Dragon Ball Z Movie 9 Bojack Unbound takes place shortly after the defeat of Cell and is one of few movies that can fit into the main story. To celebrate the birthday of his son Mr Money holds a tournament where the winner can challenge Mr Satan. However your average space invader appears to ruin everything. It is up to the Z fighters to stop them and safe Earth.
This movie is one of few where Yamcha and Tenshinhan take part in and the film does a good job utilizing them especially during the tournament part. The movie uses humor in a good way too especially with the scene with Yamcha who like usual gets humiliated but not in a disrespectful way. While Tenshinhan had an impressive showing fighting a Super Saiyan tier opponent respecting his strength.
Even when facing opponents far above their level them appearing to help Gohan show bravery and courage.
Speaking of Gohan this movie is basically taking advantage of the latest transformation introduced in Dragon Ball: Super Saiyan Grade 5 aka. Super Saiyan 2 and it is about Gohan taping into that power once again to save everyone. And how the movie did it was not insulting by nerving Gohan for the billions of time as he happened to be the most powerful fighter of all the Z warriors even before taking that form. Most importantly it was Toeis take on how taking the torch from Goku affected Gohan as now he grew from apprentice to master and from a protected to a protector. Showing that he took his father role as earth savoir.
The movie also has Piccolo and Vegeta with their own unique issues. Piccolo desiring to fight a worthy opponent that takes him serious and isnt boring him to death. Vegeta has given up on fighting since Trunks was killed temporary and Goku left earth. In this movie he has to find the courage to get his fighting instincts back once again. It is not the best thing the movies have done as Movie 6 8 and 12 have used Vegeta far better but it is something that make him feel more than a character who just appears for fan service.
The antagonists in this movie are also unique. They belong to the same race making it more believable they know similar techniques and have similar abilities as some use a unique transformation giving a fitting design that stands out in the environment they are fighting.
Speaking of environment since the tournament is founded by a family with too much money there stages created are all unique. Since the villains dont care about the tournament itself the locations happen to change often when they smash the Z fighters somewhere else. Examples as such are: a flowery field a place with hot lava a desert and even a town that looks like Central Europe at night.
Generally the movie did a good job taking advantage of show dont tell which many modern anime cant do and would rather infodumb to explain the things you see.
A criticism about this movie is the appearance of Future Trunks which makes it questionable why he is still around instead of staying in his timeline since he is the only one who can protect it. However the movie didnt waste him as it used him well to show that he grow past the need to use his sword by defeating a powerful sword user himself. Not to mention him reacting to his father getting his fighting spirit back which could only be effective when someone like Trunks witnessed it. Then again swords in Dragon Ball since the defeat of Raditz should not even be needed unless they provide a specific purpose like when Janemba in Fusion Reborn used it.
Also while Vegeta got his character arc he still feels like a character who is there just because since neither he nor Piccolo mattered to this movie and their accomplishment meant nothing overall.
Lastly Bojack himself. He used to be sealed by the 5 Kaios and the death of one undid one of the seals which was enough to free him which gives some insight and justification for his power but that doesnt explain why he is so powerful to begin with. The movie never elaborated on his race which is weird since his henchmen belong to the same race. It would be nice to know if they happen to be the strongest of their race or if they are relatives. Did they chose to leave their home world willingly or where they banished? Anything to grasp on would have been useful to flesh them out. Even something about their transformation would have been nice. Not to mention Bojack coming to earth is also not explained well. The only interesting thing about Bojack is that he is the only villain who gangs up on his prey and doesnt usually fight a one on one fight.
In conclusion Bojack Unbound is a fine movie with a rather unmemorable villain. It uses the underused characters well but most are just here for fan service. Regardless if you are a Dragon Ball Z fan you are going to enjoy this movie. Especially if you are a Gohan fan as this movie gives Gohan the most respect of all Dragon Ball movies does far including Dragon Ball Super Super Heroes.
77
/100