Dragon Ball Z Double Feature: Fusion Reborn & Wrath of the Dragon

Dragon Ball Z fans have a lot to be exited about in the month of May as Funimation is releasing the complete 9^th season of the television series and a double feature movie pack (reviewed here) on the same day (May 19^th). As has been the case with the past few Dragon Ball Z feature films, Funimation is re-releasing a pair of movies and packaging them together in an ultra-cool steel book set.

In this case, the two films contained are Fusion Reborn and Wrath of the Dragon. Coming at a total runtime of a 105 minutes (52.5 minutes x 2), the steel book contains a pair of discs wearing a TV PG rating (due presumably to the cartoony violence and slightly adult (morality/ mortality) themes).

Language options include an English vocal track with the original Japanese music (5.1 Surround sound), English voices with US music score (5.1 Surround), and Japanese voice work with original music (stereo) with English subtitles as an option over any of them.

Interestingly enough these movies are the twelfth and thirteenth animated films of the Dragon Ball Z franchise respectively. I personally found the second movie (Wrath of the Dragon) to be the superior of the two, but that isn't to say fans of the show won't enjoy the other just as much.

Fusion Reborn was originally broadcast in Japan in March of 1995 and actually enjoyed a limited theatrical release here in the US in 2006. The story goes something like this:

Goku happens to be partaking in an Other World Tournament (against Pikkon) during the Buu saga while a teenage ogre happens to get distracted from his duty of manning an evil-purification machine thanks to his music-wailing headphones (yes kids, this was pre iPod). Long story short, the machine overloads and explodes, releasing evil energy across the universe (who knew that a single machine being watched by a goofy kid could be so critical?)

Earth floods with zombies, the Other World has been transformed into a colorful psychedelic drug trip (complete with what can only be described as floating gumballs), King Yemma has become imprisoned in a barrier, and the teenager who caused all this trouble has been mutated by the energy overload into a big ugly monster that's equal parts Genie from the Lamp and Pikachu named Janemba.

Wrath of the Dragon hit Japanese airwaves a little later that same year (July of 1995) and unlike Fusion Reborn, never benefited by a US theatrical release. The story with this one focuses more heavily on Trunks and his relationship with Tapion.

Tapion's tale of the destruction taking place begins thousands of years earlier on a planet called Konack where a group of evil magicians (the Kash-phar) cast a spell on a statue to bring the monster it represented to life (probably not a good idea, looking back). The monster, (named Hirudegarn) clearly upset with being given life, goes on a rampage and destroys everyone and anyone who tries to get in its way. Naturally it isn't long before the entire planet is devastated.

Two young heroes, Tapion and his brother Minosha, manage to freeze the monster in his tracks by playing their divine ocarinas, which distracted the creature long enough to be sliced. The catch is that Hirudegarn can't be killed by such means so instead his upper-half becomes sealed in Tapion and the other half in Minosha. However, fearing that the monster might reappear someday, the brothers are separated and each is sealed in a music box then fired off into opposite ends of the galaxy. The music box holding Tapion lands, you guessed it, on Earth, which is a good thing since Hoy (one of the Kash-phar) is doing all he can to resurrect the Hirudegarn here.

In all the pair of movies are entertaining in the quirky, often-humorous means as only Dragon Ball Z could attempt. The video, as was the case with the movies, offers up smoother animation than the television series and a slightly richer color pallet. Like the series, however, the movies benefit from remastering in High Definition and digital restoration processes.

Where this package really shines though is in the presentation department as Funimation's fantastic steel-book sets are a handsome addition to just about any DVD shelf.