PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *metaphysical*
Though I understand why the creator of DRAGONBALL chose to devote most of his hero's adventures to his adult self, I must say that the stories featuring Goku Son in his little-kid incarnation have the greatest charm.
DRAGONBALL, very loosely based upon the "Monkey King" story of Chinese folklore and literature, is a deft combination of sci-fi and magical fantasy tropes that manage to reinforce one another, rather than conflicting. PEARLS recapitulates the first arc of both the manga and the anime teleseries, establishing that although all takes place in a distant sci-fi future full of aliens and colonized worlds, there also exist the seven Dragon Balls. When all seven are assembled, they summon the Dragon Shenron, who will grant any wish, no matter how extravagant.
The tyrant Gurumes rules future-Earth, or at least part of it, enslaving the bucolic inhabitants while searching for priceless gems known as Blood Rubies. However, the more rubies the ruler acquires, the more he begins mutating into an ugly monster. Thus Gurumes also wants to acquire the Dragon Balls, to wish himself healthy.
As it happens, Gurumes' quest for the Balls brings together many of the principal heroes of the series, all efficiently brought together within less than an hour's run-time. The monkey-tailed Goku, living alone in the wilds after the death of his "grandpa," is one of the first beings contacted by the tyrant's henchmen. Despite his young years, Goku is extraordinarily powerful, so he trounces the minions. Then treasure-hunter Bulma convinces Goku to help her find the other balls and keep them out of Gurumes' hands. This leads to swift introductions to such familiar cast-members as Yamcha, Oolong, and Master Roshi, all of whom are exploited for good humorous results.
The original arc focused on a blundering tyrant named Pilaf, but I prefer the more serious menace of Gurumes, who's shown causing harm to the downtrodden peasants in his quest for riches. The Blood Rubies are also a new creation, and the finale uses the gems to good visual effect at the climax, when a courageous little girl gets the chance to use the Dragon-wish before Gurumes can. The DRAGONBALL movies tend to be fairly pedestrian, but BLOOD RUBIES is a happy exception.
No comments:
Post a Comment