Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks | The Curry Review

There's a reason History of Trunks has inspired several big fan films. It's spectacular. In some of my previous reviews, I've mentioned that I had four of these taped from when they aired on Toonami, and this was the last of the four of those I had taped, so I watched it all the time growing up. And sometimes nostalgia protects what we love, and in some cases that's true here, and in others it really stands on its own with its quality. It's got some flaws here and there, such as some moments of overdoing the voicing, or some continuity errors with Trunks being Super Saiyan in one scene, then not, then being back to Super Saiyan. But it's absolutely worthy of the rating club I'm gonna give it. It's probably DBZ's most mature tale. It's dark, desperate, and at times downright nihilistic. History of Trunks really did a number on me as a child. The Android slash Cell saga was never my favorite, but it really sold the desperation of as to why Trunks had to try and change the future. There was no hope left. All of it, gone. While they could have done a little more world building to avoid all these reddit theories suggesting how they could have fixed it, such as New Namek, they actually made a smarter decision. They focused on simplicity and on character. Trunks is the audience point of view. He is so tired of being afraid, wanting to make a difference and fight for vengeance, and because of his Saiyan blood. His outcry and pleading to get stronger to help is the warning sign that his world is quite doomed and there's no one left. No one except one of the greatest DBZ characters, Future Gohan. Quite simply put, Future Gohan is the best version of the character, or at least the coolest. He's tragic as he has lost everything, including his dreams of being a scholar, to the androids. He became a Super Saiyan all on his own, and while he doesn't get the power up he does in the normal timeline, he's impressively strong and wise here. And as stated before, he's just plain cool. I fully believe he could have taken the androids if Trunks hadn't been there, or if he had been able to separate them. He was so close, but they are so deadly when they fight together as one. Then to do so well, taking them on after losing an arm is even cooler, but alas to no avail. Gohan's last stand hurts and provides one of the all-time best Super Saiyan transformation moments. I will say everything after this really just feels like the final setup Trunks needs to go to the past. I would have appreciated a longer special seeing him training over those extra three years, perhaps encountering some other threats from other movies to show how he got stronger. Especially someone like Herutogon. Now I know this was made way before that, and this wasn't thought of that yet, but some thorough way reference to Tapion and how he got his sword would have been really cool. And maybe it's best they don't, because of that simplicity we mentioned. We know from the Shin Budokai Another Road game, and from Dragon Ball Super, that Babidi and Dabura do eventually show up trying to revive Majin Buu. Albeit late, probably because of the presence of the androids and not enough energy to revive Buu because everyone's dead. All in all, this is one of the best DBZ movies that neatly fits into canon for once, and is essential viewing for any fan. One of my favorite animated films too. There's not much better. It could be improved with a longer runtime. In fact, it's possible to edit some stuff in to make it a full standalone tale. You have a full prologue, you have the movie, you do a quick montage of what happens when he travels back in time, and how he gets so powerful. You add in that episode from DBZ, which is one of the best, he goes back to his timeline and annihilates the androids and Cell. And it gives a really complete character arc for Trunks. And that's why it's just one of the absolute best. It hurts, it's emotional, it's gripping, it's moving, it's cool. It really tells a story that DBZ needed to set up Trunks' storyline. I give The History of Trunks 5 out of 5 stars. Thanks so much for watching. I've had a blast doing these DBZ reviews. We have plenty more content coming, so please like, subscribe, and remember, always look for the good.