Synopsis: King Piccolo laughs as he reveals his true power, telling Goku that he hopes he's ready to die once he unleashes it. Goku thinks Piccolo definitely has plenty to brag about, but says he's going to go all-out now as well. Angered, Piccolo rushes Goku, and though the boy is able to dodge his first blow, Piccolo manages to connect with a second mighty punch that sends Goku crashing into the ground, creating a large crater and burying his body in the dirt.
As Piccolo lands and boasts that there's nobody in the world who can defeat him now, Tenshinhan gets back to his feet and prepares to fight even though he knows he'll lose. Before either of them can make a move however, Goku's voice begins to sound off from within the crater. Goku eventually leaps from the ground and back into the air, firing a large Kamehameha directly at King Piccolo. Piccolo says the move won't have any effect on him and prepares to catch it in his hands, but Goku twists the energy beam at the last second, redirecting it not to hit Piccolo from the front but behind. The blast catches Piccolo full in the back of the head, knocking him to his knees. Tenshinhan is amazed at Goku's prowess with the Kamehameha now, and Goku lands and tells an angry Piccolo to get back up, as he knows the attack didn't hurt him that badly. Piccolo scowls and says Goku must be some kind of monster, with Goku saying it's Piccolo that's the monster here. Goku says this fight won't end until one of them is in pieces, a sentiment Piccolo agrees with, and the two quickly launch into another furious exchange of blows. Each opponent equally lands blows of their own while taking the other's attacks, and as Goku manages to land another powerful blow on the demon, Tenshinhan watches in awe and remarks that there's nothing he can do even if he wanted to. Review: This chapter is almost all fighting, more so possibly than any chapter we've ever yet had, and as such I can't recommend highly enough that people read it for themselves as well as reading the synopsis, because there is just no real way to capture every single thing you'll be seeing. It's also filled to the brim with some of the best art Toriyama has yet drawn in regards to action, so you're really doing yourself a disservice if you're not seeing it with your own eyes, trust me. As a result, this once again leaves me without much to really add unfortunately. Piccolo powers up to his full power, Goku and he clash, Piccolo seems to gain the upper hand only not really, him and Goku fight again and it's pretty even, Tenshinhan watches it all in awe – that's basically it. Which isn't to say there isn't at least one surprise however, in the form of Goku's newfound ability to control the direction of his Kamehameha. This is definitely a unique take on the move we haven't seen before now, and it's one that I wish we got to see a little more often than we do, as it adds a bit more of a tactical advantage to the attack rather than just leaving it as a big energy blast the same as any other big energy blast we'll be seeing plenty more of moving forward. The only other moment I'd really like to note is Goku suggesting that this fight won't be over until either he or Piccolo is dead. We've only really seen one other fight that carried that sort of weight to it, back when Goku fought Taopaipai, but even there Goku didn't really put it into words quite the same way as he does here. It's a good way to illustrate both that this isn't the same Goku we've always seen up until now, as well this fight being a far cry from the intensity of even his most recent tournament bouts. This time, there's far more on the line. Until next time! Favorite Panel:
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Synopsis: As King Piccolo and Goku continue to square off, Tenshinhan can't believe his eyes at how well Goku is doing. Piccolo scoffs in disbelief himself, but Goku says it's his turn to attack this time. Piccolo mocks him, asking if he really plans to attack the great Demon King, while boldly proclaiming that the moment Goku sees his true power will be his last. Goku however says that Piccolo has taken away a lot of things he really cared about and he can't let him get away with that. As Piccolo's attendant and Tenshinhan watch on, Goku is able to quickly land a punch to Piccolo's jaw, sending him flying backwards and crash-landing into the attendant, killing the pterodactyl-like demon instantly. As Tenshinhan marvels at Goku's speed, noting that not even his eyes were able to see any of Goku's movements, Goku stands formidably before Piccolo, ready to continue the fight. Tenshinhan notes that even he's starting to get a little afraid of Goku purely because of how strong he's clearly become. Getting back to his feet, Piccolo angrily swears to make Goku pay, and launches at the boy again, trying again to hit him by any means necessary. Piccolo eventually manages to land a kick that knocks Goku back, but Goku leaps back in and lands a kick of his own to Piccolo's chest, winding the demon, but Goku doesn't stop there. Goku presses forward with a flurry of punches to Piccolo's chest, ultimately kicking him once again and staggering him back even further, though Piccolo just barely manages to remain standing by the end. Rather than growing even more enraged however, Piccolo merely smirks and chuckles. He praises Goku as being the first opponent to have injured his pride so severely, worrying Tenshinhan that the demon may yet have something up his sleeve. Goku confirms this by telling Piccolo to come at him with his full power already, horrifying Tenshinhan. Piccolo laughs and says he's not surprised Goku noticed, and says that fighting at full power shortens his life so he prefers not to do it too often. Faced with Goku however, he's left with no choice, and lets out a yell, channeling his ki to it's maximum level. Tenshinhan is taken aback by Piccolo's aura, and Piccolo tells Goku he hopes he's prepared for what he's unleashed. Goku says the same back to him however, stating that he can fight all out now as well. Piccolo doubts Goku's posturing however, and both agree the only real way to test things now is to continue the fight. Piccolo waves his arm in front of him, causing a shock wave that almost pushes Goku back just from the air pressure alone. As Goku braces himself, Tenshinhan is horrified by such power. Review: This chapter contains a lot of the tropes that Dragon Ball is known for, and while it's not really the first chapter to dabble with them, it does bring them even more into focus when they're all gathered in one place like this. Two super strong characters fighting while other people are on the sideline making comments about how incredible it all is, one character saying they're not even using their full power and then deciding to kick things up a notch while the other responds in kind – these are all things we're going to be seeing a lot more of moving forward, and while it does kind of feel like we've been here and seen this all before the more and more it happens, I can't lie and say it's not effective at building the drama as well, chiefly because we've seen what came before this that helped set up this whole conflict. If it hadn't been for Goku's previous defeat as well as the loss of his master and friend, or for Piccolo's own gains, this material wouldn't hold up as well as it does. Toriyama already knows exactly what to do to make a final fight compelling, and he's utilizing it to great effect here. There is of course still a few hang-ups here and there though. If everything I mentioned before is definitely going to become old by the end of the series, than the one thing that's already become very, very old, is people commenting on how fast someone is going and saying it's impossible to see with their eyes. We've seen this going all the way back to the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai, and by now any of that fighting feels quaint in comparison. It's no doubt true that the characters are only getting faster and faster now, and that even stronger characters that would normally be able to keep up with such things are suddenly finding themselves in that same position of being outclassed. My problem isn't with it being unrealistic by any means, it fits perfectly well within the situations the story keeps finding itself in – it's just really dull and predictable to see happen time and time again. Surely there has to be some other way to get the point across that these characters are moving faster and faster, and if there's not, maybe just let the sense of speed speak for itself rather than having people comment on it all the time? Manga is a limited medium to some degree, but it is still a visual one, and as such, a certain degree of show not tell is always better, and this just feels a little too much like telling, at least for my tastes. Speaking of not telling though – RIP, er, Piccolo's attendant, I guess. Poor guy never even got his name revealed in the manga proper, though the anime saw fit to call him Piano, fitting with the musical instrument name puns going on with Piccolo's group. It's hard to really feel anything about his loss given he never really did anything, but that in-of-itself's a little sad I suppose. It does bring into question how much or how little Piccolo actually cares about his minions though, because despite his outrage at Tambourine, Cymbal, and Drum's deaths before, he doesn't even seem to register that Piano's dead at all. So much for the first born son I guess. The fight choreography after Piano's death is much better than it was prior, with a lot of shots that seem to be calling back to Goku and Piccolo's first clash, which more than works for me because a lot of that was really creative and fun to look at. I also love how expressive Piccolo's face can be in a lot of these shots, it's something I wish had been kept around to a better degree for a certain future related character, though I guess that would have been...odd...for certain scenes. I'm not really sure how to feel about the notion that Piccolo's full power is so great that it shortens his life however. It's something that comes out of nowhere, and seems to not really be a concern for any other character going forward, so it's a little weird when looking back. I suppose it could be more akin to just being really taxing on his body and thus likely to shorten his lifespan, akin to a later technique of Goku's; or perhaps he hasn't had the occasion to hone his body to get it used to using all of that power, akin to a later villain's modern-era transformation. Either way, given how long-lived the character already is and that he's already had the clock reset as it were, don't be so stingy Piccolo. The rest of us are lucky if we even get to approach 100, you've got plenty of time left if you shave off a few years to win a fight. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: King Piccolo and Tenshinhan both watch on in horror at Goku's defeat of Drum as the latter's body falls lifelessly to the ground. Tenshinhan can't believe that Goku has grown strong enough to defeat with one kick someone that he couldn't defeat going all out, and realizes Goku is completely unlike when he faced him. Piccolo scowls and tells Goku that it's foolish to anger him so after narrowly avoiding death the last time they met, but Goku says he won't stop until he's taken Piccolo down. Elsewhere, Yamcha, Bulma, and Lunch board a plane to go help Tenshinhan face Piccolo, instructing Oolong and Puar to take a second plane to go pick up Roshi and Chaozu's bodies. Lunch in particular is ready to fight Piccolo if he harms Tenshinhan in any way, and Yamcha says it's times like these that they're glad to have her blonde form around...only for Lunch to sneeze and revert back to her mild-mannered blue-haired form, who wonders if they're all heading out for a picnic.
Piccolo laughs at the idea that Goku can beat him, and cautions Goku that he's far stronger than he was last time, prompting Goku to say that the same is true of him. Piccolo says he has no time to waste on Goku as he has to go destroy West City, and says he'll kill Goku in five seconds. Wasting no more time, Piccolo launches a hand chop aimed at Goku's neck, but Goku stops it with a forearm. Piccolo and a watching Tenshinhan and Piccolo's attendant are shocked, and Piccolo tries again to hit Goku with a punch, but Goku catches that blow as well. Goku then tosses Piccolo over his shoulder, sending him crashing into a nearby building. As the building collapses, Piccolo pulls himself out of the rubble, enraged even further when Goku taunts him by saying five seconds have passed. Angrier than he's ever been before, Piccolo leaps into the air and makes a beeline straight for Goku, launching an energy blast at him that forces the boy to leap out of the way to dodge. Piccolo lands and immediately fires a second blast, and Goku takes this one head-on, blocking it with his crossed arms. No worse for wear from the attack, Goku grabs hold of another building's spire and uses it to flip himself back to standing before King Piccolo, perfectly fine. Aghast, Piccolo asks Goku what he even is. Review: For all my complaints about the Super Holy Water, I do have to at least give it this – it definitely gives the results it promises (though that in-of-itself is part of the problem). Goku is capably shown off in this chapter as being far, far stronger than he was the last time we saw him. It was all he could do to try and keep up with Piccolo before, but now he's giving as good as he's getting, and this is against a much stronger Piccolo than before. The choreography of the fight so far isn't quite as exciting as some of what we got in the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, but it's getting there, and does still manage to instill a feeling of the characters being far stronger than they were then. Which, admittedly, is pretty funny to think about. Goku has gotten way stronger in the course of a few days than he got during three whole years of training before the 22nd tournament. It thankfully doesn't happen all of the time, but Toriyama is definitely learning a bad habit here before our eyes. There's really not a lot else for me to touch on in this chapter since it's primarily showing off the beginning of Goku and Piccolo's rematch, but there were a couple of small moments I wanted to touch on before closing. First up, Toriyama once again gives a pretty good joke to Lunch, and this time it's actually to blue-haired Lunch. For a long time now, the character has been becoming more and more obscured to the background, and with good reason – as I stated with the character's introduction, Toriyama never really quite got a handle on how to use her effectively. I think he realized that himself, because she began being used more and more sparingly, and more often than not, her appearances were in her blonde form, which at least gave a little more to work with. In the last chapter, he even gave her a pretty great joke that fit with both the character as well as fitting with what was happening on the rest of the page. Here, he likewise pulls the rug out from under things by having a time where blonde Lunch would, at least in theory, be helpful to have around, only for that version of her to go away entirely. It's too little too late as we'll see, but it's nice to see Toriyama finally start to figure out how to use her a little better. The second thing I wanted to touch on was something I hadn't yet mentioned and this seemed like the best time to do so. If you've ever read the manga (at least the original run, I can't honestly remember if the Super manga has kept this or not), you might have noticed Piccolo and other characters connected to him share a curious feature that their anime counterparts do not. Sure, there's still the green skin, the pointy ears, the sharp teeth and fingernails, and those weird turtle-shell things that run up and down their arms. There is one striking difference however when it comes to the hands – in the manga, Piccolo has four fingers, but in the anime he has five like a normal human hand does. For the manga, this is a trait that helps further set apart Piccolo as something different from what we've seen before (though it does force Toriyama to give him a regular hand for one panel to illustrate the point of five seconds, to humorous effect). So why the change? From what I understand, it has something to do with the yakuza and their tendencies to cut off a finger as retribution, therefore giving a hand with only four fingers a somewhat more criminal look than it would otherwise. Apparently censors of the 80's didn't think that would be appropriate for a kid's anime – despite it apparently being okay in the manga – thus the increase in Piccolo's digits. Again, I'm drawing entirely from memory here, but it really isn't that surprising when you stop and think about it and compare it to some other censorships children's properties have faced when going from one country to the next. Dragon Ball itself is certainly no stranger to such things, as anyone that lived through the original release of DBZ here can attest to. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: As Goku rushes towards King's Castle as quickly as he can, Piccolo tells his newest minion, Drum, not to play games and to finish off Tenshinhan quickly. Tenshinhan warns them both not to take him lightly, as he's going to take them down even if it means his own death as a result. Tenshinhan quickly rushes Drum and the pair exchange blows, but all of Tenshinhan's attacks are dodged while Drum forces him to block one of his own attacks before connecting a series of blows that sends Tenshinhan flying backwards. Piccolo thinks this is going to be a short, boring fight after all, but them both by surprise when he flips back off of the ground and slams into Drum's face with a furious headbutt. Drum is staggered but only briefly and praises Tenshinhan's skill, but Tenshinhan thinks to himself that Drum's own power and speed are beyond belief, while fretting that if only the minion is this strong, than Piccolo must be out of this world. Before Tenshinhan can react, Drum tells him he's already dead and speedily moves behind him, landing a powerful punch right into Tenshinhan's back and knocking him to the ground. As Tenshinhan tries to get back up, Piccolo praises his persistence but tells Drum to rip his heart out before he can stand. Drum prepares to do just that, but is knocked backwards suddenly to everyone's surprise. The assailant is quickly revealed to be a resolute looking Goku, whom even King Piccolo recognizes immediately. Tenshinhan can't believe that Goku is still alive after all, but Goku is happy to see that it was Tenshinhan facing Piccolo like he thought. Piccolo too is surprised that Goku is still alive since he was certain he killed him, and Goku is taken aback by Piccolo's changed appearance. Piccolo explains that he had his youth restored, meaning that he's far stronger than he was when he defeated Goku before. Tenshinhan yells for Goku to run away, but Drum says nobody gets away with knocking him down. Piccolo agrees, ordering Drum to kill both of them, and Drum moves quickly in for the kill – only for Drum himself to be killed in one blow by a kick from Goku that shatters his skull. Review: Drum went as quickly as he came, but he sure left quite an impression, right? ...Okay, maybe less an impression and more of a complete destruction of Tenshinhan's utilization in this arc, but hey, that counts for something surely. I mentioned in the last review that I didn't like how quickly the Mafuba was taken off of the table, as that made it pretty clear that Tenshinhan wasn't going to really bring anything to the table here. That quickly turned out to be more true than I remembered, as his only real contribution here is buying enough time for Goku to arrive and thus preventing West City from being destroyed. That's nice, especially considering Bulma's parents are still there, but considering what else could have been done with him here, it's still disappointing. The anime staff at Toei must have thought so as well, because there, Tenshinhan DOES get to try to use the Mafuba. I'm pulling from memory here, but in the anime version of this event, Tenshinhan is forced to try and use the Mafuba against Drum, and actually is about to succeed in sealing him away before Piccolo knocks the rice cooker away with an energy blast, saving his spawn and damaging the rice cooker in one go. While this all leads to the same thing thematically, Tenshinhan being completely ineffective against Piccolo and Drum, I can't help but feel like something similar here would have been far more satisfying, as at least then it would have felt for a moment like Tenshinhan had some sort of chance, as well as him truly expending every option available to him – though come to think of it, it's also surprising he never considers giving the Kikoho a try here. Either way, it's just disappointing and a big waste of time to show Tenshinhan learning the Mafuba only to have him do absolutely nothing with it. Honestly, a lot of this portion of the arc could have been easily fixed by Toriyama moving things around a little bit differently. Goku could have reached Karin's tower a bit earlier in comparison to other scenes we're shown, and he could have gotten the Super Holy Water – much as I still hate it – sooner and then spent a much longer time dealing with it's poisonous effects. During that downtime for him, Tenshinhan could have been revealed alive, shown to be learning the Mafuba, and then come to deal with Piccolo only to end up facing Drum instead, and attempting and failing to get anything done with the Mafuba. Heck, he could have tried to quickly turn away from Drum and use the technique on Piccolo himself only for Drum to get in the way somehow. At various points in that encounter, Goku could have been shown awakening, seemingly having become much stronger, gotten his new kinto'un, and been on his way here to save Tenshinhan in just the nick of time. Personally, I think Toriyama needed just a little more time to work this arc out better. All things told, he gets much better at choreographing how events play out after cutting his teeth on this one. Toriyama likewise may have spent too much of this particular chapter showing Tenshinhan getting his clock cleaned, because by the time Goku shows up and has some exchanges with King Piccolo, it sort of feels like someone hit fast forward on the dialogue for a moment. That does get things to the shock factor of Goku outright killing someone in brutal fashion that much quicker too, and Drum's death is definitely not a pretty one. We'll see gore of varying levels throughout the series run, but this is probably the first time that something like this has shown up in the series, and for it to come from little Goku of all people is as shocking as it is hype-building. It also gives us our first hint of just how much stronger Goku has become, as even his revenge against Tambourine didn't go this hard. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Son Goku V.S. Demon King Piccolo – The Rematch Synopsis: Continuing his speech, King Piccolo reminds the populace that the word is currently divided into forty-three different provinces. As such, he reveals he's had his attendant prepare cards numbered for each one of them, and to mark the occasion of his ascendancy to the throne, he will draw a card from the box each year and personally destroy the province matching the number. He promises that everyone in those areas will die instantly and painlessly, but laughs noting that he will get to enjoy millions of faces twisted in terror. Watching this, Yamcha and the others are enraged at how cruel Piccolo is. Piccolo however says that the luckiest people will get to live another forty-three years, as well as noting that anyone who wishes to stop him is more than welcome to try any means necessary if they want an early death. Tenshinhan flies his plane towards King's Castle as fast as he can, as Piccolo draws the first number to decide which province will be destroyed this first day. He pulls the number 29, revealing that to be an area near the King's Castle already – West City. Bulma gets back on the radio and desperately pleads with Tenshinhan to stop Piccolo somehow, promising to bring him back with the Dragon Balls. Tenshinhan agrees to stop Piccolo no matter what, but says that nobody will be coming back to life as he personally saw Piccolo kill Shenlong. The others are taken aback by this news, as Oolong wonders if the world really is coming to an end, and Yamcha decides that broken leg or no, he can't stand by like this any longer. Tenshinhan arrives at King's Castle just in time to see Piccolo and his attendant preparing to leave, and Tenshinhan opens the top of his plane to shout out a challenge to the demon king. Piccolo scoffs at how quickly the first suicidal fool showed up after all, and decides to take some time to use him as an example lest any others decide to defy him so brazenly. As Goku on kinto'un races towards King's Castle himself, Piccolo floats to the ground and tells Tenshinhan to come down and fight if that's what he truly wants. Tenshinhan prepares to leave the plane with the rice cooker in tow for using the Mafuba, but makes a horrifying discovery – the rice cooker has been cracked, seemingly having become damaged during all of his practice for the technique. Left with no other choice, Tenshinhan leaves the device behind, and resolves to fight without using the Mafuba. As Tenshinhan floats to the ground as well, Piccolo recognizes the flight technique and praises Tenshinhan for knowing it, but says that being such a skilled martial artist itself marks him for death at Piccolo's hands. Tenshinhan accuses Piccolo of arrogance, stating that he hasn't won the fight yet, but Piccolo says it's not him that will be fighting after all, deciding instead to instead leave the task to his 'new servant' so as to not dirty his own hands against him. Tenshinhan is confused, but Piccolo soon coughs up an egg as he did before, and from it hatches a large creature that Piccolo names Drum. Piccolo orders Drum to show Tenshinhan the power of a demon, but Tenshinhan vows that it's humankind that will triumph this day. Review: As much as I enjoy this arc, I can't in good conscience deny that there's a lot of weak points to it. I've already gone over how much I absolutely despise the Super Holy Water, and while this chapter doesn't have anything quite like that to draw my ire, it does start to show some of the cracks in the plot as well as the rice cooker, and yeah, I'll get to that in a moment. Firstly, Piccolo's evil plans are...well, not that smart or well thought out, really. He seems to want to revel in chaos, and as such, he says he's going to destroy all law enforcement agencies and allow people to reign free their most destructive tendencies. This is a horrifying and yet interesting threat, as it's something we can readily imagine how that would go in our own world, and it sets Piccolo apart from previous villains in a way, as he wants to be at the top of the world but doesn't want to actually control anything really. The opposite rather, he wants NOTHING controlled. That was where his machinations left off last chapter, along with a tease of more horrors to come. And how does he top this interesting idea? By threatening to slowly but surely wipe out humanity over the course of the next forty-three years. ...Huh. I mean, don't get me wrong – the idea of a super-powerful demon king taking his sweet time to blow us all to kingdom come is certainly a scary thought, and it does light a fire under our heroes to deal with him as soon as possible, especially since the Dragon Balls are out of the question at this point. Any area they fail to prevent Piccolo from destroying is going to result in a lot of dead people that they'll have no way to ever bring back. At the same time though, it just feels a little bit pointless. It doesn't really fit perfectly with how Piccolo was describing his reign prior. How much freedom to do as they wish will the people of Earth truly have if they know it's all going to be pointless in a couple of decades as they're going to die anyway? Granted, this could be Piccolo's way of making more people decide to give in to their darkest natures when they might otherwise try to resist such impulses, but at the same time, it also presents a clear end to Piccolo's fun. What exactly is his plan once he's killed all of humanity in forty-three years, just hang around kicking a bunch of corpses? As opposed to some later threats, him taking out all life on this planet is a pretty final end to his reign. I don't think he's particularly thought this one through. I mean, I guess it's also possible he's thinking that people will have time to rebuild and repopulate, so that by the time he's gotten through all forty-three districts, he gets to start all over again, but nothing in the dialogue really suggests that either, so I think that might be giving him too much credit. There's one panel showing Suno and her parents watching Piccolo's broadcast from their home, and I actually really like that however. It gives a more global feeling to the proceedings, even if only minutely, and I wish Toriyama had done even more with that. We know a few martial artists are dead by this point (something else I'll touch on in a moment), but there are plenty of other nameless folks Goku and the others have encountered in the past that we could have seen reacting to this news as well, to really sell just how far-reaching this take-over truly is. Speaking of those dead martial artists, there's far few of them dead seemingly in the manga version of events given how quickly Tambourine was dealt with, so not only were there still plenty that could have been shown reacting to Piccolo's announcement, it also begs the question of why Piccolo seems to have completely forgotten his other goal. Even with his youth and power restored, he should still be afraid that someone out there might know the Mafuba and can seal him away again. Hell, he should be more afraid of that now than he ever was before, due to having come across someone in this era that knew it in the form of Roshi. Someone alive today that knows the technique should concern him greatly as it means there's no telling how many other martial artists are out there with the knowledge, so you'd think he'd be immediately starting in on his goal of exterminating them all again too, but it never comes up, at all. Piccolo's short-term memory is apparently completely shot after spending a few centuries in a rice cooker. It's also revealed that the Earth in Dragon Ball is apparently divided into forty-three provinces (hence it taking forty-three years for Piccolo to destroy them all once a year), and honestly, I kind of wish we got more on that. It wouldn't really change or inform the story in any way, but I don't really think we've seen anywhere near that many different places in the series, even today. As far as I know, no guidebook has ever fully labeled each and every region of the Earth either, so who knows exactly how the rest of it is divvied up. The biggest crack in this storyline's seams at this point comes to a head when Tenshinhan discovers a literal crack in the rice cooker he was planning on using, completely negating anything and everything he was going to try and do. It was already extremely obvious that he wasn't going to be the one to win the day since Goku's already received his power-up, but c'mon Toriyama, at least let him feel like he's going to do something for five seconds. I realize that the Mafuba is something we've already seen and it was already really unlikely that it was going to work any better this time around, but this just feels like the weakest way imaginable to get around it even existing. I'm also far from a power-level devotee, but Tenshinhan hasn't done any training since the end of the 22nd tournament, which put him as Goku's equal at the time more or less. Goku lost to the elderly King Piccolo, and now Piccolo is much, much stronger than he was before. So just weighing the odds, they really couldn't be tipped any further against Tenshinhan's favor here. For a character that we were only just introduced to, and someone who was built up as being in Goku' league, this fall from grace is a steep one. In a way, even Yamcha doesn't have it this bad because at least he was never really built up anywhere near as much first. But hey, maybe Tenshinhan will get to do something against Piccolo's minion at least? ...*sigh* Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: Flying a small capsule plane, Tenshinhan contacts Yamcha, Bulma, and Lunch at Kame House via the radio to tell them that they failed to gather the Dragon Balls and that King Piccolo had his wish for youth granted. He also informs them of the loss of Kame-sennin and Chaozu, news that greatly distresses the others. Tenshinhan warns them that if they leave Piccolo to his devices then things are only going to get worse, and says he's now looking for Piccolo's aircraft so that he can take him down, so he gives them the location of Roshi and Chaozu's bodies to retrieve. Yamcha tries to stop Tenshinhan, telling him that if he's as strong as he says, he doesn't stand a chance, but Tenshinhan tells Yamcha that he's mastered the Mafuba. Yamcha remembers that those who use the technique die, but Tenshinhan cuts him off saying that he's not merely martyring himself for the world – it's merely his pride as a martial artist that's unable to let him rest until he's taken down Piccolo. Bulma and Yamcha try again to get Tenshinhan to stop, saying that they can just use the Dragon Balls to set things right over the next few years, but Oolong interrupts when he catches the news saying something about Piccolo. They turn up the TV in time to hear the King's speech handing his seat to Piccolo, but the old man finishes by begging someone to please defeat Piccolo and save the world. Piccolo grabs the King by the throat and reminds him he wasn't supposed to improvise, but Piccolo spares his life for now. Taking over the speech, Piccolo announces himself as the new king, and forewarns the world that they should know exactly how strong he is from the examples he's given by blowing up parts of the city. As Lunch and the others get their first look at Piccolo, Tenshinhan overhears this over the radio and realizes Piccolo must be at King's Castle, changing course to head there immediately. King Piccolo continues his speech by saying that the words he hates most are 'justice' and 'peace', but says that nobody should worry about him trying to enslave them. In fact, he wants the opposite – he tells everyone to do whatever they want, as he's abolishing every form of law enforcement, allowing people to steal, destroy, and murder as much as they want, with the only people he plans to exterminate outright are those who try to uphold order. As he welcomes them all to his glorious new world of terror, Yamcha and Bulma wonder if his monstrous plan is serious, though Lunch comments that it doesn't sound all that bad to her. Up on Karin's tower, Goku can tell that he's way stronger than he was before, almost to the point that he doesn't even recognize himself. Despite this, his heart feels really calm, and Karin too is amazed at the change in Goku's nature. Yajirobe says Goku doesn't look that different to him, but Goku suddenly looks to the distance and says he can feel a huge evil power, surmising that it must be Piccolo. Karin is astounded that Goku can just feel the energy, and Goku says he's going to go take care of Piccolo now, certain that he can really do it this time. Karin wishes him luck and says he has faith in him as well, and also gives Goku a gift – calling out for kinto'un, a much larger cloud suddenly appears beside the tower. Karin tells Goku to tear off however much he'd like to ride, and Goku asks if the kinto'un he got from Roshi came from here, with Karin confirming that he gave it to Roshi long ago. Goku is ovejoyed and takes a portion of kinto'un roughly the same size as his previous one. Goku offers to take Yajirobe with him, but Yajirobe chooses to stay behind, wanting no part in fighting Piccolo. Goku thanks Karin again for everything he's done and says he'll be back if he survives, and flies off on kinto'un, heading towards Piccolo. Watching Goku leave, Yajirobe marvels at how fast kinto'un can move and asks Karin to give him one as well, but Karin says he doubts he could ride one in the first place. Karin is still astounded by how strong Goku has become and thinks he might actually stand a chance now, while back at King's Castle, Piccolo continues his broadcast, promising the people of the world that he's just getting started. Review: When Piccolo killed Kame-sennin and Chaozu and had his wish granted, I referred to those events as the beginning of this story arc's second half. Looking back now, I probably should have referred to it more as the beginning of the intermission, during which we see both sides – Piccolo's side and Goku's side, with a bit of Tenshinhan as well – preparing for the final phase of the arc. In Piccolo's case, this meant disposing of the Pilaf gang that was no longer of use to him, and heading towards King's Castle to finish his takeover of the world. In Goku's however, it meant healing up from his prior defeat, as well as trying to find some way to get stronger. Tenshinhan's mostly unseen efforts amount to the same end as well, though he always had a particular idea in mind as opposed to Goku, who really lucked out that the Super Bullsh – er, Super Holy Water, existed. It's a little sad to see how little Goku's other friends have to do in this arc though. If I'm remembering correctly, this is the first time in the manga we've even seen them since everyone left the tournament grounds, and we pretty much won't see them again until the arc's over and done with either. On the one hand, there's not really much they could have contributed at this point, with Yamcha's leg still being on the mend and nobody else being a fighter, but on the other – well, come up with something for them to do! In the future, Toriyama's writing will continue to be a sort of mixed bag when it comes to giving characters not at the forefront of the team things to do during the arc, but overall he does get a little better at it than what's on display here...kind of. We'll talk about that when we get to it though. With King Piccolo's speech over the airwaves, we finally get some indication of what exactly it is he plans to do when he rules the world, and it certainly is a pretty grim picture. Say what you will about the state of things in this world of ours – and believe me, there is plenty to say that I am both ill-equipped to fully get into nor is an anime/manga review blog the place to do it – but laws, or at least the idea of laws, are in place to help keep the peace and garner a greater good in our society. The things that King Piccolo wants to happen freely, in particularly the 'right' to hurt, or worse, kill others, is a terrifying thing to think about. He basically wants to create the world from that horror movie The Purge, and I think we can all agree that there's enough chaos and discontent without people having even the least bit of worry about legal ramifications for murder. That's all thinking about this far more broadly than Toriyama intends it however, as really the only thing he's getting at here with Piccolo's new game plan for the world is 'chaos is bad'. He also keeps things from getting too heavy with Lunch's great comment about thinking this all sounds pretty good to her. Dammit Toriyama, I know what's coming, don't start making me actually like Lunch again this far in. Goku's side of things is kept a little more vague in contrast. He and Karin are both pretty sure that he's gained a lot of power, but there's not really anything to go on just yet other than their word, though there is Goku's newfound ability to sense energy. This is something that will become extremely commonplace amongst our heroes as the series progresses, and unlike flight which will get an explanation on how that works (far later into the series, but still), this common ability never really does get explained. We don't even really know exactly how one learns it. One would be forgiven for thinking it had something to do with reaching a certain level of power, but Goku has already far eclipsed Roshi and just learns it, whereas there have been a few indications of Roshi having at least a vague ability to sense energy a well. There's also an entire set of groups who are all far, far stronger than any of the characters are right now, and not a single one of them has the ability to sense energy, so... If I had to guess, I'd wager this is sort of similar to the kiai we've seen a few times, in that it's a more fantasy-oriented take on an actual martial arts technique or methodology, and as such Toriyama expects most Japanese audiences to already be familiar with such things, so it doesn't really need explained any further. While that's left unexplained however, we get an answer to a question we didn't even know we had, and that's where Roshi got the kinto'un in the first place. It makes sense that he'd have received it from either his own master Mutaito or from someone like Karin, and given Karin's mystical nature, it makes the most sense that it comes from him. You have to wonder though, how few other people have actually qualified for their own kinto'un over the years? For that matter, where'd they come from in the first place, and is Karin the only person you can receive one from? This answer just ends up raising more questions come to think of it. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: As Goku and Yajirobe continue on their way through the cavern, a mysterious figure watches them from the shadows. Yajirobe asks Goku if it's really worth going through all of this to avenge some dead friends, as a few mysterious balls of light float unseen before Goku and Yajirobe's faces. The pair split up, and Goku soon hears what sounds like footsteps approaching him. He punches at the intruder, but he's surprised when his fist is easily caught by...Kame-sennin? Goku is surprised but relieved to see his master alive, who cryptically says he would never die. Goku asks Roshi if he came looking for the Super Holy Water as well, but Roshi simply tells Goku to come with him. As Yajirobe chases a lizard to try and eat it, Roshi leads Goku deeper into the cave, eventually coming to what appears to be Kame House. Roshi takes Goku inside to the others (Yamcha, Bulma, Lunch, Oolong, Puar, and the turtle), who all seem overjoyed to see him, though Goku is still confused by everything that's happening. Bulma explains to Goku that it was too dangerous on the surface due to King Piccolo so they relocated Kame House to the cave, and Puar invites Goku to stay down there with all of them. Goku declines for the moment, saying first he needs to find the Super Holy Water so he can defeat Piccolo. Everyone laughs at this notion, and Yamcha and Roshi tell Goku to forget about Piccolo and just live down here in safety with them, while also explaining that so long as they're down here, they'll all have eternal life and never die. Oolong says they can always go back to the surface once Piccolo dies, and Yamcha assures Goku they can train as long and hard as they want and will be able to have an incredible fight with each other at the next Tenkaichi Budokai once everything settles down. Despite all of this, Goku insists that he's going to go look for the Super Holy Water so he can defeat Piccolo himself, and starts to leave despite their protests. As he steps outside, Goku is stopped by Roshi, who says Goku will have to defeat him first if he wants to continue pursuing the water. Roshi breaks the ground between them and flings large rocks in Goku's direction, saying he'll never let Goku get the water, saying that the water was placed in this cave by the gods and isn't meant for the likes of humans. Goku insists that he has to get stronger no matter what, and dodges the rocks as best he can, only to realize in the end that he has no choice but to fight after all. Goku and Roshi fight but are soon interrupted when Yajirobe, having stepped off of a cliff in his pursuit of the lizard, falls onto Goku, causing him to almost fall down a second cliff, as Roshi stares mercilessly down at the pair. Roshi steps on Goku's hand and tells him that if he lets go of Yajirobe, he'll help him up and tell him where the Super Holy Water is. Goku realizes that the “Roshi” before him isn't the real thing as the real Kame-sennin would never say such a thing, and refuses to do as he asks. “Roshi” kicks at Goku, trying to force him to either let go of Yajirobe or both to fall, but Goku stubbornly holds on despite the attacks, even when “Roshi” electrocutes him with energy. As Goku's resolve shines through, “Roshi” suddenly disappears, and the entire cavern shakes, seemingly causing Goku and Yajirobe to fall only for them to suddenly find themselves on solid ground in front of a lake. A large, dark being appears from the lake, and Goku prepares to fight Darkness, but Darkness speaks and says he'll give Goku the Super Holy Water. Yajirobe points out the water on a table that appeared out of nowhere, and Darkness explains to Goku about the water's ability to draw out a person's power if they have any hidden, but also warns him that it if he doesn't have any hidden powers, it will change nothing. It also cautions Goku that the water is also a poison that is likely to kill him either way, and when Darkness explains that nobody has yet survived drinking the water, Yajirobe urges Goku not to go through with it. Undaunted however, Goku drinks the cup down in one gulp, and is immediately stricken by the water's poisonous effects. As Darkness and Yajirobe watch, Goku suffers in pain for hours, before finally, Karin gets a sense of Goku's power awakening from afar just as Goku's eyes re-open. Review: The bulk of why I wanted to cover these two episodes is in this one, and I'm glad to say that by and large, it really held up to how I remembered it. As I've already said ad nauseum, my issues with the Super Holy Water stem chiefly from how cheap and easy it results in a power-up for Goku. Here however, Goku's mettle is truly put to the test, alleviating a good deal of my issues with the water. Seeing 'dark' versions of Goku's friends is already an eerie enough idea, but it's made even spookier by how overly jovial they're acting, their laughter ringing somehow becoming far more unnerving than anything the fake Roshi does while attacking Goku later on. I think part of it is the same thing that seemingly starts to tip Goku off that somethings not quite right here - they're all just way to quick to try and ride things out and ignore what Piccolo has done. They don't even seem to mind Kuririn's death. In fact, Kuririn isn't even brought up outside of Goku's mentioning of he and Kame-sennin's death at the start of the episode, which is...sort of weird, now that I think about it. The Darkness's mental game seems to be offering up Goku what it thinks would be his heaven on Earth, a place he can eat and train for all of eternity, endlessly getting stronger without a care in the world. Despite that, it doesn't think to offer him up a spectral version of his best friend? I'm not sure if this is an oversight, or if it's intentional on some level. Perhaps it's supposed to be another cue that not everything is as it seems, or maybe Darkness's mind games only work to a certain degree – Goku actually knows for a fact Kuririn is dead because he saw his body, but he only knows Roshi is dead through second-hand means, so his brain might be more accepting of him suddenly turning out to be alive as compared to Kuririn. Yajirobe's purpose in the episode seems rather minute at first, what with him abandoning Goku to go off on his own to find an exit and ending up chasing a lizard, but by the end of the episode, he actually does end up serving a purpose. I thought in the last episode that him coming along was needless, but I'm glad to be proven wrong here as he ends up being the lynchpin by which Goku proves his resolve ultimately. When the Darkness realizes that Goku is going to continue going after the water no matter what, he decides to flip the equation on the young boy, and offers it to him directly if he'll just let Yajirobe die. It's clear that the Darkness can read Goku's mind to some degree since it was able to channel up fairly accurate copies of his friends, so it already knows that Goku isn't anywhere near as close to Yajirobe as he is to them, putting him in the perfect place for the type of person that a lot of people would deem an 'acceptable' sacrifice in the name of a greater good...but Goku isn't like a lot of people. He refuses to intentionally sacrifice someone even to save someone else, even to better himself, and it's that act that wins the Darkness over in the end. From there, the rest of the episode largely follows a re-tooled version of Karin explaining the Super Holy Water's risks to Goku (though it also includes a few scenes that I'm skipping over for now because they'll come in the next chapter), before finally going through the same motions as the manga does...including Goku getting through the water's poisoning effects in mere moments that are explained to have actually been hours according to the words of characters. I still don't like how quickly that turn of events goes (and it's ironic that even the anime keeps it as that brief, when later events that are said to take only minutes take hours upon hours of runtime), but I still think that overall, Goku having to contend with the Darkness and it's test make for a much more compelling journey to this end. It's not perfect, but at least here Goku was definitely put through the wringer mentally first, and that counts for something. Until next time! Favorite Scene: The fakes of Goku's friends trying to convince him to stay with them is perfectly eerie and really sets the mood for the test Goku is being put through. Next Time: A world of terror, with a light at the end of the tunnel. Synopsis: As Piccolo and his attendant settle in to King's castle, Karin asks Goku if he'd like to drink the Super Holy Water, explaining that it could draw out Goku's hidden strengths. Goku eagerly agrees to try it, and Karin explains his first task then will be finding it. He tells Goku of a labyrinth of ice in the far northern reaches and of a cavern beyond that where the water is said to be. Goku vows to find the water and bring it back, and even tries to get Yajirobe to come with him, but Yajirobe refuses, instead leaving to use the bathroom. On his way back up, Yajirobe spots a jar off on it's own and wonders if Karin has hidden better food there. Upon opening it, he finds that it's very cold inside, and ends up falling inside of it just moments before Goku and Karin enter, with Karin explaining that the entrance to the ice cavern is through the jar. Before Goku leaves, Karin warns Goku to be careful if he comes face to face with the Darkness, an entity that almost seems like it's alive and may be keeping the water away from people. Once Goku is in the cavern, Karin tells him to return to the spot he fell to once he has the water and he'll give him a lift back up. Karin decides to take a nap unil Goku returns, only to discover Yajirobe is nowhere to be found. Goku begins wandering his way through the ice cavern and soon comes upon an annoyed Yajirobe who just wants to leave this place. Goku follows Yajirobe as he tries to get back to the entrance, but the pair soon finds that they're already lost. Yajirobe angrily kicks at an ice block only to discover someone frozen inside, and he realizes that if they don't find a way out of here soon, he and Goku will be next. As the pair tries to leave, the ice beneath their feet begins to crack and spews out a frozen wind that forms a large ice monster before their eyes. The creature tries to freeze and blow away the pair, and Yajirobe tries to stop it by cutting it in half, but the creature's top half reforms in an instant. Goku tries next to knock it down, but his attacks have no effect either. With nothing left to try, Goku blows the creature away with a Kamehameha, prompting the dark, foreboding voice of Darkness to awaken from down below, questioning itself as to why humans have once again tried to seek it's cave. Even Goku's Kamehameha proves unable to stop the ice monster for good, and as Yajirobe flees, he accidentally drops a bunch of senzu beans he'd stolen and hidden in his shirt. As he tries to pick them all up, the ice monster almost catches them, and Goku quickly hops onto Yajirobe and the pair skate down a long ice slide, finally escaping the creature and ending up in the cavern at last. As the Darkness says that it appears they have guests, a familiar looking person steps forth from the shadows – Kame-sennin?! Review: As stated in my last review, a big part of my problem with the Super Holy Water is how cheap of a power-up it is given that Goku effectively doesn't have to go through any sort of training or ordeal to get it, and that it's part of the story is over and done with so quickly that it renders the whole thing feeling even cheaper as a result. Either the staff at Toei felt the same or they just needed to pad things out a little bit further, because in this version of events, Goku doesn't just get handed the Super Holy Water by Karin, he actually has to go on a bit of a quest to get it in the first place. This, in my humble opinion, is a VAST improvement upon this material. Sure, it's still a cheap power-up, but at least here Goku actually has to DO something first to get it. The ice labyrinth and the cavern beyond it are portrayed just as mysterious and spooky as Karin describes them too, with Goku and Yajirobe getting lost almost immediately, and even getting set upon by a mysterious ice creature just because they happen to be there. I can't really say if Yajirobe was really needed for this venture, and things may have been even more interesting if it was just Goku on his own once again – especially given Yajirobe's reluctance to even do anything else at this point anyway – but I can't really blame Toei for wanting to establish the character even further. For all they knew, he was going to be a pretty important character moving forward, so they wanted to get people as endeared to him as much as possible. Either way, I honestly can't remember if the senzu beans he brought with him come into play before this filler story is done or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if they do – things have only just been changed to be a healing item, and they're already primed to be abused. Before I talk about the end of the episode, I should mention there's a few moments in the episode that I intentionally didn't really mention in the synopsis. There's a scene of Tenshinhan practicing the Mafuba, likely taken from the last chapter of the manga, but there's also a few scenes with King Piccolo, and...Suno from the Muscle Tower story arc? Anyone who's only followed the manga up until this point would be bound to be confused, that's for sure. It's not material I'll really be covering here due to how much of it is scattered about in episodes that are chiefly canon material, so I'll keep it brief – in the anime version of the King Piccolo arc, Toei padded things out a bit by showing us a few more characters involved in things than the manga version did. This ranged from showing more martial artists dying to Tambourine, to a brief check in with Gyu-mao and Chi Chi, and most importantly here, a sub-plot about Suno coming to King's castle as part of a celebration only to be caught up in things when King Piccolo takes over. This ultimately leads to Android 8 coming to save her in events that I also won't really be going over in these reviews either, but suffice to say it's all innocent enough material that doesn't really interfere with the original manga material in any harmful way. In fact, it's nice to see some of these old characters again and see how something like King Piccolo's reign, which is already affecting the whole world, are reacting to things. Again, it's ultimately too married to episodes that are largely covering material from the manga though, so it ends up on the chopping block unfortunately. It's a shame, but it is what it is. The episode itself ends with another cryptic tease of the Darkness that Karin spoke of, as well as the sudden reappearance of Roshi, who we know to be dead currently. Of all the things that had to have gotten fan's brains going at the time, I'm sure this one had to really gotten people wondering what the plan was (especially since the manga would have been much further ahead in the story by this point). Is Roshi using his one day back like Grandpa Gohan did, and if so, why does he seem to be helping this 'Darkness'? Hmm... Until next time! Favorite Scene: The final scene of the Darkness speaking and Kame-sennin stepping out is pretty great and mysterious. Next Time: Roshi is alive? That seems awfully sus... Synopsis: Karin tells Goku about the true 'Super Holy Water', a liquid that has gone by many names throughout history. Goku asks Karin if he'll really get stronger by drinking it, but Karin confesses to being unsure. He explains that unlike the water Goku trained with before, this holy water is real and is said to be able to draw out any and all hidden strength left within a person, meaning if you are already at your full potential, the water cannot make you any stronger. Goku wonders if he even has any hidden powers left, but Yajirobe suggests he just drink the water and find out, but Karin says it's not as easy as all that either. The true Super Holy Water is also a powerful poison, and if someone without a strong stamina and will to live were to drink it, they would surely die, as it's only after the body battles the poison that any hidden strength is drawn out. Yajirobe thinks this sounds dangerous, and asks Karin if he's ever drunk it, with Karin confessing that he tried once and couldn't tolerate it so he immediately spat it back out. Yajirobe then asks how many people have drunk it and lived, and Karin says that of the fourteen people in the past who have taken the Super Holy Water, all of them were powerful and skilled fighters...and all of them died. Yajirobe says that if nobody survived there's no way to know for sure if the stuff even works, but Karin says the stories of the water's effects have been passed down since ancient times, so he truly believes what it's capable of in the right hands. Goku says he'll give it a try, surprising both Yajirobe and Karin. Yajirobe tells Goku he's going to die, but Goku says if he tries to fight Piccolo without drinking it, he's going to die as well. Yajirobe says the answer is easy then, don't fight Piccolo, but Goku refuses, resolute in his decision to avenge Kuririn and Roshi. Karin says that as things stand now, Piccolo is invincible and the world will soon be as he wishes it to be, and Yajirobe concedes, deciding that it really doesn't affect him much if Goku lives or dies anyway. Karin pours some of the true Super Holy Water into a cup and offers it to Goku, but Yajirobe gets a little on his finger first just to test. He immediately starts to gag after licking it off and spits it out, warning Goku that he's going to die for sure if he drinks that stuff. Karin also cautions Goku, saying that nobody will think anything less of him if he decides not to do this, and that if he trains for several more years, he might one day surpass Piccolo somehow. Goku says they don't have time to waste however, and downs the cup in one gulp. Goku is immediately affected by the water, dropping the cup and falling to the floor while screaming in pain. Yajirobe tells Goku to just spit it back up, but Goku refuses to give in or to die. Back in the wasteland where Piccolo made his wish, Tenshinhan practices the Mafuba, missing the rice cooker and leaving a hole in the ground where several more holes show that he's been at this for some time. Tenshinhan curses himself, saying that if he doesn't get better at this move, he'll never be able to seal away King Piccolo and will end up dying in vain just like Kame-sennin did. He vows not to let that happen lest Roshi and Chaozu's death remain in vain, but is willing to die so long as it results in Piccolo being sealed away once more. The next morning, Goku continues to lie on the floor of Karin's tower, panting and wheezing in pain. Yajirobe says Goku has been like this for almost six hours now, and Karin is amazed at Goku's will to live. Suddenly, Goku grunts again, and Karin is overwhelmed by the mental image of the Oozaru. Yajirobe asks Karin what's wrong, and Karin says he just caught a glimpse of Goku's hidden powers just as Goku's eyes suddenly open. Out in the wasteland, Tenshinhan successfully lands the Mafuba inside the rice cooker, and thinks he's ready to take on King Piccolo at last. Yajirobe congratulates Goku for not dying while Karin marvels at the boy's fortitude. Staring down at his own hands, Goku himself is amazed by how much power he can feel flowing out of him now. Review: Alright, let's talk about the true 'Super Holy Water'. I'll start things off – I hate the true 'Super Holy Water'. Like, a lot. You might think I'm overreacting a bit, but honestly, I'm not. This is the first time in the series that an increase in power feels completely unearned, and what's worse, it starts a trend of this happening more and more often as the series goes on, each time giving bigger and greater increases in power, with less and less actual weight behind it. It's gotten to a point where it's almost hard to even be angry at modern Dragon Ball material when it does it, because it's only doing what has been done time and time again throughout the material that came before it. Over time we'll get variations on this theme via transformations (another trend that will dominate the series once introduced), but even those bother at least me less than these instances. While later uses of this plot element will arguably be even bigger asspulls (I can think of two in particular), I can't help but still fault this one the most for being where it all started. Back when I covered Goku's first training with Karin, I mentioned how much I enjoyed the twist there that the water was never the point, and the real purpose of the water was to give Goku something to go after while getting used to the thinner air that high in the sky after also going through the arduous task of climbing the tower. It made Goku actually go through something to achieve his increase in power, and actually felt like training in the end, not so different from the sorts of crazy things he did while training under Kame-sennin. None of that is here this time however, as it's quite literally drink the water and BOOM, instant power-up. To give credit where it's due at least, the story attempts to present this as an uncertain thing, but I don't think any of it really lands honestly. Karin brings up the idea that the water won't have any effect if you're already at the limits of your strength – but if the water was going to do absolutely nothing, it probably wouldn't have gotten brought up at all, as we've already been through that twist once before. Karin also brings up the possibility of Goku dying, and for what it's worth, there is some time spent selling the idea that Goku has been poisoned and might not make it through this...but it's not enough. In the course of this one chapter, Goku has the water explained to him, he drinks it, he gets sick...and then he gets better and seems to feel stronger than ever. WHY. Why is this all contained in this ONE chapter?! There's no sense of actual danger here, no sustaining of tension that could have been there even minutely if it had taken him more than this chapter to get through the pain – it just happens, it's gotten over with as quick as possible, and now Goku is stronger because the plot's going to need him to be stronger because we all saw what happened last time he fought Piccolo. It's. Maddening. This is the first time in the series' run that I really wish Toriyama's editor at the time had turned to him and made him re-work something from the ground up. The worst part is how easily at least part of this could have been fixed too. If we'd seen Goku get to the top of Karin's tower a handful of chapters ago, drink the water, and had still been suffering from the poison off-screen until the end of this chapter, I think this would be a little easier to stomach. Granted, it would still be a really contrived way to make Goku stronger, but having him be offscreen for more than three measly pages would have better sold the idea that he was actually in some sort of danger from drinking the water. But nope – Toriyama just needed a way to have Goku get stronger, and I guess steroids from the Gods were good enough in this instance. Ugh. I guess if I had to praise one thing about this power increase, it's that I do like the imagery of the Oozaru (something we haven't seen since the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai) to symbolize Goku's inner strength being drawn out. That's a pretty clever way to show him getting stronger, and it's a shame the same level of care couldn't have been put to the rest of this endeavor. The only other thing this chapter brings us is the reveal that Tenshinhan is up and able again, and that he's seemingly figured out how to do the Mafuba from only seeing it once. We saw him do this with the Kamehameha before, and at the time he derided it as it being just such a simple move that anone with any real skill could pick it up that easily - Goku did the same thing back when he first saw it after all. That he was able to pick up even the basics of the Mafuba, a much more complicated technique, in an equal amount of time, speaks volumes towards just how skilled Tenshinhan really is. Seeing him practice it is almost a bit weird though, given that what we've been told about the technique prior to now is that it's a one-time use kind of deal, and it's user dies immediately afterwards. I suppose it's possible that death only occurs when one actually grabs hold of an evil being with the technique, as Tenshinhan is currently practicing with an empty blast and just trying to get the aim right in regards to the rice cooker, whereas Roshi actually had hold of King Piccolo in his Mafuba. It would also explain how Roshi managed to have it's use pretty well mastered – you know, other than his aim being off – after having not seen it or likely practiced it for over a hundred years. He likely practiced it quite a bit in a manner similar to Tenshinhan after Mutaito's death, or possibly practiced it alongside Mutaito as his master crafted the technique in the first place. This is all conjecture however, as nothing is really said in series (or out of it that I'm aware of) to explain this. It could be something far simpler than that: Toriyama decided to show exactly what card Tenshinhan has in his hand before he ultimately plays it. This wouldn't be a problem in-of-itself if it weren't also kneecapped by the timing of it's reveal in this chapter. We've already seen that Goku has come through the other side of drinking the poison without any real problem, and has seemingly become much stronger as a result. Given that, do we really think it's going to be Tenshinhan saving the day by using a technique we've already seen fail against the Demon King once? The Super Holy Water is ruining everything it's touching, I swear. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: Standing atop the king's escape ship, King Piccolo kicks open the top of it and asks him if it's really fitting for the King of the World to run away like a rat. The King asks Piccolo who he is, and Piccolo introduces himself as the Demon King who will be taking the title of King of the World for himself now. One of the King's soldiers tries to shoot Piccolo, only to be taken by surprise when it has no effect. Piccolo chuckles at how they still don't seem to understand his power, before picking the soldier up by his head. The King pleads with Piccolo to let the man go, and Piccolo obliges by dropping him from the plane to the ground far below. The King asks Piccolo to state whatever it is he's after, and Piccolo reiterates that he's here to claim the position of King of the World for himself, and he wants the current King to announce the new situation to the entire world at once. The King says he couldn't possibly do such a thing, causing Piccolo to say he thought something like this might happen so he's prepared to give a 'demonstration'. He raises a fist in front of his face and the King asks him what he's going to do, and Piccolo tells him to watch closely before channeling his energy and causing a large section of the city below to explode, much to the horror of the King and his remaining soldier. Piccolo explains that if he's annoyed, he won't hesitate to destroy the entire world like this, so he asks the King once again to cede power to him lest he turn the entire area before them into a desert. Left with no other choice, the King agrees to Piccolo's demands. At Karin's tower, Yajirobe tries to catch his breath while Karin marvels at how remarkable the fat man is for climbing the tower while carrying Goku on his back. As Yajirobe is taken aback by a talking cat, Goku starts to explain the situation to Karin, but Karin already knows about his defeat and what's going on down below with King Piccolo, saying that he can see events of the world from his tower. Since Karin already has the gist of things, Goku asks him to please train him once again so he can get strong enough to take down Piccolo. Karin doesn't answer right away, instead tossing Goku a senzu bean. Hearing the name of it, Yajirobe is appalled that the 'feast' he was promised was such a little bean, and grabbing the pot from Karin, begins stuffing his face with them while complaining about the taste. Yajirobe soon balloons up from overeating and ends up back on the floor groaning in pain, while Goku explains that one bean will fill you up for ten days. After eating his own however, Goku is surprised to find himself healed as well as his stomach filled, and Karin explains that the senzu are able to restore energy and heal injuries as well. Now completely renewed, Goku asks Karin again to train him, but Karin informs Goku that he's already taught him all that he can, and tells Goku that he's already surpassed him in power to boot. Karin also says that it's impossible to win against Piccolo as his strength is otherworldly, and he was even too much for Kame-sennin to survive against. Goku is enraged at the news of his master's death, and angrily starts to storm off to fight Piccolo again, but Karin stops him and says he'll just die if he goes. Goku says he can't just let Piccolo keep getting away with this, and Karin asks him again if he's really willing to die if that's what it comes to. When Goku is undeterred, Karin says that if he's likely going to die anyway, then Goku may want to try and drink the Super Holy Water. Review: Like the previous chapter, this one gives us equal parts more or less on what Piccolo and Goku are both up to. This time around however, both Goku and Piccolo's portions move the story along and give us something to think about, but let's start things off with Piccolo since that's what the chapter does as well. With the cliffhanger ending of the previous chapter, we've now been introduced to the King of the World, and as I mentioned...he's a dog. This isn't the first or the last time we'll see animal people in the world of Dragon Ball (though it is something that becomes more and more irregular as the series continues sadly), but this is the first time since Oolong and Puar that one has been given any relevancy to the story whatsoever. I mean, if being King of the entire world isn't relevant, I don't know what is. The idea of the entire Earth of Dragon Ball being ruled by a single person is something that I don't think has ever come up before this arc either. Sure, ruling the world has been the desire of three different villainous entities by now – Pilaf wanted to wish to rule the world, and both the Red Ribbon before him and Piccolo curently have endeavored to conquer the world – but those were always coming from a position of taking it by force in some capacity. Despite that, nothing was ever said about there already being a solitary King in charge of the entire thing. The Red Ribbon's endgame likely would have been something akin to what Piccolo is now doing, just with more guns, but it really makes you wonder how Pilaf's wish would have gone if he'd actually gotten it. Would Shenlong have made the King call him up, give him the crown, and then announce it to the entire world? Would it have just been mass mind control and made everyone think Pilaf already was King? It's interesting to think about. At any rate, having the entire Earth be one collective society rather than there being different countries (though there do seem to be regions with their own cultures and lifestyles from what we've seen) does unfortunately make the world seem a little smaller than it was before. Everywhere Goku has gone before now has always been part of this same 'kingdom' as it were, and anywhere he could potentially go on Earth from here on out would also be a part of it. I don't think we would ever have realistically expected any sort of political intrigue or war between countries kind of story from Toriyama, but what I'm getting at is that having essentially a one world country be what Earth in the series amounts to does sort of limit the potential journeys Goku could go on from this point forward. With that in mind, it's easy to see why things ultimately go the way that they do in the 'Z' era. Piccolo's actions in proving his point by blowing up part of the city do more than convince the King to hand over his throne (a move that can be read into as him realizing this is the only way to save more lives at the moment), it also convinces us as an audience of just how much stronger Piccolo has become. Once again ignoring those times Roshi blew up a mountain and later the moon (man Toriyama really peaked a little too early with that one, huh?), we've not really seen anything quite on this level of destruction in the series. If nothing else, we've at least never seen those levels of destruction without it also taking a lot out of the character – Roshi was out of breath for a bit after blowing up the mountain, and he was all but spent from destroying the moon. Piccolo isn't even the least bit winded from blowing up the city, showing that he still has plenty of power in reserve. Things are about as stacked against Goku's favor as they could possibly be at this point. Which of course brings us to Goku's portion of the story. Before talking about the main reveal of that section though, let's first talk about the slight retcon going on in regards to the senzu. When they were first introduced to us, they were merely a bean that could fill your stomach up for ten days, something that worked even on the ravenous Goku. As a tool to utilize, they were pretty limited with that being their only function, so Toriyama reintroduces them here as basically a super medicine as well. I'm kinda of two minds on this one to be honest. On the one hand, the senzu being healing items is something I've known them as for basically my entire life as a fan, having been introduced to the Z material first like a lot of US fans were. They've always been useful in a pinch, and have allowed characters to get back onto their feet and ready for the next fight after brutal beatdowns so that the story can keep moving forward without having to go on break for a time so healing can happen. They're useful plot macguffins, arguably more so than the Dragon Balls, since these aren't limited to one use a year. At the same time, their usefulness kind of becomes a problem in-of-itself, which leads to Toriyama having to come up with reasons to limit them, as well as being yet another safety net for the characters to fall back on so things don't feel TOO dangerous. It also can't help but feel like the retcon it is since they just so happen to be revealed as medicinal right when Goku goes back a second time, injured, when nothing had been hinted as such prior to that. I'd be curious to hear how others feel about this change in senzu's capability. But then comes the arguably bigger reveal, though some of that I won't talk about until the next review. Karin reveals to Goku that there's nothing he can do to make Goku stronger than he already is as well as the death of Roshi, meaning Goku's down two masters in one conversation. It really seems like there's nothing that can be done, but Goku would much rather face Piccolo again and die – something that would almost definitely happen, even with Goku no doubt getting a power boost here (for reasons we learn far later), due to Piccolo's restored youth and powers – than stand by and do nothing. Which is why Karin decides to offer for him to drink the 'Super Holy Water'. But wait, haven't we already DONE this? Well, sort of...except this time...ugh. Fair warning – there's a rant in your future. Until next time! Favorite Panel: |
About the AuthorAspiring author and big anime/manga fan, just trying to do my best in the world. For more details, go to About Me. Archives
September 2022
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