As a kid, if you had a TV at home, chances are that you have, without a doubt, seen the iconic show ‘Dragon Ball Z’. One of the most iconic shows of the 90s, that took the world by a storm, was Dragon Ball. Kids who have grown into adults still can’t forget the crazy adventures of the Z-fighters, and the Super Saiyan transformations.
And one of those fans, who happens to be an animator, decided to make a fan-animation that would take a whopping 4 years of his life, but he still succeeded in making it and causing millions to rekindle their love for the series.
Recently, a YouTuber by the name of ‘Agent Mystery Meat’ uploaded a fan-animation ‘Legend – A Dragon Ball Tale’ on YouTube, and it created big waves in the Dragon Ball community. Millions of Dragon Ball fans came together to commend the man behind the project, Naseer Pasha (@reMENgeance).
It goes without saying that, even if it’s just a 10-minute animation, it takes a long time to animate such work. For Naseer Pasha and his team, the time that took them to realize their dream was 4 years. But they had the time, skill, and most importantly the passion for Akira Toriyama’s masterpiece, Dragon Ball.
Even with the lack in funds, Studio Stray Dog managed to do the impossible and take the whole internet by surprise. The YouTube video may have gathered millions of views, but Naseer kept the video unmonetized because, according to him, he did it for the passion towards Dragon Ball.
Storyline
Legend – A Dragon Ball Tale follows the story of King Vegeta, who on diplomatic orders by the Grand Council, is on an interstellar assassination mission to Earth to defeat the Saiyan Legend, Broly and recruit ‘The Savior from Heaven’, Son Goku for the future war.
Vegeta, now the King of all Saiyans, lands on Earth during the 23rd World Martial Art Tournament, where Goku and Broly are already involved in a heated bout. Considering the Legendary Saiyan as a worthy opponent, Vegeta takes form of a Super Saiyan, and along with Goku, begins the fight of his life. Though Broly takes the upper hand at first, but the tides shift when he injures Chichi.
This enrage Goku, who transforms into an original state “Savior From Heaven”, and along with Vegeta, blasts Broly into space. In the end, he recruits Goku for an impending war.
The Internet’s Reaction
The reaction from the community is insane. The fan-animation got worldwide coverage. Many renowned media outlets like IGN, ComicBook, GameRant, AnimeNewsNetwork, Kotaku etc. covered this sensation. Several artists like Nex Zerker, Nikola Cizmesija etc. made special arts as tribute to the great fan-animation. Hundreds of YouTubers made reactions to the animation. The fan-animation managed to get itself on ImDB. To date, the YouTube video has managed to pull a total 7.6 Million views in only a month.
Fans of many YouTubers forced them to react to the fan-animation. Famous group-reaction YouTube channel ‘The Normies’ reacted to it, and they fell in love with it. All of them were past Dragon Ball viewers and all they had was praise for the animators for making this masterpiece.
A big name from the Dragon ball community, a YouTuber by the name of ‘Prince Vegeta’ also reacted to it, and he was also impressed by the quality of animation. He also praised the staff for the ideas used in this work. Several other famous YouTubers like RT TV, The Cyber Nerds, and YaBoyRoshi etc. reacted to it, and only had praise for the project. There have only been positive remarks.
Megan Peters from the ComicBook calls Legend – A Dragon Ball Tale the franchise’s best fan-film yet. Isaiah Colbert from Kotaku said that the Dragon Ball fan-animation gave Vegeta his respect. Like these, there are several articles that commend the fan-animation for all that it has achieved in this short period of time.
With such quality production fans are already wondering one thing, will there be another fan-animation project by Studios Stray Dog? Well, we can only hope for another one or a sequel to Legends. The millions of fans can provide the funding for the next project, and we can all hope that if there is a next one, hopefully that won’t take four years to make. Story-wise what can the fans expect?
Let’s see, we all know that Vegeta is preparing for a war, but against who? Most fans speculate that it could be against the looming threat of Frieza who hasn’t attacked Planet Vegeta yet. Goku and Vegeta will join forces to best this foe.
Naseer’s Words
The man behind the project, Naseer Pasha, had this say for his wonder “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 favorite heroes, this is dedicated to you. Mr. Toriyama, please accept this as a small token of gratitude, and as a grand love letter to the worlds that you’ve created and shared with all us children of the 90s. The inspiration will forever remain immeasurable.”
The words resonate for millions of Dragon Ball fans. With many flabbergasted by the quality, and many looking forward to a potential future project; Legend – A Dragon Ball Tale continues to rack-up views and spread even more.
