Synopsis: Kami-sama asks Mr. Popo to bring Shenlong to them, and Popo goes inside the temple for a moment before returning with a small, broken statue of the dragon. Kami asks Mr. Popo if he can fix it, and Popo says it'll be easy before sitting down and beginning to glue the broken statue back together. Goku asks if the statue is really Shenlong, and Popo explains that he creates the statue of the dragon that Kami will then bring to life as Shenlong. Kami confesses that he had considered leaving Shenlong destroyed, as though he originally created the Dragon Balls in the hopes of inspiring courage and hope upon humanity, he had increasingly noticed them being used only for greed. He notes that Goku is different however, and that he has decided in the end that so long as there are even a few people like Goku on the Earth, then the Dragon Balls should continue to exist. As Mr. Popo finishes fixing the statue, Kami-sama fires a beam of energy from his finger at it, causing another beam of light to erupt from the statue and fly away from the sanctuary. Goku is confused, but Kami assures him that it's Shen Long returning to the Dragon Balls, saying that while they normally would be unavailable for another year after their last use, he has decided to bend the rules and allow them to use them now. Goku asks if he can go see his friends resurrected, but Kami reminds him of his promise to stay at the sanctuary and train. Goku reluctantly agrees again, and Kami says that if he can just show patience for three years, he'll see his friends again at the next Tenkaichi Budokai. Goku is surprised that Kami even knows about the tournament, and Kami says it won't be just Goku's friends waiting for him there...but Piccolo as well. Goku is shocked to hear that Piccolo is still alive, and Kami-sama reveals that before he died, King Piccolo spat out a final egg that was himself reborn, and that that 'clone' of the fallen Demon King is out there on the Earth somewhere, growing stronger and continuing to harbor the desire to conquer the world. Kami says that so long as Goku is at the sanctuary, Piccolo won't be able to come after him, and if he trains for three years, he should be able to become strong enough to stop Piccolo again, as Kami confesses that there are reasons neither he nor Mr. Popo can interfere with Piccolo. Goku agrees and promises to train his hardest, but first he needs to use the restroom. As Goku runs off, Popo asks Kami if this is really what he wants, as since he and Piccolo were once one and the same, then Piccolo's death will surely mean that he too will pass. Kami says that it can't be helped, as Piccolo has always been his responsibility, and since Gods are unable to destroy themselves, he's had to wait a long time for one strong enough to combat Piccolo for him to appear. He decides to put his faith in Goku, saying that surely the boy will find a way, though Popo is uncertain. At Kame House, Bulma and the others are overjoyed to see that the Dragon Balls are active again and Shenlong has been summoned. Shenlong explains to them that he was brought back by God at the request of Goku, and that Goku is now training in Heaven until the next Tenkaichi Budokai, at which time he'll return and answer any other questions they have. For now, Shenlong will grant their one wish, a wish he already knows – and with that, Shenlong brings Kuririn, Roshi, Chaozu, Nam, Giran, and anyone else killed by King Piccolo back to life, before the Dragon Balls once again scatter across the Earth. Everyone brings the fallen back up to speed as to what's happened while they were dead, with both Kuririn and Roshi being astounded to hear how strong Goku has become. Roshi asks where Goku is now, and Yamcha says that's the part they don't really understand, as Shenlong said that Goku was training in Heaven. Roshi is shocked, and explains that if Goku is training in Heaven, it must mean that he's training under none other than 'God' himself. Everyone is surprised, though Tenshinhan does note that Goku said something like that when he came back for nyoibo, but he figured it was just a figure of speech. Roshi chuckles and says that Goku is far more amazing than any of them ever realized, and confesses that his own power doesn't even touch Goku's anymore. Yamcha worries about how strong Goku is going to get however, as it already feels like he's getting further and further ahead of them. Tenshinhan isn't daunted however, and swears to train even harder than God so he can show Goku how far he's come at the next tournament, and Yamcha and Kuririn vow the same, much to Roshi's approval. As Goku tries to meditate up at Kami's sanctuary, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Kuririn all go through their own training, with Kuririn saying he's looking forward to the next Tenkaichi Budokai. Review: Only a series as goofy as Dragon Ball could get away with having the wish-granting dragon get glued back together like a broken toy only a few chapters after the world was saved, and I absolutely love it. That said, we're immediately hit with a few changes in preconception just one chapter after a lot of my issues with the character of Kami-sama came to light, and I'm not sure how much of it is due to quick changes on Toriyama's part, or it always having been planned this way, or even something stemming purely from Viz's translation here. While I don't have any problem with Mr. Popo doing the handiwork before Kami works his magic, it is a little suspect that Kami goes on about believing that the Dragon Balls should exist so long as there are good people like Goku about, just ONE chapter after he was saying this was a one time boon he was granting, at that humanity needed to suck it up and take care of their problems themselves. Maybe this is just the capriciousness of a god on display or something. Immediately following that, Kami reveals the real reason he needs Goku to remain at the sanctuary and train – Piccolo's alive! Well, sort of. It's somewhat fitting that even Kami's explanation of the situation doesn't make it 100% clear if this new Piccolo is the child of the Demon King or truly the Demon King reborn, because the series moving forward never really makes a true stance on the matter either. If anything, the new Piccolo seems to be somewhere in-between, as functionally he is his own person, far more than any of Piccolo's previous offspring were, but at the same time, he does seem to have the late Demon King's desires imprinted upon him, at least to a degree. There's also the matter of his connection with Kami being explicitly the same as the previous Piccolo's was as we'll learn in due time, and that's something that we're never really shown whether or not it's the case with the other demons Piccolo spawned, so it's really up in the air. And speaking of that connection, Goku isn't made aware of it just yet, but the audience is given it in a brief exchange between Kami and Popo – since Piccolo and Kami were once one and the same, if one dies, so does the other. Ergo, if Goku had succeeded in killing Piccolo without him spitting out another egg first, then there wouldn't have been any way to get the Dragon Balls back, and everyone that died would have been left to their torment for the rest of time. Well that's not grim at all. This also gives us the reason that Kami and likewise Popo couldn't stop Piccolo themselves – Gods are apparently forbidden from committing suicide and Kami killing Piccolo would amount to that, and Popo likewise wouldn't do it because he couldn't bear to lose Kami. While I still feel that Kami largely dumped his problem on the Earth and didn't really do much to help put a stop to it (I mean, realistically, what's stopping him from having invited people like Mutaito, Kame-sennin, and even Tsuru-sennin up there to train to stop Piccolo?), this is at least a reason he couldn't interfere, and a much better one than 'humanity must fix their own problems'. What's not better unfortunately is the handling of everyone else finding out about what's going on. I can give them a bit of leeway for not really absorbing the information that Goku gave them when he dropped by for all of five seconds, but after Shenlong explains everything to them, should they really be surprised by Kami's existence or that Goku's training with him when Roshi re-states it a few moments later? It makes no sense for them to continually stammer 'G-God? It can't be!' after it's already been explained to them. Heck, you'd think they'd take the fact that Shenlong's back out of nowhere – especially when they know that the Dragon Balls shouldn't be available to be used again yet even if he hadn't been destroyed – and the fact that he's far more talkative this time around as proof of everything he's saying, but nope, they've gotta hear it from Roshi too, I guess? I dunno. Maybe Toriyama needed more pages and didn't have anything else to do in this chapter, and he wanted it to have a clean break before things moved into the next one. At any rate, it is good to see the revived characters again. Kuririn's back, which is great! Roshi's back, which...is nice. I still can't help but feel that his narrative function was served and thus it may have been better if he'd been left dead, but at the same time, that's only how we as an impartial audience would react to it. To these characters for whom he's very much a living, breathing person, it absolutely makes sense that they'd wish him back to life as well. And Chaozu's back...so...yay. At least Tenshinhan's happy, I guess. Even Nam and Giran are brought back to life, and curiously enough they both seem to be popping out of the same kind of preservation capsules that Bulma and the others had put their friends into. I'd guess that maybe Bulma swung by these places and gave out the capsules to people, but she wouldn't even know where they were, much less care probably, so I guess these are standard issue in the Dragon Ball world to preserve corpses until burial can happen? And with this chapter's end comes also the end of another era of Dragon Ball. The story arc is just starting, but this is the last time in the manga that we'll see these characters, in particular Goku and Kuririn, as children. There were some definite changes made to their designs at the start of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, but those are nothing compared to how different our group of characters are about to look starting with the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. This is all fairly abrupt however, as the manga is once again skipping over a period of training to get right to the characters being stronger than they were before. At this point in the story it's understandable enough, especially post-Super Bullshit Holy Water, but it still feels a little lackluster to not actually see any of what the characters are doing to become stronger. Good thing there's anime filler, huh? 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
September 2022
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