Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans (OVA) - Dragon Ball
Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans was the first-ever Dragon Ball Z OVA (Original Video Animation) to be released in Japan. It was released on the 6th of August, 1993 on videocassette and is set during the lead up to the Cell Games. The original purpose of the OVA was to act as a guide for the Nintendo Entertainment System game Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Saiyajin Zetsumetsu Keikaku. It has since been re-released as an extra feature of the Dragon Box collection. In 2010, as a bonus for the video game Raging Blast 2, the OVA was remade and released as Dragon Ball: Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans. The differences between the updated and the original versions are mostly stylistic. The remake was then streamed online in 2011 as part of the Dragon Ball SSSS (Saikyō Super Saiyan Secret) project.
Story
Dr. Lychee, one of the last remaining survivors of the Tuffle race, a race almost completely annihilated by the Saiyans, escapes and hides out on the Dark Planet to plot his revenge. Meanwhile, the Saiyans renamed the Tuffles’ Planet Plant to Planet Vegeta and continued to reign under Frieza’s command until their own untimely demise at the hands of the evil galactic emperor.
Dr. Lychee’s plan is to destroy all life on the Planet Earth, including the last remaining Saiyans. To do this, he hides four machines around the planet that emit the deadly Destron Gas. Bulma and Mr. Popo discover the horrifying news that little time is left until the destruction of Earth, but with monsters protecting his machines Goku, Gohan, Vegeta and Future Trunks have difficulty in stopping them despite the urgency of the situation. The Z Fighters manage to destroy all but one of the Destron Machines. The last machine, however, is different, as it has not only an energy barrier protecting it, but Frieza, Cooler, Turles and Lord Slug also appear and occupy the Z Fighters. The battle rages on and the villains are trounced countless times, simply reappearing as if they were immortal. King Kai realizes the situation, informing the Z Fighters that the enemies are in fact ghost warriors, and can not be defeated so long as the machine is pumping out Destron Gas. Bulma manages to neutralize the energy field and stop the flow of the deadly gas. The ghost warriors are then defeated in turn.
Dr. Lychee is discovered on the Dark Planet by the Z Fighters and they quickly engage him. They find out that the ghost warriors are being made by a machine called Hatchiyack. Hatchiyack is a robot that is fuelled by the Tuffles’ strong hatred and desire to eradicate the Saiyans once and for all. During the battle, it also becomes apparent that Dr. Lychee himself is a ghost warrior and is similarly being projected by Hatchiyack. He, too, reforms after being killed until Vegeta manages to completely annihilate the mad doctor. Hatchiyack appears next as a huge android, whose power is according to Goku, equal to or greater than Broly.
Hatchiyack is outclassing the Z Fighters easily, throwing them around like ragdolls and blasting them through walls and floors with his enormous ki blasts. Even in their Super Saiyan forms, the Z Fighters struggle to make any headway in the battle until they all combine their signature attacks (Goku’s Kamehameha, Vegeta’s Final Flash, Gohan’s Masenko and Trunks’ Burning Attack) to form one giant energy wave that then disintegrates the helpless Hatchiyack. The Z Fighters are then teleported by Goku back to Earth before the planet explodes from the incredible battle.
Extra Information
It can be deduced that this OVA is set just before the Cell Games, due to Gohan’s Super Saiyan transformation, and after the events of Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan as Goku compares the power of Hatchiyack to Broly. It is also safe to assume that this OVA is part of the movie timeline due to the appearances of Cooler, Turles and Lord Slug.
Dragon Ball Z: Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans expands on the history of the Saiyans conquering Planet Plant as already told in Dragon Ball Z and in the specials Bardock: The Father of Goku and Episode of Bardock. Conversely, in Dragon Ball GT, the idea of the Tuffle race enacting revenge on the Saiyans is used again in the form of Dr. Myuu, who was a machine mutant created by Baby.
With five heroes and four ghost warriors, everyone has an opponent except Vegeta. Even still, he is shown tired and damaged as the ghost warriors are all but invincible.
In the original version, Piccolo is too tired and damaged to continue the fight and, having no access to senzu beans, doesn’t participate in the final attack against Hatchiyack, whereas in the remake, he contributes with a Special Beam Cannon.
One peculiar point of note is that, during the lead up to the Cell Games, Goku and Gohan were training by remaining in their Super Saiyan form at all times, even when at rest in order to master the form and reduce the energy drain. However, in the OVA, they are seen in their base forms too, which contradicts the main series’ story.
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