Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle Movie - Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball: Sleeping Princess in Devil's Castle is the second fantasy and martial arts anime feature film based on the Dragon Ball manga by Akira Toriyama. The film originally premiered in Japan on July 18th, 1987 at the Toei Manga Matsuri Film Festival. Funimation later released an English version of the film on VHS in 1998.
Summary
Some time ago, Earth was enveloped in darkness and a mysterious castle stood inside a group of five mountains that were collectively called the “Devil's Hand”. According to legends, there is a sleeping princess that lies confined inside the castle walls that is guarded by the most sinister master from the underworld.
Back in the present, Goku, now twelve-years-old, arrives at Kame House to seek martial arts training from Master Roshi. Goku finds Roshi watching a women’s exercise program and, after struggling to get his attention, they discuss their training plans over lunch. They soon notice a little monk approaching on a rowboat heading towards the island. The monk heads to Roshi after arriving and introduces himself as Krillin and begs for training from Roshi. Roshi refuses at first, but then he agrees when Krillin offers an erotic magazine in exchange. Krillin then meets Goku and Roshi tells the two about the story of the Sleeping Princess, who is apparently being held captive in the Devil's Hand by a man named Lucifer. He tells them that whoever successfully returns the Sleeping Princess to him will be his student. Off in the background, a girl named Launch also learns of the Princess’ location and plans to go there herself.
Goku's friends, Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong, and Puar, now on summer vacation, ask Roshi where Goku is. Roshi gives the information about the quest he gave the two, causing them to head that way as well. They use one of Bulma's capsules to cover an incredible amount of distance quickly. Goku and Krillin approach the Devil's Hand and go inside, without the knowledge that Launch has also entered to steal the Princess for herself.
After nightfall, Goku's team begins to close in the castle, but are attacked by ogres that end up crashing their capsule jet. Bulma gets captured and is taken inside the Devil's Hand. They treat Bulma as a guest and show her to the Sleeping Princess' convention. Later on, Lucifer reveals his true nature and ties Bulma down to a chair with vines and threatens to drain her blood with a huge syringe to wake the Sleeping Princess. Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong hear Bulma's screams of help and proceed to the Sleeping Princess' convention in disguise by using Oolong’s shape-shifting abilities.
Meanwhile, Krillin and Goku face off against many different monsters and ogres. A giant devil called Ghastel also appears, but ends up being eaten by a swamp monster during the battle. The two are then dropped right into the Sleeping Princess bedchamber, where they discover that the “Sleeping Princess” is actually the name of a jewel. Launch also arrives on a motorcycle and takes the Sleeping Princess away. The two start chasing her, but fail to notice Bulma and the others.
After five minutes, Oolong's shape-shifting ability wears off and Puar is changed back, ruining the disguise. The group is then taken as captives. While on the run, Launch blasts her way through the ogres with a machine gun, but in doing so, her hair starts tickling her nose, making her sneeze and change into a kind-hearted, blue-haired version of herself. Launch then falls from the motorcycle and lands on the ground, confused. Goku takes back the Sleeping Princess, but then Lucifer appears and takes Krillin hostage. Lucifer offers a trade for Krillin’s safety in exchange for the Sleeping Princess, which Goku agrees to. Instead of keeping his word, however, Goku is paralyzed and is beaten by ogres after a little pink devil bites his tail.
Lucifer successfully “wakes” the Sleeping Princess by using the light of the full moon. Goku’s group is held captive inside a giant wall of rock. At some point, Goku looks up at the moon and transforms into a Great Ape, destroying the wall and freeing everyone. The giant, rampaging Goku then charges at Launch and attempts to devour her, but Krillin and Yamcha manage to grab onto his tail, weakening Great Ape Goku just long enough to allow Puar to change into a pair of scissors to cut the tail off. Goku reverts back to his usual self, but has no memories of the transformation or what he did. He then begins to panic at the sight of his lost tail.
At the castle, Lucifer places the Sleeping Princess in a laser cannon and prepares it to destroy the rising sun. Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha come to the rescue and they fight with Lucifer. Yamcha is able to free Bulma and kill Igor, while Lucifer activates the laser cannon. In response, Goku uses his Kamehameha wave to destroy the laser, but ends up causing the whole castle to collapse in the process. Everyone tries to flee, but as cannon falls, the beam hits Lucifer. The Sleeping Princess disappears and Devil's Hand is decimated.
Now that everyone is safe, Krillin acts regretfully, but does not apologize to Goku directly. The two boys return to Kame House together with Launch. Roshi was pleased with them as he thought Launch was the Sleeping Princess, despite the Sleeping Princess never being an actual person from the beginning.
At that moment, Krillin and Goku are ecstatic to officially be students of the great Master Roshi, but their tone quickly changes after Launch sneezes again and reverts to her bad self. She lets her machine gun loose and fires at Goku, Roshi, Krillin, and Turtle. A passing fly makes her sneeze once more, turning her back to a good side. Launch apologizes for her actions, though the surprised group is still wary of her.
New Characters
- Lucifer: Lives in the Devil's Castle. He is feared as the Demon Vampire.
- Ghastel: Lives in the Devil's Castle. It is a giant red monster and is one of Lucifer’s strongest minions.
Links
Dragon Ball Series
Dragon Ball Z Series
Dragon Ball Kai Series
Dragon Ball Super Series
Dragon Ball GT Series
Super Dragon Ball Heros
Akira Toriyama