Synopsis: As Goku and Raditz are impaled by Piccolo's Mankankosappo, the pair fall back to the ground with gaping holes in their chests, Raditz cursing the two of them while Goku laughs. Raditz can't believe he's going to meet his end on a stupidly weak world such as this one, but as Piccolo approaches him, he has to hand it to his brother for being willing to die just to win a fight. Piccolo takes away whatever joy Raditz might be feeling from this stalemate however by informing him that Goku won't be dead for long, informing him of the power of the Dragon Balls. Raditz actually thanks him for this information however, and tells him that he's transmitted this conversation to his two Saiyan comrades in space, and that knowing about the Dragon Balls, they'll surely come to this planet to conquer it, and likely to bring him back to life instead. A dying Goku asks Raditz how long it'll take the other Saiyans to get to Earth, and Raditz says about a year. Faced with the prospect of two even more powerful foes in only a years time, Piccolo seems fretful, and Raditz mocks him, telling him to enjoy his last year alive. Piccolo prepares to finish off Raditz, but the Saiyan warrior expires before he can. Piccolo notices an airship approaching from the air, as Bulma, Kuririn, and Roshi arrive on the scene at last. Goku's friends look down on the battlefield and see only Piccolo standing, and worry about what's happened in their absence. On another planet deep in space, the two Saiyans receive Raditz's final transmission. A tall, bald Saiyan tells his shorter, spikey-haired partner that Raditz has died, but the shorter warrior dismisses him and continues eating the arm of a bug-like alien they've killed. The short Saiyan says that Raditz deserved to die if he can be beaten by warriors with power levels barely over a thousand. The tall Saiyan says they can leave the planet they're on now for later, and the short Saiyan does agree that these 'Dragon Balls' sound interesting, so they should head to Earth after all. The tall Saiyan asks if they're going to wish Raditz back, but the short Saiyan scoffs, saying they're better off without him. Instead, they should wish for immortality, so that they never have to worry about death or aging themselves and can spend an eternity fighting, a notion that sits well with the tall Saiyan too. After getting into their space pods and launching into space, the Saiyans discuss the 'son of Kakarot' and his impossibly high power level. The tall Saiyan wonders if the readings were wrong, but the short Saiyan thinks they were right based on the damage Raditz received after being hit by the child. He wonders if mixing Saiyan and Earthling blood perhaps results in an extremely powerful hybrid, and the tall Saiyan thinks that if that's the case, they should spawn themselves a flock of these 'Super Saiyans' and rebuild the Saiyan empire. The shorter Saiyan shuts this idea down quickly however, saying it'd e foolish to create a bunch of brats with potentially higher power levels than their own. Instead, they'll simply exterminate all life on Earth. Piccolo tells Goku's friends about the battle and the coming threat, as Kuririn tends to the dying Goku, telling him to hang on. Bulma tells them that Gohan's alright, just unconcious, and Goku smiles saying that they won't get yelled at by Chi Chi too much then. Goku tells Kuririn that dying really sucks after all, and Kuririn promises to bring him back with the Dragon Balls. Goku thanks his friend, and then passes away. Kuririn is sad, but he's immediately taken by surprise when Goku's body disappears before his eyes. Piccolo says he can sense Kami's hand in this, saying that he must have some sort of plan for Goku. In space, the Saiyans prepare to go into deep sleep, anxious to wake up and wreak havoc once they reach Earth. Review: And so, the first battle of the Saiyan arc comes to a close, but it's very much just the first chapter being told here. We've now learned Goku's true origins and how he came to be on Earth, but we also know that there are two more Saiyans even stronger than him out there that are on their way, and it took all both he and Piccolo had to defeat this weakest of the space-faring trio. Worse than that, it cost Goku his very life. I mentioned it before, but I'll say it again – I have to imagine this was an incredibly shocking moment for readers in Japan when this chapter was first released in Japan. After the end of the last chapter, I'd even be willing to bet some fans were in denial as to what had happened, and were expecting another fast one from Toriyama on this matter. With this chapter though, it becomes all too clear that it really happened – Goku, the lead character of this series, just died. This is a game changer if there ever was one. We've had lead characters die before in the form of Kuririn, Roshi, and Chaozu, and it's also acknowledged that they're definitely going to bring Goku back to life with the Dragon Balls. But even so, what then? All of the training Goku has gone through in his life has gotten him this strong, hell, he's trained with GOD of all people (or at least God's much more useful assistant) – where can he possibly go from here to get any stronger than he is now? The same question is presented before Piccolo – what exactly can they do now to try and prepare for the coming Saiyan invasion? They only have one year to get stronger than they are now, and Goku and Piccolo are at the peak of their strengths after EIGHT years of training (three from the end of the King Piccolo arc til the Tenkaichi Budokai, and then another five years after that to reach this point). What can he possibly do to get more formidable than he is now? The character that loses out the most in this chapter is the other one who dies, Raditz. For a character with such a striking design, who changes the entire trajectory of the franchise with his arrival, and one who's given a direct blood relation to the main character, he receives shockingly little mention after this. I can really only think of one or two times after this arc when he's ever even brought up. A lot of fans have thought that Raditz is ill used in this manner, that being Goku's brother should elevate him to a higher level of importance in the franchise. I can't help but agree with that...to an extent, anyway. The character is definitely due more respect than a lot of fans give him, but I don't really know that I'd say he should have stuck around any longer than this either. You'd almost expect “Goku's brother” to be a huge deal and maybe even become part of the main cast, so it kind of works better to go against those expectations and have him just be a grunt – an extremely powerful grunt that more than makes a powerful impression at the time of his inclusion, that is. No, I personally think I'd settle just for the character to get remembered in-series more often – without talking too much about future characters and events, there's a shocking amount of times that another character or characters related to Goku's Saiyan ancestry are shown or brought up, and Raditz is completely overlooked despite his presence absolutely making sense – now THAT'S just disrespectful. I'd say if you are looking for more Raditz though? Look no further than MasakoX's (the voice of Goku and Gohan in TeamFourStar's Dragon Ball Z Abridged) Youtube channel. He's done a lot of 'what if' stories for the franchise in the form of long discussion videos, and one of his longest is centered around the idea of 'What If Raditz Turned Good', an idea that's proven so popular for his channel that it's even spun off into it's own radio drama, 'Dragon Ball R&R'. There's also another ongoing what if story, 'What If Raditz Went to Earth Instead of Goku', so if you're looking for some Raditz loving, you're definitely in good hands over there. And uh, speaking of 'loving'...man that's an awkward segway...one other thing worth noting is the taller Saiyan's idea of making a new Saiyan race by...spawning a bunch of half-Saiyans like Gohan...yeah, um...given...given the nature of the Saiyans, I don't think he's talking about...making dates with a bunch of women...*cough* It's a short moment that's quickly dismissed by his companion, but woooooowwww...that's almost as bad as the time the two Red Ribbon soldiers wanted to do 'things you can't talk about in a kid's manga' to Bulma. Oof. 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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