Synopsis: As they fly through the sky in their plane, Goku asks Kuririn if he thinks the person they're going to see can really tell them where the last Dragon Ball is. Kuririn is certain they can, as he says Roshi is barely ever wrong. Yamcha asks Goku if he really wants to go ask for help stinking as badly as he does and wearing such tattered clothing. Goku says it's the only set of clothes he has, so Yamcha decides they should stop in a city somewhere first and get Goku new clothes, lest Baba turn them away before they can even ask her anything. Once landing in a town, Yamcha and Kuririn take Goku to a clothing store, and put him in a rather dapper but silly looking outfit that Goku objects to immediately as his friends laugh and say that maybe Baba will feel sorry for him if he looks like that. The tailor asks Goku how he likes the clothes, and Goku says he'd rather have something like what he always does, so the tailor says he'll recreate that same pattern for him. Goku makes sure to tell him to include the Turtle kanji on the front and back, as well as leaving a hole for his tail, and Yamcha tells him to make sure he uses his cheapest fabric. The tailor says it shouldn't take him anymore than an hour so while Yamcha and Kuririn decide to kill time in a nearby saloon, Goku decides to head out and get Upa so he can tell him how close they are to getting all of the Dragon Balls and wishing his father back to life. Goku returns to the land of Karin and calls out Upa's name. Upa is overjoyed to see that his friend is alive after all, and Goku tells him how he beat up the Red Ribbon Army and almost has the Dragon Balls. Goku takes Upa away from Karin on kinto'un, and the boy says he's scared because he's never left home before. Goku tells him it'll be alright, saying he never left his home until recently either, but that there's a whole bunch of really fun things out in the world. Upa asks Goku if he thinks he could ever get as strong as him, and Goku doesn't see any reason why not, suggesting he have his father train him once they revive him. Back in the small town, Yamcha tells Goku his clothes are ready and Goku introduces Upa to his friends, with Kuririn slyly tells Goku that he thinks Upa's a pretty cute girl. Goku asks Upa if he's a boy, and Upa confirms, causing Kuririn to scowl and Goku to brag about how he's finally getting better at telling boys from girls just by looking. Goku changes out of his ruined clothes right there in the street, even scratching his privates, causing Yamcha to loudly chastise him. Once changed into his clothes, the group sets out once more. The group has trouble finding Baba's palace from the air as all they can see is desert, but eventually Kuririn spots a group of biuldings to their right. The group lands and immediately notice they're not the first ones there, as a large group of people is already standing in line outside of the palace. A ghost suddenly floats over, and Goku asks it if this is the “Ball-Seeing Crone”'s house. The ghost corrects Goku, and instructs them to get in line and asks if all five of them are together. When Yamcha confirms this, the ghost seems pleased for some reason, and tells them that it'll call for them when it's their turn. Yamcha wonders why everyone in the line looks so tough, but Kuririn thinks they're probably just friends that train at a martial arts school together. Not everyone in the line seems tough either, as a rich older couple soon exit the building, pleased that Baba was able to tell them where their gold pickling stone was left. The ghost leads the way for the group just ahead of Goku and friends, and a short time later, cries of pain can be heard coming from further into the palace. The group returns, beaten and bandaged, as they leave the palace, much to Yamcha and Kuririn's horror. The ghost tells them it's their turn now and doesn't answer when Yamcha asks what happened to the previous guys. They're eventually led to an inner building, with Upa saying that he's scared. They're then introduced to Uranai Baba, a tiny old lady floating on a crystal ball, who comments how young they all are. Goku asks if she's the “All-Seeing Bone”. Baba angrily corrects him that it's “All-Seeing Crone”, and Goku says that's a weird name, outraging Baba who says it's her job, not her name. Goku asks if she can tell them where something is, and Baba says she will for ten million zeni. Yamcha and Kuririn are taken aback by the large amount of money, and when Baba realizes they don't have it, she tells them to follow her. Baba leads them further in to another outside area, where a small attached fighting ring is surrounded by water. Baba explains that she's going to have them fight her five champions one by one. If they win, they get to fight the next champion, but if they lose, one of their companions has to try. If they manage to defeat all five of her fighters, she'll tell them where their lost object is, free of charge. Yamcha and Kuririn feel more assured now as they realize the previous group must have been beaten in a fight, and Kuririn smugly brags that the three of them did pretty well in the recent Tenkaichi Budokai. Baba laughs and says this should be fun then. Review: It's been so long since we've really seen Goku in a situation that calls out his complete and utter lack of social norms, so it's entertaining to see that make a big comeback in this chapter. Granted, I wouldn't want to wear the outfit they initially put him in either, but at least I don't run around naked and scratch myself in public. Not anymore, anyway. A good half of the chapter is spent on the interaction between the characters in this way too, and it's really enjoyable to just see the characters hanging out together again when they haven't been together in so long now. I also get a laugh out of Yamcha asking the tailor to make sure he uses cheap material – guess he's footing the bill on this one, and Bulma didn't give him much of an allowance. It's nice to see Upa again too, as this storyline could have very easily been carried out with him only being seen again at the end when things were resolved, but thankfully Toriyama decided to throw the kid a bone. This unfortunately might lead new fans to think the character is going to be a bigger part of the ensemble cast, but...not really. And pour one out for the pat-pat gag, as it seems to have been laid to rest by this point, with Goku being able to tell boys and girls apart without it. You'll be missed, inappropriate touch joke. In it's place we get the brief reign of potentially bisexual Kuririn, something else the series never sees fit to really delve into – though in all honesty, it was probably just meant as a throwaway joke without any real implications about Kuririn's sexuality. It is Toriyama, after all. There's a fun reoccurring gag with Goku consistently getting Baba's title wrong, very similar to how he usually gets the Turtle's name wrong. He eventually has to be corrected by Baba herself that it's not even her name but her title. Huh...a character more well known by their title than their name...that sounds very familiar for some reason... And that finally brings us to Baba herself. She's a fun character design for sure, seemingly being even shorter than Kuririn and spending almost all of her time floating on a crystal ball, but it's her powers and her personality that make her a fun addition to the world of Dragon Ball. Psychic powers are something we've only seen delved into once so far with Blue (I'm not counting Turbo since he's a character from Dr. Slump originally), and there it was used in an entirely different manner. Baba's abilities seem to fall far more firmly into the support category. Her personality is far less benevolent than our heroes would have hoped for as well, with her only using her powers for large amounts of money or if you can defeat her warriors. I'd imagine this could have all been resolved way quicker if they went back and got Bulma as I'm sure she's good for it, but that'd be less fun. Fighting it is! Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Kuririn, Upa, and Puar V.S. Edward Cullen
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Synopsis: With the Red Ribbon Army defeated at last but one final Dragon Ball left to find, Goku checks the radar again to see where it could be, only to find out something surprising when he does. Elsewhere, Yamcha and the others have finally arrived outside the Red Ribbon Army's HQ and land outside of it. Lunch asks why they're landing so far away, and Yamcha explains they'll get shot down if they land too close to it – their only chance is to storm the place without getting seen first.
Yamcha prepares to lead the charge, but Roshi stops him and says they can't head in somewhere like that without a plan first. Oolong wishes them all luck, but Bulma tells him that they're so desperate they'll even need his help and she and Lunch force Oolong to come along despite his whining. As the gang discusses various plans of action ranging from Bulma taking her clothes off to distract the soldiers and Roshi attacking from the left, Kuririn spots something in the skies above them. Bulma shouts for Puar to quickly return their plane to capsule form so they can hide, and Yamcha hopes that they haven't already been spotted. As they watch the object get closer though, they soon realize that what they've spotted is Goku on kinto'un. Goku curses his luck as the radar seems to be broken once again, leaving him no choice but to go back to Kame House and have Bulma fix it again, but he has no idea where that is from here. Suddenly, he hears everyone shouting up at him from down below on the ground, and zooms down to join them, asking what they're doing all the way out here. Roshi says that Goku must've thought twice about attacking the base after all, and Kuririn tells Goku they came because they heard of the crazy thing he was thinking of doing. Yamcha says it's a good thing Goku didn't attack the Red Ribbon Army after all, but Goku surprises everyone by saying that he did attack them, and now that they're beaten, he has six of the Dragon Balls. Kuririn asks Goku if he really beat the entire Red Ribbon Army by himself, and Goku says that he beat everyone except for the ones that ran away. Yamcha sends Puar to check out the base, and Puar returns to confirm that it's empty and destroyed. Everyone is in disbelief that Goku managed to do what even the police and army weren't able to do, but Goku shrugs it off by saying he just got stronger. He tells Roshi that he did it to, referring to Karin's tower, and Roshi is surprised to hear that Goku has climbed it and trained with Karin as well – Roshi chooses not to mention that it took him a full three years to get the water from Karin, compared to the much shorter time in which Goku did it. Goku tells Bulma that the radar is broken again and asks her to fix it, and Bulma is surprised that Goku's found six of the seven balls but still doesn't have his grandpa's four-star ball. Goku explains the situation with Upa, and Roshi is proud of his student's kind aspirations. Bulma says she can fix the radar but they'll have to go back to Kame House for her to do it. As Goku flies on kinto'un, everyone else gets back in the plane and talks about how amazingly strong Goku has become. Roshi surprises them by saying that Goku might even be stronger than him now – he can't say with any certainty that even he would've had the stamina to take down the entire Red Ribbon Army, and he suspects that Goku has it in him to get even stronger than he is now. Yamcha says this probably means that if any of them planned to enter the next Tenkaichi Budokai, they'd probably better give up hoping for first place now, with Roshi confirming that's a wise idea. Yamcha can't believe how strong Goku has gotten, when it hasn't been that long since they were roughly even...he decides to go with Goku to find the last Dragon Ball so that maybe he can get some training in as well, with Kuririn thinking of doing the same thing. Once back at Kame House, Bulma is surprised when she takes a look at the radar. It doesn't appear to be broken, but the last Dragon Ball isn't showing up on it at all. Oolong suggests that maybe it flew into space, but Bulma says they shouldn't be able to fly that far. Goku even says that until recently they did all show up on it, so Bulma theorizes that someone or something may have swallowed it, and the signal the ball gives off is being blocked by biological matter. Goku frets that he'll never find it at that rate, with Yamcha grossly suggesting that maybe it'll get pooped out. Roshi suggests that there might be one way they can find the last Dragon Ball, by visiting the palace of Uranai Baba, the “All-Seeing Crone”. Yamcha seems to have heard of her, and Roshi explains that she has the power to divine the location of any lost object. Goku is overjoyed and asks where she is, so Roshi uses a map to show them where her palace is. Goku, Yamcha, Puar, and Kuririn board the plane to go see her, with Oolong and Bulma planning to head home via another airplane capsule while everyone else stays behind. Yamcha thinks this should be some great training, though Kuririn thinks it can't be that dangerous to go see an old lady. As the group flies off, Roshi says that with Goku's strength, they should be able to get Baba to help them...at least, he hopes so... Review: And so begins the Uranai Baba arc, one of (if not the) shortest arcs in the series. It's brevity is understandable though, as the scope of what it's trying to do is fairly simple. Unlike the first search for all seven balls, the Tenkaichi Budokai that brought forth a contest against a handful of strong opponents, and the second search for all seven balls that lead to a conflict with an entire Army, this time Goku's just looking for one more Dragon Ball and can't find it. This simple scenario, it's brevity, and it's ties to the previous arc (the wish being needed to revive Bora after he was killed by Taopaipai) are all reasons that a lot of people consider this to actually be part of the Red Ribbon arc rather than being one of it's own. Honestly, I can see an argument for that really – the Red Ribbon arc started as a search for the Dragon Balls that wasn't complete by the time the Red Ribbon was dealt with, so it makes a certain amount of sense that that story doesn't end until the search is finished and a wish is made. At the same time, everything in this arc other than the ultimate wish feels very much like it's own thing, with no real connective tissue to the previous arc. There's really no other arc in Dragon Ball that's as curiously placed as this one, so it's fine either way really, but I personally choose to look at this as it's own arc that serves as a bit of an epilogue to the previous one. Goku's friends being entirely surprised by Goku crushing the Red Ribbon serves as a final reminder of just how far the boy has come since we first met him. All of them by this point know of his previous run-ins with the militia, as well as them all knowing (personally in the case of everyone except Yamcha, Oolong, and Puar) exactly how dangerous the army can be too, so seeing that Goku apparently took them on head on and own is mind-blowing for them. Roshi's comments on the subject especially end up highlighting the two big questions we have now in regards to Goku – just how strong is he in comparison to his friends when they're used as a previous measuring stick (especially Roshi, who fought Goku in the final round of the previous Budokai), and how much stronger is he going to become in the future? The latter is an ever growing answer, even nowadays, but the former is something that I think both Kuririn and Yamcha are thinking a lot about and why they decide to go with Goku wherever he ends up next. Kuririn doesn't seem to have made many strides in growing stronger since the Budokai, and that goes double for Yamcha who hasn't even appeared in this arc until now and was already a good few steps behind both of them in the first place. The idea of being left that far behind by their friend and rival is undoubtedly bugging them, so it's nice to see them want to try and catch up before it's too late (ha...haha...ha...) And as crazy as it may seem, it's not even that wild for Roshi to assume that Goku may have surpassed him at this point. Considering how close Goku was to matching him before, and the fact that Goku has climbed Karin tower and received further training (and beaten Taopaipai, though Roshi is unaware of that fact), it's entirely possible Goku has far outstripped the old man in pure power, not even having to come down to the stamina of youth versus old age. Roshi too is likely thinking about this in his own way, though it'd be somewhat different from how Yamcha and Kuririn are feeling about it. If we were to consider this part of the Red Ribbon Army arc however, I think it can be agreed upon that the true villain of this entire part of the series is that damned radar not working. It's been broken at least twice, an entirely new one has been built, and it still manages to end up not being useful yet again. Just like real life technology, we love it when it works, but when it doesn't, we're tempted to see how far we can throw it (and I'd bet Goku's got one hell of a pitch by this point). Of course, this time it turns out the radar isn't broken at all, it's simply not picking up the last ball's signal, meaning it's being blocked somehow. Everyone's theories on what this could mean are interesting, but I especially like the idea of someone eating it being brought up. That's just such a crazy idea that they haven't encountered yet, I love it. Goku and Upa's only hope turns out to be an old psychic lady that we haven't met yet, but even with everything that Roshi was surprised to hear about from Goku earlier, Roshi's still not 100% certain that they'll be able to get her to help. Just who IS this Uranai Baba anyway? Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: With Goku seemingly able to be hurt after all, Black laughs and says he'll use this robot Battle Jacket to make him the first casualty of the reborn Red Ribbon Army. Black uses the machine to fire a laser at Goku, which Goku narrowly dodges only to be caught in the Jacket's hand. Black throws Goku hard enough into a nearby wall to send him flying through it, and Black follows after, bursting through the roof and telling Goku not to worry – it'll all be over soon.
Black fires another laser at Goku, seemingly connecting this time and leaving a giant hole in the ground where Goku was. Black begins to celebrate his victory while Goku watches overhead from a nearby roof, noting that Black doesn't seem to know about how fast he is. Black comments to himself that it's a shame the other Dragon Balls were destroyed along with Goku, but he receives a shock when Goku lands on the Jacket's cockpit and starts sticking his tongue out at him. Enraged, Black sends a powerful punch from the Jacket's fist towards Goku, but Goku leaps out of the way, leaving the fist to break through the cockpit and hit Black. Goku laughs at the man's misfortune, and Black angrily jets off higher into the sky as Goku lands on another rooftop. Seeing that there's no other choice, Black prepares to deploy the Jacket and the Army's most powerful weapon – a missile that will kill Goku as well as destroy the entire base. The Battle Jacket turns over in mid-air and fires the missile at Goku, who recognizes it as another one of those 'bomb' things the Army keeps using. Leaping into the air, Goku kicks the missile, re-routing it's trajectory into a nearby mountain. As Goku recovers from his hurt knee and laments the loss of such a nice looking mountain, Black is mortified at just how strong Goku really is. He begins to fly away in the Battle Jacket, vowing to kill Goku someday, but Goku spots him and says he doesn't let bad guys get away. Leaping after him, Goku crashes into and through the Battle Jacket, causing it to explode and kill Black in the process. Having landed on kinto'un, Goku heads back into the Red Ribbon HQ's tower and retrieves their two Dragon Balls, leaving only one more to go before he has all seven! Up in the skies above, Yamcha and the others have finally arrived in their aircraft and swear that they're going to save Goku. Review: And so, the Red Ribbon Army arc comes to it's conclusion, and just like I warned, it's a little bit on the abrupt side all things told. The payoff was already achieved in the last couple of chapters, so this one really basically just serves to finish the fight between Goku and Black so that the story can start moving onward in it's next direction. As such, I can definitely see why a lot of people wouldn't be fond of this ending or even this arc as a whole as a result of it. For me though, this is definitely a case of the storyline's highs far outweighing it's lows. And it's not as if Toriyama's not trying to make this finale as impactful or as exciting as it can be under the circumstances, due in no small part to the Battle Jacket and it's feats of strength. Not only do we see that being hit with it actually throws Goku for a loop, it's able to fire lasers that leave craters in the ground, and even comes packed with a missile that blows up an entire mountain. It might not quite be Roshi blowing up the moon, but that's definitely one hell of an impressive showing for a mere machine, and does set the stakes fairly high for Goku to win against this thing. All that aside though, it's clear that Goku wasn't ever really in too great of danger here, and Black is taken down...pretty easily, really. Poor guy has just had one hell of a bad day, hasn't he? The Red Ribbon Army arc is unique in that it's the easiest one to further divide into a number of smaller story arcs that aren't entirely based around who the lead villain is at the time, but also by location and supporting characters. There's the opening snippet introducing us to the Red Ribbon Army by way of Colonel Silver, with Goku all on his own; there's the snowy village where Muscle Tower resides and Goku meets Suno and her family as well as Android 8; there's General Blue, that sees Goku through various locales such as a pirate cave and Penguin Village (along with familiar ones like Kame House), as well as a variety of old friends and even a crossover experience; there's the run-in with Taopaipai in the land of Karin; and finally there's this final assault on Red Ribbon HQ itself. If I were to personally rank each of these sections, it would probably go something like this – first would be everything with General Blue, just for it's great variety of characters and locales, plus I'm a sucker for Dr. Slump; second would be this finale, for bringing everything together into a conclusion that while lackluster in some ways, was entirely unexpected and enjoyable overall; third would be dealing with Taopaipai, as he makes for a great tonal change for the series as a whole; fourth would be Muscle Tower, which also gave us a fun variety of challenges for Goku to encounter, but could feel a little tedious in places; and dead last would be the opening bit with Silver, which is just dull and unfulfilling as an introduction can get. The Red Ribbon Arc really had nowhere to go but up, but I'd say it went as high as at least halfway up Karin's tower before it was through. The Red Ribbon Army arc is also unique in that it's conclusion...really doesn't conclude very much. Sure, the Army has been dealt with and won't be a problem anymore, but there's still the problem of that last missing Dragon Ball to contend with. Hmm... Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: Goku continues to beat down Red Ribbon soldiers that get in his way, but a pair of them think they've finally beaten the boy by launching a rocket at him. Their joy is short-lived however as Goku reappears from the cloud of smoke and uses a nearby table to shove them hard into a wall. Seeing the boy survive a point-blank rocket, the remaining soldiers choose to flee rather than keep fighting. Seeing his men flee via a security screen, Red curses them as disgraces, saying that Goku is just one brat so this shouldn't be happening. Black tells Red it appears they were too late in realizing just how strong this brat was however, so they've been left with no choice but to abandon the balls and retreat themselves. Red defiantly says he doesn't want to give up the Dragon Balls, but Black asks him if he feels that strongly about it if it's between them and his own life. Red continues to grumble, saying that he was so close, and if he had just a little longer, he could have been “tall”. Black is taken aback by this, and asks Red that surely they weren't gathering the Dragon Balls just to make him taller. Red asks him if he has a problem with that. Black says he thought they were surely after world domination, and Red insists that they'd get to that in the fullness of time. Red claims that a conqueror has to be charismatic and impressive, and laments that 'no chick looks twice at a midget'. Black is mortified that it was for something as petty as that that he and the other soldiers have suffered, but Red scoffs and says that tall people has no idea how short people like him feel. Red says that ever since he was a kid, he's been ridiculed and laughed at for his height. Black says the only reason he's done so much and put up with so much was to advance the Army's mission of world conquest, but Red belligerently says that he's the Commander so he gets to say what they do. Black argues with him once more, asking him if he realizes how many soldiers have sacrificed their lives for as stupid a goal as making him taller, but Red doesn't care, saying that they only died because they weren't trained better and that he should think before talking back to his commander like that. Unable to take anymore, Black shoots Commander Red in the head, telling him that he's not competent to be the Commander anymore, and that he'll rebuild the army under a new command, that of Commander Black. Just then, Goku breaks through a nearby window, looking for the Dragon Balls that his radar says should be around there somewhere. Black speaks to Goku and Goku asks if he's the boss, with Black saying he is as of just a minute ago. Spotting the Dragon Balls on the table, Goku says he'll be taking them, but Black offers him a proposition first. He asks Goku to gather the Dragon Balls together with him, and together they'll be able to rule the world. Goku isn't interested, and says that he needs the balls to revive a friend's father that was killed by one of the Red Ribbon's men. Black alters his offer – he says he'll let Goku use the Dragon Balls to wish back his father's friend, and after that Goku can join him in conquering the world anyway, saying that with his strength, it'll be easy. Goku objects again, saying he has no interest in even being friends with bad people like him. Black sees that there's no choice left but to fight after all. Black warns Goku that it won't be as easy as before and goes on the offensive, but Goku is easily able to dodge all of Black's blows and lay him out with a single elbow strike. Black realizes that Goku is indeed far stronger than they thought, and Goku tells him to give up. Undeterred, Black pulls a capsule from his belt and tosses it out, leaping into the cockpit of the large robot suit that appears there. Piloting the suit, Black strikes Goku across the face with it's fist, sending the boy flying into the wall. Goku holds his head, seemingly actually hurt from this attack. Elsewhere, Yamcha and the others continue heading towards Red Ribbon HQ, desperately hoping that Goku's still alive when they get there. Review: If the previous chapter began my truly favorite section of this arc, then this chapter furthers it towards that conclusion. We get a little more of Goku just beating down soldiers, ultimately leading to them just giving up trying to fight him altogether, but it's Red's breakdown and Black's reaction to it that really make this chapter – and storyline – for me. We've been dealing with the Red Ribbon for some time now. This arc first started back in chapter 55, and it won't conclude until the next chapter, making for a storyline that has lasted 42 chapters in total. In comparison to that, the first arc in the series (the Search for the Dragon Balls) lasted 23 chapters, and the second (the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai) lasted 31. That makes this arc longer than either of them and really only a handful of chapters shorter than both of those combined. It's even longer when you consider that the Budokai didn't even really get started until 9 to 12 chapters into it's run. No matter how you slice it, this arc is the longest one in the series thus far, and it's definitely the longest one with one continuous goal (find the four-star Dragon Ball and then the rest of them) and one continuous foe (the Red Ribbon Army). As a result, the ensuing final conflict between Goku and the Red Ribbon Army has been one that's been building up for a long time by this point. That of course leaves the question of how exactly to resolve that conflict, which is where Toriyama could potentially have run into a problem. See, after Goku defeated General Blue, the Red Ribbon Army hit a wall and called in outside help in the form of Taopaipai. While this resulted in a great wall for Goku to overcome, it's also left the narrative with a problem – if the Army was already out of it's best men and had to call in the assistance of someone stronger, then that means that after Taopaipai's defeat, there's nobody else left for Goku to be challenged by in this storyline. If the Army had someone else stronger than Taopaipai left, they wouldn't have needed to call him in at all. As such, the story was bound to go out with a bit of a low after it's previous highs (and my own bias towards it aside, it could certainly be argued that it does just that). Even the foreseen threat of Goku being overwhelmed by there being just too many soldiers with guns to contend with turned out to be a moot point, so how in the world does Toriyama wrap this storyline up without it feeling like a big letdown? He does it of course by going back to his roots and one of his greatest strengths: he plays it for laughs, and in pure Dragon Ball fashion, it's laughs based around some decidedly darker material. The reveal of Red's true ambitions haven't really been hinted at prior to this, but the build-up for the joke has definitely been laid in prior chapters. The Red Ribbon Army has been described by every character that was already familiar with them as an evil, destructive entity bent on world domination and one willing to stop at nothing to achieve that goal. It's also been mentioned at least once prior that nobody in the army, not even the higher level generals like Blue, truly know what it is Red wants to wish for once he gets the Dragon Balls. The natural assumption anyone would make with all of this information is that he must be planning to wish to rule the world, same as Pilaf before him. As it turns out however, Red is something of an inverted Pilaf – whereas Pilaf was a goofy character with a rather dire goal in mind, Red is a serious character with a really stupid wish in mind. Seriously, just think about everything we've seen the Army do, all of the terrible things they've done and been behind, how many times they've tried to kill our heroes...and in the end, it wasn't even for anything you'd expect the Army to be after, no, it's all been because Red hates that he's short and wants to use the powers of a wish-granting Dragon to give himself a few inches (no, not that way, you filthy people). That's just utterly hilarious in a really, really dark way, and I think it's what Toriyama had planned all along due to the previous build-up, rather than it being something he came up with on the spur of the moment when realizing he'd written himself into a wall. Of course, it's only darkly hilarious for us because it's fiction and we're looking in from the outside. For Black, it's horrifying, and rightly so. We have no idea what this character's backstory is prior to joining the Red Ribbon Army – even Red's belated reveal here gives us some idea of what he's been like for some time now – but his reaction indicates someone who has dedicated their entire life to a cause. For better or worse (and likely worse given, you know, world domination and all), Black was all in on what the Army was doing and what he perceived their goals to be, and Red betrays all of that in a moment of outraged weakness. He's whining about not getting to be taller and telling Black how good they've all had it, and completely dismissing the pain and even the deaths of his men that this entire ordeal has caused. Red was the type of leader that killed soldiers for failing him, and even though Black doesn't seem to have batted much of an eye at that, he seemingly at least believed those deaths were always for something greater. Now that he finds out it's all been for nothing, and that Red doesn't even care about what those men sacrificed in pursuit of is own petty gains? Black's had enough and puts an immediate end to Red's madness. It's this twist of fate at the hands of a punchline that makes Black a memorable character in my opinion. His design and frankly his name both give some cause for concern, but ultimately, he elevates himself from a background attendant character of almost no note, into the final villain of this entire arc, in only a few pages. And don't get me wrong, he's as evil as anyone else in the Red Ribbon Army was, but he at least believes in their goals rather than putting up a front as Red had done. Sort of similar to a certain mad scientist survivor from this arc that we'll be learning about way, way down the line...he must have tuned out by this point, or it's almost surprising he doesn't just put Black Ribbon logos on his creations instead. Black also makes for an interesting opponent for Goku as he's the first of only a handful to try to coax Goku over to his side rather than fighting him. In most latter cases it's more of a recognition of Goku's skill and thinking he'd be of some use however, whereas here it's because Black already suspects that he's not going to have an easy time against the kid. That and, well, the Army's pretty much decimated at this point, so Black has just proclaimed himself the Commander of nothing really, so having a force like Goku on his side would certainly be a good starting point to rebuild from. Unfortunately for him Goku's not the type to be interested, so Black decides to fight...despite earlier having planned to just leave and survive. ...Huh. Look, I said he was interesting, not smart. Let's chalk it up to how rattled he was by everything he just found out from Red. It's hard to really say how good of a fighter Black is, but it's pretty unlikely that he's anywhere near as good as Taopaipai, and even if he was, Goku's already beaten that far stronger assassin, so as stated earlier, this arc is somewhat set to go out on a whimper. Toriyama seemingly knows that too, and has tried to bolster it a little by giving Black a giant robot suit that we haven't seen before, one that actually seems capable of hurting Goku a little bit. Will that be enough to salvage this final fight? Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Black's promotion is short-lived. Synopsis: Goku charges head-first into Red Ribbon HQ on kinto-un, shocking Red and Black who watch from their security screen. Red doesn't understand how Goku can even be here, and Black says that it must mean, improbable as it sounds, that Goku defeated Taopaipai. Red orders his men not to let Goku set even one toe inside their facility, but it's too late – Goku has already landed on a building's roof, and following that, proceeds to follow his radar, heading towards the two Dragon Balls the Army has and plowing through any and all soldiers that get in his way.
Eventually the Army realizes that Goku is indeed headed straight for their Dragon Balls, much to Red's outrage. Black asks Red to evacuate into their underground bunker just in case, but Red finds it ludicrous that he'd need to hide from a child. Black reminds him that this is a child that defeated Taopaipai, but Red insists that their army is unstoppable. It seems to be Goku that's unstoppable however, as even a direct shot from Red Ribbon sniper fails to do more than make him mad. As he storms his way into the tower his radar is pointing towards, a soldier informs Red and Black that they've already lost half their forces at this point, outraging Red who says he and Black will go to the tower themselves. At Kame House, Yamcha has finally arrived with an aircraft and is picking up Lunch (still in her blonde form), Bulma, Roshi, and Turtle to take with him, Oolong, and Puar, to go rescue Goku. Bulma and Oolong object once aboard, saying this is a job for experienced fighters, but Yamcha says they're going to need all the help they can get – besides, Goku has saved the lives of everyone on the plane at least once. When the Turtle asks how he can help, Yamcha asks Roshi where Kuririn is, and Roshi says he went swimming to another island to get some groceries since they no longer had a vehicle. The gang looks to the water below to keep an eye out for him, as Yamcha thinks he's more than strong enough to be a big help. As Red and Black get to the tower, Red swears that he won't let anybody touch his Dragon Balls. Black cautions him that things don't look very good, as Goku has proven to be powerful beyond belief, and they've already lost most of their top operatives to him even before this point. Yamcha and the others have finally found Kuririn, who is in disbelief over what Goku is doing. Lunch says her trigger finger is getting itchy, and Kuririn asks her to please not transform back to her kinder, blue-haired form, as for once they actually need her like this. Yamcha asks Puar about how long it should take them to get to Red Ribbon HQ, and Puar says about 40 minutes. Back at Red Ribbon HQ, Goku continues to tear his way through soldier after soldier, having now made his way to the tower. The radar tells him the Dragon Balls are further up, but he can't find any stairs anywhere (not even recognizing a nearby elevator). Goku simply leaps from the floor and breaks through the ceiling to get to the next floor, catching the guards who had been waiting and watching the elevator off-guard. Watching this via another security screen, Red scowls and says he refuses to let the Red Ribbon Army be defeated by a brat that doesn't even know what an elevator is. Review: This chapter right here is why I love this final section of the story so much. It's short-lived, even more-so here in the manga, but I absolutely love the imagery of Goku, a little kid (even one that we already know well to be absurdly strong), just absolutely tearing through an evil armed force. It manages to be powerful and striking even though we've seen Goku tear through similar mooks before, because this time the level to which he's outnumbered is completely absurd. Granted, we never get to see exactly how many Red Ribbon soldiers are left at this point, but if they're as terrifying a force as the story has lead us to believe? There's bound to be hundreds, possibly even thousands, of these guys. And Goku just runs right through all of them. Absolutely amazing. These sections of the chapter are punctuated by commentary by Red and Black who cannot believe what they're seeing, which makes for a fun counter-balance to Goku's friends – in this scenario, it's Goku's enemies who have a much better idea of what he's capable of than his own friends do. As amusing and enjoyable as this is though, this does mark the beginning of Goku starting to pull so far ahead of his friends that the chances of them ever catching up becomes incredibly unlikely, and that is a shame in it's own way. The gap will only get further and further with new training regiments from here forward, and considering how relatively uninvolved the core cast has been much of the time, it's even sadder. Ironically, they'll all start to get more screen time and involvement in the story overall once they're completely eclipsed in strength – weird how that works, isn't it? As good as this chapter is, it really doesn't give me a lot to talk about sadly, as a good chunk of it's pages are dedicated to imagery of Goku mowing down Red Ribbon soldiers – but when it's so enjoyable to read, it doesn't really matter if it's not too deep on this occasion. Go read this chapter for yourself and just bask in the glory of it all, you absolutely won't regret it. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: With Taopaipai defeated and four of the seven Dragon Balls back in his possession, Goku checks his radar and discovers that there are two balls together some distance away. He realizes that since the Red Ribbon Army has been trying to gather the Dragon Balls as well and they were all scattered before that that must be their main base, and he prepares to go beat them all up and get their two Dragon Balls at the same time. Upa insists that it's too dangerous even for Goku, but Goku says he'll be fine and calls down kinto'un. At Red Ribbon HQ, Black informs Red that Colonel Violet has just returned with a Dragon Ball. Violet hands the ball to her Commander and apologizes for it taking so long, but Red is overjoyed to now have two Dragon Balls, with four more on the way courtesy of Taopaipai. Violet praises the enemy's radar that they'd given her for it's precision in detecting the Dragon Ball, so Red tells Black to give the radar to General Copper and order him to find the last Dragon Ball immediately. Another soldier alerts Red to the fact that the four Dragon Balls on the radar are on the move, and Red thinks it must be Taopaipai. Flying through the air on kinto'un, Goku is soon caught by surprise when a small aircraft appears and starts to fly alongside him. The small ship soon sends a rough video of Goku back down to Bulma on Roshi's island, where she appears to have built an antenna receiver as well. Roshi and Lunch (in her blonde form) come to the TV as well and are pleased to see that Goku is alive, with Roshi asking if he's coming back here now. Bulma messes with her device and brings a map to the screen that shows Goku is heading towards the location of two more Dragon Balls. As Roshi scoffs and asks why Goku can't stop by and say hi first at least, Lunch seems to think the location of the two Dragon Balls seems familiar – she's pretty certain it's the Red Ribbon HQ. Roshi says that not even Goku would be that foolish, but Bulma sends her visual aircraft away from Goku and over to where Goku is heading, receiving back footage that shows Lunch was right. Roshi wonders if Goku really is planning to invade a place like that, when the aircraft is suddenly shot down by a patrolling Red Ribbon aircraft. The Red Ribbon soldier radios in to HQ that he's just engaged a UFO, and HQ tells him not to attack as it should be Taopaipai, but the soldier says it was just a miniature recon unit of some sort and he's already taken care of it. Red and Black watch the radar screen eagerly as the four Dragon Balls get closer and closer, still under the impression that it's Taopaipai. Goku sees the Red Ribbon base at last, and pulls out nyoibo, eager to get started. As the Red Ribbon soldier that shot down Bulma's aircraft spots Goku, he responds in horror that it's not Taopaipai. Bulma asks Roshi what they're going to do as not even Goku is strong enough to handle the whole Red Ribbon Army and will surely be killed. Lunch says Goku must be insane, but Roshi says he's just stupid, and they have no choice but to go help him. Turtle asks how they can leave with no vehicles however, and Bulma angrily wishes she had some way to contact Yamcha. Turtle asks why she doesn't call him on the phone, but Bulma says she can't do that since there's not a phone here. Turtle reasons that if she could build an aircraft and a visual receiver from scratch, then surely a phone should be no problem, and Bulma happily calls him a genius before starting to build one, with Roshi commenting that there's a thin line between idiocy and genius. Once the phone is built, Bulma calls home and tells her dad to put Yamcha on the line. Yamcha is horrified at what Goku is doing, but also eager to fight some worthy opponents after all this time spent in the city, so he tells Puar and Oolong (who had been trying to sneak away) that they're heading out to help Goku fight the Red Ribbon Army, a notion that horrifies Oolong. As Goku promptly destroys the Red Ribbon soldier's aircraft, HQ tries to raise him on the radio again but receive no answer. They turn on their monitor to see what's going on outside, and an image of Goku fills the screen. A soldier quickly reports to Red that it's not Taopaipai coming here with the four Dragon Balls, it's that brat, Son Goku. Red and Black watch on, aghast. Review: This chapter begins what is probably my favorite or second favorite section of the Red Ribbon storyline, as it's really hard to choose between this ending portion of the story or the earlier adventures with General Blue (though the Taopaipai section we just wrapped up is insanely good as well). It's fairly short and really only exists to resolve this storyline while moving into the next one that further ties up this arc's loose ends, but man if it's not an enjoyable climax. The very start of this chapter did throw me for a bit of a loop though, as we see both Goku and the Red Ribbon in possession of the small radar that Bulma built. Since I momentarily forgot myself, a quick refresher for anyone else who may have had a brain fart as well – the radar the Red Ribbon has is Bulma's original Dragon Radar that they got when Arale sent General Blue flying away, and the radar Goku has is the one that Turbo built from plane parts, and is the radar that our heroes will have for the rest of the series moving forward. Who'd have thought a short crossover with Dr. Slump would lead to such a small but confusing detail? As much as I love this final part of the arc however, it's not without it's misses as well. We're introduced to Colonel Violet in this chapter, the only female member of the Red Ribbon Army we ever get to meet (even the random soldiers we see throughout the course of the series are all male), and...well, let's just say she's not going to amount to very much in her screen time, and that's a shame. It would have been interesting to have a female opponent for Goku for a change, but that's not something Toriyama is ever very eager to give us seemingly. Alas, poor Violet, you're just a cameo really – though at least that's better than only being name-dropped like General Copper, I guess. The story arc started off with Goku all on his own, so when he ran into the Red Ribbon Army for the first time, he didn't have anyone around to tell him what a big, terrifying deal they truly were. Little by little though, the other parts of the core cast have been made aware of Goku tangling with them, leading to them realizing that Goku is just stupid enough to charge head-first into their home base after all. It's hard to say for sure if their reactions would have been exactly the same if they were only now learning of Goku's involvement with the Army, but I think things would have ultimately played out about the same, though their knowledge does add an even bigger sense of urgency for them. It's interesting to note that Lunch seems to know exactly where Goku's headed too, just based on the map. It doesn't seem like knowledge of where the Red Ribbon home base is would be very common knowledge, so her knowing that is more than a little suspect. I'm pulling from memory here, but I believe the anime adds a line about them having tried to bring her into the organization at one point (though this could have been a dub line added by FUNimation, perhaps?) - it'd certainly make sense though, as the Army would have been very interested in someone of blonde Lunch's ability. Wonder if they would had made her change her name to a color though? Colonel Blonde, perhaps? I also love the bit with Turtle pointing out that if Bulma can build a surveillance drone as quickly as she did, then a phone should be easy. We see this sort of thing come up a few times with Bulma over the course of the franchise, where something super obvious occurs to someone other than her but then she's the only one smart enough to know how to make said obvious thing a reality. Roshi's right, the line between smart and dumb truly is a thin one. And hey, Yamcha's here! Keep in mind that, barring the filler I reviewed a while back, this is the first time he, Puar, or Oolong have been seen since the end of the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai. What have they been doing in all that time? Well...nothing. Nothing that we're made aware of anyway. Even the bit with Bulma being angry at Yamcha has seemingly been forgotten by now, with nary a mention of it nor any hesitation from Bulma in calling him. The only indication we get of what Yamcha's been doing is his readiness to get into a good fight, seemingly showing he hasn't had much luck in finding any worthwhile opponents in the big city. This would certainly explain why he's lagged so far behind Kuririn and especially Goku by this point in time, as this would seem to indicate he hasn't really gotten much chance to progress past where he was during the Budokai. Heck, even Kuririn at least got to fight Blue earlier – it didn't go well, but he probably gained SOMETHING from the experience. Yamcha doesn't even get that, he just gets to appear at the end because hey, it's about that time where we should be seeing everyone again. Poor guy. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Assault on Red Ribbon HQ! Synopsis: Taopaipai is aghast and asks Goku if he really thinks he's going to defeat the world's greatest assassin with only his bare hands, and Goku says it just wouldn't feel right to do it any other way. Taopaipai says such foolishness is why he hates children, and Goku urges him to go ahead and attack before promising Upa that he's going to avenge his father. Taopaipai vows to make Goku regret making light of him, and rushes forward. He strikes Goku repeatedly before lifting him into the air, much to Upa's horror as he wonders if Goku is letting this happen. Taopaipai throws Goku into the air, leaps after him, and sends him flying back to the ground with an overhead smash, but he isn't through with Goku yet. Falling back down, Taopaipai slams his knee into Goku before standing proud, certain of his victory. To his horror, Goku stands back up, fine save for a few bruises, saying that Taopaipai really is good, as all of that really hurt.
Upa is pleased to see Goku back on his feet, but Taopaipai calls the boy a monster. Goku says he's seen all of Taopaipai's moves now and he knows exactly how to fight back. Goku rushes in, and before the assassin can do more than yell at him, Goku lands a mighty blow to his stomach. Goku follows this up with chops to both sides of Taopaipai's neck and a harsh kick to the face that knocks a tooth out and sends the man to the ground. As he stands back up, Taopaipai thinks that Goku's speed is impossible, and Goku prepares to attack him once more. Taopaipai realizes he's finished unless he can come up with something quickly. Acting on the spur of the moment, Taopaipai goes to his knees and begs for forgiveness, promising to never do anything evil ever again. Goku is shocked by this turn of events, and isn't sure if Taopaipai really deserves mercy after everything that he's done. Goku turns to ask Upa for his opinion, and Taopaipai takes this opportunity for one final attack. He pulls out a grenade and pulls the pin, tossing it at Goku and Upa who recognizes it as a bomb, before leaping into the air to avoid the blast. Goku quickly rushes forward and kicks the bomb before it can land, sending it flying back into the air where Taopaipai just registers it being next to him before it explodes and engulfs him in the explosion, seemingly killing him. Back on the ground, Goku and Upa celebrate as they realize Taopaipai has been beaten at last. Goku ties the nyoibo back onto his back and promises Upa that he's going to finish gathering the Dragon Balls now, and that they'll then wish Bora back to life with them. Review: Oh how the mighty have fallen. Taopaipai was introduced as a cold, unfeeling assassin that couldn't be stopped, but at the end of the day, like a lot of bullies and villains, he turns out to be a sniveling coward who will stoop to any cheap trick he thinks might get him ahead. It's almost a shame given how fun of a villain he was before this ending, but I think Taopaipai certainly had enough time in the spotlight to still be remembered as one of the better villains in the series overall. Goku letting Taopaipai get in multiple free hits that would have absolutely had him reeling before, only to get right back up and largely be fine, is the ultimate slap in the face for the assassin. Even the Dodonpa that Goku took earlier probably stung less, as at least there Goku still had to defend against it to some degree – here he just takes the abuse and walks it off like it, and Taopaipai, are nothing. Given that Taopaipai has likely never run across someone stronger than himself, at least not to this degree, it's almost understandable that he breaks down so quickly. That said, I don't think anyone has ever bought it for even a second when he starts begging for his life. It couldn't be more obvious that it's a ruse, though what exactly he has in mind for making use of that distraction isn't hinted at at all before suddenly there's a grenade in play. Where in the heck was he keeping that thing anyway? We've seen guns and now a sword be capsulized, can you make a bomb into a capsule even? This opens up a lot of questions actually about how in the world the government of this world keeps weapons from just being brought anywhere and everywhere without any way of stopping them. ...Oh Kami, the Dragon World is America. Moving on. This actually won't be the last we'll be seeing of Taopaipai, and for once, unlike with Purple, I'm not talking about filler (not entirely anyway). His reappearances are a ways away for now however, so more on all of that later. Much later in a few cases. So now with the latest threat taken care of, what's left on Goku's plate to deal with? Well, there's still that little problem of the Red Ribbon Army out there, and they still have Goku's radar and one of the Dragon Balls, so Goku's going to have to contend with them if he wants to bring Bora back to life. Things are really about to hit the ground running, and I am excited to talk about it. 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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