Dragon Ball Stop-Motion Short Pits Goku Against Vegeta

The first fight between Goku and Vegeta is one of the most iconic moments in Akira Toriyama’s entire Dragon Ball franchise, and now it’s come to life in a cool new way with stop-motion animation. Although Dragon Ball had its fair share of memorable fights and enemies before Dragon Ball Z’s Saiyan arc, it’s clear that this is when the scope of the franchise changed forever. Not only did the Saiyan arc introduce Goku and the others to a whole outer space world full of potentially new foes, but most importantly, brought Vegeta into the fold.

Goku’s fight against Vegeta is fondly remembered for many reasons, but what would it look like if it weren’t brought to life through anime or manga? Artist Zippy-Animation (who you can find on YouTube here) crafted this stop motion animation of the fight between the two Saiyans for a school project and the results are wild. You can check it out in the video above!

Not only does it impressively catch many of the coolest moments of that first Goku and Vegeta fight, it also takes a surprising turn. It imagines a universe in which instead of Vegeta being knocked back by Goku’s Kaio-ken Kamehameha Wave, he quickly unlocks Super Saiyan Blue. Thankfully, Goku reaches it at the same time and the fight continues!

This would shake up the trajectory of the entire franchise given that Goku and Vegeta are still struggling to surpass the Super Saiyan Blue power with different kinds of training. Vegeta has gone to Yardrat in the attempt to better get a handle on the ki in his body, and Goku is trying to access the Ultra Instinct form once more.

But seeing a stop-motion version of the battle just further cements just how well crafted this fight was in the first place. There are multiple phases to the fight, numerous power ups and transformations, and a surprise conclusion that continued to have an impact on the future of the series. It’s no mystery as to why the fans still love Goku and Vegeta’s first fight to this day!

What did you think of this stop-motion take on Dragon Ball? Which fights would also make for a great stop-motion sequence? What was your favorite Goku and Vegeta fight in the series overall? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!