Synopsis: Yajirobe asks Karin what he means by saying Goku's clothes will only get ruined again, and Goku asks him if Kami-sama is a tough guy. Karin laughs and says Kami is a good person, but there's a little test Goku will have to go through once arriving there. Karin tells Goku not to worry as he has faith he won't die and that he'll be able to meet God, a comment Yajirobe doesn't find very comforting, but Goku has already decided to go anyway. Karin gives Goku one last piece of advice: don't get discouraged. With that, Goku extends nyoibo, and heads upwards into the sky. As they watch him leave, Yajirobe comments that it doesn't seem like Goku's scared of anything, but Karin thinks that even Goku will probably be taken aback by Kami's face. Yajirobe asks if his face is really that scary, and Karin concedes that it can be...but it's more that it's a face Goku already knows. As he continues upwards, Goku at first doesn't see anything but sky ahead of him, but eventually he can see a shape in the distance. As nyoibo connects with the bottom of a large sanctuary floating in the sky, Goku marvels at just how big the place really is. Seeing a ladder off to the side, Goku grabs hold of it with his tail and pulls himself up. Once at the top of the sanctuary, he finds a mysterious black figure in a turban waiting to greet him. Goku asks the figure if he's Kami-sama, and the figure denies it, introducing himself as Kami's attendant, Mr. Popo. Popo recognizes Goku as the one who defeated Demon King Piccolo, surprising Goku, but Popo explains that Kami knows everything. Goku asks if Kami is in the house behind Popo and asks to meet him, but Popo asks Goku for the mark of Karin's approval. Goku shows him the bell, and Popo confirms it to be real, and says that Goku qualifies for the test. Popo asks Goku to fight him, stating that if Goku wins, he'll get to meet Kami. Goku thinks this'll be easy, and Popo also seems enthused to fight him. Goku moves super fast before Mr. Popo's eyes, and at first he seems surprised – but instead he merely punches out to his side, catching a reappearing Goku in the jaw. Popo calls himself lucky as Goku gets back onto his feet, and Goku laughs, saying that kind of luck does happen sometimes. He warns Popo that it won't happen again though, and rushes towards him once more. Goku says he'll take Popo out in one hit, but it's Goku that is once again hit as Popo punches him in the face. Popo calls himself lucky again, but then questions if maybe Goku's not actually that strong. He asks Goku if he really defeated Piccolo, and Goku is somewhat angered by Popo's disbelief. Goku says he's going all out now and launches a kick towards Mr. Popo, but Popo disappears just as Goku did before. Popo reappears behind Goku, kicking him towards a tree which Goku rebounds off of and launches another kick at Popo. Popo blocks it, grabbing Goku's leg and flinging him away again, knocking him to the ground. Popo expresses disappointment in Goku and says he can't let him meet Kami-sama in such a state, while also expressing disappointment in Karin for even sending him. Truly enraged now, Goku gets back up and launches a flurry of blows towards Popo, but Popo easily blocks each and every attack. As Goku moves in for a vicious chop, a spectral Oozaru appearing behind him, Popo once again dodges Goku's attack, and floats in the air above him. Popo tells Goku that though he has considerable power, he doesn't know how to use it properly, and an aghast Goku is told to just go home. Review: Anyone reading Dragon Ball for the very first time without any preconceptions coming from the latter part of the series was likely very surprised by the turn of events in this chapter, just as fans reading it when it first came out must have been. The idea that Goku, who we just saw struggle but ultimately defeat the most powerful villain the series had yet seen, would so quickly be made a fool of by a random new character is...well, pretty shocking to say the least. It's an effect the series will do at least once more in the following arc, but here it's all the more shocking since it doesn't come from a perceived threat. Goku is the one going off to meet Kami-sama after all, but apparently asking God for a favor isn't that easy. And yes, I'll be talking in a moment about the elephant in the room, but let's save that bit of unpleasantness for the end of the review, shall we? It's lucky that Goku has his tail or he might not have even been able to grab hold of the ladder to reach the top of the sanctuary at all. In fact, it's a little curious how anyone without that extra appendage would really be able to, as it looks to be just a little bit out of arm's reach – even with his tail, Goku has to flip himself sideways to be able to reach the first rung on it. All of this coupled with various other characters' dialogue really does add to the feeling that this is an exceedingly rare chance that Goku has been given – hell, they outright say that Goku is the first human who's ever been deemed worthy to meet Kami. That's...a little much, given how quickly that illustrious honor is going to become a commonplace thing, but for the point in time it's coming up now, it does add to the gravity of the situation quite well. Still though, what's the point of having such a large floating sky sanctuary if nobody ever comes to visit? Gods are weird. Goku being completely outclassed is not only surprising, but handled in an interesting way as well. The way it's portrayed, it's not so much that Goku is weaker than Popo (though it's arguable that he is), it's more to do with the fact that he's not skilled enough. Popo's final line says it all, Goku has a ton of power, but if he's not able to use it right, what's the use? This is an interesting notion to look back upon given how much of a factor that very sentiment plays in modern Dragon Ball. Back to the roots indeed, I guess. At any rate, this is the third time in a row that we've seen Goku's Oozaru form appear behind him to signify his true power, unfortunately for him even it's not enough at the moment. Going back to the very beginning of the chapter briefly, the mysterious air around Kami-sama is once again built up by Karin and aided by the fact that we still don't get to see him in this chapter. A face that Goku knows, and he's got an attendant as strong as Mr. Popo? Both of these things hype up Kami-sama considerably, but from a writing point of view, it's Karin's comment that would most have my brain working if I didn't already know the answers. It really makes me wonder what kind of theories fans had back when this chapter first came out – were they thinking Kami-sama was actually a character we'd already met? Hmm...the idea of Kame-sennin actually being Kami-sama probably came to mind, though let's all just be thankful that didn't happen, because holy crap would he misuse his sight abilities on a daily basis. And finally, let's talk about the elephant in the room that is Mr. Popo himself. I have to admit, when I first realized I was going to be getting to this arc to review, all of my thoughts were initially about some of the great fights I was going to get to cover by it's end. It wasn't until I was preparing to review this chapter that I realized it also meant I was going to be reaching Popo and was thus going to have to talk about his...rather unfortunate design. Jet black skin with lighter palms, big puffy lips, coupled with his rather simplistic speaking style – there's really no getting around the similarities to the 'Sambo' look that was quite fervent back in the yesteryears of American entertainment, what might be better known today as 'blackface'. Playing up the stereotypical appearance of Black people for comedy was certainly not one of our country's finest moments, and some of the aftereffects of that era are still felt today, well over 100 years later. To make matters worse, some of those same stereotypes and bad-faith designs were exposed outside of the US as well when our media was imported elsewhere, which is likely how Toriyama and other manga artists from previous generations were exposed to it. For an even more egregious example, check out the original design of Cyborg 008 in Shotaro Ishinomori's original Cyborg 009 manga – it's...pretty bad. Given the loaded design inspiration, it's little surprise that the character of Popo has seen various forms of censorship in the past. To this day, Viz's English release of the manga digitally erases the characters lips to leave him with only a gaping maw where his mouth would be, and the CW airing of Dragon Ball Z Kai infamously tried to turn the character blue (likely in a nod to the Genie in Disney's Aladdin, which is somewhat fitting as a genie is another inspiration for Popo's design seemingly). The character was also missing in action for much of Dragon Ball Super, to the point that a lot of fans were wondering if the character was simply being retired, removed from the franchise moving forward to never be spoken about again if at all possible. It's a shame in a way, because while I don't think Mr. Popo is anyone's favorite character, he himself is in-offensive enough and there are a good handful of times in the manga where he makes himself quite useful. There's at least one time for sure where the characters would've been lost without him. As such, it's a shame that his design drags him down as much as it does, while also being completely understandable why it does, and why some would have issue with the character. I don't really 100% agree with the way Viz censors the character or the way the CW tried to either, but I can completely understand why they chose to do so as well. We can't change the past, but we certainly have to do our parts to try to rectify things as much as we can moving forward, especially when it comes to stereotypes that should have long since died out. 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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