Film: 
DVD: 
Original Japanese Version by Akira Toriyama
Features:
- Contains episodes 223-225
- Trailers
Dindrane’s Anime Warnings:
- Giggly, poofy, pink villain
- Giggly, tiny, goofy villain
- Violence and animated, non-graphic death
Released by: FUNimation
Rating: 13+
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; episodes appear in their original 1.33:1 format.
My Advice: Buy it.
[ad#longpost]In this release, three more episodes continue the Majin-Buu Saga. In “Evil Lives On,” Majin-Buu recovers from Vegeta’s self-sacrificing final attack; his rubbery pink flesh begins to reassemble himself. In addition, it seems that the evil wizard Babidi survived Piccolo’s attack, and although injured, is as nasty and ambitious as ever. But there may be hope in the Supreme Kai’s survival, who himself hopes that Gohan is still alive. In “Find the Dragon Balls,” Bulma, Krillin, and the others come up with a plan to undo the devastation wrought by Vegeta while he was under Babidi’s control and, natch, find the dragon balls. Goku receives the healing touch of Dende, and Buu continues his hungry terrorizing of Earth. Finally, in “Revival,” Goku comes up with a new plan to take out Babidi–the ancient Seiyan art of Fusion, wherein two Super Seiyans of approximately equal size and power merge in one body. The only problem is that the only suitable Seiyan pair still alive is the very young pair of Trunks and Goten…and Goku’s not sure they can learn how to merge their powers in time.
The characterization of DBZ is often overlooked for the sake of the title’s splendid fight scenes, but it’s fair to say that the personalities represented in this series are actually much better than you might expect from a superhero/action type title. The heroes are not all interchangeable, and even though their powers may be similar, they still have their own ways of fighting and applying those abilities. Vegeta, for example, cuts to the chase and goes Super Seiyan pretty quickly, just wanting to crush his enemy and get on with it, while Goku and Gohan like to hold out, hoping for a more peaceful solution where possible. Bulma and Chi-Chi are always fun to watch, especially as they interact with their children and their husbands. I do, however, have to point out that Majin-Buu himself is probably one of the most irritating and initially one of the silliest bad guys I’ve ever seen in anime. Luckily, he gives the Heroes lots of chances to shine.
The audio and video quality of this disc is good. The colors are crisp and a bit cleaner than they were when shown on TV (and uncut, so there’s more of them), and the music of this series, a personal favorite, is lively, without distortion, and not intrusive. Both the Japanese and English voice tracks came out well in the transfer, and given that this series is kind of like a venerable old friend, it’s good to hear the familiar voices of Goku, Trunks, and the rest coming out so clearly and cleanly.
The features of this disc are, well, essentially nonexistent. You get several trailers, but that’s it. This is rather a shame since there are only three episodes on the disc, albeit the uncut versions. Maybe eventually the series will be collected in a box set with a couple extra discs containing nothing but real features and goodies.
Dragonball Z is always a good bet, and even those fans who think the Majin-Buu Saga goes on a bit too long admit that it’s a righteous series. There’s plenty of the show’s beloved fighting action, more mysticism than you can shake a stick at, and every single character gets a chance to step up, even the ones we haven’t seen much lately. If you’re a fan, then you’ll need to have this disc along with all the others. If you’re new to the series, and you want to see what all the fuss is about, check this disc out even though it’s in the middle of a storyline. You’ll get a chance to see some secondary characters in action, lots of fighting, and overall what the series is about.
