Synopsis: As Goku's friends wonder what Kami has in plan for Goku that required his body, they ultimately decide that since it's Kami, they don't really have anything to worry about. Kuririn thinks they should instead focus on gathering the Dragon Balls to wish Goku back, and Bulma wonders where Yamcha is now that they could actually use his help, with Kuririn remarking that it was her that chased him off. Bulma suddenly wonders how Goku's brother was able to find him so easily, and Piccolo tells her that it was the device on his face that seemed to allow him to track an opponent's location and strength. Bulma makes Kuririn get the scouter off of Raditz's face, and after checking it, Bulma is impressed by the device and even thinks that she can fix it so that they can use it to find Yamcha and Tenshinhan. Roshi carries Gohan and asks Piccolo what he's going to do, and they all stand transfixed as Piccolo grows back his lost arm. Piccolo tells them to be sure to gather the Dragon Balls if they want to wish Goku back to life, but in the meantime, he'll be taking his son with him. Goku's friends object, with Kuririn even accusing Piccolo of wanting to eat him, but Piccolo says that Gohan will be a powerful asset against the two arriving Saiyans if he's trained properly, and says that he's the only one equipped to do that. Goku's friends see his logic but still object, but Piccolo doesn't give them a choice, taking Gohan and threatening to kill them if they try to interfere. Piccolo says he'll return the boy in one year's time, and tells them to tell Goku to be patient if he comes back to life before then. Piccolo flies off with Gohan in tow, leaving Goku's friends to think that Gohan will be lucky if he survives, and wondering how they're going to tell Chi Chi about this. In the afterlife, Kami takes Goku to the check-in station to meet with Lord Enma, putting him ahead of a long line of bodiless souls. Kami asks Enma to allow Goku to travel the Serpent Road to reach Kaio-sama and receive training from him. Looking over Goku's record in life, Enma is impressed, stating that Goku's achievements are more than enough for him to go straight to Heaven right away, so he wonders why he'd really want to risk traveling such a dangerous path to get even stronger. Goku asks Kami if everyone comes here when they die, even aliens, and Kami responds by saying that he's here isn't he. Goku asks Enma rather brusquely, scaring Kami, if a guy named Raditz came through here a little while ago, and Enma confirms that Goku's brother did pass before his desk, so he sent him to Hell. Goku asks if Raditz didn't try to fight him, and Enma says that he did, but nobody can defeat him. Goku is impressed and wonders if he shouldn't just train with Enma instead, but Kami tries to discreetly get him to talk more politely to Enma while also telling him that Kaio-sama is far stronger. Enma overhears this and asks if Kami would like to go to Hell, and Kami apologizes, stumbling over his words and insulting Enma further. Enma lets it slide however, and tells Goku he has permission to travel the Serpent Road if he wants, telling him to go to the side entrance and wait for a guide to show him the way. As Goku leaves, Kami wishes him well, but begins to ponder over their troubles. He's not sure that even asking Shen Long to take care of the Saiyans would work, and he worries that not even Goku will be able to become strong enough to combat them either, perhaps leaving their only hope in the form of Gohan. He worries how Gohan may turn out being raised by Piccolo however... Kami's concerns are interrupted by Enma yelling at him to stop thinking so loud and to get out of the line. One of Enma's ogres drives Goku towards the start of the Serpent Road in his car, asking Goku if he's doing well, with Goku saying that if you don't count being dead, then... Goku then asks the guide what Kaio-sama is like, and the guide explains to him that he's a God who stands above all the other Gods in the universe. They soon reach the start of the Serpent Road, a long statue of a snake that stretches out further than the eye can see. Goku asks the ogre how long it is, and he replies that legend says it's about a million kilometers. A shocked Goku asks if anyone has ever reached the end of it before, and the ogre says that in just the past hundred million years, Enma himself reached the end of it and trained with Kaio-sama. Goku is surprised that nobody else has done it, but thinks that if one person can, then another can do it as well. The ogre warns Goku not to fall off the path and into the clouds, as beneath them lays Hell, and if Goku falls there, there's no way to get back. Goku heeds his warning and laments not bringing any lunch with him, but the ogre reminds him that he's dead and thus can't starve anyway. Before he leaves, Goku asks the ogre for one more favor, asking him to pass on a message to Baba if he sees her, asking Roshi and his friends not to wish him back for a year. The ogre jots down a note about it, and Goku flies off down the Road, surprising the ogre who thinks that flying really isn't fair. As Goku quickly uses up too much energy to fly any further and has to resort to running Serpent Road after all, Roshi suggests that Kuririn should be the one to go tell Chi Chi what's happened. Kuririn objects and asks why he should have to do it, and Bulma simply says that it's because none of them want to die. Review: With the first phase of the story arc having come to a close, this chapter sets about putting the pieces into play for the next phase of it – namely, what everyone is going to be doing in the year before the arrival of two more Saiyans far stronger than the one they just narrowly defeated. Goku's friends of course are mostly focused on wanting to wish Goku back to life, but as things quickly play out, it looks like that won't be happening as quickly as they might have hoped, but for good reason. Before I talk too much on that though, let's first talk about the living world side of things. Goku's friends are of course going to be gathering the Dragon Balls, but that still leaves Piccolo with something to need to do, and Toriyama gives him probably the most unpredictable choice imaginable – training the son of his sworn enemy. This is of course old news for fans that have been with the series for a long time, but just imagine how crazy this must have seemed at the time it first came out. We've known Piccolo for going on two story arcs now in one form or another, first as an evil Demon King bent on world domination, then the current iteration who, while at least a little more chill, is definitely still on the evil side of things. He may have teamed up with Goku here in this one fight, but that seemed like a very temporary truce. If it wasn't for the knowledge of the Saiyans being on their way, the truce very well would have ended here probably. There's an arguable chance that Piccolo would have still allowed Goku's friends to wish him back so that he could fight him properly the next time, but I definitely don't see him taking Gohan under his wing in that scenario – if he did, it certainly wouldn't be for nearly as altruistic reasons, that's for sure. Piccolo is being forced into a corner just like all of the rest of the cast, and in his case, it's going to have far more dramatic repercussions on him as a character than anything else in this arc will for the other characters. In a lot of ways, this arc is ultimately going to be more about he and Gohan coming into their own as characters than it is Goku's discovery of where he came from. On the afterlife side of things however, rather than character growth, we're seeing a dramatic expansion to how the world of Dragon Ball works happen right before our eyes. When Roshi, Kuririn, and Chaozu died previously, we as the audience weren't granted access to see what the afterlife in this world looked like (neither were they for that matter, but that's a whole other debacle). This time around however with Goku being the one that dies, we get to see exactly what it means to be dead. Dragon Ball's afterlife is largely inspired by Buddhist and Shinto religious mythology, right down to it even having a judge of the dead in the form of Lord Enma, who judges whether a soul is worthy of going to Heaven, or needs to be punished and sent to Hell. In Goku's case however, between his good deeds and Kami's recommendation, he's allowed to keep his body and even to pursue further training with a higher God in the form of Kaio-sama, if he can survive – er, endure – the long trek to reach him. Yes, Dragon Ball's afterlife seems pretty sweet...if you're a skilled martial artist, and better yet if you're in good standing with at least one deity or another. Yeah, we're never really made privy to what exactly the rest of the populace of the universe can expect within the afterlife – as far as we get to see, most everyone loses their body whether they're good or evil, and are simply sent on to Heaven or Hell, and...well, that's it. They spend the rest of eternity in one of those two places. Does Kami pay attention and help out other people that pass and advocate for them to keep their bodies so they can go become a more skilled artist or writer? What about the great thinkers of the Dragon Ball world, let's use Bulma for example. Would she be allowed to keep her body when she passes on and train to become an even more incredible inventor than she already is? As far as we can tell, that doesn't ever seem to be implied to be the case, with only martial artists getting any kind of preferential treatment. The rest of us had better hope we've done enough good to get into Heaven, otherwise it's down to Hell with us, and either way, you'd better look forward to spending the rest of eternity as a little white puffball of a cloud, because that body you've been neglecting in life isn't coming with you either. Bottom line, the Dragon Ball afterlife is cool, but seems pretty unfairly tilted towards favoring fighters. On a narrative level, this makes enough sense at least in that it's all we're shown, as it's whole purpose is to support Goku and allow him to get stronger, but on a world building level, it can't help but feel a little shoddy. On the other hand, it does give us Enma bullying Kami, and that's great, so you know what? I'll allow it. There'll be more to say on the structure of Dragon Ball's Gods system as we get further in as well, but for now, I think that's a spiderweb not worth untangling just yet. Instead let us all pray to Enma for Kuririn's immortal soul if he does end up talking to Chi Chi. They say not to shoot the messenger, but... 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
|