Synopsis: The 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai prepares to head into it's semi-finals round, with Bulma expressing disbelief that people as tough as Yamcha and Kuririn could lose. Roshi says that the remaining four however (Goku, Tenshinhan, Demon Junior, and Shen) are probably the four strongest in the world for real. The announcer calls for the first two fighters, Goku and Tenshinhan, to step into the ring as he recounts their last fight in the previous tournament's final round. Goku asks Tenshinhan if he's planning on going all out from the beginning, and Tenshinhan confirms that. The two fighters smirk at each other as they both leap into the ring, assuming their fighting positions. As Goku's friends discuss how incredible this fight is likely to be, Piccolo thinks this will be a great opportunity for him to learn about his foes himself. As Tenshinhan asks Goku to show him the fruits of his training with Kami-sama, the announcer declares a start to the match, and the two fighters immediately rush each other. Tenshinhan strikes out with a furious barrage of blows that Goku backflips away from, and as he leaps into the air, Tenshinhan leaps after him. Tenshinhan fires an energy blast at Goku, but Goku knocks it back towards him, forcing Tenshinhan to swat it away himself. Flying towards Goku, Tenshinhan locks him into another furious exchange of blows, with the two continuing to clash as they fall back down towards the ring. In mid-air, they break apart and land on opposite sides of the ring, before throwing themselves back at each other again, only to seemingly disappear. Everyone watching from the crowd can only hear the sounds of the continued fight, with even Piccolo acknowledging that they're moving extremely fast now. Kuririn and Yamcha are barely able to keep up with what's happening, shocking a confused Chi Chi. As the two fighters reappear once more, they crash into each other and lock hands. Smirking, Goku flips over and kicks Tenshinhan into the air. Tenshinhan disappears again and reappears behind Goku, rushing him, but Goku leaps out of the way. Tenshinhan instantly rebounds and swings a powerful swipe at an unguarded Goku's head, but to his surprise, it passes right through the afterimage Goku left behind. Reappearing behind Tenshinhan, Goku glibly asks him if he really fell for such an old trick. The two fighters grin at each other once more, as the announcer says they seem evenly matched. As Piccolo eyes both fighters however, Roshi notes that that's not the case at all – while Tenshinhan is breathing hard after all of that exertion, Goku isn't winded in the least. Review: The semi-finals round of the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai is where the tournament's intensity truly gets started. In a way, this is a bit of a shame, and as much as I enjoy this arc, it is a bit of a mark against it – of the first round, only Kuririn V.S. Piccolo had the level of excitement in it's fight that we might expect at this point, as Tenshinhan, Goku, and Shen all won their fights with relative ease in comparison. While the first rounds of the 21st Budokai was also fairly mundane, that's a world apart from what we'd expect of this one, and the 22nd hit the ground running with Yamcha V.S. Tenshinhan setting the standard for what we could come to expect from combat in that portion of the story. Here however, things took a bit of a slow burn approach, with the mysterious opponents slowly whittling down until it became certain that Piccolo was the only evil threat afoot. Well, the only one worth worrying about anyway – RIP Taopaipai's relevancy. With the semi-finals first match being a rematch between Goku and Tenshinhan however, and no more mysteries to tease and tantalize us with, the gloves have come off. We already know that we can expect great things from these two fighters, and the only real question left is just how impressive are they going to be? That question is answered almost immediately – INCREDIBLY impressive. Goku and Tenshinhan's fight here really brings to mind the sorts of clashes we've seen previously between Yamcha and Tenshinhan, and even Kuririn and Piccolo, but already elevates them to an even more insane degree. There's furious exchanges of fists, there's quick dodges and rebounds, there's energy blasts being fired and discarded, there's disappearing and reappearing, there's flying and jumping so high they may as well be flying, there's even an afterimage – this fight has everything we've seen and then some, and it's just getting started. Hell, there's even the old 'moving so fast that nobody but other fighters can really see them' trope! ...Okay, that one's still old and boring at this point, but surprisingly I find that to be a bit of a shame, because this might be the first fight where that trope feels good and truly earned. Goku and Tenshinhan really DO seem to be moving way too fast for normal folks to see here. All the while, we know this is only the opening act of the fight too. While Goku and Tenshinhan both said they'd be going all out from the very start, we've been through this rodeo enough times by now to know that characters are still going to be holding back a few surprises, it's just a matter of seeing what exactly they'll do and when they'll spring them. This fight is made even more interesting by the knowledge that Piccolo is watching this, and though he doesn't say much, his silent gaze really leaves you to wonder what exactly he's making of all of this. As the fight comes to a brief standstill and the chapter to it's end, it definitely seems we're going to be in this fight for a little while, and at first glance, the announcer seems to be right – the pair of Goku and Tenshinhan seem really evenly matched in what they can do. Noticeable in the last panels showing their faces however is exactly what Roshi notes: Tenshinhan is shown to be breathing deep and sweating, whereas Goku almost seems like the fight hasn't even started yet. That's a remarkable difference given what we've seen them just do, and even more so when you realize Goku was the winner of that little encounter. Tenshinhan's exerting himself this much, and comes away winded with nothing, while Goku took down his best efforts with one of the oldest tricks in the book and it doesn't even phase him to do so? The fight's not over yet, but the implication is clear: Goku's on a whole other level. Until next time! Favorite Panel:
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September 2022
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