Dragonball Z: The History of Trunks DVD

In an alternate future, Goku is dead — not in battle, not by the hand of an enemy, but from a viral heart disease that came for him without warning and left no way for the Dragon Balls to bring him back. Six months after his death, while the remaining Z-Fighters are still regrouping, Androids 17 and 18 arrive. Within a single day, nearly every fighter on Earth is dead. The Dragon Balls become inert with Piccolo's passing, and there is no wishing anyone back. Thirteen years later, the world has been ground down into a wasteland of ruined cities and terrified survivors. Android 17 and 18 — powerful beyond any enemy the heroes ever faced, completely invulnerable to the ki attacks that defeated every previous threat — continue their campaign of casual, joyful destruction across the Earth. The only one still fighting is Gohan, Goku's son, now a grown man missing an arm but still standing. He has taken on a student: fourteen-year-old Trunks, the son of Vegeta and Bulma, who burns with the desire to become a Super Saiyan and stop the Androids himself. He cannot yet. And Gohan, who has protected him again and again, will not be able to protect him forever.

Dragon Ball Z: The History of Trunks is a TV special that stands entirely apart from the theatrical DBZ film series — a standalone 48-minute adaptation of Akira Toriyama's "Trunks the Story: The Lone Warrior" manga chapter, broadcast in Japan on February 24, 1993. It is widely regarded as the darkest and most emotionally resonant entry in the entire Dragon Ball Z legacy: a relentlessly bleak, post-apocalyptic story that deconstructs everything the series typically relies on — heroic intervention, revival by Dragon Ball, Goku saving the day — by removing all of it and showing what remains. The special expands significantly on the manga source, giving Future Gohan a heroic arc of genuine weight and making Trunks's first Super Saiyan transformation one of the franchise's most affecting moments.

Released in North America on DVD by FUNimation Entertainment on October 25, 2000. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Minoru Okazaki
Original Manga: Akira Toriyama
Screenplay: Katsuyuki Sumisawa
Studio: Toei Animation
Music: Shunsuke Kikuchi (original score)

Japanese Cast:
- Masako Nozawa as Future Gohan / Goku
- Takeshi Kusao as Future Trunks
- Hiromi Tsuru as Future Bulma
- Shigeru Chiba as Future Android 17
- Miki Ito as Future Android 18
- Joji Yanami as Narrator

DVD Features

- FUNimation Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: ドラゴンボールZ 絶望への反抗!! 残された超戦士・悟飯とトランクス
Runtime: ~48 Minutes (Uncut)
Director: Minoru Okazaki
DVD Release Year: 2000 (U.S. Release, FUNimation)
Original Broadcast Date (Japan): February 24, 1993 (Fuji TV)
Publisher: FUNimation Entertainment
Rating: 13+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Dark Drama
Themes: Post-Apocalyptic Future, Android Invasion, Mentor and Student, First Super Saiyan Transformation, Hopeless World

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.