Let’s get straight to the point, this is without a doubt the most overrated original DBZ movie by a long shot. Even on my 4th watch, I fail to understand why people consider this the greatest Dragon Ball anything when it's just another boring story with admittedly good looking animation (at points). The only reason anyone likes this movie is because of one scene at the very end that barely lasts 3 minutes of screen time.
STORY
Fusion Reborn has a pretty strong setup and introduction (as most of these Z movies tend to have). After the defeat of Majin Buu (presumably in a timeline where Goku
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was not brought back to life by the Elder Kaioshin) a second Otherworld Tournament is taking place. Now I really enjoy the Otherworld, I think it’s Toriyama’s most visually striking and creative locations, (certainly more so than rocky wastelands or grassy plains!), and I find Paikuhan to be a pretty well done anime original character. As the fight between Goku and Paikuhan gets underway, we get an ominous voiceover telling of a great danger that will soon arise at the Otherworld Check-In station, followed by the 2nd Z opening We Gotta Power (a welcome addition, it is a great OP)
After the short break, we are reintroduced to Lord Enma and the primary function of the Otherworld, to sort the good and evil spirits who pass through. If you watched DBZ, you should be familiar with how Otherworld works, but for those who don’t, what you really need to know for this story is that all evil souls are sent to Hell, where their souls are cleansed and reincarnated into the living world. In Hell we see this soul cleaner in action, holding a glass tank for all the “evil ki” to be dumped into (basically nuclear waste). A teenage demon operating as the tank clerk isn’t paying attention when suddenly the tank housing all of this evil ki clogs the machine and causes not just it, but all the other tanks to burst, releasing all the stored evil into Otherworld. The demon begins to transmogrify into a being called Janemba, which I guess is supposed to be a conglomeration of all the evil ki in Otherworld.
Janemba’s distortion of the living world and the Otherworld is the primary conflict of the movie, and unfortunately this is where the interesting part ends. From here we get the typical Dragon Ball Z action that many know and love. Later in the film we see Freeza, as well as many of the movie villains, begin to attack Earth, and Gohan (as the Great Saiyaman) goes to stop them. This could’ve been a pretty interesting rematch, but unlike in DBS, Freeza was not able to train, and gets one shot by a Super Saiyan Gohan. There’s a lot of other weird antics we get to see on Earth, like Goten and Trunks fighting Hitler, but as outlandish and absurd as it is I can’t say I’m a fan.
CHARACTERS
Alright, starting off with the man of the hour Goku. Goku is Goku. There’s not really much to add, he’s pretty much the same as he’s always been. Goku trying to figure out how to fight fat Janemba was pretty fun to watch. That’s all I really have to say
Paikuhan: Earlier I praised Paikuhan as a well done anime original character, but unfortunately he doesn’t do much in this movie. I suppose he does figure out the primary weakness of the evil ki barriers (I just call them the jellybeans) floating around, as well as Janemba itself, being…shouting insults at it? It’s a silly concept that could really only fit in the world of Dragon Ball. At the end of the movie Pikkon tells Goku and Vegeta that he’ll hold off Janemba while they undergo fusion, but then proceeds to get absolutely washed by Janemba IMMEDIATELY, so that was pretty funny I guess.
Vegeta: Oh boy Vegeta. Where to begin? I said at the beginning that this movie presumably takes place AFTER the Buu Saga ended. Why is this important? At the end of the Buu Saga, Vegeta has arguably his biggest character moment in the series in admitting that Goku is indeed number one, and from there we can assume that he starts to push his ego aside when it comes to a threat like Janemba. Well for those of you who think Super regressed Vegeta’s character, I point you to this movie. Vegeta is so goddamn insufferable it's honestly surprising. He insists that HE and HE ALONE will be the one to defeat that weakling Janemba WITHOUT the help of that clown Kakarrot, and outright REFUSES to do Fusion (even though he agreed to use the Potara before this movie happened). When he gets taken out by one of Janemba’s attacks, he whines that “even in the Next World I’m still inferior to Kakarrot.” This is honestly the worst depiction of Vegeta in the series to me, arguably worse than in the Tournament of Power.
Janemba: Conceptually, Janemba isn’t bad at all. I’m one of the few people who doesn’t absolutely hate the Buu Saga, so I’m all for this force of nature kind of villain. He has a shit ton of cool abilities and tricks up his sleeve that keep the fight scenes pretty engaging, one of the few things I liked about this movie.
The other characters don’t really have enough screen time for me to make any meaningful comments on them. Moving on to…
ANIMATION
I have to admit, this movie has some really good animation, especially Super Saiyan 3 Goku vs Janemba. There’s a reason that clip is one of the 2 things people post to tell you how good this movie is!! Seriously though, not just Fusion Reborn, but all the Z movies have moments that are really well animated. No complaints from me.
SOUND
Not bad at all, typical of what you would expect from Dragon Ball performances. The soundtrack was pretty good but nothing super memorable.
CONCLUSION
Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn is a film with a strong premise and terrible execution. It relies on its good animation and cool moments to make up for an otherwise underwhelming story. Not the worst of the Z movies, but it’s certainly not the masterpiece that fans will try to say it is.
Oct 22, 2023
Let’s get straight to the point, this is without a doubt the most overrated original DBZ movie by a long shot. Even on my 4th watch, I fail to understand why people consider this the greatest Dragon Ball anything when it's just another boring story with admittedly good looking animation (at points). The only reason anyone likes this movie is because of one scene at the very end that barely lasts 3 minutes of screen time.
STORY Fusion Reborn has a pretty strong setup and introduction (as most of these Z movies tend to have). After the defeat of Majin Buu (presumably in a timeline where Goku ... |
