Synopsis: With Giran resignation, the announcer officially declares Goku the winner, and comments how unbelievable it is that the tournament has two semi-finalists who are so young. Bulma, Oolong, and Puar however are more worried about what Goku's tail growing back could mean. Kuririn himself is surprised that Goku never mentioned having a tail before, but Goku's just happy to see it back.
The announcer decides to do a quick interview with the two young fighters, first asking for their ages. Kuririn is revealed to be 13, whereas Goku – once he figures out what a microphone is – reveals that he's 12. Kuririn calls him out for previously saying he was 13, but Roshi apparently taught Goku more proper math and he learned that he's actually only 12, a fact Bulma thinks explains why he was never interested in her. The announcer then asks Goku if his tail is real, something Kuririn doubts with how quickly it grew, but Goku drops his pants and shows the entire crowd that his tail is indeed real. The announcer tries to salvage the interview by asking Kuririn about the uniform both he and Goku are wearing, asking what dojo they train at. Kuririn reveals that they've been trained by Kame-sennin, a revelation that stuns both the crowd and the announcer As Jackie Chun and Yamcha listen from backstage, Jackie is pleased at first to hear such praise of Kame-sennin, but almost falls over when the announcer's takeaway is disbelief that he could still be alive at his age. Yamcha approaches Jackie and asks him if he's really the turtle hermit, but Jackie emphatically says that he's Jackie Chun. Yamcha says he must be Roshi, due to their similar appearances, their skill, and the way they act around women. As Jackie ignores him and heads out to the stage when it's time for the fight to begin, Yamcha wonders if it's all just a coincidence after all. He decides to watch the match very closely however. Jackie asks the announcer if he wants to interview him as well, and the announcer says no, but Jackie grabs the microphone out of his hands anyway. After an incredibly awkward song and dance routine, which Goku joins him in, the announcer is finally able to get Jackie to take the stage, and his fight with Kuririn begins. The fight starts somewhat equally, with Kuririn launching attacks fast enough that Jackie can barely dodge them, eventually having to block a blow instead. Jackie is impressed, but when the two fighters separate, he gets serious, launching a punch so fast that nobody can see it. Kuririn is knocked into the ring's back wall, bleeding from where his nose would be. Review: While this chapter touts itself as beginning the next match, it's really more of a transitional chapter. We do get a little bit of the fight at the very end, but it's more concerned with answering a few questions, introducing a retcon, and setting the stage for where the rest of the tournament will go from here. Other than the obvious reminder of what Goku's tail coming back could mean, the first thing brought to the table in this chapter is the retcon of Goku's age. We never had Kuririn's age stated previously I don't think, but we did have Goku's, way back in the first arc. There, Goku himself stated that he was 14, which prompted Bulma to get angry at him for being so casual around her while she was in the tub. Now however, Goku says that he's 12. While not knowing math and thus being incorrect about his age is totally in character for Goku, the way it's being used here is a little bit odd, at least in retrospect. Goku's indifference to Bulma was played at the time as if he just wasn't the type to be interested in girls, but now it's almost as if the story's trying to imply that it has more to do with his young age. That's certainly how Bulma's taking the revelation at any rate. As we'll see as the series continues though, Goku's age has nothing to do with his lack of interest in the opposite sex – he's just Goku. It's also possible that Toriyama was concerned with Goku growing up too fast if he kept him at his originally stated age. Either way, Goku's 12 now. Surely this'll be the only time there'll be questions as to his exact age in relation to the story. This chapter continues the 'mystery' of whether Jackie Chun is indeed Kame-sennin or not, but unlike the previous chapters, I'm actually sort of warming up to the obviousness of it this time around. Unlike with the Lunch gag or the previous handful of chapters, this one seems to gleefully relish in the fact that it's such an obvious mystery. You can practically hear Toriyama going 'Of COURSE Jackie Chun is Roshi, the disguise is so awful it's hilarious, right?'. And, admittedly, the series acknowledging how silly this premise is actually does make a world of difference to how enjoyable it is, at least to me. It's now treating it in a very tongue-in-cheek manner rather than acting like it's actually fooling us when it's not and it never was. This does unfortunately leave Yamcha looking even more like an idiot when he starts to doubt his certainty that Jackie is Roshi however. His fall from grace continues. Jackie's routine once he takes the mic away from the announcer is so...so awkward, to the point that I can't tell if I love it or hate it. It's padding to be sure, and once again I'm left feeling like the only reason it's here is to hit the page count needed for a chapter, but I do get a laugh out of how the announcer just stares in confusion afterward only to immediately get the story back on track in the very next panel. So, job well done, awkward gag? Once the fighting gets going, we're introduced for the very first time to the idea of a character moving so fast that other characters can't even see them. It's practically become a battle shonen trope at this point, and it's certainly one for Dragon Ball, as we'll see this gimmick used time and time again to indicate how incredbly fast someone is moving. After a while you have to start wondering how anything in this series is visible. Thank goodness it is though, or else we'd be bored. Until next time! Favorite Panel:
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