Synopsis: With Goku stuck in his gum, Giran tells him that struggling is useless, as his movements will just make the gum stick to him even worse. Taking advantage of the situation, Giran strikes Goku hard on top of the head before picking him up and lifting him over his own head. He tosses Goku up into the air and out of the ring, and it looks like this is it for Goku, as once he lands outside of the ring, he'll have lost the match. Thinking quickly, Goku calls for kinto'un, and the cloud zooms to his rescue, catching him before he can hit the ground and depositing him back on the stage. Giran is outraged and demands to know if that's allowed – surely using that cloud counts as using a tool, right? Goku questions Giran's own flying and the gum, but Giran defends them as being part of his body, as even the gum was something that he spit up. After talking it over with the head monk, the announcer says they'll make a one time exception, but Goku is forbidden from using the kinto'un a second time. If he does, he'll be disqualified. This works well enough for Giran, as he still has Goku trapped in his gum. All he has to do is knock him out, a task that he thinks couldn't be any easier. He brings back his fist, intending to hit Goku as hard as he can, but when his swing is done, it connects with nothing but air. He looks around, trying to find where Goku disappeared to, only to find that the boy is hanging from his arm...by a tail? Goku is excited to see that his tail has grown back at long last, while Kuririn and Jackie Chun are mystified by it, and Yamcha and the others are horrified since they know what the tail can mean. Goku happily drops to the ring, thinking that he has a chance now. First, he has to get out of the gum though. He flexes his muscles as hard as he can, eventually breaking the gum apart, to Giran's horror. Deciding to test how strong he is now that his tail's back, Goku uses it to propel himself into a kick at the wall off the stage, and breaks it apart easily. He then turns his attention back towards Giran, ready to resume the fight, but Giran is waving a white flag in defeat. Goku wins his match and proceeds to the next round of the Tenkaichi Budokai, though Bulma and the others worry about when the next full moon is... Review: Picking up exactly where the last chapter left off, the rest of this fight is, honestly, not as good as the first half. It's got way too many plot contrivances that only work out in Goku's favor due to him being the main character, rather than things that actually make a lot of narrative sense. Right off the bat, there's him getting tossed out of the arena. I mentioned before that I had a slight problem with Giran's non-ring-out for this same reason, but Goku's case is even worse because he only avoids ring-out by calling in kinto'un. If I had to guess, this was mostly done to keep readers on the edge of their seats as to how Goku was going to get out of this, but also to remind kids of the cloud's existence – we haven't seen it since the very start of this arc after all. That still doesn't really make this much better though. Goku most definitely used an outside tool here, so by all counts, he should be disqualified at this point. The reasoning behind him not being rung out is basically 'rule of cool', and while there are some situations where that's enough of a reason for something to happen, I don't think it's strong enough here to really excuse this. Sorry guys, Goku lost in the first round of the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai. Pack it up. The series is over. I will say that Giran's defense of his own wings and gum in comparison to Goku's kinto'un use is entirely justified as well. I only have a slight problem with Giran flying back into the arena, I have a much bigger one with Goku's kinto'un use. The gum doesn't bother me at all personally, I look at that more as an ability no different than if Goku fired off a Kamehameha in the match. When we then return to the fight, it's basically just one punch thrown that doesn't connect, then afterwards a kick thrown that's not even aimed at the opponent. The best parts of this fight have already happened sadly. Now, let's talk about Goku's tail growing back. This is also a plot contrivance, but this one doesn't bother me nearly as much. It's unexpected, sure, since the closest thing to Goku and his tail, a monkey, can't just magically grow theirs back if they're cut off. It also requires a pretty big suspension of disbelief that his tail grew back, all at once and not gradually, right at the exact moment it was needed. All of that definitely counts against it. Unlike kinto'un though, it's not really cheating, or giving Goku a way to stay in the match that's not deserved. It's something he already had as a part of his body at the very start of the series, and it's simply grown back now. It's not a tool in any way shape or form. It's definitely something completely legal to the rules of the tournament. This one gets a pass, mostly. The differing reactions to Goku's tail are all pretty amusing as well. Goku is of course just happy to see the thing, especially since it instantly seems to make him feel stronger than he did before. Giran and Kuririn are all just confused as to what just happened, as is the rest of the Budokai audience and staff, as there was no way for them to know Goku ever even had a tail since it wouldn't have ever come up – though you would have thought it would have come up in conversation at some point while Goku and Kuririn were training. “Jackie Chun” knew about the tail but has no knowledge of the real reason it was cut off or why it coming back could be a bad thing. Yamcha, Bulma, Oolong, and Puar however know exactly how bad this could be, as evidenced by the latter trio fearing for the next full moon. This was definitely a chapter of highs and lows, far from the worst, but definitely not the best writing in the grand scheme of things. Let's hope the second round picks things back up as the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai continues onward. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Kuririn V.S. Totally Not Roshi
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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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