Synopsis: Goku continues to yell Bulma's name outside of Capsule Corp., but the officer chastises him and tells him there's no need to yell when there's an intercom right at the entrance. Goku doesn't know what that is, and the cop uses it to ask if Bulma is there. A robotic voice responds that Bulma is at school, and the cop asks Goku if he wants to wait for her. Goku says he does and that the cop can leave now if he wants, but the cop says he can't do that since he doesn't even know for sure that Goku is supposed to be here or not. He finds it a little suspect that someone like him would know the heiress to such a large company as Capsule Corp. Before he can question Goku any further however, Goku says he can smell Bulma's scent, and to the officer's surprise, Bulma flies to a stop in front of them with her flying bike.
Bulma is happy to see Goku and asks if he found his way here all by himself, and Goku says he was helped by the policeman. Bulma thanks the officer, who discreetly smells Bulma when her back is turned – strange, he doesn't think she has that strong of a smell. As Goku explains that he needs Bulma to fix the radar, the officer asks if it it would be too much trouble to have his scooter looked at as well since it's been acting up, and Bulma invites the both of them inside. The officer tells Bulma that they were told she was at school, and Bulma says it was boring so she ditched. The officer nervously points out that she really shouldn't do that as they step inside. Bulma asks a robot maid where her dad is and the maid tells her he's in the garden. Goku is surprised by how big the house is on the inside, but he's even more surprised (as is the cop) when she pushes a button to lead them into the first floor's garden, a massive space built to look like the outside, full of stray dogs, cats, and even dinosaurs that her father has a soft spot for. In almost no time, Dr. Brief wanders over on his bike and Bulma introduces him to Goku. Brief seems surprised – he was under the impression that Goku was a tiny little squirt, but the man standing before him is quite tall and good looking to boot. The doctor is corrected that Goku is the little kid, not the police officer, and the two seem to hit it off quickly. Bulma tells her dad that she and Goku are heading upstairs and asks him to look at the policeman's scooter, and Dr. Brief asks if they're going up there to make out. Bulma screams at him not to be disgusting, and her father calls her a prude. Goku asks Bulma what making out is, she refuses to answer him, and the officer wonders if this is really the man who invented capsule technology as he starts to look over the scooter. At the Red Ribbon HQ, Red wonders why their radar shows their enemy going to West City where there aren't any more Dragon Balls to collect. A soldier comes in and gives him a picture of Goku that was sent in by General White before he was defeated, and Red and his assistant are both astounded that Silver and White squads were both taken down by some brat. In a fury, Red says he's certain this child will continue to fight them and try to get the other four Dragon Balls before they can, and orders the soldier to fax Goku's picture to every remaining unit with orders to kill the boy on sight. Red fumes that such a small child is somehow able to waltz in and get Dragon Balls easily while their organization, equipped with a radar put together by resources from the entire army, struggles. The assistant reasons that this can only mean the boy somehow has a radar even more sophisticated than their own... Back at Capsule Corp., Bulma tells Goku that she wishes he'd be more gentle with the radar, but is able to fix it in no time. Bulma checks the radar and says she's surprised Goku only has two of the Dragon Balls so far, and Goku tells her he's had some pretty crazy adventures so far. Bulma thinks and remembers that tomorrow is a Saturday so she offers to go with Goku and help him out. Goku objects saying she'd just get in the way and he'd have to carry her since she can't ride the kinto'un, but Bulma has the perfect solution. She shows off the watch on her wrist, and presses a button on it before promptly shrinking down to the size of a toy. She says Goku would be able to carry her easily when she's like this, just before a woman's foot steps down on her. The woman introduces herself as Bulma's mother and asks where her daughter is just before Bulma returns to normal size. Her mother tells her not to get under mommy's feet and Bulma yells at her to please not step on her then, to which her mother asks her to be careful where she shrinks. Bulma's mom apologizes to Goku for her daughter's behavior and offers him some sake, prompting Bulma to yell at her for offering liquor to a minor. Bulma's mother wonders why her daughter has to be so rebellious, further exasperating her daughter. Goku asks if Oolong and Yamcha will be coming with them, and before Bulma can stop her, her mother explains that those two plus Puar are in school currently, as well as telling him that Bulma nad Yamcha are fighting right now due to Bulma not liking all of the attention Yamcha gets from other girls. Bulma angrily tells her mom to shut up and says she's going to look for the Dragon Balls with Goku, and this time she's going to find a way better guy than Yamcha. Bulma's mother says she should come along too if they're going guy hunting, angering Bulma once more. Bulma changes clothes and tells Goku they should get going, and they go back to the lab where Dr. Brief has finished tuning up the policeman's scooter. She asks her dad if he's seen her capsule case and he says it's on top of his desk. He asks her where she's going and she says off with Goku to find the Dragon Balls, prompting him to ask her to wish for a pretty girl for him, once again causing Bulma to be angry at her parents. As the pair steps back outside and discusses where they're going, the officer is completely taken by surprise by the talk. He's even more surprised when Goku calls down kinto'un and Bulma shrinks herself to fit inside his gi's shirt before the two fly off into the sky. The cop says he doesn't understand rich people at all and fires up his scooter only to find that it works a little too well now, flying him head first into a lady's car. As Goku and Bulma leave to search for the Dragon Balls, Dr. Brief makes a horrifying discovery – Bulma grabbed his capsule case, not her own. Review: I have little doubt that, for fans who actually got to start Dragon Ball from the very beginning rather than coming into it at some point during DBZ, they probably wondered at some point just what sort of parents could have possibly resulted in a character like Bulma. Well, I think we'll all probably be in full agreement that her parents do actually explain quite a bit about her – their laid-back attitude certainly explains why they let their underage daughter go on a cross-country (or...continent?) trip to search for magical, wish-granting balls, all by herself. It's actually sort of a shame how much of a backseat these two take for the rest of the franchise, because here at the start anyway, they are a lot of fun. Bulma's dad, Dr. Brief, is your standard crazy scientist character, at least at first glance. Rather than being eccentric in a loud and obvious way like Senbei from Dr. Slump however, he's calm almost to a fault and seems to enjoy just doing whatever he wants to do in life – then again, wouldn't you if you were as rich as they are? Despite that however, he's a genius who is apparently the source of all of the capsule technology that we've seen throughout the series thus far. Given how handy that tech is and how literally impossible it sounds from a real world perspective, no wonder he ended up being loaded. I still can't help but wonder how the technology works exactly though, can anything be put into a capsule or is it more that things are made with a capsulizing function built into them? That might be the question I'd be most interested in hearing an answer from Toriyama on. Bulma's mother gives quite a bit less to really talk about or think on, but that doesn't stop her from being fun as well. If Bulma's father is where she got all her genius from, then her mother contributed...beauty...and gender...and...that's about it actually. Her mother (who we never do get a proper name for really) is basically the stereotypical blonde ditz stereotype, and you'd almost be forgiven for thinking she's basically the good doctor's trophy wife, but the few times we do see them together later on in the series, they seem to be happy enough with each other. There's at least a high probability that they're both swingers who don't really have much of a moral standard when it comes to laws, but hey, whatever makes a relationship work. The attitude of both of her parents explains Bulma's personality as well, albeit in an opposite direction. While her parents are chill and relaxed to a point that's probably not good, that seemingly has resulted in Bulma being the type of person that flips out at just about anything and everything. Guess it wasn't just Goku being Goku that was annoying her back in the first arc after all. Their seemingly open relationship seems to annoy her instantly every time, and it might explain somewhat why Bulma is as uncertain as she is about relationships while also coming off rather bold in other situations. It's hilarious that her parents think she's a prude though, if they only knew. ...They'd probably root for her, actually. We get a few more interesting tidbits here and there other than learning about Bulma's parents as well. We end up learning as I mentioned before just how rich she really is – if the size of the house didn't tip you off, the robot maids and in-door garden complete with dinosaurs probably did the trick. We even get a brand new invention from Bulma as well, a wrist-watch that lets you shrink. This is an often forgotten invention from her and I think you'll see why soon enough as it really just seems to be a setup for a gag later on, but not one that's nearly as well done as that time Bulma ended up in a bunny suit. I love the back and forth with the policeman in this chapter as well. I mentioned last time that he didn't seem like the most effective officer in the world, and while I still feel that's probably true, it's funny to see him so completely out of his element in this one. From wondering just what the heck is up with the monkey-tailed kid who seemingly can smell people coming, to witnessing just how eccentric the smartest and richest man in the world is, to finally hearing two kids talk about going somewhere really far away before watching one call down and jump on a cloud and the other shrinks like freakin' Ant-man – the guy's gonna apply for early retirement, I'm calling it now. Amidst all of this, we have a brief scene with Commander Red back at the Red Ribbon HQ as well. It's barely two pages, but it manages to keep the storyline moving along during all of the other antics in the city. Goku has already had two run ins with the Red Ribbon so far, but now he's officially their most wanted target, and considering they're all still going after the same goal in the Dragon Balls, it's only a matter of time before the you-know-what hits the fan again. Until next time! Favorite Panel:
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Synopsis: Goku finally reaches West City and is immediately taken aback by how loud and crowded it is as he flies kinto'un into it. He gets off of the cloud and starts walking around, trying to find where Bulma's house could be. When he walks into a road, a driver yells at him to get out of the way. When Goku asks the man where Bulma's place is, the driver tells him he has no idea and to move or he's going to get run over. Goku wonders why everyone in the city seems to be in such a hurry. Spotting a lady pushing her baby in a stroller, Goku goes to ask her where Bulma's place is, and she doesn't know either. Goku thinks it's strange that so many people live in the same place and they don't know where Bulma is. He calls out to a car that's driving by to ask them as well, but the taxi pulls over and tells him to get in instead. Goku thinks they're giving him a ride and is happy to have met someone nice in the city at last. The driver asks Goku where he's going, and Goku says to Bulma's. The driver asks him where that is, but Goku doesn't know, causing the driver to pull over and ask if Goku has money. When Goku says he doesn't, the driver angrily kicks him back out of the taxi and drives off. Goku surmises that it must take money to find someone in the city. Hearing a ruckus nearby, Goku walks into a crowd and sees a man with boxing gloves standing in front of the crowd. The man says he'll give one hundred thousand zeni to whoever can defeat him in a fight and make him say mercy. The crowd chats up the idea, with one man turning it down due to how good the fighter is, but Goku jumps at the chance, being reminded of the Tenkaichi Budokai. The man assumes he's joking at first, but Goku says he really wants to fight him if winning means he'll get the money. The man sighs and says that if Goku really wants to, then he'll even cut the kid a break – normally there's a ten thousand zeni entrance fee, but he'll wave it for him this one time. Goku thanks the man, while the crowd laughs at him for how stupid he's being. The man goes into position and tells Goku to start, and Goku launches a punch into his stomach that leaves the man gasping for air. Goku asks him if he gives up, and the man says no and asks Goku if he has any martial arts experience. When Goku says he's been training, the man starts to say that this will be easy now that he knows that, only to be caught off guard by Goku kicking him in the chin. As the man recoils in pain, Goku tells him he should probably say mercy soon, but the man angrily starts to swing at Goku, attacking him mercilessly. Goku evades every one of the man's blows however, and eventually launches a flying kick at the man, all while warning him to watch out. The man barely manages to dodge, and Goku's kick connects with the wall behind him, breaking a large hole in it. The man immediately begs mercy and gives Goku the money. With lots of money now in hand, Goku walks through the city, thinking it'll be easy to find Bulma's house now. As he wonders who he should ask, a pair of thieves in an alleyway spot him and his money. The human thief of the pair calls out to Goku and leads him into the alleyway, where he pulls a gun and his boar-man partner pulls a knife. The thieves tell Goku to give them his money, and Goku asks if they'll tell him where Bulma's house is if he does. When the pair threatens him again, Goku says he doesn't think they want to help him at all. The boar threatens him with the knife, but Goku hits him with a headbutt that sends him flying into a wall, knocked out cold. The human thief then nervously tells Goku that he should ask a policeman for help if he sees one. Back on the streets, Goku asks a nearby lady where he can find a policeman, and she points out one nearby. Goku thanks her by giving her the money he won before, and runs over to ask the policeman for help. The cop says finding Bulma will be difficult if Goku doesn't have an address or ID number for her, and Goku tries to help by drawing a pictur eof her, but the cop says that won't help at all. He decides to do a computer search even though he's not really supposed to, and says that since Bulma's a rather uncommon name, it shouldn't be too hard to find her. His computer gets three results, with the first not being who Goku is looking for at all, but the second one is her. The cop is surprised as the ID says that she's the daughter of the founder of Capsule Corporation. When Goku asks him where she is, the officer decides he should probably take Goku there himself. On the ride over, he asks Goku if Bulma really knows him, and Goku insists that she does. Once they arrive in front of the large building, Goku marvels at the size of the house for a moment before loudly yelling out Bulma's name. Review: Up until now, every place this story has taken us has been a rather rural looking location. We've seen Goku in one wilderness locale or another; we've seen him at solitary houses such as Kame House, Pilaf's castle, or most recently Muscle Tower; and we've seen him in small towns such as the mushroom area where he fought the Rabbit Gang and the village surrounding Muscle Tower. For the most part, we've never seen him surrounded by a truly large group of people and buildings – even the Tenkaichi Budokai, while extravagant, was largely one location with a really large crowd around it. That all changes here however as the story sees fit to throw Goku right into the heart of what would be the Dragon Ball world's equivalent of the Big Apple. West City is the main city we see rather often throughout the course of the series as it remains Bulma's home all the way throughout the rest of the franchise. I mean, her family's absolutely loaded and has a big house there – would YOU be in a hurry to move? Didn't think so. Regardless, it's here that we first get to see even more that Goku has absolutely no common sense when it comes to interacting with a more 'normal' world or surroundings as he tries to talk to a lot of people to find out where Bulma's place is. Things could have gone worse though, at least he wasn't pat-patting everyone. Even without that, it's clear Toriyama was getting a lot of mileage out of this new situation, and considering what a self-professed country bumpkin he himself is, I'd imagine a lot of this is also him poking fun at big cities as well. If you pay close attention to the backgrounds, you'll see a lot of world-building going on just in the types of characters and the like that you'll see wandering around as well. We've seen animal people plenty of times before, but we see quite a few of them in the city here as well. Just about every car we see is of the floating or flying variety; hell, even the lady's baby carriage is floating. My personal favorite though has to be this one lady we can see walking a tiny T. Rex on a leash. Come to think of it, I wonder what the leash laws in West City are for dinosaurs? The street fighter that Goku challenges is somewhat of a Bruce Lee spoof in design, mannerisms, and even a little bit in personality – Bruce definitely could have a cocky side at times – but he definitely lacks the man's skills, at least in comparison to what Goku can do. It's a bit ironic that Goku almost takes advantage of the poor guy (not intentionally of course) only to be immediately taken advantage of himself by the pair of thieves. In both situations, it's Goku's absurd level of strength that gets him out of those situations with money to boot. You might want to keep those thieves in mind though. No reason, really. When Goku finally finds someone who can help him in the form of the kindly policeman, you can almost sense this feeling of wrapping up. There's been plenty of fun to be had from Goku wandering around somewhere he's completely unfamiliar with so it's time to get the story back on track to move forward with the next chapter. I have to say though, this cop is almost woefully ineffective as an enforcer of the law when you think about it. Not only doesn't he bat an eye at a young child wandering a city that big all on his own, he also looks people up by name and even shows Goku the screen's read-out for two of them, complete with their ID numbers. That's gotta be basically their social security number, what the hell man! I can't help but be curious about the other two Bulma's though, especially the one we don't even get to see a picture of. What sort of lives are they living in this world, do you think? Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: After the fall of Muscle Tower, Goku eats dinner with Suno's family plus the mayor and Android 8. After 8 reveals he had the Dragon Ball all along and hid it to protect the villagers, the mayor invites him to live with him. Android 8 is overjoyed at the offer but turns it down, stating that he can't live with the villagers because of the bomb hidden inside of his body, prompting Goku to remember the details of how he met 8 in the first place. The mayor says all hope isn't lsot however, as he's sure Professor Frappe can help them somehow. The family and mayor explain to Goku and 8 that Frappe is a resident of the village and a brilliant scientist, though he's somewhat anti-social and built his lab in the mountain recesses of the village where he lives all by himself. The father says that Frappe's nature won't have him agreeing to help just anyone, but Suno says that she'll go with them and ask as Frappe has always been fond of her. The trio of Goku, 8, and Suno decide to set out in the morning to meet Frappe. Meanwhile, in the rubble of Muscle Tower, Purple awakens at last, cursing his fate. As Goku, 8, and Suno prepare for bed, Goku discovers that his radar appears to be broken, so he resolves to ask Frappe to look at it for him as well. The trio set out on foot to visit Frappe. Suno points to the spot in the mountains where Frappe lives, and when Goku asks her what sorts of things the professor does, she says he works on really complicated things she doesn't understand, but is always willing to fix things for people in the village. Purple, who has begun to tail the trio, hides in front of a tree courtesy of his tree curtain, only for Goku to stop suddenly and pee on the tree. Now with wet pants, Purple vows that he won't let the boy get away with this and continues to tail them. The trio soon come to a frozen pond where Goku is amazed by being able to walk on water, and they play around on the ice for a bit, with 8 jumping onto the ice after them and cracking it a bit. As Purple tries to follow, remarking that only an idiot doesn't know what ice is, he lands where 8 did and falls through the cracked ice into the freezing water. The trio hear him and turn back to look, forcing Purple to hide under the water. They eventually decide they must be hearing things and leave, leaving Purple to search desperately for the open spot in the ice before he drowns. As the trio continues trekking through the snow, Purple dons a bear suit so that it won't be as much of a problem if they spot him. As they come to a hill, Suno points out Frappe's house. Purple slips and ends up enveloped in snow and barreling past them, crashing into a tree and again curses his fate. Suno knocks on Frappe's door and gets no answer, only for the professor to turn up behind them on a snowmobile instead. Once inside his house, the trio tells Frappe everything that's happened, and he says it's nice that peace has now returned to the village. Suno asks him if the Red Ribbon bullied him as well, and Frappe objects saying that they never bothered to check for anyone this deep into the mountains. Suno asks Frappe if he'll please remove the bomb inside of 8, and the doctor agrees. During the talk, Goku has fallen asleep on the couch, and when Frappe leaves to get him a blanket, he is accosted by Purple who says it's been a while. Purple threatens Frappe and tells him the only reason Muscle Tower fell was because of Android 8 being defective, and he chastises the scientist for making such an inferior product for them – Dr. Frappe, it seems, is the creator of Android 8! Purple tells Frappe to get the Dragon Balls from Goku so that the Red Ribbon can bounce back from this trouble, and if he refuses, he'll kill him. Suno walks in on this due to how long it was taking Frappe to get a blanket and ends up being taken hostage, forcing Frappe to do as Purple says. Frappe returns to the room to find both 8 and Goku have fallen asleep now, but 8 wakes up as Frappe is taking the Dragon Balls from Goku. Frappe runs and gives the Dragon Balls to Purple, but when Suno screams, it brings 8 running. Purple escapes through a window with Goku's knapsack, and Goku runs after him in hot pursuit when the ninja attempts to escape on Frappe's snowmobile. In the end, Goku is unable to catch up with Purple, so instead he launches a Kamehameha, barely missing the ninja but instead causing an avalanche of snow that ends up burying the man. From the snowfall, Goku finds his knapsack and is happy to find that his lunch, a pair of riceballs, is safe. Back at Suno's house, her parents and mayor still aren't sure how to feel about Goku leaving the Dragon Balls in their care even for a short while... Now free from distraction and further indebted to Goku and 8, Frappe performs the operation to remove the bomb from 8's chest successfully, overjoying Goku and Suno. When Frappe almost drops the bomb by accident, Goku catches the tiny device in his hand. The trio thank Frappe for his help, but Frappe returns Goku's radar to him, saying that it's too complicated for him to fix. Goku decides there really is nothing to do but go to Bulma's and have her fix it. As he's putting the radar away, he finds the bomb still in his pocket, and tosses it far away into the distance. As the trio leaves, Frappe thinks to himself that the only reason he built 8 and put the bomb in him at all was because the army said they'd kill all the villagers otherwise, and mentally asks for forgiveness from 8. In the mountains, Purple emerges from the snow and vows that he won't let himself be beaten like this. Before he can finish getting up however, the bomb lands on his face and explodes. Review: In all honesty, this might be my favorite episode of the filler material the anime version has given us so far, which I suppose is ironic in that it's the first bit of filler that absolutely cannot fit within the overall narrative of Dragon Ball, no matter how hard you'd try to make it fit. I may as well address the super obvious elephant in the room right at the start here. As any longtime fan will already be able to tell you, this is the only time Frappe is ever mentioned, and going by what we later learn, he is not the creator of Android 8 because as we later learn, all of the Red Ribbon's weaponry and the ensuing Androids years later are the result of Dr. Gero. As of the time this episode was created though, none of that was known or even planned yet – hell, Goku's origins weren't even a twinkle in Toriyama's eye at the time of this episode's creation. So while this episode unfortunately creates a bit of a plot hole in the anime overall, the staff at Toei can hardly be blamed for creating it when it seemed like the perfect narrative to base a stand-alone episode on. It even picks up on a story thread left dangling in the original manga, that being the bomb that's inside of Android 8. Just because the controller was destroyed doesn't mean the thing isn't still dangerous and could eventually get set off somehow or another, so fact that it's never addressed any further in the manga and thus can be assumed to still be inside of 8, even after all of this time, is more than a little concerning. I said before that the episode doesn't fit in the franchise's overall narrative no matter what you do, and it is definitely even more of an outlier than the previous filler. The manga doesn't have Goku running into Namu and Giran again, but nothing really prevents him from doing so at the start of this new adventure. It likewise doesn't have him running into Pilaf and crew or Gyu-mao and Chi Chi again at this time – the former doesn't really create any issues, but the latter does kind of futz a little with later events. It doesn't break with them entirely however, and the narrative is still able to be set back onto it's original course, albeit in a replaced way (the anime's version of events would have to overwrite the manga's, rather than both versions happening). The inclusion of Frappe just doesn't work at all unless you apply some head-canon that also overwrites the actual story given to us – you could assume Frappe was Gero's assistant, for example, or that Gero actually created 8 but Frappe was the one who added the bomb into him, or anything of that sort – but it's up to each individual fan if that sort of thing is their cup of tea or not. The other major element of this episode is the return of Purple, and he is back in excellent form after his let-down at the end of the manga's use for him. I think the writers must have realized the character works best when he's a complete goof rather than someone meant to be taken as a serious threat, and as such he's back to his regular antics here thankfully. They still manage to keep him as a villain, what with his threatening Frappe and taking Suno hostage, but it doesn't last long. The episode almost seems to be cueing him up to be a new ongoing threat for Goku throughout at least the rest of the arc to, what with his continual unexpected survival and vow to not let Goku get away with this – that is until he gets hit in the face with the bomb and explodes while happy music plays over a snowy backdrop with Goku, 8, and Suno walking home. Dying and the soundtrack is happy? Brutal. Until next time! Favorite Scene: It's really hard to pick between all of Purple's antics here, but I'd have to say it's his death that gets the biggest laugh out of me. Poor guy. Next Time: Big City Monkey Synopsis: As night falls, Goku and Android 8 eat dinner at the girl's home, with Goku in particular eating enough to impress the entire family (including the girl's father who has since returned home) and the mayor. The mayor says they can't possibly thank Goku enough, and the mom says she still can't believe they went through all of this just for some ball. The father remarks that they never did find the Dragon Ball either, so he can't help but wonder where the thing ended up.
8 then reaches into his pocket and pulls out the two-star Dragon Ball, much to everyone's surprise. The father asks him where he got it, and 8 confesses that he found it one day while out taking a walk. When he heard that General White planned to kill all of the villagers as soon as it was found, so he hid it on himself to prevent that from happening. The mayor and the family are stunned, and the silence is finally broken by the mayor loudly praising 8 for his heroism. He says he's decided, he wants 8 to come live with him if he doesn't have anywhere else to go, as his wife and he would love to have someone like him come live with them now that they're alone. Goku tells 8 that this is great as he wanted to live with regular people anyway, but 8 is worried since he's an Android. The mayor insists that he's a better person than a lot of real people he knows, so he won't take no for an answer. Android 8 starts to cry and says the mayor is a very good person. 8 asks Goku if he'll stay with him at the mayor's as well, but Goku says he can't. The Dragon Ball they just found wasn't his grandpa's either, so he has to get back out there and find the one he wants. 8 says that he'll miss Goku, but Goku promises to come back and visit them all sometime. The mother asks Goku to spend the night at least, and he agrees, the mayor then saying that 8 should spend the night as well so he can spend more time with his friend before moving in tomorrow. As the mayor leaves, everyone heads to bed, with Goku changing into some pajamas the family gives him. The girl has both of Goku's Dragon Balls and is marveling at how pretty they are, and Goku says she can have those ones if she wants. She objects saying that the Red Ribbon would come back and kill them for them, and Goku agrees that she's probably right. As Goku packs the balls away, 8 sees the radar and asks if it's the one that White wanted so badly. Goku confirms and starts to show how it works only to discover that it seems to be broken. Goku wonders if it happened at some point while he was fighting since it was in his pocket the whole time. 8 offers to look at it saying that he's good with machines, but even he's unable to fix it, saying that it's too complicated. Goku realizes he has no idea where to go next without it, so he'll just have to take it back to Bulma and have her fix it. Goku remembers that Bulma said she came from a city to the west, to the girl tells him which direction that is. 8 asks Goku how he'll get there, and Goku says he'll just have to walk since he doesn't have any other way. The girl wishes they had a plane or car to give him, but they can at least give him lots of food to take with him, which pleases Goku greatly. As the trio head to sleep, 8 greatly enjoys the feeling of sleeping in a futon for the first time. The next morning, Goku surprises the villagers by saying he'll be walking to West City. He says that without kinto'un there's no other way, and an old man in the village asks him if he heard him correctly. It seems the old man and the mayor both know about kinto'un, saying that back in their youth there were a bunch of those clouds flying around, though only those of pure heart could ride them. The mayor says that if Goku really can ride one than he truly is special, but Goku says again that it got destroyed. The old man says that a kinto'un can't be destroyed and asks Goku if he's tried to call it since then, and Goku realizes that he hasn't. He decides to give it a try, and much to his delight, kinto'un comes flying down out of the sky. Goku is overjoyed to see his friend again and promptly hops onto it, waving goodbye to 8 and the villagers, and heading off to his next destination: Bulma's house in West City! Review: The Muscle Tower storyline came to an end last chapter really, so this one is all about bringing closure to it before moving on to the next story beat. It's once again something that Dragon Ball does fairly frequently that I miss a lot from newer Shonen Jump titles, as it lets the story cool down for a moment before launching into the next big thing every time. Don't mistake it being a cooldown chapter for it being pointless fluff however, as right from the start it decides to answer a lingering question from the very beginning of this storyline – just where in the heck is the Dragon Ball anyway? White's soldiers and the men they'd taken from the village had been searching for it for some time before Goku arrived, and nobody had ever yet found it. Even Goku almost seemed to have forgotten about it in the middle of everything else going on. As it turns out, his befriending Android 8 was the best thing he could have possibly done, as the gentle giant had it on him this whole time, proving himself to be the best of boys and the true MVP of this storyline. Sorry Goku, this is 8's show now, you're time is over. Goku's goodness in saving 8 is what allows him to finally gain a home with other caring people just like he'd always wanted though, so I guess we have to give Goku some due credit too though. That said, I don't really remember 8 ever actually saying he wanted to live with normal people before now...hmm. Goku having had the dragon radar on him this entire time does give it plenty of opportunity to get damaged. He's been knocked down several times, hit square in the chest by fists the size of his body multiple times, and he's even been electrocuted once. Any one of those things could potentially have damaged the thing, and he never really had the opportunity to check it out again before now either. This becomes the thread that connects us to the next portion of the Red Ribbon storyline, during which we'll be meeting up with some old friends again, and I'm looking forward to that. One can't help but wonder if that was always the plan (or at least as much of a plan as Toriyama ever has), or if ratings at the time sort-of dictated that it was time to see some well known faces again? Also, let us all take a moment to enjoy the precious cinnamon bun that is Android 8 in his too-small pajamas, quietly enjoying how comfortable a futon is. Freakin' ADORABLE. The story from the mayor and the other old villager about how there used to be kinto'un all over the place is especially curious because nothing of this sort was ever brought up before, nor is it ever brought up again later. Heck, we had some old folks in Oolong's village see the cloud and they didn't seem to know what it was. You could maybe say it was a regional thing, but if that's the case, why would that region be here in the snowy area, when the kinto'un originates from another area entirely as we'll later see? No, this really feels like just a contrived way for Toriyama to impart upon Goku the idea of calling for the cloud again so that it can show up despite it having been destroyed previously. These old guys know all about the clouds and they say that they can't be destroyed, so that HAS to be right, right? Yeah...it's an asspull, pure and simple. I guess it's better than Toriyama just having Goku “believe” and the cloud suddenly is just fine, but...I dunno. It's still pretty sloppy. Still, while that's a pretty damning moment considering it's pretty much the last moment of the chapter as well as the method of moving on to the West City storyline, I don't think it's enough in-of-itself to take away from the pretty satisfying conclusion that is this chapter. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: Goku orders White to let the mayor go or he's going to make him sorry, but White insists that he's never felt sorry before in his life. As the General takes off his sweater, he thinks that this fight might be easy after all, as surely Goku is running out of energy by now. He jabs a punch at Goku's head, but Goku dodges and kicks him lightly in the shin, causing White a great deal of pain. White then points behind Goku, distracting the boy so that he can land a punch right in his stomach, but much to White's dismay, Goku doesn't even move and just laughs. He tells White that the punch felt like a fly landing on him, and that a punch is supposed to feel 'like this!', before punching the man hard by way of example, ricocheting him off the ceiling and behind his computer terminal.
As White lifts himself back up, he realizes he has gravely underestimated Goku, as Goku asks him if he wants to keep fighting or not. Just then, White spots another gun that's been knocked to the floor, his 'hyper-gun'. He grabs it and hides it before standing back up, surrendering to Goku and saying he'll take him to the mayor now. White takes him over to another part of the room and hits a button on the wall, revealing the room the mayor has been kept locked up inside. He tells the mayor he's free to go now, and the mayor is surprised to see that such a small boy as Goku is apparently his savior. As Goku explains to the mayor that everything is safe now, White pulls the hyper-gun from his back pocket and takes the mayor hostage with the gun pointed at the old man's head as he explains that it's no ordinary weapon. Android 8 pleads with White to stop doing such bad things, but White scoffs and tells him he'll finish him off later for being a traitor. As Goku scowls, White asks him what he'll do now. The mayor pleads with Goku to do whatever he has to do to stop White even if it kills the mayor, but as Goku responds 'well, if you're sure', the mayor asks him if he could please find a way to save him as well, actually. White tells Goku that if he doesn't want the old man to die, he needs to show White his back. Goku isn't sure why White wants to see that, but he turns around anyway, and White fires the hyper-gun, a powerful shot catching Goku in the back of the head. 8 screams in horror as Goku falls to the ground face-first, seemingly dead. White laughs and says that even that monster of a kid couldn't stand up to the power of the hyper-gun, and trains it on Goku once more, intending to make sure the job really is finished. 8 rushes in however and takes the second shot, preventing it from hitting Goku. White is surprised and asks 8 if he's really willing to die defying his creators, but 8 isn't listening. In a blind fury, 8 tells White that he's bad, and as White tries to fire the hyper-gun right at 8's face, he finds that he's out of bullets. 8 punches White and sends him flying through the wall, and into the distance, far beyond a white snow-covered mountain. 8 quickly checks on Goku and finds that he's alive, though injured and out of breath. Goku asks 8 if he's alright and 8 says that as an Android he's really hard to hurt. 8 tucks Goku into his shirt and carries him back out of the tower with the mayor at his side. Goku thanks 8 for saving him, but 8 says Goku has already done far more than that for him. Goku tells 8 that the punch he threw was really impressive, way stronger than Goku's own, and that he could probably be a really good fighter if he wanted to, but 8 says he really just doesn't like fighting. Goku laments how hungry he is, and the mayor and 8 laugh as they leave Muscle Tower behind. Review: And so the Muscle Tower portion of the Red Ribbon Army story arc comes to a close. Something you might have noticed is that Goku's ascent up the tower is actually kind of inverted from how you might expect – rather than his toughest fights being at the top of the tower, they were mostly in the lower parts. The soldiers he took on at first were nothing of course, but Metallic was something that he only beat by fluke of it running out of batteries. Then you had Purple, who while not exactly challenging, lasted a good few chapters. Then you had 8, who didn't even want to fight Goku. Then you had Buyon who, while arguably just as tough as Metallic in some ways, only lasted two chapters. Then there's White who may actually be less of a threat than Colonel Silver was. By the time Goku makes it up to the top of the tower, he's basically already won the day, or at least would have if it wasn't for underhanded tricks. So why do I like this section of the story so much then? It seems like at every turn, there's something that doesn't live up to it's potential, or outstays it's welcome. The truth of the matter is that I enjoy this section in spite of those faults, as it's such a great showing of the 'adventure' feeling of early Dragon Ball that later arcs will start to neglect. Muscle Tower is basically a smaller representation of the Red Ribbon Army arc as a whole in a lot of ways, with Goku going from one location to the next and running into various types of foes, some more humor oriented but still threatening, and others actually proving to be a challenge even for the runner-up of the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai. Perhaps it explains why it seems like, for a lot of fans that don't care that much for the Red Ribbon Arc at all, this is one of the weaker portions of it for them. As said before, White really does prove to be an ineffective final villain for this section of the story. He's basically all the ineffectiveness underhandedness of Purple, but without the benefit of being hilarious. He's basically just here to show how evil the army really is, and to be the breaking point for poor Android 8. He also gets to show off the hyper-gun, a weapon I can only assume was made by Gero, but it doesn't really get him much further than the regular gun did at the end of the day. So much for innovation. Android 8 is the real star of this chapter, as he finally gets to show us what he's capable of and HOLY CRAP is it a lot. Even taking into account some of the other feats we've seen so far, it's pretty obvious that 8 sending White flying as far as he does with a single punch is pretty impressive. Frankly I'd say about the only thing to match this so far would be Roshi's Kamehameha destroying the mountain and then when he destroyed the moon, and I'd say this is almost as impressive as the first one at least. And yeah, White is dead-dead, there's no way he's walking that off. At the end of the day though, no matter how strong he is, 8 has absolutely no interest in fighting. While the series doesn't dwell on it too much, it really does put Goku's question from before into perspective: is it really better to not fight, even if you'd prefer not to, if it means yourself or others are going to get hurt? Granted, Goku's the last person to really think too much about these things as he's a battle maniac, but it is an interesting philosophical question that I'm sure a lot of people far smarter than me have talked about with references to things far more worthy than Dragon Ball. For my own two cents? I'd prefer people never had to fight (as far as actual fighting goes, martial arts and combat sports are another thing entirely), and I wish peace was more often the answer chosen in life; but at the end of the day, if someone is trying to hurt you or someone else you know or even someone you don't, be it physically or any other way, than it is absolutely the right thing to stand and fight for what's right and what you believe in. Live your life and let others live their lives however they want so long as they aren't harming people or impeding others' ability to do the same – the minute that's violated however, it's time to fight and be heard. Well, that's my deep thought for the day at any rate. I should really look into becoming a motivational speaker. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: As Goku tries to come up with some plan to combat Buyon, White laughs over the intercom and offers him one more chance to just give up the Dragon Balls and his radar. Goku says he already told him he won't ever give those to him, so White resolves to just get them off of his dead body later and orders Buyon to finish them off.
Buyon reaches out with his tongue again, this time grabbing hold of Android 8. Before the creature can eat him however, Goku kicks it's tongue hard enough to make it drop 8 to the ground. Goku laments that that's all he can do however, as he's never fought someone so soft and jiggly before. Seeing no other choice, he gives it everything he has and runs, launching a powerful headbutt at the creature's stomach. Though Buyon reacts slightly, Goku is still sent flying backwards into the wall again. 8 tells Goku that they should just give up, and Goku tells him that men never give up. Still though, what can he do against this thing? Suddenly, Goku remembers before when he was almost frozen to death. He'd asked the girl what “frozen” meant, and she'd told him that it meant becoming cold and hard like ice. Goku declares that this battle is over now, and walks over to another wall. White asks him if he's gone insane, but Goku tells him to just watch. Goku then punches a hole in the wall, allowing the freezing cold air of the snow storm outside to blow into the room. White and Buyon are both horrified, and Goku jumps into 8's shirt to keep warm. A short time later, Buyon is frozen solid, even more incapable of dealing with the cold than Goku was! Goku leaps out of 8's shirt, delivers a flying kick to Buyon's stomach, and then dives back into 8's shirt just in time to watch cracks spread through Buyon's body before it crumbles into pieces. As White begins to think he's underestimated Goku more than he thought, Goku jumps back out of 8's shirt, and then leaps upward, crashing through the floor of the sixth floor. He watches the terrified White as he sticks nyoibo down through the hole he's made and extends it, telling 8 to grab hold of it. As Goku starts to haul 8 back up, White takes the opportunity to grab a gun off of his desk and fire at Goku twice while his back is turned. Goku appears to be shot, but merely turns his head to glare at White, who asks in utter confusion if the bullets hit him. Goku confirms that they did and that they hurt, and he won't be forgetting about that either. White says this is all impossible, as Goku pulls 8 back up to the sixth floor before turning and telling White to let the mayor go before he really gets angry. Review: And so ends Buyon, and boy was his reign mercifully short. As much as I love this section of the story and won't deny it's faults, Buyon has always been the weakest part of it for me. As mentioned last time, his power set is interesting, the mystery around what he is is interesting (in a meta sense anyway, as there's absolutely nothing said to make you wonder about him in-series)...but he himself is just not that interesting at all. I do sort-of feel bad for the thing's demise though, because holy crap is that a dark death when you really think about it. Seriously, pay attention next time you read this chapter. There are lines around Buyon's frozen body to show that he's shaking, and he clearly reacts (albeit with a frozen face) both to Goku's kick and the cracks starting to spread through his body. The thing is ALIVE and CONSCIOUS as it's body breaks into pieces. Talk about a terrible way to go. I do like that Goku's plan harkens back to the beginning of this section of the story though, as it sort of starts bringing thing's full circle. The whole reason Goku's here is to search for the Dragon Ball. There's a good chance that search would have eventually lead him inside Muscle Tower anyway. Without his having run into the girl and her mother first though, and having almost frozen to death? He never would have thought of a way to beat Buyon as he did here. Maybe there's something to this fate thing after all, eh? Next chapter we'll finally see what White himself is made of, though as we sort of get a tease of it in this chapter...yeah, it's not much really. Keep your expectations in check, I'd say. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: Goku and Android 8 continue to fall through darkness, before finally coming to a stop in a large, empty room. Goku asks what happened, and 8 says the trap door lead them to the 5th floor. Goku comments that there doesn't seem to be anything here, but up above, White mocks them from the open trap door. He tells Goku that if he wants to leave that room alive, he has to hand over the Dragon Balls he has and the radar he used to find them, but Goku refuses. White doesn't seem surprised by this response, merely smirking and closing the trap door, before talking to them via intercom to say that at least he'll get to see them die on his TV. Goku looks around for anything happening, and 8 asks Goku if he wants to do something bad with the Dragon Balls as well. Goku says he only wants the four-star ball that his grandpa left to him, pleasing 8 who says he just knew Goku was a good guy. Suddenly, a wall in the room opens up, revealing a giant, obese monster complete with antennae and a tail. White praises how tough Goku has been so far but says he'll have to be a whole lot tougher to stand a chance against Buyon. As 8 cringes in fear, Goku says he can beat that thing in one punch, a notion that White scoffs at – no weapon or martial arts so far has stood a chance against Buyon. The monster swipes its tail at Goku, who dodges and rebounds off of another wall to land a powerful punch in the creature's face. To Goku's surprise however, he's bounced off, and the monster doesn't even seem to be hurt at all. Goku launches a flying kick at the creature this time, but is bounced off of it's gut this time and sent flying into another wall. 8 asks Goku if he's alright, and Goku says that the creature is so fat and jiggly that it's like his attacks aren't even hitting it at all. Without warning, Buyon launches electricity form it's antennae, shocking Goku before it grabs him with it's tongue, pulling him into his mouth and eating him. As 8 freaks out and White smirks, Buyon's mouth is suddenly pushed open by Goku, who leaps out, much to 8's delight and White's annoyance. The creature tries to electrocute Goku again, but he dodges this time, saying he won't fall for the same trick twice. Goku wonders how he can beat this thing though. 8 asks Goku if he's getting tired, and Goku says he is, hungry too. Using that always makes him even hungrier, but seeing no other choice, Goku fires a Kamehameha at Buyon, and is distraught when the creature even manages to deflect his energy blast with it's stomach. With not even a Kamehameha getting the job done, what can he try next? Review: So, Buyon is a thing. One of the more confusing things in this entire arc, actually, and nothing much is ever really said about him elsewhere to my knowledge either. I've always assumed he's another creation of Gero's, but if he is, he certainly doesn't fit with the Android model at all, unless he's some sort of bio-weapon that precedes Cell. Even then, he's just a weird, weird character and design, at least by Dragon Ball standards. In a way though, that weirdness is sort of refreshing. In the first arc, we had Goku fighting a lot of monsters and weird opponents, but outside of Giran in the Budokai, we've mostly been seeing Goku throw down with generic humans of one kind or another for a long while now. So in it's own way, it's sort of refreshing to see him come up against a beast like this again, and strange or not, Buyon is definitely proving to be a challenge for him. It's hard to say how strong Buyon is offensively, but anything that can tank Goku's hits and even his Kamehameha is definitely a tough nut to crack. I mean, Goku's Kamehameha even managed to greatly damage Metallic even if it didn't take him out entirely, and this thing's not even receiving damage from it. It sort of makes you wonder at what point exactly Goku or other characters became strong enough to do damage to this thing conventionally. By the end of this arc, or would it take a little further than that? And...well, that's about it really. Buyon's weird, but he doesn't really give us a whole lot to talk about. Narratively speaking, he's just not that interesting. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: Purple lets the giant man out of his cell, and asks Goku if he's ever seen anything so horrifying. He then orders the man to kill Goku, but shockingly the man replies that he doesn't want to, saying that it's bad to kill. Purple tells him he has to do what he tells him to do, but the man continues to say he won't do bad things, and admonishes Purple for having kidnapped the mayor and made him and his people sad. Purple reminds the man, revealing his name to be Android 8, that the Red Ribbon Army created him and that he absolutely has to follow orders, but 8 resolutely refuses to help them.
Left with no choice, Purple reveals that a bomb was implanted inside of 8, just in case he ever got out of control. He shows 8 the remote and threatens to blow him up right then and there if he won't listen, and Goku watches for the Android's reaction. 8 thinks it over for a moment, and says that he'd rather be blown up than do something bad. Goku smiles and Purple is in disbelief. Watching from the top of the tower, White orders Purple to blow 8 up immediately, and Purple runs to the other end of the hallway and prepares to do just that. As 8 braces himself for destruction, Goku furiously shouts that he won't allow it, and leaps across to Purple, knocking the remote from his hands with nyoibo and then stomping it into pieces. Purple starts to chastise Goku for breaking it, but Goku hits him right in the face with a Rock-Scissors-Paper punch, sending the ninja flying into an opposite wall, unconscious. As White watches in disbelief, Goku walks back over to 8, who thanks him for saving him. Goku tells him that if people are bad, he should beat them up himself, but 8 says that fighting is bad. Goku asks him what good it is if he doesn't fight bad guys and still gets killed, and 8 replies that he's too scared to fight. This surprises Goku as he thinks 8 looks pretty strong. 8 asks Goku his name, and Goku introduces himself before asking 8 for his own, but Goku finds his name to be really weird. 8 asks Goku if he's here to rescue the mayor, and when Goku says yes, 8 offers to lead him to the top floor. Goku and 8 ascend the stairs to an area between floors 4 and 5, going through a maze that would likely have kept Goku lost for hours if 8 wasn't there to lead him. 8 catches Goku referring to him as 'Ha-chan' (short for 'Hachigou', Android 8's Japanese name), and quite likes it as a nickname. The pair soon comes across a second set of stairs leading up to the 6th and final floor, with 8 pointing to a wall they pass by as being where the 5th floor is. Goku asks him where it's door is, and 8 responds that there is no door – he's not even sure what's inside of floor 5. The pair finally reach White's office at the top of the tower, and as soon as Goku sees White, he demands that he let the mayor go. White congratulates him for doing the impossible and reaching the top of the tower, lamenting that he wishes he could ask Goku to serve in the army. 8 asks White to stop doing bad things, but White says he'll give 8 one last chance to cooperate. He hits a button on his desk, and a trap-door in the floor where Goku and 8 are standing opens up, dropping them into darkness. Review: The big new element introduced in this chapter is quite large himself, that element being none-other than Android 8 himself. His design is immediately recognizable as being a riff on Frankenstein's monster, which given his origins and what he is, makes a fair bit of sense. Again, we don't get a lot on his origins and what that all means until way, way later in the series – well, outside a brief moment of filler in the anime – by which point 8 himself is largely pretty forgotten. Needless to say though, this is the first time we get to see one of Dr. Gero's Androids, and as we'll be seeing shortly enough, he definitely fits the mold in at least one way. In every other way though? 8 is a failed experiment, at least in the eyes of the villains of the Red Ribbon Army. They wanted him to be a monster, a final weapon they could unleash upon anything that stood in their way. Unfortunately, 8 somehow seems to have developed a will of his own, and has decided that he hates violence. I've always wondered exactly how and why this came about. Was it just some sort of glitch in his programming? Did he develop his own sense of self after having performed some horrific deed, and this is his way to atone? Nothing is ever really delved into really, either because it just wouldn't be tonally fitting within Dragon Ball or it just doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but it's still fascinating to think about, frankly. Android 8's introduction also leads to the final time we see Purple (again, outside of filler), and it couldn't have happened at a better time. As mentioned before, I really love Purple, but all of his best stuff is behind us now, and keeping him around for much longer than this was really going to make him feel stale. Giving him one last moment of despicableness that causes Goku to be angry like we've never seen him before is definitely a fitting end for him though. I especially love how he tries to chew out Goku again like with their earlier bantering, but Goku has no chill left for him at this point and just knocks him flying. Good stuff. Speaking of Goku's anger, this is the first time we really ever get to see him in a righteous fury. This further introduces another crucial element of Goku's character, in that no matter how much he enjoys fighting for fighting's sake, he absolutely won't sit by and let innocent people be hurt. He's not exactly a superhero by any means, he doesn't go out patrolling looking for crimes to stop or crisis's to assist in, but if he sees someone being hurt in front of him, he'll step in to set things right without a moment's hesitation. We had inklings of this side of his personality back in the first arc, and this is one of the lesson's Roshi taught both him and Kuririn during their training, but this is the first time we've really gotten to see it play out with our own eyes. ...Well, I guess the time they saved Lunch sort-of counts, but in retrospect, that's still a little different since they were specifically looking for a girl to bring back to Roshi. And right when we seem like we're about to see what White is truly capable of himself, he uses one of the oldest supervillain tricks in the book to try and take Goku out without even lifting a finger. Typical. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: As a snowstorm begins to rage outside Muscle Tower, Goku's fight with Purple continues as the boy chases the ninja down once again. Purple tries to escape by throwing another smoke bomb, and when the smoke clears, Goku spots him crossing the water of the pond with skimming shoes. Purple is certain Goku can't catch him now, but Goku says if all he has to do is cross the water, it's easy. Purple tells him to just try as the water is full of piranhas, but Goku says he never said he'd swim and easily leaps across to the other side to join him.
Purple naturally freaks out, and Goku asks him if he's finally ready to fight for real or give up. Purple says he'll have to use his ultimate technique and whistles, confusing Goku. With a quick hand sign, Purple turns from one man into five, calling it the 'Ninja Split' technique. He taunts Goku, asking him to find out which one is the real him, and Goku is impressed -as far as he can tell, they all look real. Wasting no more time, one of the Purple clones tosses kunai at Goku, and Goku is certain he's the real one, but before he can get to him, another of the clones nearly cuts him in two with a sword. Goku decides that that must be the real one then, but a third clone fires a gun at him, forcing Goku to repel the bullet with nyoibo. As Gokus confusion over what's going on grows, Purple laughs and reveals the truth – they're all real, and the other 'clones' of him are actually his brothers, they're ninja quintuplets. Purple says that Goku was struggling against just one of them, so now that there's five, this fight is as good as over. Goku insists he wasn't struggling at all however, and scoffs at such a cheap trick. He grins as the ninja all rush him, and readies he nyoibo. As the first ninja slashes his sword, it goes right through Goku, revealing that he was just an after-image left behind by the real thing. Before they can do anything, Goku takes out two of the ninja, while the original Purple shouts that his idea was right, this kid has mastered the REAL split-image illusion! Unfortunately he shouts this out too late, as Goku has already taken out the third and fourth brother, leaving only himself and the original Purple. Purple turns to run again, with Goku scoffing and chasing after him. As Purple runs up the nearby stairs with Goku in hot pursuit, he stops at a dark jail cell and speaks to someone through the bars, telling the 'secret weapon' to get out here. Goku stops, confused, as a large man with a scarred face is seen through the bars. Review: As much fun as the previous two chapters were, the jokes with Purple are really starting to run out of steam by this point, and I think Toriyama must have realized that as he drew it since it ends on a note that will be taking us to something entirely new next time around. The gags with Purple in the previous chapters are great, but if he'd gone on much beyond this, he probably would have overstayed his welcome, especially now that it had turned into an actual fight. At least, as much as a fight as Purple was ever going to be, that is. There are multiple times in this chapter where you can see Goku, who was previously having fun with and at Purple's expense, is now eager for the fight to actually start at last. Try as he might though, every time Purple tries something and fails, he just turns around and runs away again. He really is like Oolong on steroids. It might be just my poor grasp of details coming into play, but I never really thought before about how this must be a different pond than the one they were at before, as that one didn't seem to have piranhas in it. I'd almost think Purple was trying to bluff Goku, but we see the hungry little fish popping out of the water, and even Goku would remember having seen Purple in the water shortly before, so I think we're supposed to take this threat at face value, little threat that it turns out to be. The fake ninja split technique, while fairly amusing, is basically the last gasp of energy left in Purple's potential as a threat. While him faking something like that rather than actually being capable of it is entirely fitting with his character, it's basically one no-trick pony performance too far. Toriyama must have thought the idea of the technique actually working had potential though, considering we'll be seeing a real version of the technique – just sans ninja trappings – later on in the series. I really enjoy Purple as a character, so it's a shame that his run basically ends on a bit of a sour note as far as his actually fighting Goku goes, but it is what it is. Let's remember him for the hilariously dumb jokes he gave us, rather than the hilarious ineffective fighter he truly was. As for the new threat teased at the end of the chapter, well... Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: White yells over an intercom for Sergeant Major Purple to stop playing around and finish off Goku immediately, and Purple concedes, telling the boy that the fight is for real now. Rather than scaring him however, Goku seems excited at the idea. Purple draws his sword and leaps into the air, intending to stab right through Goku, but Goku simply jabs the end of his nyoibo into the ground and moves out of the way, allowing Purple to impale his butt upon the other end of the staff. Naturally, Purple lets out an agonized scream and starts running around with nyoibo sticking out of his rear end, while Goku laughs and tells him he's got a tail now just like his own.
Goku eventually pulls the nyoibo free of Purples' butt, causing the ninja even more pain. Purple is outraged that Goku would do this and even laugh about it, and picks up his sword to attack the young boy again. As Purple swings his sword viciously, he finds himself unable to land a blow on Goku. In fact, Goku ends up pushing him back with the nyoibo and going on the offensive himself, eventually snapping the blade of Purple's sword right off. Purple is horrified to see his weapon broken, and Goku asks him if he's redy to give up yet. Purple praises the boy's skills and challenges him to prove what he can do bare-handed, but while Goku puts his staff away, Purple readies a bladed boomerang behind his back. He throws it at Goku and misses the first hit, and Goku calls him out for lying, but Purple says that everything is fair in a battle of life or death. Goku finds he can't really disagree with that, just before taking the boomerang to the back of his head. Goku is knocked down and Purple declares victory to White, but Goku pops back up off of the ground, holding his pained head, much to Purple's horror. Goku says the ninja has made him angry now and starts to chase after the retreating Purple, but Purple throws a series of shuriken at him. Goku dodges behind a tree, then starts grabbing the shuriken out of the bark. Purple ends up running back inside the small house by the pond, and Goku catches up to him with the shuriken in hand. Purple tells him to throw them if he can, and Goku does so, only for Purple to block it with one of the tatami mats off of the floor. Goku ends up throwing three more shuriken, and Purple blocks each one with another tatami mat, with the last one being noticeably smaller than the rest. Goku is impressed, and Purple relishes in it for a moment. When Goku throws the final shuriken however, Purple finds the floor devoid of mats and takes the shuriken to the forehead. He curses himself for only buying 4 ½ mats when he should have bought six, and swears that he's really going to show Goku next time. Review: This chapter continues basically running with the same joke as the previous one (the joke being that holy crap Purple is stupid), but Toriyama is still getting really great mileage out of it, so I for one am okay with this repeating chapter. And he does change things up slightly this time, with the antics being more combat focused whereas before they were just showcases of skills...or lack there-of. The chapter peaks early too, as the first gag of the chapter is Purple getting nyoibo jammed up his butt, so it's a wonder the chapter is able to keep up as well as it does following that. If you had any delusions about this being a serious fight between Goku and Purple, this gag basically tells you right away exactly how their interaction is going to continue, which only makes it getting lamp shaded in a different light in a few chapters even stronger. Speaking of, while much of the focus is on the gags however, Toriyama does make it a point to show just how underhanded Purple really is, showing that there's more to this guy than just being a moron, even if it's pretty much a 95%/5% split. The bladed boomerang probably would have worked on a lot of other opponents, but thankfully Goku's head is just that hard. He's really taking quite a few knocks to the noggin in this arc though. It wouldn't be a chapter primarily about Purple if it didn't end on a gag though, and the tatami mat flip section is up there with the flag and pond bits from last chapter. Foiled by his lack of foresight in not buying enough mats for the whole floor! 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
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