Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn (1995)

Edwin Tan

01 Feb 2026 — 2 min read

Score: 6 / 10
Category: Movie (Anime)
Platform: Streaming

One-line verdict

A non-canon spectacle that exists purely to deliver Fusion, peak-era animation, and nostalgia — flawed, messy, but still fun if you’re already in deep.

Context (important)

I’ll put this upfront: I’m a huge Dragon Ball fan.
I’ve watched almost everything — original Dragon Ball, Z, GT, Super, Daima, and most of the standalone movies. So much so that timelines blur together because this franchise spans decades.

I also need to say this clearly:
I despise English dubs. Dragon Ball dialogue gets intentionally rewritten to fit American culture, and it almost always undermines the original tone and intent. Subtitles only.

With that bias acknowledged, here’s the review.

What worked

Revisiting older anime like this genuinely gives new perspective. The hand-drawn animation here is close to its peak.
The fight choreography is still excellent. Clean, kinetic, and easy to follow.
This is one of the few DB entries that truly shows how overwhelming Super Saiyan 3 is meant to feel.
There are small but satisfying character moments, especially Goku and Vegeta acknowledging their power gap.
Fusion itself is still beautiful. Power-wise it’s ridiculous, borderline mythical, and clearly the entire reason this movie exists.

What didn’t

This movie is not canon, and it shows.
Timeline placement makes zero sense. It feels like it should be after the Majin Buu arc, but that collapses immediately if you think about it.
Story and lore consistency are weak, which is honestly one of Dragon Ball’s biggest long-term problems.
Power scaling is completely butchered. If we’re being honest, DB might be one of the worst franchises in anime history when it comes to consistent power logic.
The villain design feels lazy. Janemba looks like a mash-up of Cell and Buu without much identity of his own.

The section below discusses plot logic and franchise consistency.

Why this lands at a 6

Objectively, this movie has too many flaws to score higher.
Story-wise, it’s thin. Lore-wise, it’s inconsistent. Villain-wise, it’s uninspired.

If I were being completely ruthless, this is probably a 5.

But nostalgia matters — and not in a cheap way.

I laughed. I enjoyed myself. The animation still holds up. Fusion still hits. And watching it reminded me why Dragon Ball, despite all its problems, remains my favourite anime of all time.

So I’m settling at a 6 / 10.
Flawed, expectedly messy, but still capable of waking up the little kid in me.

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