Dragon Ball: The Movie-Mystical Adventure

Goku and Krillin complete their training under Master Roshi.  To test their skills, the Turtle Hermit takes his students to participate in a Martial Arts Tournament pitting them against the best of the best, including some old friends.  But all is not what it seems as an old adversary of Roshi’s is planning to overthrown the leader of the nation hosting the tournament.  Against schemes, plots, betrayals and some of the toughest opponents he’s faced yet, Goku will have to go all out not just to win a tournament but to save an entire nation as well.

By the time of its release in 1988, the first era of Dragon Ball was beginning to come to an end.  With Dragon Ball Z on the horizon, it makes sense why Mystical Adventure (seriously, they couldn’t come up with a better title? Feels lazy) feels more like a transition film as well as a decent closure to the original Dragon Ball Movie Trilogy.  Unlike the first two films, this is more of an action film than adventure (further evidence the title kind of sucks).  So if you love that later era of Dragon Ball or early Z, this is the movie you’ve been waiting for.

Mystical Adventure is notable for introducing several characters from the middle arcs of the TV Anime including mainstays Tienshinhan and Chaotzu and villains Master Shen and Tao Piepie.  The story is a fusion of two different arcs as well: The Red Ribbon Army Saga and the 22^nd World Tournament Saga.  Though a fusion, there are original concepts given to all characters, separate from their TV iterations.  Everyones still the same personality wise, they just have different job titles.  Mystical Adventure might not have the close relationship between Tien and Chaotzu as front and center as it should be but it is a movie highlight nonetheless.  Likewise, Shen and Tao are their own brand of dangerous and Tao especially has some pretty entertaining moments later on in the films fight heavy finale.

As I said, Mystical Adventure feels more like the last act of Dragon Ball or the early days of Z in that its fights are the most intense and there’s even a few fatalities, a far cry from the more happy go lucky feels of Curse of the Blood Rubies or Sleeping Princess in Devils Castle.  The fights all deliver, no matter how small or who is involved.  The couple of fights between Goku and Tao are particular highlights especially with their banter.  And yet there’s still that one pesky problem all of these films have: everyone is here.  Much like its predecessors, Mystical Adventure is a short movie and it makes sense to have Goku, Krillin, Master Roshi and even Launch (in a greatly expanded role thank God) included.  I’d say Yamcha might have reason to be around for the Tournament aspect.  But having Bulma, Oolong and Puar included just means we cant have more time dedicated to fleshing out other important character relationships like the aforementioned Tien and Chaotzu.  This movie is also notable for the special appearances by characters from Akira Toriyama’s prior Dragon Ball work, Dr. Slump.  I think (emphasis on “think”) this also happened in the Anime (definitely the Manga) but it just feels so out of place and tries to return some humor to the story despite the sharp shift in tone once one character is killed off.  There’s some entertainment to be found with Tao’s reaction to their abilities but otherwise, Arale and company didn’t need to show up.

As the final chapter of the original film trilogy, Dragon Ball: The Movie-Mystical Adventure delivers an action heavy epic that moves away from the adventure roots of the franchise and into the era that would define it for generations to come.  The problems of before still hamper the film but not enough that Mystical Adventure isn’t enjoyable.  Much like Curse of the Blood Rubies and Sleeping Princess in Devil’s Castle, the movie is just fine, it could just be better.  Not worse, not better but about even with the rest.  All in all though, that’s not bad at all.  At least young Goku and company kept things consistent.

7.5/10

Huh, I think that’s the first time ive given a set of movies all the same score.  But there’s still one more movie to cover.  Why am I not listing it under the same umbrella as these last three films?  I’ll explain when we return to Goku’s early days for one more adventure next week with Dragon Ball: The Path to Power, right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.