Synopsis: Raditz laughs at Goku and Piccolo, telling them to enjoy themselves if they really want to spend their last moments alive making some sort of plan. Goku asks Piccolo if he means it when he says he has a new technique, and Piccolo says he does. Goku asks him if it can be done with one arm, and Piccolo says that's no problem, though it does take some time to concentrate his power first, meaning he needs Goku to handle Raditz on his own for a while. Goku asks Piccolo if he's sure it'll work, and Piccolo says that while he can't be certain, they don't really have any other choice either. When Piccolo confesses that he originally devised this technique for use against Goku instead, Goku laughs about it helping him instead. Hearing this laughter, Raditz is confused, and Goku agrees to hold Raditz off as long as he can.
Goku launches himself at Raditz as Piccolo places two fingers to his forehead and begins charging his new attack, the 'Mankankosappo' (Piercing Light Beam of Death). Raditz is confused at first, but quickly starts smacking Goku around like a ragdoll, eventually kicking him away and forcing Goku to retreat to the air. Left with no other choice, Goku starts charging a Kamehameha, a move that Raditz's scouter informs him pushes Goku's power level to 924 and rising. Raditz is confused as to how he can raise his power level just by focusing his energy to a single point, but he doesn't have long to figure it out before his scouter picks up on Piccolo as well. Raditz is horrified to realize that Piccolo's power is 1,020, then 1,030 and still rising. Before he can do anything about it however, Goku fires his Kamehameha, and Raditz is forced to dodge out of the way. Goku bends the beams trajectory so that it chases after him, and Raditz stops and stands his ground, catching the blast in one hand. Goku is astounded to see Raditz take that attack, and Raditz retaliates by throwing an energy blast of his own that catches Goku full on from the front. As Goku falls to the ground, Raditz rushes forward, preparing to finish off his brother with a fatal punch. His scouter alerts him to Piccolo again however, and Raditz is more horrified than ever at it's reading – 1,330! Raditz can't figure out how they keep doing this and raises his hand to attack from afar, but Piccolo fires the Mankankosappo, a spiral-shaped energy beam, straight towards Raditz. Review: Yeah, remember how I said before that power levels aren't all they're cracked up to be? Well, this chapter ends up showing that off even more than the previous one, as well as really driving in the point that relying too heavily on a scouter is a foolish, foolish thing to do. Sure, the ability to detect power levels from afar and give an exact reading as to how strong they are seems handy at first, but the ability to sense energy isn't exclusive to it – our heroes have started to be able to do that just naturally for a while now – but it's also incredibly easy to deceive. At least, it is for our Earth based heroes. The series never really delves into it too deeply, but there seems to be some fundamental differences between how martial arts on Earth are approached as compared to how it's treated in space. The main characters are able to raise and lower their power levels at will, something that we'll see them utilize more and more moving forward, and their powers also raise when they're using an attack and putting a lot of power into it. Raditz's reactions in this chapter show that that's not really a thing for people from space...except when it is. I get what Toriyama is trying to do here, give the heroes an edge in skill to help make up for the dramatic difference in power, but I don't think he ever fully thought it through all the way. The idea that the space based characters don't 'power up' as it were is something that's hard to really believe when we see them doing just that in this very arc later on, but it's still treated as something unique to our heroes that completely blows the villains' minds. It's a neat idea, and something I really wish he'd been able to utilize in a better fashion, but as it stands, it just comes across half-baked. Beyond that though, we do get our first sighting of Piccolo's new special move, the Mankankosappo, or as I like to call it, the Move-I'm-Never-Going-To-Remember-How-to-Spell-Much-Less-Say Beam o' Death. Even writing this review, I had to double check online to make sure I was spelling it properly, because Viz's translation likewise changed it to 'Light of Death' similarly to how the dub has long used 'Special Beam Cannon'. It's a shame that no matter which direction you go, the move is just oddly named, because in of itself it's really cool. It has a unique look about it that no other attack in the series has, and that easily sets it above even the Kamehameha in that regard, as plenty of large energy blasts are going to look basically like it does. That said, it does have the big drawback of taking forever to charge, which probably means the move is relatively incomplete as of now – I can't imagine Piccolo thought he was going to convince Goku to stand still and take the blast...I...say as I suddenly remember that Goku made it a point to do that at least twice in their last fight. Hmm. Maybe it's a luckier break for Goku than we think that it's getting used now actually. Until next time! Favorite Panel:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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
Categories
All
|