Synopsis: Kami-sama asks Mr. Popo to bring Shenlong to them, and Popo goes inside the temple for a moment before returning with a small, broken statue of the dragon. Kami asks Mr. Popo if he can fix it, and Popo says it'll be easy before sitting down and beginning to glue the broken statue back together. Goku asks if the statue is really Shenlong, and Popo explains that he creates the statue of the dragon that Kami will then bring to life as Shenlong. Kami confesses that he had considered leaving Shenlong destroyed, as though he originally created the Dragon Balls in the hopes of inspiring courage and hope upon humanity, he had increasingly noticed them being used only for greed. He notes that Goku is different however, and that he has decided in the end that so long as there are even a few people like Goku on the Earth, then the Dragon Balls should continue to exist. As Mr. Popo finishes fixing the statue, Kami-sama fires a beam of energy from his finger at it, causing another beam of light to erupt from the statue and fly away from the sanctuary. Goku is confused, but Kami assures him that it's Shen Long returning to the Dragon Balls, saying that while they normally would be unavailable for another year after their last use, he has decided to bend the rules and allow them to use them now. Goku asks if he can go see his friends resurrected, but Kami reminds him of his promise to stay at the sanctuary and train. Goku reluctantly agrees again, and Kami says that if he can just show patience for three years, he'll see his friends again at the next Tenkaichi Budokai. Goku is surprised that Kami even knows about the tournament, and Kami says it won't be just Goku's friends waiting for him there...but Piccolo as well. Goku is shocked to hear that Piccolo is still alive, and Kami-sama reveals that before he died, King Piccolo spat out a final egg that was himself reborn, and that that 'clone' of the fallen Demon King is out there on the Earth somewhere, growing stronger and continuing to harbor the desire to conquer the world. Kami says that so long as Goku is at the sanctuary, Piccolo won't be able to come after him, and if he trains for three years, he should be able to become strong enough to stop Piccolo again, as Kami confesses that there are reasons neither he nor Mr. Popo can interfere with Piccolo. Goku agrees and promises to train his hardest, but first he needs to use the restroom. As Goku runs off, Popo asks Kami if this is really what he wants, as since he and Piccolo were once one and the same, then Piccolo's death will surely mean that he too will pass. Kami says that it can't be helped, as Piccolo has always been his responsibility, and since Gods are unable to destroy themselves, he's had to wait a long time for one strong enough to combat Piccolo for him to appear. He decides to put his faith in Goku, saying that surely the boy will find a way, though Popo is uncertain. At Kame House, Bulma and the others are overjoyed to see that the Dragon Balls are active again and Shenlong has been summoned. Shenlong explains to them that he was brought back by God at the request of Goku, and that Goku is now training in Heaven until the next Tenkaichi Budokai, at which time he'll return and answer any other questions they have. For now, Shenlong will grant their one wish, a wish he already knows – and with that, Shenlong brings Kuririn, Roshi, Chaozu, Nam, Giran, and anyone else killed by King Piccolo back to life, before the Dragon Balls once again scatter across the Earth. Everyone brings the fallen back up to speed as to what's happened while they were dead, with both Kuririn and Roshi being astounded to hear how strong Goku has become. Roshi asks where Goku is now, and Yamcha says that's the part they don't really understand, as Shenlong said that Goku was training in Heaven. Roshi is shocked, and explains that if Goku is training in Heaven, it must mean that he's training under none other than 'God' himself. Everyone is surprised, though Tenshinhan does note that Goku said something like that when he came back for nyoibo, but he figured it was just a figure of speech. Roshi chuckles and says that Goku is far more amazing than any of them ever realized, and confesses that his own power doesn't even touch Goku's anymore. Yamcha worries about how strong Goku is going to get however, as it already feels like he's getting further and further ahead of them. Tenshinhan isn't daunted however, and swears to train even harder than God so he can show Goku how far he's come at the next tournament, and Yamcha and Kuririn vow the same, much to Roshi's approval. As Goku tries to meditate up at Kami's sanctuary, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Kuririn all go through their own training, with Kuririn saying he's looking forward to the next Tenkaichi Budokai. Review: Only a series as goofy as Dragon Ball could get away with having the wish-granting dragon get glued back together like a broken toy only a few chapters after the world was saved, and I absolutely love it. That said, we're immediately hit with a few changes in preconception just one chapter after a lot of my issues with the character of Kami-sama came to light, and I'm not sure how much of it is due to quick changes on Toriyama's part, or it always having been planned this way, or even something stemming purely from Viz's translation here. While I don't have any problem with Mr. Popo doing the handiwork before Kami works his magic, it is a little suspect that Kami goes on about believing that the Dragon Balls should exist so long as there are good people like Goku about, just ONE chapter after he was saying this was a one time boon he was granting, at that humanity needed to suck it up and take care of their problems themselves. Maybe this is just the capriciousness of a god on display or something. Immediately following that, Kami reveals the real reason he needs Goku to remain at the sanctuary and train – Piccolo's alive! Well, sort of. It's somewhat fitting that even Kami's explanation of the situation doesn't make it 100% clear if this new Piccolo is the child of the Demon King or truly the Demon King reborn, because the series moving forward never really makes a true stance on the matter either. If anything, the new Piccolo seems to be somewhere in-between, as functionally he is his own person, far more than any of Piccolo's previous offspring were, but at the same time, he does seem to have the late Demon King's desires imprinted upon him, at least to a degree. There's also the matter of his connection with Kami being explicitly the same as the previous Piccolo's was as we'll learn in due time, and that's something that we're never really shown whether or not it's the case with the other demons Piccolo spawned, so it's really up in the air. And speaking of that connection, Goku isn't made aware of it just yet, but the audience is given it in a brief exchange between Kami and Popo – since Piccolo and Kami were once one and the same, if one dies, so does the other. Ergo, if Goku had succeeded in killing Piccolo without him spitting out another egg first, then there wouldn't have been any way to get the Dragon Balls back, and everyone that died would have been left to their torment for the rest of time. Well that's not grim at all. This also gives us the reason that Kami and likewise Popo couldn't stop Piccolo themselves – Gods are apparently forbidden from committing suicide and Kami killing Piccolo would amount to that, and Popo likewise wouldn't do it because he couldn't bear to lose Kami. While I still feel that Kami largely dumped his problem on the Earth and didn't really do much to help put a stop to it (I mean, realistically, what's stopping him from having invited people like Mutaito, Kame-sennin, and even Tsuru-sennin up there to train to stop Piccolo?), this is at least a reason he couldn't interfere, and a much better one than 'humanity must fix their own problems'. What's not better unfortunately is the handling of everyone else finding out about what's going on. I can give them a bit of leeway for not really absorbing the information that Goku gave them when he dropped by for all of five seconds, but after Shenlong explains everything to them, should they really be surprised by Kami's existence or that Goku's training with him when Roshi re-states it a few moments later? It makes no sense for them to continually stammer 'G-God? It can't be!' after it's already been explained to them. Heck, you'd think they'd take the fact that Shenlong's back out of nowhere – especially when they know that the Dragon Balls shouldn't be available to be used again yet even if he hadn't been destroyed – and the fact that he's far more talkative this time around as proof of everything he's saying, but nope, they've gotta hear it from Roshi too, I guess? I dunno. Maybe Toriyama needed more pages and didn't have anything else to do in this chapter, and he wanted it to have a clean break before things moved into the next one. At any rate, it is good to see the revived characters again. Kuririn's back, which is great! Roshi's back, which...is nice. I still can't help but feel that his narrative function was served and thus it may have been better if he'd been left dead, but at the same time, that's only how we as an impartial audience would react to it. To these characters for whom he's very much a living, breathing person, it absolutely makes sense that they'd wish him back to life as well. And Chaozu's back...so...yay. At least Tenshinhan's happy, I guess. Even Nam and Giran are brought back to life, and curiously enough they both seem to be popping out of the same kind of preservation capsules that Bulma and the others had put their friends into. I'd guess that maybe Bulma swung by these places and gave out the capsules to people, but she wouldn't even know where they were, much less care probably, so I guess these are standard issue in the Dragon Ball world to preserve corpses until burial can happen? And with this chapter's end comes also the end of another era of Dragon Ball. The story arc is just starting, but this is the last time in the manga that we'll see these characters, in particular Goku and Kuririn, as children. There were some definite changes made to their designs at the start of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, but those are nothing compared to how different our group of characters are about to look starting with the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. This is all fairly abrupt however, as the manga is once again skipping over a period of training to get right to the characters being stronger than they were before. At this point in the story it's understandable enough, especially post-Super Bullshit Holy Water, but it still feels a little lackluster to not actually see any of what the characters are doing to become stronger. Good thing there's anime filler, huh? Until next time! Favorite Panel:
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Synopsis: Mr. Popo tells Goku that his spirit and skills are both too weak, and thus he can't allow him to meet Kami-sama. Goku is in disbelief that someone could be so strong, and Popo chastises him, calling him foolish for believing that he was the strongest in the world just for defeating King Piccolo. Goku admits defeat and indeed feels foolish for forgetting the lesson that there's always someone stronger out there, but when Popo tells him to leave, Goku says he can't as he has to bring back the people that died. He asks Popo if he can use the sanctuary to train before taking Popo on again, and although he doesn't think it'll do any good, Popo allows him to, finding that he likes Goku quite a bit despite his momentary arrogance. Goku runs around and around the sanctuary, excited now to have learned about even stronger people he has yet to meet, but soon finds himself winded far sooner than he expected. Mr. Popo explains that the sanctuary is even higher up than Karin's tower and as such the air is that much thinner, and normal people aren't used to that. The air's thinness also makes all of Goku's wasted movements work against him, something Popo tells him he should take greater care with even back on the ground. He tells Goku that he must learn to be as quiet as the sky and quicker than lightning. Goku tries to move like that and realizes that it's hard, and Popo gives him an example, moving quicker than Goku can see him and even seeing what Goku is doing without looking at him. Goku is amazed, and Popo explains that Goku's mistake is using only his eyes to look – Popo is able to tell what's happening around him merely by someone else's presence and the movement of the air as they move. Goku is no longer surprised he couldn't win against Mr. Popo, and Popo attributes everything he knows to things he learned from Kami-sama. Goku asks Popo if that means Kami is even more amazing than him, which Popo confirms. Goku is even more eager than before to meet Kami, but Goku does wonder why if he and Popo are both so strong, neither one of them did anything to stop King Piccolo. Popo says that Kami has his own reasons, and then asks Goku if he'd like to try fighting him again after all, cautioning Goku that it could take many years before he's able to do anything against him, and that he might not even be able to win after that. Goku says he has to do it, but now he wants to do it as well. Hearing Goku's vigor, the voice of Kami speaks from the temple behind them, and says that he'll meet with Goku now. Goku is excited, and Popo tells him that he's a truly lucky individual. Mr. Popo leads Goku to the temple's entrance, and Goku is shocked when he sees “King Piccolo” step out from inside. Enraged that “Piccolo” is still alive, Goku rushes him before Popo can stop him, but Goku finds himself casually flicked away. As Popo catches him, Popo explains that Kami-sama isn't Piccolo at all and that he merely looks like him. Kami scoffs at Karin for not having explained things properly to Goku before doing so himself. He explains that long ago, he and Piccolo were one and the same. Much like Goku, Kami was a gifted martial artist who one day found out about the existence of Kami-sama. He came to the temple and desired to become Kami-sama's heir as even Gods die, and was distressed when the previous Kami continually turned him away. Kami believed himself to be the most worthy of anyone to succeed the throne of God, but the previous Kami saw an inkling of evil within him. Through many years of training, Kami eventually succeeded in purging the evil from his body, but to his horror, the evil lived and took on the name of the Demon King Piccolo, fleeing to Earth to terrorize humanity. This had long been Kami's shame, so he thanks Goku for defeating Piccolo for him, promising to hear Goku's plea as thanks. Before Goku can state his desire however, Kami-sama cautions him that he'll only grant him what he wants if Goku agrees to stay there with himself and Mr. Popo for a while longer to continue training. Goku eagerly agrees as he was going to ask if he could do that in the first place. Kami says that he already knows what it is Goku wants, and although he himself cannot bring people back to life, he can revive Shenlong and make the Dragon Balls that can revive people available again. Goku thanks Kami, but Kami further warns him that this is the only time he'll be doing this, as it wouldn't do for people to become overly reliant on 'God' to fix things for them – even the Dragon Balls require you to gather them for yourself first if you want a miracle to happen. As Goku celebrates, Kami prepares to get to work. Review: Maybe it's just my agnostic side talking, but man...Kami-sama's proving not to be much of a God right from the get go, huh? More on that in a bit. Right from the start, it's interesting to see Mr. Popo reiterate Roshi's lesson to Goku about there always being someone stronger out there. It's true that Goku's victory over King Piccolo had gotten the better of him, proving to Roshi that he'd been somewhat right to worry about his students in the first place (a bit ironic given that just an arc ago, Roshi thought the need for humbling had passed), but for that exact lesson to be worded the same way here kind of makes me wonder if Roshi himself didn't learn that lesson from Karin, who likewise learned it from Kami-sama. Either way, it's a fitting way to remind the audience of that lesson as well – just because Goku defeated Piccolo, there has to be even stronger threats out there, otherwise there's no point in the story continuing. Mr. Popo also gives Goku his next lesson, or at least a tease of it, by mentioning that Goku needs to make better use of his movements if he wants to get the most out of the strength he's gained. Again, this is all sounding really familiar to modern Dragon Ball, and for good reason. As annoying as retreading ground can be though, it's always nice to see the foundation laid for something that ties to skill rather than just brute strength. It also further cements the character of Goku, as after getting over his own arrogance, he's proven to be the same battle-loving guy looking for his next challenge, even after becoming the 'savior of Earth'. Once we actually get introduced to Kami-sama, it quickly becomes evident that it's lore dropping time, as we get a quick debriefing on the origins of King Piccolo, as well as who exactly Kami is. As mentioned before, Kami is his title rather than his name, a fact that's laid out quite plainly here as we're told about the previous Kami and what our current Kami had to go through to achieve the throne of God. It's an interesting backstory, and one that's even better in the anime as we're at least partially shown it rather than just outright told it as we are here in the manga – but it doesn't exactly leave Kami in the greatest of light, even from his introduction. I mean, let's break it down here. Kami-sama was a martial artist, just like Goku. He became really strong, came to meet the previous Kami, and decided – for himself, let's not forget – that he was the most worthy out of anyone to become Kami next. Even when the previous Kami repeatedly turned him down, he kept at it, and eventually decided 'I'm just going to purge evil from myself' – somehow – and then the evil just ran off to Earth to cause mayhem while Kami was given a new title and throne. Hell, this kinda puts into question the qualifications of the previous Kami too. Yeah, I know exactly who I want to take over for the most important job on the planet, the guy who just ditched his negative energy and let it run loose on all of the people I'm supposed to be watching over – it'll be GREAT! The worst part is that there's a halfway decent reason why Kami can't interfere with Piccolo's doings given later that isn't present here just yet, and I can't help but wonder if that reason came about because either Toriyama himself, his editor, or even the readership, weren't entirely convinced by Kami's words in this chapter. It's somewhat implied by Kami's speech here that the reason he didn't interfere is because humanity should figure out the solution to it's own problems. That's all well and good, hell, it's a sentiment that comes back at the very end of the original run of this manga, but here there's just one problem with that – Piccolo wasn't humanity's problem to begin with! It was Kami's problem, and it's a problem that he, as of this chapter at least, seemingly just crosses his arms at and says “Well, he's down there on Earth now, so technically he's YOUR problem, humans. No takesie-backsies!”. I mean, seriously, what kind of “God” drops his own misgivings and problems on the masses of the world and just leaves them to deal with it as if it was their problem to begin with? ...Actually, that...is starting to sound a little familiar...hmm. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: It's a Back-to-Life Bargain Sale! Synopsis: Yajirobe asks Karin what he means by saying Goku's clothes will only get ruined again, and Goku asks him if Kami-sama is a tough guy. Karin laughs and says Kami is a good person, but there's a little test Goku will have to go through once arriving there. Karin tells Goku not to worry as he has faith he won't die and that he'll be able to meet God, a comment Yajirobe doesn't find very comforting, but Goku has already decided to go anyway. Karin gives Goku one last piece of advice: don't get discouraged. With that, Goku extends nyoibo, and heads upwards into the sky. As they watch him leave, Yajirobe comments that it doesn't seem like Goku's scared of anything, but Karin thinks that even Goku will probably be taken aback by Kami's face. Yajirobe asks if his face is really that scary, and Karin concedes that it can be...but it's more that it's a face Goku already knows. As he continues upwards, Goku at first doesn't see anything but sky ahead of him, but eventually he can see a shape in the distance. As nyoibo connects with the bottom of a large sanctuary floating in the sky, Goku marvels at just how big the place really is. Seeing a ladder off to the side, Goku grabs hold of it with his tail and pulls himself up. Once at the top of the sanctuary, he finds a mysterious black figure in a turban waiting to greet him. Goku asks the figure if he's Kami-sama, and the figure denies it, introducing himself as Kami's attendant, Mr. Popo. Popo recognizes Goku as the one who defeated Demon King Piccolo, surprising Goku, but Popo explains that Kami knows everything. Goku asks if Kami is in the house behind Popo and asks to meet him, but Popo asks Goku for the mark of Karin's approval. Goku shows him the bell, and Popo confirms it to be real, and says that Goku qualifies for the test. Popo asks Goku to fight him, stating that if Goku wins, he'll get to meet Kami. Goku thinks this'll be easy, and Popo also seems enthused to fight him. Goku moves super fast before Mr. Popo's eyes, and at first he seems surprised – but instead he merely punches out to his side, catching a reappearing Goku in the jaw. Popo calls himself lucky as Goku gets back onto his feet, and Goku laughs, saying that kind of luck does happen sometimes. He warns Popo that it won't happen again though, and rushes towards him once more. Goku says he'll take Popo out in one hit, but it's Goku that is once again hit as Popo punches him in the face. Popo calls himself lucky again, but then questions if maybe Goku's not actually that strong. He asks Goku if he really defeated Piccolo, and Goku is somewhat angered by Popo's disbelief. Goku says he's going all out now and launches a kick towards Mr. Popo, but Popo disappears just as Goku did before. Popo reappears behind Goku, kicking him towards a tree which Goku rebounds off of and launches another kick at Popo. Popo blocks it, grabbing Goku's leg and flinging him away again, knocking him to the ground. Popo expresses disappointment in Goku and says he can't let him meet Kami-sama in such a state, while also expressing disappointment in Karin for even sending him. Truly enraged now, Goku gets back up and launches a flurry of blows towards Popo, but Popo easily blocks each and every attack. As Goku moves in for a vicious chop, a spectral Oozaru appearing behind him, Popo once again dodges Goku's attack, and floats in the air above him. Popo tells Goku that though he has considerable power, he doesn't know how to use it properly, and an aghast Goku is told to just go home. Review: Anyone reading Dragon Ball for the very first time without any preconceptions coming from the latter part of the series was likely very surprised by the turn of events in this chapter, just as fans reading it when it first came out must have been. The idea that Goku, who we just saw struggle but ultimately defeat the most powerful villain the series had yet seen, would so quickly be made a fool of by a random new character is...well, pretty shocking to say the least. It's an effect the series will do at least once more in the following arc, but here it's all the more shocking since it doesn't come from a perceived threat. Goku is the one going off to meet Kami-sama after all, but apparently asking God for a favor isn't that easy. And yes, I'll be talking in a moment about the elephant in the room, but let's save that bit of unpleasantness for the end of the review, shall we? It's lucky that Goku has his tail or he might not have even been able to grab hold of the ladder to reach the top of the sanctuary at all. In fact, it's a little curious how anyone without that extra appendage would really be able to, as it looks to be just a little bit out of arm's reach – even with his tail, Goku has to flip himself sideways to be able to reach the first rung on it. All of this coupled with various other characters' dialogue really does add to the feeling that this is an exceedingly rare chance that Goku has been given – hell, they outright say that Goku is the first human who's ever been deemed worthy to meet Kami. That's...a little much, given how quickly that illustrious honor is going to become a commonplace thing, but for the point in time it's coming up now, it does add to the gravity of the situation quite well. Still though, what's the point of having such a large floating sky sanctuary if nobody ever comes to visit? Gods are weird. Goku being completely outclassed is not only surprising, but handled in an interesting way as well. The way it's portrayed, it's not so much that Goku is weaker than Popo (though it's arguable that he is), it's more to do with the fact that he's not skilled enough. Popo's final line says it all, Goku has a ton of power, but if he's not able to use it right, what's the use? This is an interesting notion to look back upon given how much of a factor that very sentiment plays in modern Dragon Ball. Back to the roots indeed, I guess. At any rate, this is the third time in a row that we've seen Goku's Oozaru form appear behind him to signify his true power, unfortunately for him even it's not enough at the moment. Going back to the very beginning of the chapter briefly, the mysterious air around Kami-sama is once again built up by Karin and aided by the fact that we still don't get to see him in this chapter. A face that Goku knows, and he's got an attendant as strong as Mr. Popo? Both of these things hype up Kami-sama considerably, but from a writing point of view, it's Karin's comment that would most have my brain working if I didn't already know the answers. It really makes me wonder what kind of theories fans had back when this chapter first came out – were they thinking Kami-sama was actually a character we'd already met? Hmm...the idea of Kame-sennin actually being Kami-sama probably came to mind, though let's all just be thankful that didn't happen, because holy crap would he misuse his sight abilities on a daily basis. And finally, let's talk about the elephant in the room that is Mr. Popo himself. I have to admit, when I first realized I was going to be getting to this arc to review, all of my thoughts were initially about some of the great fights I was going to get to cover by it's end. It wasn't until I was preparing to review this chapter that I realized it also meant I was going to be reaching Popo and was thus going to have to talk about his...rather unfortunate design. Jet black skin with lighter palms, big puffy lips, coupled with his rather simplistic speaking style – there's really no getting around the similarities to the 'Sambo' look that was quite fervent back in the yesteryears of American entertainment, what might be better known today as 'blackface'. Playing up the stereotypical appearance of Black people for comedy was certainly not one of our country's finest moments, and some of the aftereffects of that era are still felt today, well over 100 years later. To make matters worse, some of those same stereotypes and bad-faith designs were exposed outside of the US as well when our media was imported elsewhere, which is likely how Toriyama and other manga artists from previous generations were exposed to it. For an even more egregious example, check out the original design of Cyborg 008 in Shotaro Ishinomori's original Cyborg 009 manga – it's...pretty bad. Given the loaded design inspiration, it's little surprise that the character of Popo has seen various forms of censorship in the past. To this day, Viz's English release of the manga digitally erases the characters lips to leave him with only a gaping maw where his mouth would be, and the CW airing of Dragon Ball Z Kai infamously tried to turn the character blue (likely in a nod to the Genie in Disney's Aladdin, which is somewhat fitting as a genie is another inspiration for Popo's design seemingly). The character was also missing in action for much of Dragon Ball Super, to the point that a lot of fans were wondering if the character was simply being retired, removed from the franchise moving forward to never be spoken about again if at all possible. It's a shame in a way, because while I don't think Mr. Popo is anyone's favorite character, he himself is in-offensive enough and there are a good handful of times in the manga where he makes himself quite useful. There's at least one time for sure where the characters would've been lost without him. As such, it's a shame that his design drags him down as much as it does, while also being completely understandable why it does, and why some would have issue with the character. I don't really 100% agree with the way Viz censors the character or the way the CW tried to either, but I can completely understand why they chose to do so as well. We can't change the past, but we certainly have to do our parts to try to rectify things as much as we can moving forward, especially when it comes to stereotypes that should have long since died out. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: Goku's injuries are healed within a day by Karin, who confesses that he's a little in awe of how strong Goku has become, enough so to even defeat the Demon King Piccolo. Yajirobe says he thought Karin only sent Goku because he thought he had a chance, and Karin further confesses he thought that at best Goku and Piccolo would end up taking each other out. Yajirobe accuses Karin of playing dirty, but Karin says he didn't really have much choice as Goku was the only one with even a small chance of winning, and he planned to bring Goku back with the Dragon Balls afterwards anyway. Goku is surprised that Karin knows about the Dragon Balls, causing Karin to claim there's nothing he doesn't know, a notion that Yajirobe immediately pokes a hole in by bringing up the fact that Piccolo killed Shenlong, something that does surprise Karin.
Goku is still angry at Piccolo, saying that if it weren't for him destroying Shenlong, everyone could be brought back to life. Yajirobe says it's just part of life that people die sometimes, and Karin agrees, but regrets the state that those Piccolo and his demons killed are left in. Goku is confused, and Karin explains that those killed by demons are unable to pass on, and their souls drift in limbo for eternity. Goku asks if there's truly nothing they can do to help them, and though Karin at first says there isn't, he soon changes his mind upon remembering something. Karin tells Goku that there's one hope – he must go and meet with the creator of the Dragon Balls, Kami-sama (aka God). Yajirobe scoffs at such a ludicrous idea, saying that Kami-sama doesn't exist, but Goku accepts the idea. Karin explains that only those he has deemed worthy are allowed to meet Kami, and throughout his dealings with Goku he can tell that he qualifies. Goku asks Karin where he needs to go to meet Kami, and Karin explains that Kami's temple exists far above even his own in the sky. Goku starts to call kinto'un to fly up there, but Karin cautions him that kinto'un can't travel any higher than where they are now, and says that even if it could, he'd simply be repelled anyway. Goku is at a loss as to how to get up there, and Karin explains that Goku is truly blessed by fortune – all he needs is the nyoibo. Karin explains that the nyoibo was originally a staff that connected his tower to Kami's temple, and that he gave it to Roshi years ago after the latter continually pleaded for it, and it was eventually passed down to Gohan and thus to Goku. Reaching for nyoibo at his back, Goku is shocked to find that he doesn't have it. Yajirobe wonders if he dropped it while fighting King Piccolo, and Goku remembers what happened. He calls kinto'un and heads back to the battle ground, but is shocked to find the nyoibo missing there as well. Realizing that he's in trouble if he can't find his staff, Goku suddenly remembers Fortuneteller Baba and hurries over to her. He offers to fight her fighters again if she'll help him, but Baba says none of them would be willing to fight someone strong enough to take down Piccolo, and offers to divine nyoibo's location for free seeing as her little brother's life depends on it as well. She quickly locates nyoibo at Kame House, and Goku flies off to retrieve it, leaving Baba to marvel that Goku has not only saved the world, but now gets to meet Kami-sama himself. Goku storms into Kame House, happily surprising his friends, but Goku leaves before they can really talk to him, stopping only long enough to grab nyoibo and cryptically say that soon Kame-sennin, Kuririn, and Chaozu will be able to come back to life once he meets Kami-sama. Goku's friends are left confused, and Goku flies immediately back to Karin's tower. Karin instructs Goku to climb to the top of the tower and insert the nyoibo in the tower's tip. Goku does so, and Karin tells him to extend it as he always has, but hands Goku a small bell first as proof that he's qualified to meet Kami. Yajirobe asks if Goku shouldn't change out of his damaged clothes first if he's really going to meet someone as important as 'God', but Karin says it's alright as he'll probably just ruin his clothes again anyway once he gets there, surprising both Goku and Yajirobe. Review: At long last, we're here in the final arc (not counting filler) of the non-Z portion of Dragon Ball. I'm really excited to get to this one as it contains my absolute favorite fight in the entire franchise, but I'm also a little wary. The King Piccolo arc was always one of my favorites as well, but when looking back at it with a more critical eye, I found it more fractured than I'd ever really noticed before. I still enjoy it, but I can't deny that it's filled with a lot of issues. Will this arc end up meeting the same fate? I guess there's really only one way to find out. At the start, this arc hits the ground running by immediately picking up where the last one left off. Goku is healed from his injuries from fighting King Piccolo, but he finds himself in a world where despite his victory, there's still really no way to set things right. Without the Dragon Balls, his friends (and everyone else that died) have no way of coming back to life. Even Karin, despite his claims of seeing everything down on Earth, seemingly missed the part where Piccolo killed Shenlong – this could be our first example of the 'Gods' of Dragon Ball not being all their cracked up to be honestly, and given that we're about to meet a new one, that's not a great sign. That said, the idea of Goku going and meeting the guy who actually made the Dragon Balls is an interesting one, as well as being the perfect way for them to get the titular items back in play potentially. From the very beginning of the series, the Dragon Balls have simply existed, with there never really being much hinted as to where they came from. While 'God made them' is a bit of a lazy answer in some ways, it does make some level of sense, as well as being a great way to up the ante now that things need to move in a new direction again. We'll also see the idea of the Dragon Balls' origin fleshed out even further in just a few arcs, so think of this explanation as a bit of a stop-gap really anyway. At any rate, it's clear from the way that Kami-sama is talked about throughout this chapter that he's a mystical figure that a lot of normal folk like Yajirobe don't necessarily believe in anymore, but people who are themselves mystical in nature to a degree like Baba and Karin all have great respect for. This helps build up the mystique around him even further – just who is this guy who's powerful enough to create magic balls capable of granting any wish, and if he's so great, why wasn't he able to do anything about Piccolo? Shockingly, Toriyama actually has something in mind here that probably surprised a lot of people when it was first revealed. Speaking of Kami-sama, it bears mentioning that his name is not really a name at all. Much like Kame-sennin and Tsuru-sennin, Kami-sama is simply his title, Kami being Japanese for 'God' and sama being an honorific denoting the high level of respect due him. Also much like Kame-sennin, we never get Kami's actual name, so between that and wanting to avoid how touchy people can be about religion, it's little wonder the English-dubbed version of the anime largely chose to treat Kami as actually his name and call him the 'Guardian of Earth'. Much like kinto'un before it, Goku's nyoibo is also now explained to have come from Karin's temple and was simply passed on to Gohan before it made it's way to Goku. While it's largely not too big of a deal, I'm honestly not really a fan of this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, while we've always known the nyoibo came from Gohan, it being another hand-me-down to Goku coming from Roshi just like the cloud kind of makes Goku's entire fighting aesthetic from earlier in the series a hand-me-down rather than it being his own. That they both ultimately came from Karin as well just feels a bit much as well. Secondly, and a more damning problem in my opinion, is the fact that this also ultimately leads to both things being set aside entirely. We'll be getting a bit more of kinto'un in the coming arcs – actually, this might be the last time it's seen in this one come to think of it, so more so the following arc – but this is pretty much the last time we'll see nyoibo outside of a movie here and there. The actual need for kinto'un is going to be taken away fairly soon, so it being put away, while sad, makes sense; losing nyoibo entirely however has always saddened me a little. Goku's had to do without it in a lot of tournament based fighting, but it was always nice to see it at his side again once he was just out exploring the world. We've seen Goku become more adept at fighting with his body however, so this was probably always coming one way or the other, it's just a little...wasteful, in a way. One other small moment I'd like to touch on is Baba's helping Goku for free. It's hard to say really if it's entirely due to Goku saving the world and her owing him a favor, or if it's really due to her brother's death. She doesn't seem particularly broken up by his passing that we can tell, and she continues to help Goku out for free moving forward into the series, so...chances are it has more to do with the world being saved. Poor Roshi. As much as this chapter contained, it was actually fairly mundane in some ways as well. There's a lot of re-defining what things are or where they came from, but every location and character are ones we've already seen, and it's more prepping us for the next chapter than it is anything else. Maybe it's because of that that Toriyama decided to tease things a little at the end. Yajirobe does raise a good point, I doubt you'd want to go meet anyone you'd address with a 'sama' suffix in disheveled clothing, but Karin thinks Goku's clothes would just get messed up again anyway? Just what sort of guy is this 'God' anyway? Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: As Goku hurtles through the air towards King Piccolo, Piccolo prepares to block Goku's incoming attack. With his fist raised out before him, a spectral Oozaru seems to appear behind Goku, catching Piccolo by surprise at the level of power he's sensing from Goku. The two collide in the air, and Goku is shown to have flown right through Piccolo's chest, ripping a large hole in the demon's body. As Piccolo recoils in pain, Tenshinhan marvels at Goku's achievement, and Goku loudly declares that he's won while beginning to sob.
Piccolo himself is taken aback by the fact of his loss, but praises Goku's strength to himself as brilliant. He cautions however that demon kind won't disappear as easily as that, and quickly spits up an egg, sending it flying far into the distance. He asks his newest son to someday avenge his father's death and not to let the fire of evil die out. Piccolo's body is then wracked with pain, and he explodes, the shockwave sending Goku flying back down towards the ground. Tenshinhan sees Goku coming crashing down and is unable to move in time to go get him. Thankfully however, Yajirobe arrives in the nick of time to catch Goku just before he'd hit the ground. Having landed their plane nearby, Yamcha, Bulma, and Lunch watch Piccolo's explosion in the air and wonder what's going on. They think whatever it was was pretty bad, and wonder if there's anything they can really do, but swear not to let their friends die in front of their eyes. Back on the battleground, Yajirobe claims to have come to help take down Piccolo and have arrived a moment to late, but Goku doesn't seem to believe him. Tenshinhan praises Goku's achievement, and Goku says it feels like his entire body is wrecked. Yajirobe says they both look pretty wrecked, so he tells Tenshinhan and Goku to both get in his car and he'll take them to get their wounds treated. Tenshinhan says he's alright however and asks Yajirobe to take Goku alone, as he wants to get back to Kame House and tell everyone the good news as soon as possible. Tenshinhan tells Goku to get well soon, but Goku stops him to ask if it's true that Kame-sennin is dead. Tenshinhan confirms this bad news as well as telling him that Chaozu is dead, and confirming Shenlong's death as well. Goku takes this news sadly, and Tenshinhan tries to cheer him up slightly by telling him that he's going to train harder than ever before to catch up to Goku in time for the next tournament, promising to win against Goku outright this time. Goku laughs and says he won't let Tenshinhan surpass him that easily. As Yajirobe drives away with a sleeping Goku in tow, Tenshinhan says he can't believe how strong Goku really has become, with Yajirobe agreeing as well. Seeing that Goku has left nyoibo behind, Tenshinhan picks it up to give back to him when they meet again, just as Yamcha and the others show up. Tenshinhan tells them about Goku's victory, and says there's a lot more he has to tell them yet too. Once back at their plane, Bulma calls in to one of the local TV stations to tell them the news about Piccolo's defeat, and when they ask who took him down, she simply says the forces of good. Around the world, the populace celebrates their newfound freedom from the evil of King Piccolo, but unbeknownst to them, their safety might not be guaranteed just yet, as the egg Piccolo spat out is revealed to have hatched a small being that looks just like King Piccolo, who vows to avenge his father and put an end to peace once and for all. Review: And so ends the short reign of King Piccolo. At the end of the day, King Piccolo might not be the most interesting villain Toriyama has ever made, and his story arc may have been a bit too simplistic to really fulfill everything it could have been either. At the same time though, the character and the arc around him very much set up the basic blueprint that almost all future Dragon Ball arcs will follow to some degree, even to this day, so I can't help but love it warts and all. King Piccolo himself, despite being rather one-note and basically just going 'EVIL! I'm EVIL!' constantly, and not having the best plans at all, also can't help but grab my attention. He's arguably the villain who most gets his way before everything is said and done. He actually gets his wish granted, he's the cause of death or near-death for every character that actively fights in this arc, and he even manages to take the Dragon Balls out of the equation, seemingly setting up the story in a way that there's no coming back from. Later arcs will have similar things happen in different ways, but I'd argue that here, before we've seen it happen a bunch of other times, is where it most feels like something might stick. His design is chilling, his actions repugnant, and he absolutely loves every moment of villainy he gets to perform. Everything that makes King Piccolo great is basically given a second life later on by another far more well known and beloved villain, and I can't help but feel like more fans should experience and appreciate the original owner of said traits as well. The ending of the fight is also one of the absolute best in all of the franchise. Goku's spectral Oozaru energy as he punches through Piccolo's body is something I can only describe as 'hype as hell'. Seeing Goku who we've come so far with defeat someone as strong and evil as Piccolo in so conclusive a manner is almost enough to bring a tear to your eye, and it certainly does for Goku himself. In his case however, I'd definitely say it's coming from a mix of emotions. He's glad to have proven himself so strong, and he's glad to have gotten vengeance for his lost friends, but he still mourns their losses, especially now that he knows there's no getting them back. I think this is also why one of the first things he asks Tenshinhan is for the truth about what happened to Roshi and Shenlong, because he still can't accept that everyone is really gone for good. He knows it's not fair and it's eating him up on the inside. Goku is often criticized as a character that's too forgiving and laid-back, and those are parts of his character that sometimes come too much to the forefront for sure – but within him is still a heart that dearly loves his friends, and will grieve for them when they're gone and fight for them when he's there. As opposed to Yajirobe who just strolls in at the end of the fight to help out by basically being an Uber. But hey, that's Yajirobe – did we really expect anything more from him? There's a nice moment of Bulma choosing not to reveal Goku's name or further existence to the world as well. I don't know if she gave the TV station her own name or not, but she's already somewhat on the global stage anyway, coming from a rich and famous family as she does. In Goku's case, she probably recognizes that fame or fortune aren't things Goku's after, nor is recognition for his achievements in the way that the world would be giving it to him if they knew who he was, so she spares him from dealing with any of that. As the world cheers however, we see that things might not be as wrapped up as any of the characters would hope, as Piccolo's child is alive... ...and seemingly is born wearing clothes. Huh. Come to think of it, Drum popped out with clothes too. Cymbal never wore clothes – Tambourine did, but I guess I just assumed Pilaf's goons had given him pants for some reason, or maybe one of King Piccolo's unseen skills was the clothes beam that we see used later by his offspring, or something. It's also kind of weird that Piccolo was able to talk with such a huge hole where his lungs, heart, and at least part of his stomach were all supposed to be as well. Not to mention how he managed to form and spit up an egg with most of his major organs compromised. And he explodes, kinda randomly to be honest. Huh. I guess it's only fitting that King Piccolo's end, as great as it is, is also as weird and uneven in some ways as the rest of his arc was as well, it only seems right. So with the end of this arc, we once again come to the point where I like to imagine what people may have been expecting to come next for both Goku and for the story itself. This time around, it's a little simpler in some ways, but not so in others. On the one hand, we know that Piccolo's latest offspring is still out there and is going to want revenge, but given what a little guy he is, it's hard to say just how capable he is of achieving that revenge just yet. There's the tease of the next Tenkaichi Budokai from Tenshinhan, and even with everything lost, Goku is no doubt going to want to attend that and try to win at long last. That still leaves the question of what he does in the interim however, as he's seemingly far outgrown every method of training available to him. There's also the lingering question of the rest of the cast, particularly the dead ones. Are they truly gone for good? Are the Dragon Balls going to be just a memory from now on, despite being the title of the series? There's so many different possibilities in the air that I'd imagine lots of fans at the time were really scratching their heads trying to figure out where things could go next other than the most basic idea of 'Piccolo's kid is going to get revenge' and 'another Tenkaichi Budokai'. That's two ideas though. There's now way they'd be one and the same, right? Hmm... Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: King Piccolo warns Goku that if he moves even an inch, he'll crush Tenshinhan's head to pulp in an instant. Though Tenshinhan begs Goku to ignore him and just defeat Piccolo, the demon squeezes Tenshinhan's head hard, causing him to yell out in pain and causing Goku to agree to beg Piccolo to stop and agree to his terms. Piccolo praises Goku's choice and tells him to not even flinch or Tenshinhan will die, as he picks up a rock in his palm. Blowing the rock away with his breath, Piccolo sends it slamming hard into the opposite arm from Goku's already injured knee, crippling Goku on two sides now. Piccolo laughs at Goku's folly, saying that it's always the weakness of humans that leads them to this point as they can never overcome sentimentality long enough to harden their heart and overcome evil. Hearing these words, Goku realizes that Piccolo is planning to kill them no matter what he does, something Piccolo doesn't even bother to deny. Goku apologizes to Tenshinhan and says that he has to take down Piccolo, promising to bring him back to life with the Dragon Balls afterwards. Hearing this, Piccolo laughs and reveals he's already taken care of Shenlong, saying that killing a dragon was easy for someone like him. Goku is in disbelief, and Piccolo reinforces his threat – if Tenshinhan dies here, he'll never be able to come back to life. Picking up a second rock, Piccolo again blows it towards Goku, this time striking him in his remaining leg, knocking Goku to the ground. Piccolo laughs and compares Goku to a caterpillar before dropping Tenshinhan on the ground, saying that he can kill him at his leisure after he takes care of Goku. Piccolo flies up into the air, declaring victory for himself, as he flies back downwards at high speed to kill Goku, telling him that this is the fate that awaits anyone that dares challenge him. Goku says Piccolo forgot one thing however – his remaining good arm. Blasting energy into the ground below him, Goku launches himself into the air on a collision course with Piccolo, deciding to gamble all of his remaining energy on one final blow. As the two warriors prepare to meet in a final clash, Piccolo tries to block Goku's incoming attack with his hands crossed before him, but behind Goku's raised fist and body appears the spectral image of the Oozaru. Review: As much as I complained before about Tenshinhan becoming just a burden to Goku in this chapter, it does work in the narrative sense that it shows just how much Goku values his friends and rivals. He's barely known Tenshinhan for any time at all, and a good part of that time was spent also actively disliking him, but now he's almost willing to lose the fight if it means he'd have to cause Tenshinhan's death. This whole debacle also ends up bringing to light once more the state of things beyond this fight by reminding us that Shenlong is dead. This means that even if Goku does win this fight, there's seemingly no way to bring back Tenshinhan if he does die. Not only that, but there's no way to bring back Kuririn, Roshi, or Chaozu either, not to mention the other Budokai participants such as Nam and Giran, or who knows how many number of people who have died as a result of the two city explosions Piccolo has already launched. Needless to say, things are as grim as they've ever been even after the hope that Goku brought back to the table by coming back stronger than ever before. Even if he wins, there's so many things that have been taken that don't seem to be able to come back. Even beyond the characters themselves, there's even the titular Dragon Balls. Where could the series possibly go next if the items that give them their name aren't available anymore? Ultimately it's a question that we don't ever get an answer for all things considered, but at the time of these chapters originally coming out, I'm sure it's something that was on the mind of a lot of fans. I'd even be willing to bet that this was probably also the first arc where fans probably thought for sure the series was coming to an end soon too. As it stands however, this all feeds into Piccolo's overconfidence that is ultimately going to lead to his downfall here. He's been forced to eat dirt quite a few times in his encounter with Goku here, but he's never truly believed he was going to lose, because he looks at Goku as something far lesser than himself. Goku's just a “human”, Piccolo's a self-proclaimed Demon King. Goku's just a child, Piccolo is an eternal being that's power should be unrivaled. Goku is down three limbs, while Piccolo, despite being quite drained of energy by this point, still has use of every part of his body. Goku's stuck on the ground, and Piccolo's able to fly back down and finish him for good. But more than anything else, Piccolo is certain that he's superior because he's willing to do whatever it takes to win, willing to cross whatever lines it takes to be victorious, and Goku isn't. He feels a moral superiority in choosing to be evil rather than choosing the 'good' path that he feels Goku is on, and he thinks that as a result of that, it's only natural that he wins. It's fate. Goku however, refuses to lay down for that. He's down, he's out, but he's still got a lot of strength left in his body even if he can't fully use his body, and as he points out to Piccolo, he does still have a fully good arm left that Piccolo seems to have overlooked. Launching an energy blast that I can't decide if it's meant to be a Kamehameha or not (it's drawn like one, but Goku doesn't call it out by name, so this is either his first usage of a normal ki blast, or his first use of a non-verbal Kamehameha as well as something that fits pretty thematically with what another character will do a long time from now), Goku sends himself flying back into the sky to take down Piccolo or die trying. There's more I could say on this, but I'll hold off until the next chapter when it'll be even more relevant. For now, I'll leave off by noting that Toriyama's choice of having the Oozaru imagery appear one more time behind Goku, just as it did when Goku's hidden powers were awakened, is brilliant, effectively showing us that this is Goku at his full power no matter how beaten up he is, and signaling that this is where the fight is about to end no matter what. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: The Conclusion! And Then... Synopsis: As an explosion engulfs the area around King's Castle, Yamcha notices that the radio broadcast has cut out, and Bulma points out the large cloud of destruction coming from the area. The King and his soldiers watch from inside their building, one of the few spared from destruction, and the King mourns the loss of the city and the castle. Piccolo laughs with glee, thinking the fight has been won at last, but soon realizes that he can still sense Goku's energy.
As Piccolo looks around and tries to figure out how Goku could have dodged his attack, he hears Goku from above, and looks up to see Tenshinhan floating in the air while holding Goku. Cursing himself for forgetting that the other fighter could fly, Piccolo watches as the pair lands back on the ground. Goku thanks Tenshinhan for saving him, and notices that Tenshinhan is completely winded by such a simple act. Piccolo surmises that Tenshinhan must have used the last of his energy just now to fly, and says that leaves Goku with no way to avoid his next attack. Goku tells him to try that attack again if he's so confident, as he's willing to bet Piccolo is also out of a lot of energy after it. Piccolo concedes that he probably is weaker now, but thinks that he still has plenty of energy left to finish Goku off. Piccolo channels his energy for another attack, and Goku says he was waiting for him to do that, saying that Piccolo's wide open. Leaping in with his good leg, Goku slams a powerful punch into Piccolo's stomach, winding the demon – but Piccolo manages to remain standing, glowering down at him. Goku realizes that he wasn't able to put his full strength into the blow due to only having one good leg, and Piccolo launches his attack again, catching Goku full on with another explosion, the shockwaves alone from it being enough to knock Tenshinhan away as well. As Piccolo pants, he thinks he's definitely won at last this time, only for Goku's voice to once again come from the crater, calling for kinto'un. The cloud appears and Goku grabs it's tail so that it can lift him up out of the ground. Goku says he was right and Piccolo's power really is dropping, so he was able to survive that attack somehow after all. Piccolo can't believe a mere human would be able to stand up to his attack, and Goku says he must never have noticed his tail. Goku concedes that he doesn't have a lot of power left either, and says they'll be finding out very soon who wins this fight. Unable to believe there's a chance he might actually lose this, Piccolo moves quickly and grabs an injured Tenshinhan by the head, holding him between Goku and himself. He warns Goku that if he even tries to move, he'll crush Tenshinhan's skull with his bare hand. Review: After multiple chapters in a row that were furious exchanges of blows one after the other, you can finally see the end for this fight in the distance, as both Goku and Piccolo are quickly proving unable to put the other down without taking great injuries themselves. Physically, it looks like Goku's the one the worst off, but there's also the matter of Piccolo's claim that fighting at full power shortens his life span. There's a good chance that he's never had to fight as hard as he is now, so maybe he's actually shaving off far more of his life than we'd have expected. It almost makes you wonder if that wasn't originally going to be Toriyama's plan for the end of this fight in a way. Due to Piccolo's wish for eternal youth, there wouldn't even be any tells like his body starting to become older again, either – he'd just fall over and croak essentially. Having his wish come back to bite him in the butt would certainly have been an interesting way to go, but it would have robbed us of a pretty iconic ending that we're almost getting to, so I think it's best the way it is really. Seeing Goku take advantage of Piccolo leaving himself open is a nice moment, showing that he's very much becoming a smarter fighter as he gets stronger, and pairs really well with his direction-changing Kamehameha from before. The boy really is growing up, and it's great to see after following him for so long. There's also a rather curious moment with him noting in response to Piccolo calling him a mere human that he might not be one at all due to his tail. It's probably safe to say Goku never really wondered too much about his origins, but he no doubt has learned just enough about the world – especially after traveling around it for three years to train – to realize that his having a tail truly is a trait seemingly pretty unique to himself. Again, I doubt he really puts much thought into it beyond that, but he does seem to realize that he might not be normal in a traditional sense. It's also nice to get to see Tenshinhan actually do something again rather than just commenting about the fight. He's clearly still not at his best after his fight with Drum earlier, but I'll take what I can get frankly. Sadly though, that moment of glory is extremely fleeting, and he's soon reduced to being a hostage at Piccolo's mercy to try and keep Goku at bay. As long as I've been a fan of this series, I've never realized just how quickly Tenshinhan falls from grace, and it is just really...really sad to see. Poor guy. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: Goku and King Piccolo continue to furiously exchange blows, with Goku eventually forcing Piccolo back to the ground once more. As both Goku and Piccolo try to catch their breath, Tenshinhan remarks that it looks like Goku's actually got the advantage again. From inside King's Castle, the King and his soldier attendant have noticed how noisy it is outside. Another soldier alerts them to the fact that Piccolo hasn't left for West City yet, and directs their attention to the fight happening outside.
Piccolo fires energy beams from his eyes, catching Goku in the knee with one of the blasts. It turns Goku's knee badly, crippling him, and causing Piccolo to laugh with joy and proclaim that the fight will soon be over. Goku thinks one knee is all he'll need to defeat Piccolo however, and Piccolo angrily rushes in for an attack. Pulling nyoibo from his back, Goku extends it and uses it to land a knee strike with his good knee right into Piccolo's face. As the King marvels at the power of this mysterious child fighting off Piccolo, one of his soldiers urges him that they should evacuate while they can, so that there's still a King to rule the world when this all ends. The King reluctantly agrees to leave the fate of the world in the boy's hands, though he hates the idea of running while a child fights for them. Goku asks Piccolo how that attack was, and Piccolo, now with a bloody nose, angrily asks what that stick even is. Meanwhile, Yamcha and the others continue to fly towards King's Castle in a plane, with Yamcha hoping that Tenshinhan can hold out a little longer as they're still about ten minutes away. Bulma says there hasn't been any news about West City being destroyed yet, so Tenshinhan must be alive still. Just then, the radio reports to them breaking news of two fighters, a young man and another smaller boy, holding off King Piccolo and preventing him from leaving for West City. Yamcha is at first confused as to who the younger boy could be, but Bulma says that it must be Goku, pointing out that they never actually saw him die, only assumed it when they hadn't heard from him. She also reminds them of Baba's prediction that Goku would one day save the world, restoring hope in Yamcha that it really might be Goku after all. Enraged that he continues to be shown up, Piccolo focuses his power anew, launching two energy blasts from his finger tips. The first one Goku manages to dodge, but the second connects, knocking the nyoibo from his hand. With his foe at last unable to move quickly, Piccolo launches a massive energy blast from his hand towards Goku, and the explosion quickly envelopes a large section of the city. Review: While much of this chapter is also focused on the continuing fight between Goku and King Piccolo, we start to get further reactions from characters that aren't Tenshinhan, and ironically enough? The reactions of both sets of characters, one filled with unnamed people who are on the scene but don't know what they're watching, and the other of named characters who aren't on the scene but think they know what's going on, are both far more interesting than Tenshinhan's reactions thus far have been, despite him being on the scene and knowing what's going on. The first reaction we're given is from the King and his few remaining soldiers. There's not much on the surface level of their scenes, but when you dig into it a little bit, they do tell us quite a bit more about the King himself. We've already seen that he doesn't want the people of the world to come to harm, and the only reason he's given control over to King Piccolo is because he doesn't really have much of a choice and he thinks that in the short-term, that might limit casualties. I can only imagine his reaction when he heard Piccolo's little forty-three year plan, all things considered. When he sees that two people are fighting Piccolo, especially with one of them being a child, the King isn't so much filled with hope as he is concern about them leaving all of this up to a random kid that's shown up. The entire world's military under him is supposed to protect the people, and they've been proven completely ineffective against Piccolo, but here's a kid that's fighting to save them all, and they can't even back him up? It's seemingly an affront to everything the King believes in, as well as being just plain humiliating. The King's only real scenes throughout the series are always small, but they do show us a man – er, dog – who seems to truly care for his people, and it's easy to see how he must've come into his position and why he's seemingly so well liked by the populace at large. Gee, if only any of our real world leaders could be worth this much... The second group reaction we get comes from the plane with Yamcha, Bulma, and Lunch, though naturally Lunch doesn't do more than appear in the background of panels. In fact, we've had blonde Lunch for so long now, that I'm not even sure blue-haired Lunch even knows what's going on at this point, actually. Their scene shows us that the world at large is now being made aware of Goku's fight with King Piccolo, as well as revealing to them that Goku's even alive in the first place. Granted, they don't know for a fact that it's him fighting down there, but as Bulma points out, they never knew for a fact that he was dead either, not to mention Baba's little prophecy from a few arc's ago. Baba's prediction is an interesting thing actually, as it really almost doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things – think of how rarely that happens in fictional media. A big part of that might be due to how much more story there is left for this series as opposed to other series that pull a 'chosen one' prophecy out of nowhere, but I can't help but compare this to the likes of say Naruto or Harry Potter, where us finding out that a character is a 'chosen one' kind of puts them on this pedastal afterwards. It ends up making them into something more than they were in a way, and makes it, in some ways, about that prophecy being fulfilled rather than them doing what they do specifically because of who they are. In Goku's case though, this prophecy really matters as little to him as a later revelation about him does, though in the latter's case, that one will end up having various far-reaching effects on him and the story itself. As someone who's not always the biggest fan of 'chosen one' reveals, I'm glad this doesn't really go anywhere further, but I do appreciate it coming back up after it was previously teased, rather than it just being left up to interpretation which event Baba was probably talking about. Beyond the reactions, it's basically just more fighting as I said, but it is nice to see the nyoibo get one final use in combat, as pretty soon we won't really ever be seeing it again outside of a movie or two. It's also worth noting that two of Piccolo's attacks in this chapter are seemingly techniques we saw him do previously that are now turned towards Goku. The eye beams are always neat to see, but Piccolo's massive explosion that closes out the chapter is particularly telling in how far Goku has pushed and angered him – this is seemingly the same type of attack he used to destroy much of the city before, and likely the same kind of attack he was going to use to destroy West City. Now he's employed it just to take care of one kid that's in his way. If there's one thing Goku's good at by now, it's riling up his opponents. Until next time! Favorite Panel: |
About the AuthorAspiring author and big anime/manga fan, just trying to do my best in the world. For more details, go to About Me. Archives
September 2022
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