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The worst Dragon Ball movie was Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13! because he destroyed long-established traditions about the power of Super Saiyans.
The worst Dragon Ball movie of all time is undoubtedly Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!, also known as Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Three Super Saiyans. This film is the tenth in the franchise and is of remarkably poor quality. This film not only fails to find any interesting plot threads, but also breaks one of the series’ long-established rules when it comes to Super Saiyans and the Spirit Bomb.
Dragon Ball Z: Awesome Android 13! was released in 1992 to particularly poor reviews. The movie takes place in what is presumably an alternate timeline, seeing as Androids 16, 17, and 18 either don’t exist in this world or failed to activate. The “plot,” if it can even be called that, follows Goku, Future Trunks, Vegeta, and a few other Z-Fighters as they battle the newly awakened Androids 13, 14, and 15 on an arctic glacier. Aside from a brief mall scene at the start of the film, all that happens is a very long battle sequence that desperately lacks pure spectacle. The film also lacks any kind of substance beyond said extended battle sequence, as there are no truly noteworthy parallels or themes explored within the confines of the film. Even the thinly veiled parallel between Android 13 and Cell goes nowhere. On top of all that, the movie decides to break one of the most well-established weaknesses of the original Super Saiyan transformation for its finale.
As a transformation, Dragon Ball’s original Super Saiyan form was more of a double-edged sword than its initial appearance suggested. According to Akira Toriyama himself, ki is made up of three parts. These are strength, courage and right-mindedness. This composition means that a person’s emotional state is just as important to manifesting ki as their physical state. Becoming a Super Saiyan throws that balance completely off center. While the form can come with a 50x increase in brute strength, speed, and other physical attributes, it also amplifies their emotional state, often turning the user into a ruthless, proud version of themselves. -even. This drawback has been highlighted several times throughout Dragon Ball Z, as Goku has never been able to use techniques that require particularly advanced ki control in Super Saiyan form, such as Kaioken or Spirit. Bomb. Due to the rage clouding his mind while Super Saiyan, the risk of trying these techniques was too great to even consider using them in battle. The Spirit Bomb in particular requires a pure-hearted user to even begin to manifest the life energy needed to complete the technique.
Goku shouldn’t be able to use Spirit Bomb as a Super Saiyan
In Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13!, near the film’s climax, Goku has no choice but to start gathering energy for a Spirit Bomb. As with all other uses of this infamous technique, the energy gathering process is a bit arduous, but eventually Goku is able to catalyze the life energy into a massive Spirit Bomb. The kick comes immediately after this process, however, when Goku manages to fully absorb the Spirit Bomb’s life energy in his Super Saiyan form. This instance should be completely impossible due to Super Saiyan’s lack of pure heart and inability to maintain perfect ki control.
The plotless Dragon Ball movie, Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13! doesn’t just have no reason to exist, it actively subverts established Super Saiyan lore. This movie has few to no memorable moments throughout its runtime, and overall it lacks a lot of the heart and charm that made Dragon Ball initially appealing.
How The Worst Dragon Ball Movie Broke Super Saiyan’s Most Important Rule | Pretty Reel