DVD Corner

Dragon Ball: Curse Of The Blood Rubies DVD Review

“Curse Of The Blood Rubies” is a fast paced “Dragon Ball” movie.

In this prequel movie to the “Dragon Ball” series, we see how some of the characters meet for the first time (namely Goku, Bulma, Yamcha, Puar, Oolong and Master Roshi). The plot concerns the greedy, slovenly King Gurumes who is obssessed with finding blood rubies to eat. He literally tears about the countryside in order to find the rubies. Tired of being a slave to the rubies, he sends out his minions to find the dragon balls so that he can wish away his hunger for the rubies. The story then switches to a young Goku who is in possession of one the dragon balls. Goku soon finds the dragon ball stolen which sends him on a quest to recover the dragon ball. Along the way, Goku meets Bulma, Yamcha, Puar, Oolong, Master Roshi and a young girl named Pansy who wants to save her village from King Gurumes.

At only 50 minutes in length, this movie manages to tell quite a bit of story in such a small length of time (something foreign to the series). Not only do we see how some of these characters meet for the first time, but we also get a fairly epic and action packed story to boot. This movie definitely has a cinematic feel to it. It’s not like an ordinary episode at all. The animation is of higher quality than the series and some of the action set pieces are pretty elaborate.

Action and character aside, ‘Rubies’ also delivers plenty of comedic moments. Highlights include Goku carrying a giant fish, Yamcha seeing Bulma for the first time, and, of course, just about any scene with Master Roshi.

Summary: “Curse Of The Blood Rubies” is a fun adventure from start to finish. While I’m not quite sure it deserves its own DVD release considering the 50 minute running time, “Dragon Ball” fans should definitely check it out regardless. 

The fullscreen picture quality has some noticeable print scratches, but the sharp looking colors make up for the picture’s flaws.

This disc contains English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Japanese Mono audio tracks. The English track is the best choice here as the voice work is good and the action is loud. Unfortunately, the Japanese track sounds awful. It sounds as if the actors are talking into a tin can. Very poor quality.

The only extras are trailers for “Dragon Ball Z Kai,” “Dragon Ball,” “Ragnarok,” “One Piece,” “Tsubasa,” “Spice And Wolf,” “Black Butler,” “Fullmetal Alchemist,” and “Kaleido Star.”

January 6, 2011 - Posted by nicklyons1 | DVD review | Dragon Ball: Curse Of The Blood Rubies DVD Review, Goku