YMMV / Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Was Gohan a Death Seeker during his final fight with the Androids? He knew he had become weaker after losing his arm, and Trunks was struggling to achieve the Super Saiyan transformation, so maybe he thought sacrificing himself after becoming dead weight would be the push Trunks needed to finally release his power.
• Angst Aversion: While the special is praised by many fans, the sheer hopelessness of the heroes' situation has led some to call it a little too dark and hopeless.
• Awesome Music:
  • The song "Prelude" by the band Slaughter that plays when Trunks finds Gohan's dead body and transforms into a Super Saiyan in grief and rage is awesome.
  • The VHS version has music from Dream Theater, particularly the opening to "Beyond This Life" during the amusement park fight, and "Through Her Eyes" can be heard playing just before the credits.
  • The Japanese credits music "Aoi Kaze no Hope" is a triumphant end to the special and really instills the hope that Trunks will right the wrongs of the Androids once he returns.
• Broken Base: While the special is still held in high regards, there has been some pushback against the idea of it being DBZ's best special, as there are a few glaring Plot Holes that have to be ignored in order for the plot to work. Specifically, King Kai's complete absence and why none of the Z-Fighters are attempting to contact the living from Otherworld, or using their position in Otherworld to find out where New Namek is.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Future Gohan is popular, more so than his main timeline counterpart at the same age. Future Gohan is seen as more badass with a tearjerking backstory, as opposed to main timeline Gohan who while popular in his own right is often chided for abandoning his combat prowess on many an occasion.
• Harsher in Hindsight: While the special is depressing enough, it ends on a note of hope since we know that Trunks will return stronger than ever from the past, kill the androids, and restore peace. However, this message is undermined by Dragon Ball Super with the introduction of Goku Black, who wrecks future Earth again. Not only that, things become far worse as the saga goes on. Trunks slices Merged Zamasu, only for him to become an Eldritch Abomination of multiversal proportions to the point of ending humanity with only Trunks and Mai left. Goku has to resort to summoning Future Zeno, who wipes out the multiverse to put a stop to Zamasu. Needless to say, everything Trunks did to preserve his timeline is All for Nothing.
• He Really Can Act:
  • Eric Vale's performance as Trunks has been widely praised, so much so that many believe that it solidified him as one of Funimation's top tier voice actors.
  • This special is often considered to be Tiffany Vollmer's best performance as Bulma, and she herself says it was the most difficult work she ever had with the series.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Many feel that the TV special's somewhat different retelling of the story is much better overall than the original manga chapter it's based on. Super seems to agree as it shows the events of this special instead of what was in the original manga in the Future Trunks Saga.
• Moment of Awesome:
  • Gohan's last stand. One armed and alone, he gives it his all, and actually managed to keep up with Android 17 until Android 18 interfered. Had she not, Trunks' future may have wound up very differently.
  • The transformation of Trunks into Super Saiyan is usually considered the most dramatic of any, including Goku's first transformation. That includes the infamously bad "Big Green" dub version, which still includes an epic scream for the transformation. Even the Abridged version plays it 100% straight with no jokes as well as an epic scream.
• Moral Event Horizon: If 17 and 18 slowly destroying humanity for their own amusement isn't enough to cross the line, they definitely crossed it when they brutally murder Gohan. They pin him to a building and shoot him with energy blasts until he dies. The entire time, Gohan's screaming in agony.
• Narm:
  • Funimation dub:
    • Krillin's death is described as "EVEN KRILLIN WAS DESTROYED BY THE RUTHLESS DUO!" Considering his status as a Butt-Monkey, many have a hard time believing that such a description is warranted.
    • There's some of this going on, largely due to the lack of swearing in lines that really sort of called for it. For example, Bulma's response to hearing about how the androids have destroyed another city is:
    Bulma: Darn those two!
  • The AB Group dub. Like all of the "Big Green" movies, this one is absolutely loaded with narmful moments:
    • Trunks' growls while trying to go Super Saiyan takes the cake, though. His actual Super Saiyan makes it unintentionally hilarious when his voice actor makes him too close to Broly.
    • The narrator describing the Z Fighters' fight with the Androids at the beginning got the details so blatantly wrong it ends up being hilarious:
    Narrator: Big Green had perished. Vegituh, Yamcha, Tenshin, and Clearin; they had survived...
• Signature Scene: Trunks becoming a Super Saiyan after he finds Gohan's body.

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