Synopsis: Goku, Yamcha, and Kuririn head back to the others to tell them how they did and what's been going on. Roshi is sorry to hear about Chaozu's loss, but even more concerned when he hears that it's Taopaipai he lost to. Roshi thinks that Tenshinhan matching up with Taopaipai is cause for concern, especially as Taopaipai will know Tenshinhan's moves well, but Goku isn't worried, saying that Taopaipai's no match for Tenshinhan. Suddenly, Tsuru-sennin appears and says that they'll regret remarks like that soon enough, and he tells the Turtle students that they should flee while they still can. Roshi sets him straight, saying that Tenshinhan never joined the Kame school, and that the others have all graduated from it as well. Tsuru-sennin asks why they're still wearing his mark then, and Roshi says they all chose to do so for themselves, with Kuririn saying that Tsuru-sennin wouldn't understand respect since he's not worth any. Tsuru-sennin smirks and leaves, telling them to enjoy that respect while they can, as the much stronger Taopaipai will soon deal with them all. Bulma scowls at the old man as he leaves, saying that he's just as big a jerk as ever, but Goku still isn't worried at all. An announcement calls for all contestants to assemble at once, and Roshi encourages his former students to do their best, but to know when the withdraw if they need to. As they head off, Roshi chuckles to himself and says that this time he'll just sit back and enjoy the tournament, confusing Bulma. The group soon runs into a crowd and finds they can't get any closer to the ring. As Roshi wonders what they should do, Bulma pulls out a thistle and tickles Lunch's nose with it, forcing her to sneeze. The blonde Lunch fires her guns and clears the way for them all to get good seats ringside. As they walk back, Kuririn asks Goku if Taopaipai really isn't a big deal now if he was so strong before, and Goku says it's because Tenshinhan himself is much stronger than before. Kuririn still isn't sure about this, but Goku distracts them by offering them a senzu. He starts to explain to them about the bean, but Kuririn and Yamcha laugh and reveal they already know about them, and even have some of their own. They explain that both them, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu all went and trained at Karin tower before setting off on their own to continue their training, and Goku is impressed that they all went through the same thing he did. Kuririn says they invited that Yajirobe guy as well, but it seems he didn't show up. Goku says Yajirobe hates things like this anyway, but a scoffing Yajirobe hides behind a bush, saying that he did come, he just lost, that's all. The tournament announcer proclaims the start of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, and asks the first two contestants to step into the ring. Goku wishes Tenshinhan luck as he leaves, and Taopaipai “consoles” him as well, saying that he doesn't have to worry about dying just yet. Taopaipai plans instead to beat both Tenshinhan and later Goku only half to death, and then after he's won the tournament, he'll kill them at his own leisure. Tenshinhan's friends cheer him on, and Taopaipai asks him if he's ready, and Tenshinhan agrees. Tsuru-sennin smirks, thinking he's about to see glorious revenge, but as Taopaipai rushes Tenshinhan, the younger fighter quickly reacts, dodging and chopping Taopaipai in the neck, sending him sprawling to the ground. Goku smirks as everyone else is shocked, and Taopaipai gets back onto his feet, angry but praising Tenshinhan for having improved some since he's been away. Tenshinhan says he'll forgive Taopaipai for what he did to Chaozu, and begs him to leave. Taopaipai is taken aback, and Tenshinhan disappears before his eyes, reappearing behind him. Tenshinhan begs with him to leave once more, saying that he's become far stronger than Taopaipai imagines. Review: The fighting might not start until towards the end of this chapter, but even before that, this one's all about the Crane school and what's become of it. Back when they were first introduced as a rival school for Roshi's Kame school, it seemed like something that was going to be long-lasting to some degree. As things went on however, Tenshinhan and Chaozu both underwent a change of heart, and the Crane school was, in effect, dissolved right then and there. Tenshinhan and Chaozu both still fight with that style, and as Roshi points out, they never actually join the Kame school – but let's be honest, they may as well have just by joining the group as a whole. And as things stand now, the Kame school is effectively no longer a thing either. Goku, Kuririn, and Yamcha are still wearing their gi, but they've all officially graduated from Roshi's tutelage, leaving him without any students that he's actively training. As such, the era of martial arts schooling and the rivalries between those school, as short lived as it was, seem to be over for them. So of course, leave it to two old assholes like Tsuru-sennin and Taopaipai to not leave things be, and to try and bring back up that old drama again. Taopaipai at least has ample reason to be angry at Goku, but the drama against Tenshinhan is all about him and his brother's outrage at being told how awful their teachings were and their former students wanting nothing to do with them anymore. Just as in real life, it's often the awful people who don't realize that they're the real problem whenever something makes them angry, and they love to take it out on those they believe have slighted them. Of course, it's easier for us as readers and for the former Turtle school characters to write them off, but for Tenshinhan and Chaozu, it's understandably harder. They have a history with the pair of them, and although their paths may have separated now, for better or worse, they're still responsible for making the two of them who they are today. Although their ties aren't ones of blood, I'm sure most of us with family that we've disagreed with to the point of no return can feel a little bit of what they might be going through right now. It isn't easy. This fact is further reflected once we get to the actual fight, if you even want to call it that, as Tenshinhan is immediately shown to be far superior to his former teacher. One could argue that all that build-up of Taopaipai being a threat was wasted, but I think there's more to it than just a fight honestly. And it has been highlighted constantly throughout this chapter by Goku not being worried in the least, and even outright saying that Tenshinhan was the stronger of the two, so the idea that this was going to be a quick, easy fight, has alread been teased. We'll have to wait until the next chapter for the outcome of the fight, but there were a couple of other moments in this chapter I wanted to touch on first. We're once again treated to a somewhat good use of Lunch as a joke, but admittedly? It's not as good as it was before, even now, because it's the same joke we've seen before. There's nothing new to it, it's just Lunch being Lunch. That said, if you are a fan of her or these jokes, you should probably enjoy them while you can. There's also a quick moment revealing that Goku's friends did indeed go and train at Karin's, before venturing out into the world and doing training of their own, effectively making their training path almost identical to what Goku's was leading up to the 22nd Budokai. One could argue that that should leave them far weaker than what Goku was after such training, but let's not forget that when Goku did it, he did all of it alone. At least for the Karin training, the group likely had each other to train against (though how that works with the training we saw before, I'm not sure), and as the series goes on, we'll see it make no qualms about solo training being vastly inferior to training with a good sparring partner, so it's really not that ludicrous that they'd be far more caught up than you'd think. That said, do you think Yajirobe actually trained with Karin at any point in those three years as well? He almost had to, you'd think, right? I can just imagine Karin forcing it on him by tricking him to fall off the tower, or bribing him with food, or something. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: The falling threat of Taopaipai.
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Synopsis: Goku and Tenshinhan are in disbelief that Taopaipai is alive, but the assassin informs them that he'd never die so easily, though he does admit to having been left in pretty bad shape. Kuririn asks Goku who this guy is, and Goku explains his identity as a hired assassin he thought he'd killed, as well as the brother of Tsuru-sennin and one of the former masters of Tenshinhan and Chaozu. A referee tries to interrupt the conversation, but Taopaipai threatens him if he won't stop interfering. Taopaipai explains that it took every bit of his money and some time, but he has returned as a cyborg, and thanks to that, he's many times more powerful than he was before. He tells Goku to get past the preliminaries, because he wants to kill him in the final round, and after the tournament, he'll deal with Tenshinhan and Chaozu as well for their turncoat behavior. Tenshinhan insists that he hasn't joined the Kame school but rather just found some of the things he'd been taught previously to be incorrect, but Taopaipai doesn't want to hear his excuses. With no other choice, Tenshinhan agrees to fight with him whenever it's time.
The preliminaries continue, and Piccolo advances past his first fight with ease as well. Kuririn scoffs at their bad luck to have so many skilled fighters show up this year, but Goku smiles at the thought of getting to fight a Piccolo that's even stronger than the one he defeated before. As the fights go on, Goku, Tenshinhan, Kuririn, Yamcha, Piccolo, and Taopaipai all secure spots in the tournament. The friends watch as the mysterious girl who got angry at Goku earlier earns a spot as well, leaving only one more spot to fill. The group turns to watch the final preliminary fight, between a nerdy looking older man and a fat man wearing a mask. Kuririn in particular can't believe the nerdy man has made it this far with how he's moving, but as the man rushes his larger opponent, he trips and accidentally dodges the fat man's punch. As he raises back up, the nerdy man's head slams into the fat man's chin, knocking him out cold. Kuririn laughs at such an embarrassing match, but the tournament's eight fighters have been decided. As the announcer leads the eight fighters away to draw lots for the tournament, the fat participant that lost gets up and removes his mask. Yajirobe is cross at having lost like that, but at least nobody recognized him. That said, he can't tell if that old man really won by accident, or if he'd planned to do that... As the fighters draw lots, the announcer is at first terrified to see Kuririn, thinking that he's a ghost, but Kuririn assures him that he's just come back to life. When the lottery is finished, the first round of fights for the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai are decided – Taopaipai V.S. Tenshinhan; Son Goku V.S. 'Name Withheld' (the mysterious girl); Demon Junior (Piccolo) V.S. Kuririn; and Shen (the nerdy old man) V.S. Yamcha. Review: This might be the best opening chapter to a tournament this series has ever had, which is little surprise as I feel this is definitely the best tournament the series has ever had. Sure, the stakes aren't any higher than they would be for a few other tournaments in the series, but they are such a nice mix of personal and wide-spread, known threats and mysterious ones, that it's really hard to top this buildup. Coming off of the last chapter, Taopaipai reveals his reasons for being here – revenge, I know, what a shocker – but he also reveals just how exactly he came back. We're not given all the gory details mind you, but we can infer that Taopaipai must have survived the grenade blast, and either someone came by and helped him or he drug himself somewhere to get medical attention. For the exact moment in the series, it's rather unclear exactly how he managed that in such an injured state, or who would have helped him. Given something we'll be learning far later on in regards to the Red Ribbon however? I personally have a theory, though it's just that, nothing actually substantiated by the series proper or a guidebook anywhere that I'm aware of. At any rate, Taopaipai proclaims that his cyborg enhancement has made him far stronger than he was before. There's nothing shown yet to suggest this is true or false, but Taopaipai is a skilled fighter, so it probably is safe to assume that he really is quite a bit stronger than he was before. He's no doubt boasting, but also speaking the truth to at least some degree, though how much so is up for debate. What isn't up for debate is that his goal of revenge eclipses any other thoughts, as it seems he's only holding himself back from killing people so that he can kill Goku in the final round. Doing so would leave him disqualified (and the tournament without a champion this year), but he really doesn't care – he just wants to kill Goku. Given that he's out all of that cash though, you'd think he would be at least a LITTLE interested in the prize money...guess he's willing to live life a little more low-key and get money back over time. After that encounter, the rest of the chapter flies through the rest of the preliminaries, as there's really no reason to show much of them. We already know that Goku's far stronger than anyone he'd be fighting in them, and the same goes for his friends, and Taopaipai and Piccolo as well. That just leaves two more spots to be filled, and it's those that Toriyama makes it a point to show us, albeit briefly. The woman that talked to Goku before claims a spot for herself, and then...a nerdy old guy and a fat guy. Gee, almost seems like the tournament's losing it's luster, huh? This seems to be the case at first as the old man seems to win by a fluke. What the audience gets to see that nobody else does however is what makes even this fighter more curious than he was before. Yajirobe is a skilled fighter, at least somewhat on par with Goku from after the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. It's uncertain as of this chapter if he's gotten any stronger himself since that time, but even if he hasn't? He still should be head and shoulders over that old guy, in-so-far as we can tell. The fact that he lost, coupled with the fact that even he can't tell if the guy did it on purpose or not, immediately adds a sense of mystery to him. Oh, and I do love the tournament announcer's freakout upon seeing Kuririn alive. Guess he never got the memo about people coming back. As the chapter draws to a close, we're informed of the first four fights we're going to see in the tournament, and although I'm willing to admit this is a biased take given my love for this arc? I will go on record as arguing that this is the best tournament set-up we've had, far eclipsing both the 21st and the 22nd Budokais. I mean, just LOOK at this list. Taopaipai V.S. Tenshinhan – this is a grudge match that you just know is going to be ugly, and it's headlining the whole event. Goku V.S. 'Name Withheld' – the mystery around who this girl is continues, as she's shown to be scowling at Goku who is just confused. Before moving on, it's worth noting that these two fights being at the start of the tournament already highlights a fun possibility – if Taopaipai wins, well get Goku having a rematch with him; but if Tenshinhan wins, then it's him and Goku in a rematch, and either one of these is bound to be exciting. That's of course assuming Goku wins his own match but...well...yeah. Moving on, Demon Junior V.S. Kuririn – this is just a tense one to look at for the audience, because we know who Piccolo is, and we know that Kuririn doesn't. That coupled with the fact that Kuririn has already died once before against one of the previous Piccolo's minions, and this just seems like a deadly recipe coming together. And finally, Shen V.S. Yamcha. While this fight isn't as tense in it's scope as any of the previous three, it still has plenty of intrigue, as we have no idea who this Shen guy is or what he's about, but we do know that he beat Yajirobe. We also know Yamcha's history within these tournaments. Surely Toriyama wouldn't have him lose in his first match THREE times in a row...right? ...At any rate, there's just no beating the different angles and various levels of hype that the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai has set up right from it's start, and I'm excited to see it through. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: Goku and Piccolo continue to stare down each other until the latter walks away. Tenshinhan asks Goku if it's one of Piccolo's offspring, and Goku says that's more-or-less correct, and asks him to keep it secret for now so that it doesn't start a panic. Yamcha and Kuririn, having not overheard this conversation, say that they can tell that guy isn't an ordinary person and ask if he's a friend of Goku's, but Goku says he's just someone that looks really strong.
A hand suddenly pats Goku's shoulder, and he turns around to see a beautiful young woman who calls him by name, surprising his friends. Goku stares at the woman and asks who she is, instantly enraging her. She calls him stupid and marches off, leaving everyone to wonder who she is. Goku says he's never met her before, but Kuririn accosts him and says that she didn't act like that was the case, demanding that Goku be honest about if he was really training in Heaven all this time or not. An announcement comes on over the speakers and asks all contestants to gather for the preliminaries. The announcement goes on to explain that there are only 72 participants vying for a spot in the tournament this time, and that they'd like to think it's because the quality of competition was so high last time. Tenshinhan however is worried about why Piccolo's heir has come to the tournament. As the contestants start to draw lots, Tenshinhan asks Chaozu to use his powers to put all of them, plus 'that guy' (Piccolo), into different blocks. As everyone marvels at how lucky they are to be spread out enough to not have to fight each other until the actual tournament, the first two fighters are asked to step forward. Goku steps into the ring to find that his first opponent in the preliminaries is the same as the last tournament, King Chappa, who is determined to avenge his previous loss. The match starts, and Goku doesn't take any sort of fighting stance, angering Chappa. Goku's friends however notice that Goku's barely putting out any ki at all and is perfectly calm. Chappa leaps into a kick aimed at Goku's face, but Goku disappears before his very eyes, reappearing behind him. Chappa can't feel his presence there however, and looks into the air above him, expecting Goku to come from above as he did the last time they fought. Goku knocks Chappa out with a single light chop to the neck, surprising the entire crowd. Goku's friends are shocked as well, but amused, realizing Goku hasn't even shown any of his real strength at all yet. Piccolo too recognizes that Goku has much more in store, but doesn't think there's any cause for worry, planning to dismember Goku before the crowds of the tournament. The preliminaries continue, and Kuririn, Yamcha, and Tenshinhan are all easily able to win their matches. When it's Chaozu's turn to fight however, a look of fear comes over his face, and his friends are alerted by the sound of his scream. Tenshinhan rushes over to find Chaozu unconscious on the ground. As everyone checks on him, his opponent tells them not to worry as he made sure he would still be alive, if only just barely. Tenshinhan looks up in anger, but his expression soon turns to one of shock. Taopaipai, with much of his head now robotic, greets Tenshinhan and Goku both. Review: This chapter is just full of surprises, and gives us three new faces to consider in how this arc is going to move forward. One is a face we already knew was coming and saw at the end of last chapter, Piccolo. Another is a complete mystery as to who they are and what they want, the young woman that spoke to Goku. The third and final face – or what's left of it anyway – is someone I doubt anyone would have expected to see again, Taopaipai. Right from the start, this is already shaping up to be a tournament completely unlike any we've seen before. For starters though, let's talk about Piccolo and what we get to see of him here. It's not much, but we can already tell that he's going to be a force to be reckoned with, not that that comes as much of a surprise. He reacts even less to Goku's new prowess than anyone else does, showing that there's just no telling what he himself is capable of. After all, he's going to have been doing nothing but training for this moment for the past three years as well - not that we ever get any indication of exactly how he trained, though I guess some of it could be similar to what we later see him do to train someone else. Beyond that, we don't really get much more out of him just yet. Poor King Chappa though. He's apparently a real contender as a fighter, he just keeps having the bad luck of showing up for the tournament on the same years that our heroes are at this point. Then there's the mystery woman who shows up to talk to Goku. If you're coming to this story point with no idea where things are going, and particularly with the manga where there's no voice to help give a hint, I'd wager it's pretty unlikely that someone might guess who she is unless they're really good at remembering faces. Needless to say, this is a completely wild new factor for the series and the character of Goku, and it makes for a really interesting change up compared to the other challenges presented by this tournament. It's also hilarious to think about where this is all going when you see Kuririn describing her as 'really hot'. Before I talk about Taopaipai, I did want to note a curious part from just before the preliminaries start. The announcement notes that participation in the tournament this year is far lower than what it was last time. A similar note was given at the start of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, noting that attendance was way, way higher than it had been in recent years. Hell, interest was so increased by everyone's showing at the 21st that they started holding the tournament more often than they previously had, and the 22nd blows anything we saw in the previous tournament out of the water. So why the sudden decrease? The people who run the tournament say they'd 'like' to think that it's because the competition was so fierce last time, but I don't know about that...again, it was an even more impressive tournament, so you'd think that it would make the number of people trying to enter this year that much higher. What could possibly have happened to cause interest to go in the other direction? Oh, right. King Piccolo happened. Between the anime and the manga, it's clearly shown that everyone that Tambourine and King Piccolo killed in the previous arc were resurrected by the same wish that brought back Kuririn, Roshi, and Chaozu. Nothing is ever said or shown to indicate how they took to their revivals however. There's a pretty good chance that a fair number of them may have given up martial arts, or at least the urge to attend large tournaments like the Budokai, after dots were connected showing that they all had that in common. Sure, King Piccolo is dead, but they were dead once already too, and from their point of view, it's some sort of miracle that they're alive again now. Why press your luck by continuing to do the same thing that got you killed, seemingly for no real reason, before? If anything, this makes the fact that King Chappa continued to train and showed back up all the more impressive in his favor. Poor guy really deserved better than he got. Oh, and I do also love that Chaozu is used once again as a gimmick to make sure nobody ends up fighting each other in the preliminaries. They got by without him in the first tournament, but that was a fluke and there were far less of the friends to worry about then. For it to happen by chance two more times would have been a bit much, and hey, it gives Chaozu some kind of purpose that he desperately needs, so hey, I'm all for it. It's also pretty hilarious how quickly the story tosses him aside once the need for his cheating's done too. And speaking of Chaozu's defeat, let's talk about the return of Taopaipai. Again, for anyone that was reading the series for the very first time, it'd be almost impossible to have seen this coming. Taopaipai was almost assuredly dead the last time we saw him, so for him to turn back up alive here is shocking as can be. You're immediately set to wonder just how exactly he did survive, and what exactly his goal is at the tournament – the former is a far bigger mystery than the latter however, as his goals are probably pretty easy to guess. Of the three new faces appearing in this chapter, it's really hard to say which of them sets the mystery and hype surrounding this event highest. On the one hand, we know Piccolo's going to be a bad deal, just based on what the previous Piccolo was like. The woman who talked to Goku however is a completely unknown quality, and though she appeared friendly enough at first, her anger when leaving could lead to something shocking. And then the return of Taopaipai, the first villain in the series to have truly put Goku through the ringer. With his return after more than six years (his defeat was sometime after the 21st and before the 22nd tournaments), who knows how much stronger he has become? Maybe he'll be an even bigger threat than Piccolo? Needless to say, the levels that Toriyama is bringing the mystery of this tournament to are amazing, so it's little wonder I love this arc so much. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: The day of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai has arrived at last, and as a heavy downpour of rain falls from the sky, Roshi and Lunch stand and wait. Roshi notices that everyone seems to be running late, but just then a taxi pulls up, and Bulma, Oolong, and Puar step out of it. Lunch and Bulma greet each other, while Roshi compliments Bulma on how “mature” she's become, prompting Bulma to elbow him hard in the face when he touches her butt. Roshi then asks where Yamcha is, and Oolong explains that as soon as they got back to West City, he ran off somewhere alone to train, a fact that annoys Bulma greatly. Roshi chuckles and says that the same thing happened with Kuririn, suggesting that everything they heard about Goku three years before must have lit a fire under them to train even harder than before.
The friends' conversation is interrupted by a stranger in a turban greeting them. Roshi asks if the stranger is a friend of Bulma's, but she doesn't know him either. The stranger says he's happy to see that Roshi really is alive again and that everyone else looks great too, but asks where Kuririn, Yamcha, and Tenshinhan are. The truth slowly dawns on everyone – is this...Goku? The stranger says of course it's him, and as the rain stops, he takes off his turban, revealing his instantly recognizable hair to everyone. Goku asks if they've shrunk, prompting Bulma to say he just got bigger, something that Goku says must be true now that he thinks about it. As Goku asks Bulma why her lips are bleeding and she retorts that it's lipstick, Roshi stands by in disbelief at how much his student has changed, yet stayed the same. The interaction is interrupted yet again by the arrival of Kuririn, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu. Tenshinhan greets Roshi, and Kuririn takes how speechless everyone is to see them as surprise at how much they've changed. As Goku greets his old friend and Kuririn realizes that it's him, he embraces his old friend and thanks him for bringing him back to life, as Yamcha and Tenshinhan are also surprised by how much Goku has grown. An announcer for the tournament asks everyone taking part in the preliminaries to come to the gym, and Goku asks Roshi if he brought their uniforms. Roshi scoffs and says that they're all great martial artists in their own rights now, and should walk their own paths, saying they don't have to wear the Turtle gi forever. He encourages them to fight their best, and when Tenshinhan discreetly asks him if he's not entering as Jackie Chun this time, Roshi says he doesn't stand a chance against them all anymore, so there's no point. Bulma is somewhat taken by how much of a man Goku has become, causing Oolong to call her fickle as Goku, Kuririn, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu walk to the gym and talk about their training in the past three years. Once inside the gym, Kuririn changes into a Turtle gi that he had a store make for him, only to find that Yamcha and Goku both came prepared with their own Turtle gis as well, though Goku's now has an undershirt. Kuririn scoffs, thinking that he'd be the only one to stand out with one, when Yamcha notices that Goku doesn't have his tail again. Goku explains that Kami-sama got rid of it for him, saying something about wanting to bring the moon back but being unable to do so as long as Goku's tail was there. Goku doesn't get it, but Yamcha and Kuririn nod understandingly. Something suddenly grabs Goku's attention much to Kuririn and Yamcha's surprise. On the other side of the gym, Goku spots the reborn Piccolo, now grown as well. Yamcha notes that this mysterious person's eyes are like ice, and Kuririn asks if it's someone Goku knows. Tenshinhan recognizes him however, and stands in disbelief. Goku smirks seeing that the 'Great Demon King' has indeed come to the tournament, and Piccolo returns the grin ominously. Review: We might not have hit the 'Z' era of Dragon Ball proper yet, but as you can quickly tell by the changed character designs here, we may as well have. Even seeing Bulma drawn as so much more of an adult – and not just her body, get your minds out of the gutter – is a bit shocking, but of the characters who actually look a little different now, her design is probably the least changed. This is probably one of the reasons Toriyama leads with her, to kind of ease you in and reveal how much of a different three years can really make to characters as young as they were previously. Then he rips that bandage completely off without warning by showing us an almost unrecognizably older and taller Goku. Seeing a character grow and change is almost a given for long-running shonen series nowadays. People from my generation of fans have grown up seeing the likes of Naruto, Luffy, and even the cast of Digimon grow and age along with us to various degrees, but it wasn't always like that. It's almost a given that if a series is going to have a somewhat linear movement of time, the characters are going to have to grow and change, lest you end up in a situation like a lot of Western animation does where kid characters are basically stuck as kid's forever, like the Simpsons. King of the Hill ran into this problem quite frequently, when it tried to show Bobby growing and changing, but had to work doing so around the fact that they weren't allowed to change his voice or design. A lot of older anime and manga tended to do the same, with the only way you got to see an adult version or older version of a character was generally if there was a flash forward at the end of the series. So back when this chapter was first coming out, the very notion of seeing an older Goku, particularly for fans that had been reading the series since they were very little themselves, was probably mind-blowing. It's also a risky thing, to re-design your character that drastically in such a sudden way like that. I'm reviewing Dragon Ball in a written medium, but the series itself, whether we're talking about the manga or the anime, is a visual one. The look of Goku had basically been cemented in people's minds for 165 chapters straight now, but here came chapter 166, changing up the iconic look of the character dramatically. Imagine if Spongebob or the like suddenly showed up in the next episode looking different, they're still recognizable as themselves, but their designs are completely different from how people were used to seeing them. There's the chance that it would alienate fans of the previous look or version (I mean, look at US comic books and their various runs and adaptations, or even rebooted video games - it happens all the time), and they'd then decide they didn't care for the series any more. This was definitely a calculated risk that Toriyama took, and no doubt one that he had to heavily campaign with the staff at Jump to be allowed to do. As we go forward, I think it'll be pretty heavily agreed that it was the right choice in the long run, so kudos to Toriyama for rolling the dice and taking that gamble. Toriyama's no dummy when it comes to this stuff either, and he smartly lessons some of the shock of how much things have changed by showing how much they've stayed the same as well. Bulma still reacts angrily to Roshi's continued perversions; Goku's still oblivious to things that are obvious to most other people; even Kuririn, when he finally shows up, is still the same endearing mix of full of himself and laid-back. These are still the same characters we've come to know and love after all this time, they're just growing up. Let's talk a bit more about those changed designs and the ones that didn't change at all however. It's somewhat forgivable that the likes of Oolong, Puar, Roshi, and Lunch don't really change. Oolong and Puar, despite their young age, aren't human, so there's really no way to say for sure how they'll age – that said, we see plenty of adult-sized animal people, so really, shouldn't Oolong at least be getting bigger? ...On second thought, the idea of a taller Oolong is kind of...utterly terrifying...so maybe it's for the best after all. Roshi's already an old man, so three years probably wouldn't make that much of a difference for him, and Lunch is seemingly already an adult woman as well by the time we meet her, so there's less reason for her to be changed either. But then there are two characters who don't appear changed at all that don't make a bit of sense – Tenshinhan and Chaozu. Tenshinhan was already a tall guy, and while there can probably be comparisons made by putting the likes of Kuririn next to him from before and Kuririn next to him now to show that he's maybe even taller now, that's the only way you'd notice anything. He looks exactly the same as he did before despite now being a young adult as well. The effect is even worse on Chaozu, who is exactly the same size and everything as he was before! In fact, spoiler alert here – his design, outside of the occasional new outfit, won't be changing for the entire course of the series. It's bizarre and off-putting the longer you think about it frankly. There might be some cause lying in his design motif, being inspired by the Chinese Jiang-shi vampires, but nothing is ever suggested in the series proper that he actually is one of those, so...it's just weird. As for the characters that have changed, that leaves Bulma, Yamcha, Kuririn, and Goku. I've already talked about how subtly different Bulma is looking, so let's take a look at Yamcha. His design, much like Bulma, has constantly changed throughout the series at least in regards to his hairstyle. That's happened once again here, though now he's also received a more permanent visual shake-up in the form of the scars on his face. It's never made clear exactly how he got them, though we can assume it has something to do with the training he's endured for the past three years, and honestly, I like them. Without them, he'd largely be in the same boat as Tenshinhan and look no different really than he had before - though having hair that can be changed does give him a leg up regardless, sorry Tenshinhan. And speaking of bald characters, the changes to Kuririn's design are largely the same as what was done with Goku's design. Both receive a taller, more adult body shape, but most everything about their face and overall appearance outside of that is left the same. That's more than enough to shake things up in their cases though, given what little butterballs they were prior to this. As said before however, the characters themselves seem to be largely the same as when we last left them personality wise, at least in-so-far as we get to see. The biggest exception to that is Goku, who does give off a hint of being somewhat different from before...but still showcases that naivety that we find charming (usually). Bulma certainly seems to be looking at him in a different light however. Outside of one more moment later on (a moment that might even be anime only, I honestly can't remember), this is the only time we really have it suggested that Bulma finds Goku attractive, but it's a moment that lives in the subconscious of a lot of fans, myself included to a degree. Perhaps in a parallel universe, we had Goku and Bulma ending up together rather than the pairings we'll ultimately see for the both of them? It's definitely something interesting to think about, and I at least can definitely see some reasons to think it might have been a more interesting pairing for Goku than what we do get, though that does come at the expense of a lot of character growth and a rather fun pairing in the end for Bulma, so it's kind of a toss-up. Either way leaves poor Yamcha in a lurch though, but I think at this point in the story it's pretty clear that happiness is always going to elude him anyway, poor guy. As far as the improved fighting prowess of our major characters, we really have no way to know just how much stronger and how much more impressive they're going to be other than it being a safe assumption that it's going to put everything seen previously to shame. Roshi himself is pretty sure that he wants to sit this one out – his main reason for fighting in these tournaments was to ensure there were plenty of strong rivals for his students anyway, and they've already found that in the form of Tenshinhan and Cha- I can't even finish that sentence. There was a bit of Roshi that enjoyed fighting again himself I think, but after dying against King Piccolo, I think he's earned himself a bit of a rest, even if it does unfortunately mean he's just going to be a pervy old man moving forward. He even suggests to his three students that they don't have to wear the Turtle gi any longer, as they've all come into their own as fighters now. This seemingly is something that Roshi himself likely once did, given that Mutaito's teachings don't seem to have been either that of the Turtle or the Crane, so he probably expects his students to go out and make foundations of their own. That's definitely an interesting idea, as all three of them have had training outside of the Turtle as well. Sadly, this doesn't ever really come to fruition even in modern Dragon Ball, as time and time again, we see these characters in their orange Kame gi if they're prepared for what's going to be a “serious fight”. On the one hand, I get it, it's the iconic look for a lot of these characters. At the same time though, it really would have been nice to see more of them change up their basic looks a little more, as after a while you end up with just too many people wearing largely the same orange gi at once. It is what it is, I suppose. One thing I neglected to point out changed in Goku's appearance earlier is that he's once again missing his tail. This isn't the first time he's been without one however, so that might not be that jarring at first glance. When Yamcha and Kuririn ask him about it however, Goku points out that Kami himself removed it this time, and the dialogue suggests that it was a little more permanent of a removal than what's happened to Goku previously. We know it was in retrospect, because as far as the original manga goes, the aftermath of the fight against King Piccolo is the last time we ever see Goku with a tail. This is a little sad, at least to me, as his tail was one of Goku's most recognizable features alongside his iconic hairstyle. Sure, we'll soon enough be meeting other characters with the same type of tail, but even then the feature won't be sticking around that long in the grand scheme of things. Goku's tail had already been rendered obsolete as a weakness for him, but the threat of his Oozaru form still lingered, and I guess Toriyama wanted to take it out of the equation for him. While I get it, this also feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. The other characters might not know exactly how the form functions, but they have seen how destructive it is, and they are going to know how much stronger Goku's become. Just imagine them having to think about the possibility of an even bigger, stronger Oozaru coming out the next time there's a full moon, or Tenshinhan and Chaozu who have no idea such a thing is even possible. It feels like there's some great tension to be brewing in the background that we're being robbed of here, as well as another part of Goku's iconic look. With the end of the chapter comes one final reveal as well, and it's one that we as readers knew was coming, but are still excited to see – the reborn Piccolo in all his menacing glory. He stands out amongst the rest of the crowd easily enough even in 'disguise' (his turban hides his antennae at any rate, but you'd think the green skin and is arms would be a bit more of a dead giveaway to most folk), but ironically it's only Goku and Tenshinhan that recognize him immediately for who he is. It makes sense that Goku and Tenshinhan, who fought him directly, would recognize him the easiest – especially Goku, given all of his training the past few years has been to deal with the likes of him – but really, nobody else bats an eye at him? Kuririn I can forgive as he died without knowing what was going on and may have never actually seen a picture of Piccolo or anything after the fact, but the rest of the martial artists in attendance likely saw King Piccolo's doomsday broadcast, and we KNOW Yamcha did, so what gives? On the surface level, while this is strange and perhaps even a little infuriating, it's also really funny in retrospect as it perfectly highlights just how forgetful the human populace of Earth is in Dragon Ball. I guess in some ways, that's really not so different from our own, but I'd really like to think we wouldn't collectively forget the appearance of a large green slug-guy who tried to take over the world. Don't take that hope away from me, real-life humanity, it's one of the few I have left. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: As the volcano near the village continues to erupt, the villagers flee in fear, taking what few belongings they can carry. Mint's grandfather stays behind, continuing to pray to the fallen statue of the mountain god, and Mint tries to get him to leave, but Paoru says they have no time to waste and need to run away. Mint asks Paoru if he thinks Kuririn and the others will be okay, and Paoru scoffs, calling them fools for running up the mountain and thinking they can do something against the anger of the mountain's god. As they run up the mountain, Chaozu asks Tenshinhan if he has a plan, and Tenshinhan says this is the perfect chance for him to show how strong he is, with Yamcha and Kuririn in agreement. Up on Kami's sanctuary, Goku continues his training and tries to catch a fleeing Popo while blindfolded. Popo chastises Goku for trying to find him by following the sound of his voice and tells him to instead sense Popo's ki, but Goku can't quite seem to figure out how to do that. Coming face to face with the approaching lava, Yamcha and Kuririn brace themselves as another massive earthquake sets off below their feet, with Tenshinhan and Chaozu avoiding it by flying. Kuririn falls into a crevice that opens in the ground, only to be saved by Chaozu, prompting Tenshinhan to suggest that it might be a good idea for them to teach Kuririn and Yamcha how to fly. Mint tries again to get her grandfather to leave, but the old man insists on staying until the end to pray with all his might for the mountain god to spare the village. Kuririn rushes ahead of the others as the magma begins flowing towards them, and wishes he could have shown Mint this as he fires a Kamehameha at the lava. All he ends up accomplishing however is making the lava flow faster. Tenshinhan tries next, using his Dodonpa to cause a landslide to block the lava, but this causes it to divert into two different flows still heading for the village. Kuririn runs off ahead again to try and save Mint, as Yamcha tries to figure out some way they can stop the lava. While wishing that it would rain, he spots a large waterfall nearby and asks Tenshinhan to handle the lava for now with Chaozu. Figuring out Yamcha's plan, Tenshinhan repeatedly fires Dodonpa into the magma to try and keep it at bay as much as he can. Kuririn runs through the village trying to find Mint, eventually finding her with her grandfather and Paoru at the fallen mountain god statue. Kuririn pleads with them to leave with him, but Mint says her grandfather refuses to leave as the old man says there's no way the mountain god will abandon them if he keeps praying. Kuririn tells them the lava is moving fast, but Paoru shuts him down, saying that an outsider like him has no right to question them. The volcano erupts even harder, sending more lava cascading down the ground, and even as Tenshinhan makes a large chasm in the ground to stem it's flow, it almost immediately overflows and continues on it's path towards the village. Yamcha fires a Kamehameha into the wall of the waterfall, trying to free up more water, but doesn't blow up as much of it as he'd hoped, cursing himself as he's certain Goku would have done much more damage. Trying again, Yamcha manages to cause a tidal wave of water to flow out towards the magma, cooling it down and putting out fires. Much to the delight of Mint's family and other villagers hiding just outside of town, the village appears to be saved, and the people return. Mint's grandfather says his prayers must have worked after all, and as Kuririn congratulates Tenshinhan and Yamcha for helping out, Paoru accosts them and accuses them of having done nothing, saying it was only the grandfather's prayers that made a difference. Kuririn angrily objects, but before anything more can be said, Chaozu predicts another eruption, and lava soon erupts out of the ground just in front of the village. The villagers flee again as Mint's grandfather falls to the groudn in prayer once more, and Kuririn, Yamcha, and Tenshinhan have to break a large rock just as it hurtles towards the family. Paoru apologizes for his treatment of them, and the fighters make one final stand against the magma, with Yamcha and Tenshinhan firing a Kamehameha and Dodonpa respectively to create a large enough trench to divert the lava. With the village saved once more, Mint rushes forward to thank Kuririn, as the village as a whole thanks the group for saving them. The group then leaves to continue their search for Karin Tower, as Goku continues his own training at Kami's sanctuary for the next three years. Review: As fun as it was seeing the focus shift to Kuririn and the others rather than Goku, I can't lie – I don't really think the story for these past two episodes was quite strong enough to stretch across more than one. There's probably a reason this episode in particular is filled with repeated shots of the lava just moving closer and closer to the village, as well as a shot of Kuririn moving a large boulder that...doesn't seem to actually change anything. I think they were struggling to get more out of this concept, and if nothing else, I do have to hand it to them that they didn't just revert to showing Goku much more, or having something he was doing tie in to what they were doing somehow. That praise still really isn't enough to save the episode as a whole for me though. There's far too much repetitiveness from the previous episode, and in this one towards itself even, for me to get past. There's some effort given to give each character something different to do and to change how they interact with what's going on – Tenshinhan wants to prove that he can be as strong as Goku, Yamcha wants to prove a similar notion though for him it's more about not wanting to get left behind, Kuririn wants to impress the girl, and Chaozu...Chaozu senses things – but it all largely leads them to the exact same place and plans, so it doesn't really pay off unfortunately. There is one moment of the episode that I do feel speaks volumes however, though I don't know if Toei meant it to. At the end of the last episode and through much of this one, Mint's grandfather refuses to leave, putting all his faith in praying to the mountain god. The other villagers, even though they run, were also shown to be very particular about their faith in the god. Even Paoru, who seems to be able to see at least somewhat more how strong the group is than the other villagers can, comes down hard on the side of placing their faith in the god and scoffs at the idea that they actually did anything for the situation. In the end however, it's definitely Kuririn and the others' actions that actually save the day. There's definitely an argument to be made for the theme at play here – faith in whatever you believe in is perfectly fine, but sometimes, faith isn't enough. If it was, a lot more things in this world would be less screwed up than they are (I'm speaking EXTREMELY broadly here, mind you). Faith, no matter how devout, however, only goes so far, and sometimes, it's only going to be through human effort that things actually get done. Faith can be a reason for humans to take action, but action still has to occur for anything to get done. It's a big reason why the phrase 'thoughts and prayers' are so widely lampooned whenever they're used after a tragedy, because in effect? They do nothing, sadly. But again, I'm not sure how much of that is actually what the writers of this episode intended, versus what I'm getting out of it via my own beliefs. I would definitely be interested in hearing other people's interpretation of this part of the episode. The manga skipped over pretty much all of Goku and the others training in this period, which is a shame. Honestly though, as fun as some parts of these episodes can be, I can't really say Toei's efforts to show it were much better, due to the way they were handled. A nice effort Toei, but there's probably a reason that not a lot from these episodes tend to be remembered by the fandom at large. Moving onward from here though, we'll be getting to the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai proper, as well as some really big changes for our characters, and I can't wait. Until next time! Favorite Scene: Kuririn falling into the crevice only to get saved by Chaozu is a nice moment, given their history. Next Time: The more things change, the more they stay the same. Synopsis: In a small village, a strange ceremony is held before a large statue of a demon. Nearby, Kuririn, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu camp out for the night, with Kuririn wondering if Karin Tower really exists. Tenshinhan says it must because Goku himself said that he trained there and that he got much stronger from doing so, and Kuririn wonders if he can climb it as well. Yamcha says he'll have to, they'll all have to, if they want to catch up to Goku. Tenshinhan says they should look for a house in the area tomorrow to ask for directions to the tower, and the group goes to sleep. Later that night, Kuririn wakes up to find Tenshinhan awake and staring at the sky. The others wake up as well, as Tenshinhan says that he can hear the sound of drums and people singing and shouting. None of the others can hear it, but Chaozu becomes transfixed by a vision, and tells them all that something terrible is going to happen. Kuririn tells Chaozu not to scare them like that, and he and Yamcha go back to sleep, as Tenshinhan and Chaozu continue to be concerned. Up on Kami's sanctuary, Goku awakens for another day of training, and Mr. Popo says that he'll be Goku's opponent again today. Goku says he won't lose as easily today, but Popo tells him they won't be fighting – instead, they'll be playing tag. Popo covers his eyes with a blindfold and tells Goku to run and hide wherever he wants and Popo will try to find him. Goku thinks this will be easy, but quickly finds that he's unable to get away from Popo, who is sensing his ki wherever the boy goes. Kuririn and the others approach a mountain village, with Kuririn especially hoping to find a hot meal and maybe even a cute girl there, but Yamcha tells him not to get his hopes up. The group soon runs into another group wearing demon masks and wielding pitchforks, but are surprised when one of them turns out to be a cute girl. The villagers all take off their masks and prove to be friendly, asking if the group has come for the festival and inviting them to the village to celebrate with them. The girl explains to Kuririn that the village comes together to express gratitude to their mountain god once a year, and points to a nearby mountain as the location of their mountain god. As the group continues to get shown around, Kuririn introduces himself to the girl who likewise introduces herself as Mint. Before Kuririn can get any closer to her however, a large flock of birds suddenly flies overhead, and Chaozu again feels uneasy. Up at Kami's sanctuary, Goku continues to try to outrun a pursuing Mr. Popo, but to no avail as he is once again caught by him. Goku asks Popo how he always knows where he is, and Popo says that he could sense Goku's ki. They then switch places, with Goku wearing the blindfold and trying to find Popo, but Goku proves unable to follow Popo's ki the same way that Popo was his. Popo explains that while Goku can't conceal his ki, Popo can, and this is another skill that Goku needs to master. Back in the village, the celebration continues with lots of food, and even a small fighting ring where fighters are able to show off their skills if they wish. Yamcha asks Mint for directions to Karin Tower, but she's never heard of it, saying that maybe her grandfather would know more. Chaozu continues to stare at the mountain with concern, and Tenshinhan asks him what's the matter, but Chaozu isn't sure. As a man named Paoru is declared the village's strongest for the fifth year running, Mint introduces Kuririn's group to her grandfather, who insists they all sit and celebrate with them before talking. The group does, and though Kuririn at first objects to a drink that's handed to him, he downs it when being told that it's just juice – however, he still ends up drunk. Mint asks the inebriated Kuririn if he does martial arts as well, and he says that he does, while Tenshinhan catches Paoru giving him the stink eye. Paoru challenges Tenshinhan to a fight, and Mint's grandfather says he'll tell them whatever they want to know if they actually manage to beat Paoru. A drunken Kuririn insists on fighting instead however, and although Paoru thinks it laughable, agrees. Mint tells her brother to do his best, and Kuririn is shocked to hear that he and Mint are siblings. Paoru thinks Kuririn has left himself wide open, and Kuririn is somewhat off his game due to being drunk, but he still manages to dodge pretty much all of Paoru's blows, even while growing dizzier and dizzier throughout. Seeing Mint watching him however, Kuririn gets a second wind and defeats Paoru almost by accident. Paoru is shocked, but congratulates Kuririn on his victory, though he's confused when Kuririn refers to him as 'brother'. As Yamcha starts to ask Mint's grandfather about Karin Tower, the village's animals start to go nuts, and Chaozu loudly proclaims that the mountain is going to explode soon. The villagers are shocked and outraged to hear such a thing said about their guardian deity, on the day of their festival no less, but Chaozu insists it's about to happen. Much to their horror, the ground begins to shake, and Kuririn has to save Mint and Paoru from a falling statue of the mountain god as the mountain erupts, proving itself to be a volcano. Mint's grandfather says they must have angered the god in some way and says they all need to pray hard to be spared his wrath, as lava begins to pour down the mountain towards the village. Kuririn tells the villagers they need to get out fast, and Tenshinhan says he'll stop the lava, thinking this is the perfect chance to train. Yamcha tells him it's a crazy idea, but Tenshinhan says that Goku could probably do it, so he'll have to do the same if he wants to catch up to him. Yamcha, Kuririn, and Chaozu agree in the end, and rush off with him to try to find some way to stop the lava's advance. Review: What do you know, I was wrong – they COULDN'T get through an episode without showing Goku at least once. Thankfully, as it is once again just a new variation on the same theme, Goku's part of this episode is very much the B plot as opposed to the A as it was before. As such, there's not really much for me to comment on with him, though one thing I do want to draw attention to is the exact nature of Popo's lesson this time. It was somewhat alluded to before, but here Popo straight up says that one of the things he needs Goku to learn how to do is mask his own energy, making himself harder or impossible to sense. This is something we'll see done pretty constantly by our heroes in future arcs, and something that becomes so second nature to them that it actually kind of bites them in the butt in an even further arc, so it's interesting to see it's humble beginnings here. The main crux of the episode however is with Kuririn and the others going to the mountain village. The group is still trying to find their way to Karin Tower, and only stop at this village initially to ask for directions, but leave it to Kuririn to find a reason to want to stay around a little bit longer. It's been a long time since it really came up, but Kuririn's goal in life is basically still the same thing that it was when we were first introduced to him. He didn't exactly get into martial arts for purely altruistic reasons, he got into them because he thought they'd help him impress girls. So far, the series hasn't really given him much in the way to see if that's worked for him or not. The only girls he's been around really have been Lunch and Bulma, who are both older than him. One's also potentially scary, while the other is definitely scary and also in an off-again, on-again relationship. He's always been training at Kame House otherwise, or at the tournaments, or most recently...well, dead. Here however, he's finally able to meet a girl that's seemingly his own age, and he's gonna do his best to try to appeal to her if he can. Kuririn's romantic longings are only part of what's going on here however, with much more emphasis being placed on the collective desire of the group to get stronger and keep up with Goku, as well as the impending doom that Chaozu keeps sensing. Chaozu's premonitions end up turning true when the mountain the village keeps worshipping turns out to actually be a dormant volcano. Well, dormant until now anyway. This actually makes for a pretty good problem for our heroes to have to deal with, because it's an extremely strong force of nature that normally would be far beyond the capabilities of martial artists to deal with, but without making it a new character that we'd be left wondering how Goku would deal with them if he were here. There's also another factor to this that will get brought up more next episode, but it's already teased a bit here with the villagers disbelief that someone would dare suggest something bad about their god. Ahh, religion. Until next time! Favorite Scene: Kuririn's drunken moments are pretty great, especially his fight with Paozu. Next Time: Despite it being a pretty good match for them, you never see the volcano playable in any fighting games, SMH. Synopsis: Goku wakes up for another day of training at Kami's sanctuary and begins meditating, but Mr. Popo tells him he hasn't fully mastered what he should be doing yet. As they speak, Popo waters the flower beds around the sanctuary, instantly bringing drooping flowers back to life with 'the water of life' that can grant life to anything. Popo suddenly has an idea and offers Goku a new form of training – a sparring partner. Goku likes that idea, so Popo says he'll bring him by shortly. When Goku asks if this opponent is good, Popo assures him that he'll match Goku's skills perfectly. Popo then takes a hair from Goku's head, and leaves the boy to meditate while Popo goes to 'retrieve' his sparring partner. In another room of the sanctuary however, Popo builds a doll out of clay, and sticks Goku's hair into it's chest. Down on the Earth, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, Kuririn, and Chaozu jog towards the land of Karin with the intention of scaling Karin's tower and receiving the same training that Goku did previously. As they race past people and even a car, they eventually come to a large mountain they'll have to climb first as well, with Kuririn vowing not to lose to Chaozu (who can fly). Mr. Popo finishes working on the doll he was working on, and it follows him out of the back of the sanctuary, where he introduces it to an impatient Goku. Goku has his doubts and asks Goku if this opponent is really that strong, and Popo assures him that he'll find out when they fight. Popo says the pair will fight until one of them is unable to continue, and Goku and the doll begin their fight, with the doll almost perfectly mirroring Goku's fighting style. Goku is surprised to find his opponent's power, speed, and technique are almost exactly like his own, but notices one difference right away – he's getting out of breath due to the thin air, while his opponent isn't. As the two start to fight again, Mr. Popo pops a balloon, distracting Goku long enough for the doll to knock Goku down, with Popo chastising the boy and telling him not to get distracted. Goku decides to up the ante and moves fast enough to leave behind multiple after-images, but his opponent sees through them and hits the real Goku, knocking him down again. The doll continues to surprise Goku, but nothing surprises him more than when he knock's it's mask off and sees his own face looking back at him. Popo reveals the origin of Goku's opponent to him, and the fight continues, with Goku at first faring no better than he did before. Popo listens as the two move fast enough to be unseen and clash violently, but eventually the doll gets the better of Goku yet again. Goku finds that he can't read any of the doll's movements even though it seems to be able to read his, and Popo says it's due to ki – with Goku so full of bloodlust in the fight, even the doll can tell what he's going to do before he does it. Deciding to try something different, Goku zips around the doll in an effort to confuse it, and then tries attacking from far away, launching a Kamehameha at the doll. To his surprise however, his attack catches only an afterimage, before the doll reappears and appears to be firing a Kamehameha of it's own. Goku attacks, but that too proves to be an afterimage as the doll appears from above and knocks him to the floor. Goku says the doll is way stronger than him, but Popo says that the doll has the same level of strength that Goku does – it just has a far clearer mind, free from distractions, making it what Goku could be if he masters his training. Popo says that if Goku can do that, then he wouldn't lose to the doll. Goku says he doesn't understand what Popo is saying, but he refuses to give up, and gets back up to attack the doll. Popo tells Goku that giving up and relying on brute force won't work, and again urges him to calm his mind. Goku tries to empty his mind, but only succeeds in blanking out and getting hit by the doll. The fight continues long into the day, and as the sun begins to set, Popo warns Goku that at this rate, he's going to get killed by his own doll. Goku finds himself at the edge of the sanctuary, unable to think of any way to defend as the doll rushes him – but to his surprise, his body moves on it's own, punching the doll back. As Goku marvels at this, the doll gets back up and attacks again, with Goku barely being able to dodge back onto the sanctuary. Popo notes that after his one brief success, Goku's mind is now flustered as he tries desperately to remember what he just did. As he focuses, Goku can sense the doll's approach, and dodges instinctively out of the way before pummeling it with a series of blows, sending it flying. Goku is happy, thinking that he's finally mastered controlling his ki, but Popo says that's not the case, pointing out that the water's effect on the doll has worn off, as it's body returns to motionless clay. Goku is disappointed that he wasn't able to conceal his ki after all, and Popo tells the boy he still has a long way to go yet, as he falls to the ground and falls asleep, utterly exhausted. Down on the Earth, Goku's friends continue their journey towards Karin's tower to continue their own training, as the future of Goku's own training continues to be in doubt. Review: After three really good episodes following Goku's training, I think we've finally hit a point where they're not getting as much mileage out of it as they were before. This episode has more outright fighting than any of the previous three, and there is some pretty great choreography between Goku and his doll's clashes, but overall? It just feels underwhelming. That said, Popo's lesson that he's wanting to teach Goku, which all still ties back to him quieting his mind, is still an interesting one. We're beginning to see how all of that ties together now – if Goku can keep from getting distracted and react without thinking, he'll move much quicker, but he'll move only when needed. He won't make wasted movements that expend energy needlessly, and he won't make movements that will give away what he's doing to his opponent. He'll be able to control his energy as well, and get the drop on them when they least expect it, while also masking his movements better that way as well. These are all great, martial arts philosophy lessons for Goku to learn. But after three episodes of seeing him kind of get it, only for it to end every time with him not quite getting it after all...it all just starts to feel mundane. And that's really unfortunate, as actually seeing the training rather than skipping right over it is usually one of the more fun parts of filler like this. I think it comes down to the fact that Goku's just not getting any wins here. He's constantly on the backfoot, constantly not figuring out what it is Popo's trying to teach him, and when it's largely the same lesson but approached different ways? It gets tedious seeing Goku not improve much for four episodes in a row. I think this episode could have been saved at least a little bit by changing just the very ending of it. Let Goku actually have figured out how to quiet his mind, but have Popo tell him not to get too happy with himself, as now he expects Goku to be able to do that more often and much easier. This would allow Goku to still have a ways to go, without making his 'win' at the end entirely a fluke where he's learned nothing. Beyond all of that though, I do like the idea of the weird training doll. Having Goku fight himself is a pretty unique way of showing him what he could be if he can just master his own powers, while also seeming to further set the precedent that the best training happens when there's at least one training partner involved, so there's not much to dislike with this part of the episode. It just isn't enough to save it overall. I can't help but wonder if the staff also started to realize they'd taken this train of thought with Goku, the 'we'll show him training but not actually improving yet' thing, about as far as they could too, because now with the next episode, we'll be switching to following Kuririn and the others instead. I honestly don't remember if we even SEE Goku in the next two episodes, and if we don't, that's a really rare feat that almost never happens. Until next time! Favorite Scene: Kuririn and the others passing a driver on the road while running is pretty great. Especially love the snippet of one of Kame-sennin's characters songs on the guy's radio. Next Time: Alright, enough about Goku – what are Kuririn and the others up to? Synopsis: Goku's training continues as he once again spars with Mr. Popo, and still finds himself unable to actually land a blow on Popo at all, even when using what he's learned thus far. Popo says that Goku has gotten stronger but only a little bit, and tells him that today, Goku will be starting another new training regiment. Leading Goku to another part of the sanctuary, Popo first makes Goku a new gi to replace his damaged one, saying that it's important to approach this new training with a new mindset. He then leads Goku to a room filled with clock faces, called the Room of Time. Popo explains that all of time is connected in this room, and as such, Goku will be able to travel through time and meet a strong person who will help Goku learn something. Goku asks if this person is really that strong, and Popo says he'll understand once he meets him. Popo sets one of the clock faces to a particular time, and Goku then falls through a hole that opens up, seemingly plummeting through time itself. Elsewhere, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Kuririn continue their own training, marching up a mountain while carrying large boulders upon their backs. Roshi's advice echoes in their minds, and Tenshinhan breaks his boulder with his fist, saying that at this rate, they'll never be able to catch up to Goku. Back at Kame House, Bulma and the others wonder how everyone is doing, with Bulma hoping they don't hurt themselves trying to hard. Roshi scoffs and says that at their age, worrying about getting hurt should be the last thing on their minds. Puar asks Roshi what kind of training he went through when he was young, and Roshi describes his training under Mutaito as a daily hell. Bulma asks if this was back when Tsuru-sennin was training with them as well, and Roshi confirms it, saying that the Crane Hermit has been a pompous jerk for as long as he can remember. Roshi boasts that in comparison, he was a much better student, and soon became renowned for his skill, with Bulma wondering how he ended up becoming just a dirty old man after all that. Everyone's concern turns towards Goku next, as they hope he's doing well in Heaven as well. The scene changes to a young man in sunglasses trying to peep on a girl bathing in a hot spring. His attempts to peek are soon interrupted by Goku falling from the sky on top of him, alerting the woman to their presence before she mistakenly thinks what she heard was a nearby monkey. The man chastises Goku, telling him he needs to be more careful when he's trying to be a peeping tom. Goku thinks the man seems familiar, and he introduces himself as Turtle-chan, thinking Goku must have heard of him due to his fighting prowess. Goku is surprised to hear he's a fighter as well, and when Turtle-chan mentions that he trains under Mutaito, Goku asks if that guy's really strong, prompting Turtle-chan to be outraged that Goku's never heard of the greatest martial artist in the world. Hearing such praise of him, Goku resolves to fight Mutaito, a notion that Turtle-chan finds laughable. Changing the subject, Turtle-chan asks Goku if he got a look at Fanfan's boobs before she left, but their conversation is soon interrupted by a pebble striking the back of Turtle-chan's head. The rock is soon shown to have been thrown by a man Turtle-chan refers to as Crane, with his two henchmen in tow. The henchmen accuse Turtle-chan of peeping at the girl who will someday be Crane's wife, a notion that Turtle-chan scoffs at, saying Fanfan would never fall for a guy like him. Crane says those are strong words coming from a weakling, and the two prepare to fight, only for Turtle-chan to fake back pain to get out of fighting. Goku finally figures out who that Turtle-chan reminds him of Kame-sennin, and Turtle-chan objects to being compared to some old man when he's only eighteen. At Mutaito's dojo, Turtle-chan introduces Goku to his master. Mutaito asks Goku where he trains, and when Goku says he's currently training with Kami-sama in heaven, all of the other students laugh at him. Mutaito asks Goku for his name, and Goku introduces himself before asking Mutaito to fight with him. Crane interjects saying that Goku wouldn't stand a chance, but Mutaito accepts his challenge, sensing that Goku is a true martial artist. Crane offers to fight in his stead, but Mutaito tells him to step back as he wants to fight Goku himself – besides, he feels that Goku is likely too much for Crane to handle. Goku gets into fighting position and asks Mutaito why he isn't doing the same, but Mutaito says he's been in position ever since Goku entered the room. With that, Goku launches an attack on the sitting Mutaito, but soon finds all of his blows blocked easily. As Turtle-chan, Crane, and the rest of the students marvel at how fast Goku is, Goku soon finds himself outmatched, barely able to dodge one of Mutaito's attacks before Mutaito flanks him, ending up catching up to Goku and knocking him backward with only a finger. Goku is amazed by how strong Mutaito is, but Mutaito says that it's Goku who possesses rare speed and power. Goku wonders how Mutaito was able to knock him back so easily by barely even touching him, and Mutaito explains that he used his ki, the energy that every living being possesses, saying that if Goku trains hard enough, he should be able to use it as well. Mutaito leads Goku and Turtle-chan to a waterfall, and asks Goku if he can cut it. Goku is confused, and Mutaito gives him an example, swiping his hand upward and causing the waterfall to split into two separate waterfalls temporarily. Mutaito instructs Goku to concentrate all of his energy into one fist until he's able to do the same. Watching from behind the rocks, Crane is infuriated to see his master teaching an outsider something more advanced than he's ever been taught. As Goku tries to do what Mutaito showed him, he proves unable to, and a watching Turtle-chan tells him that just because it was simple for Mutaito doesn't mean it'll come easily for anyone else. As Turtle-chan takes a nap, Fanfan washes clothes in a nearby river with her grandmother, only for one of her shirts to get away from her and end up going over the waterfall. Goku fishes the shirt out of the water and returns it to her when she comes looking for it, and an awakening Turtle-chan uses this chance to try to impress her, saying that he's teaching the young Goku all he knows about martial arts. Fanfan isn't impressed however, and leaves after wiping away some of Goku's sweat for him. A watching Crane scowls as he watches Turtle-chan follow after Fanfan, and he and his goons soon catch up with her. Crane asks Fanfan for a response to his love letter, and Fanfan turns him down, saying that people like him really aren't her type. Crane's toadies are outraged and ask her what her type is then – surely not someone like that twerp (Goku) she was just talking to. Fanfan messes with them by saying that he was pretty cute, causing Crane to demand that she agree to be his girlfriend, and when Fanfan mocks him, he knocks her out with a punch to the stomach. Outraged, Turtle-chan moves in to stop him but gets knocked back, and Crane gives him a message to pass on to Goku: come to the harvest field. Elsewhere, Tenshinhan and the others have made camp when Tenshinhan suggests they go meet this Karin person that Goku trained with before, as it might help their own training. Turtle-chan quickly grabs Goku and rushes with him towards the harvest field to rescue Fanfan, and they find Crane waiting for them there. Crane attacks Goku viciously, but quickly proves unable to land a single blow on the boy. When Goku hits him, Crane points out Fanfan tied to a tree with one of his henchmen pointing a knife at her, telling Goku that she's dead if Goku so much as moves again. Goku allows Crane to pummel him, but much to Crane's annoyance, nothing he does is enough to put Goku down for good. Left with no other choice, Crane has his henchman light the grass on fire, surrounding Goku and Turtle-chan with flames. Turtle-chan resigns himself to his demise, but Goku remembers what Mutaito told him about focusing his energy, and uses the waterfall splitting technique to create a path through the flames. Waking up at last, Fanfan incapacitates one of Crane's men with a kick to the groin, and as the other prepares to hit her, he finds his fist stopped by Mutaito. Facing with both Goku and Turtle-chan now, Crane tries to leave but is stopped by Mutaito, who gives him a choice – he can either leave, or he can start over all of his training from square one. Crane is outraged, but accepts the offer to start his training over again. Mutaito apologizes for the trouble that his student has caused Goku, but Goku isn't fazed at all. Turtle-chan tells Goku he was really impressed to see what he did before, and vows to train really hard and surpass Goku one day. Fanfan says that if Turtle-chan keeps that promise, she'll wipe his sweat off for him, greatly thrilling the young fighter. Mutaito chuckles, and Goku and Turtle-chan return to the waterfall, only to find that Goku hasn't quite mastered what he did before as he can't get the waterfall to split at all. A watching Kami and Popo can't decide if Goku has promise or not, as they watch him train alongside the young Turtle-chan to try to split the waterfall. Review: This is a really hard episode for me to judge honestly. On the one hand, it continues what Goku has been doing for the past couple of episodes, by trying to teach him to better control what he already has in is fighting arsenal – this time though, the focus switches from improving his movements to improving his ki control. On the other hand however, it doesn't really explain it's goals as clearly as the previous two episodes, and as such comes off a little less focused in comparison. That said, we get quite a bit more compelling group of “new” characters to follow in this one, which makes for a more entertaining romp even if that might also be part of the reason the episode's lesson is slightly more muddled. It's really fun to see a young Kame-sennin – or as he calls himself in this episode, Turtle-chan, proving that he's been known by some moniker related to Turtles for some time now, rather than whatever his real name is – and Tsuru-sennin, not to mention their master Mutaito. These are characters who's pasts are largely shrouded in mystery outside the most basic moments the series usually makes mention of, so it's nice to see at least a little bit more of them in action. At the same time though, I really can't shake the feeling that them being characters we have an attachment to on some level is why the episode feels a bit distracted. There are moments where it feels almost more like it wants to revel in showing us these characters, in particular the younger Kame-sennin, rather than focusing on Goku's growth as a character. It pulls things back in the right direction as it moves along, but it always feels like it wants to show us more of Turtle-chan instead. Which, again, is nice, it's something we don't really get to see much of – but this feels like maybe the wrong time to give it to us? That said, it is interesting to see what a different person the younger Kame-sennin was compared to the old man we've known for so long now. Oh he's still a perverted letch – something that seems to go against previously established comments from the sea turtle and the fact that he could ride kinto'un – but here he's seemingly far less sure of himself in a fight despite boasting about his skill, as he does everything he can to avoid actually fighting Crane. It's somewhat implied that his interactions with Goku are what lead him to become a more serious martial artist, but it's hard to say how seriously we can take that given...well, time travel. The time room itself is an interesting mechanic, and it's one we'll see revisited in another filler episode in Z (though it shouldn't be confused with a similarly named room that will become pretty important far later in the Z era). It's certainly more mystical in nature than the random teleportation machine at the sanctuary, though I'd wager that while that actually takes Goku somewhere in the world that actually exists, this room just recreates a simulation of the past – especially given it's ability to leave Earth entirely in that later filler episode. All things told though, it's still an entertaining episode to watch, even with these faults, and it's always nice to see emphasis placed on how ki channeling actually works as opposed to it just happening as will become more and more common place as the series progresses. I wish we could have seen more done with that element of the episode, but it is what it is. Until next time! Favorite Scene: Goku's interactions with Mutaito when first meeting him are fun, particularly their short sparring match. Next Time: Goku V.S. ...Goku!? Synopsis: Goku awakens to find himself back at Kami's sanctuary, where Mr. Popo informs him he's been asleep for three days straight. The last thing Goku remembers is being hit by lightning, and Popo tells him his body seems to be quite sturdy. Goku is eager to get back ot the training, but Popo says it's too advanced for him at this time, so they'll be having him do something else instead. He takes Goku back to the teleporter, and says he'll be sending Goku into a forest where he must learn to move 'as quietly as the sky'. Goku instantly thinks there must be a strong guy there that he'll learn this from, but Popo declines to comment on that, and sends Goku on his way. Upon being transported into the forest, Goku immediately falls into a bottomless swamp, and only manages to save himself from drowning by firing a Kamehameha. Washing his clothes off in a river, Goku's nose then leads him to food, but when he tries to grab it off of a plate, he gets caught in a rope trap. Upon breaking free from it, he meets the hunter who set it, who takes the boy back to his family's house to warm up and dry off. The hunter introduces himself as Mousse, and soon introduces Goku to the rest of his family – his wife Eclair, and their nine children, Purin, Crepe, Donut, Jelly, Bisuke, Bavarois, Choco, Cookie, and Shuku. Mousse invites Goku to have dinner with them as he's sure his father-in-law will be back soon with lots of fish for them all to eat. Sure enough, the old man soon comes home, and is immediately mobbed by his loving grandchildren for attention. The man surmises Goku is a guest, and the family soon eats dinner, and as they watch Goku wolf down food, Mousse finally asks Goku why he was in the woods. Goku starts to explain about Kami, prompting all of the kids to wonder about Kami-sama's true nature and appearance. Goku then mentions that there should be someone really strong around here, and the kids figure he must be talking about Yaochun, a man that lives nearby who's said to be really strong and 'faster than lightning'. Goku asks for directions to Yaochun's house, and the family worries that if Goku fights Yaochun he'll die, but Goku says it's part of his training. The grandfather offers to take Goku halfway there on his way to go fishing the next day, so Goku spends the rest of the night playing with the kids. Back at Kame House, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Kuririn swim in the ocean for training, while Roshi sleeps on the beach. A short time later, Roshi turns down training the three of them, saying that he's already taught them as much as he possibly can about fighting, saying all he could teach them at this point is how to get girls. Roshi warns them that if things stay as they are, they'll never catch up to Goku. He encourages them to strike out on their own and train in the world just as Goku did before, and the three agree to do just that. Before they leave however, Kuririn wants to hear what Roshi has to say about getting girls, but before Roshi can explain, he catches Tenshinhan and Yamcha listening in as well. The next day, Goku heads out with the grandfather to find Yaochun. Goku is amazed to hear that the grandfather fishes all day every day and has done so for sixty years, providing for his family as well as some of the neighbors. When the road splits, the man wishes Goku luck and hopes he doesn't get hurt or trapped like yesterday, and Goku likewise wishes him luck in his fishing. Going further up the road, Goku soon finds a large man meditating near a waterfall, and figuring out that he must be Yaochun, challenges him to a fight. The man reluctantly agrees, saying he won't go easy on Goku even if he is a child, but to Goku's surprise, he finds the man's stance full of openings, and Goku is able to knock him down with just one punch. Yaochun begs Goku to spare him, and Goku asks if he really isn't strong enough or fast enough to dodge lightning, and the man says of course he isn't. Dejected, Goku walks back through the woods, wondering who it really was that Mr. Popo wanted him to meet here then. As Goku walks, he comes across the grandpa's fishing spot, and is caught by surprise, not having realized the old man was even there until he spoke. Goku asks him how he did that, and the old man just laughs saying Goku must be half asleep. He offers Goku a fishing pole to try fishing with, and coaches him through the proper calm and still technique to fish properly. The old man talks Goku through how to focus and not move lest he scare the fish, instructing him how to be 'as quiet as the sky'. Following his instructions, Goku is successful in catching a fish after noticing that when the old man does it, his presence becomes completely masked. The old man asks Goku if he met who he was supposed to earlier, and Goku responds uncertainly. Watching from the sanctuary, Mr. Popo says it seems that Goku still doesn't get it, but Kami isn't so sure that's the case, as they watch Goku succeed in catching another fish. Review: This episode very much continues the notions of the previous one, in that Goku is still trying to learn how to better utilize the skills he already has at his disposal rather than actually getting any stronger outright. After he got hit by lightning even after figuring out what it was he needed to do, Popo apparently decided that training was a bit too much for Goku at the moment, which is why he's come up with this new method. The new method being basically a combination of things we'd seen before – he's wanting Goku to again focus on not making wasted movements and sensing things around him, but this time he's sending Goku out into the world to learn from someone again, just as he did inadvertently with Chu-li and her bird. In this case however, Goku meets quite a few more people, and I mean a LOT. The Mousse family has NINE kids. I refuse to believe anyone, no matter how big of a Dragon Ball fan they proclaim to be, can actually remember all of their names, much less point out which one is which. That said, the family is really adorable, and it's nice to see Goku interact with such a large group of people that aren't fighters or masters or what have you, especially with so many of them being roughly his own age. I especially like the scene with Goku casually mentioning Kami and the whole family starts musing about what Kami must be like, and talking out how Kami must be even greater than their dad but surely isn't anywhere near as impressive as their mom. It's just so wholesome and fun. It's a good thing it's as endearing to watch as it is, because that takes up a good bulk of the episode. There's another cutaway back to the Kame House crew, and this one's longer than last episodes and does amount to more, but overall it's still a very small part of the overall story in this one. I do find it pretty hilarious that they continue to have Tenshinhan training with the group but not a Chaozu in sight, as well as Tenshinhan also trying to listen in on Roshi's pickup advice. They really, really didn't know what to do with him in filler scenes yet, and it shows. The idea of a strong guy living in the woods being who Goku thinks he needs to learn from is a fun one, though I think most people probably saw the inversion coming pretty much from the start. Goku's the only one who thought there would be a strong guy here for him to learn from, with Popo never suggesting any such thing. This is also immediately following the previous episode where Goku also learned a lesson from an unlikely source, so it's not too surprising that the trend continues here. Having him learn about stillness from an expert fisherman certainly makes a lot of sense as well, and is probably a little less forced than his learning to really 'listen' to things from a girl and her bird. The focus of Goku's training in these past two episodes has been very much about skill rather than strength, and it's definitely made these training episodes much more involved and interesting than anything we've seen since the Roshi training period. The characters thus far might not be as memorable, but I'd definitely say the training itself here is leagues beyond what we were given for filler leading up to the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. Until next time! Favorite Scene: The short scene of Goku playing with all of the kids and then sleeping in a big bedroom with the family is really sweet, it's nice to see Goku interacting with more people his own age that aren't fighters. Next Time: Everyone's always ready to jump Trunks for his time traveling, but they forget that Goku did it first. Synopsis: Goku finds meditating to be difficult and isn't sure that he believes it's a good training method, but Mr. Popo assures him that it will help him achieve his new training goals. Popo tells Goku that he must become like a stone, quiet and unyielding to external forces, and Goku tries, but is unable to get the hang of it initially. Meanwhile, back at Kame House, life has returned to a relative normality – Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Kuririn all spar with each other, while Bulma attempts to sunbathe only to get perved on by the likes of both Oolong and Roshi, and Lunch shoots at them for acting up. Goku finally starts to find some success in meditation, discovering that he can sense so many other things while he's motionless. As his mind starts to wander towards his friends however, a watching Mr. Popo flicks a walnut at him, catching Goku in the side of the head. Goku is annoyed, but realizes that stones aren't supposed to think either. He starts meditating again, and this time when Popo flings a walnut, Goku is able to instinctively dodge it by sensing it coming. Some time later, Popo praises Goku for having made great progress in his training, only to find that Goku has fallen asleep instead. For the next phase of Goku's training, Mr. Popo begins to quickly spin a staff above his head, and due to it's speed, it begins to look like it's moving closer and closer to Goku whom Popo has instructed not to move. Goku begins to dodge the perceived blows, and when Popo asks him why he moved, Goku says the staff seemed to be getting longer just like his nyoibo. Popo insists that the staff is an ordinary pole however, and upon inspecting it, Goku agrees but can't figure out why it seemed to be getting closer to him. Popo tells Goku that his mistake was trying to keep up with it with his eyes. Mr. Popo then hands Goku a blindfold and tells him to put it on, setting Goku's next task as catching a cat with a bell tied to it's tail. Goku thinks it'll be easy, but as Goku follows the sound of the bell right to the cat, he suddenly hears the bell coming from a different direction – Popo has a bell as well, and is shaking it as well, confusing Goku as to where the cat really is, and causing him to crash head-first into a tree. Goku accuses Popo of using a dirty trick, but Popo chastises the boy for once again relying on only one sense, this time hearing, as it too can be deceived. He tells Goku again that if he can learn to clear his mind, he'll be able to see through such deception, and Goku confesses that he's still not very good at it yet. Goku remembers that Popo said he went through training similar to this as well, and asks to go through exactly what Popo did. Popo warns Goku that the training will be extremely grueling, but Goku insists on going through it anyway, so Popo leads him inside Kami's temple. Seeing that Goku is wanting to try Popo's own training, Kami warns Goku that it might be even crueler than death, as Popo assigns Goku his new task – bring back the Holy Crown that rests at the top of Mt. Thunder. Goku thinks that will be easy if he can just find where that is, and Popo uses a device in the corner to set a teleportation device to send Goku to Mt. Thunder. Goku is surprised to find himself outside again, and when a young girl chasing a bird comes running towards him, he asks her where Mt. Thunder is. The girl points to a tall mountain in the distance, and Goku rushes off to get the crown, but not before thanking the girl who laughs cryptically as he leaves. Climbing up the mountain proves to be difficult, and Goku can't shake the sense that there's some dangerous monster at the top. Kami-sama and Mr. Popo watch his progress from the sanctuary, and Kami smirks as Goku gets to the top and finds the crown. Goku takes it off a pedestal and places it on his head, surprised by how easy it all was after all. However, he soon finds that he can't get the crown off, and as the pedestal it was on sinks into the ground, a beam of light shoots up into the clouds above, changing them into storm clouds. Lightning rains down and strikes the crown, electrocuting Goku who realizes he's going to have to get out of there fast if he doesn't want to die. As another bolt strikes him, Goku realizes that he'll have to dodge the lightning bolts, a feat that quickly proves impossible, as a third bolt strikes him and sends him flying from the mountain top as the crown is knocked from his head. Down below, the girl is looking for her bird, Pippi, along with her mother when they end up stumbling across an unconscious Goku. Carrying them back to their home, Goku soon awakens in the girl's bed and thanks her for saving him. The girl is introduced as Chu-li, and her concern over the missing Pippi is expressed. Goku promises to help Chu-li find Pippi as soon as he's finished with his task, but when Goku explains what he's up to, Chu-li and her mother are surprised, as local legend says that whoever gets the crown from Mt. Thunder will become the strongest person in the world. That night, Goku stares out at the mountain and mulls over what to do – if he's going to get that crown safely, he's going to have to figure out some way to move quicker than lightning. But how? The next morning, Goku is awakened by the sound of Chu-li's mother screaming as she finds Chu-li on top of their roof, barely able to hang on. Goku climbs up and helps her down, and when asked why she climbed up there, Chu-li says she thought maybe Pippi would come back if the bird could see her. Chu-li's mother scolds her for doing something so dangerous without reason, but Chu-li insists that she could hear Pippi somewhere close by. Chu-li sits up suddenly and runs outside, claiming to have heard Pippi again, and sure enough, the bird soon flies back down to her. Goku is surprised that Chu-li could recognize the sound of one bird out of all the other noises outside, and when Goku asks her how she did it, Chu-li says she could just feel Pippi's presence somehow. Thinking on it, Goku realizes that's the trick he needed, and rushes off back towards Mt. Thunder. Scaling the mountain quickly again, Goku grabs the crown and puts it on his head again, once again causing lightning to rain down on him. This time however, Goku stands as still as can be with his eyes closed, and senses the approaching lightning bolt by feeling the disturbance in the air. In doing so, Goku proves able to dodge the lightning – however, he celebrates too soon, and is soon struck by a second bolt, knocking him out cold and sending the crown flying from his head once more. As the boy lays there unconscious, it seems unclear how much further he'll have to go to truly master the ability to move 'quicker than lightning'. Review: This is one of those episodes that both seems to have a lot in it, while also not having that much at all. That's far from a bad thing in this case however, as it makes this episode rather tight and focused on it's goal, or rather Goku's goal – to become quicker than lightning. Of course, at the start of the episode, Goku's trying to learn to do the exact opposite of that actually, as he tries to learn to be as 'still as a stone'. Despite seemingly having opposite goals however, the lessons Popo tries to teach Goku in this episode are all tied at the hip, as the ultimate goal is for Goku to learn to stop relying on his default senses, like sight and hearing, and instead start paying attention to the world around him in new ways, ways that can't be as easily deceived like his other senses. Popo first tries to teach Goku this by getting him used to sensing the walnuts he'll toss at him while he's meditating, but while Goku has one success with that, it seems to have been a fluke more than anything else. Popo's next test for Goku – telling him not to move as he spins a staff near him – is another test designed to see how Goku's coming along towards focusing his non-basic senses. Goku fails this test because he relies on his eyes, which fall victim to an optical illusion and make him think that Popo's staff is coming closer to him when it's not. If Goku had instead sensed the movement of the air off of the staff, as Popo wants him to, he would have been able to tell that the staff wasn't coming any closer to him than it had been at the start. The following test with the cat and the two bells is much the same – Popo wants Goku to figure out where the cat is based on the disturbance in the air when it moves rather than the sound of the bell, which Popo is muddling further by jingling a bell of his own. Goku relies on his hearing however, and thus is unable to find where the cat is. These lessons all ultimately culminate in Goku taking on the ultimate test of what Popo's trying to teach him, in the form of the 'Holy Crown' and Mt. Thunder. Man, first we had 'Holy Water' that was actually poison, now we've got a 'Holy Crown' that's actually a lightning rod. Couple all of this with Kami dumping Piccolo onto humanity, and it's looking pretty certain that God really is trying to kill everyone, huh? It's also pretty funny to realize just how far we've come since the days when delivering milk was considered intense training. Oh yeah, and speaking of Kami's unique nature, anyone else really want to know how or why the sanctuary has a technologically based teleportation device? At least when Karin moved Goku somewhere instantly, it was something mystical, like a weird jar. Here Popo puts on a light show and then Goku's transported instantly. It's...really weird. Though I guess it's no weirder than a hermit living on an island and watching porn all day long... Jokes aside, Goku is just as ill-equipped for this latest challenge the first time he tries it as he was for Popo's earlier attempts to teach it to him. He keeps relying on things like his eyes and his ears to try to dodge the lightning, which quickly proves to be as ineffective as it would be in real life. That's where the episodic characters of Chu-li and her bird Pippi come in. Character wise, they're about as stock as they come, with Chu-li and her mother both bringing to mind Suno from the Muscle Tower storyline earlier in the series, at least in how they rescue Goku after finding him unconscious outside. With no real threat to them to help flesh them out further however, they never really become any more than they are when you first set eyes on them, but in a weird way? It's hard to really get mad at them for that, because you can sort of tell they were never meant to be in the first place. Chu-li and Pippi are simply ways for Goku to come about realizing what it is he's lacking, and in that regard, they accomplish their job well. Beyond that though, it's pretty easy to see why they're not super well remembered characters. Once Goku realizes his mistake and starts trying to 'feel' where the lightning is going to strike by the changes in the air around him, he manages to dodge lightning quite readily, as the truth of the matter is, he's already more than fast enough to do so, he just needs to know WHEN to dodge to pull it off. This is part of what makes this training, and later training we're in the midst of in modern Dragon Ball, somewhat more interesting than a lot of what we see during the Z portion of the franchise, as the training isn't outright about becoming stronger in a numerical sense – it's about becoming better at utilizing the power they already have, and thus becoming a more effective fighter, and thus stronger, in that way instead. Of course, Goku's still got a way's to go before he'll truly be able to consider this training mastered, even for the time being, as the end of the episode shows. I mentioned before that this episode was rather tight, and it really is – almost the entirety of it's runtime is focused on seeing Goku fail and try again at learning the lesson Mr. Popo is trying to teach him. There's actually only one cut-away scene unrelated to that plot in this entire episode, in the form of the brief cutaway to Kame House, and I'm fairly certain this scene was probably only added because the script was just a minute or two shorter than what they needed for the runtime. It doesn't really add anything that we didn't already know was happening (though it is a little surprising to see Tenshinhan training alongside the Turtle students rather than Chaozu), and it doesn't delay the rest of the episode in any way whatsoever either. It's like the very definition of filler for the filler, basically. But hey, it almost shows Bulma topless again, so that's something...right? Until next time! Favorite Scene: Popo screwing with Goku while trying to teach him is pretty fun for everything in the first half of the episode, but if I had to pick one, it's definitely the part with the bell and the cat. Next Time: I am never going to remember the names of all of these children, holy crap. |
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September 2022
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