When the Great Demon King Piccolo was released, he declared May 9th as “Piccolo Day”…and promptly celebrated by announcing his ownership over the planet. May 9th has seen been coined “Goku Day” but, to make things simpler, I’m using this as a good excuse to celebrate all things Dragon Ball.
Released: 11 July 1992
Director: Kazuhito Kikuchi
Distributor: Toei Company
Budget: ¥25.5 billion
Stars: Sean Schemmel, Christopher R. Sabat, Eric Vale, Chuck Huber, Chris Rager, and Josh Martin
The Plot:
Son Goku (Schemmel) and his friends are torn from a peaceful day when androids wreak havoc in the name of the Red Ribbon Army. Overwhelmed by their vast power, the Saiyans and their allies face a greater threat when Android #13 (Huber) absorbs his comrades and becomes a nigh-unstoppable superpowered being!
The Background:
Inspired by Journey to the West (Cheng’en, 1592), Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball first appeared in the pages of Weekly Shōnen Jump back in 1984 and centred around Goku, a boy with a monkey’s tail and exceptional martial arts skills who got into all kinds of scrapes searching for the seven magical Dragon Balls. While Dragonball Z added a more science-fiction spin to the lore, it often referenced Goku’s early days, with perhaps one of the most notably recurring elements being the Red Ribbon Army. With Goku having achieved incredible power during his outer space adventures, he returned to Earth to face an Android threat as his old enemies sought revenge, birthing one of Dragonball Z’s most celebrated story arcs. These “Sagas” heavily inspired the feature-length spin-off films, which were mostly produced without Toriyama’s direct involvement and therefore played fast and loose with established canon. For Super Android 13!, a truncated version of the “Android Saga”, Toriyama was brought onboard to design the titular Android and the film was met with mixed to positive reviews that particularly highlighted the high-octane fight sequences. Though the film isn’t canon to the mainstream Dragon Ball narrative, Super Android 13, like many of the movie characters, went on to reappear in subsequent Dragonball Z videogames.
The Review:
Taking place in a strange, impossible gap between the end of the “Android Saga” and the start of the “Cell Saga”, Super Android 13! opens with a gory retelling of the last days of Doctor Gero/Android #20 (Martin), the mad scientist behind the creation of the Androids. Slaughtered by his teenage creations, who decimated the world in a possible future timeline, Dr. Gero’s mad ambition to kill Goku lived on in his supercomputer, which continued to analyse the fighting data and capabilities of Earth’s defenders and create newer, stronger Androids. Two of these, the diminutive Android #15 (ibid) and the hulking Android #14 (Rager), are unleashed and immediately make their way to West City and cut a path through buildings, traffic, and civilians alike in their search for their primary target: Goku. In many ways, Goku welcomes this attack since he begins the film bored out of his mind and perplexed by his overbearing wife, Chi-Chi (Cynthia Cranz), and her obsession with shopping. Summer school starts tomorrow and Chi-Chi is determined for her young son, Son Gohan (Stephanie Nadolny), to look his best and force her husband out of his tired old gi. While Goku and Gohan are dragged between shops and forced to carry Chi-Chi’s many shopping bags, Oolong (Brad Jackson), Master Roshi (Mike McFarland), Krillin (Sonny Strait), and Future Trunks (Vale) patiently wait in line for a beauty pageant. Judging by Future Trunks’ appearance, he hasn’t trained in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, yet his very presence suggests whereabouts this movie is supposed to take place within the wider canon, even if it clearly doesn’t fit due to the timeline. Regardless, poor Trunks is left embarrassed and humiliated by his companion’s perverted excitement at seeing the pretty girls and the fact that they arrived a whole day too early! The two groups reunite soon after and, while eating lunch, become aware of the city being under attack.
Though Gohan, Krillin, and Trunks get Chi-Chi and the other civilians to safety, Goku is stunned when Androids #14 and #15 attack, pummelling him with their augmented strength and speed and gaining the upper hand since, as artificial lifeforms, Goku cannot sense their ki. Additionally, these Androids also absorb any ki blasts sent their way, drawing power from them and answering with explosive, often homing shots of their own. Overwhelmed, Goku is only saved from an early death by Trunks’ intervention and the young time traveller wisely suggests they lure their assailants away from the city so they can fight without endangering others or causing more destruction. Goku agrees and moves the fight to a faraway ice field and, naturally, Gohan eagerly follows. Though Krillin advises against it, believing they are outclassed, and Chi-Chi forbids it, Gohan leaves anyway and Krillin’s forced to follow, though the two are primarily onlookers. However, while also serving as comic relief at times, delivering exposition, and emphasising Goku’s incredible strength of will, the two also throw themselves in harm’s way to buy their allies time to recuperate. They’re bolstered by the eventual appearance of Piccolo (Sabat), Gohan’s surly mentor and surrogate father-figure, who interjects himself in the fight. Oddly, neither Goku or Trunks think to transform into their more powerful Super Saiyan forms until they’re saved by Vegeta (ibid), the proud Saiyan prince who begrudgingly aids them so he can have the pleasure of killing Goku himself. Headstrong and arrogant, Vegeta throws himself into the fight, turning Super Saiyan to match blows with and eventually destroy Android #15. Similarly, Trunks cuts Android #14 down to size but the fight leaves all three Saiyans severely beaten and unable to sustain their Super Saiyan forms. Thus, they’re left at a severe disadvantage when Android #13 enters the fray and proves to be enough more formidable, especially after echoing his successor, Cell (Dameon Clarke), and absorbing the component parts of his “brothers” to become the titular Super Android #13.
The Nitty-Gritty:
The three Androids exhibit some interesting quirks. Android #15 is small but deceptively strong and fast, displaying a sneering arrogance, and regularly swigging from a flask. Android #15 is a hulking brute who distracts the heroes with his powerful presence so Android #15 can catch them off-guard. Android #13 has an odd Southern accent; sporting a relaxed, unimpressive attire, he transforms into a grotesque demon that’s like a bastardisation of the Super Saiyan. As Super Android #13, he’s completely immune to all physical assault and he easily pounds the Saiyans into the ice, blasts them across the snow, and holds his own against even three Super Saiyans. Unlike in the show, none of the characters carry restorative Senzu Beans so they take a hell of a beating. Just defeating Super Android #13’s counterparts takes every ounce of energy the Saiyans have, leaving them exhausted and battered. It’s thus amusing to see Piccolo fly at Super Android #13 with such gusto.I admire his passion and bravery but it’s clear he has no chance against the brute, who can take a shot from Super Saiyan Vegeta without flinching. This determination is what’s primarily on offer in Super Android 13! Goku takes shot after shot and keeps getting up, Krillin is left a broken heap but still cheers on his friends, and Vegeta stubbornly refuses to back down even when he knows he has no chance of winning. Sadly, they reach this critical point far too quickly; once the Androids attack, the heroes are almost immediately left battered and fatigued, meaning the film rushes along at a brisk pace that defies realism.
Therefore, Super Android 13! is essentially one long fight scene. Once the shopping drama is over and the punches start throwing, the exhilarating action doesn’t let up. The Androids carve a path of destruction through West City and their battle in the ice field shatters the landscape that, sadly, doesn’t make for a particularly visually interesting setting. The Androids mostly rely on punches and slams, though there’s a cool moment where Android #14 slices a cop car in two with a fingertip blast and a particularly nasty ki sphere from Android #13 that’s given a lot of hype but is easily blasted away by Vegeta. Other cool moments include Super Android #13 slamming Vegeta’s spine down on his knee, Android #14 briefly wielding Trunks’s sword, and Goku’s powerful rage causing a vortex to split the battlefield ice floats. While the sight of the three Super Saiyans is admittedly impressive, they don’t fight Super Android #13 as a powered-up unit, meaning much of the film is the titular robot beating the snot out of Goku in his base form. Realising he’s physically outclassed by this new machine, Goku desperately calls upon every living creature on the planet to lend him some of their energy and form his usual solution to the movie-based villains: the Spirit Bomb. Despite Super Android #13 having all the time in the world to intercept Goku before he can finalise the attack, the villain gets distracted with monologuing and pitiful attacks from Goku’s allies, and arrogantly believes Goku’s too weak to complete the sphere. However, Goku powers up to Super Saiyan once more and, in an unexpected twist, absorbs the Spirit Bomb into his body, essentially becoming a second Sun. He then draws Super Android #13 in and delivers a single punch that’s enough to atomise him by the sheer energy of the attack. In the aftermath, Goku jokes about how he had no idea if his body could even handle the energy, indicating that he took a calculated risk, Gohan and Krillin rest up in the hospital, and Piccolo and Vegeta are left floating on a chunk of ice, both too stubborn to even acknowledge each other’s presence.
The Summary:
Dragonball Z: Super Android #13 was the first Dragonball Z feature I ever saw. Back in the days of BitTorrent and Napster, I would download the features to watch them, burning them to VCDs to trade with friends, and this one captured my imagination as a kid who was just getting into the franchise mid-way through the “Android Saga”. Unfortunately, I have to say, it’s not that good. The Dragon Ball features are always brisk, truncated affairs that mainly focus on action but it’s especially evident here. It’s odd seeing these powerful characters so easily manhandled and left so injured so quickly. I feel like the film would’ve benefitted from Goku, Trunks, and Vegeta having competitive fights against Android #14 and #15 but coming out on top much faster thanks to their raw power and previous experience fighting Androids. Android #13 then could’ve appeared even more powerful by handling all three Super Saiyans at once before transforming and becoming invulnerable, thus driving Goku to desperately conjure a Spirit Bomb after seeing their combined might fail. I therefore wonder if Gohan, Krillin, and Piccolo were necessary to the film. They chipped away at the runtime and added little beyond some obvious commentary, dialogue that could’ve easily been given to the Saiyans or their adversaries. To make matters worse, Super Android #13 isn’t a very inspired or memorable villain. Both his looks are painfully generic, his attacks are nothing special, and he wouldn’t stand out at all if it weren’t for that weird Southern accent. As soon as the film starts to get interesting, it’s over and things come to an abrupt end, making me question the stakes, especially as the Androids are only driven to kill Goku. I give it an extra star simply for the nostalgia factor but there are far better Dragonball Z features out there. Ultimately, I can’t help but feel like Super Android 13! fails to live up to its potential, delivering a weak, unremarkable reinterpretation of the “Android” and “Cell” sagas.
My Rating:
Pretty Good
What did you think of Dragonball Z: Super Android 13!? Where does it rank for you against the other Dragonball Z feature films? What did you think to Android #13 and where would you rate him as an antagonist? Would you have liked to see the three Super Saiyans battle Super Android #13 or did you like that they were so easily decimated? Which member of the Red Ribbon Army was your favourite? What Dragon Ball character (hero, villain, or otherwise), saga, or movie is your favourite and why? How are you celebrating Piccolo/Goku Day this year? Whatever your thoughts on Dragon Ball, please leave a comment below and go check out my other Dragon Ball reviews.
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