- Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!
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Yo! The Return of Son Goku and Friends!! 
Japanese posterDirected by Yoshihiro Ueda Screenplay by Takao Koyama Story by Akira Toriyama Based on Dragon Ball by
Akira ToriyamaNarrated by Jōji Yanami Starring See Cast Music by Shunsuke Kikuchi Cinematography Akio Ōnuki Editing by Shinichi Fukumitsu Studio Toei Animation Distributed by Shueisha Release date(s) September 21, 2008 Running time 35 minutes Country Japan Language Japanese Dragon Ball: Yo! The Return of Son Goku and Friends!! (ドラゴンボール オッス! 帰ってきた孫悟空と仲間たち!! Doragon Bōru Ossu! Kaette Kita Son Gokū to Nakama-tachi!!) is a 35-minute Dragon Ball animated short film that premiered at the Jump Super Anime Tour in September 2008. It is the first animated Dragon Ball feature in twelve years, following the tenth anniversary film The Path to Power. It has not been licensed for an English-language release.
Contents
Plot
Two years after the defeat of Majin Buu in the main Dragon Ball Z series, Mr. Satan finally finishes construction on his brand new hotel. Feeling guilty that the hotel is in honor of what the majority of Earth believes to be his defeat of Buu, he invites all of the Z-Fighters and their families to a banquet. Shortly after dinner, two Saiyan spaceships land just outside of town, and a mysterious Saiyan and his wife confront the Z-Fighters at the hotel. They are revealed to be Vegeta's younger brother, Tarble, who had been deemed too weak to fight in the past and was sent to a distant star before the destruction of Planet Vegeta, and his wife Gure, who is a small, cartoon-like alien (which prompt to master Roshi to remark that Saiyans have "odd wives"). Tarble asks his brother for help in dealing with Abo and Cado, soldiers who are remnants of Frieza's army, who are causing havoc on his planet.
As Abo and Cado land, the Z-Fighters pick radishes from Goku and Chi Chi's garden to determine who will battle the duo. Trunks wins and is chosen to fight and the battle begins. However, as the battle favors Abo and Cado, Goten joins Trunks. Without going Super Saiyan, the children easily defeat the two soldiers, with a little help from Goten's brother Gohan. Everyone except for Goku, Vegeta and Piccolo, go back to the hotel. As the battle is almost over, Abo and Cado fuse into their larger, more powerful form, Aka.
Aka easily devastates Goten and Trunks, slamming them around and tossing them like rag dolls, and everyone comes back. Goten and Trunks fuse and become Gotenks, attacking with "Wolf Fang Fist", "Volleyball Fist" and one of his own moves: "Dynamite Rolling Thunder Punch", which appears to defeat Aka. However, while everyone is celebrating, Aka attacks the boys again with a super move: "Super Destructive Wave". Piccolo blocks the attack with a Special Beam Cannon. Infuriated, Aka destroys most of the hotel with Wahahanoha beams while Gotenks protects Tarble and Gure. Goku and Vegeta join the fight, but Goku tricks Vegeta into looking away while he defeats Aka with a final Kamehameha. With the battle over, Mr. Satan invites everyone back to what's left of his hotel, where their banquet is still waiting. Abo and Cado give up the fight, and join them in the feast. The special ends with Goku and Vegeta fighting over pork and sushi.
Characters
This special introduces four new characters: Abo (アボ) and Cado (カド), red and blue aliens wearing battle fatigues who later merge into a large, purple alien named Aka (アカ) (Goten and Trunks jokingly call him "Abocado", a reference to avocado), a Saiyan named Tarble (ターブル Tāburu), Vegeta's younger brother who had previously been sent away from Planet Vegeta by King Vegeta, and his wife Gure (グレ), a small pink and white robot-like alien from the planet that Tarble was sent to.
Cast
- Masako Nozawa as Goku, Gohan, Goten
- Ryō Horikawa as Vegeta
- Tōru Furuya as Yamcha
- Mayumi Tanaka as Krillin
- Toshio Furukawa as Piccolo
- Hiromi Tsuru as Bulma
- Naoki Tatsuta as Oolong
- Naoko Watanabe as Chi-Chi
- Takeshi Kusao as Trunks
- Hiroshi Masuoka as Master Roshi
- Yūko Minaguchi as Videl
- Daisuke Gōri as Mr. Satan
- Miki Itō as Android 18
- Masakazu Morita as Tarble
- Kumiko Nishihara as Gure
- Yūsuke Numata as Abo
- Kazunari Tanaka as Cado
- Yasunori Masutani as Aka
- Jōji Yanami as the narrator
Development
The film was first announced in the April 21st issue of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Stating that it would premiere along with One Piece: Romance Dawn in the Jump Super Anime Tour and visit ten Japanese cities to celebrate Shonen Jump's 40th anniversary.[1] In the June 9th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump it was announced that the story would be based on an original concept by Toriyama, in turn, revisiting the comedic story-telling quality of early Dragon Ball.[2] The following August issue of V Jump revealed a small hint of the plot and that at least three new characters would appear.[3]
Distribution
The site Jumpland began streaming the film to both Japanese and English speaking viewers on their website on November 24, 2008 the Monday following the final stop on the Super Tour and was discontinued on January 31, 2009.[4] Shortly before ending, it was announced that the film would be made available along with One Piece: Romance Dawn and Tegami Bachi: Light and Blue Night on a triple feature DVD that would only be available though a mail-in offer exclusively to Japanese residents.[5]
In the February issue of V Jump it was announced that a manga adaptation was in the works illustrated by Ooishi Naho which would be published in the March 21, 2009 issue of V Jump.[6]
References
- ^ "Jump Super Anime Tour Announcement" (in Japanese). Weekly Shonen Jump 40 (21): 54 & 55. April 21, 2008.
- ^ "Jump Super Anime Tour Lineup" (in Japanese). Weekly Shonen Jump 40 (28): 8. June 9, 2008.
- ^ "Jump Super Anime Tour Characters" (in Japanese). V Jump 16 (8): 53 & 54. August 2008.
- ^ "New Dragon Ball, Tegami Bachi Anime Now Streaming". Anime News Network. November 11, 2008. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-11-23/new-dragon-ball-tegami-bachi-anime-now-streaming. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
- ^ "New DB, Tegami Bachi, Romance Dawn Anime DVD Offered". Anime News Network. December 12, 2008. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-12-22/new-db-tegami-bachi-romance-dawn-anime-dvd-offered. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
- ^ "Dragon Ball: Yo! The Return of Son Goku and Friends!! Manga Adaptation". V Jump 17 (2): 55. February 2009.
External links
- Official page (Japanese)
- Jumpland's Japanese page (Japanese)
Categories:- 2008 films
- Japanese-language films
- Dragon Ball films
- Animated television specials
- Anime of 2008
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