Synopsis: As Goku pants, Piccolo notes that even he is starting to show fatigue at last. Goku tells him he can't talk as his own punches aren't half of what they were at the start of the fight. Kami pleads with Goku again to stop treating this like a tournament and to fight alongside him, saying they'll regret it if they don't stop Piccolo now. Goku says he'll regret it more if he gives up now however, and likewise pleads with Kami to understand – it's his pride as a martial artist that won't let him stop this match. Kami starts to object, but Tenshinhan speaks up from the sidelines, saying that the world Goku's defending is one he's already saved once before, so he's surely earned the right to try to settle this his own way. Kuririn suggests that if Goku loses, then at that point they can all team up to take Piccolo down, but Piccolo laughs and says that even a hundred of them, teamed up with Kami, would never be able to stop him. Yamcha starts to object, but Roshi says that he's right, as only Goku is capable of tracking Piccolo's movements now. Left with no other choice, Kami agrees to let Goku do as he wishes, but urges him to kill Piccolo at all costs, saying that while it will kill him as well, perhaps they can revive him with the Dragon Balls afterwards. Goku thanks Kami and says he's got this in the bag now, but Piccolo laughs and accuses Goku of dreaming. Goku says that it's no dream as he's already seen through all of Piccolo's moves. As Kami muses about how Goku seems to have no limits and has even surpassed him, perhaps being able to win this match after all, Piccolo asks Goku if he really thinks he can easily defeat him now. Goku says that he can, and Piccolo grows enraged, saying that he's grown many times more powerful than he was three years prior. Goku congratulates him, saying that he's gotten a lot stronger too, and that pushes Piccolo over the edge. Piccolo fires a large blast at Goku, and Goku is surprised to see him resorting to something so basic. He leaps into the air to dodge the blast, but to his surprise, it turns and follows after him. Goku dodges again and again, but the blast constantly redirects to chase after him, with Piccolo laughing and explaining that it will follow Goku until it hits it's target. As he continues to dodge, Goku seems to get an idea, and drops to the ring below. He waits, and as it looks like the blast is about to hit him, he suddenly dashes forward, grinning at Piccolo while inches apart, before quickly disappearing. Piccolo screams in a horrified realization as his own blast explodes against him. Goku shields himself from the dust, and as the smoke clears, Piccolo's form is revealed, with one arm injured beyond repair. Everyone is shocked that Goku thought of something like that so quickly, and Goku tells Piccolo to give up as there's no way he can keep fighting with just one arm. Despite this however, Piccolo grins and takes hold of the arm, ripping it from his body. Everyone watches in horror as Piccolo then grows a new arm in it's place. Piccolo is outraged that he's been reduced to this, but says he has no choice now but to resort to his final gamble. Grabbing hold of both of his arms, he starts to channel his energy rapidly. Seeming to guess what's about to happen, Goku shouts for everyone to run and get as far away as possible as quickly as they can. Review: After everything that's happened so far, it might seem a little underwhelming that it's Piccolo's punch that finally winds Goku in any real way, but let's not forget that everything that's happened thus far has all happened in one fight without any real breaks. That means, everything that Goku and Piccolo have done is still fresh and taking a toll on their bodies – basically think of that last punch as the straw that broke the camel's back as it were. I mentioned last time that Goku's point of view, while making a lot of sense with his character, is one that is understandably at odds with logic, thus making it easy to understand why Kami would balk at it. Here however, we see that it's hardly exclusive to Goku, as even Tenshinhan and Kuririn speak up in favor of Goku finishing the match. We're going to be seeing a lot of 'martial artist' and other kinds of pride as the series continues on, and let's just say that very often this series goes out of it's way to prove the old adage about pride going before the fall. Again, I'm loathe to agree with Kami on anything, but he IS looking at the greater good here, as opposed to Goku just...wanting to have a fun fight. We're definitely reaching an era where what our heroes want may not always be the truly heroic thing, but that's part of the charm of this series, and it always has been – we're following a group of flawed individuals who basically trip into the roles of heroes, rather than actively pursuing any such role at all. The only difference is that now we're dealing with literal super-powered beings. The idea of everyone teaming up against Piccolo is one that it's a little odd to see dismissed so quickly. Tenshinhan did at least hold his own against Goku for a bit, and let's not forget that Kuririn actually impressed Piccolo earlier. Now all of a sudden however, they're absolutely worthless and it wouldn't matter if there were many more of them, they still wouldn't do a thing to Piccolo? I have a feeling that if it came down to it, they'd hold their own against him better than he expects, especially given how drained of energy he's bound to be by this point, but ah well – the story's gotta build up Goku to be even more impressive, after all. The idea of an energy blasts that homes in after an opponent is also a new one, and it's a bit of a novelty as there's really only a few other times in the series that we'll see blasts follow along quite to this same degree. It's basically an even more impressive version of what Yamcha was able to do earlier, though it's also similar to what we've seen Goku do before by altering the direction of a blast post-firing it. Unfortunately for Piccolo, as dumb as he is in general, Goku really is smart in a fight, and he finds the easiest way to deal with this attack. The fact that not even Piccolo was able to weather it without damage certainly shows just how much force he put into it too. Piccolo has proven to be full of surprises, showing of all kinds of new abilities that we never saw happen with King Piccolo, and the most recent addition to that list is apparently the ability to regrow limbs. It's certainly a power that King Piccolo seemed to lack, given that he didn't just regrow the cavity in his chest that Goku flew through – either that or there's some other reason for that not happening, such as the injury either being too great or him being too low on energy at the time. Either way, this is a step too far for Piccolo's own pride to deal with, and as such, he's ready to bring this fight to an end – permanently. 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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