Synopsis: As the contestants wait around to draw lots for the tournament, Kuririn hopes that they don't end up all facing each other right at the start. Tenshinhan walks over and acts surprised that they all made it through, suggesting that the quality of the tournament must be dropping for them to pull that off. Yamcha retorts that Tenshinhan and Chaozu must have had a lot of luck on their side to qualify with their own skills, causing Tenshinhan to laugh and say he looks forward to settling this in the ring.
Kuririn likewise gets into it with Chaozu, telling him he's surprised even he got through, prompting Chaozu to call Kuririn an octopus. Kuririn says Chaozu is just as bald as him and thus just as much of an octopus, but Chaozu denies this and takes off his hat to show a solitary hair growing out of the top of his head. Kuririn angrily says he'd rather be bald than just have one hair, but Chaozu says he's just jealous and sticks his tongue out at him. Tenshinhan is embarrassed by this exchange and tells Chaozu not to get engaged in such petty quarrels. The announcer from the previous tournament arrives at last and is glad to see everyone has gathered, though when Goku calls out to him he asks Goku to please not destroy the buildings this time. The announcer explains that they'll be drawing lots to determine their spot in the tournament and asks them to come forward when their name is drawn, and he starts by calling Jackie Chun's name. Tenshinhan recognizes the old man as the previous year's champion, and asks Chaozu to match him up ith someone else so they can see how he fights. Tenshinhan then spots a werewolf looking man growling angrily in Chun's direction and asks him if he has a grudge against him, only for the wolf to tell him to stay out of his business. Tenshinhan thinks this is all very interesting, and tells Chaozu to set the wolf up against Chun. After Chun draws #4, Yamcha's name is called next and Tenshinhan says he wants to take him down personally, so Chaozu makes a gesture with his finger, seemingly causing Yamcha to draw #1. A man named Panput is called next, and Chaozu again gestures with his finger just before Panput draws #7. Tenshinhan is called next, and Chaozu causes him to draw #2, pitting him against Yamcha. Yamcha tells Tenshinhan he feels sorry for him to have to lose so early, and Tenshinhan says he'll be returning that comment right back in Yamcha's face during their fight. Kuririn is up next, and Chaozu causes him to draw #6. The announcer next calls for Wolf-Man, but the werewolf angrily corrects him that his name is Man-Wolf, explaining that he's a wolf that turns into a man during the full moon rather than the opposite. Man-Wolf continues to growl angrily at Chun, and Chaozu causes him to draw #2, putting him up against the old man, making him very happy and the rest confused as to why he'd want to fight the previous tournament's winner first. Chaozu then draws himself, getting #5. With only the last spot open, the announcer says Goku must be #8, but Goku can't believe he'd be able to guess something like that. He walks up and draws his number just to make sure and is amazed to see that the announcer was right, asking him if he's psychic or something. Kuririn and Yamcha blush while Tenshinhan laughs and says that Roshi must teach his students jokes as well, but it soon turns back around on Tenshinhan when Chaozu asks if something funny was said and Tenshinhan abashedly asks him to be quiet. With that, the tournament's matches are decided – Match 1, Yamcha V.S. Tenshinhan; Match 2, Man-Wolf V.S. Jackie Chun; Match 3, Chaozu V.S. Kuririn; and Match 4, Panput V.S. Son Goku! The announcer explains the rules once more and asks everyone to approach the arena, asking Goku if he wants to eat first like last time, something Goku eagerly agrees to. Tenshinhan chides the Turtle School once more, but then tells Chaozu he did very well in his match-setting. Kuririn is ecstatic that none of them will have to face each other in the first round, and Chun says that sometimes amazing coincidences really do happen. Outside, the crowd cheers as the tournament is just about to start, but Bulma and the others notice that Roshi has disappeared once again. Puar says that it's a shame after Lunch got them such great seats, but Lunch (now reverted back to her blue-haired form) asks how she did that. The announcer steps into the ring and declares a start to the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, and announces the first match, Yamcha V.S. Tenshinhan. The two fighters scowl at each other and continue to bicker as they step out into the ring, and the announcer explains to the crowd that three of their eight finalists this year are from the Turtle School lead by Kame-sennin while two of them are from his rival Tsuru-sennin's school, the Crane School. He says that this first match is one of those inter-school battles as well, and while the crowd is hyped up by this, Roshi (disguised as Jackie Chun) and Tsuru-sennin both grouse about being compared to each other. As the match is about to start, Yamcha tells Tenshinhan he'll be begging for mercy in no time, and Tenshinhan says he's looking forward to Yamcha trying to make him do that. Review: With the preliminaries out of the way, this chapter serves as one last set-up before the tournament itself really kicks into gear, and while that might seem a bit gratuitous, it actually serves it's purpose pretty while by the end. We get even more good character building with the newly introduced Crane students, especially in terms of developing their rivalry with the Turtle students. Ironically, Goku's kind of the one left out of this initially, as it's all about Tenshinhan annoying Yamcha and Chaozu likewise doing the same to Kuririn, much to Tenshinhan's embarrassment as Chaozu's methods are far more infantile. They're pretty much discounting Goku entirely, possibly even thinking of him as the newest student of the school and probably the weakest when the opposite is true, which is pretty funny given where things are ultimately heading. Also, I'll save much of my commentary on him until after his match, but Chaozu is such a great little shit here. Enjoy it while it lasts. Speaking of Chaozu, we're also introduced to an interesting but rather vague (at the moment) ability of his, as he shows off that he's able to rig the matches to any order that he wants. While nothing is hinted yet as to how or why he's able to do this, I can't help but wonder if a clue was intentionally hidden in Goku's dialogue to the announcer. Even if it wasn't however, we do get some bread crumbs teasing another aspect of Chaozu, one that he seemingly has in common with Goku. Beyond all of that, Chaozu finally getting to speak up starts to give some hints about his relationship with Tenshinhan, as the smack-talking fighter behaves very differently with Chaozu than he does with anyone else at this point. But there's more to this tournament than just the Turtle and Crane students, right? ...Well, there's two other fighters that aren't part of that conflict, and while Panput doesn't really get anything in this chapter, there is some pretty interesting stuff with Man-Wolf. Right off the bat, I can't help but think that the idea of the character being a reverse-werewolf is one Toriyama initially had for Baba's fighters and ultimately decided to hold off on when he decided to incorporate Devilman as a devil instead to balance out Grandpa Gohan as an angel. It's certainly the stupid kind of gimmick that I could see having fit right at home with the others. He also seems to have one heck of a grudge against Jackie Chun, something that's very curious if you stop and think about it. Jackie Chun doesn't actually exist, he's just Kame-sennin in disguise, but none of our characters know that. There's nothing to suggest Man-Wolf does either, so for him to have a grudge against Jackie Chun, it'd have to be something involving the one other time Chun 'existed', the day of the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai. Hmm... Well, I'm sure before the end of their match, we'll figure out what 'bone' it is he has to pick with Chun, right? ...Bone? Get it? Cuz he's...a wolf...which is like a dog, and...and dogs...like bones... ...Ahem. My bad joke aside, it's nice to see Toriyama continuing to utilize Lunch a little better at long last, as now he actually gets a halfway decent joke out of her having reverted back to her blue-haired form. It's about time the character didn't make me groan. And with all of that taken care of, it's time for the tournament to start up at last, and Yamcha is going to have to put his money where his mouth is. Until next time! Favorite Panel:
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About the AuthorAspiring author and big anime/manga fan, just trying to do my best in the world. For more details, go to About Me. Archives
September 2022
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