Dragon Ball Z: Bardock

Dragon Ball Z TV Special: Bardock - The Father Of Goku
North American poster art
Directed by	Mitsuo Hashimoto
Written by	Takao Koyama Katsuyuki Sumisawa
Music by	Shunsuke Kikuchi
Production company	Toei Animation
Language	Japanese
Original channel	Fuji Television
Release date	October 17, 1990 (1990-10-17)
Running time	41 minutes

Dragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku, known in Japan as Dragon Ball Z: A Lonesome, Final Battle - The Father of the Z Warrior Kakarrot, who Challenged Freeza (ドラゴンボールZ たったひとりの最終決戦～フリーザに挑んだZ戦士 孫悟空 (カカロット)の父～, Doragon Bōru Zetto Tatta Hitori no Saishū Kessen~Furīza ni Idonda Zetto Senshi Kakarotto no Chichi~^?), is the first Dragon Ball Z TV Special, which is an addition to the popular manga and anime series. It was broadcasted on Fuji Television on October 17, 1990, between Dragon Ball Z episodes 63 and 64. AB Groupe's title is The Father of Goku. FUNimation first released the special on DVD in January 2001 and later re-released this and the History of Trunks TV special on a digitally remastered double feature DVD on February 19, 2008; a Blu-ray Disc version was released on July 15, 2008. The special was re-released in its remastered form on September 15, 2009 in a single disc release.

Plot

The main protagonists of the film Shugesh, Bardock, Borgos, Tora & Fasha

The special is the story of Bardock, a so-called low-level soldier in Frieza's armed forces. At the outset of the story, his son, Kakarot, is born on Planet Vegeta, and is being prepared to be sent to a "frontier planet" (Earth) in order to destroy all life on the planet. Meanwhile, Bardock and his crew are on an assignment to exterminate all the lifeforms of Planet Kanassa. After the planet is seemingly devoid of all other life, Bardock and crew rest up and celebrate their victory until one remaining Kanassan warrior catches him off guard and decides to give him the "gift" of seeing the future, before being destroyed by Bardock. This gives him the ability to see the destruction of Planet Vegeta, and the oppression of the entire universe at the hands of Frieza.

Bardock dismisses the visions, and goes to join his team on Planet Meat, but soon discovers his friends are all dead. He then briefly talks with the nearly deceased Tora, who tells him that Frieza ordered the attack on the crew, saying that Frieza was frightened by the growing power of the Saiyans. Horrified and then furious by his fallen comrade's words, he takes Tora's blood-soaked armband and wraps it around his head. He battles the ones responsible, and defeats them all, but is easily overwhelmed by a single mouth blast from Frieza's henchman Dodoria. He is left severely injured, but manages to return back to Planet Vegeta.

Bardock now realizes Frieza intends to destroy the entire Saiyan race by annihilating their homeworld. Unfortunately, he is unable to convince the others of the approaching peril and, with no other choice, decides to confront Frieza himself. After penetrating Frieza's armed guard, Bardock sends a large energy blast at the tyrant himself, expecting a sure victory. However, Frieza counters this with his "Supernova" technique, which destroys Bardock, many of his own guard, and the Planet Vegeta itself. As he is dying, Bardock sees one more vision of the future: his son Kakarot facing Frieza. Being assured that Kakarot will be the one to defeat Frieza, Bardock gives a small smile as he disintegrates along with the planet. Bardock, after his death, telepathically tells his son Kakarot in the space pod to avenge the Saiyans, to which Kakarot wakes up.

Elsewhere, Vegeta, having just completed an assignment on a far-off world, is informed by Nappa (in the English version it is one of Frieza's minor soldiers who tells him) of his homeworld's destruction, and that Frieza claims that the planet was destroyed by a huge meteor. Vegeta's pride keeps him from expressing his shock, and he remains outwardly emotionless. Soon afterward, Kakarot's space pod touches down on Earth, where he is found by an elder man named Gohan, and giggles happily in the old man's arms. Gohan then decides to adopt the boy as his own grandson, and re-names him Goku.

Cast

Character Name	Voice Actor (Japanese)	Voice Actor (English)
Bardock	Masako Nozawa	Sonny Strait
Tora	Kazuyuki Sogabe	Mike McFarland
Fasha	Yuko Mita	Linda Young
Borgos	Kôzô Shioya	Christopher Sabat
Shugesh	Takeshi Watabe	Chris Rager
Frieza	Ryusei Nakao	Linda Young
Dodoria	Yukitoshi Hori	Chris Forbis
Zarbon	Sho Hayami	Christopher Sabat
Vegeta	Ryo Horikawa	Christopher Sabat
Nappa	Shozo Iizuka	Christopher Sabat Phil Parsons (revised dub)
Son Goku	Masako Nozawa	Sean Schemmel Stephanie Nadolny (baby)
Grandpa Gohan	Jinpei Azusa	Christopher Sabat
Toolo	Banjō Ginga	Mike McFarland
Narrator	Jouji Yanami	Kyle Hebert

Music

• OP (Opening Theme)
  1. "CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA"
     • Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Chiho Kiyoka, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama

• IN (Insertion Song)
  1. Solid State Scouter (ソリッドステート・スカウター, Soriddosutēto Sukautā^?)
     • Lyrics: Fuminori Iwazaki, Music: Fuminori Iwazaki, Arrangement: Dragon Magic Orchestra, Vocals: Tokio

• ED (Ending Theme)
  1. 光の旅 (Hikari no Tabi, Journey of Light^?)
     • Lyrics: Dai Satō, Music: Chiho Kiyoka, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama & Kuko (Waffle)

Funimation Dub Soundtrack

The following songs were present in the Funimation dub of Bardock: The Father of Goku:^[1]

• Caviar - The Good Times Are Over
• Sum 41 - Makes No Difference
• American Hi-Fi - A Bigger Mood
• Saliva - Superstar

References

1. ^ Toriyama, Akira (Director). (2008 Feb 19). Bardock: The Father of Goku [Motion picture]. Japan: FUNimation.

External Links

	Dragon Ball portal
	Anime and manga portal

• Bardock - The Father of Goku at the Internet Movie Database