Dragonball Prequel: Legend of Super Saiyan-Jin
I have described the literary and (Greek) mythological elements of Dragonball, which are especially prominent in the OVA that tells the story of Bardock, Son Goku’s biological father. It is truly one of the best and emotional episodes of the franchise, and it is remarkable how Toriyama Akira was able to incorporate Western literary motifs into this Japanese animation. There is a follow-up to this character’s life as he miraculously survives Freeza’s energy blast. It is another OVA, though a modern one released many years (2011) after the original episode (1990):
As a result of being given special powers, Bardock, who can foresee the future and anticipate the impending doom of his Saiyan race, is sent back in time to the protoform of the Saiyan Planet, Planet Plant. As is well known, the Saiyans have names that are derived from vegetables (e.g. Saiya (Japanese 野菜 ya-sai ‘vegetable’), Kakarotto (< ‘carrot’; Son Goku’s Saiyan name), Vegeta (< ‘vegetable’), Nappa (< ‘nappa’), Raditz (< ‘radish’), Broly (< ‘broccoli’) etc), and their Planet, called Planet Vegeta at the time of its destruction as it is named after the royal family of which Vegeta is prince, is originally called Planet Plant. Bardock wakes up in distress as he thinks that he has been subsumed and incinerated by the massive energy blast that Freeza threw at him, but when he discovers that he has somehow survived and his confrontation with Freeza is like a nightmare, he is obviously amazed. He gradually recognises his surroundings, as he is informed by the indigenous people (a father and son named Ipana and Berry) that the planet he is currently at is called Planet Plant, which he knows is the original name of his native Plant Vegeta, home of the Saiyans. He also feels a certain familiarity with certain things, like the medicine offered to him which resembles the healing water in the medical machines used by the Saiyans. He gets agitated when he sees a spaceship that resembles the one used by Freeza and his gang, and he confronts the invaders who have the same style uniform as Freeza’s men. As he fights his way through the gang of colonisers in the same way as he fights Freeza’s men in the previous episode, he reaches their leader, an alien called Chilled, who bears a strong and uncanny resemblance to his nemesis, Freeza. At this point, it is clear that Chilled is one of Freeza’s ancestors, and his name is another wordplay since Freeza and his clans are named after things to do with the fridge where food is stored (Freeza < ‘freezer’, Coola (Freeza’s brother who has several run-ins with Goku and ends up being defeated by the legendary Super Saiyan) < ‘cooler’, King Cold (Freeza’s father) etc). Yet Bardock in total rage mistakes Chilled for Freeza, and he lunges at him and assaults him as he seeks to avenge his fellow Saiyans. Chilled, who does not know who Bardock is, retaliates, and he, like Freeza, is far superior in strength and power to Bardock, which allows him to subjugate and humiliate him with ease. As Chilled’s humiliation goads him on, Bardock gets furious, and as he recalls his fellow Saiyans who died at the hands of Freeza and his men, his emotions push him towards breaking point and make him transform into the legendary Super Saiyan, with an identical appearance to Goku’s first transformation on Planet Namek where he fights and defeats Freeza. Chilled, like Freeza, is amazed by Bardock’s transformation, and Bardock, like Goku, becomes so powerful that he easily defeats Chilled. When Chilled asks who Bardock is, he simply says, ‘I am only a Saiyan.’ He then beats him furiously and tosses him up into the air, and when Chilled threatens to pulverise Planet Plant by hurling the same giant energy ball used by Freeza, Bardock uses the same technique in response as the one he used to no avail against Freeza (albeit not Goku’s Kamehameha), except this time his Super Saiyan power is so great that he repels Chilled’s energy blast and delivers a deadly blow. This marks Bardock’s redemption (‘ ring composition’), and as Chilled rests in his spaceship, he realises that he is not going to make it and he delivers a chilling (literally) message to his family, warning them of the Saiyans who are more powerful than him. This becomes the origin of the Super Saiyan legend, which forms the basis of Freeza’s fear and suspicion of the Saiyans that will eventually lead to his genocidal murder of all the Saiyans, including those that survive the explosion of Planet Vegeta, namely Vegeta, Son Goku and his son Son Gohan, who fight against him on Planet Namek many years later, and the story ends with Bardock, in Super Saiyan form, walking on Planet Plant like a lone warrior. Bardock is a popular character among Dragonball fans, not only because he is Goku’s biological father who looks identical to him, but also because he has long been seen as a tragic hero who futilely resists against Freeza’s mass murder and destruction of the Saiyans, which we see in the previous OVA. In this episode, it is pleasing to see some optimism in Bardock’s life, as he finally does one over Freeza’s clan (his ancestor, Chilled) and becomes the legendary Super Saiyan. The aetiological aspects of this OVA are also significant, since it accounts for two important details in the Saiyan and Freeza sagas: 1) Freeza’s ongoing suspicion and hatred for the Saiyans whom he manipulates and eventually betrays by killing them all 2) the legend of the Super Saiyan, the mythical warrior who is said to transform under extraordinary circumstances. The development of Bardock’s miraculous survival and time travel to the past is a fascinating literary technique which is famously employed in The Terminator (1984) where future characters who travel to the past seeking to alter history play a part in the course of events and end up sealing the future ( survival of Sarah Connor and birth of John Connor). Bardock, a failed Saiyan warrior who gets thrown into the distant past, defeats one of Freeza’s ancestors by transforming into the legendary Super Saiyan, which seals the origin of the feud between Freeza’s clan and the Saiyans and the legend of the Super Saiyan that kill him and his fellow Saiyans in the first place. There has been a lot more that has been written about Bardock whose life story receives proper treatment in subsequent instalments, but this OVA which serves as a sequel/prequel to the first OVA is one hell of a blast.
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Originally published at http://keithtselinguist.wordpress.com on July 23, 2023.
