Dragonball Z: Majin-Buu: Tactics (1996) - DVD Review

Film:

DVD:

Original Japanese Version by Akira Toriyama

Features:

• Contains episodes 226-228
• Trailers

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• People turning into chocolate and getting eaten
• Excalibur allusions
• Yet more gooey pink villainy

Released by: FUNimation
Rating: 13+
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Buy it.

The Majin-Buu Saga continues on this release. Again, we have three episodes to soothe our need to see Goku and Gohan in action. In "Global Announcement," Babidi and Buu continue their rampage of turning innocent townsfolk into chocolate tasties. Babidi psychically communicates to all Earthlings that he wants Piccolo, Goten, and Trunks turned over to him for vengeance. Meanwhile, the Supreme Kai and Kubito finally discover Gohan and take him to the Kai's world for healing. Then, in "Learn to Fuse," Trunks and Goten start learning how to fuse, and Gohan, now healed, is told about the legendary Z Sword that just might have the power to defeat Buu finally...trouble is, like Excalibur, no one has ever been able to pull the Sword from its rock. Last, in "Z Sword," Buu keeps turning entire towns into chocolate, Gohan attempts to pull the Z Sword, and Goku struggles with teaching Goten and Trunks how to fuse.

The plot of the Majin-Buu Saga continues to be interesting, if frustrating for viewers who simply cannot stand Buu and Babidi. It's nice to see the Z Fighters reaching deep into their knowledge to find creative answers to this seemingly impossible foe. It must be hard for writers to figure out what to do as story after story, the villains keep getting stronger and the Z Fighters are basically all-powerful; their answer in this storyline is to make Buu so malleable that no attack seems to actually hurt him for long, and taking him apart doesn't even work. This disc is less character-intensive than the last disc and has even more fighting.

The audio and video quality for this disc is consistent with the previous discs in the series. I detected no fuzzing or distortions, and the colors were clear and bright, comparable to an OAV series or any other finely crafted series. The art focuses on the characters, and the backgrounds are a good balance between interesting and non-distracting--less detailed than a movie might have, but still more detailed than a poorer series.

The features list is as minimal as it has been for previous DBZ discs, and again we have only three episodes on a DVD. It is nice to have the full uncut version of the episodes, though.

Overall, this installment in the Majin-Buu Saga does a good job of continuing the story and keeping it lively. We learn more about Goten and Trunks and what they're capable of psychologically, and we also learn more about the Supreme Kai's secret knowledge. If you enjoy adventure and martial arts titles, then you should greatly enjoy Dragonball Z. If you're new to the series, this might not be a bad place to jump in, as it's a sort of changing point within the bigger saga, as Gohan, Trunks, and Goten all struggle to master something new before returning to the fray.

Buy it from Amazon.