After four years of development, Studio Stray Dog has finally released its animated short film dedicated to Dragon Ball Z, and it's absolutely gorgeous.
Titled Legend – A Dragon Ball Tale, the eight-minute film features an intense battle between Dragon Ball mainstays including Goku and Broly. It includes a new take on Dragon Ball's famous transformations, which feel almost brutal in this take on Akira Toriyama's classic, and is dedicated to "every child who believed they could train in 100 times earth's gravity."
Yikes! The support has been overwhelming and awesome. I feel like #Goku receiving life energy for a huge Spirit Bomb! THANK YOU ALL!!
I guess I can finally let the secret out, huh?; Broly's in it ; )https://t.co/LZzUXLjgU6#DragonBallZ #vegeta #broly #chichi #animation pic.twitter.com/2nSiRwin4u
— Nas Pasha (@reMENgeance) July 7, 2022
The project was spearheaded by veteran storyboard artist and animator Nas Pasha, whose other projects include Rise of the TMNT: The Movie, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, and an undisclosed Marvel Studios projects described as "something all Marvel fans have always wanted."
"Yikes! The support has been overwhelming and awesome. I feel like #Goku receiving life energy for a huge Spirit Bomb! THANK YOU ALL!!" Pasha tweeted when the video went live. "I guess I can finally let the secret out, huh?; Broly's in it ; )"
The animation has drawn major praise from the Dragon Ball community, who have compared it to Studio Trigger and other famous anime studios.
“Animation takes a lot of time and energy and focus and budget and time. We had all that stuff except the budget,” Pasha says following the film. “My entire team did this out of the sheer enthusiasm for Dragon Ball Z and the project itself.”
Elsewhere, Dragon Ball is still going strong, with Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero due to release on August 19. A new trailer for the film was recently released, featuring a classic DBZ villain and more.
Thanks to Christopher Inoa for the tip.
Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.