Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle

To continue his training Goku has to meet his master's condition: bring back the sleeping princess from the Devil's Castle. He goes with Krillin. Inside are vampires, werewolves and a shape-changing host. The princess turns out not to be a girl at all. The subject is not adventure but gothic horror clichés carried into children's animation. The castle, the coffins, the full moon and the lord of the house are all lifted from classic horror; the film uses them without a shred of seriousness and the comedy comes from that. The form is cleaner than the television episodes. The backgrounds are detailed, the movement smoother and the fights kept short. It runs under an hour and never gets heavy. It is the second Dragon Ball feature, from the series' early period: before Z, with Goku still a child and the tone entirely comic. To viewers who know the series from its later years that register feels markedly different. Daisuke Nishio directs. Masako Nozawa voices Goku and Mayumi Tanaka voices Krillin. Who it is for: viewers curious about early Dragon Ball and anyone who likes short animated features. Who it is not for: anyone expecting the fights of the Z era; there is hardly a serious battle here.