Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug

Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug
Directed by	Mitsuo Hashimoto
Produced by	Chiaki Imada
Written by	Takao Koyama
Music by	Shunsuke Kikuchi
Distributed by	Toei Animation Funimation
Release date(s)	March 9, 1991
Running time	52 min.
Gross revenue	¥2.21 billion
Preceded by	The Tree of Might
Followed by	Cooler's Revenge

Dragon Ball Z: Lord Slug (ドラゴンボールＺゼット 超スーパーサイヤ人じんだ孫そん悟ご空くう, Doragon Bōru Zetto Sūpā Saiya-jin da Son Gokū, lit. Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiyan Son Goku), also known as Dragon Ball Z: Super Saiya Son Goku, is the seventh Dragon Ball film and the fourth under the Dragon Ball Z banner.

It was originally released in Japan on March 9, 1991 and was later released in North America by Funimation in 2001. It is the first Dragon Ball Z movie to be dubbed with Funimation's English in-house voice cast (not counting the Ultimate Uncut edition of the previous movies).

Summary

An asteroid nearly impacting Earth

While Piccolo is doing his meditation training, Gohan shows up along with Icarus and shows Piccolo his new whistle and dance routine, however the high pitched noise greatly hurts Piccolo's ears. They both soon sense an object from space fast approaching the Earth which is revealed to be an inhabited planet.

News of the collision begins to wreak havoc all over the planet as it is believed that the impact is going to destroy the entire Earth. Goku and Krillin go to deflect the planet off course so it does not hit Earth. They attempt to move it using a combined Kamehameha, but to no avail; they are blown away by the fierce winds produced by the near-clash of the planet with Earth.

Lord Slug's enormous spaceship

The planet passes near Earth but misses the crash, exploding soon afterward. However, a spaceship from the planet lands on Earth which is full of soldiers who serve Lord Slug. Along with his crew of vicious fighters, Slug has traveled space, conquering planets with Earth as his new target. The way they dominate a planet is by terra-freezing it, changing the atmosphere to make it suitable for themselves as they are a demon clan who can not withstand sunlight for more than an hour. This however is almost unbearable for any other people, including the native occupants of the planet. Later they transform the planet into a giant spaceship (known as a Planet Cruiser), and move on to find a new planet to conquer. Previously in the film, they intentionally destroyed their own craft to make Earth their new Planet Cruiser.

A nearby Gohan attempts to stop Slug's soldiers. Slug notices the Dragon Ball Gohan has on his hat and obtains it. After reading Bulma's mind, Slug learns about the Dragon Balls and how to get them. Lord Slug sends his minions to gather the Dragon Balls via the Radar (which he steals from Bulma after his mind-reading), and uses them to ask Shenron for eternal youth (Slug at this point has aged incredibly old) a time when he was at his most powerful.

Soon after the Terra-Freezing device is launched to the outskirts of Earth's atmosphere which releases a thick dark cloud which covers the planet, blocking out the sunlight and thus lowering the temperature around the planet, freezing it's oceans. Yajirobe, having found Goku, gives him along with Krillin a sense bean and they soon head out towards Slug.

Goku and Slug engage in battle

Later, Gohan manages to infiltrate Slug's camp with Oolong and Icarus, but is quickly discovered and outnumbered by his soldiers. Just as he is about to be killed, Piccolo appears and rescues Gohan. Killing Wings, he soon notices that Gohan has been defeated by Lord Slug's other henchmen, Medamatcha. As he goes to help him he is ambushed by Angila and along with Medamatcha they are able to take him down. As they are about to be finished, Goku and Krillin arrive and save them. Goku easily dispatches of the henchmen and is soon confronted by Lord Slug, who has been watching all along from his spaceship. Slug proves stronger than Goku in the ensuing fight and pummels him around. As Goku is on the verge of defeat, he catches Slug's intended death blow and transforms into a Pseudo Super Saiyan. With his new found power, Goku easily dominates Slug and breaks one of his arms.

As Goku's Pseudo Super Saiyan power fades away. Slug reveals his Namekian heritage by regrowing his arm and removing his helmet to reveal his antennae and transforms into a giant version of himself. King Kai reveals that Slug as a baby, was sent to a planet called Slug before his home planet Namek faced extinction, similar to Kami. King Kai says that although Slug probably didn't realise it himself, he was born with a rare mutation that has allowed only evil to grow in his heart making him pure evil and thus he is a Super Namekian. In this new giant form, Slug proves to be stronger than Goku; King Kai guesses that Frieza and even a Super Saiyan are no match against him in this form.

Goku collects the energy for his Spirit Bomb to finish off Slug

Piccolo intervenes and starts tugging at Slug's antenna, saying he knows his weaknesses because he is a Namekian too. Although he's being beaten back, in a bloody move, Piccolo tears off his ears and tells Gohan to whistle since the wavelength of it makes a sound terrible to Namekians. Gohan's whistling is able to bring Slug to his knees.

Piccolo gives what little strength he has left to Goku. Thanks to Piccolo, Goku is able to use the Kaio-ken and punch a hole through Slug's stomach. Goku then flies up above the clouds to deliver the final blow to the terra-freezer with a Spirit Bomb powered by the sun; Slug maniacally tries to thwart him. The Spirit Bomb heads straight into the freezing generator, taking Slug with it and destroying him. The atmosphere goes back to normal on Earth.

Following Slug's defeat, the friends reunite and are given Senzu Beans by Yajirobe. The final scene involves Master Roshi waking up from his nap which he started before the aliens landed, and he wishes that something interesting would have happened.

Timeline placement

Lord Slug using telepathy while reading Bulma's mind

Daizenshuu 6 notes that the movie takes place after Goku's arrival on Namek (at the time when he is in the midst of battle) but before the final showdown with Frieza, and Goku's transformation into a Super Saiyan.

This film presumably takes place at least one year after the events of Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might; when Lord Slug is reading Bulma's mind, one of the images is Krillin, Bulma, and Oolong summoning Shenron with the outfits they wear at the beginning of The Tree of Might. Additionally, the dragon Icarus also appears in the film who was originally introduced in The Tree of Might.

The film could not take place during the three-year wait for the Androids, as Goku would have already been a true Super Saiyan by that point thus would not have needed the involuntary Pseudo Super Saiyan form. Additionally, it is stated by Chronoa in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, that Goku's battle with Lord Slug took place in an alternate timeline along with the battle against Turles from The Tree of Might.

Releases

Lord Slug was originally released on VHS and Laserdisc in Japan. In 2006, Toei Animation released Lord Slug as part of the final Dragon Box DVD set, which included all four Dragon Ball films and thirteen Dragon Ball Z films. These were presented in a new widescreen transfer from the original negatives with a 16:9 aspect ratio that was matted from the original 4:3 aspect ratio.

Funimation released Lord Slug for VHS and DVD on August 7, 2001 in both edited and uncut forms. As was the case with all previous releases, the movie was released in an unmatted 4:3 aspect ratio. The DVD featured a new English dub with a soundtrack of American rock bands and some pieces from Faulconer Productions' score for Dragon Ball Z. In 2002, Funimation bundled Lord Slug with Cooler's Revenge and The Return of Cooler in a new DVD box set. It was released on October 15, 2002, available in both edited and uncut forms.

Funimation re-released The Tree of Might and Lord Slug on DVD and Blu-ray on September 16, 2008 as part of their "Double Feature" line. This new set featured a brand-new widescreen transfer from Video Post & Transfer and a new audio mix for the English dub featuring the original Japanese score done by Shunsuke Kikuchi in addition to the old mix featuring the American rock bands and the Faulconer Productions score.

Funimation repackaged the Double Feature DVDs into three new thinpak sets, the first of which was released on November 1, 2011 and included Dead Zone, The World's Strongest, The Tree of Might, Lord Slug,, and Cooler's Revenge. These three sets were also released together in the Canada-only Dragon Ball Z: Complete Movie Collection featuring reversioned artwork of Goten and Trunks from Bio-Broly on the cover.

Original DVD cover Double Feature 514S3341ACL.jpg 2003 AB Groupe "Big Green" dub UK DVD cover 01-08-04-bridge1.jpg AB Groupe "Big Green" dub Netherlands DVD cover. Note that this features artwork from a different film (The Tree of Might) Dragon Ball Z Complete Movie Collection Movie 5 Pack 04dbz.jpg Dragon Ball The Movies: Volume 4

Cast

Character name	Japanese voice actor	English voice actor (Funimation, 2001)	English voice actor (AB Group, c. 2003)
Goku	Masako Nozawa	Sean Schemmel	David Gasman
Gohan	Masako Nozawa	Stephanie Nadolny	Jodi Forrest
Piccolo	Toshio Furukawa	Christopher Sabat	Paul Bandey
Krillin	Mayumi Tanaka	Sonny Strait	Sharon Mann
Yajirobe	Mayumi Tanaka	Mike McFarland	Ed Marcus
Bulma	Hiromi Tsuru	Tiffany Vollmer	Sharon Mann
Dr. Brief	Jōji Yanami	Chris Forbis	Paul Bandey
Chi-Chi	Naoko Watanabe	Cynthia Cranz	Sharon Mann
Oolong	Naoki Tatsuta	Brad Jackson	David Gasman
Master Roshi	Kōhei Miyauchi	Mike McFarland	Ed Marcus
Shenron	Kenji Utsumi	Christopher Sabat	Ed Marcus
King Kai	Jōji Yanami	Sean Schemmel	Paul Bandey
Angila	Keiichi Nanba	John Burgmeier	Paul Bandey
Kakuja	Shōzō Iizuka	Christopher Sabat	Doug Rand
Commander Zeeun	Kōji Totani	Brad Jackson	Paul Bandey
Wings	Daisuke Gōri	Chris Rager	David Gasman
Gyoshu	Shigeru Chiba	Sonny Strait	Doug Rand
Medamatcha	Yukitoshi Hori	Kent Williams	Doug Rand
Lord Slug	Kenji Utsumi (old) Yūsaku Yara (young)	Brice Armstrong	Ed Marcus
Narrator	Jōji Yanami	Kyle Hebert	Ed Marcus

A third English version released exclusively in Malaysia by Speedy Video features an unknown voice cast.

Music

• Opening Theme (OP): "Cha-La Head-Cha-La"
• Insert Song (IN): "Kuchibue no Kimochi"
• Ending Theme (ED): "“Ya” na Koto ni wa Genki-Dama!!"

• Funimation Dub
  1. Finger Eleven - Drag You Down
  2. Finger Eleven - First Time
  3. Dust for Life - Seed
  4. Dust for Life - Dragonfly
  5. American Pearl - Automatic
  6. Dust for Life - Step Into The Light
  7. Disturbed - Fear (home video version only)
  8. American Pearl - Free Your Mind
  9. Boy Hits Car - The Rebirth
  10. Deftones - Elite (home video version only)
  11. Disturbed - Stupify (home video version only)
  12. Boy Hits Car - I'm A Cloud
  13. Breaking Point - Coming Of Age
  14. Tendril - Time to Burn (Toonami broadcast only)
  15. Tendril - Sky-Strike the Terror Drome (Toonami broadcast only)

Battles

• Gohan and Chi-Chi vs. Lord Slug's soldiers
• Piccolo vs. Wings
• Gohan vs. Medamatcha
• Piccolo vs. Medamatcha and Angila
• Goku vs. Medamatcha and Angila
• Goku and Krillin vs. Lord Slug
• Goku (Base/Pseudo Super Saiyan) vs. Lord Slug
• Goku vs. Lord Slug (Great Namekian)
• Piccolo vs. Lord Slug (Great Namekian)
• Goku vs. Lord Slug (Great Namekian)

Reception

The movie was released in theatres in Japan on March 9, 1991 and was part of a double feature alongside Magical Taluluto: The Movie. It grossed a total of ¥2.21 billion (US $16 million).

Trivia

• A truck bearing the logo "TAMA" and the cat's face, is caught in the flood caused by the asteroid early in the film.
• Angila and Wings, two of Slug's top henchmen, strongly resemble Zarbon and Dodoria respectively.
• This is one of the only films when Chi-Chi fights against the antagonists henchmen, the first being her brief scuffle against Ginger in Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone. Unlike Dead Zone, Chi-Chi actually puts up a decent fight against the Slug soldiers managing to defeat two while protecting Gohan before being knocked out while in Dead Zone Ginger quickly defeated her with a simple Kiai.
  • Interestingly, both Ginger and the Slug soldiers were members of a Demon Clan lead by their respective movie's main villain.
• In the scene where Chi-Chi realizes Gohan has disappeared from home, a poster of Arale Norimaki from Akira Toriyama's previous hit series Dr. Slump can be seen in Gohan's room.
• A McDonald's fast food restaurant can be seen in the background of Iguana Street.
• During their fight Wings recognizes Piccolo's status as a Demon Clansmen and tries to convince Piccolo to join Slug's Demon Clan. However Piccolo despite being the son/reincarnation of King Piccolo he had lost his demon status by the Raditz Saga as Goku and Raditz went to Other World after being killed by the Full-Nelson Special Beam Cannon instead of being stuck in limbo as was the fate of most Demon victims which Mr. Popo and Kami noted as proof Piccolo was no longer the Demon King of old. Piccolo himself proves this when he uses Wings gesture of a friendly handshake to kill Wings while he foolishly let his guard down.
• Based on the shocked reaction of King Kai to Goku's "Super Saiyan" form, it does not appear that Goku assumed the "true" Super Saiyan transformation within this film's past. Created for the movie, this Super Saiyan form (known as "False Super Saiyan" among fans) is a supposed prequel to the actual Super Saiyan form. It was more than likely an attempt to show what a Super Saiyan looked like (due to its mention by Vegeta during the Captain Ginyu Saga and Guru's belief that only a Super Saiyan could kill a Super Namekian like the Nameless Son of Katas before learning of his split during the Namek Saga), but without the knowledge of its appearance since the movie was released before the true form was introduced to the manga/anime.
  • It should be noted Goku's proper Super Saiyan form didn't appear until the release of Dragon Ball manga Chapter 317 ,"Life or Death" on March 19, 1991, just ten days after this film's release.
• It is the second time that a Namekian wishes for eternal youth, as well as the second time that a Namekian transforms into its Giant Form in the series. Slug is similar to King Piccolo in this sense, as he is old and wishes for eternal youth.
• The movie reveals that Namekian ears are sensitive to certain high-pitched sounds like whistling and can also be regenerated. As shown by Piccolo, one way to protect against this weakness is to tear their ears off reducing their sensitivity. Piccolo also suggests Namekian antenna are sensitive as well as he pulls on Slug's to inflict pain.
  • Great Namekians are even more sensitive to whistling due to the increased size of their ear drums.
• Lord Slug is killed in a similar manner to Turles from the previous movie, The Tree of Might. Both are hit by Goku with a Spirit Bomb and knocked into their device used to do evil things to the Earth (Tree of Might for Turles, and Terra Freeze machine for Slug), destroying it as well.
• The Sun plays an important role in this movie: its light is shown to be harmful to an exposed henchmen of Lord Slug, and it is where Goku gathers the energy to make the Spirit Bomb. Lord Slug shares his hatred of the Sun with the villain Lucifer from Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle. Both films also involve sunlight hating demonic villains who seek to literally cover the world in darkness (Lucifer by destroying the Sun with his Devil Castle Cannon and Lord Slug by Terra-Freezing Earth and turning it into his new Planet Cruiser).
• The 13th Shunsuke Kikuchi music package for the franchise starts here. The cues were designated "M11XX" codes, and this package would make its series debut in Namek's Destruction.
• When Goku gets knocked into a window and through a toy store by Lord Slug, a plushie resembling Monkey D. Luffy with it's straw hat on can be seen from behind with it's back turned being moved out of the way by the latter while getting up back to fight. While the plushie may resemble Luffy, the film itself actually predates the One Piece manga which started on July 19, 1997 six years after the film's original release in Japan.

Gallery

Lord Slug Dragon Box DVD Gohan whistling and dancing Gohan whistling and dancing Gohan apologizing to Piccolo Krillin at Kame House Master Roshi takes a nap The group cheering for Goku and Krillin Goku and Krillin Goku and Krillin Goku and Krillin's Combined Kamehameha Krillin and Goku firing their Kamehameha waves Explosion caused by Goku and Krillin's combined attack The group after Goku and Krillin's failure Lord Slug's army steps out of the ship Commander Zeeun Lord Slug fires a Finger Beam Lord Slug's Finger Beam hits Zeeun Zeeun impaled by Lord Slug's Finger Beam Gyoshu swiftly killed by a Ki Blast Lord Slug moves fast Slug's soldiers firing energy waves at civilians Slug's soldiers firing energy waves at civilians Ki Blasts fired by Lord Slug's soldiers Lord Slug's soldiers Ki Blasts to attack civilians Gohan dodges the blasts fired by Lord Slug's soldiers Gohan deflects Ki Blasts fired by Lord Slug's soldiers Two of Lord Slug's soldiers fire energy waves The attack causes an explosion Ki Blasts hit the ground Gohan runs Gohan fighting Slug's Demon Clan Angila and Wings attack Gohan Gohan gets kneed in the stomach Gohan coughs up spit after getting kneed in the stomach.png Gohan coughs up spit Gohan faints Gohan is knocked out The Four-Star Dragon Ball on Gohan's hat Lord Slug with the Four-Star Dragon Ball Slug about to read Bulma's mind Bulma struggling against Slug's mind reading Lord Slug sees the Dragon Balls in Bulma's mind Medamatcha holding the Dragon Radar Wings finds a Dragon Ball Angila gets a Dragon Ball Medamatcha finds a Dragon Ball Medamatcha about to get the Dragon Ball Slug's soldiers bring Dragon Balls Lord Slug summons Shenron, in order to be young again Lord Slug receives eternal youth Goku Gohan fires a Masenko Slug's soldiers hit by Gohan's energy wave Gohan after firing his Masenko Gohan fires another Masenko at Lord Slug's army Gohan's Masenko hits Lord Slug's soldiers Gohan confronted by Slug's soldiers Lord Slug's soldiers firing their blasts at Gohan Gohan dodges the blasts fired by Slug's soldiers Gohan hit by the attack A Ki Blast fired by Piccolo at Slug's soldiers Piccolo Piccolo vs. Wings Wings attacks Piccolo Wings Piccolo breaks Wings' arm Wings tries to ambush Piccolo Wings about to be killed Piccolo charges a Ki Blast Wings is executed Wings's death Angila watches Wings's death from afar Lord Slug charges two energy spheres Lord Slug uses his Darkness Twin Star The two energy spheres flying around Slug's throne room Gohan dodges Medamatcha's attacks Gohan fires a Ki Blast at Medamatcha Medamatcha deflects Gohan's Ki Blast while firing his Evil Comet Gohan hit by Medamatcha's Evil Comet Medamatcha with his clones The Medas attack Gohan fires an Energy Wave at the Medas Gohan fires a second Energy Wave at the Medas Gohan has his energy drained by the Medas Piccolo fires a Makōhō at Angila Piccolo fires Eye Lasers Piccolo's Eye Lasers reach Angila Medamatcha charges a Full Power Energy Wave Medamatcha fires his Full Power Energy Wave Medamatcha's Full Power Energy Wave Piccolo protects Gohan from Medamatcha's Full Power Energy Wave Medamatcha's Full Power Energy Wave explodes Piccolo after protecting Gohan Angila and Medamatcha fire Full Power Energy Blast Volleys Angila and Medamatcha's blasts hit Piccolo Medamatcha dodges Goku's Ki Blast Energy Waves fired by Goku and Krillin approach Angila and Medamatcha Goku uses an Explosive Wave on the Medas Goku's Explosive Wave destroys the Medas Goku punches Medamatcha in the stomach Medamatcha defeated by Goku Goku after defeating Medamatcha Goku Angila catches Goku Angila fires his Evil Quasar The Evil Quasar approaches Goku Goku fires a Ki Blast at Angila Goku's Ki Blast Goku's Ki Blast approaches Angila Angila's attack is returned to his mouth Angila is defeated Goku Lord Slug kills his soldiers with a Ki Blast Krillin and Goku Krillin and Goku Goku Goku vs. Lord Slug Goku struggles with Lord Slug Goku fires an Energy Wave at Lord Slug Lord Slug about to be hit by Goku's Energy Wave Lord Slug prepares a Double Axe Handle Lord Slug's Double Axe Handle Goku Lord Slug using his Darkness Eye Beam Goku dodges Lord Slug's attack Lord Slug throws a punch Goku blocks Slug's punch Pseudo Super Saiyan Goku powers up Goku punches Lord Slug Goku punches Slug down Goku kicks Lord Slug Goku charges a Double Axe Handle against Lord Slug Goku smashes Lord Slug King Kai witnesses Goku's power Goku fires Continuous Kamehameha at Lord Slug False Super Saiyan Goku's Continuous Kamehameha Lord Slug regenerates an injured arm he tore off Goku realizes the similarity between Lord Slug and Piccolo Lord Slug begins his transformation Lord Slug transforms into a Great Namek Lord Slug in his giant form Goku charges an Energy Wave to fire at Giant Lord Slug Goku fires the Energy Wave at Giant Slug Giant Lord Slug fires an Energy Wave at Gohan Giant Lord Slug's Energy Wave hits his ship Kakuja tumbles to his death Giant Slug finds Goku Goku charges a Kamehameha to fire at Giant Slug Goku hit by Slug's Darkness Blaster Goku charges a Ki Blast Goku launches his Ki Blast toward Lord Slug Giant Slug fires his Darkness Eye Beam at Goku Goku narrowly Giant Slug' beams Giant Slug crushes Goku Piccolo smirks before ripping off his ears Piccolo gives his remaining energy to Goku Goku uses Piccolo's power As Goku uses the Kaio-ken x100, giant projections of himself and Piccolo appear Goku attacks Giant Slug Goku uses Kaio-ken x100, with a massive projection of himself appearing Goku uses Kaio-ken x100, with a massive projection of Piccolo appearing Goku punches through Giant Slug Giant Slug after Goku ripped a hole in his chest Great Namek Lord Slug with a hole through his chest Great Namek Lord Slug falls on top of his ship Kakuja before exploding Kakuja enveloped by the ship's explosion Goku gathers energy for the Spirit Bomb Goku with the energy he collected Goku uses the Spirit Bomb The destruction of the Terra-Freezing pod Slug's death Lord Slug's demise Goku Goku, Gohan, and Krillin at the end of the movie Piccolo with the others Roshi wakes up

External links

• Anime News Network - Lord Slug
• MyFavoriteGames - Movie Summary