Frieza Saga: Ep 75 - 107
The big saga that the previous 2 have been leading up to. The Frieza saga is probably the one that most fans would consider to be the most memorable out of all of them and in my opinion contains the most iconic Dragon Ball Z moment. The story honestly feels like it is cast aside for the most part because this is mostly just filled with action with tiny bits of exposition thrown here and there.
The spotlight is shared between the side heroes in the 1st half and then by Goku in the 2nd half of it. Before Goku recuperates Gohan, Krillin, Piccolo & Vegeta are the ones to take on Frieza, with Frieza going through 3 transformations. When Goku is finally ready to fight everything reaches a whole new level. His fight with Frieza eventually leads to the iconic Super Saiyan transformation which is all worth the wait if you ask me. Honestly in just about every single action scene the intensity reaches grand levels, you truly get the sense that anyone could die at any given moment and this saga doesn't hold back at all with the dark moments.
Frieza is without a doubt the best part about this saga. He is one of the most egotistical, arrogant, narcissistic antagonist you could ever see. From the moment he confronts the heroes he's simply toying with them and handicapping himself just to show how powerful he is. Each of his forms has a unique feel though if I'm being totally honest his third form felt pointless since it literally was only around for 1 episode. Every time he speaks he has a sarcastic smartass remark and it really hits home, he definitely does his job right in making sure the audience hates him all while still having great charm.
This saga is most definitely not perfect at all though. The biggest issue is that Goku and Frieza's fight is dragged out to the highest degree. Thanks to the fact that the anime caught up to the manga the animators had to stretch it out until more manga chapters were available. This drags a fight that could've been 5 to 6 episodes to 19 episodes for a total of about 4 hours. The fact that the action is constantly interrupted by either Bulma's or Chi Chi's useless antics and King Kai spectating the battle really gets annoying. Honestly I would be more surprised if someone told me they didn't get tired out watching this fight. Don't get me wrong it is filled with great action and epic moments but my god does it start to get repetitively boring after a while. Despite all this it does not change the fact that it is still a very entertaining chapter in the Dragon Ball franchise, I would just recommend watching it in small increments rather than binge watching it.
[# of Fillers: 2]
While the number of filler episodes is low it honestly doesn't matter since as I mentioned before, Goku and Frieza's battle ended up being extremely stretched out to the point that a lot of the fight can actually be considered filler in a way. The only anime exclusive moment that I liked was honestly seeing Tien, Chiaotzu & Yamcha face off with 4 Ginyu Force members.
When I left the theater after seeing this movie I remember thinking that I wanted to go home and immediately watch it five more times. There’s so much in this beautiful screenplay to unpack, I think you could teach an entire college course on the philosophical issues in this movie: What is intimacy? What does it mean to have a relationship? What is the relationship between mind and body? What are the limits of artificial intelligence? What is love? Are humans uniquely capable of experiencing love, or do our uniquely human failings make us ill-equipped to love completely? Vulnerability, melancholy, jealousy, euphoria–this movie has so much to say about so many emotions it’s impossible to respond to it all in one sitting.
And that’s just the screenplay. The filmmaking here is top-notch–I particularly love the costumes/cinematography/production design which combine to create a futuristic world that is intimately familiar and subtly alien. World-building in the future is so hard and they knocked it out of the park. (So many tiny little details, like the sprawling architecture in the background, or the ingrained misogyny endemic in the video game industry.) Karen O’s music (especially “The Moon Song“) is dreamy, ethereal, and absolutely perfect. Lastly: Scarlett Johansson gives the best voice-only performance I’ve ever heard in my life. It’s impossible to listen to her and not fall completely in love yourself. So, so good.
