Fanimation Level: Over 9000
“To every child who believed that they could train in 100 times the Earth’s gravity, and to every artist who taped Dragon Ball Z and paused it to draw their favourite heroes, this is dedicated to you”
LEGEND – A Dragon Ball Tale is the latest fanimated project that has exploded onto the internet in the past weeks since its release on Youtube. Launched July 6th, currently, the view count is sitting at over 4 million. Created by action animater, Naseer Pasha and Studio Stray Dog, the Dragon Ball-inspired short film maintains the visceral and bonified combat of its influencer but exists in its own space entirely as a spectacle of martial arts, energy blasts, and lighting fast choreographed sequences.
The short film first gives us a glimpse of Vegeta’s home world, then transports us to an onslaught of action as we see the beloved Goku in a martial arts tournament. Quickly the story progresses into an array of fluid and captivating combat sequences between some of the franchise's favourite characters. What’s most interesting is this fan-made animation captures everything fans love in the series, yet the film hosts such a unique art style and colour grading that it's capable of standing out from the original with ease.
Posing as a love letter to the franchise, Studio Stray Dog creates an authentic journey clearly influenced by the Dragon Ball universe, with easter eggs from some of the most iconic scenes in the franchise with a twist. Moments like Goku turning Super Saiyan for the first time, showcasing Vegeta, finally being titled King instead of Prince, and the two protagonists finally coming together for a Kamehameha wave. The animation is a conglomerate of fan service whilst also taking a unique turn on each of the events.
The most impressive part of the whole project is that it was conducted entirely with no budget. Spanning a development time of just over 4 years, Naseer and his team were able to create not only great animation, but incredibly strong voice acting, soundtrack choices, and one-liners that would make any anime lover crack a smile.
