Dragon Ball Z: The World's Strongest

also known as Dragon Ball Z: The Strongest Guy in the World, is the fifth Dragon Ball film and the second under the Dragon Ball Z banner.
It originally premiered on March 10, 1990 at the Toei Cartoon Festival (along with movies from the Akuma-kun and Sally the Witch series). It was first translated into English by Funimation through Ocean Productions in 1998. Funimation's subtitle is The World's Strongest, while AB Groupe's is The Strongest Guy in the World which was also used by Speedy.
==Summary==
The movie begins with Gohan and Oolong searching for the Dragon Balls that have all been gathered in the frozen Tsurumai-Tsuburi Mountains, a place where the ice never melts. Though he hasn't told Gohan, Oolong secretly plans on wishing for comfy underwear. Before they reach them, Shenron is summoned by Dr. Kochin, who wishes for Dr. Wheelo and their laboratory to be thawed from the ice. Later when Gohan and Oolong approach the laboratory, they are ambushed by several Bio-Men and are knocked out but Piccolo, who was training in the area, shows up and saves them. However, he is then ambushed by three mysterious warriors and the resulting attack causes the ground beneath them to give way burying Gohan and Oolong. After regaining consciousness, they return home after Gohan promises Oolong to keep their trip a secret.
Meanwhile, at the Kame House, Oolong is preparing a meal for Bulma to make up for destroying the Dragon Radar when several Bio-men show up asking for Master Roshi. Refusing to go along with them they attack him, but they are easily defeated. Kochin then appears, thinking that Roshi is the strongest in the world and when the Bio-men put Bulma's life in danger, Roshi agrees to go along with them. Witnessing the entire event, Oolong goes to Goku's House and tells him what happened. Goku then sets off on the Flying Nimbus toward the Tsurumai-Tsuburi Mountains to save Roshi and Bulma.
At Dr. Wheelo's Fortress, Kochin tests Roshi against his Bio-Warriors Kishime, Ebifurya and Misokatsun and despite putting up a decent fight while being outnumbered he is ultimately defeated. Bulma then reveals to Wheelo and Kochin that Goku is in fact the world's strongest and Kochin in turn reveals their plan to have Wheelo's brilliant scientific mind take over the body of the strongest in the world where he will then be able to reign over the world as revenge for all the humans who refused to acknowledge his genius and cast him aside. At that moment, Goku is detected approaching the fortress, to Bulma's relief and Wheelo's pleasure.
Going against his mother's wishes, Gohan secretly leaves his house and follows his father. After Goku arrives at Wheelo's fortress, he is attacked by the fortress' built in traps and Misokatsun, but destroys all the traps with rapid energy blasts and easily defeats Misokatsun with the Kaio-ken. He is then attacked by Kishime and Ebifurya and ends up entombed in ice. Just before the deciding blow is thrown, Gohan along with Krillin show up. They too are soon defeated and having no choice, Goku once again uses the Kaio-ken technique to break the ice and defeat the remaining Bio-Warriors.
The three then arrive at Wheelo's lab where Bulma is being held. Asking where Roshi is, Kochin explains that he's preparing him to become another of their Bio-warriors. They summon the newly brain washed Piccolo, who was captured earlier, and order him to defeat Goku so they can begin the process of swapping his mind for Wheelo's. Goku and Piccolo then fight each other, but Gohan's anger over seeing Piccolo being controlled causes him to unleash a wave of energy which causes the mind-controlling device on Piccolo to break. Kochin tries to shoot Krillin and Bulma with his machine gun-arm but is disarmed by Roshi.
Wheelo then breaks out of the wall, revealing his brain to be inside a huge robot and Dr. Kochin accidentally dies in the resulting reveal. Realizing that he was being controlled, Piccolo attacks Dr. Wheelo, only to be brushed aside. As Wheelo jumps into the air, Goku, Krillin, and Roshi fire Multiple Kamehamehas, which does nothing to Wheelo who then proceeds to take out both Roshi and Krillin. Gohan attempts to attack Wheelo with the Power Pole but is knocked out before he can. Goku then uses the Power Pole to trip Wheelo's robot body and Piccolo launches a wave of energy blasts at Wheelo, but to no avail. With no other choice, Goku uses the Kaio-ken x3 and starts to cause damage to Wheelo before attempting to finish him off with the Kaio-ken Kamehameha. However, Wheelo's own blast is able to overwhelm it, which forces Goku to increase his Kaio-ken to x4 and blast Wheelo into space. Wheelo decides to destroy the Earth and so Goku starts to collect energy from around the world to form the Spirit Bomb. However, he is attacked from above before he can launch it. Angry, Gohan along with Piccolo and Krillin head upwards towards Wheelo to attempt to stop him to little success and he attacks the Earth with his Planet Geyser. Goku, having collected himself, launches the Spirit Bomb at Wheelo, destroying both Wheelo's energy wave and Wheelo himself.
==Timeline placement==
Due to Goku’s dōgi having a "Kame" mark on the breast and a "Kaio" mark on the back, this is an event from after the battle with Vegeta but before Goku's arrival on Planet Namek. Gohan has a flashback to when Piccolo defended him from Nappa's attack.
==Releases==
The World's Strongest was originally released on VHS and Laserdisc in Japan. In 2006, Toei Animation released The World's Strongest 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.
The World's Strongest was released on May 26, 1998 to VHS and DVD by Pioneer in conjunction with Funimation. The DVD included the original Japanese audio and the uncut version of the Ocean dub and was presented in an unmatted 4:3 aspect ratio. The movie also aired several times on Toonami in a slightly edited format. Pioneer re-released The World's Strongest in a box set alongside Dead Zone and The Tree of Might on October 9, 2001.
Funimation acquired the DVD rights for the first three movies from Pioneer in 2004. On November 14, 2006, Funimation released The World's Strongest, along with Dead Zone and The Tree of Might, in a DVD boxset entitled "First Strike." The movie containing a brand-new in-house dub with an original score done by Nathan Johnson and the original Japanese audio.
Funimation re-released Dead Zone and The World's Strongest on DVD and Blu-ray on May 27, 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 replacement score done by Johnson.
Funimation repackaged the Double Feature DVDs into three new thinpack 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 re-versioned artwork of Goten and Trunks from Bio-Broly on the cover.
Funimation released The World's Strongest, along with Dead Zone and The Tree of Might, in its edited format as it aired on Toonami, on August 13, 2013 as a part of the Dragon Ball Z: Rock the Dragon Edition box set.
==Cast==
Character Name	Japanese voice actor 	English voice actor(Pioneer/Funimation/Ocean Studios, 1998)	English voice actor(AB Group, c. 2003)	English voice actor(Funimation, 2006)
Goku 	Masako Nozawa 	Peter Kelamis 	David GasmanEd Marcus (some grunts) 	Sean Schemmel
Gohan 	Masako Nozawa 	Saffron Henderson 	Jodi Forrest 	Stephanie Nadolny
Piccolo 	Toshio Furukawa 	Scott McNeil 	Paul BandeyDoug Rand (one scream) 	Christopher Sabat
Krillin 	Mayumi Tanaka 	Terry Klassen 	Sharon Mann 	Sonny Strait
Bulma 	Hiromi Tsuru 	Lalainia Lindbjerg 	Sharon Mann 	Tiffany Vollmer
Oolong 	Naoki Tatsuta 	Alec Willows 	David Gasman 	Brad Jackson
Chi-Chi 	Mayumi Shō 	Lisa Ann Beley 	Sharon Mann 	Cynthia Cranz
Master Roshi 	Kōhei Miyauchi 	Don Brown 	Ed Marcus 	Mike McFarland
Turtle 	Daisuke Gōri 	Scott McNeil 	Doug Rand 	Christopher Sabat
Shenron 	Kenji Utsumi 	Don Brown 	Ed Marcus 	Christopher Sabat
Bio-Men 	Kōzō ShioyaNaoki Tatsuta	Alec Willows 	Doug Rand 	Christopher Sabat
Dr. Kochin 	Kōji Yada 	Paul Dobson 	Paul Bandey 	Troy Baker
Kishime 	Yukimasa Kishino 	Paul Dobson 	Doug Rand 	Chris Rager
Ebifurya 	Ken Yamaguchi 	Terry Klassen 	Ed Marcus 	Matthew Tompkins
Misokatsun 	Daisuke Gōri 	Ward Perry 	Ed Marcus 	Robert McCollum
Dr. Wheelo 	Kōji Nakata 	Ward Perry 	Doug Rand 	R Bruce Elliott
Narrator 	Jōji Yanami 	Doc Harris 	Ed Marcus 	Kyle Hebert
A fourth English dub released in Malaysia by Speedy Video features an unknown cast.
==Music==
*Opening Theme (OP)
*# "Cha-La Head-Cha-La"
*#* Lyrics: Yukinojō Mori, Music: Chiho Kiyooka, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama
*#** Song Lyrics
*Insertion Song (IN)
*# "Pikkoro-san Da~isuki♡"; ピッコロさん　だ~いすき♡ (I Lo~ve Mr. Piccolo♡)
*#* Lyrics: Chiroru Taniho, Music: Takeshi Ike, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Masako Nozawa (Son Gohan)
*#** Song Lyrics
*Ending Theme (ED)
*# "Ikusa (I-KU-SA)"; 戦（I・KU・SA） (The Battle (I-KU-SA))
*#* Lyrics: Dai Satō, Music: Takeshi Ike, Arrangement: Kenji Yamamoto, Vocals: Hironobu Kageyama 
*#** Song Lyrics
===Dub music===
The initial 1998 Ocean-voiced dub kept the original Japanese soundtrack. Funimation's 2006 redub featured a new sci-fi influenced musical score by Nathan Johnson, although most releases also include the English voices with the Japanese Shunsuke Kikuchi score as an alternate audio track.
==Battles==
*Piccolo vs. 4 Bio-Men
*Master Roshi vs. 4 Bio-Men
*Master Roshi vs. Kishime, Misokatsun, and Ebifurya
*Goku vs. Misokatsun
*Goku vs. Ebifurya and Kishime
*Goku, Gohan, and Krillin vs. Ebifurya and Kishime
*Goku vs. Piccolo (Mind Control)
*Gohan, Krillin, and Master Roshi vs. Dr. Kochin
*Goku, Piccolo, Gohan, Krillin, and Master Roshi vs. Dr. Wheelo
*Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillin vs. Dr. Wheelo
*Goku vs. Dr. Wheelo
==Reception==
Like with Dead Zone, Anime News Network grades with a C+ saying the movie had great action and choreography but that the fighting becomes a little tiring and has very little plot.
==Trivia==
*This is the second Dragon Ball Z movie, and its name is similar to the original second episode of the anime, "The World's Strongest Team". Also in the AB Groupe release of the movie had a cover featuring Goku and Piccolo as they went off to fight Raditz in that episode.
*The wish Oolong wants to make with the Dragon Balls in this movie is exactly the same wish he made in the Dragon Ball anime (specifically the episode "A Wish to the Eternal Dragon"). Oolong likely does not realize this, but Shenron will not grant the same wish more than once.
*A scene that takes place during the anime, Piccolo sacrificing himself to save Gohan from being killed by Nappa, is shown when Gohan falls asleep during studying.
*Bulma's appearance in this movie is nearly identical to her appearance while a spectator during the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament. Master Roshi's clothes are also very similar to the ones he wore as Jackie Chun during the King Piccolo Saga when he, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu were collecting the Dragon Balls.
*The villains in this movie are named after food from Nagoya, the city Akira Toriyama is from.
*In the Ocean dub, Dr. Wheelo's name is pronounced Dr. "Willow" while in the Funimation dub it is pronounced as Dr. "WHEE-LO" as it is spelled.
*This movie is known for using the correct Japanese pronunciation of the "Kaio-ken" in the Ocean dub. Although in Funimation's redubbing of the movie, it is still pronounced "KAY-o-ken". This would be the same between the Ocean and Funimation dubs of The Tree of Might. The Funimation dub would eventually also use the proper pronunciation of the Kaio-ken in Dragon Ball Z Kai and Dragon Ball Super, as well as most video games beginning with Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit.
*This movie starts the three-movie chain for main villains killed by Goku using a Spirit Bomb. Dr. Wheelo, Turles (from The Tree of Might) and Lord Slug (from Lord Slug) are all killed by Goku's Spirit Bomb.
*This movie also starts the rather infamous trend of Goku's gi shirt and undershirt getting destroyed in battle. While this only happens to him a few times in the actual series (mainly his first fight with Vegeta, his battle with Frieza on Namek, and the Tournament of Power), the movies turn it into a running gag of sorts through Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan (and then again in Dragon Ball Super: Broly). This gag extended to every arc of the Super Dragon Ball Heroes promotional anime.
*Scenes from this movie are shown in the Dragon Ball Z Original English anime opening, "Rock the Dragon".
*The music that will subsequently become Frieza's theme is played for the first time when Dr. Wheelo is revealed, as well as when he attempts to transfer his mind into Goku's body.
*The 11th Shunsuke Kikuchi music package for the franchise starts here. The cues were designated "M9XX" codes, and this package would make its series debut in "Namek's Defense".
==Gallery==
===Promotional Material===
===Screenshots===
==References==
==External links==
*Anime News Network - The World's Strongest
*The World's Strongest at the 
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