Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks
Japanese poster art
Starring	Takeshi Kusao (Trunks) Hiromi Tsuru (Bulma) Masako Nozawa (Son Gohan / Son Gokū) Shigeru Nakahara (Jinzōningen #17) Miki Itou (Jinzōningen #18) Naoko Watanabe (Chi-Chi / Pu'er) Kohei Myauchi (Kame-Sen'nin) Naoki Tatsuta (Oolong) Daisuke Ghori (Gyū-Mao / Umigame) Toshio Furukawa (Piccolo) Ryo Horikawa (Vegeta) Toru Furuya (Yamcha) Hirotaka Suzuoki (Tenshinhan) Mayumi Tanaka (Kuririn) Hiroko Emori (Chiao-tzu) Joji Yanami (Narration)
Release date(s)	February 23, 1993, [Japan]
Language	Japanese

Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks, known in Japan as Dragon Ball Z: Zetsubō e no Hankō!! Nokosareta Chō-Senshi Gohan to Trunks (ドラゴンボールZ 絶望への反抗!!残された超戦士・悟飯とトランクス, Doragon Bōru Zetto Zetsubō e no Hankō!! Nokosareta Chō-Senshi • Gohan to Torankusu^?, lit. "Dragon Ball Z: Resistance to Despair!! The Remaining Super-Warriors, Gohan and Trunks"), is an hour-long TV-Special (#2) that is part of the Dragon Ball Z series of anime. Originally released in Japan on February 24, 1993, between episodes 174 and 175. Bridge Entertainment's title is Gohan and Trunks. It tells the story of Future Trunks. It is unique among Dragon Ball movies/specials since it is actually based from a brief chapter in the manga, called Trunks the History - The Lone Warrior. The special changes several key plot points for drama (such as that in the manga Trunks was capable of turning Super Saiyan before Gohan's death).

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film opens with Goku's death from a viral heart disease and the death of the Z-Fighters at the hands of Androids #17 and #18 six months later. The Z-Fighters are unable to be brought back to life because the Dragon Balls are permanently unusable due to Piccolo's death. The TV Special moves into the future where Trunks is 13 years old and 23-year old adult Gohan is the only one able to stand against the Androids, ever since he became a Super Saiyan after witnessing the deaths of the other Z-fighters. Gohan trains Trunks in fighting and power, who comes very close to becoming a Super Saiyan as well. One day, The Androids attack an amusement park, where Gohan and Trunks come to the aid of the people. #17 takes on Gohan while #18 sits back and watches. Gohan transforms into a Super Saiyan and, despite a few lucky hits by #17, quickly takes control of the fight.

However, #18 joins the fight and begins to beat Gohan. Trunks, though no match for the Androids, comes to the rescue and takes on #18. He manages to fight her for a minute before he is defeated, but Gohan saves him from death, and they both hide in the debris. #17 and #18, unable to find them, figure they left but blow the park up anyway. Gohan and Trunks survive the blast but at the cost of Gohan's left arm. Gohan recovers and resumes training Trunks. The training is stopped short when the androids attack the Capitol. Trunks wants to fight, but Gohan knocks him unconscious because he couldn't afford for Trunks to get hurt again like before. The one-armed Gohan ambushes #17, and despite his handicap, puts up a long and suspenseful fight against the androids, but meets his end when the androids knock him to the ground and shoot ki blasts like a machine gun from the sky. Trunks is awakened when Gohan's ki vanishes. Upon searching the city, Trunks finds Gohan's dead body. The rage from within him is unleashed and Trunks transforms into a Super Saiyan.

The story moves forwards three years later and Trunks is now 16 years old. While Bulma is working on the time machine, Trunks goes off to fight the Androids. Trunks barely puts up a fight and is eventually beaten by the merely-toying Androids. He miraculously survives a large blast of ki from Android #18. Trunks awakens in his house with his mother Bulma by his side. After a brief talk, he decides to go in the time machine (once it's finally ready, which is about six months to a single year later) to give the heart medicine to Goku.

After returning from his trip to the past, Trunks happens to come across the Androids again who expect another vapid fight. Trunks does better, but still needs to improve, and decides to return to the past once again, six months to one year later, to see how the battle with the Androids turned out.

The aforementioned manga version was at the end of volume 37 and the full title was: "Dragon Ball, Trunks The Story, The Lone Warrior (Side Story)"

The following are notable differences between the special and the manga:

No scene with both Trunks and Gohan fighting the Androids together.
Trunks is already a Super Saiyan, shown when he and Gohan are training together.
The Androids do not gang up on Gohan, and only #17 attacks.
There is no rain.
Android #17 tells him that he didn't even use half his power in their last battle.
The viewers see a horrified look on Gohan's face in one panel of the manga, after which the story cuts to Trunks waking and finding his sensei's dead body. Trunks cries and slams his fists into the ground but does not transform.
The manga then cuts to 3 years later, where like the special, Trunks rushes to avenge the death of everyone but fails miserably. However the fight between Trunks and the Androids is not seen at all and it cuts to 5 days later, where Trunks is recovering in a hospital.

The conclusion of the TV Special can be seen in the DBZ Episode I'll protect the Future!!! Trunks-san eradicates #17, #18 and Cell (FUNimation title: Free the Future).

Characters not born due to the Android events:

Goten (Goku died of a heart disease)
Bra (Vegeta was killed by the Androids)
Marron (Kuririn was killed by the Androids and 18 never had a change of heart)
Pan (Gohan was killed by the Androids)

[edit] Cast list

Character Name	Voice Actor (Japanese)	Voice Actor (English)
Future Trunks	Takeshi Kusao	Eric (Johnson) Vale
Bulma	Hiromi Tsuru	Tiffany Vollmer
Son Gohan	Masako Nozawa	Dameon Clarke (Adult) Stephanie Nadolny (Young)
Android 17	Shigeru Nakahara	Chuck Huber
Android 18	Miki Itou	Meredith McCoy
Chi-Chi	Naoko Watanabe	Cynthia Cranz
Ox King	Daisuke Ghori	Mark Britten
Master Roshi	Kōhei Miyauchi	Mike McFarland
Oolong	Naoki Tatsuta	Bradford Jackson
Pu'ar	Naoko Watanabe	Monika Antonelli
Vegeta	Ryo Horikawa	Christopher Sabat
Piccolo	Toshio Furukawa	Christopher Sabat
Krillin	Mayumi Tanaka	Sonny Strait
Yamcha	Toru Furuya	Christopher Sabat
Tenshinhan	Hirotaka Suzuoki	John Burgmeier
Chaozu	Hiroko Emori	Monika Antonelli
Narration	Joji Yanami	Dale Kelly