Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon

Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon, known in Japan as Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Fist Explosion!! If Goku Can't Do It, Who Will? (ドラゴンボールZ 龍拳爆発!!悟空がやらねば誰がやる, Dragon Ball Z Ryū-Ken Bakuhatsu!! Gokū ga Yaraneba Dare ga Yaru) or by Toei's own English title Dragon Ball Z: Explosion of Dragon Punch, is a 1995 Japanese animated science fantasy martial arts film and the thirteenth Dragon Ball Z feature movie. It was originally released in Japan on July 15 at the Toei Anime Fair. It was later dubbed into English by Funimation in 2006, just like most of the other Dragon Ball films. It was also released on VCD in Malaysia by Speedy Video with the subtitle Explosion of Dragon Punch.

Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon
Japanese box art
Directed byMitsuo Hashimoto
Written byTakao Koyama
Based onDragon Ball
by Akira Toriyama
StarringSee below
Narrated byJōji Yanami
Music byShunsuke Kikuchi
CinematographyMasao Shimizu
Edited byShinichi Fukumitsu
Production
company
Distributed byToei Company
Release date
  • July 15, 1995 (1995-07-15) (Japan)
Running time
52 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Box office¥2.3 billion (est.)

Set after the events of the final battle with Kid Buu, the film focuses on the efforts of an evil magician, Hoi, to release the deadly monster Hirudegarn (ヒルデガーン, Hirudegān) onto the Earth, forcing Goku and his friends to enlist the aid of a warrior named Tapion (タピオン, Tapion), who may be the only one capable of defeating the monster. Series creator Akira Toriyama designed the Tapion and Minotia characters.[1]

Plot

On an unknown world, a young humanoid is crushed to death by a gigantic monster which then vanishes as an unseen entity laughs and announces that it is headed for Earth.

In a city on Earth, Gohan and Videl, acting as their superhero personas Great Saiyaman and Great Saiyaman 2, stop an elderly man from committing suicide. The man introduces himself as Hoi and presents them with an enchanted music box, claiming that a hero named Tapion is trapped inside and is their only chance to stop an approaching evil. With all other methods of potentially opening the box exhausted, the magical Dragon Balls are assembled and a wish to the eternal dragon Shenron is used to open it. Tapion is released but expresses anger at having been freed, explaining that inside of him is half of the ferocious monster called Hirudegarn that only the box was keeping at bay. Tapion flees into isolation but is visited by Trunks who takes a liking to him. The lower half of Hirudegarn soon appears and begins attacking the city. Gohan and Videl attempt to fight it until Tapion plays a tune on his ocarina which weakens Hirudegarn and causes it to vanish. Hoi claims that Tapion is the true threat and that the ocarina must be destroyed, so he attempts to steal the instrument and in the ensuing scuffle, Trunks takes possession of it and chooses to side with Tapion. Hoi flees and Tapion accepts Trunks as a friend.

Tapion relays his story to Bulma and explains that one-thousand years prior an evil race of alien sorcerers set out to destroy all life in the universe by awakening Hirudegarn. Their conquest eventually brought them to Tapion's planet where during the battle, a wizard discovered an enchanted sword and two ocarinas capable of stopping Hirudegarn. Tapion and his younger brother Minotia kept the monster at bay with the ocarinas while the wizard cleaved it in half with the sword. In the aftermath, a war council decided to have Hirudegarn's two halves sealed inside of Tapion and Minotia and have them locked inside enchanted music boxes to be sent to opposite ends of the universe until the war was over. Hoi, one of the surviving sorcerers, found and killed Minotia and now seeks Tapion's in order to complete Hirudegarn's revival. Bulma builds Tapion a specialized bedroom so that he can sleep without the monster escaping. However, this fails to keep Hirudegarn at bay. His lower half reappears and in desperation, Tapion begs for death in order to destroy Hirudegarn's upper half, but the beast manages to escape.

His revival complete, Hirudegarn lays waste to the city and is confronted by Goku, Gohan, and Goten who are no match for the monster's power and speed. Vegeta arrives to join the fight but is quickly defeated as well while Trunks and Goten fuse into Gotenks and bombard Hirudegarn with energy blasts. Hirudegarn then transforms into a more powerful form and defeats Gotenks effortlessly. Tapion attempts to seal Hirudegarn inside of himself again by playing the ocarina and asks Trunks to kill him with the sword once he does. Trunks hesitates and Hirudegarn escapes yet again, destroying the ocarina in the process. As Hoi gloats over his apparent victory, he is crushed to death by the monster. Goku realizes that the monster is only vulnerable when provoked and he takes a beating until Trunks intervenes and cuts the monster's tail off with the sword. An enraged Hirudegarn is made vulnerable allowing Goku uses his Dragon Fist attack to finally kill it.

Finally free of his curse, Tapion uses Bulma's time machine to return to his planet before it was destroyed. Before departing, Tapion presents Trunks with his sword as a farewell gift. In the ending credits, Future Trunks is shown slaying Frieza with a similar sword.

Cast
Character name Japanese voice actor English voice actor
GokuMasako NozawaSean Schemmel
GohanKyle Hebert
GotenKara Edwards
TapionHiro YuukiJason Liebrecht
VegetaRyō HorikawaChristopher R. Sabat
TrunksTakeshi KusaoLaura Bailey
BulmaHiromi TsuruTiffany Vollmer
KrillinMayumi TanakaSonny Strait
VidelYūko MinaguchiKara Edwards
Master RoshiMasaharu SatōMike McFarland
MinotiaSachi MatsumotoAaron Dismuke
HirudegarnShin AomoriRobert Howard
ShenronMasaharu SatohChristopher Sabat
HoiShigeharu MatsudaTripp Fontaine
GotenksMasako Nozawa
Takeshi Kusao		Kara Edwards
Laura Bailey
OolongNaoki TatsutaBrad Jackson
NarratorJōji YanamiKyle Hebert

A second English dub produced and released exclusively in Malaysia by Speedy Video features an unknown voice cast.

Music
  • IN (Insert Song):
    • Yūsha no Fue ~Tapion no Tēma~ (勇者の笛～タピオンのテーマ～, "Whistle of the Brave ~Tapion's Theme~")
      • Lyrics by Yukinojō Mori
      • Music by Tetsuji Hayashi
      • Arranged by Osamu Totsuka
      • Performed by Susumu Ōya
  • ED (Ending Theme):

English dub soundtrack

The score for the English language version by Funimation was composed by Nathan M. Johnson. He learned to play the ocarina for Tapion's theme. The Double Feature release contains an alternate audio track containing the English dub with original Japanese background music by Shunsuke Kikuchi.

Reception

Box office

At the Japanese box office, the film sold 2.4 million tickets and earned a net distribution rental income of ¥1 billion ,[2] equivalent to estimated gross receipts of approximately ¥2.3 billion [3] ($24 million ).[4]

In the United States, the DVD release has grossed $4,770,466 in sales, as of 2014.[5]

Releases

It was released on DVD in North America on September 12, 2006, It was later digitally remastered and released in final Double Feature set with Fusion Reborn for Blu-ray and DVD on May 19, 2009, in feature full HD 16:9 aspect ratio 1080p format. The film was re-released to DVD on January 3, 2012 in remastered-widescreen set containing the final four Dragon Ball Z movies.

References
  1. DRAGON BALL 大全集 6: MOVIES & TV SPECIALS (in Japanese). Shueisha. 1995. pp. 212–216. ISBN 4-08-782756-9.
  2. "予約特典・ドラゴンボール最強への道・劇場版ご近所物語A5サイズ前売特典冊子". Dragon Ball: The Path to Power brochure (in Japanese). Toei Animation. 1996.
  3. "Statistics of Film Industry in Japan". Eiren. Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. 1995. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  4. "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) - Japan". World Bank. 1995. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  5. "Dragon Ball Z - Movie 13: Wrath of the Dragon (2006) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Archived from the original on 2014-11-14. Retrieved 2014-05-01.
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