Synopsis: Knocked down from Dodoria's sudden, vicious attack, the elder Namekian protests and says that Freeza gave his word, telling him and his men to leave at once. Freeza says the Dragon Balls are useless unless he has all seven of them however, and says that since the old man destroyed the scouters and took away their ability to find the other villages easily, he'll have to make up for his mistake by telling them where they are. The old man reiterates that he would rather die than sell out his own kind. Zarbon asks Freeza if they'll be able to find the other Dragon Balls without the scouters, and Freeza says that they'll find them eventually if they keep searching...so he orders Dodoria to kill all three Namekians still in front of them. Dodoria eagerly agrees, and the elder Namekian tells the two children behind him to run away as fast as they can. As the kids run, he tries to shield them and says that he'll show the invaders the honor of the Namekians. Freeza quickly fires an energy beam from one finger however, catching one of the two escaping children in the back and killing him instantly. Gohan grows enraged, and as the elder Namekian looks on in horror at the child's body, Dodoria grabs hold of him and snaps his neck with ease. Kuririn tries to calm Gohan down, telling him that there's nothing they can do, but as the remaining child tries again to flee and is instantly caught up to by Dodoria, Gohan snaps and yells in a fury. As Kuririn watches in shocked horror, Gohan leaps up as he yells, the sound immediately catching the attention of Freeza, Zarbon, and Dodoria. Dodoria tries to locate the source of the sound, but before he can, Gohan swoops in and kicks him in the head hard enough to send him crashing into one of the Namekian houses. Cursing Gohan's rash decision, Kuririn flies down to help. As he gets back up, Dodoria angrily asks what Gohan is, and Gohan screams his intent to beat him up. Dodoria finds this amusing, but is soon knocked down a second time by a dive kick from Kuririn, who quickly grabs the Namekian child and tells Gohan they have to get away fast. Freeza and Zarbon watch on in confusion, with Freeza noting that the two that have appeared before them aren't Namekians. As Kuririn and Gohan flee back into the sky, Dodoria gets back up cursing, and Freeza screams for him to chase after the escaping trio and bring them back immediately. Dodoria screams in anger and pursues them into the sky, with Kuririn telling Gohan to fly as fast as he can, because it's all over if they get caught. As they speed away, Kuririn looks back to see Dodoria hot on their tail and thinks they're not going to be able to get away. Back down on the ground, Freeza questions who these two even are. Review: With everything we've seen from Freeza in the past handful of chapters, I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that he's not exactly the type to keep his word, or that he's willing and able to kill children. Or have them killed, as the case may be. One interesting difference right at the start of this chapter though is actually who kills the first Namekian child (who we finally get a name for, Scargo). Here in the manga, it's Freeza who does the deed, but over in the anime, it's Dodoria. Honestly, while it's nice to see Freeza do something for himself, especially with that quick reaction time to further tease how formidable he is? I kind of prefer the anime's take on this scene. Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly fitting that Freeza would do such a thing, but at this stage in the story he's very much letting his men take care of anything and everything and isn't getting his own hands dirty as of yet. And keeping his abilities as completely under wraps as possible further heightens the tension and makes the audience wonder just how strong this guy really is since he's getting all of these other strong people to listen to his every command. This also helps keep the focus on Dodoria as he's very much the most active of Freeza's men at this point. Well, the most active that's actually still alive and a threat anyway. I might be reading too much into things, but I also can't shake this feeling that there's more going on with Gohan's angry outburst than what appears on the surface either. It's not that the scene needs further elements at play to make sense, given what he's seeing, but...I can't help but wonder if Gohan's having 'Saiyan flashbacks'. I mean, think about it. He's seeing a massive brute, Dodoria, slay various Namekians trying to defend their home, and ultimately Dodoria is about to kill an innocent child. What happened on Earth when the Saiyans attacked? Gohan saw a massive brute, slay various people trying to defend their home, and ultimately Nappa was about to kill an innocent child – Gohan himself. The similarity in scene setups are remarkable, but there's a key difference at play – Gohan had Piccolo to save him once, and his father to save him a second time. As things stand right now, this last surviving Namekian child doesn't have anyone coming to save him. While that alone is enough to enrage Gohan, I think he's seeing a lot of himself in him right now, and the situation is just hitting way too close to home for him, and as such, he blatantly refuses to stand by and watch it happen again. Thanks to the Namekian elder breaking all the Scouters, Gohan's power rising doesn't catch the attention of the villains either, and both Gohan and Kuririn are able to get the drop on them pretty quickly. It's a little surprising they're able to fly away as easily as they are, given we saw Freeza's quick draw game is pretty on point just moments earlier – another point in favor of having Dodoria kill the child instead perhaps – but there is just enough different here that it doesn't exactly strain credibility either. Freeza had already decided there wasn't anything he couldn't get out of these Namekians that he can't find for himself at this point, whereas here Gohan and Kuririn not only surprise him by coming out of nowhere, he's also extremely curious as to who they are, where they've come from, and what they're doing here. While Freeza wasn't interested in anything but the Dragon Balls before, this sudden change in things is enough to make his curiosity feel worthwhile in his mind seemingly, and let's be honest – the ball is very much in his court anyway. If he decides to take the time to figure out who they are, it's not going to delay him any further than the lack of scouters already has. 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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