Dragon Ball: The Path to Power
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| Dragon Ball: The Path to Power | |
|---|---|
 Japanese box art |
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| Directed by | Shigeyasu Yamauchi |
| Produced by | Tan Takaiwa Yoshio Anzai (Shueisha) Tsutomu Tomari |
| Written by | Aya Matsui (screenplay) Akira Toriyama (story) |
| Starring | Masako Nozawa (Son Gokū) Hiromi Tsuru (Bulma) Naoki Tatsuta (Oolong) Tōru Furuya (Yamcha) Naoko Watanabe (Pu'er) Daisuke Gōri (Umigame) Kin'ya Aikawa (Kame-sen'nin) Masaharu Satō (Adjudant Black) Bin Shimada (General Blue) Hirohiko Kakegawa (General White) Hisao Egawa (Mettalic) Shōzō Iizuka (Jinzō'ningen #8) Kenji Utsumi (Commander Red / Shenlong) Jōji Yanami (Narration) |
| Music by | Akito Tokunaga |
| Release date(s) | March 4, 1996 |
| Running time | 80:00 |
| Language | Japanese |
| Preceded by | Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon |
Dragon Ball: The Path to Power, known in Japan as Dragon Ball: Saikyō e no Michi (ドラゴンボール 最強への道 Doragonbōru Saikyō e no Michi?, lit. "Dragon Ball: The Path to Ultimate Strength"), is the fourth theatrical Dragon Ball movie based on the original series and the seventeenth in the overall franchise. Originally released in Japan on March 4, 1996, between episodes 4 and 5 of Dragon Ball GT. This movie was made to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of Dragon Ball, during the time DBGT was airing, and even uses the same animation as DBGT.
The English Dubbed Version was not released until 2003 as part of FUNimation's Dragon Ball Movie Box, along with Mystical Adventure (Added to the set for the 2008 Re-release) and Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle.
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[edit] Plot summary
The Path to Power is a retelling of the Dragon Ball story. Goku is a kid living all alone on Mount Paozu. One day, after he catches a fish to eat, a girl in a car (being Bulma) almost hits him. He mistakes the car for a yōkai and throws it onto its side, and gets shot by Bulma in return. He thinks she's some kind of demon, but she ends up convincing him she's human, even though she doesn't have a tail. He invites her into his house since his dead grandpa always told him to be nice to girls, and there she goes straight for his only keepsake. When they go in the house Goku shows Bulma an orange glowing ball that he thinks is his Grandpa. All of a sudden Bulma comes to life and asks if she can have the ball. When Goku protests, she brings out two more "grandpas", and explains to him the legend of the Dragon Balls and Shenron. She offers to let him feel her up to get him to come along, but when that doesn't work, she tells him it'll help him get stronger. He agrees, and off they go.
Later, in the forest, they are forced to stop because of a bull/ox in the road, who demands the girl. Goku ends up fighting the creature, which turns into a robot, and then a bat. Unfortunately, by then, his five minutes are up, and he turns back into Oolong, the pig. There's no time for apologies though, because Yamcha attacks. He demands all the capsules and money they have, but not before Pu-erh recognizes Oolong and yells at him for his perverted antics at Shapeshifting School. Yamcha fights Goku, and appears to have the upper hand, until Bulma wakes up. This puts him into a state of shock and he is forced to retreat with the help of Pu'er.
Bulma, Oolong, and Goku are driving northward towards the next Dragon Ball, only to discover a huge metal tower in the distance. (Yamcha and Pu'er, who have been following them, stay in a cave nearby to keep warm.) Soldiers come out and "welcome" them to Muscle Tower, and Goku takes them all head on. He manages to enter the tower, only to face Sergeant Metallic. He finishes him off quickly though, and discovers (to his shock) that Metallic was a robot.
White orders the remaining forces toward Goku, but he plows through them all, up into General White's room. White then activates the tower's deadliest creation -- Android 8. #8 nearly strangles Goku, but refuses to kill him when ordered. As a result, White threatens to kill the Android, but Goku intervenes and saves him. The two make quick friends, with #8 explaining that he doesn't believe in fighting or killing. Goku complains that his name is weird, so he calls him "Hatchan" (8-chan or Eighterin the English version) for short. This ends in a snowball fight between the two while the tied-up forces (including White) look on.
Some time later, while driving in Oolong's house-wagon, they almost run over (and then almost fall off a cliff because of) a Umigame. He explains that he is quite lost, and needs help getting back to the sea. After they bring him there, he says he has a reward which he will bring back with him the next day. So, Oolong, Goku, and Bulma spend the night on the beach. Goku wakes up early in the morning and tries to sleep in Bulma's lap, but freaks out when he removes her panties and discovers her lack of the male genitalia. That morning, the Umigame comes back bearing his "reward" -- Master Roshi, the Turtle Hermit! He first tries to summon the Immortal Phoenix for them, but when that fails (it apparently died), he calls forth Kinto'un (dub: Flying Nimbus), the somersault cloud. Goku is the only one of the bunch who can ride it, so it becomes his.
While Goku's off on the Flying Nimbus, Bulma discovers that the old man has a Dragon Ball. He offers to let go of it only if she shows him her underwear. She agrees, not knowing she doesn't have any on, and both Master Roshi and Oolong are pleasantly surprised. She is horrified after she goes in to change and finds her underwear still inside. There is no time for an explanation though, because General Blue attacks with the entire Red Ribbon Army. When the situation seems just about hopeless, Master Roshi decides to do something about it: he's going to use his legendary Kamehameha (Yamcha is amazed that he'll actually get to see it). He decimates the fleet, but the forces keep on attacking. So Goku does the same! But just as their situation is looking up, Goku is knocked out by a missile, Blue washes up on shore, and Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong, Pu'er, and Master Roshi are all captured!
The five are carted off to prison near Red Ribbon Headquarters. The next morning, Goku awakens to the beeping of the Dragon Radar. Finding himself alone, he sets out in search of the other six Dragon Balls (Blue, having missed the one on Goku's person, is executed for his failure). Goku fights through legions upon legions of Red Ribbon soldiers, while in the meantime, the others try to make their escape (Oolong tries to turn into a key, and repeatedly fails; nobody thinks to ask Pu'er, who actually graduated shapeshifting school, and can last the shapeshifting process longer than Oolong).
Eventually, the others make it out, to discover Goku (carrying a pile of tanks) there to greet them. As Goku fights his way into Red Ribbon HQ, Commander Red and Black retreat with their six Dragon Balls to their last refuge. But when Black hears about Red's true wish -- to become taller, Black shoots him and swears to make the Black Ribbon Army ruler of the world. He brings out the Army's greatest weapon, a giant robot. The robot's beam weapon destroys a huge swath of territory in its path, and nearly kills Goku, until he manages to knock it on its stomach and detonate the cannon. Black and his robot aren't out yet though, and Goku is eventually knocked out. Luckily, none other than Android 8 comes to the rescue! He puts everything he has into keeping the robot from killing the boy, but it's pretty clear that he's no match. Parts start to fly off of him, and he lands in a crumpled heap, next to Goku.
Goku comes to, only to see the Android die. Saddened and enraged by #8's sacrifice, a new world of power suddenly awakens within him, as the ground shakes with his tortured screams. Black makes the mistake of egging him on, and Goku finishes him off with a gigantic Kamehameha. After the dust settles, the dragon, Shenron, is summoned forth, but Bulma and Yamcha realize they don't need their wishes anymore. Goku offers his own wish instead: to revive #8 and remove the bomb inside him.
[edit] Trivia
- Goku's outfit is made somewhat inconsistent for the first few moments of the film, switching between his Beginning of Dragon Ball outfit to his DBGT outfit, however, before he leaves his house, he changes clothes to his GT outfit, and it remains like that for the rest of the movie.
- Bulma's hair is purple in this movie; this is the color of her hair in the original manga. This is the only instance in the anime of her hair being the proper manga color.
- Most of the Red Ribbon army members appearing in this movie were redesigned slightly. For instance, Vice General Black was redesigned with a more Hispanic look, just like all main characters (Goku, Yamcha, Android 8), whereas he was of African origin in the series.
- The front of Shenron's head is different.
[edit] Cast list
| Character Name | Voice Actor (Japanese) | Voice Actor (English) |
|---|---|---|
| Son Goku | Masako Nozawa | Stephanie Nadolny |
| Bulma | Hiromi Tsuru | Tiffany Vollmer |
| Oolong | Naoki Tatsuta | Bradford Jackson |
| Yamucha | Tōru Furuya | Christopher Sabat |
| Pu-erh | Naoko Watanabe | Monika Antonelli |
| Umigame | Daisuke Gōri | Christopher Sabat |
| Kame-Sen'nin | Kin'ya Aikawa | Mike McFarland |
| Commander Red | Kenji Utsumi | Kyle Hebert |
| Adjudant Black | Masaharu Satō | Christopher Sabat |
| General Blue | Bin Shimada | Sonny Strait |
| General White | Hirohiko Kakegawa | Kyle Hebert |
| Sergeant Metallic | Hisao Egawa | Chris Rager |
| Artificial Human #8 (8-chan) | Shōzō Iizuka | Mike McFarland |
| Shenron | Kenji Utsumi | Christopher Sabat |
| Narration | Jōji Yanami | Brice Armstrong |
[edit] Music
- Ending Theme
- DAN DAN 心ひかれてく (DAN DAN Kokoro Hikarete ’ku Gradually, You’re Charming My Heart?)
- Lyrics: Izumi Sakai
- Music: Tetsurō Oda
- Arrangement: Takeshi Hayama
- Performance: Field of View
- Song Lyrics
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