Dragon Ball Z is perhaps one of the most well known anime out there with it being one of the very few anime to not only make it big Japan but also across the world as well. As such back in 2009 it really was a shock when it was announced that the entire series really was going to be rebroadcast and even more shocking when it announced the series was being remastered with a new HD transfer and that must of the original cast barring a very few others really were coming back to-record there lines to enhance the sound quality of each episode and so then join me as in review the episodes that helped to introduce this truly iconic franchise to a new generation of fans with the episodes in question being called simply just "Prologue To Battle! The Return Of Goku!" , "The Enemy Is Goku's Brother?! The Secret Of The Mighty Saiyan Warriors!" and "Life Or Death Battle! Goku And Piccolo's Fierce Suicidal Attack" enjoy.
The plot of these episodes is when Goku's young son Gohan is kidnapped by his alien brother it's up to Goku and Piccolo to defeat this new threat before it's far to late. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in these episodes well then in all honesty I in ll honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes was in all honesty not that bad as this is only the series first saga and as a result of that is the fact that it would be really foolish to expect a top tier plot right from the get go and yet the plot of this episode was alot better then what it really had any right to be as while the plot of these episodes does a good job of filling us in on where these characters are at this point in time it's also a plot that really is the kind of plot that you'd expect from the opening of a show like this in that it's nothing that's all that to deep and complex with the plot of these episodes also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in these episodes is Sean Schemmel as Goku , Colleen Clinkenbeard as Gohan and Christopher R. Sabat as Piccolo , Grandpa Gohan and Vegeta. Also starring in these episodes is Cynthia Cranz as Chi-Chi , Justin Cook as Raditz and Malaka , Monica Rial as Bulma , Sonny Strait as Bardock and Krillin , John Swasey as Farmer , Mike McFarland as Master Roshi , John Burgmeier as Tien , Linda Young as Frieza and Doc Morgan as The Narrator.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes was in all honesty really good. Which really isn't all that surprising as alot of these episodes voice actors are not only a hunch of really good voice actors in there own right but alot of them hare also reprising their roles from Dragon Ball Z and are so well known for playing these characters that it's hard to picture anybody else playing these characters with these actors having played there respective characters for so long now that they really would know what kind of performance really would best suit there character in any given situation with the acting in these episode also being helped by the fact that the script for these episodes is just so good that all these episodes actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in these very episodes.
Doing the animation for these episodes is of course the legends and the greats that are currently over at Toei Animation. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes well then in all honesty I in all honesty honesty personally thought / felt that the actual animation that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes was in all honesty really good which isn't really all that surprising given that this show is being made by Toei Animation who really do know how to create some really good looking animation with even the things that they they manage to do from an animation standpoint in this episode looking really impressive as they have the camera follow Goku as he flies up the side of a mountain which is something that would really is hard to make look good today and they somehow managed to make it look good back in the late eighties and early nineties with all three episodes having moments like that that really do make you stand up and take notice at just how well the animation in these episode really has aged.
For understandable reasons episode one of this show does have a recap of Dragon Ball which is something that does make sense. However at the exact same time tho the recap eats up almost four minuets of the episodes running time something which could have been cut down to just the bare essentials and while it is understandable why there was a recap at the start of this episode as it serves as a way to catch up old fans with the story thus far and introduce new fans to the story without having to make them sit through hundreds of episodes and several movies and specials of a TV show that they might not like which is a possibility as Dragon Ball wasn't as big as Dragon Ball Z was but at the same time they could have cut down alot of the recaps to just the things that absolutely essential to the story of the show and not include things like Gou fighting Piccolo's father which doesn't factor into the plot of either these episodes nor this show and yet they make sure to remind you that that was a thing when that's something that they don't really need to do.
To these episodes credit the remaster really does look good as the images is now updated to at the very least 1080p. However with that being said the edits that they make to the episodes don't really work as now instead if ending at a place that is natural for that particular episode alot of them end at what was half way through the next episode when it was being originally aired which does make the endings lack that impact that they had in the original broadcast but at the same time tho alot of these edits could also be chalked up to the fact that there streamlining the story and that does mean making the episodes look like that they flow into each other instead of each episode having a beginning , a middle and an end with this being least effective in episode two where the episode does end at a somewhat natural place with Raditz telling them that there are two more saiyan's just like him coming to earth which does feel like a natural place to end that episode as it's a good solid cliffhanger to end that episode one and heck out all three episodes it's episode two that's the the strongest of the three of the three episodes as it's all about advancing the plot.
All three of these episodes do have some really good moments in them with episode o e having that great shot of Goku flying up the side of the mountain to get to Gohan on the other side. With episode three it's the entire battle scene but with episode two it's the shot where Piccolo and Goku are just talking to each other as that scene represents two enemies basically starting to become friends something which while born out of necessity as Raditz is meant to be stronger then both of them combined at this point in time it does go to show that when push comes to show and when both of recognize a threat to the earth that they are both willing to put aside there own personally rivalry in order to the right thing with this being something that we would see all through these opening saga's of the show and it's because of this one scene of the two f them agreeing to team up and help each other that would lead to them becoming friends and heck Goku even trusts him enough to let him take care of his son Gohan.
Now then episode one and two of this show has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty three minuets and seven seconds whilst episode three had / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty three minuets and two seconds. With all three episodes having some really good running times to them as they all have more then enough there interms of plot to really cover there respective running times the only thing that lets all three episodes down is the fact that this mini saga really could have been a few more episodes long just to help with the pacing of the story as things do start to wrap rather quickly around the midway point of episode two which does make the conclusion of this mini saga not only compare out of nowhere but also not really hot as much as it would have done if it had just a few more episodes to set things up better as that would end up helping this saga out in the long run and it would allow for alot of the characters to not only have some form of character development of some form but to also play more of a bigger role in the plot of this mini saga as well but I will admit that all of these episodes really do have some really pacing to theme tho.
So now then as this is an action show that means that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in these very episodes was in all honesty really good. Which for this franchise isn't really a new and really shocking thing as it's the action that this show is what it's known for and it's hard to see why as the action in this shows third episode was really top notch and while yes the action in later episodes is a lot better then the action in these episodes given just how small scale these episodes are they don't really need some really cool looking action all they need is something really small scale and really basic and that's exactly what we get with that also being something that works for where the characters really are at this point in time as characters aren't that high powered yet and would there for not to be able to do all of these powerful moves that they can pull of very easily in later episodes which does make the action in this episode feel alot better then what it really had any right to be in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall all three episodes are some really strong episodes to start of this truly phenomenal anime and while yes Dragon Ball Z Kai is a good way to watch a more streamlined version of the show and it's plot it's not the best way tow watch it as that will always be by watching the original episodes in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in these very episodes in this very review and as such that really does mean that all three of these episodes really do earn themselves a grand old combined score of exactly a 7 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all f the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Sailor Moon fandom wiki page , the official Dragonball fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website that I personally preferred to use to get the images that I personally used in this very review being the really wonderful the official Dragonball fandom wiki page as since all of the images that are currently up and featured / presented to us up and on the really great and really and really truly wonderful on the official Dragonball fandom wiki page are all really fairly high in quality and as well as them all being all really fairly freaking high in definition.