Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!

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Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return
Directed by	Yoshihiro Ueda
Written by	Akira Toriyama (story) Takao Koyama (screenplay)
Starring	Masako Nozawa Ryō Horikawa Tōru Furuya Mayumi Tanaka Toshio Furukawa Hiromi Tsuru Naoki Tatsuta Naoko Watanabe Takeshi Kusao Hiroshi Masuoka Yūko Minaguchi Daisuke Gōri Miki Itō Masakazu Morita Kumiko Nishihara Yūsuke Numata Kazunari Tanaka Yasunori Masutani Jōji Yanami
Music by	Shunsuke Kikuchi
Cinematography	Akio Ōnuki
Editing by	Shinichi Fukumitsu
Release date(s)	JPN September 21, 2008
Running time	35 minutes
Language	Japanese

Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! (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 2008 film, the first film adaptation of Dragon Ball Z since 1995's Wrath of the Dragon (though the 1996 retelling The Path to Power was the last film installment of the series overall prior to the film's release). It also features the first Dragon Ball animations in nearly a decade, following a short story arc in the the remade Dr. Slump anime series crossing over Kid Goku and the Red Ribbon Army in 1999.

[edit] Plot

It has been two years since Majin Buu was defeated and Mr. Satan has become a hero for defeating him. However, Videl remembers the truth of those events, and seems to be embarrassed about her father. A gigantic hotel is being built in Mr. Satan's honor. Upon completion, Mr. Satan decides to throw a party for Goku and the others who fought Buu. Meanwhile, Goku, Chi Chi, Goten, and Gohan have been making their living growing radishes. Videl soon calls Gohan and asks him to bring his family to the party. At first Goku declines, but he changes his mind once he hears there will be an "all you can eat" banquet there (And even rips open the "fourth wall" in the process).

Roshi, Android 18, Krillin, etc, take off for the hotel and give Goku’s family a lift. Piccolo decides to not ride along, but rather flies after them on his own. The group from Capsule Corp. arrives at the hotel first, and when Vegeta and Goku see each other, they begin to fight. Goku realizes the party is starting, and heads off to the assembly hall. Apart from Mr Satan's family (including Bee and Fat Buu), Goku’s family, the Z Fighters (except Tien and Chiaotzu, who were included in the manga adaptation), Vegeta’s family, and Roshi's group, the crowd includes Dende, Mr. Popo, Korin, Yajirobe, Puar, Launch, Ox-King, King Kai, Bubbles, Gregory, Kibito Kai, and Elder Kai.

Despite the fact that there’s supposed to be no media coverage of the party, members of the press appear and ask Mr. Satan questions about Buu’s defeat. While the “Z Senshi” are eating, two Saiyan style spaceships land on Earth. Piccolo and Gohan are the first to notice, then No. 18 and Krillin, and eventually everyone stops eating and the atmosphere becomes tense.

A sharp-eyed Saiyan and a small alien emerge from the two spaceships. Using his scouter to detect higher battle powers, the Saiyan soon arrives at the party. Upon seeing Vegeta, the Saiyan calls him "big brother." The Z-Fighters are all shocked by this sudden event. The Saiyan introduces himself as Tarble , along with his wife, Gure. Vegeta says that Tarble had been sent off to a remote planet because he had no talent for battle. Tarble begs our heroes to defeat Abo and Kado, who have ravished his planet and pursued him to Earth.

Goku says that if they’re strong, he’ll fight them. Tarble measures Goku's battle power with his scouter, and says that he’ll be of no help since their battle powers are so low. Vegeta scolds Tarble for relying on his scouter, and as an example, Goku begins to gather ki. The battle power reading on the scouter steadily increases. It soon breaks as Goku goes Super Saiyan, and Tarble is amazed by Goku’s power. After Goku and Vegeta argue over who should get to fight them, Goten and Trunks say that they want to fight too, Krillin and Gohan say they want to try as well, and eventually even Roshi wants to fight. Goku thinks it will be unfair if everybody fights the enemies, and suggests they select a single representative to fight by drawing lots.

Goku teleports Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Piccolo, Yamcha, Puar, Krillin, Roshi, Oolong, Videl, Chi Chi, Bulma, Tarble, and Gure to Mount Paozu (this whole time, Satan, Fat Buu, Kibito Kai, Elder Kai, and others have been ignoring Tarble and just go on eating and drinking). Goku suggests that they each draw a radish, and the person who draws the longest radish will be the representative. After numerous tries from others, Goten draws out a very long radish, and it seems he will be the one to fight. This makes Vegeta jealous, and he tells Trunks to pull out an even bigger radish. Pressured by Vegeta, Trunks pulls out what at first seems like a very short, thin radish, which then turns out to be the longest one (it goes way down the mountain the field is on).

Meanwhile, two other spaceships land on Earth, containing Abo and Kado. Pursuing Tarble, they arrive at Satan Hotel, and a panic erupts. Goku and the others soon return, and things calm down. Goku says to Vegeta that if there are two of them, they should also be two; to which he replies that Trunks should be enough. Goku, going against Vegeta, then tells Goten that he could fight too.

It turns out Abo and Kado are remnants of Frieza’s army, who have taken control of Frieza’s planets now that he is gone. Vegeta also knows of them, and says that they were supposed to rival the Ginyu Force in strength. Tarble says that the two have become much stronger, and that not even Frieza could beat either of them now. Goku loses his enthusiasm when he hears that they’re “only” at Frieza’s level, and decides that it’s alright for Trunks and Goten to fight them alone. At first Abo and Kado underestimate their child opponents, and they get clobbered and knocked into some boulders. They decide to get serious, and they each split into three people.

Trunks and Goten are completely unable to counterattack now that Abo and Kado have become six people. Vegeta advises them to sense their ki and locate the real Abo and Kado, but they can’t. Gohan offers to help, but they turn him down. They settle on having Gohan merely tell them where the real Abo and Kado are. With Gohan’s accurate advice, Goten and Trunks drive Abo and Kado to the wall.

Cornered, Abo and Kado merge to become even stronger, forming the deadly Aka. Aka then begins to relentlessly tear into Goten and Trunks with a slew of aerial attacks, including bouncing them into the sky with a barbaric thrust, and grabbing them by their heads while tearing through the skies. Aka spins in a cyclone of deadly precision, tossing Goten and Trunks aside as if they were mere rag-dolls. Put on the defensive by Aka's attacks, Goten and Trunks use their own secret weapon, Fusion. However, since it’s been so long since they’ve used it, they fail and become the fat Gotenks. They eventually succeed on their second try, and Gotenks overwhelms Aka, using Yamcha's Wolf Fang Fist, Tien’s Volleyball Attack, and to finish him off they use Satan’s Dynamite Rolling Thunder Punch, going Super Saiyan the moment they punch Aka, propelling him into a lake.

Everyone (Except for Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, and Gotenks) leaves him for dead and decide to continue the banquet. Aka then rises out of the lake, apparently enraged. He lets out a giant energy wave, firing it from both hands and his mouth. It hits Gotenks and causes the Satan Hotel to collapse. Aka then starts shooting Continuous Energy Bullets, damaging each part of the hotel one after the other.

In order to protect his friends, Piccolo deflects each energy bullet with a Special Beam Cannon. Krillin uses a Kienzan to protect Android 18 and Marron. Yamcha protects Bulma, Oolong and Puar from the falling rubble by using the Sokidan, Yajirobe saves some people by slicing rubble in half, and Roshi also protects a group of maids from the rubble. When saving everyone, Yamcha and Krillin change into their traditional Z fighting uniforms.

Goku and Vegeta decide to finish off Aka. While flying towards him, Goku points and asks “What’s that?!”, causing Vegeta to look away. With Vegeta distracted, Goku takes off towards Aka. Aka fires a Super Wahaha no Ha and Goku counters with a Kamehameha, then nails Aka with a single punch. Vegeta later states that that was a dirty trick by Goku.

Aka is finally defeated and the battle is over. Videl tells her father that having his hotel smashed was a punishment for being big-headed; Satan agrees and promises to change. Goku and Krillin say that he could make a wish to Shenron to rebuild it, in which he almost agrees (Videl then reminds him of his promise), and the party starts again amid the hotel rubble. As the party continues, the two villains are invited to the party by Goku. Goku eats Vegeta’s sushi (which he states to have saved for last), who eats Goku’s Char Siu (which was also the last remaining) in return. Angry, the two finally turn Super Saiyan and begin fighting, as everyone else watches in amazement (excluding Chi-Chi and Bulma, who continue eating in embarrassment).

[edit] Cast

Character name	Voice actor
Goku	Masako Nozawa
Gohan	Masako Nozawa
Goten	Masako Nozawa
Trunks	Takeshi Kusao
Vegeta	Ryō Horikawa
Abo	Yūsuke Numata
Kado	Kazunari Tanaka
Aka	Yasunori Masutani
Yamcha	Tōru Furuya
Krillin	Mayumi Tanaka
Piccolo	Toshio Furukawa
Bulma	Hiromi Tsuru
Oolong	Naoki Tatsuta
Chi-Chi	Naoko Watanabe
Master Roshi	Hiroshi Masuoka
Videl	Yūko Minaguchi
Mr. Satan	Daisuke Gōri
Android 18	Miki Itō
Tarble	Masakazu Morita
Gure	Kumiko Nishihara
Narration	Jōji Yanami

[edit] Trivia

• Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! could technically be considered as Dragon Ball Z: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! although the fact this film can be considered Movie #14.'
• Aka, the fusion of Abo & Kado, greatly resembles Dodoria, one of Frieza's top military henchmen.
• Tarble's name is a pun on "Vegetable", and Abo and Kado are a pun on "Avocado". Aka's name is a combination of Abo and Kado, like all other fusions. And Gure's name is a pun on the Japanese name for Grape; Gureepu
• The film hints that Trunks and Goten are at least as strong as Frieza. This is probably a reference to Frieza's first form which that has a confirmed power level of 530,000. This is supported by the fact Frieza's first form was the most well known by his forces throughout the universe and the fact his second, third, and fourth form were never shown until he arrived on Namek where even then it would be difficult to get a proper power reading of Frieza's true power levels if not directly there in person. However, it is to be noted that Tarble states he found out about Vegeta's current location from local Namekians, who were clearly able to sense power levels (and even go as far as to tell whether one's ki is filled with evil or otherwise), and present for the final battle between Frieza at 100% of his Full Power, and Super Saiyan Goku before being transported to Earth with the help of the final wish of their Namekian Dragon Balls. In addition, as Goku only had knowledge of Frieza's final form (being that he was in the rejuvenation chamber healing for the majority of the fight, and only "spectated" the fight through ki readings), but still immediately concluded that if they're only as powerful as Frieza was in his day, "They should be perfect for the kids."
• In the film, Mr. Satan is interviewed in regards to the defeat of Majin Buu. The general public's knowledge of Majin Buu and his defeat by Mr. Satan is considered to be a plot hole because their knowledge of the events should have been erased a year and a half before. But actually, Shenron only erased the memory of Fat Buu being evil half a year after Kid Buu's death.^{[citation needed]}
• Vegeta is considered to be out of character in the film by many fans. It should be noted that the events of this film take place after the Majin Buu Saga, when Vegeta's character developed considerably. He's not the cold-blooded Saiyan warrior he was before; he's become much gentler and even shows compassion towards his brother, referring to him as "Uncle Tarble" as he should be addressed by Trunks. Goku and Vegeta's rivalry, though intense, stands in stark contrast to the vendetta Vegeta had against Goku though most of the series, instead being a friendly rivalry that serves as comic relief.
• Vegeta is still wearing his Saiyan armor from the Cell arc and Goku's clothes have the turtle sign on them, making it thoroughly possible that he merely removed the armored vest because of the World Tournament's restrictions. This is also supported by Vegeta responding to "Kakarrot" that his armor was formal wear when Goku asked why he's still in his pair.
• Mr. Satan seems to help Goku's family now whenever they are in financial need.
• Aside from the Z-Fighter group pose at the end of the opening sequence, both Chiaotzu and Tien do not make an appearance in the movie, despite them being shown on the movie poster. This is likely because Tien's seiyu died and to honor his memory they did not replace him. They were both included in the manga adaptation. Vegeta has his Buu arc outfit, which also did not appear in the movie.
• This is also the first movie since Bojack Unbound in which Piccolo appears, with the exception of a fantasy in Broly: Second Coming where Gohan imagined Piccolo and mistook Krillin for him. This is also the first movie since Bojack Unbound in which Yamcha appears, and only the third movie in which he does appear as well.
• A manga adaptation was released on 21 March 2009. It was not drawn by Akira Toriyama, but by a mangaka called Ooishi Naho.
• This is the only time in the entire Dragonball Z Franchise that Yamcha's Wolf Fang Fist attack was seen, though he himself doesn't actually perform it. Gotenks uses it against Aka.
• The special was released on DVD, April 2009 only available by special order. It included the non credits version of the ending "Orange Hero" by jealkb.
• This is the first and only time Krillin appears in the orange and blue outfit with hair.
• Krillin appears bald on the movie poster, but in the movie itself, he appears with hair.
• This is the only time in a movie where Krillin appears with hair in the opening line-up
• The Tori-bot and Neko Majin's faces are seen when Gohan is on the computer with Videl
• So far the film is the only film not yet to be dubbed by Funimation.
• The intro sequence is a remake of the TV series' original intro, but it features a more modern look for the characters/situations.

Dragon Ball films
Dragon Ball adaptations
Theatrical films	Curse of the Blood Rubies • Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle • Mystical Adventure • The Path to Power
Dragon Ball Z adaptations
Theatrical films	Dead Zone • The World's Strongest • The Tree of Might • Lord Slug • Cooler's Revenge • The Return of Cooler • Super Android 13! • Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan • Bojack Unbound • Broly - Second Coming • Bio-Broly • Fusion Reborn • Wrath of the Dragon
Television specials	Bardock - The Father of Goku • The History of Trunks
OVAs	Gaiden: Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku • Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!
Dragon Ball GT adaptations
Television specials	A Hero's Legacy
Other adaptations
Live-action films	Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins • Dragonball: Evolution