Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn
Film poster
Directed by	Shigeyasu Yamauchi
Produced by	Tan Takaiwa, Tomio Anzai, Tsutomu Tomari
Written by	Takao Koyama (screenplay) Akira Toriyama (original series author)
Starring	Masako Nozawa (Son Gokū / Son Goten / Son Gohan) Tesshō Genda (Jan'emba) Takeshi Kusao (Trunks) Yūko Minaguchi (Videl) Ryō Horikawa (Vegeta) Daisuke Gōri (Mr. Satan / Enma Daiō) Hiromi Tsuru (Bulma) Naoko Watanabe (Chi Chi) Hikaru Midorikawa (Paikuhan) Ryuusei Nakao (Freeza) Toku Nishio (South Kaiō) Keiko Yamamoto (East Kaiō) Bin Shimada (West Kaiō) Saikachi Ryuuji (Dai Kaiō) Masaharu Satou (Shenlong) Joji Yanami (North Kaiō / Narration)
Chara design	Tadayoshi Yamamuro
Music by	Shunsuke Kikuchi
Editing by	Shinichi Fukumitsu
Release date(s)	March 4, 1995 (Japan) March 17, 2006 (North America)
Running time	51 minutes
Language(s)	Japanese, French, Spanish, English, Polish

Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn (ドラゴンボールZ 復活のフュージョン!!悟空とベジータ, Doragon Bōru Zetto: Fukkatsu no Fusion!! Gokū to Vegeta; lit. "Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn!! Gokū and Vegeta") is the twelfth movie based on the Dragon Ball Z anime. It was originally released in Japan on March 4, 1995, between episodes 258 and 259. It was again released to select theaters March 17, 2006, making it the first Dragon Ball movie to be released theatrically in the United States, with Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler following.

SummaryEdit

The movie starts with the Other World Tournament going on and a match is starting between Goku and Pikkon. The scene changes to the Check-In Station and shows a teenage Ogre guarding the Soul Cleansing Machine, but he is distracted with his heavy metal music. His lack of attention allows the machine to become too full, and, as a result, the machine explodes, releasing all of the evil energy at once. The young ogre is enveloped in the evil smog and is transformed into a giant (seemingly innocent) monster of incredible power named Janemba. Janemba's first order of business is to place a barrier around the Check-in Station of the Other World. This barrier prevents King Yemma from maintaining order between realms. With Yemma trapped, the souls of Other World are free to return to the land of the living. Videl and Gohan are summoned to take care of them.

Bulma and the others gather the Dragon Balls, and summon Shenron. They wish for all the souls to return to the underworld, but Shenron informs them that he can send them back but there is nothing stopping them from coming back, and that something is wrong in Other World.

In the Other World, Goku and Pikkon were fighting in the final of the Other World Tournament, but then are called to go to King Yemma and see what is going on. When they arrive, King Yemma informed them that the monster that did all of this was on the roof of the check-in station. Both Goku and Pikkon are surprised by the tremendous size of Janemba. Goku is excited about his power and lures Janemba to Hell so that Pikkon can start working on the barrier. Once arriving in Hell, Goku is shocked to find it has been changed into a psychedelic, weird world filled with colorful stones. Pikkon attempts to break the barrier, and Goku begins fighting Janemba. Janemba has strange powers that allow him to defy, or rather define, reality (such as creating a portal to punch through that leads right to Goku and forming what seems to be a perfect replica of Goku in his hand, complete with its own Kamehameha), and even as a Super Saiyan 2, Goku is losing. He then powers up to Super Saiyan 3 to defeat the monster.

On Earth, Mr. Satan is winning over the Zombies and happy that they are enemies that he can beat. Frieza arrives shortly after Gohan and Videl get rid of a large group of zombies, and Frieza starts to taunt Gohan. Before they start fighting, Gohan introduces himself with a short speech and dance, saying "I am son of Goku, guardian of all that is good." However, Gohan defeats him with a single punch to the stomach, prompting the rest of the villains to retreat in fear. Gohan, afterwards, does his victory dance. In the afterlife, Pikkon discovers that cursing at the barrier causes it to break, and the monster, which Goku thought he had defeated, has transformed into a smaller, more powerful form. He makes a sword from an ogre club he finds on the ground (another example of Janemba's power over reality), and starts to easily beat Goku with a swing from his sword, creating a dangerously sharped blade of thin air. He then traps him in a triangular cage made from Blood Pond, and then cuts it down to fit Goku.

Vegeta comes to help Goku. He starts to fight Janemba in his strongest form, Super Saiyan 2, but is no match for him. Goku breaks out of Blood Pond and lands on the ground. Vegeta was thrown into a cage of spikes, but Goku catches him in time and they both take cover into the cage of spikes.

Goku knows they cannot win as separate entities, so he suggests using the fusion technique. Vegeta becomes skeptical, first off that the pose for the Fusion Dance is embarrassing, and furthermore tells him he would rather die than to fuse with a low class Saiyan. But Goku calmly states that Vegeta is already dead. Goku persuades him to agree, and then they try the Fusion Dance. Vegeta agrees, however, he fails to extend his index finger at the last second, and Veku (as named by South Kai) is created. This fighter is weak and can do little but fart on Super Janemba's face and use his "rabbit feet" technique to run away. Right when Janemba is about to destroy him, the fusion runs out and Goku and Vegeta escape. Vegeta curses Goku, saying fusion is useless, but North Kai telepathically points out that it is Vegeta's fault because his index finger was made into a fist and created the blimp Veku. Pikkon then comes after giving up on the barrier around the Check-In Station and begins to fight Janemba to give Goku and Vegeta more time to perform the fusion. Pikkon figures that Janemba is made of the same material as the barrier, and begins cursing at it. Surprisingly, it works, and the creature is caught completely by surprise. However, it is able to incapacitate Pikkon, although those precious few seconds allowed Goku and Vegeta to perform the Fusion Dance, which is successful, forming Gogeta.

On Earth, Goten and Trunks sense their dads fusing, and also fuse to create Gotenks. Gotenks defeats The Dictator's army with the Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack in one shot. Gogeta is formed, and he defeats Janemba with his ultimate attack:the Stardust Breaker. As a result, the teenage ogre returns. Scared by Gogeta, he runs away. Hell is returned to normal and King Yemma is freed with lots work to do. Gogeta defuses, Goku and Vegeta say farewell to each other, and Vegeta returns to his spirit form. Goku and Pikkon return to the Grand Kai's planet. All of the souls are returned to the machine, which is restored.

On Earth, Gohan, Goten, Videl and Trunks are returning home. Goten and Trunks know who it was that saved them, but refuse to tell anyone. In the English version, Goten and Trunks were spying on them, and joked about Gohan and Videl kissing and being chased home by a crossed Gohan and an embarrassed Videl. Meanwhile, Shenron remains summoned and asks if anyone still wants to use their wishes, sounding impatient.

CharactersEdit

VillainsEdit

* Indicates that this character appears on the film's poster, but is not seen in the film

** Indicates that this character appears in the film, but with a different coloring

Timeline placementEdit

The movies' events occur during the Majin Buu Saga, roughly before the Majin Buu conflict reaches its climax with Super Buu.^[1] When Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan 3, he says he has never been pushed to transform into that form before except during the fight with Majin Buu. The fat Majin Buu is not seen anywhere, but if Kid Buu has been defeated, then both Goku and Vegeta should be alive again. This suggests that the Majin Buu Saga happens within this film's background. This, with the ability of Goten and Trunks to fuse as Super Saiyans, suggest that Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn was going on during or after episode 253, where Goten and Trunks successfully use the Fusion technique as Super Saiyans for the first time. Additionally, Mr. Satan is not at Majin Buu's house in the movie, which is consistent with the fact that he left the Majin's house in episode 253 to get dog food for Bee. As shown on Videl's watch, the movie took place on a Saturday, the 16th (9 days after the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament, which took place on May 7 of Age 774).

ReleasesEdit

North American DVD featuresEdit

The movie had been released March 28, 2006, in North America on DVD.

• Full-Screen English "2.0 Stereo" dub with optional subtitles.
• Full-Screen English "5.1 Dolby Surround Sound" dub with optional subtitles (same subtitle track as above).
• Full-Screen Uncut Japanese version (in Mono) with optional, English translated subtitles.
• Interactive DVD Menus.
• Scene Selection.
• Character Profiles on 12 different characters in the movie.
• FUNimation Trailers advertising Dragon Ball Z, the Dragon Ball Z TCG, the "Z" Store, Mr. Stain, and Degrassi.

Other releasesEdit

FUNimation Dub re-released the movie on DVD and Blu-ray on May 19, 2009, alongside Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon in a double-feature DVD.

FUNimation later released a four movie pack, including this movie movie along with Dragon Ball Z: Broly - Second Coming, Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly, and Wrath of the Dragon. These are the same discs found on the double (triple for the Broly movies) features on January 3, 2012.

FUNimation DVD cover

Double-feature DVD

Four movie pack

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CastEdit

MusicEdit

• Opening Theme (OP): "We Gotta Power"
• Ending Theme (ED): "Saikyō no Fusion"

TriviaEdit

• There is a brief Michael Jackson reference in the beginning of the movie, when Saike Demon is dancing he simulates a moonwalk, stands on his tip toes, and grabs himself.
• The English dub of Fusion Reborn is the only Dragon Ball Z film to be rated by the Motion Picture Association of America. It is rated PG for action violence, thematic elements, and rude humor.
• All swastikas (in the Dictator scenes) are removed from FUNimation's DVD. Additionally, all "third reich" references are removed. In the German, French, and Hebrew versions, The Dictator was completely removed from the movie due to strict laws in Germany about references to the Nazi regime and to avoid insulting Israelis and Holocaust survivors after World War II. In the European Spanish dubs, The Dictator does not appear, due to the fact that the European Spanish versions used the pre-edited footage of the French dub.
• The Dictator mentions how Goten and Trunks in their Super Saiyan forms have "blond hair and blue eyes" (even though the eyes are green) referencing Hitler's penchant for the Aryan race.
• The Dictator's battle against Goten and Trunks was removed when it was aired on Toonami and later Nicktoons.
• In the English dub by FUNimation, Shenron offers to grant three wishes rather than the regular two, however in the Japanese dub, he says two (one wish was previously used by Bulma to resurrect all the good people killed by Majin Vegeta the day of the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament).
• In one scene, one of the Kais refers to Veku as "what an artful dodger" as he had been avoiding Janemba's attacks by running away and farting. This is a reference to the novel Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens. One of the characters is named the Artful Dodger because he can pick peoples pockets and run quickly.
• This is the only film of all 13 to take place mostly in Other World. This is also the only film to feature Pikkon and King Yemma, and the first film to feature Goku in his Super Saiyan 3 form and to have fusion characters (namely Gotenks, Veku and Gogeta).
• Although Krillin is seen with Android 18 and Marron during the title sequence, he is not seen at all during the actual movie.
• Extra parts to the movie are added in Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2's story mode. In the story mode Great Saiyaman and Videl fight 2 vs. 2 battles against Cui and Salza, Bojack and Zangya, Frieza and Cell (Cell did not appear in the movie), and finally Vegeta is allowed to keep his body and has a match against Goku.
• The movie is retold in the PSP fighting game Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai. Its story is arguably easier to place within the series timeline, occurring during a time of apparent peace shortly after the battles with Majin Buu.
• At the beginning of the movie when Goku and Pikkon are being introduced, Goku is referred to as the defending champion, even though in the last Other World Tournament it was a draw due to them both touching the ceiling during the battle. However, during their original battle, Goku was briefly declared the winner of the first tournament before Grand Kai told them touching the ceiling disqualified them.
• In the video game Dragon Ball Z: Buu's Fury, the events of this movie happen after Fortuneteller Baba takes the dead Goku back to the Other World (episode 248) and after Mr. Satan meets Majin Buu (episode 252). This is even though Goku is not seen returning to Grand Kai's planet in the manga/anime after Baba brought him back to the Other World, instead being at the Sacred World of the Kais, either helping Gohan with his Z Sword training or watching the battle on Earth in a Crystal Ball while Old Kai was unlocking Gohan's hidden abilities.
• Since episode 241 (which is set approximately one day after the tournament), the Z Fighters still on Earth believe Gohan to be dead in the series, while in the movie they interact with him as if they do not believe he is dead. The movie occurs 9 days after the tournament, as shown on Videl's watch.
• Dende explicitly stated in episode 240 that the Z Fighters would have to wait four months to use the Dragon Balls again due to Bulma and the others summoning Shenron and wishing for Vegeta's rampage to be undone. Yet, if this movie takes place a few days later, the Z Fighters on Earth should not have been able to summon Shenron.

GalleryEdit

Saike Demon Saike begins to mutate into Janemba Pikkon defeats Arqua Goku vs. Pikkon Goku uses Instant Transmission King Yemma Videl receives a message Gohan and Videl Frieza Jeice, Daiz, Frieza, Ginger, a Meda, Burter Daiz, Recoome, Ginger, a Meda Bujin, Recoome, and a Meda Bujin, Wings, Frieza, Cacao, and Kogu Paragus, Wings, Frieza, and Zangya Cui, Medamatcha, Frieza, Commander Zeeun, Medas, and Rasin/Lakasei Bojack appears in Fusion Reborn Salza, Sansho, and a Bio-Man Gohan attacks Frieza, Misokatsun is seen Rasin/Lakasei Zarbon and one of Lord Slug's soldiers Gohan about to punch Frieza Jeice in Fusion Reborn A Meda, Burter, and Misokatsun Gohan posing after defeating Frieza The Dictator Super Goten and Trunks powering up Goku in Hell Super Saiyan Goku Super Saiyan 3 Goku Super Saiyan 3 Goku Super Saiyan 3 Goku Super Saiyan 3 Goku prepares to attack Janemba Super Saiyan 3 Goku attacks Janemba Super Saiyan 3 Goku's finishing move Super Saiyan 3 Goku's finishing move Super Saiyan 3 Goku's finishing move Super Saiyan 3 Goku's finishing move Super Saiyan 3 Goku's finishing move Super Saiyan 3 Goku's finishing move Super Saiyan 3 Goku's finishing move Super Saiyan 3 Goku's finishing move Super Saiyan 3 Goku's finishing move Super Saiyan 3 Goku's finishing move Super Saiyan 3 Goku's finishing move Super Saiyan 3 Goku's finishing move Super Saiyan 3 Goku Super Saiyan 3 Goku's finishing move Super Saiyan 3 Goku's finishing move Janemba's first form is defeated by Super Saiyan 3 Goku Goku after defeating Janemba in his first form Super Saiyan 3 Goku smirking Super Saiyan 3 Goku posing Goten and Trunks dodging bullets Super Janemba appears Super Janemba Super Saiyan 3 Goku takes on Janemba Bunkai Teleport Super Janemba's Cosmic Illusion Super Janemba's Cosmic Illusion Super Janemba's Cosmic Illusion Super Janemba's Hell Gate Super Janemba's Hell Gate Hell Gate's effect on the ground A small club Super Janemba creates the Dimension Sword Super Janemba creates the Dimension Sword Super Janemba creates the Dimension Sword Super Janemba wielding the Dimension Sword Super Janemba about to cut Goku's blast A fire caused by one of Goku's blasts The Dimension Sword attack Goku with a shoulder wound from a Dimension Sword blast Super Janemba's Spike Hell technique Goku trapped inside a bloody crystal Super Janemba wields the Dimension Sword The Dimension Sword breaks The Dimension Sword breaks The Dimension Sword breaks Super Saiyan Vegeta Super Saiyan Vegeta attacks Vegeta chocked by Super Janemba Super Janemba fires the Lighting Shower Rain Super Janemba's second Lightning Shower Rain Super Janemba's second Lightning Shower Rain Super Janemba's second Lightning Shower Rain Super Janemba powering up Super Janemba powering up Vegeta does not want to perform the Fusion Dance movements Goku injured West and East Kais Goku and Vegeta fuse to form Veku Veku confronts Super Janemba Super Janemba stares down Veku Super Janemba uses Brutal Destruction Brutal Destruction Brutal Destruction Veku farts on Super Janemba's face Veku attacks Super Janemba again North and South Kais North and South Kais Veku beaten by Super Janemba Veku insults Super Janemba Veku flees from the battle Veku faces Super Janemba Veku uses his Rabbit Feet Technique Veku flees Super Janemba attacking Veku Super Janemba attacking Veku Janemba charging an energy blast Pikkon confronts Super Janemba Pikkon charging the Trap Shooter Pikkon firing the Trap Shooter Vegeta performing the fusion dance with Goku Goku performing the fusion dance with Vegeta Goku and Vegeta successfully fusing Gogeta appears Super Janemba powering up Super Janemba powering up Super Janemba getting beaten by Gogeta Super Gogeta Gogeta about to use an attack Gogeta prepares the Stardust Breaker Super Janemba being destroyed The Stardust Breaker destroys Janemba Vegeta after the defeat of Janemba Add a photo to this galleryAdd a photo to this gallery

ReferencesEdit