in the previous movie which makes everything just a little less interesting and flatter. While the first ended had me going, “damn, Goku is a bad ass,” this one had me thinking what was the point.

Thankfully i still love the animation and the action is still great. Also includes this futuristic car that looks like it came out of f zero and could have used more screentime. Also features a weapon called an interdimensional missile which is cool. So overall still good but less important and less memorable.

Epitomizes the fun of this era of anime. Doesn’t reach heights of greatness but never relaxes or snoozes. Animation is typical of the time which should tell you how much you’ll like. The most undermining thing about the genre at the time was the misogyny. It can be hit or miss between any of these movies. The first iteration of Goku wisely forgoes this type of narrative focus and instead commits most of the runtime to the protagonist. Goku is a great character who oozes his own type of sex appeal and matches that level of style in his physical capabilities. The seemingly randomness of the origins of his powers doesn’t hurt the film and instead lets it keep moving at its brisk pace. The biggest flop of the movie is the climax which felt hurried and probably could have stood to gain from a more direct confrontation between Goku and the villain. I’m still not entirely sure how the water in this tower crashes through the failing door the way it does since presumably a building like this was built with those considerations in mind. Nonetheless this is a good entry in the late 80s/early 90s anime canon.

Epitomizes the fun of this era of anime. Doesn’t reach heights of greatness but never relaxes or snoozes. Animation is typical of the time which should tell you how much you’ll like. The most undermining thing about the genre at the time was the misogyny. It can be hit or miss between any of these movies. The first iteration of Goku wisely forgoes this type of narrative focus and instead commits most of the runtime to the protagonist. Goku is a great character who oozes his own type of sex appeal and matches that level of style in his physical capabilities. The seemingly randomness of the origins of his powers doesn’t hurt the film and instead lets it keep moving at its brisk pace. The biggest flop of the movie is the climax which felt hurried and probably could have stood to gain from a more direct confrontation between Goku and the villain. I’m still not entirely sure how the water in this tower crashes through the failing door the way it does since presumably a building like this was built with those considerations in mind. Nonetheless this is a good entry in the late 80s/early 90s anime canon.

Classic Kawajiri. Amazing city scenery, spectacular action (the shot of Goku leaping from building to building with his extending staff in front of the moon is especially iconic), sexy women, even the ending song is on point. This OVA is radiating with everything I love about anime from this era. It’s a shame no one talks about this one often. It’s criminally underrated.

Classic Kawajiri. Amazing city scenery, spectacular action (the shot of Goku leaping from building to building with his extending staff in front of the moon is especially iconic), sexy women, even the ending song is on point. This OVA is radiating with everything I love about anime from this era. It’s a shame no one talks about this one often. It’s criminally underrated.