Synopsis: The second match of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai begins as Man-Wolf and Jackie Chun enter the ring. Man-Wolf tells Chun he's been waiting a long time for a chance to fight him, but Chun can't understand why this guy has such a big grudge against him seeing as how they've never met. Man-Wolf tells Chun outright that it's because he blew up the moon during the last tournament – without a moon, Man-Wolf is stuck in his wolf form, unable to turn into a human ever again, and thus he's unable to try to pick up women as he'd like. Chun tells him that he could just find a nice wolf-girl to settle down with, but Man-Wolf says that he hates furry people, and Chun chastises him for being picky. Watching all of this, the announcer asks them to please start the fight. Man-Wolf rushes Chun in an attempt to maul him, but Chun dodges easily, leaping above Man-Wolf's head and kicking him from behind. As Man-Wolf angrily gets back up, Chun tells him to quit before he gets hurt as their skill levels are just too far apart. Man-Wolf claims to be a 30th level black belt in kenpo, but Chun remains unimpressed. From the sidelines, both Tenshinhan and Chaozu as well as Goku and Kuririn watch the fight. Tenshinhan says he can tell that the old man is actually a force to be reckoned with, and as a result he's actually starting to get exciting thinking about facing him next. Kuririn looks away from the match to point out something strange to Goku – both Tenshinhan and Chaozu are floating in the air as they watch the fight, as opposed to Goku and Kuririn who have to climb atop a wall to see the fight. Goku is amazed that the Crane School has so many tricks, and Kuririn realizes this means it's unlikely they're going to win by ring-out. Enraged, Man-Wolf says he's going to kill Chun and attempts to rush him again, but Chun continues to ignore him and oggles ladies in the crowd instead. He keeps checking out women even as he knocks Man-Wolf down once more, angering the wolf even more. No matter how hard he tries however, Man-Wolf is unable to land a blow and is once more sent flying into the ring's edge. Chun asks the announcer to start the ten-count, and the crowd is in disbelief at Chun's overwhelming strength. Two watchers even remember Man-Wolf taking them out easily in the preliminaries, while the turtle and Oolong however can't help but notice how much Chun reminds them of Kame-sennin. Getting back up again, Man-Wolf pulls a knife, causing the announcer to yell that weapons are against the rules. Chun tells him that Man-Wolf doesn't need a disqualification to lose however, and catches the knife bare-handed as the wolf rushes him. Lifting him into the air by it, Chun casually flings Man-Wolf to the edge again, and throws the knife so that it wizzes by Man-Wolf's head. Chun says that since Man-Wolf is making such a fuss about all of this, he'll turn him back into a human. Man-Wolf accuses Chun of lying to him, but Chun insists he's not lying, though they'll have to settle this match first. He tells Man-Wolf to cry mercy, but Man-Wolf stubbornly says he'll never surrender to him. Chun chides Man-Wolf for his thick-headed nature, and decides to make a mockery of him first. He holds his hand out and tells Man-Wolf to shake, and Man-Wolf instinctively gives him his hand. Man-Wolf angrily says he's not a dog, but Chun again gets him by telling him to beg, and Man-Wolf does so. Chun finishes off his mockery by pulling out a bone and tossing it out of the ring, causing Man-Wolf to chase it out and end the match by ring-out. Jackie Chun wins! Man-Wolf angrily climbs back into the ring while yelling about what a cheap trick that was, and rushes Chun once more. Chun pokes him in the forehead before the wolf can reach him however, pushing a pressure point that freezes the wolf in place. He says now he can get to turning Man-Wolf back into a human, a feat that Kuririn questions if it's even possible since there's no longer a moon. To his surprise, Chun calls Kuririn into the ring and asks him to stand facing away from Man-Wolf, who he tells to stare at Kuririn's head. Kuririn scowls and says his head can't be used as a stand-in for the full moon, because if it could Goku would have transformed a ton already, but Chun isn't done yet. Using hypnosis on Man-Wolf, he convinces him that Kuririn's head really is the full moon, causing the wolf to revert to a rather ugly human form at long last. The now human Man-Wolf cheers and vigorously thanks Chun before running off to try and pick up women, a task that Chun thinks won't be any easier now at all, with Kuririn even remarking that he looked better as a wolf. The announcer pumps up the crowd for the next match, Kuririn V.S. Chaozu, and even gives Kuririn a nickname of 'Full Moon', irritating him greatly. Review: After how serious and intense the previous match got, there's something to be said for this one being a pallet-cleanser of sorts, though at the same time I'm not sure that's really what the story needed. Don't get me wrong, the idea of a tournament contestant with a grudge against the disguised Roshi is a good one, especially since it narrows down greatly exactly what it is that he could be angry at him for – I'm not even upset at the chapter for spilling the beans right at the start since it was already a fairly obvious gag in the first place. No, the real issue here is that the match ultimately feels at odds with the story as a whole and the tone of the tournament as well. It doesn't really serve a purpose in the same way that any of the preliminary matches do, and it's not connected to the Turtle/Crane feud at all either. In fact, everything about this match feels more at home in the first Tenkaichi Budokai than it does this one. Part of me feels like it might have been better off opening the tournament rather than being the second match, because then it would have allowed the Tenshinhan V.S. Yamcha fight to show how different the tournament as a whole was going to be from this match; but at the same time, there is something to be said for using that match as it was used to open the tournament and let us know from the very start how different it was going to be. There's not really a right answer here, but if it were me? I probably would flip them around. Now that all said, it's hard to really be too upset at this chapter for it's failings, because it just manages to be a hoot regardless of them. Seeing Roshi mercilessly bully Man-Wolf is pretty funny, and the whole idea of him being more upset at him for preventing him from picking up chicks is even better. Top it off with his derpy looking human form not being an improvement at all, and you've got a gag that more than carried it's way through an entire chapter – though I am glad that it wrapped itself up in just one chapter, as dragging it out any further than this probably would've worn thin pretty quickly. In all of the fun going on though, it's easy to miss that this chapter happens to give us our very first glimpse of flight in the series, and given how the technique will be utilized most other times, it's almost funny in-of-itself to see how rather mundanely it's introduced here, just Tenshinhan and Chaozu floating rather than standing. Sure would be a shame if almost every relevant character stole this really neat technique and it became common-place rather than unique. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: The Drama Thickens! Return of the Dodonpa!
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September 2022
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