It is a good time to be a Dragon Ball z fan. Between the Dragon Ball z Super manga and anime series hitting its stride lately and the Xenoverse 2 DBZ game ticking all the correct boxes, followers of spiky haired mega warriors with the penchant for shouting can get their fix throughout virtually any medium they need to care to choose. Outside of official releases, fandom is stronger than ever, producing mounds of interesting content every day. No such unofficial source of unauthorized the DBZ goodness is more beloved than Team 4 Star, who’ve gotten back on track with the immensely well-liked parody Dragon Ball Z Abridged after the lengthy hiatus.
Along with retelling the first DBZ series in their wacky method, Team 4 Star also wish to revisit the (non-canon) Dragon Ball Z Movies from time to time. Their newest effort is a take on 1993 feature titled Broly, The Legendary Super Saiyan. The story for this one is simple enough, Vegeta is summoned by the previously unknown Saiyan named Paragus to a brand new planet where he’s all set to be king. There he meets Paragus son, Broly, who’s actually the Legendary Super Saiyan (the Super Saiyan, if you’ll). As you’d think about, the Legendary Super Saiyan is unbelievably strong, so he proceeds to knock absolutely the tar out of everyone.
Trimming out lots of the fat, the abridged version of the Broly clocks in at 30 minutes, which is kind of surprising considering that they manage to get the complete story in, along with a whole bunch of typically hysterical Dragon Ball Z Abridged jokes. Vegeta, everyone’s favorite dickish Saiyan anti hero’s first decree as a Saiyan king is to label his son (who’s from the future yay timelines!) ‘Princess Trunks,’ mean-spirited gag which runs throughout the movie. Different highlights include Saiyan’s slave race, who enjoy being slaves the little bit too much, to the point of the sadomasochism. (they end up forgetting their safety word because it had not been used for generations), and hilarious cameos from villains Mercenary Tao, and Perfect Cell (strangely, Broly the Legendary Super film is set between Cell Saga, and the Cell Games, making it a really odd side quest).
Maybe one of the best jokes, however, is the slight dig at sections of a fandom. Despite not being a part of the official Dragon Ball z continuity, Broly is the immensely common character, particularly among western audiences. Here, though, his character is deconstructed in the spectacularly merciless style. Vegeta reaches the epiphany that the Broly, fabled Legendary Super Saiyan, is a little more than a great large muscle child with the ridiculously petty grudge that harks back to his childhood, giving Saiyan Prince one of his trademark crisis of the confidences. Here, he represents DBZ fandom coming to saddening conclusion that one of their most beloved characters is actually pretty lame.
Team 4 Star’s take on Broly The Legendary Super Saiyan is every bit as fun and irreverent as their long-running Abridged series, the funnier and wackier version of a much liked DBZ film that manages to be the whole lot more intelligent than the source material on which it’s based upon.
