Dragon Ball: Fukkatsu no F Preview / Plot (No Spoilers)

Fukatsu no F picks up shortly after the events of Battle of the Gods. Goku and Vegeta have since been training with Whis. Under his tutelage, their abilities have risen to new heights.

While they are training, Pilaf, Mai, and Shu have been collecting the dragon balls (as per usual). But, their efforts are being monitored by some of Frieza’s henchmen. They see this opportunity to revive their long absent leader. The current leader, Sorbet, wastes no time and forces Pilaf to summon the ancient dragon. The eternal dragon grants Sorbet’s wish and Frieza is revived.

Once he awakens and is brought up to speed on past events, he immediately decides that he needs to get his revenge on Goku. Frieza was almost able to match the power of a Super Saiyan without any formal training. His skills were all innate and hadn’t been challenged up to his battle with Goku. He reasons that if he actually spent some time training then he should have no problem regaining his title as the strongest in the universe.

Who does Dragon Ball: Fukkatsu no F cater to?

Of course the obvious answer is that this movie is aimed towards fans of the Dragon Ball franchise. But, it’s also meant to cater to any fans of action and battle anime. This movie actually reaches a wide audience. The theater that I saw it in was filled with young children, teenagers, adults, and elder people as well.

What's so appealing about this piece of work.

Dragon Ball is one of the most popular anime ever. Its charm has always been its perfect mix of comedy, action, training arcs, and adventure. For decades, Toriyama has combined his lovable characters and intense battles to stir up excitement and joy in the hearts of millions.
Fukkatsu no F contains that same spirit of excitement and brings back the most popular villain, Frieza. His return, along with the a few new surprises should be more than enough to draw in people that are even slightly curious about this film.

Fukkatsu no F Trailer

Dragon Ball: Fukkatsu no F Main Characters List

Dragon Ball: Fukkatsu no F Review

This film did a great job in bringing back one of the most feared villains in the Dragon Ball Z series. Frieza’s return was done properly. We got to see a brief glimpse of what his personal hell was like (complete with stuffed animals parading around him for eternity). After a brief recuperation session, Frieza immediately set to work on training and honing his skills for the eventual rematch with Goku. Then, we saw Frieza’s evolve into a new form and gain power that arguably rivaled the new Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan form (that name really needs to simplified to something cooler and easier to say).

Goku and Vegeta were given more time in the spotlight than the other Z-Fighters, and understandably so. This was the first time these rivals were training together and there wasn’t even an evil villain that they were necessarily preparing for. But, Frieza’s return prompted them to return to Earth and face-off against the evil being whose presence meant the universe was once again in danger. Though the Z-Fighters were allocated a small amount of time to shine individually, it really was the Goku and Vegeta show.

Now, long-time fans know that the two Saiyans will do almost anything to avoid fighting an opponent 2 vs 1. So, when they entered the battlefield Vegeta put his pride aside and let Goku fight Frieza one on one. Presumably, Vegeta did this because he felt that Goku was stronger than himself, and stood a better chance of defeating Frieza. The ensuing fight was well choreographed, allowed Goku to show off his new form, and showcased the abilities Frieza was best-known for.

Vegeta did have to eventually step in and confront Frieza once Goku was heavily wounded. In that scene, Vegeta was able to vent some of his pent-up animosity that he’d held towards Frieza ever since the Namek arc (not to mention the destruction of the Saiyan planet). Back then, Frieza had ruthlessly beaten and killed him. But, now the tables were turned. Vegeta nonchalantly deflected Frieza’s attacks and pummeled him down with a vengeance. Even the Golden Frieza form was not enough to match Vegeta’s new abilities.

Overall, I feel that it was a great film. The few gripes I have are very minor. The first is that I didn’t completely understand the reason for not allowing Goten and Trunks to help out in the fight against Frieza and his henchmen. Gohan mentions that he deliberately didn’t tell them about the fight because he was afraid “they would do something reckless”. But, from what I can gather, their help would have been invaluable. The two extra bodies on the side of the Z-Fighters would have helped immensely against the hundreds of soldiers Frieza had brought with him. Plus, I feel like they missed an opportunity for Frieza to showcase his power before entering his Golden form. For instance, they could have had shown Frieza easily taking on Gohan and Gotenks 2 vs 1, or it could have been a 3 vs 1 with Goten, Trunks, and Gohan fighting him.

My other minor issue with the film is that I feel Vegeta was needlessly sidelined for most of the main fight. When the fight against Frieza began, they had no idea how strong he had become since their last encounter. So, there was no reason to feel that Frieza had become as strong Vegeta and Goku’s Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan form. Therefore, Vegeta should have been able to step in first and take Frieza on. You could argue that Goku HAD to fight Frieza because his pride as a Saiyan wouldn’t allow him to refuse a rematch. But, I would counter with the fact that Vegeta has always had a bigger ego and placed greater importance on his pride. So, he would have wanted to fight Frieza much more than Goku did. Plus, Goku only cares about fighting people who are equal to or greater than him. So, if Frieza would have been unable to defeat Vegeta (someone weaker than Goku himself) then Goku’s interest in Frieza’s return would have declined greatly.

Besides those two points, I loved the film. I enjoyed watching a large amount of characters fighting and given their time to shine, especially Jaco and Master Roshi. Frieza’s return didn’t feel forced or negligible. Lastly, I thought we would see them master their base Super Saiyan God form, instead I was pleasantly surprised to see an upgrade to the form from Battle of the Gods.

1. Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan

This new form isn’t technically a new technique or ability. It is in fact a combination of the Super Saiyan God form and the Super Saiyan form. The two can basically stack on top of each other to create the Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan form complete with an electric blue aura and blue hair. It was awesome to see the form in action and taking on Golden Frieza.

2. Jaco and Master Roshi

I forgot that Jaco was supposed to be in this movie. So, seeing his interaction with the Dragon Ball characters was a complete surprise. But, he fits in so perfectly with the rest of the cast. His fight scenes were comical and yet very acrobatic. It was great to watch.

Master Roshi has not been able to fight for quite some time. That was because most villains towered over Roshi in terms of their fighting ability. However, Frieza’s henchmen were the perfect fodder for the turtle hermit to show us that he can still kick some butt when the opportunity arises.

3. Vegeta’s Revenge