Synopsis: Aboard Pilaf's aircraft, King Piccolo points on the radar and says that since Cymbal died trying to collect that Dragon Ball, whoever killed him must possess the ball already. His attendant thinks it's highly unlikely that someone in the world could possibly defeat one of their clan, an assessment that the Pilaf gang tries to politely agree with, but Piccolo angrily asks them all how Cymbal died if that's the case. Piccolo swears that while he doesn't currently know who did the deed or where they came from, he will make them learn what happens to those that defy the great Demon King, and starts by calling in Tambourine. Elsewhere, in a small village, Tambourine is fighting Giran, kicking him hard and sending him flying into a nearby boulder. Getting back up, Giran says he's had enough of this, but Tambourine mocks him and asks if this is really the best he can do. Watching from inside their home, a small bear-child and his father are torn between happiness and horror as they watch the area's bully Giran get beaten to a pulp by this mysterious stranger. Giran tells Tambourine he's mistaken if he thinks he can get away with this and says he'll kill him for attacking him, but Tambourine says there's nobody in this age that can kill him. Giran spits out his gum, wrapping it around Tambourine and brashly challenging him to try to move, and Tambourine easily breaks it apart, much to Giran's horror. Tambourine launches forward and impales Giran through the gut with his arm, killing him instantly. With Giran taken care of, Tambourine licks his foe's blood from his arm before ripping up his tournament entrant sheet and leaving a demon mark paper on the body. Looking through the remaining entrant sheets, Tambourine chooses Yamcha as his next target. Before he can get far however, King Piccolo contacts him telepathically. Though Piccolo is pleased to hear Tambourine has already killed six targets, he regretfully informs him of the death of Cymbal, and tells him to abandon his targets for the time being and head to Cymbal's last location to kill whoever slew his brother. Piccolo professes faith in him as he is several times stronger than Cymbal was, and Tambourine vows to resolve this problem for his master. Back at the battleground, Yajirobe says that Cymbal was far tastier than he expected, and even says he could go for another. Goku tells him they'll probably be seeing another one very soon, causing Yajirobe to ask him how he knows that despite having claimed to have never seen Cymbal before. Goku explains that as long as Yajirobe has that Dragon Ball around his neck, they'll keep coming after him. Yajirobe takes offense at the blunt way Goku speaks to him and instructs him to speak more respectfully to him, but Goku ignores him and remarks how much his voice reminds him of Kuririn's, enraging Yajirobe further. Yajirobe muses that if their voices are similar, he and this 'Kuririn' must look similar as well, thus making Kuririn very handsome, but Goku tells him Kuririn was bald and had no nose, once again enraging Yajirobe for being compared to someone like that. Growing tired of Goku's antics, Yajirobe tells Goku to leave him be, and Goku prepares to leave, telling Yajirobe he'll see him again. Yajirobe scoffs and says he doesn't want to ever see Goku's face again, but Goku says that he'll have to gather the Dragon Balls to revive Kuririn, so at some point he'll have to borrow the ball around Yajirobe's neck. Yajirobe stops him and asks just what the heck the ball he has really is anyway, but before Goku can fully explain, they both catch sight of something in the air. Flying around and looking for whoever killed his brother, Tambourine is unaware that he's been spotted. Yajirobe is excited at the prospect of another meal, but Goku instantly recognizes Tambourine as the one that killed Kuririn and destroyed kinto'un. Goku yells up to Tambourine to get his attention, and prepares for battle, with Yajirobe saying he'll let Goku handle the fight, but the body is his to eat afterwards. Landing on the ground, Tambourine is surprised when he recognizes the boy who was yelling up at him. Review: With Cymbal's death, the scene is being set for Goku to finally get a rematch and a chance at revenge against Kuririn's killer, which might explain why Yajirobe already feels...extraneous, even in his introductory chapters. He chiefly existed here to be a new foil for Goku, and given that he has no interest in being any such thing, it's no wonder the story is already moving to rest fully back on Goku's shoulders again. In the midst of that however, this is still very much King Piccolo's story to tell. Toriyama makes sure to have Piccolo's anger at the destruction of his 'son' feel as palpable as possible, almost instilling a sense of actual care for him in the Demon King. Given the nature of his minions however, and the fact that he seems to actually feel physical pain when they die, it's arguable that it only looks that way and Piccolo is really just angry at anyone that would dare defy him in the first place. It would certainly fit with his outrage at martial artists in general, so this one could really go either way. The poor Pilaf gang basically has nothing left to offer at this point too, so they're quickly being reduced to a villainous equivalent to Goku's friends, just hanging out in the background, looking shocked and making commentary where appropriate. Take that more as an observation than a complaint however, as I'm not really sure what they realistically COULD offer at this point other than that. Seeing Tambourine kill Giran is definitely a scene rife with mixed feelings, isn't it? He's a character from far earlier in the series, one we haven't seen for a long time now, so we're bound to feel a little bit of nostalgic attachment to him...but at the same time, he's kind of an asshole, so it's not really that sad to see him get offed either. It's hard to say if this is just random, or a particular choice on Toriyama's part. We've already seen Kuririn die (though it did happen offscreen), and Namu – a character that definitely had more emotion attached to him than Giran did – has been killed offscreen as well. For Giran however, we get to see what happens front and center. Is it just who Toriyama decided to kill this time and we just so happen to see it? Or is Toriyama carefully choosing not to show us the deaths of characters he knows we care about, not to spare us the trauma of seeing them die per say, but instead maybe to heighten the drama for if we see anyone else we care about die next? Hmm... Either way, poor Giran didn't stand a chance, and it's very likely that Yamcha wouldn't have stood a chance either even if he didn't currently have a broken leg to deal with. Yamcha is luckily given a reprieve however thanks to Piccolo's new mission for Tambourine, which just so happens to be a lucky break for Goku as well, as it's going to give him exactly what he's been after this whole time: another chance to avenge Kuririn. On a final note however, I wanted to touch briefly on a rather curious exchange between Yajirobe and Goku that some people might not be aware of. Goku comments that Yajirobe's voice reminds him a lot of Kuririn's, and for once in Toriyama's writing, this isn't something he did completely on a whim. Knowing that Kuririn's death would be pending for the anime version and thus put Mayumi Tanaka (Kuririn's Japanese voice actress) out of work on the show for some time (if not permanently, as there was never a guarantee Kuririn would be coming back, but let's face it, it was always pretty likely to be honest). Feeling bad about that and being a fan of her work on the character, Toriyama decided to throw her a bone and made it a point to describe Yajirobe's voice as similar to Kuririn's, hoping that the staff at Toei would pick up on his little hint, and sure enough they did – Mayumi Tanaka was thus cast as Yajirobe as well, giving her a part to play on the show even with Kuririn's absence. Right now dub fans are likely scratching their heads as Yajirobe and Kuririn sound nothing alike – that's because in the dub they aren't played by the same actor (or actors) at all. At this point in time, the younger voice of Kuririn is played Laurie Steele, and Yajirobe is played by Mike McFarland (who had already been playing the role via DBZ), and their voices sound nothing alike at all. As such, the dub chose to just have Goku say something about Yajirobe reminding him of Kuririn in a more general sense. Just goes to show, not everything can be translated directly due to context. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Tenshinhan's Growing Pains
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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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