The third Dragon Ball movie is an odd one as it doesn’t feature any new characters at all but instead takes a good chunk of them from the Red Ribbon Army and 22nd Tenkaichi Tournament arcs and mushes them together, then throws in a new location for a bit of set dressing, plus Chiaotzu is some sort of Emperor now for some reason. The weird thing is that I find it really works, this is far and away my favourite of the four original Dragon Ball films, but then again I love the RRA and 22nd TB arcs, so maybe it’s not that big a shock. Well, either way, let’s take a look!
I really like how this story twists the two story arcs around here as we start with Goku, Krillin and Yamcha (in their blue gangster suits!) heading off to compete in a big martial arts tournament but this time its as a country called Mifan, a country ran by Emperor Chiaotzu, who is accompanied by his Minister Shen and bodyguard Tenshinhan, with Tao Pai Pai as a high ranking member of court as well. Apparently the Emperor is searching for his lost “Ran Ran” and Shen is forcing Pilaf to make a Dragon Radar so he can find the Dragon Balls and wish for Ran Ran to be found, but in actuality Shen is planning to take over control of the kingdom via the Balls and have Ten kill Chiaotzu to do it. General Blue, who is still a general just one in the Mifan Army, arrives and claims Ran Ran is being locked away in Shen’s bedroom but he is soon killed by the same Tao Pai Pai tongue-in-the-temple method he is in the main series.
Krillin and Goku looking sharp!
On there way to the tournament Goku, Krillin, Yamcha and Master Roshi happen upon Bora and his son Upa, who have the last Dragon Ball Shen needs but is refusing to give it to the army that has been tearing up their land recently. Bora and Upa decide to follow Goku and co. to the tournament as the winner is granted any wish by Emperor Chiaotzu so Bora wants to wish for peace for his people. Everyone arrives at the way over-the-top grand stage of the tournament, surrounded by a large lake and loads of statues and the like, and the tournament begins. Meanwhile Bulma, Oolong, Puar and Lunch break into the royal palace in search of the other six Dragon Balls so they can get their own wish. Bora does well in the tournament so is challenged by Tao himself, who of course recreates his ruthless moment from the series proper and kills Bora right in front of his son, though this time by impaling him on a giant statue’s spear rather than just letting him fall to his death. This makes Goku furious as he confronts Tao…
Tao Pai Pai decides soft pink is definitely more his colour.
As mentioned I feel the story flows surprisingly well and includes several of the key moments from both arcs in a fun new, yet familiar way. Everyone has slight redesigns to make it feel like a different continuity as well, even if it’s just something simple like Tao wearing light blue rather than pink.
Overall Thoughts:
I remember in early English speaking DB fandom that people believed Chiaotzu was actually an Emperor due to screenshots from this film. Took a while for that to vanish…
Mystical Adventure is a fun 45-ish minutes of condensed Dragon Ball action, taking key moments from the Red Ribbon Army and 22nd Tenkaichi Tournament arcs and rewriting them into something fresh yet familiar. Still far and away my favourite of the four original Dragon Ball films.
Goku loses to Tao but recovers and gives chase while Bulma and co are caught by Shen trying to steal the Dragon Balls and in the resulting scuffle the Balls fall into the deep lake. Goku and Tao meanwhile end up in Penguin Village, where we get a replay of the Goku vs. General Blue Penguin Village fight but with Tao Pai Pai getting humiliated by Arale and her Doctor Slump chums instead. While that’s happening Shen gives up on the Dragon Balls plan and instead flat out tells Ten to kill Chiaotzu so he can take over that way instead, but Tenshinhan can’t bring himself to do it, so rebels against Shen and blasts him out of a window.
Arale hears that Tao Pai Pai is actually a serious assassin who’s already killed two people in the last few hours. Kind of out of her series’ wheel house, really…
Goku kills Tao with Arale’s help and leaves Penguin Village with the final Dragon Ball, arriving at the stadium, dropping it into the lake and using the wish to bring Bora back to life as the credits roll. Oh and I forgot to mention, the “Ran Ran” that Chiaotzu was pining for was his favourite doll, not a wife or anything like it was being implied. A good little gag, very in keeping with Chiaotzu’s portrayal anyway…
Hogan Reviews 