Studio: Toei Animation
Distributor: Toei Company
Short Synopsis
A forest fire breaks out during a camping trip, and Gohan and Krillin put it out, using the Dragon Balls to restore the forest and the animals that died; Gohan befriends a small dragon he names Icarus. The fire was started by a probe from Turles, a Saiyan space pirate who looks strikingly like Goku. He has chosen Earth for the Tree of Might, which drains a planet of all its life and turns it into fruit that gives enormous power to whoever eats it. His henchmen plant the seed, and the tree grows rapidly; rivers dry up and plants and animals die. Goku and his friends, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu, try to destroy the tree with energy blasts and fail, and Turles's crew overwhelm them. Turles recognises Gohan as half-Saiyan, the son of Goku, and invites him to join him; Gohan refuses. Piccolo sacrifices himself to protect the boy. In the final battle, Goku faces Turles, who has eaten the tree's fruit, gathers energy from the Earth's living things for a Spirit Bomb, and destroys both Turles and the tree.
Why It Matters
- The film is a compact example of the Dragon Ball Z formula at the height of its popularity: a dying planet, an evil double for the hero, and battles of escalating power, with the Spirit Bomb finale turning the Earth's life force against the parasite that is draining it. Its ecological theme gives it a sharper message than many franchise films.
- It was the third Dragon Ball Z feature, released in Japan at the Toei Anime Fair in a triple bill celebrating Akira Toriyama, and it shows how the TV series' popularity was extended through short cinema films. Dragon Ball Z became one of the most successful anime franchises worldwide, central to anime's global spread in the 1990s.
Notes and Trivia
- It was shown with anime versions of two Toriyama one-shot stories, Kennosuke-sama and Pink, under the title Toriyama Akira: The World.
- Turles's resemblance to Goku is explained as the two being from the same class of Saiyan warrior.
- See also: Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest (1990), Ghost in the Shell (1995).