Ah, filler. Sometimes it's a refreshing break from the intensity of the main storylines, and sometimes it's an awful look at what happens when you write stories to fill time. Or worst of all, it's boring. We've known a lot of filler arcs since starting our journey with Dragon Ball ep 1 - how does the Anoyo-ichi Budokai hold up? What are it's strengths? And what are it's flaws, if any? Let's get into it, after the break.
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Anoyo-ichi Budokai
Rating: Good (2 out of 3)
Story
After losing his life in the battle against Cell, Goku has decided not to be wished back and remain in the Next World to train. And training he'll find in the Next World, where the greatest heroes from throughout the four Galaxies gather to train under their respective four Kaios, with the hopes of being trained by the Grand Kaio-sama himself. In mock honor of Kaio-sama's death, the other Kaios decide to hold an Anoyo-ichi Budokai - a best in the Next World tournament - with the grand prize being one-on-one training under Grand Kaio's supervision. Goku leaps at the opportunity for training and to fight the best warriors the universe has ever known.
After a trailblazing performance in the preliminary, quarter-, and semi-final rounds, Goku makes his way to the final, where he'll face Paikuhan: A man who beat Cell in two hits.
The story is a lot of fun. It actually feels a lot more like Dragon Ball than Dragon Ball Z. Even Goku's personality is more reminiscent of the strange monkey boy than the mighty warrior awaken by fury. And it's a good change, after the long trudge through the Cell Saga. Whether or not you like the Cell Saga, you have to admit it is dark. And the Anoyo-ichi Budokai is a welcome change.
The whole build up, with gags and fun all the way, is simply there to prepare you for an all-out Dragon Ball Z-style beat down between to super warriors. Paikuhan is the perfect rival for Goku. His Piccolo-esque manner brings to mind the 23rd Tenka-ichi Budokai, but without as much at stake. The two push each other to their very limit, with neither one truly being better than the other. You get the feeling if only a slightly different thing had happened, the end result could have been drastically different. And both fighters know that, hence their mutual admiration for each other.
Plus, I just like tournaments.
What I don't like about these episodes is that, once they happen, they're all-but forgotten in the grand context of the story. The later episodes in the Great Saiyaman and Majin Buu Sagas do reference the episodes, but not with any real reverence. Because they are, after all, filler. Pretty good filler, but nevertheless.
Also, and this is a minor fanboy gripe if you'll excuse the indulgence, but this would have been a perfect time to reintroduce Son Gohan. A reunion between Grandfather and Grandson would have warmed many hearts and gave you a sense that even though Goku was dead, he still had family. I'm reminded of the bit of dialog in the SPARKING!/Budokai Tenka-ichi series of games, when you fight Son Gohan as Super Saiyan Goku. Goku says excitedly, "Jii-chan! I'm a Super Saiyan!" And Gohan chuckles, "That's wonderful!" all proud and such. That is a moment that should have been in the series. Ah, well.
Fights
Most of the fighting in these episodes are pretty light. The sort of fighting you might see in the preliminaries of the various Tenka-ichi Budokais. They're funny in their own way and make for a fun, fast-progressing storyline, but the real bread-and-butter is the lead up and pay off of Goku vs Paikuhan. But I suppose that's to be expected, since the only two fighters we're really lead to care a lot about are Goku and Paikuhan. Mission successful.
Animation
Like the rest of this story, the animation is all about the final conclusion of Goku vs Paikuhan. Animation for the rest of the episode isn't anything to write home about. In fact, it's the pretty low-budget looking animation for most of these episodes. Luckily it doesn't take away from the experience much.
Music
Sadly, there's nothing much to report on the musical front for these episodes. I spotted some Broly themes being used, but it's pretty standard fair here. Being filler, no new music was written for these episodes, as far as I could tell. Though, I think some call backs were made to the older Dragon Ball BGM. Move along, nothing to see here.
Conclusion
The Anoyo-ichi Budokai Saga is short, fun, and ends with a bang. It's a much needed break after so many episodes of nonstop pressure over the impending threat of cyborgs. There's nothing really not to like here, unless you're one of those bizarre people who don't like Goku-centric stories. I'm not one of those people, so I enjoyed this a lot. You will too. So watch it.
Also, Super Kaioken should have been a thing. RIP Kaioken.
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