DBZ: Battle of Gods Review

By: 14thLord

Release: 2013
Genre: Action, Super Powers, Comedy

It's been 17 years since the last Dragon Ball movie came out. Not counting certain specials, such as Episode of Bardock, Goku and His Friends return, etc. Was it worth the wait? More or less.

Lets get this started with the Dragon Ball Z / GT franchise have never been about... well, continuity, story, plot, depth, etc. Its always been at its core a series about light hearted action and being of immense super powers. If you'd argue this, literally every movie and special breaks the canon and cannot of happened based on the series. Even in the series canon is often brought up and forgotten at moments notices. So to be clear, the story isn't anything amazing, but it's nothing poor if you're into Dragon Ball Z.

Lets not bring up math and how Trunks and Goten should be in their teens by this point. Honestly, it doesn't matter too much. The story itself is simple. Bills, the current God of Destruction has awoken after a 15 year nap in a comedic way, at once showing that the new Dragon Ball Z material will be making its return back to more comedic and fun times of the original series.

Again we meet wonky looking aliens in the new drawing style that looks quite foreign to the old, which was used sparingly in the Dragon Ball Kai relaunch. Filler is near non-esitant as charging for power is kept to a minimal, and the focus is more on fun, so scenes that add nothing to the story fits quite well. Even the name Bills isn't the most serious name for a God of Destruction, and as you learn his character, he becomes increasingly comical despite the threat he presents.

Overall, Dragon Ball Battle of the Gods is a must watch. Unfortunately due to legal issues revolving around Fox, it may be awhile before we see Funimation dubbing this movie. On the bright side, projections are looking to say that this movie will be released sometime 2014, so stay tuned!

If you must know the overall plot, it follows Bills the legendary God of Destruction on his search for a threat to him. This threat was told of him by a oracle, and during his latest slumber he dreamed of it. Something called a Super Saiyan God. If you're familiar with DBZ and GT, you can instantly tell this is something new, never before seen. Of course the Saiyan race is all but gone, with all the remnants of it (besides Tarble) moving to earth. Oh and Goku who for some reason is just relaxing on King Kai's planet, which I thought was destroyed during the Cell Games. Alas, I'll just assume it's been either brought back in show or by some other means.

Characters: 7/10
Overall, all the characters act in character for themselves. Unlike all the other movies though, the other characters seem to get more of a highlight even if they're quickly forgotten. Still, the new current cast of characters all play a part, with a big thumbs up pointed at Vegeta's way. This is the first time that Goku won a battle where it felt like others actually mattered, even if they (as always) couldn't even weaken the villain for him.

Plot: 5/10
As mentioned, Dragon Ball Z has never been plot heavy. Yes there's a plot and it's not senseless, it takes us where we need to go. Even if it recons and forgets things here and there.

Fun Factor: 9/10
I have to say that this is where the movie shined its best. The feel of the movie was quite fun, humorous, and I never once got bored or felt the need to pull out a stop watch and time how long a fight took or how long it took to power up.

Music & Art: 8/10
You may remember the new art direction from the previous specials. While it's different than the style we're used to, it adds overall to the tone of the movie. The music itself isn't anything to speak of in particular.

English Dubbing: ---
This will be added when the movie is officially dubbed (and I've seen it).

Overall: 7/10
This movie gets a thumb up for watchable, and a +2 for longtime fans of the show. This movie stays true to the series and is just so much more fun than any of the older more serious movies.

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Chaos;Head was Terrible. (No Spoilers!)

By: Lostsakana

Release: 2008
Category: Super Powers, Psychological

It's difficult to put your finger on exactly what's wrong with Chaos;head. But having watched it the whole way through, it's impossible to deny that the series is deeply and powerfully bad. Character motivations are conflicting and almost constantly they contradict themselves. I watched the dubbed version of Chaos;head but I have a feeling that not even the worst English-language director could be responsible for this many problems with the dialog and script-- I suspect that they didn't have much to work with; not much to make worse.

The main character, voiced by Todd Haberkorn, a talented voice actor in his own right, can’t save this terrible protagonist. As I stated before, the motivations aren't clear, and even Haberkorn can't carry the radical shifts in tone and script that the dialog seems to demand. Chaos;head is embarrassingly bad. It's almost as if the team of creators took a white board full of ideas and crammed them all together into one 12 episode piece of crap. There are too many things going on at once. I've heard it argued that the team didn't have enough episodes to work with so the plot was rushed, but I don't buy this excuse. The first 3-4 episodes were nearly unbearable to watch. They were jumbled, disorganized, and PAINFULLY slow...

I've seen few anime which promised excitement, drama, and horror and instead include almost exclusively bad "twists" with plot holes and failed directing. Few times I have been THIS bored and uninterested in an anime series even after several episodes in.

No, Chaos;head COULD have been pulled off. It really could have, but the directors, writers and animators all seemed to be working on a patchwork of failed ambitions. Even by the finale I was still just praying to be done with the show, but I kept watching: perhaps exclusively out of loyalty to the Steins;Gate team-- but not even a willingness to enjoy the series could survive after the first episode. This series is BAD. I am HIGHLY tempted to compile a list of all the flaws, but I'm too horrified by the prospect of having to skim through this terrible anime once more.

Overall Rating: 3 / 10
It’s just frustratingly bad, maybe because we know it had potential for so much more... It’s like if you were served bellow average food at an extremely fancy restaurant: it’s not HORRID but it’s bellow average and SO, SO, SOOOOO much lower quality than our expectations that its pathetic.

I don’t know. I really do think that it was a 3 at best.

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