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So, I rewatched the Bardock Special and for a special the length of 2 episodes, it does so much right to cement its popularity in the Dragon Ball franchise. First and foremost amongst is how different in tone it is compared to all other instalments of the franchise. Beyond the ending's optimism towards Goku eventually being the one to defeat Freeza, the story is one that mainly has a depressing tone when it comes to Bardock's complete inability to make a difference and has strong elements associated with a Greek Tragedy in how Bardock's visions are ones that don't allow him to change his future or really be the sole stimulus of his character. Moreover, having the idea of Goku's events being predestined in Bardock's visions works here as they're events outside of Bardock's control and (unlike the Oracle Fish in Super), they're for future events prior to the changes of time travelling damaging any sense of preordained events. On the subject of Greek Tragedy, this excuses some of the more obvious cases of exposition such as Zarbon mentioning how Freeza has taken interest in Vegeta whilst in Freeza's presence as it fits with the narrative tone of the special with how a common element of Greek theatre was the chorus making some elements of the plot evident to the audience.
Speaking of the protagonist of the story, Bardock is simplistic, but executed so well in his role in the story that his popularity is well earned as being one of the best characters in the franchise. He manages to perfectly be utilised in being a character who stands out without brushing aside any previously established continuity. Despite his endearing motivation to carry on his friends' will and defeat Freeza for the justified cause of the Saiyans having only been killed for doing their job too well, he's still very much evil by human standards in him having no care for the weak, a love of killing others and only caring about his son due to his visions. This helps keep Goku's uniqueness amongst Saiyans intact (until DB Minus ruined that). Moreover, the premise of Goku's father being the one to challenge Freeza seemed like a poor premise so easy to ruin the entire story with how convenient it is in how Goku's father would be presented as so special and how much it'd shrink the series' scope. However, the premise was executed wonderfully as Bardock is treat as some no-name by Zarbon and is ultimately able to do nothing to Freeza beyond being a faint memory to Freeza decades later. Even Bardock having a battle power of 10,000 makes sense when considering he represents what the other Saiyans could've achieved through taking on difficult missions to gain Zenkais rather than Freeza limiting them to the extent even Raditz was never badly injured prior to landing on Earth. It really does show how well the Bardock Special holds up when despite focusing on the franchise's protagonist's father, it never deifies him in the way many of the Shonen series inspired by DB have to make things seem far more coincidental and forced (One Piece, Naruto and Bleach in particular, as well as Hunter X Hunter to some extent).
As for the elements outside of Bardock's story, there's still a lot to offer. It's interesting how Vegeta's attire when training against the Saibaimen is almost identical to what he wore in the Boo Arc as well as how his armour introduces the royal Saiyan emblem that's become fairly iconic despite its limited usage. Freeza's polite nature with Vegeta to the point of shutting down Zarbon's opinion does a fair bit to show Freeza did see Vegeta's potential as a useful subordinate, which does a fair bit to contextualise him causing Vegeta to suffer later on during their fight years later beyond just his anger in not getting his wish. On the subject of Vegeta, his lack of interest in the news of Planet Vegeta does line up with what he tells Dodoria but, considering his tears at death was partially due to the Saiyans having suffered under Freeza, does add another layer to his psychology. This kind of detachment is a way that many cope with trauma and adds to his conquest of planets in being his way of showing that he isn't weak stemming from an inability to save his race, which lines up well with the narcissistic traits I mentioned he had in my character analysis of him.
We also get to see some nice little details to the universe such as showing how the Saiyans liked to spend their spare time in bars or how Kakarrot being able to hear the last plea of Bardock's will somewhat plugs up the hole within the anime of characters sometimes visualising those they haven't met in dreams by suggesting some form of psychic links may manifest in the right circumstances.
It's still far from a perfect addition though as there are some criticisms to find. Bardock's friends aren't really fleshed out at all with the closest thing they have to character traits being Totepo eating before going into battle. Still, that is excusable since the special's primary focus is on Bardock and showing friendship among Saiyans beyond that of battle would go against how the race was characterised in the main series. The only major criticism I'd have is the ending. I'm fine with Goku being presented as happy when Gohan holds him as you can't expect a newborn to be showing its aggression immediately even if a Saiyan. However, Gohan finding him in the woods away from the pod goes directly against what we're shown in the anime and told by Roshi. It isn't a major contradiction, considering Roshi's words and the visuals for it may not line up 100% with what occurred, but is is still a notable deviation.
That said, the Bardock Special solidifies itself in standing the test of time as a great addition to the franchise. Not only is its tone and focus far different from the main series and any other instalment of the franchise (the Trunks Special being the only one vaguely similar in that regard) but it also acts as what can be considered an example of how to do good fan-fiction due to Toriyama's involvement only coming from character designs. It is a story that wasn't necessarily essential for informing us of the main story, yet that irrelevancy fits perfectly with the point of Bardock's crusade against Freeza and when judging it by what it set out to achieve, it is excellent in that regard.
Speaking of the protagonist of the story, Bardock is simplistic, but executed so well in his role in the story that his popularity is well earned as being one of the best characters in the franchise. He manages to perfectly be utilised in being a character who stands out without brushing aside any previously established continuity. Despite his endearing motivation to carry on his friends' will and defeat Freeza for the justified cause of the Saiyans having only been killed for doing their job too well, he's still very much evil by human standards in him having no care for the weak, a love of killing others and only caring about his son due to his visions. This helps keep Goku's uniqueness amongst Saiyans intact (until DB Minus ruined that). Moreover, the premise of Goku's father being the one to challenge Freeza seemed like a poor premise so easy to ruin the entire story with how convenient it is in how Goku's father would be presented as so special and how much it'd shrink the series' scope. However, the premise was executed wonderfully as Bardock is treat as some no-name by Zarbon and is ultimately able to do nothing to Freeza beyond being a faint memory to Freeza decades later. Even Bardock having a battle power of 10,000 makes sense when considering he represents what the other Saiyans could've achieved through taking on difficult missions to gain Zenkais rather than Freeza limiting them to the extent even Raditz was never badly injured prior to landing on Earth. It really does show how well the Bardock Special holds up when despite focusing on the franchise's protagonist's father, it never deifies him in the way many of the Shonen series inspired by DB have to make things seem far more coincidental and forced (One Piece, Naruto and Bleach in particular, as well as Hunter X Hunter to some extent).
As for the elements outside of Bardock's story, there's still a lot to offer. It's interesting how Vegeta's attire when training against the Saibaimen is almost identical to what he wore in the Boo Arc as well as how his armour introduces the royal Saiyan emblem that's become fairly iconic despite its limited usage. Freeza's polite nature with Vegeta to the point of shutting down Zarbon's opinion does a fair bit to show Freeza did see Vegeta's potential as a useful subordinate, which does a fair bit to contextualise him causing Vegeta to suffer later on during their fight years later beyond just his anger in not getting his wish. On the subject of Vegeta, his lack of interest in the news of Planet Vegeta does line up with what he tells Dodoria but, considering his tears at death was partially due to the Saiyans having suffered under Freeza, does add another layer to his psychology. This kind of detachment is a way that many cope with trauma and adds to his conquest of planets in being his way of showing that he isn't weak stemming from an inability to save his race, which lines up well with the narcissistic traits I mentioned he had in my character analysis of him.
We also get to see some nice little details to the universe such as showing how the Saiyans liked to spend their spare time in bars or how Kakarrot being able to hear the last plea of Bardock's will somewhat plugs up the hole within the anime of characters sometimes visualising those they haven't met in dreams by suggesting some form of psychic links may manifest in the right circumstances.
It's still far from a perfect addition though as there are some criticisms to find. Bardock's friends aren't really fleshed out at all with the closest thing they have to character traits being Totepo eating before going into battle. Still, that is excusable since the special's primary focus is on Bardock and showing friendship among Saiyans beyond that of battle would go against how the race was characterised in the main series. The only major criticism I'd have is the ending. I'm fine with Goku being presented as happy when Gohan holds him as you can't expect a newborn to be showing its aggression immediately even if a Saiyan. However, Gohan finding him in the woods away from the pod goes directly against what we're shown in the anime and told by Roshi. It isn't a major contradiction, considering Roshi's words and the visuals for it may not line up 100% with what occurred, but is is still a notable deviation.
That said, the Bardock Special solidifies itself in standing the test of time as a great addition to the franchise. Not only is its tone and focus far different from the main series and any other instalment of the franchise (the Trunks Special being the only one vaguely similar in that regard) but it also acts as what can be considered an example of how to do good fan-fiction due to Toriyama's involvement only coming from character designs. It is a story that wasn't necessarily essential for informing us of the main story, yet that irrelevancy fits perfectly with the point of Bardock's crusade against Freeza and when judging it by what it set out to achieve, it is excellent in that regard.
2 Him losing some teeth due to his mouth being closed during the ReaCoom Eraser Gun does bring into question why such mouth blasts are used in the first place as opposed to...literally any other type of Ki blast. I guess Toriyama came to the same conclusion, given that the only other characters to use them after this in the manga were Boo and Gotenks. Also, it's worth noting that the anime corrected the over 20,000 figure for Vegeta to over 30,000 long before the Kanzenban editions were a thing, so nice job Toei.
It's a good idea that they had the support cast doing something rather than sitting around, though the priority of Chichi hoping Gohan's keeping up with his studies rather than being concerned for his dangerous situation is a prime case of Toei mischaracterising Chichi.
