The Dragon Ball Super: Broly
Shay Silvertooth
The film was released in Japan on December 14, 2018, by Toei and 20th Century Fox Japan. It was well-received by critics, especially for its animation, fight sequences, and art style, and was a box office success, grossing over $124 million worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing Dragon Ball film ever. It also became the highest-grossing anime film of 2018 and, at the time, the third highest-grossing anime film in the United States and Canada and the twelfth highest-grossing anime film of all time.[3] It was the final Dragon Ball film co-distributed by 20th Century Fox, following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney on March 2019.[7][8][9] In the English dub, this also marks the final time Vic Mignogna voices Broly, before his partnership with Funimation ended in the wake of sexual harassment allegations. He was replaced by Johnny Yong Bosch in future productions. The film was also the last time Christopher Ayres would voice Freeza before his death in October 2021, with Daman Mills taking his place.
In the year of Age 732, after being informed by the galactic warlord King Cold that his race will now serve his son Lord Frieza, King Vegeta finds a commoner infant named Broly within a nursery only the elite are accepted in. Learning Broly's power level greatly exceeds that of his son Prince Vegeta, whom he believes would liberate their people and conquer the universe, King Vegeta exiles Broly to the distant planetoid Vampa in hopes the infant would die before becoming a potential threat to the Saiyans. Broly's father Paragus attempted to rescue his son, only for the ship he stole to get damaged beyond repair on entry to Vampa. Stuck on Vampa, he raises his son to exact revenge on King Vegeta.
Five years later, a low-class Saiyan warrior named Bardock grows concerned about Frieza's reasons for calling the Saiyans to Planet Vegeta and confides his suspicions in his wife Gine while realizing Frieza's intentions to exterminate their race out of fear of the Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan God legends. They send their infant son, Kakarot, to Earth some time before Frieza commences the genocide of the Saiyan race. Besides Broly, Paragus, and Kakarot, the other survivors of Saiyans include Kakarot's brother Raditz, Vegeta and his comrade Nappa, and Vegeta's brother.[10][11]
In the year of Age 780, forty-three years later, after the Tournament of Power,[a] Kakarot, now named Goku, trains with Vegeta around a deserted island before Bulma is informed by Trunks that the Dragon Radar and six of the seven magical Dragon Balls in her possession were stolen by low-class Frieza Force soldiers. Bulma leaves Bulla with Beerus while accompanying Goku, Vegeta, and Whis travel to an arctic region to find the seventh Dragon Ball before Frieza can retrieve it. Meanwhile, Broly and Paragus are rescued from Vampa by Cheelai and Lemo, two low-class Frieza Force soldiers on a recruitment mission. The two are brought to Frieza and are enlisted to defeat Goku and Vegeta. Cheelai steals the remote Paragus uses to keep Broly submissive before the two groups cross paths on Earth.
Broly fights Super Saiyan Vegeta with his increasing power and adaptive fighting abilities allowing him to seemingly best the Saiyan Prince in his Super Saiyan God form. Goku challenges Broly in his base form, Super Saiyan, Super Saiyan God and Super Saiyan Blue forms and manages to gain the advantage despite Broly gaining more strength while Paragus fears the worst upon learning he lost the means to snap Broly out from his berserker state. However, remembering the circumstances that allowed Goku to first acquire his Super Saiyan form,[b] Frieza covertly kills Paragus to awaken Broly's latent Super Saiyan powers. The fully mindless Broly overwhelms both Goku and Vegeta in their Super Saiyan Blue forms before being directed to attack Frieza while Goku uses his instantaneous movement technique to get him and Vegeta to Piccolo. The two proceed to teach Vegeta the Fusion Dance technique as he and Goku eventually succeed in forming Gogeta, who arrives to the battlefield as Broly attacks Whis after defeating Golden Frieza. Gogeta dominates the fight before an infuriated Broly powers up even further into his Super Saiyan Full Power form, countering by assuming Super Saiyan Blue with their violent clash breaking through multiple dimensions before arriving back on Earth.
Gogeta defeats Broly using Meteor Explosion and nearly kills him with an Ultimate Kamehameha but Cheelai and Lemo, who had formed a friendship with Broly, summon the eternal dragon Shenron with the Dragon Balls and use their wish to transport Broly safely back to Vampa. The two then escape with Gogeta preventing their ship from being destroyed by Frieza, who decides to spare them as they can make Broly a more stable asset to his military force. Some time after, Goku arrives on Vampa to provide Cheelai and Lemo with supplies while expressing his intent to spar with Broly and help teach him to control his power. Formally introducing himself before leaving, Goku tells Broly to call him Kakarot.[10][11][12]
The film score was composed by Norihito Sumitomo.[22][31] The original soundtrack, containing 34 tracks, was released on 12 December, by Avex Trax.[32] In August 2018, was reported a rumor that the Dragon Ball Z iconic theme song "Cha-La Head-Cha-La" would be also featured in a new arrangement.[33][34] In October 2018, it was announced that Daichi Miura would perform the film's theme song "Blizzard", which was released as a single on 19 December, by Sonic Groove.[34][35] Three versions of the single "Blizzard" were released (CD+DVD Edition, Single CD Edition and CD "Dragon Ball Super: Broly" Cover Edition).[36] In its first week of release the CD single sold 22,826 copies. In his sixth week in the Charts, "Blizzard" reached number 2 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 and achieved the number 1 on the Billboard Hot Animation.[37][38]
On July 19, 2018, theatrical trailers for both the subtitled and dubbed versions were released online after being shown at San Diego Comic-Con.[39][40] On October 5, 2018, the second trailer for both the subtitled and dubbed versions were released online after being shown at New York Comic Con during the Dragon Ball Super: Broly panel at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.[41] The third trailer was released on November 7, 2018, but only subtitled,[22] while dubbed version on 20 December.[42] The fourth which was a music trailer featuring the theme song "Blizzard" was released on November 24, 2018.[43] The fifth and final trailer was released on 29 November 2018,[44] with a dubbed version, also of the theme song, on 4 December 2018.[45] Each trailer covered a different aspect of the film; the first introduced Broly and his fights against Vegeta, Goku and Frieza, the second their origin stories, the third more scenes from the fights, the fourth recapped previous scenes, and fifth which was the shortest introduced Gogeta's battle against Broly.[42]
Beginning July 20, the first 50,000 pre-order ticket holders in Japan received a char of Goku or Vegeta.[6] A promotional one-hour television special aired on Fuji TV in Japan on December 2, 2018, entitled "Just before the Dragon Ball Super debut! TV version climax recap".[46]
In North America, anime distributor Funimation hosted the "Dragon Ball North America Tour 2018 with Bandai Collectibles" to promote the film. The tour was held in seven cities in the United States and Canada, starting with a San Diego Comic-Con International panel on July 19, and ending at Dallas Fan Days on October 21, 2018.[47] Fathom Events and Toei Animation also held two limited North American theatrical screenings of past Dragon Ball films that featured characters from Dragon Ball Super: Broly.[48] A screening of Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan (1993) was held in September 2018,[49] while Bardock - The Father of Goku (1990) and Fusion Reborn (1995), billed together as Dragon Ball Z: Saiyan Double Feature, were screened the following November.[50] To promote the North American release of the film, a Goku balloon was flown during the 92nd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2018.[51]
A novelization of the film, written by Masatoshi Kusakabe, was released on December 14, 2018.[52] The novel adds additional details not present in the film, such as the names of two Saiyans, Leek and Taro, who appeared early in the film.[53] It was one of the twenty top-selling light novels of January 2019, selling 10,466 copies in Japan.[54] The film was also adapted into an anime comic on May 2, 2019, featuring cover art by the film's animation supervisor Naohiro Shintani.[55]
The world premiere of Dragon Ball Super: Broly was held at the Nippon Budokan in Chiyoda, Tokyo on November 14, 2018. This event was limited to only 1,000 guests that were selected via lottery through Weekly Shōnen Jump No.47 and the December V Jump.[56] Broly was open nationwide in Japan on December 14, 2018, while Funimation's English dub had its world premiere at TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on December 13 of that same year,[57] followed by its United States and Canada release a month later on January 16, 2019, by Funimation Films.[58] The film was screened in Bangladesh by Star Cineplex on January 18, 2019, making it the first anime as well as Dragon Ball film to release in the country's theater.[59] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Manga Entertainment screened the film theatrically from January 23, 2019.[60] In Australia and New Zealand, Madman Entertainment screened the film theatrically from January 24, 2019,[61] and also screened the IMAX and 4DX versions of the film in select cinemas.[62] 20th Century Fox released the film theatrically in the Philippines on January 30, 2019.[63] On February 28, 2019, both Hong Kong and Italy projected the film theatrically through distributors Neofilms and Anime Factory respectively.[64][65] In the France, Viz Media Europe screened the film theatrically from March 13, 2019.[66] PVR Cinemas released the film in India on March 29, 2019, making it the second film of its franchise to be theatrically released in India.[67][68] In China, the film premiered theatrically on May 24, 2019.[69]
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