Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon

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Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon
Japanese promotional art
Directed byMitsuo Hashimoto
Written byTakao Koyama
Based onDragon Ball
by Akira Toriyama
StarringSee below
Narrated byJōji Yanami
CinematographyMasao Shimizu
Edited byShinichi Fukumitsu
Music byShunsuke Kikuchi
Production
company
Distributed byToei Company
Release date
  • July 15, 1995 (1995-07-15) (Japan)
Running time
52 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Box office¥1.7 billion

Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon[a] is a 1995 Japanese animated science fantasy martial arts film and the thirteenth Dragon Ball Z feature film. It was originally released in Japan on July 15 at the Toei Anime Fair. It was later dubbed into English by Funimation in 2006 like most other Dragon Ball films. It was also released on VCD in Malaysia by Speedy Video with the subtitle Explosion of Dragon Punch. It was preceded by Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn and followed by Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, which released in 2013.

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 onto the Earth, forcing Goku and his friends to enlist the aid of a warrior named 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.

On Earth,

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

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 priest created 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 priest cleaved it in half with the sword. In the aftermath, a

Goten
who are no match for the monster.

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 transforms to Super Saiyan 3 and prepares for one final battle with Hirudegarn. Trunks intervenes and cuts the monster's tail off with the sword and Goku figures out that the monster is only vulnerable after attacking and he takes a beating while antagonizing Hirudegarn. An enraged Hirudegarn is weakened allowing Goku uses his Dragon Fist attack to finally kill it.

Tapion uses Bulma's

Future Trunks is shown slaying Frieza
with a similar sword.

Cast

Character Japanese English
Funimation (2006)
Goku Masako Nozawa Sean Schemmel
Gohan Kyle Hebert
Goten Kara Edwards
Tapion (タピオン, Tapion) Hiro Yūki Jason Liebrecht
Vegeta Ryō Horikawa
Christopher Sabat
Trunks Takeshi Kusao
Laura Bailey
Gotenks Masako Nozawa
Takeshi Kusao
Laura Bailey
Bulma Hiromi Tsuru Tiffany Vollmer
Kuririn Mayumi Tanaka Krillin
Sonny Strait
Videl Yūko Minaguchi Kara Edwards
Kame-Sennin Masaharu Satō Master Roshi
Mike McFarland
Shenlong Shenron
Christopher Sabat
Minotia (ミノシア, Minoshia) Sachi Matsumoto Aaron Dismuke
Hirudegarn (ヒルデガーン, Hirudegān) Shin Aomori Robert McCollum
Hoi (ホイ) Shigeharu Matsuda [ja] Troy Baker
Oolong Naoki Tatsuta Brad Jackson
Teacher Makiko Ohmoto Miss Hamilton
Stephanie Nadolny
Robbers Nobuhiko Kazama [ja] Ian Sinclair
Markus Lloyd
Jim Johnson
Onlookers Ichirō Nagata [ja] Jeff Johnson
David Trosko
Kevin M. Connolly
Pilot Yasuhiko Kawazu Daniel Katsuk
Radio Voice Yoshiyuki Kono Andy Mullins
Sharpner (シャプナー, Shapunā) Hiro Yūki Duncan Brannan
Narrator Jōji Yanami Kyle Hebert

Music

English dub soundtrack

The score for the Funimation English dub is composed by Nathan 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 and an ending theme of "Ore ga Yaranakya Dare ga Yaru".

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]

In the United States, the DVD release has grossed $4,770,466 in sales, as of 2014[update].[3]

Releases

In Japan, several editions of the film were released on both

Blu-ray and DVD. The first DVD was manufactured by Toei Video and released on April 14, 2006, under the title DRAGON BOX THE MOVIES, a limited edition containing all 17 theatrical films of Dragon Ball, it also contains a deluxe box, a special brochure, a postcard-sized film poster sticker, and two personal transceivers that you can use to talk to your friends or coordinate your attacks.[4] On February 13, 2009, Toei Video released the individual DVD of the film with some special features and bonus tracks.[5] The Blu-ray Dragon Ball: The Movies #07 was released on January 9, 2019, and includes 2 episodes, Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon and Dragon Ball: The Path to Power. It comes with an 8-page booklet and HD remastered scanned from negative.[6]

It was released on

5.1 surround
mix. The film was re-released to DVD in final remastered thinpak collection on January 3, 2012, containing the last 4 Dragon Ball Z films.

Other companies

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

External links

Notes

  1. ^ Known in Japan as Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Fist Explosion!! If Goku Won'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

References