General Information

Movie Premiere & Promotion

The movie premiered as part of the Spring 1990 “Toei Anime Festival” (東映アニメまつり; Tōei Anime Matsuri) on 10 March 1990, along with two other movies from the Akuma-kun and Sally the Witch series. The event’s name was changed for this season from its original name, the “Toei Cartoon Festival” (東映まんがまつり; Tōei Manga Matsuri), which was established by Toei in 1969 as a way to showcase their popular children’s series as theatrical films during seasonal breaks in the school year. In Japan, almost all schools below the university level run a three-term school year (trimester system) with a vacation period of several weeks to a month at the end of each trimester: spring vacation, summer vacation, and winter vacation. The movies were screened together back-to-back in various cities across Japan, with a typical total running time of roughly three hours. Most festivals would last roughly one month, or as long as the seasonal vacation allowed. Tickets could be purchased at the theater, or discount tickets could be purchased in advance which covered the cost of admission, as well as a bonus item such as a promotional pamphlet describing the featured movies, and various other special presents, such as posters, paper hats, cards, and toys. Additional items, including the official theatrical pamphlet and a variety of other commemorative goods, were available for purchase at cinemas or by mail during this period.

Home Video Release

Up until the Dragon Box DVD sets began being released in the early 2000s, the only Dragon Ball properties released to home video in Japan were the original seventeen theatrical films, most of which were available on VHS, LaserDisc, and 8mm film reels. These home video releases were a luxury for most fans, as they came at a rather high price point for the time. They were later re-released in 1996 to replace the then out-of-print VHS tapes with a lower price point and slightly different covers.

After releasing the entirety of the three Dragon Ball TV series, Toei released their fifth and final “Dragon Box”, which was entitled “Dragon Box The Movies”. The Dragon Box contained all seventeen original Dragon Ball movies presented in their theatrical 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. As a special bonus for the movie’s first DVD release, Toei dug through their vaults and included some of the movie’s original promotional material.

Theatrical Preview (劇場予告) Running Time: 1 minute

Following the “Dragon Box”, Toei began releasing each movie individually on DVD. To help promote the sale of movie individual discs, Shueisha handed out a free promotional DVD highlighting the releases at Jump Festa 2009. The DVD contained promotional trailers for each movie which were narrated by veteran Dragon Ball cast member Shigeru Chiba, the voice of such notable characters as Pilaf, Garlic Jr. (TV series), and Raditz. More information about the promotional DVD is available in our “Home Video Guide”.

In July 2018, the original seventeen theatrical films were released on Japanese Netflix and Amazon Prime streaming services. The addition of the movies themselves was heavily promoted throughout social media, however it was not announced or promoted at the time that they were actually new, high-definition remasters of the films scanned, and subsequently remastered, from the original film negatives. Shortly thereafter on 09 August 2018, Toei Animation formally announced the release of these newly-remastered versions of the movies across eight Blu-ray volumes. All non-credit versions of the opening and endings included with the release are up-converts of those originally included on the original LaserDisc releases and all bonus promotional materials (trailers, digests, etc.) are presented in their original standard definition format as included in the Dragon Box release.

Movie Synopsis

While looking at the Dragon Radar, Oolong notices that all of the Dragon Balls are starting to be gathered together. He and Gohan, who were also searching for the Dragon Balls, head out to investigate and end up at the Tsurumai-Tsuburi Mountains’ eternal wall of ice, where coincidentally, Piccolo is also training. Dr. Kochin summons Shenlong and wishes for Dr. Uiro’s lab to be released from the ice. The ice begins to break away and a building emerges. Gohan and Oolong look on in disbelief, when they are suddenly attacked by Dr. Kochin’s Biomen. Piccolo shows up to save Gohan, but is overcome by three mysterious fighters, while Gohan and Oolong escape.

Dr. Kochin and his Biomen soon appear at Kame House, and request that Kame-Sen’nin come with them. He refuses and easily defeats the Biomen, but Dr. Kochin kidnaps Bulma to force Kame-Sen’nin to go back with him to the lab. There, Kame-Sen’nin is forced to fight three bio-warriors, but it soon becomes apparent he’s no match. Bulma discovers that Dr. Uiro’s goal is to obtain the body of the strongest man so he can be revived. Bulma informs them that Son Goku is now the strongest man in the world.

Oolong informs Goku of the situation, and he heads out to find Bulma and Kame-Sen’nin. He arrives at Dr. Uiro’s lab and is greeted by Misokattsun, Kishime, and Ebifurya, Dr. Kochin’s three bio-warriors. Goku defeats Misokattsun by bursting through him with the Kaiō-Ken, but is then sealed up in ice by Ebifurya. Gohan and Kuririn arrive to back him up, but are at their wit’s end against Kishime. Using the Kaiō-Ken, Goku breaks free from ice and defeats the two remaining bio-warriors. Goku confronts Dr. Uiro, demanding he give Bulma back, but Dr. Uiro just wants Goku’s body.

Piccolo, who has been brainwashed by Dr. Uiro, appears and a battle between the two rivals commences. Gohan tries to stop Piccolo, but he simply swats Gohan away. Being unable to stop them from fighting, Gohan’s anger explodes, shattering Dr. Uiro’s brainwashing device on Piccolo. Dr. Uiro is stunned by Gohan’s power and decides he must fight Goku himself. He begins to break his robot body free from the wall, subsequently knocking Dr. Kochin down an energy shaft, killing him. Everyone watches on in horror, including Kuririn, who has freed Bulma.

The true battle begins, and Dr. Uiro seems to have the upper hand. Even the three-person Kamehameha of Goku, Kame-Sen’nin, and Kuririn has no effect on him. Soon, Goku and Piccolo are the only ones left able to fight. Goku resorts to using a Kaiō-Ken powered Kamehameha, which merely knocks Dr. Uiro into space. Goku begins to form a Genki-Dama, but Dr. Uiro interupts him before he can throw it by shooting ki blasts at him. The others fly up to distract him so Goku can successfully throw the Genki-Dama. Goku lets it fly and it’s a direct hit. Dr. Urio’s brain is destroyed and peace once again returns to Earth.

Movie Characters & Items

The following original character profiles were translated from Daizenshuu 6, with additional character design comments from the movie’s character designer, Minoru Maeda, as published in the “Design Lab” section of the “Dragon Box The Movies” Dragon Book.

• Dr. Uiro (Ｄｒ.ウィロー; dokutā uirō)
  The genius scientist Dr. Uiro, who plans on restructuring humanity, who are unappreciative of his power, and place them under his rule! With the help of his assistant Dr. Kochin, Dr. Uiro’s devilish brain was transferred to a mechanical body, becoming a fearsome weapon.

  Dr. Uiro is Toriyama-sensei’s design. I thought up the other original characters along lines following suit with Sensei’s design. From around this time, the number of [enemy] fighters increased, so I had them wear [chest/shoulder] protectors; this also makes characters that aren’t human-shaped easier to draw. (laughs) It wasn’t until after Vegeta & co. appeared that I brought in those protectors; prior to that, I came up with costumes from regular Western clothing, or things like martial-arts uniforms or armor. So if Ghastel & co. from the second [Dragon Ball] film had appeared in Dragon Ball Z, I bet I probably would have drawn them with protectors like the Saiyans’.
  — Minoru Maeda

• Kishime (キシーメ; kishīme)
  Speed attacks are his specialty. Numerous tentacles laced with electricity stretch from his arms and chest, and he manipulates them like whips.
• Ebifurya (エビフリャー; ebifuryā)
  He is capable of freezing any object with the Tōketsu-Ken (lit. “Freeze Fist”) that he dispatches from both hands.

  For the henchmen’s designs, I basically used the original manga as a reference, [while] keeping in mind to give them the kind of individuality that can only be found in a theatrical release.
  — Minoru Maeda

• Misokattsun (ミソカッツン; misokattsun)
  His gigantic body is flexible like rubber. At its greatest it can stretch to over ten times the length of his body, and is capable of easily absorbing Goku’s attacks.
• Dr. Kochin (Ｄｒ.コーチン; dokutā kōchin)
  Dr. Uiro’s loyal assistant. He is actually a robot, and has a Vulcan Cannon in his left arm. His cane is an energy-generating device.

Movie Notes

• Daizenshuu 6 classifies this movie as an event that takes place between the end of Goku’s battle with Vegeta and his arrival on Planet Namek, with a few caveats:
  

  From Goku’s dōgi having a “Kame” mark on the breast and a “Kaiō” mark on the back, it seems this is an event from between the battle with Vegeta and Goku’s arrival on Planet Namek. However, there are also inconsistencies such as Gohan being on Earth when he should be in the middle of fighting on Planet Namek.
   — “Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 6: Movies & TV Specials” (p. 44)

• Although this movie was presented in a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio in theaters, it was actually animated in a 4:3 fullscreen format. In fact, when the movie was initially released in 1990 on VHS and LaserDisc, it was presented in this 4:3 fullscreen format. However, the “Dragon Box The Movies” release would later drop this format, instead presenting all of the movies in their original widescreen theatrical format. Overall, this movie has been released to the home market on VHS, LaserDisc, 8mm film reel, DVD, and Blu-ray.
• The movie was eventually adapted and released by Shueisha as a film animation comic in June 1994, and subsequently re-released under Shueisha’s “Jump Remix” line in April 2005.

Name Puns

• Daizenshuu 6 states in the “’89~’90 Memorial” section that Dr. Uiro and all of his subordinate’s names are derived from various specialties from the city of Nagoya.
  

  Moving on, the names of the enemies who appeared in “The World’s Strongest Guy” all got their names from Nagoya specialties, such as uirō, Nagoya Cochin, kishimen, ebi-furai, and miso-katsu. These name puns were thought of by scenario writer Takao Koyama.
  — “Dragon Ball Daizenshuu 6: Movies & TV Specials” (p. 68)

  Koyama himself mentioned his role in naming the characters in a 1995 roundtable with other anime staff in the “Shenlong Times” pamphlet that came with Daizenshuu 6:

  [Shunsuke] Kikuchi: The naming of the original characters from the theatrical films is a lot of fun, too.
  Koyama: That’s right. That alone, I look forward to. (laughs) For the movies, the [characters] are mostly named on this end, so it’s fun. I like naming them. While pondering things I can’t quite get a handle on….
  [Kōzō] Morishita: Although there are times when it’s a struggle. (laughs)
  [Tadayoshi] Yamamuro: But the power of naming truly is amazing.
  [Masako] Nozawa: It’s important.
  [Shigeyasu] Yamauchi: That’s because naming has great power in bringing a character to life.
  Koyama: That’s why, at the time of “The World’s Strongest Guy”, I went with foods from Nagoya. (laughs) Ebifurya, Kishime, Dr. Uiro, and so on…. Once the names are set, the characters come to life.
  — “Shenlong Times” Issue #6 (p. 3)

  He also mentions the fun he had creating these names in a 2004 roundtable with Akira Toriyama and Masako Nozawa for the book Tenka’ichi Densetsu:

  Koyama: I was always looking forward to making names in the movie scenarios. For the film “The World’s Strongest Guy”, I even brought out a Nagoya theme, from “Uirō” all the way to “Cochin”. (laughs) I had a lot of fun playing around with that.
  — “TV Anime Complete Guide: Dragon Ball Tenka’ichi Densetsu” (p. 83–84)

• Dr. Uiro’s name comes directly from uirō, a chewy, rice-based confection subtly flavored with ingredients such as azuki bean or green tea.
  外郎 (u·i·ro·o)  ›  ウィロー (u·i·ro·o)
• Kishime is derived from kishimen, a flat variety of udon noodle.
  棊子麺 (ki·shi·me·n)  ›  キシーメ (ki·shi·i·me)
• Ebifurya takes its name from ebi furai (fried prawns), a dish that is universally popular in Japan, but particularly well-known in Nagoya. The form “Ebifuryā” in particular is a nonsense-word used to poke fun at Nagoya dialect, where “[consonant] + -yā” is a sound-change that occurs at the end of many words (but not, in fact, ebi furai). (It is for the same reason that speakers of the dialect are sometimes said to “talk like cats”.)
  海老フライ (e·bi·fu·ra·i)  ›  エビフリャー (e·bi·fu·rya·a)
• Misokattsun comes from miso-katsu, a variant of tonkatsu (fried pork cutlets) which is a Nagoya specialty.
  味噌カツ (mi·so·ka·tsu)  ›  ミソカッツン (mi·so·ka·t·tsu·n)
• Dr. Kochin’s name is based on the Nagoya Cochin, the regional variant of a Chinese chicken breed which is known for its prodigious size and for the quality of its meat and eggs.
  名古屋コーチン (na·go·ya ko·o·chi·n)  ›  コーチン (ko·o·chi·n)

Movie Credits

All credits listed below are as originally presented in the theatrical film. All original credit errors have been corrected to maintain accurate spellings throughout the site. For more information and a complete listing of the series staff, visit the Production Guide.

Cast Credits

The cast credits are listed in order of character importance within the series. For more detailed information about the series cast, visit the Cast Guide.

Opening Credits

Ending Credits

おわり

The End

© TOEI ANIMATION STUDIO 1990