Synopsis: The next morning, Bulma and the others wait outside in the desert for Goku to finally wake up so they can figure out what to do next. Oolong can't believe everything the kid put them through, but Yamcha finds a silver lining in that if it weren't for him, they'd never have been able to break free from the holding cell. Bulma figures it's probably for the best that they don't tell Goku it was him that killed his grandpa, and Oolong ponders just what the heck Goku is anyway. Yamcha supposes that at least there shouldn't be any danger of Goku ever transforming like that again now that his tail's been cut off.
Goku wakes up at last with a big yawn, and immediately wonders why he's naked, showing that he has absolutely no memory of the night before. Bulma tries to get Oolong to give Goku the panties on his head, but Oolong refuses since he got them from the dragon, instead opting to give Goku his own pants instead. Goku finds that he has trouble standing up, and Yamcha remarks that it'll probably take him some time to get used to walking without a tail. It's only then that Goku notices his tail is gone, but immediately gets over it, being more worried about his missing nyoibo. Yamcha points out that it must be in the castle's rubble, and Goku hurries over to look for it, tripping again along the way. As Yamcha wakes Puar up, Oolong questions Bulma if they should all just go their separate ways since the Dragon Balls are off the table for a whole other year. Bulma wonders that herself, and wishes that she'd been able to get her wish, and have her perfect boyfriend...standing right beside her... Yamcha likewise is saddened to realize that he didn't get to wish away his fear of girls so that he could one day get married and have a girl...standing right beside him... Having found his nyoibo, Goku rushes back over (managing to trip yet again on the way), to find Oolong disgusted by the sight of Yamcha and Bulma happily dancing together. Bulma reveals that Yamcha's decided to go back to the city with her along with Puar, and invites Goku to join them. Goku however says that he's going to go to Kame-sennin's place so that he can train and get even stronger than he is now. Bulma then extends the same offer to Oolong, who accepts primarily because he doesn't really have any other options at the moment. Goku says that in another year they can all hunt the Dragon Balls again, but Bulma and Yamcha coyly laugh that they don't need them anymore, confusing Goku and once again disgusting Oolong. Goku wonders how he'll ever find his grandpa's ball again in that case, so Bulma gives him the Dragon Radar and explains how to use it a year from now. With everything settled, Yamcha pulls out a capsule for a plane and shakes hands with Goku, telling him that he hopes the boy is able to become just as strong as Kame-sennin himself. Bulma promises that they'll come see him at some point too. Goku calls down the kinto'un, and with that the party breaks up, each heading in their own direction. As Goku flies off, he realizes that there's a lot of really nice people out there in the world, and thinks that this new adventure might prove to be even more fun than the last. Review: This chapter finally moves the story back out of the night and into the daylight, which serves as a rather clean break from the action of the previous chapter. It makes a lot of sense to do so, but it does sort of leave the question of how exactly they got Bulma out from under the broken cathedral...but that's not really important at the end of the day. Instead, this chapter focuses entirely on figuring out where exactly the characters are going to go next, and how to bring at least a little bit of resolution to their storylines up until now. The easiest way for me to go about this is to do it by character, so let's start with Bulma. For Bulma, who started this Dragon Ball hunt as one of the most selfish characters in the series, losing her chance at a wish is something that you would have thought would have thrown her into a ranting frenzy. And chances are, earlier in the series it probably would have. Here though, we see that she's already matured quite a bit from how she was when we first met her. Even faced with a whole other year before she could try to get her wish again, she's calm and kind of just shrugs it all off. In the case of Yamcha, he too realizes that this journey's end has left him without any sort of prize. He's lost his chance at the Dragon Balls as well, he's far away from where he was when we first met him, and he's now more-or-less befriended the gang so he can't exactly turn around and rob them now. And worst of all, he's still stuck with his fear of girls. It's at this point that both Bulma and Yamcha's changes come to a head and basically become one and the same. One character wanted a guy, the other wanted a girl; Bulma has always found Yamcha attractive, and Yamcha likewise has thought she was cute even if he couldn't do anything about it. Bulma realizes that a 'perfect' guy is right next to her, and Yamcha realizes he's not freaking out with Bulma right next to him anymore. So of COURSE they should be a couple! ...This is going to end in a very ugly way one day, isn't it? Joking aside, they do make for a very cute couple, and it's nice to see the characters get what they wanted all along, even if it wasn't in the way that they thought. We'll just uh...check back in on this way, way down the line though. In Oolong's case, he never really had any cards to play in the resolution of this arc anyway, which is why he was the perfect person to actually get to make a wish. He never had any plans to do so, he likewise has no gains to make here, so just toss him the wish – problem solved, his purpose in the plot has been secured! Unfortunately, this leaves him with not really anywhere natural to go next, so Toriyama has him just sort of tag along with Bulma, Yamcha, and Puar, because sure, why not? Honestly, as much as I enjoy the character, this probably would have been the most natural place to have him leave the cast and not be subjected to being background fodder for the rest of his existence. It's not like there won't be plenty of characters to provide commentary later on anyway, and we'll still have a token pervert with Kame-sennin to fill that role, so it really probably would have been for the best. ...Other than, now that I think about it, what he may have gotten up to out in the world on his own again. Hmm. Maybe it's best they kept him around to keep an eye on him after all. Regardless, he does get a pretty great observation about how Goku might be an alien. That's clearly too stupid to be true though, let's move on. Likewise, Yamcha's theory about Goku being safe now that his tail is gone? Yup, that tracks too, I'm sure that won't ever be an issue ever again either, let's move on. And last, let's talk about Goku. Despite being the face of the franchise and it's main character, Goku honestly was barely the latter in this opening arc. There wasn't a single thing that Goku himself did that moved the story further in any direction, it was all a story that was happening around him and he was just along for the ride. Even the additional lore we get surrounding his grandpa Gohan and his legacy, and Gyu-mao and Kame-sennin's relationship to him, is all part of a narrative that plays out because of the hunt for the Dragon Balls. That's always been the main focus to the story up until now, finding the Dragon Balls. Now that those are gone though, now what? Goku is, and always was, the main character though, so Toriyama definitely seems to have looked to him to figure out where to take the story next. What do we know that Goku? We know he loves to eat (though even that gag isn't as pronounced as it's going to become), and we know that he loves to train and fight. Couple that latter part of his character with the earlier offer by Muten Roshi for Goku to come to him for training, and the course seems clear: Goku will go to him and train to get even stronger! This begins a narrative shift that will continue to grow and change over the series' run, with the story giving way to a greater emphasis on fighting and a lesser one on adventure (though the adventure never truly leaves), and it's all out of necessity to figure out where exactly to take the story next. There will be more on that when we get to the next chapter and thus the next storyline, but for now, it's nice to see the story start to happen because of Goku rather than Goku just happening to be there for it. It aids us in wanting to follow along with his story, and it ends up adding a great many layers to his character, but we'll get to that when it's appropriate. 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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