Superhero Media: Dragon Ball Z - Lord Slug

Been a while since my last Dragon Ball Z film, what can I say, I was just getting a bit sick of them. Also, I knew that once I had finished Lord Slug, it would be a big of a slog through the next few until I got to a good one again; and Lord Slug is not just good, it may be one of the best DBZ films. Drawing heavily on classic Dragon Ball, especially the King Piccolo arc, Lord Slug has quite a different tone from what fans of the series may be used to, up to and including different locations and sidelining Goku for most of the run-time. When a planet is discovered to be on a collision-course with Earth, ala When Worlds Collide, Doctor Briefs gathers his daughter's friends to try and deflect the, somehow inhabited, rogue planet. Despite Goku and Krillin failing in their mission, thankfully the world doesn't end, instead a spaceship lands and the minions of Lord Slug take over Earth without Goku to stop them. 

There is a great scene where Gohan, Chi-Chi, Bulma and Oolong confront the invading soldiers, using what skills they have to try and delay their advance (though Oolong doesn't shape-shift, which is disappointing), the kind of scene that doesn't really exist in most of DBZ, because everyone involved isn't super-powered. Piccolo not only gets to have some of his best fights, cleaning up most of the minions, but gets to remember that he has powers that he hasn't used since Dragon Ball, as well as seeing Lord Slug do the same thanks to his Namekian heritage. The mis-colouring of Goku's hair during the Super Sayian sequence has led to some wacky fan theories over the years, typically landing on the idea of "Super Sayian 0.5", which is kind of dumb, I just embrace the mistake, as the film is good enough on it's own merits. The big fight in the third act is also great for the setting, an urban area, rather than a wasteland, it's pretty rare to see characters get thrown through actual buildings, which I appreciate. 

Sadly, as it barely features Super Sayains, and doesn't have Brolly, Lord Slug tends to be forgotten by the broader fanbase and doesn't get much love. It's actually one of my good friend's favourite DBZ stories, and it's pretty easy to see why from watching it, Lord Slug is kind of just a damn good (if short) film, DB or not. As a villain, I'm not all that sold on Slug himself, he is a not quite as good King Piccolo, though the better animation and unique setting of the action do bump it up a little in terms of pure aesthetics. Believe it or not, before watching it for this review, I'd never actually seen Lord Slug all the way through, but now it's destined to become one of my "go-tos" for a quick hit of DBZ action. If you get the chance, jump on this one at some point, it's under an hour and can be found on more than one Anime streaming service.