DragonBall
Movie # 4 / 10th Anniversary Movie
"Saikyô
e no Michi"
("The Path to Ultimate
Strength")
"The
Path to Power"
Basic
Synopsis
Yet
another retelling of the Dragon Ball story. Son Goku
is a kid living all alone on Mount Pao-tzu. 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 monster 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 a girl, and there she goes straight for
his only keepsake. When
he protests, she brings out two more "grandpas," and explains to him the legend of the Dragon Balls
and Shenlong. 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'er 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 -- Artificial Human #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 "Hat-chan"
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 sea turtle. 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 genetalia.
That morning, the turtle comes back bearing his "reward" -- Kame-Sen'nin, 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, the somersault cloud. Goku is the only
one of the bunch who can ride it, so it becomes
his.
While
Goku's off on Kinto-Un, 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 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 Fleet. When the situation seems just about hopeless, Kame-Sen'nin
decides to do something about it: he's going to
use his legendary Kamehame-Ha (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 Kame-Sen'nin are all captured!
The
five are carted off to prison near Red Ribbon Headquarters.
The next morning, Goku awakens to the bleeping 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).
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, 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 8-chan
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 Artificial Human 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 Kamehame-Ha. After the dust settles,
the Dragon Shenlong 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.
Goku
smiles as the end credits roll!
[
synopsis
written by Julian Grybowski ]
Release
/ General Information
| Japanese
Premiere Date: |
4
March 1996 |
| Japanese
Premiere Location: |
Toei
Anime Fair |
| Japanese
Availability: |
VHS
LaserDisc |
| Domestic
Release Date: |
29
April 2003 |
| Domestic
Availability: |
VHS
(English Dubbed, Uncut)
VHS (English Dubbed, Edited)
DVD (English Dubbed, Edited)
DVD (Hybrid English / Japanese, Uncut) |
| Opening
Theme : |
[no
opening theme] |
| Ending
Theme: |
"DAN
DAN Kokoro Hikarete 'ku"
("Bit by Bit, You're
Charming my Heart")
[ Lyrics
] |
Main
Staff
| Production: |
Tan
Takaiwa
Yoshio Anzai (Shueisha)
Tsutomu Tomari
|
| Original
Story: |
Akira
Toriyama (Published by Shueisha/Jump Comics) |
| Planning: |
Kôzô
Morishita
Seiichi Hiruta
Kenji Shimizu (Fuji
TV)
Kôji Kaneda (Fuji TV)
Weekly Shônen
Jump |
| Production
Supervisor: |
Ryûichi
Sugimoto |
| Screenplay: |
Aya
Matsui |
| Background
Music: |
Akito
Tokunaga |
| Art
Design: |
Tadanao
Tsuji |
| Art
Director: |
Jun'ichi
Azuma |
| Animation
Director: |
Tadayoshi
Yamamuro |
| Director: |
Shigeyasu
Yamauchi |
Principal
Cast
