Synopsis: As the Saiyans grow ever closer to the Earth, Goku finishes up his training on Kaio-sama's world at last. To test Goku's ability to use the 'Genki Dama' (Energy Sphere) technique, Kaio-sama throws a large brick around his planet at super speed, and after Goku channels energy into his fist, he hurls the energy at the brick, causing a large explosion and destroying it instantly. Kaio-sama is surprised but pleased to see Goku use the technique so well, praising him for mastering the technique so flawlessly. Kaio-sama then reminds Goku that the technique is extremely powerful however, in that it borrows energy from all life on a planet, therefore one made on Earth would be much more potent than the one he just made here – so much so that, if he's not careful, he might even destroy the very planet he's trying to save. Kaio-sama makes Goku promise to use the Genki Dama only once and only as a last resort, and Goku promises to try making due with the Kaio-ken alone first. As Kaio-sama tells Goku that the time of battle is almost here as the Saiyans should be arriving on Earth the next day, he makes a sudden and horrifying realization – when he calculated how long it would take the Saiyans to reach Earth, he forgot to consider how long it would take Goku to get back there himself. Goku, apparently under the impression that Kaio-sama could send him back instantly, starts to fret about how it took him six months to get to Kaio-sama's from Earth, but Kaio-sama says it should only take him about two days now that he's trained and that he'll have Kami meet him at Enma's to pick him up. Goku thinks that's still leaving the Earth at great risk for a whole day, and Kaio-sama admits to making a mistake, and tells Goku to contact his friends and have them wish him back immediately. Goku is confused as to how he can do this, and Kaio-sama tells him to simply touch his back and reach for them with his mind. Goku does as instructed, and is able to telepathically speak to Roshi, who just so happens to be on the toilet at that time. He explains the situation to Roshi, who is horrified to hear that the Saiyans are arriving more than a month earlier than they expected them to. Goku asks them to wish him back immediately, and Roshi agrees to before asking how Goku's training went. As only one side of Roshi's conversation can be heard by them, Bulma, Oolong, Puar, and the Turtle all worry that Roshi has finally gone senile, especially when Roshi finally walks out of the bathroom with his pants down and tells them to bring the Dragon Balls quickly. As Goku's friends prepare to wish him back, Kaio-sama fixes Goku's gi for him, making it look as good as new. Goku notices that they feel much lighter than before, and Kaio-sama also notes that it should now deflect small attacks as well. Goku is relieved that Kaio-sama didn't put him in clothes like his own, though Kaio-sama did put his own kanji on the back of Goku's gi unbeknownst to him. At Kame House, Roshi and the others have summoned Shen Long with the Dragon Balls, and the dragon asks them for their wish. Oolong floats the idea of asking him to take care of the Saiyans, causing Bulma to ask if he'd really just leave Goku dead like that. Oolong thinks Goku would be fine and they could just wish him back in another year, but the dragon says that he would be unable to grant such a wish in the first place – his wish-granting powers cannot surpass the powers of the God who made him. With that, Roshi asks Shen Long to bring Goku back to life, and the dragon agrees. Elsewhere, Gohan and Piccolo stare up at the sky, with Gohan noting that it was just day a few moments before. Piccolo realizes this must mean they've finally wished Goku back to life, which must also mean that the Saiyans are closer than they thought. Goku's halo disappears from over his head, and Kaio-sama congratulates him on his return to life before telling him to hurry. Kaio-sama tells him to do his best but not to get cocky and think that he can just get brought back to life again, and Goku says he already knows that he can only be wished back once. Goku thanks Kaio-sama for everything and promises to come back and see him if he does die again, and leaps off of Kaio-sama's planet and back down to the Serpent Road. Kaio-sama remarks that he's never known anyone as pure as Goku or anyone from the living world able to become as strong as he has, and wishes his student luck even if his sense of humor wasn't up to par. Back on the Serpent Road now, Goku marvels at how light he feels between his new gi and no longer being on a planet with ten times the gravity of Earth, but wastes no time, flying as quickly as he can now to get back to Enma's. The next day, at 11:43 AM, two alien pods crash land in a city on Earth. The Saiyans have arrived at last! Review: Both the manga chapters and the filler anime episodes that I've covered – they've all been leading to this moment, as this very chapter marks both the end of the second phase of the Saiyan arc, as well as the beginning of the third and final phase. Buckle up folks – it's about to get crazy from here. Kaio-sama's training unfortunately continues the new trend that started with Kami of us not really seeing what Goku's new training is like, though between the two I'd say this one is definitely the stronger. With Kami, we see practically NOTHING outside of the anime, here we at least get a little bit, though it's still woefully less when you think back to training arcs like Roshi's training. We see why Goku is so much stronger now (having to get used to gravity much higher than he's used to, which is effectively just the newest variation of weight-based training when you think about it), but whereas Roshi didn't teach him any actual techniques, Kaio-sama does...and we have absolutely no idea what Goku went through to learn them. We don't really get anything on the Kaio-ken yet in this chapter, but the function of the Genki Dama is explained as borrowing energy from life around you rather than channeling it yourself – that's so counter-intuitive to how energy attacks are usually done that I can't help but wonder how hard that was for Goku to learn, much less master. At any rate, it is pretty funny that the highest god we've yet seen in the series makes such a basic mistake as forgetting to factor in travel time for Goku to get back to Earth. If this doesn't speak towards the general standards of godhood in the Dragon Ball world, I don't know what does. Beyond that though, this is the start of another trend we're going to begin see happen in Dragon Ball – Goku arriving late so everyone else has to hold down the front line in his absence. I guess we sort of had that in the King Piccolo arc as well, but there Goku was the first one to fight back and got taken out of the equation for a bit first, so it's slightly different. Actually, I guess the entirety of the Saiyan arc, counting Raditz as well, kind of builds off of that structure as well, since Goku along with Piccolo fought before we even saw any of the other fighting cast besides Kuririn. I also can't not laugh that Roshi's on the pot when Goku contacts him about the Dragon Balls. It's a poop joke, but somewhat more tasteful and sophisticated than the kind we usually get from Toriyama, so...kudos, I guess? Look, we've all been on the toilet when the phone rings and know how annoying that can be, this is basically the psychic conversation equivalent of that. The chapter's not without it's odd choices alongside the rest of this new setup however. Look no further than Goku's new gi to see an example of what I'm talking about. Kaio-sama gives Goku new clothes (which is seemingly a new power that anyone with psychic abilities can do now, I guess – Chaozu should become a tailor), but he notes two new features of them (other than the new symbol placed on the back of it) – they're able to repel small attacks, and they're far lighter than his previous clothing. The attack repelling is a neat idea, but considering that the two Saiyans Goku is on his way to fight are said to be stronger than Kaio-sama himself, it's a little dubious to think that there ARE going to be any 'small' attacks. Not to mention the fact that, spoiler, this feature is never going to come into play at all. I'm not sure if Toriyama had plans for this and then forgot or changed his mind or what exactly. The other feature of them being light also seems weird, as Goku still has the blue undershirt – you know, the one that's weighted clothing. So...it serves no purpose now, I guess? Granted, it probably wouldn't have been heavy enough to serve as an effective training method anymore now anyway, but it still seems weird to just turn them light and keep them for no reason. I guess Toriyama just liked the design choice and stuck with it moving forward. Another slight oddity comes in the form of Shen Long's wish granting, though this is more of a retcon than anything else. Oolong floats the idea of wishing the problem of the Saiyans away, and Shen Long says that he can't do that as it would go 'beyond the power of the God that made him'. In previous summonings, Shen Long has been treated as all powerful – there's said to be no wish he can't grant, and his only drawbacks are that he can grant only one wish before you have to wait a whole year, and that he can be killed and rendered a moot point. Here however, we learn of a wish that he flat-out can't grant and the reason that he can't, putting a clear limitation on the power of the Dragon Balls that never existed before. For what it's worth though, I'm perfectly okay with this. Yes, it's a change to what we previously knew, but it's a change that will continue to allow stakes to be raised and tension to occur in the story as it moves on. The Dragon Balls being literally all-powerful when Dragon Ball was far more comedic based is one thing, but as it starts taking itself somewhat more seriously, that presented a problem, and I can't say I blame Toriyama for this change at all. With Goku brought back to life, it's easy to see that the story is about to start moving again far quicker than it has been for some time, and the bullet point to that is highlighted by the chapter closing on the Saiyan pods finally crash landing. There's no turning back now – it's time to see if our heroes preparations to fight these two aliens have been anywhere near enough. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Close Encounters of the Saiyan Kind
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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
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