Synopsis: Karin tells Goku about the true 'Super Holy Water', a liquid that has gone by many names throughout history. Goku asks Karin if he'll really get stronger by drinking it, but Karin confesses to being unsure. He explains that unlike the water Goku trained with before, this holy water is real and is said to be able to draw out any and all hidden strength left within a person, meaning if you are already at your full potential, the water cannot make you any stronger. Goku wonders if he even has any hidden powers left, but Yajirobe suggests he just drink the water and find out, but Karin says it's not as easy as all that either. The true Super Holy Water is also a powerful poison, and if someone without a strong stamina and will to live were to drink it, they would surely die, as it's only after the body battles the poison that any hidden strength is drawn out. Yajirobe thinks this sounds dangerous, and asks Karin if he's ever drunk it, with Karin confessing that he tried once and couldn't tolerate it so he immediately spat it back out. Yajirobe then asks how many people have drunk it and lived, and Karin says that of the fourteen people in the past who have taken the Super Holy Water, all of them were powerful and skilled fighters...and all of them died. Yajirobe says that if nobody survived there's no way to know for sure if the stuff even works, but Karin says the stories of the water's effects have been passed down since ancient times, so he truly believes what it's capable of in the right hands. Goku says he'll give it a try, surprising both Yajirobe and Karin. Yajirobe tells Goku he's going to die, but Goku says if he tries to fight Piccolo without drinking it, he's going to die as well. Yajirobe says the answer is easy then, don't fight Piccolo, but Goku refuses, resolute in his decision to avenge Kuririn and Roshi. Karin says that as things stand now, Piccolo is invincible and the world will soon be as he wishes it to be, and Yajirobe concedes, deciding that it really doesn't affect him much if Goku lives or dies anyway. Karin pours some of the true Super Holy Water into a cup and offers it to Goku, but Yajirobe gets a little on his finger first just to test. He immediately starts to gag after licking it off and spits it out, warning Goku that he's going to die for sure if he drinks that stuff. Karin also cautions Goku, saying that nobody will think anything less of him if he decides not to do this, and that if he trains for several more years, he might one day surpass Piccolo somehow. Goku says they don't have time to waste however, and downs the cup in one gulp. Goku is immediately affected by the water, dropping the cup and falling to the floor while screaming in pain. Yajirobe tells Goku to just spit it back up, but Goku refuses to give in or to die. Back in the wasteland where Piccolo made his wish, Tenshinhan practices the Mafuba, missing the rice cooker and leaving a hole in the ground where several more holes show that he's been at this for some time. Tenshinhan curses himself, saying that if he doesn't get better at this move, he'll never be able to seal away King Piccolo and will end up dying in vain just like Kame-sennin did. He vows not to let that happen lest Roshi and Chaozu's death remain in vain, but is willing to die so long as it results in Piccolo being sealed away once more. The next morning, Goku continues to lie on the floor of Karin's tower, panting and wheezing in pain. Yajirobe says Goku has been like this for almost six hours now, and Karin is amazed at Goku's will to live. Suddenly, Goku grunts again, and Karin is overwhelmed by the mental image of the Oozaru. Yajirobe asks Karin what's wrong, and Karin says he just caught a glimpse of Goku's hidden powers just as Goku's eyes suddenly open. Out in the wasteland, Tenshinhan successfully lands the Mafuba inside the rice cooker, and thinks he's ready to take on King Piccolo at last. Yajirobe congratulates Goku for not dying while Karin marvels at the boy's fortitude. Staring down at his own hands, Goku himself is amazed by how much power he can feel flowing out of him now. Review: Alright, let's talk about the true 'Super Holy Water'. I'll start things off – I hate the true 'Super Holy Water'. Like, a lot. You might think I'm overreacting a bit, but honestly, I'm not. This is the first time in the series that an increase in power feels completely unearned, and what's worse, it starts a trend of this happening more and more often as the series goes on, each time giving bigger and greater increases in power, with less and less actual weight behind it. It's gotten to a point where it's almost hard to even be angry at modern Dragon Ball material when it does it, because it's only doing what has been done time and time again throughout the material that came before it. Over time we'll get variations on this theme via transformations (another trend that will dominate the series once introduced), but even those bother at least me less than these instances. While later uses of this plot element will arguably be even bigger asspulls (I can think of two in particular), I can't help but still fault this one the most for being where it all started. Back when I covered Goku's first training with Karin, I mentioned how much I enjoyed the twist there that the water was never the point, and the real purpose of the water was to give Goku something to go after while getting used to the thinner air that high in the sky after also going through the arduous task of climbing the tower. It made Goku actually go through something to achieve his increase in power, and actually felt like training in the end, not so different from the sorts of crazy things he did while training under Kame-sennin. None of that is here this time however, as it's quite literally drink the water and BOOM, instant power-up. To give credit where it's due at least, the story attempts to present this as an uncertain thing, but I don't think any of it really lands honestly. Karin brings up the idea that the water won't have any effect if you're already at the limits of your strength – but if the water was going to do absolutely nothing, it probably wouldn't have gotten brought up at all, as we've already been through that twist once before. Karin also brings up the possibility of Goku dying, and for what it's worth, there is some time spent selling the idea that Goku has been poisoned and might not make it through this...but it's not enough. In the course of this one chapter, Goku has the water explained to him, he drinks it, he gets sick...and then he gets better and seems to feel stronger than ever. WHY. Why is this all contained in this ONE chapter?! There's no sense of actual danger here, no sustaining of tension that could have been there even minutely if it had taken him more than this chapter to get through the pain – it just happens, it's gotten over with as quick as possible, and now Goku is stronger because the plot's going to need him to be stronger because we all saw what happened last time he fought Piccolo. It's. Maddening. This is the first time in the series' run that I really wish Toriyama's editor at the time had turned to him and made him re-work something from the ground up. The worst part is how easily at least part of this could have been fixed too. If we'd seen Goku get to the top of Karin's tower a handful of chapters ago, drink the water, and had still been suffering from the poison off-screen until the end of this chapter, I think this would be a little easier to stomach. Granted, it would still be a really contrived way to make Goku stronger, but having him be offscreen for more than three measly pages would have better sold the idea that he was actually in some sort of danger from drinking the water. But nope – Toriyama just needed a way to have Goku get stronger, and I guess steroids from the Gods were good enough in this instance. Ugh. I guess if I had to praise one thing about this power increase, it's that I do like the imagery of the Oozaru (something we haven't seen since the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai) to symbolize Goku's inner strength being drawn out. That's a pretty clever way to show him getting stronger, and it's a shame the same level of care couldn't have been put to the rest of this endeavor. The only other thing this chapter brings us is the reveal that Tenshinhan is up and able again, and that he's seemingly figured out how to do the Mafuba from only seeing it once. We saw him do this with the Kamehameha before, and at the time he derided it as it being just such a simple move that anone with any real skill could pick it up that easily - Goku did the same thing back when he first saw it after all. That he was able to pick up even the basics of the Mafuba, a much more complicated technique, in an equal amount of time, speaks volumes towards just how skilled Tenshinhan really is. Seeing him practice it is almost a bit weird though, given that what we've been told about the technique prior to now is that it's a one-time use kind of deal, and it's user dies immediately afterwards. I suppose it's possible that death only occurs when one actually grabs hold of an evil being with the technique, as Tenshinhan is currently practicing with an empty blast and just trying to get the aim right in regards to the rice cooker, whereas Roshi actually had hold of King Piccolo in his Mafuba. It would also explain how Roshi managed to have it's use pretty well mastered – you know, other than his aim being off – after having not seen it or likely practiced it for over a hundred years. He likely practiced it quite a bit in a manner similar to Tenshinhan after Mutaito's death, or possibly practiced it alongside Mutaito as his master crafted the technique in the first place. This is all conjecture however, as nothing is really said in series (or out of it that I'm aware of) to explain this. It could be something far simpler than that: Toriyama decided to show exactly what card Tenshinhan has in his hand before he ultimately plays it. This wouldn't be a problem in-of-itself if it weren't also kneecapped by the timing of it's reveal in this chapter. We've already seen that Goku has come through the other side of drinking the poison without any real problem, and has seemingly become much stronger as a result. Given that, do we really think it's going to be Tenshinhan saving the day by using a technique we've already seen fail against the Demon King once? The Super Holy Water is ruining everything it's touching, I swear. Until next time! Favorite Panel:
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