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

Yo! The Return of Son Goku and Friends!!
Japanese poster
Directed by	Yoshihiro Ueda
Screenplay by	Takao Koyama
Story by	Akira Toriyama
Based on	Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama
Narrated by	Jōji Yanami
Starring	See Cast
Music by	Shunsuke Kikuchi
Cinematography	Akio Ōnuki
Editing by	Shinichi Fukumitsu
Studio	Toei Animation
Distributed by	Shueisha
Release date(s)	September 21, 2008 (2008-09-21)
Running time	35 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Dragon Ball: Yo! The Return of Son Goku and Friends!! (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 35-minute Dragon Ball animated short film that premiered at the Jump Super Anime Tour in September 2008. It is the first animated Dragon Ball feature in twelve years, following the tenth anniversary film The Path to Power. It has not been licensed for an English-language release.

Plot

Two years after the defeat of Majin Buu in the main Dragon Ball Z series, Mr. Satan finally finishes construction on his brand new hotel. Feeling guilty that the hotel is in honor of what the majority of Earth believes to be his defeat of Buu, he invites all of the Z-Fighters and their families to a banquet. Everyone but Goku agrees to go until he is told that there will be "all you can eat" banquet. All the Z Fighters, including Supreme Kai, Bubbles, King Kai, and Kibitokai, show up. Goku and Vegeta decide to spar, as they have dressed in their usual fighting outfits. Shortly after dinner, two Saiyan spaceships land just outside of town, and a mysterious Saiyan and his wife confront the Z-Fighters at the hotel. They are revealed to be Vegeta's younger brother, Tarble, who had been deemed too weak to fight in the past and was sent to a distant star before the destruction of Planet Vegeta, and his wife Gure, who is a small, cartoon-like alien (which prompt to master Roshi to remark that Saiyans have "odd wives"). Tarble asks his brother for help in dealing with Abo and Cado, soldiers who are remnants of Frieza's army, who are causing havoc on his planet. Goku and Vegeta argue over who will fight the brothers, even their sons and friends offer to join in, but so many fighting two people will seem unfair, so Goku comes up with an idea to solve the issue.

As Abo and Cado land, the Z-Fighters pick radishes from Goku and Chi Chi's garden to determine who will battle the duo. Everyone picks short radishes until Goten picks out the apparent longest. Jealous, Vegeta tells Trunks to pick one that is longer. Pressured by his father, Trunks picks out what appears to be a short radish, but it turns out to be the longes (all the way down to the mountain) This means that Trunks wins and is chosen to fight and the battle begins. However, Abo and Cado are two opponents and Goku asks Vegeta to let Goten fight with Trunks, but Vegeta says that Trunks is enough. Nevertheless, Goku lets Goten join Trunks, which prompts an angry outburst from Vegeta but he relents after his wife persuades him to agree. When the battle begins, without going Super Saiyan, the children easily defeat the two soldiers. However, when Abo and Cado create doubles of themselves, the boys get beaten easily. Irritated, Vegeta shouts at Trunks to read their ki and says that Trunks has forgotten the basics. When his wife says it is because he never taught Trunks basics, Vegeta says he lacks motivation like her, prompting an argument between them and Goku says its not the time for a marital quarrel. With a little help from Goten's brother Gohan, they are able to fight and seem to have favor in the fight. Everyone except for Goku, Vegeta and Piccolo, go back to the hotel. As the battle is almost over, Abo and Cado fuse into their larger, more powerful form, Aka.

Aka easily devastates Goten and Trunks, slamming them around and tossing them like rag dolls, and everyone comes back. Goten and Trunks try to fuse; the first is a failure and the second is successful and they become Gotenks. They attack with "Wolf Fang Fist", "Volleyball Fist" and one of his own moves: "Dynamite Rolling Thunder Punch", which appears to defeat Aka. However, while everyone is celebrating, Aka attacks the boys again with a super move: "Super Destructive Wave" after Gotenks taunts him. Piccolo blocks the attack with a Special Beam Cannon. Infuriated, Aka destroys most of the hotel with Wahahanoha beams while Gotenks protects Tarble and Gure. Seeing Aka's threat growing, Goku and Vegeta join the fight, but Goku tricks Vegeta into looking away while he defeats Aka with a final Kamehameha. With the battle over, Mr. Satan mourns the loss of his hotel. His daughter Videl (Gohan's girlfriend) tells him that this serves as a lesson, and he promises to change. Everyone goes back to what's left of his hotel, where their banquet is still waiting. Abo and Cado give up the fight, and join them in the feast. The special ends with Goku and Vegeta fighting over pork and sushi, even going Super Saiyan as they argue, much to the amusement of their friends but embarrassment of their wives.

Characters

This special introduces four new characters: Abo (アボ) and Cado (カド), red and blue aliens wearing battle fatigues who later merge into a large, purple alien named Aka (アカ) (Goten and Trunks jokingly call him "Abocado", a reference to avocado), a Saiyan named Tarble (ターブル, Tāburu), Vegeta's younger brother who had previously been sent away from Planet Vegeta by King Vegeta, and his wife Gure (グレ), a small pink and white robot-like alien from the planet that Tarble was sent to.

Cast

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

New changes

The opening of the film is similar to the original Dragon Ball Z opening, but has several changes.

• When Goku is riding on Nimbus, Goten, not Gohan, rides on his shoulder.
• Trunks is riding on Vegeta's back next to Goku and Goten.
• Goten and Trunks, not Gohan, are running on Shenron.
• Gohan and Videl are in their Great Saiyanman/woman outfits.
• Goten and Trunks, not Gohan, are chased by a dinosaur.
• Goten and Trunks are running along side Shenron.
• Goten lands on Goku's shoulder as Gohan flies by them.

Development

The film was first announced in the April 21st issue of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Stating that it would premiere along with One Piece: Romance Dawn in the Jump Super Anime Tour and visit ten Japanese cities to celebrate Shonen Jump's 40th anniversary. In the June 9th issue of Weekly Shonen Jump it was announced that the story would be based on an original concept by Toriyama, revisiting the comedic story-telling of early Dragon Ball. The following August issue of V Jump revealed a small hint of the plot and that at least three new characters would appear.

Distribution

The site Jumpland began streaming the film to both Japanese and English speaking viewers on their website on November 24, 2008 the Monday following the final stop on the Super Tour and was discontinued on January 31, 2009. Shortly before ending, it was announced that the film would be made available along with One Piece: Romance Dawn and Tegami Bachi: Light and Blue Night on a triple feature DVD that would only be available though a mail-in offer exclusively to Japanese residents.

In the February issue of V Jump it was announced that a manga adaptation was in the works illustrated by Ooishi Naho which would be published in the March 21, 2009 issue of V Jump.

External links

• Official page (Japanese)
• Jumpland's Japanese page (Japanese)