Dragon Ball Z Movie 09: Ginga Girigiri!! Bucchigiri no Sugoi Yatsu

I grew up with Dragon Ball Z, but for some absurd reason it took me until 2014 to watch the Bojack movie which is the 9th movie in the Dragon Ball Z franchise. There are numerous Dragon Ball Z movies out there that are pretty bad or left me feeling it could of been better, but let me tell you that the Bojack movie is not one of those Bio-Broly failures. The movie started out with the richest guy in the world offering a huge sum of money to whoever can win his global tournament and then get the honor of facing the world champion ... Hercule. While it should be obvious to you viewers who the top dogs will be, you may be amused to see a random finding his way into the mix! Though, avoiding spoilers that is all that needs to be said about the tournament.

Now, enter the space pirate Bojack. The man is built like a machine in terms of muscle or in Dragon Ball Z terms Broly. The fight between Bojack and the Z fighters was an interesting one to watch unfold and ended in a way I saw coming, but still a good watch. I'd hate to spoil the rest for you so I guess I'll leave it up to you guys and gals to watch it yourself!

Arrgh!

The first one without Goku being in the story turns out to be the best one yet, probably because the story is unable to rely on constant deus ex machina spirit bomb stuff (aside from the almost-literal deus ex machina found near the end, but whatever).

Most of the movie is a fun tournament where all the characters get to beat each other up and have races and tell jokes. This part is great. You know the entire time that it's gonna get ruined by a boring fight scene with boring villains, but it's great while it lasts.

Like with Broly, the very fact it mixes ... up the formula makes it a whole lot more interesting than usual. Yeah, it still devolves into mindless fighting, but the stakes are more fun when you know Goku can't save the day (mostly). There's a couple REALLY iffy moments in the climax though that hurt the movie significantly. With just a bit of editing this coulda been great.

Like the first Cooler movie, this actually fits perfectly in the timeline with no issues. It might even enhance the main series by being included, unlike Cooler. It's a darn fine Dragon Ball movie, even if it's not much of a movie-movie.

Bojack: Unbound is the ninth movie in the long running Dragon Ball Z series, and I have to say it's not only among my most hated movies in the franchise, but also in the anime genre altogether. Even for a DBZ movie, there is no imagination or any attempt whatsoever to at least make the already beaten path the least bit tolerable. It's so by the numbers that after watching the first eight movies, you can actually create a checklist and start marking off plot related elements as you go.

After a few very boring fights and mind-numbingly lame comedy; Trunks, Gohan, and Krillin advance ... in the tournament and leave for a new area to continue fighting. From there they meet Bojack, his minions, and then several brawls occur. DBZ is an all out action anime, this is something we all know and there's nothing wrong with that. However, this movie is just way too by the numbers and very bland. The side characters are nothing but bodies to be dominated. They make very dramatic appearances as if they're going to actually pose a threat, yet they're beaten quicker than they show up. If a new viewer came into this movie first, I can't imagine them wanting to delve deeper because no one comes off looking like a bad ass at all. Bojack and his gang are nothing but cookie cutter baddies with about as much personality as a pimple between them all.

This movie takes place after Goku's death which occurred during the Cell Saga, and his son Gohan arose as Earth's new protector. Instead of developing him in that way, he comes off needing support from his dead father. There was so much potential to develop the entire cast as a team, plus mentor Gohan along the way. Instead, they clearly find a way to cram Goku into it, thus proving there was no way the show could have possibly survived without him. Many fans believe that this movie can actually fit in the DBZ main continuity in between the Cell Games Saga and The Great Saiyaman. Well, without nitpicking in the characters dialog it actually can; but that's not a reason to praise this movie.

While the backgrounds have moments of looking very good, from the peaceful looking prairies, to the dark and menacing ruins in the battle ground. The animation unfortunately is the usual reused-cels found in the DBZ series. In other words, very quick, blurred motions passing off as action, the laziest path to take when it comes down to delivering action scenes. There really isn't much choreography, as there's a heavy reliance on a light show. While plenty of the explosions and energy attacks look nice, the actual fighting has always failed to register with me. Up to this day I still haven't heard the sub, and I have no desire to. However, the dub is pretty good with the usual suspects featuring Chris Sabat playing both Piccolo and Vegeta, along with Eric Vale as Trunks; and please don't come into this expecting the fun rock scores you heard in Cooler's Revenge or Broly: The Legendary Super Saiyan. Instead, what you get here is something mums will use to put the kids to sleep.

Everything about this movie screams "lazy money draining succubus". If someone told me it took Toei Animation 10 minutes to come up with this movie, it would be lies to me and I'll swear it took less. In closing, this movie is only for Dragon Ball Z fans. Everyone else do yourself a favor and avoid it. If you're looking for a fun anime feature minus the psycho-babble, Redline or even Read or Die would make better choices. If you want something with a deep storyline that doesn't run for 10 hours, Area 88 OVA will be a great choice. Skip this 50 minute waste of time.

Highs: Makes great anime look greater

Lows: Slapped together boring and cliché story