Derived from the popular Anime made by Akira Toriyama, The History of Trunks was released on February 24, 1993 in Japan as a TV special in-between the series. The Japanese title translates to “Resistance to Despair!! The Remaining Super-Warriors, Gohan and Trunks” while Funimation gave it the title “The History of Trunks”.

I remember buying a video of this TV special from a local anime store. Before watching it for myself, I lend it to a friend because, at that time, I didn’t have a video player in our apartment. Before the weekends, he gave it back to me because I told him that I’m going to watch it on my parents’ house. I remember him telling me how awesome that video was. So went I got to my parents’ house, I watch it, and (man!) my friend was right about it. I enjoyed every second of the video.

The History of Trunks is a mix of martial arts action and drama. The comedic element of Dragon Ball Z is not present in this TV special. It is an hour long and was aired in Japan between episodes 174 and 175. Basically, the story is a part of the series. If you’ve seen that series then you know that Trunks came from the future who went back to the time of Goku to warn him about his coming death and about the Androids. In this TV special, it shows what happened in the future that made Trunks go back to Goku’s time.

The two main characters are Gohan and Trunks. Bulma, Chichi and her father, Master Roshi, Oolong and Puar also played a part in this special. Their future world is ruled by the Androids made by a mad scientist named Dr. Gero, two human-looking machines (no. 17 and no. 18) who cause destruction and death of innocent lives everywhere. Goku wasn’t there to stop them because he died of some kind of virus. The Z warriors tried to stop them but the Androids are way too powerful for them and they all ended up dead. Only Gohan survived. Trunks was just a little boy at that time and Gohan was teaching him how to become a super saiyan.

My friend kept on telling me (after he returned the video to me) that the sound track of the movie is really good. It was a mix of rock and alternative. I did a few research and found that the music in the Funimation version was performed by the band Dream Theater. I haven’t seen the Japanese version yet but voice acting in the English version is quite good.

The most exciting part of this TV special are Gohan’s fight scenes. I especially like the part where Gohan fought the Androids with one hand. The last part where Trunks fought the two Androids were a little boring. But overall, The History of Trunks is action-packed.

Dragon Ball Z fans will really enjoy watching this TV special because it fills-out some gaps in the story in the series. People who don’t know Dragon Ball Z might enjoy the drama and the fight scenes but there’s a big chance they won’t appreciate the story very much.

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Category: Animation

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