Movie 16

The list of authors can be seen in the **page history** there.

* Hirudegan
* Hoi
* Minotia
* Tapion
* Ryūken
* Flames from the Mouth
* Music Box

***Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Fist Explosion!! If Gokū Can't Do It, Who Will?*** (ドラゴンボールＺ 龍拳爆発！！悟空がやらねば誰がやる, *Doragon Bōru Zetto Ryū-Ken Bakuhatsu!! Gokū ga Yaraneba Dare ga Yaru*), known as ***Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon*** in the English release, is the sixteenth overall *Dragon Ball* film, and the thirteenth to be released under the brand *Dragon Ball Z*. It was originally released in Japan on July 15, 1995 at the Toei Anime Fair.

## Plot

On a distant planet, a young alien boy frantically searches his surroundings, sword at the ready, but before he can react, he is crushed by a giant foot while someone laughs maniacally in the background.

On Earth, Gohan and Videl (as the Great Saiyaman I and II) are summoned to the city to rescue an old, alien-like man trying to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. Once they rescue him and take him elsewhere, the man introduces himself as Hoi and presents them with a music box, inside which he claims a hero named Tapion is trapped, and may be the Earth's last chance against an approaching evil. When even Son Gokū fails to open the music box, the Dragon Team gather the Dragon Balls and ask Shenron to open it for them. Tapion is released, but expresses anger at Hoi and Son Gokū for freeing him, explaining that inside him is the essence of half of the ferocious monster, Hildegarn, before fleeing into isolation. Trunks, however, takes an instant liking to Tapion, and frequently sneaks off to his location to bring him food, despite Tapion angrily telling him to leave him alone.

Shortly afterwards, the lower half of Hirudegarn appears and begins attacking the city. Gohan and Videl rush to the city's aid, but are unable to deal any damage until Tapion appears, playing a mysterious tune on an ocarina which weakens Hirudegarn and causes him to vanish. Later on, however, while Trunks is bringing Tapion some food, Hoi suddenly appears and tries to steal Tapion's ocarina. Hoi claims that Tapion himself is the evil threat to the Earth and that the ocarina must be destroyed for them to stop Tapion. In the ensuing scuffle, Trunks gets hold of the ocarina, but chooses to believe Tapion and returns it to him, while Hoi flees. Tapion accepts Trunks as a friend and is invited to the Capsule Corp. compound. While there, he explains his story to Bulma: a thousand years ago, an evil race of alien magicians, the Kashvaar, who at sometimeproclaimed themselves as the superior race and set out to destroy all life different from their own in the universe by awakening an ancient monster known as Hildegarn. Their conquest eventually brought them to the planet Konats, Tapion's homeworld. During the ensuing battle, a Konatsian priest discovered a magic sword and two ocarinas capable of stopping Hirudegarn. Tapion and his younger brother Minosha kept Hirudegarn at bay with the ocarinas while the priest cleaved the monster in half with the sword. In the aftermath, in order to ensure Hildegarn would never again be released, the Konatsian War Council decided to seal Hildegarn's two halves away inside Tapion and Minosha, magically seal them inside music boxes, and send them to the opposite sides of the universe until the Kashvaar were brought to justice. Hoi, who is the last of the Kashvaar, has already killed Minosha (as seen in the prologue), and now seeks out Tapion in order to complete Hirudegarn and conquer the universe. Bulma offers to build Tapion a bedroom using the components of the music box so that Tapion can sleep without Hildegarn escaping from him.

However, while sleeping, a nightmare causes Tapion to accidentally destroy the bedroom. Hildegarn lower half reappears and starts attacking. In desperation, Tapion begs Gokū and the others to kill him in order to destroy Hirudegarn's upper half, but it is too late and the monster is released. A fierce battle between the Dragon Team and Hildegarn erupts, with none of the fighters able to keep up with the monster's strength and speed. Trunks and Goten fuse in to Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks and bombard Hildegarn with energy blasts, apparently burning him to death, but Hildegarn transforms into a much faster and more powerful form and makes quick work of Gotenks (defusing him in the process) and the rest of the Dragon Team. Tapion appears and seals Hildegarn inside himself again by playing the ocarina, and asks Trunks to slay him and destroy Hildegarn forever. Trunks hesitates, and Hildegarn escapes again, destroying the ocarina. As Hoi watches and gloats over his apparent victory, In an Ironic twist, Hoi is stepped on and is crushed (the same way Minosha was killed) by the monster he believed would destroy all life different than his own. By now, the only fighter left standing is Son Gokū, who refuses to surrender. In desperation, Son Gokū transforms into a Super Saiyan 3 and starts taunting Hildegarn, angering the monster further. As Son Gokū and Hildegarn battle, Trunks intervenes and cuts Hildegarn's tail off with Tapion's sword, Son Gokū soon realizes that intense emotions drain Hildegarn energy. So he angers the monster up to a point his defensive armor is useless. With Hildegarn temporarily weakened, Son Gokū uses his Ryūken attack to pierce through the monster, obliterating Hirudegarn once and for all.

In the aftermath, Tapion uses Bulma's time machine to return to Konats. Bulma promises to revive all of Hildegarn's victims with the Dragon Balls. Before leaving, Tapion presents Trunks with his sword as a farewell gift.

### Original Score

The ending theme for the movie was *Ore ga Yaranakya Dare ga Yaru* (俺がやらなきゃ誰がやる, *"If I Don't Do It, Who Will?"*) by Hironobu Kageyama.

## Reception

The film holds a 7.8 on IMDb, based on 3,610 votes. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 85% based on 1,624 votes, with an average rating of 4.2/5. IGN gave the movie a 7/10. The film was an immense success, generating a total of ¥2.05 billion ($14.9 million) at the box office.

## Trivia

* This movie takes place in an alternate dimension in Age 774.
* In the ending credits, Trunks of the future is shown slaying Freeza, King Cold and their men with his own sword, almost identical to Tapion's.

## References

1. ↑ Doragon bôru Z: Gekitotsu! Hyakuoku pawâ no senshi on IMDb
2. ↑ DRAGON BALL Z: WRATH OF THE DRAGON (1995) at Rotten Tomatoes
3. ↑ Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon DVD Review on IGN.
4. ↑ Akira Toriyama Super Interview
5. ↑ *Daizenshū 7*