By Jason Nimer

Well, Dragonball: Evolution, the ill-fated U.S. live action adaptation of the Dragonball manga/anime has come and gone with barely a whimper. No television ads were run. The related toy line was on store shelves one minute and gone the next (yes, I bought them all for shame). The movie wasnt screened for critics. Worst of all, it was only in theaters for about 14 days; the film was released in April and as is the case with most flops, the DVD will be released in stores very soon (July check back to gamerstemple.com then for my review of that disc). The bad news is that the film was every bit as bad as we fans all feared, and the non-Dragonball public reacted thusly. The good news is that whole ordeal is more or less over now, and fans can get right back to loving the manga, the anime and the currently-airing-in-Japan-only-to-be-watched-on-YouTube revamp of the series, Dragonball Kai. So rest assured it is still OK to call yourself a Dragonball fan. And its a great time to do so. With the release of DBZ: Season 9 on DVD, American fans can now own the entire series in an affordable and attractive set (the DBZ movies are also available all 13 of them and both TV specials in double feature steelbox sets). And since DBZ ends in 291 episode run with a triumphant roar, rather than a sad whimper, lets get right into this last fantastic set of episodes.

If youre picking up where the last season, and my last review, left off, things werent looking so great for Goku and the Earth. Vegeta, after his Saiyan prince freakout and turn as Majin Vegeta, is still seriously dead, and Gohan is more or less in the same boat. And while Mr. Satan has Boo distracted and playing nice, Goten and Trunks prepare for their rematch with the monster as the fused warrior Gotenks. It is only an episode or two into this final season that we see the first turn of the series last concept that is eventually beaten to death the transformation. Boo splits into good and evil versions, who then merge and end up as Super Boo. After more absorptions and transformations than I can count, the series finishes out with a fight against Kid Boo, supposedly the most powerful version of the many-faced monster. Sure, the constant changes get really old really fast, but by the end most people will have just stopped trying to compare one version to another, surrendered and just try to enjoy the ride. Thats the best course of action, really.

Anyway, in staying true with the ebb and flow of story/action of seasons past, season nine is more action than plot development in almost all respects. Plot points are brought up and resolved almost immediately, and it all leads up to that final fight as with all Dragonball sagas between Boo, Vegeta (yep, he comes back) and Goku on the Supreme Kais planet. The final episodes of the battle offer some of the series fastest-paced fights and are really a showpiece of what the program and characters had come to represent to that point in time. Surely, when people refer to DBZ as an action-packed martial arts cartoon, these are the fights and episodes they are no doubt referring to. Great, great stuff.

Also like a lot of the other seasons, some of the strongest moments here are found in the least expected scenes (there are some spoilers here duh). For example, Chi-Chis brush-off death in front of Goten and the rest drags a bit of the humanity back into all the punches and kicks, and the series cap with Goku meeting his granddaughter, Pan, at the Budokai Tenkaichi Tournament refuses to leave any dry eyes in the house. As with all of these seasons, Dragonball Z proves that any show can be full of fireballs and kung-fu, but the truly great ones are as defined by the characters as they are the beatdowns.

Its kind of sad to think that this will be the last DBZ season review Ill write, but in a way, its a good thing. Now, American fans can finally have all 291 episodes of this, the greatest anime ever, for a price that is much more reasonable than the old $1,500 for the whole series back in the three episode per DVD days. Enjoy. And make sure you check back in July for the Dragonball: Evolution DVD review, followed by the reviews for the falls new Dragonball games Attack of King Piccolo (Wii), Attack of the Saiyans (DS) and Raging Blast (360/PS3). If youre one of us who imagine that getting super pissed-off causes your hair to change color I know you will. See ya then!

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