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Opening remarks: It's important to note that this is a TV special, not a film, nor a series of episodes. This means that the writers have to squeeze all the content of the special into 45 minutes. I think that they do this fine, but that this could have been a lot better if made into 3 episodes in the anime or its own film. I won't go into the plot holes, as I'd prefer to view this film in a vacuum, and not question whether it would be different if Goku communicated with Gohan from other world, or if they travelled to New Namek ... to use the Dragonballs there.

Beginning:
The prologue sets the tone for the film straight off the mark perfectly. We see everybody's reaction to Goku's death, and in the next scene they are all brutally murdered, bar those that don't fight. Something interesting to note is that Vegeta is shown to be a Super Saiyan here, perhaps indicating that Goku's death had a profound impact on him. Whether intentional or not, I thought this was cute.

Fast forward to the future. I liked that they showed us Master Roshi surviving with his animal friends, and the conversation they have shows us again how dire the situation is before we even meet our two main protagonists. It sort of mirrors Trunks and Bulma's conversation immediately after, where she begs him not to go, but unlike Master Roshi, he ignores and flies off. It is quite telling of Trunks' character. He has heart. It's a great way to introduce him. Ten minutes in and Trunks finally asks Gohan "Why are they doing this?". He doesn't get an answer, of course. This made me think we'd get some profound motivation from the androids later on.

"You're pitiful, Trunks - an emotional wreck - just like I was when my mom wouldn't let me train and fight with my father". Although I did like this line, it didn't feel. like it came from Gohan. Gohan hated fighting. Maybe once life became peaceful after Namek he learned to enjoy training the same way Goku did? That's head canon. Not that it needed to be explained, just felt a little odd. Bulma's presence really helps lift the mood in an otherwise depressing plot. The dinner scene was pretty heartwarming when she starts reminiscing. They're able to find happiness and humour in such bleak times.

Middle:
During the training, Gohan notices that Trunks has a lot of potential. It probably would have been better if he made a comparison with himself, since it would explain a lot of his decisions later. "Incredible! He's giving it all he has." Yeah of course, Gohan. Would have been better if you added something to the story with that monologue. I found it funny when Gohan looks into the distance and tries to describe Vegeta in the nicest way possible when Trunks asks. The scene with Chi Chi and the Ox King adds to the mother and son theme this "film" tries to illustrate. The sons need their mothers as much as the mothers need their sons.

The fight scene is yet another tragic scene in the film, nearing on Shakespearean levels! Gohan is portrayed as being stronger than both androids but is handicapped both by them working together and by having to protect Trunks. The scene with the Senzu bean shows us that Gohan values Trunks' life more than his own. Is this because of Trunks' potential, or is it just in Gohan's character? It's not really made clear outside of vague comments like "What would your father do?", but I suppose we can assume it's the former. Gohan probably made up his mind the moment he realised he'd lost his arm.

I feel like the next android attack happened way too soon. It interrupted a great piece of dialogue between Gohan and Trunks where they were venting to each other to find motivation. Gohan knows he's going to die if he fights, but he makes Trunks stay. Again, I think Gohan's internal monologue in this scene wasn't handled well. "I can hear them crying down there, Trunks. That's why I have to go. I know you'll understand someday," could have been elaborated a little. Trunks does understand about being willing to fight a losing battle, and we see that in the first scene he's in. This was a perfect opportunity for him to discuss the "film"'s theme of "hope in dire situations" a little, but we're just left with that. Gohan does go over that in his final words, however, so I'll let it slide lol. Could have mentioned it a little earlier in the film though.


Ending:

Trunks' Super Saiyan scene is a contender with Goku's for being the best in the series. We've been witnessing the build up. We've been witnessing the frustration. We finally have the catalyst. Trunks hasn't yet lost anybody he personally knows, and to make matters worse, Gohan represents hope to him. All of these frustrations boil up and finally erupt.

Bulma reveals her final plan, and probably her reason for remaining optimistic this whole time. We have another argument between her and Trunks about going to fight the androids. Trunks goes and gets annihilated. He realises that his mother was right and sticks with her plan to stop trying to fight the androids and go to the past. I felt like the fight scene dragged on a bit too long, though it did show us two things. Trunks has a "never say die" resolve, and the androids are insanely cruel and powerful. Two things we already knew. What I was hoping it would show, however, is the androids' motivation. Trunks, like me, asks them why. "Dr. Gero created us for the purpose of world domination, but that doesn't matter to us." "Whenever we see humans, it angers us. We hate them". That tells the viewers nothing. I know this story is supposed to be about mother-son relationships and finding hope in nightmares but, given that Trunks has asked this very question twice in the film now, I thought we'd get an actual motivation.

Conclusion:

As far as Dragonball films go, this one is easily one of the better ones. It is meaningful, has themes that are very relatable, and is quite unique. Bulma is my favourite character in this film. She breathes a fresh sense of optimism into every scene, which is very much needed in a film like this. The fight scenes are very well done. Gohan's fights don't feel like the standard "hit them harder and you win" type fights we usually see in this sort of thing. Watching him try to outmanoeuvre the androids was very entertaining. I wasn't a fan of the music in this film outside of the Super Saiyan transformation scene. I guess they were on a low budget. For what it is, I think this film is great. It would have been much better as a film or a run of episodes, as I feel like it would give us slightly more time to understand why Gohan thinks so highly of Trunks and why the androids do what they do. If you like DB, you'll love this.

I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum, and be as vague as I can about certain plot points.

I think that this film has been taken out of context by a lot of the fanbase, and has thus been misvalued. I don't think that this film is anything groundbreaking by any means, but it is for sure and enjoyable watch that is ripped on unjustly. It is difficult to match a complex story such as Naruto's in the space of 90 minutes, especially as this is non-canon, so plot points have to be introduced and concluded in that time period. The film seems to ... be aware of that, and so hones its focus on Naruto's influence on the princess and her state of mind. The overarching theme of the plot is that there is always a way out, no matter how dire the situation may seem. Not much else really matters, and it doesn't have to.

Story:
The story itself is pretty generic. It is set after Tsunade becomes the Hokage, but before the final arc of Part 1, which I think is a pretty nice time for a filler/movie. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi get tasked with escorting a film crew to direct their film to the Land of Snow. The first few scenes up to and including the first battle reminded me a lot of the opening act of King Kong. They have a few fights, the film's mid-story twist is that the princess is actually a real princess from the Land of Snow, who has been exiled but is been chased down as she holds the key to a treasure. Her agent was her servant when she was a child and is very passionate about saving their country from the new leader. His leadership of the country is never really explained, the only thing we know about him is that he employed a few dirty, immoral tricks to get into power.

The rest of the story is pretty predictable and nothing special happens. There are a few ninja fights, Naruto and the princess get captured, they break free thanks to Naruto's cunning wit, and a final fight happens ending in a pretty cool cinematic fight scene. One part I particularly liked was when Dotou brutally murders an entire militia. Naruto was just starting to get through to the princess, and then bam. Her resistance force, led by the man who looked after her from a young age, is completely wiped out along with any growth shred of hope she had. It's a very tragic scene, which adds a lot more understanding to the princess' psyche, especially during the aftermath, and really emphasises the overarching theme of the plot. The man also stays dead, which I didn't really expect from a film like this, but it was a nice touch, and really changed the mood of the film to a more serious tone.

The treasure turns out to be... Spring. Turns out the old king created a device using Rainbow chakra to end Winter. This does raise up a lot of questions, but none of much importance, and the poetic meaning behind the rapid change in scenery (and the artwork itself), is enough to make me not care about nitpicking this final twist.

Art:
The art itself is pretty much standard Naruto for its time but with a better budget, so the characters are drawn better, and the animations look a lot cleaner. I particularly liked the black Ice Style jutsu used by the main villain, and Naruto's Rasengan is also a beauty. The scenery is grey for nearly the entirety of the film, until the very end, where vibrant colours are everywhere. It illustrates the main theme of the film very well, and is a welcomed addition by the director.

The use of 3D models with a 2D background is very difficult to get right, but the train scene seems to make it work without any complaints. The standard film techniques like slow motion and the use of distance shots are used pretty well, and overall this is a pretty well done visual piece for its time.

Sound:
Not too much to be said here. The soundtrack just uses the old Naruto soundtracks which we all know and love. It's used appropriately, and I don't have any problems with it. It would have been nice to have an original soundtrack for the film, but when you have a pretty solid one at disposal, I guess there isn't much point in wasting time, money and effort in creating a brand new one.

Characters:
A major criticism of this film is that Team 7 excluding Naruto and the antagonists aren't really utilised that well. I do not really think that Team 7's usage being more than it already is would make the film any better, outside of fanservice. In fact, I'm glad that Sakura (a criminally underrated character in the fanbase) was given things to do and seemed almost as useful as Sasuke throughout the film. They are all given a couple of times to shine, but this film isn't about them - it's about Naruto and the princess.

The antagonists aren't fleshed out either, but they don't need to be. The first three we face are just mercenaries. They don't need a backstory, as we already know all we need to know about them - they've been hired to track down the princess. It's pretty common in the ninja world; our protagonists are hired ninja too. You could argue Dotou could have been fleshed out a bit more than the "he's a bit of a dick" thing the film told us about, but again, I don't think it is necessary. The film is about staying strong in the face of difficult situations. Dotou just needed to be powerful and evil enough to be a horrible dictator, but not powerful enough such that a fully motivated end of part 1 kid Naruto to defeat. Naruto at this point is pretty comfortably Jonin-level anyway, having defeated Gaara and learned the Rasengan, so it's not as if that's anything unbelievable.

Naruto is supposed to be the voice of reason throughout the film with his powerful optimism, which he uses to try to win over the princess, who is depressed and has lost all hope. The film is centred around these two characters. The princess is actually really relatable and realistic. Her growth over the course of the film isn't rushed either, and it's pretty entertaining watching her develop, regress, and then finally be convinced by Naruto. It doesn't feel unnatural, and is heartwarming to see. This is "the power of friendship" done right.

Enjoyment:
I watched this with my 10-year old sister while babysitting her. We both enjoyed it quite a lot. It isn't anything groundbreaking, but it is not a bad watch by any means, and we enjoyed it enough. There weren't any scenes that I didn't like, and there were quite a few scenes I really liked. Naruto's speeches doesn't ever feel out of place, and besides the final twist which doesn't really have any bad consequences, there's not a lot of nitpicking to be done.

I think a lot of people are disappointed by this because it's not what they were expecting - a Goku clone getting physically stronger, punching up his rival, and reaching the 99th level of Super Saiyan. Yes, we could have seen this and been content with it, but it would be nothing special - perhaps even boring. It would be unnecessarily prolonging the story and rehashing the same old things we've seen before. This story is perhaps the most human and relatable story we could have gotten from the franchise. It's all about a young boy growing into a man by gaining confidence and shrugging ... off his anxieties to do the right thing in the face of danger.

Goku Jr is probably the most relatable Dragonball character. He is nothing like Goku at all with a fighting fetish. He's not aware of his hidden power; he is frightened of bullies, and he holds a lot of anxieties about living up to the Goku name. When Pan falls ill, she gives him a life lesson: strength isn't about having power, but the ability to do the right thing in the face of fear. Goku Jr reacts to this by running off crying, but is inspired when he is alone and depressed and sees pictures of Pan and remembers her stories about Goku. He goes through a little change and gathers up strength to find the Dragonball (he thinks you only need the 4-Star ball) to save Pan.

His newfound mission earns the respect of his bullies, and he goes on a journey with one of them to Mount Paozu, facing several adversaries such as thieves and monsters. There's a wonderful scene where Goku Jr sees his friend fall off a cliff because the young Saiyan was too afraid to act - a consequence of his fear preventing him to do the right thing. Again, he is alone and depressed, but ends up protecting a bear by standing strong in the face of fear, channeling his inner strength, and putting faith in his abilities.

The ending is a great touch too he finds out he can't make the wish because he only has one Dragonball and we see all the built up frustration burst out, but a familiar face comes around and gives him some reassurance, which is a very tear-jerking scene.

Story 8/10

This season does away with the generic subplot of "badguy tries to steal bitbeasts" that Season 2 and the end of Season 1 was about and instead focuses on what made the Beyblade series as a whole an enjoyable watch: watching very likeable and realistic characters that you feel emotionally invested in participate in a sport that they are passionate about while developing as people. Throughout this season, there aren't really any "bad guys" - just conflicting views and different personalities, which makes the season as a whole very unique in comparison to similar anime.

The first arc takes up two thirds of the season ... and follows the World Tournament circuit, with Tyson as the main focal point. This is a nice change, since Tyson, as likeable as he was, did not receive much explicit character development in the first two seasons. The main characters from the season prior go their separate ways which allows for interesting new developments in their character arcs. While I was happy with the finale of this arc, I think that it would have been even better if the outcome was the opposite, as it would have rounded off the character arcs very nicely and given some pretty useful life lessons to both the characters involved and the viewers.

The second and final arc sees Boris return and supposedly tries to turn a new leaf by establishing a professional beyblading organisation, BEGA. The gang suspect something fishy and end up having to battle BEGA's top bladers to save the day. Stakes get high during the final battle. I thought that this . arc, while short, was pretty well done thanks to the addition of characters Brooklyn and Garland, but I was left puzzled by Hiro's actions and Boris' true motivation.

Art 8/10

The art and choreography significantly improves in this season, and gets even better as it progresses and battles become even more intense. Character designs, in terms of art, are very good and makes each character feel more personable as opposed to the gimmicky artworks of many characters in Season 1 and the generic designs of Sesaon 2. Compare Brooklyn's design to Zeo's. Zeo's design is generic and boring, whereas Brooklyn's really has the subtle aura and represents his character very well. They put a lot more effort into the art in this season, and it paid off well.

The battles are much better in this season. The Bitbeasts' abilities seem a lot more creative like in Season 1, but have the updated graphics to make them better. Even the clashing of the beyblades themselves feels both more realistic and more impactful. There was a weird part at the end of the first arc and the whole of the second arc where it seemed that characters were also fighting with their beyblades, but I interpreted this as just how it seemed to be in the view of the battlers.

Sound 8/10

While a lot of the soundtrack from the previous seasons were reused in this season, there were new songs added which were a welcomed addition. Voice acting seemed to improve from the first two seasons too. You can tell even through their voices that the characters have matured throughout their ordeals in the past and they do a really good job at portraying how the characters are feeling.

Characters 9/10

As said before, the characters are what makes this show as good as it is. This season does what season 2 did not, and focuses mainly on the characters and their growth as people. It was great seeing many old characters from the White Tigers, the All Stars and the Demolition Boys in this season with their own roles to play and updated. However, it was strange how characters from season 2, such as Zeo, Kane's team and the Saint Shields, never returned outside of the ending song in the final episode - let alone even being mentioned. I will go into detail on characters which I felt were important to discuss.

Tyson: Throughout the first arc, Tyson deals with the pressure of being the World Champion and the strain that it begins to have on his performance. Tyson doesn't understand the actions that his friends took at first, most likely due to underlying abandonment issues, but through time gets to realise why they did what they did. He begins to realise that he needed his old friends not only for their skills, but also to keep him in check. Last season taught Tyson not to slack off and get lazy, and he doesn't, but this season is all about Tyson maturing as a person - which he does by the end of the first arc thanks to the support of his new teammates. G-Revolution is basically Tyson learning to stand on his own and be a mentor and friend instead of constantly acting like a champion.

Kai: Kai's character arc in the first arc is him dedicating everything towards being the best - and he achieves it. With the exception of Ray (who he defeats anyway) and Tyson (who he only narrowly loses to while being handicapped), Kai easily defeats all of his opponents. I think that Kai begins to miss the Bladebreakers, though he never admits this, as seen through his interactions with them when they battle in the tournament. In the end of the second arc, Kai really displays how much he's grown as a blader and in spirit.

Daichi: Most people dislike Daichi because he can be loud, obnoxious, and they would prefer Tyson just team up with his old friends again because Daichi is new. While I don't particularly like Daichi that much (I don't mind him), I think he was a good addition to the series. It means Tyson has to step up as a mentor, and we see this through Daichi's development as a character. He also makes a contrast between the other characters to show us how much they have grown.


Max: Max's character arc in this season takes his development of confidence and skill from the previous seasons and puts him in a new team where he has to step up as the star player, while being the only person to put his foot down and talk back to Rick, who is (for lack of better words) a dick. The Max we once knew grew up and begins acting like a leader and this was very heartwarming to watch. He also learns some things from Rick too, and the two form a sweet bond.


Rei: Unlike Max and like Tyson, Rei has no one to contest him on his team because he is easily the most skilled. He tries to act out of character as a strict and tough leader, which probably stems from his lack of self-confidence as he tries to behave like someone he isn't for what he thinks is the best for the team. Rei learns his lesson throughout the tournament and by the end of it reignites his bond with Lee and the rest of the team, who feel more like a family than any other team. By the time Rei finally gains full confidence, he is able to put up incredible battles against Tyson, Kai and Crusher.

Brooklyn: Brooklyn was a great addition to the series. He is a born genius that became the best through natural talent and his overpowered bitbeast Zeus. My theory is that either Zeus corrupts or lives inside Brooklyn (like Naruto and the Kyubi), or that Brooklyn is actually Zeus in human form. Brooklyn's design tells a lot about him: he wears white and gold which are known to be colours of divinity and purity. This represents Brooklyn's god complex, and when comparing it to his black and red blade, colours that represent rage and despair, can show the internal conflict within Brooklyn that we see later in the series. The main characters are supposed to be the answer to help Brooklyn. During his 2nd battle with Kai and his battle with Tyson you can see that they are being overpowered yet they are always getting up to which Brooklyn reacts maliciously as if he is denying his own freedom. During his final battle with Tyson, Brooklyn becomes insane and shows his true colours. We find out what he really is aiming for: freedom. Depression was shown during his childhood and acceptance is shown when he finally calms and enjoys his battle with Tyson. TL;DR, OP character done right!

Tala and Hiro: Tala and Hiro were perhaps the only characters who I think were wasted. I expected Tala to play a bigger role in both parts of the season, but he took a more back-seat approach and being used as a benchmark to observe other blader's progress in skill. He is still a respectable battler, but the cold, fierce, overpowering Tala from Season 1 is not present here. I expected him to battle in the final part of the season, and while he does contribute, he is again used to show how powerful the opponents are. Hiro had a lot of potential as Tyson's brother, and while he does help Tyson with a lot of personal development in the first arc, his actions in the second arc make absolutely no sense.


Enjoyment 10/10

While I am personally biased as I loved beyblade as a kid, I can honestly say I loved G Revolution still today. Watching these characters develop and solve realistic problems while keeping up with what makes them passionate is very relatable, and really makes the viewer emotionally invested. Easily the best season of the series.

Overall 8/10