KONSHUU | Volume 57, Issue 2
RESURRECTION F IS A WASTE TONY T.
Editor-In-Chief
3rd Year, Economics and Data Science
I’ve finally done it. I’ve finished writing about the modern-era Dragon Ball films. For me, the Dragon Ball revival project starting from 2013’s Battle of Gods has been an assortment of highs and lows, though leaning more towards the latter. While certain aspects have been fun, such as a greater emphasis on character interactions by way of slice of life episodes, as well as certain interesting new cast additions like Goku Black and Zamasu. Even then, I find that those slice of life episodes pale in comparison to the well scripted episodes of the franchise’s original run from 1986 to 1997. Additionally, the new cast additions were almost entirely never properly integrated into a functional story, with the promising Zamasu story arc dissolving into a convoluted mess that actively tripped on both its own themes and those of the original Cell arc, particularly in how the character of Future Trunks was treated. Beyond all that, newer Dragon Ball media seems entirely content on reusing old material with a differently colored coat of paint. Even when it seems illogical, new Dragon Ball will bring back elements that worked for the original series in new contexts that generally ruin the impact that they once had. Perhaps there’s some irony in making these assertions in my eighth article on this franchise, but I’m probably not witty enough to actively capitalize on that with any sort of punchline. Well, other than the subject of this article. Resurrection F kind of encapsulates everything wrong with Super-era Dragon Ball in its title itself. To be blunt, the resurrection of Frieza is an entirely idiotic concept that is quite transparently a cynical move to bring back the franchise’s most iconic antagonist. The issue comes with how Dragon Ball shifted as a story after Frieza’s arc, with the subsequent Cell arc focusing far more on longer term character arcs particularly with Son Gohan, and the following Buu arc having a plethora of random plot threads, some of which were followed up fulfillingly. Frieza simply has no proper role in post Buu arc Dragon Ball, given his prior place as a cunning genocidal maniac running throughout the galaxy, which the series generally stopped caring about once threats started following the characters back to Earth without the need to explore the cosmos. Dragon Ball GT explored that different setting, but that series generally was not as tonally serious so as to warrant a character like Frieza returning, especially because it had more unique antagonists like Baby and the Evil Dragons which played on themes pervasive to the entire franchise in clever ways. There is absolutely no justification for Frieza’s return that is not based on cynical capitalism. But don’t get me wrong: I love capitalism. I’m literally an Econom-
ics major. The very franchise this film belongs to is a direct result of capitalism. Not only is it sustained by capitalism, but one could argue Dragon Ball as a whole is an example of a property utterly consumed by that economic system. I like Dragon Ball GT, itself a product derived likely from cynical capitalistic attempts to continue the franchise in attempts to sell more crap. This is obviously my personal perspective, seeing as many don’t enjoy GT, but the difference between a GT and a Resurrection F comes mostly from how much effort was placed into writing. GT is obviously flawed, but it still contains a wacky story unlike any other in the franchise, placing its characters in unique settings against novel antagonists, culminating in a truly grand finale. In spite of its rather dull premise, Resurrection F could have perhaps done something interesting with Frieza’s return. After all, Dragon Ball Super managed to make the ages-old fanfiction concept of “Evil Goku'' actually work for a bit. For that matter, that same series did make yet another Frieza return rather engaging during its Universal Survival story arc. I don’t attempt to appear as if I know something that your average viewer doesn’t, but I cannot rationalize Resurrection F’s existence as anything other than the product of lazy corporate writing. As it follows Battle of Gods, Resurrection F admittedly has a dubious task of lining up a more modern Dragon Ball, with inconceivably strong char-