Synopsis: While Bulma and Oolong search through the rubble of Gyu-mao's castle for the Dragon Ball, the rest of the gang shoot the breeze back out front. Roshi apologizes for destroying their home, but Gyu-mao and Chi Chi are unfazed and say they can just build another one. Still watching from afar, Yamcha notes that this is one old man they don't want to get on the wrong side of.
Goku innocently asks if Roshi can teach him how to do the Kamehameha, but Roshi laughs and tells him it takes fifty years of training to learn. Goku looks down at his hands in bemusement and starts to do the hand motions he saw Roshi do before, while Gyu-mao asks Roshi if he'd like to move in with them. By the time Roshi responds that he likes his hermit lifestyle, their conversation is interrupted by Goku successfully performing a Kamehameha and breaking Bulma's car! Goku is disappointed that his wasn't nearly as impressive as the old man's, but everyone else is amazed that he pulled it off at all. Gyu-mao remarks that Goku truly is Gohan's grandson, surprising Roshi who hadn't heard about this until now. Now that he knows, it makes a lot more sense that Goku's as strong as he is, and he recalls Gohan did once mention to him about taking in a kid with a tail. Roshi goes to ask Goku how his grandpa is doing, and Goku tells him that Gohan is dead. Roshi is crestfallen to hear this, but asks Goku if he'd like to move in with him, saying that Goku might even grow stronger than himself one day. Goku excitedly agrees to come join him as soon as they've finished hunting for the Dragon Balls. Yamcha meanwhile is shocked, the old master is known to never take in students anymore, so for him to take in Goku so willingly is astounding. Puar asks if they should give up on the Dragon Balls, but Yamcha says the plan remains the same: they'll just have to follow at a closer distance now that the car with the tracker in it has been destroyed. Bulma finds the Dragon Ball in the rubble at last, and returns to find their car destroyed. Gyu-mao gives them his older capsule car to take however, and the gang is ready to set out once more...until Roshi stops Bulma and reminds her of her 'promise'. Bulma asks him for a moment first and takes Oolong away with her, asking him to turn into her and let the old man touch him instead. Oolong objects at first of course, but Bulma threatens him with another round of diarrhea from the pill he took before, forcing the pig to agree. Oolong transforms into a stumpy Bulma at first before getting the transformation right, and calls over Roshi while Bulma hides nearby. Roshi is excited to get his touch in, but Oolong-Bulma asks him if that's really all he wants. “Wouldn't you rather puff-puff instead?” Bulma is horrified as she watches Roshi take 'her' up on the offer, and smacks Oolong for it once all is said and done. Back at the car, Chi Chi says she bets her father will give Goku her hand once they're old enough. Goku doesn't understand what this means, but agrees that if they want to give him something, he'll definitely come back for it someday. The gang then says farewell to Gyu-mao, Chi Chi, and Roshi as they head out to find the next, and final, Dragon Ball, still blissfully unaware that they're being followed by Yamcha. Review: At long last, the Gyu-mao storyline comes to an end! While it didn't live up to the action that one might have expected from the build-up of how “tough” Gyu-mao was going to be, it instead gave us a lot of lore and background about how everyone in the story thus far is connected, and proves that Toriyama knows how to utilize a fairly large cast in his plotting...for now, anyway. The idea that it takes fifty years to learn the Kamehameha is the first of many, many times that Toriyama will throw a number at us only to subvert expectations by having Goku or someone else do it in far less time. It's a simple enough way to show that someone's a prodigy I suppose, but it can get a bit old when you see it coming after about the fifth time. Regardless, the miniscule size of Goku's own Kamehameha shows that despite him performing the technique, he's still got a long way to go before he's mastered it to the extent of it's creator. Goku's destroying the car serves little purpose overall though, so I think it was basically done to give him something to break to show the Kamehameha in action but falling far short of “blowing up a mountain”. The car almost immediately gets replaced, and Yamcha is still tailing them regardless of losing the tracker, so it's basically full circle back to where they started really. You might notice Gyu-maos car appears to have gun barrels at the front of it though. Brutal. Roshi's offer for Goku to come stay with him for training feels sort of like Toriyama's setting up the second act for the story as, with six of the seven Dragon Balls gathered, this one is clearly winding down. With Toriyama's penchant for not planning things out too far in advance however, it's hard to say for sure if that's really what's happening or not. Perhaps he's doing it on a subconscious level? Regardless of how or why, the first suggestion of a story after this initial one has finally been laid out. And we come at last to the fulfillment of Bulma's, or rather Goku's, promise to Roshi. I've said it before, and I'll say it again – if perverted humor isn't your cup of tea, then this earliest section of the Dragon Ball story might be a bit of a challenge for you to deal with. Outside of one other major instance a long ways down the line, this is basically the peak of the sexual humor in the series, so if you've made it this far, congrats, it's all uphill from here. But first, let's talk a little more about the depraved deal plays out. I mentioned in the last review that I wondered if Bulma already had the Oolong switch in mind when she agreed to the whole thing. That's still a distinct possibility, but re-reading this chapter, it's equally possible she came up with it on the spot and her real plan was hoping that Roshi would forget all about it and they'd be able to get out of there before he remembered. Or maybe she just thought she'd figure it out when the time came? For being such a genius, she does seem to live her life one moment to the next sometimes. For Oolong's part in the scheme, it's little surprise he doesn't agree to it at first. First, he gets absolutely nothing out of it, and second, he doesn't want any of that either. To his, er, “credit” however, he quickly figures out a way to get his own revenge out of the deal, though I'm a little surprised he was so willing to go through with it to THAT extreme just to embarrass Bulma. On a final note, I've always been curious if 'puff-puff' was already a Japanese colloquial term for essentially motorboating, or if that came later as a result of Toriyama coining it. Someone Google that for me, won't you? 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
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