Summary
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zerohas a nice little reference to Dragon Ball Evolution, which is widely regarded as the worst thing the franchise has ever done.
Although I’m as close to a diehardDragon Ballfan as I can be, even I know that the series isn’t always in its final form. Dragon Ball GT is a bit of a mess overall,Super’s first half is a pointless and poorly animated recap of the movies, and Dragon Ball Z throws away far too many characters to focus on Goku and Vegeta. Still, all of those minor flubs are nothing compared to its biggest mistake.
I am, of course, talking about Dragon Ball Evolution,the awful live-action adaptation of the manga and anime that released in 2009 to universal hatred. There are far too many problems with Evolution to go into here, but it’s safe to say that it’s one of the rare times where fans wholeheartedly agree on something being plain terrible.
Dragon Ball Evolution Is Referenced In Sparking Zero
That fact hasn’t changed in the 15 years since Evolution first released, but it seems that some of the developers and writers on Sparking Zero at least have a bit of a soft spot for it.As pointed out by Twitter user Burd014, during Goku Black’s Episode Battle, players can take control of Merged Zamasu, who spends most of the battle in a very long monologue.
While most of his dialogue is ripped straight from Super, he does have a very interesting line while fighting Future Trunks, as he says, “Human power has failed before, as it will again”. That might seem like a standard villain line, but it’s actually a direct reference to what Demon King Piccolo says to Goku before their fight in Dragon Ball Evolution.
This is a bit of a layered easter egg that goes beyond just referencing Evolution. For those who don’t know,Piccolo was played by James Marsters in the live-action film and had a lot of love for the series as a whole. He eventually got his chance to rewrite history by playing the role of Zamasu in Dragon Ball: Super, which makes it especially interesting that it’s his character speaking the line.
While I do still hate Dragon Ball Evolution, I do have to give it credit forgiving me one of my favourite memes ever.
Considering the James Marsters of it all, it’s clearly meant to be a purposeful reference to Dragon Ball Evolution,something that voice director (and voice actor for Frieza!) Daman Mills acknowledged over on Twitter. It seems that even the worst of Dragon Ball has a place in Sparking Zero.
