Synopsis: As Kuririn gets back up from Jackie's punch, he muses about how he couldn't even see it coming. Goku shouts to him that he should be able to if he just looks real close however, because Goku himself was able to see it. As Kuririn stands back up, ready to fight, Jackie tells him he won't take it easy on him this time. He throws another punch, but this time Kuririn is able to see it, and the two clash unseen before landing in front of each other. The announcer remarks about how neither he nor the crowd could see anything, but they really haven't 'not seen' anything yet. Jackie remarks that it's been a long time since anyone's been able to match his speed, and Kuririn retorts that he's just the person to do it seeing as how he was trained by Kame-sennin. The two warriors then rush each other once more, this time landing facing away from each other. Both of them seem fine at first, but Kuririn promptly falls over, landing on his face. Kuririn is able to get back up before the ten count finishes, managing to stay in the match for a little longer. Jackie thinks to himself that maybe Kuririn really did take his training seriously, but before the match can continue, the announcer asks if he and the crowd could get a quick explanation as to what just happened. Jackie is annoyed, but agrees to explain it just this once. With the announcer's help, the two recreate their fight scene: Jackie rushed in to kick Kuririn, Kuririn dodged and tried to throw a punch, but pulls his hand back when Jackie starts to spit at him. Jackie tries to throw a punch of his own, but also pulls back when Kuririn snorts boogers at him. As the two warriors pondered strategies, Kuririn notes that up to this point, only 0.2 seconds of their clash had passed. Jackie had then challenged Kuririn to Rock-Paper-Scissors, and once he won, he tried to distract Kuririn by pointing to the right. Kuririn stubbornly looked left instead, but it still left him open to a flying kick that Jackie landed on the back of his head, and the two warriors landed, bringing us back to the present. The announcer is in disbelief that so much could have possibly happened in such a short span of time, but is thrilled that the tournament is as intense as it is. He implores the fighters to get back to the fight, but Kuririn realizes that he's outclassed by Jackie in just about every way. Left with no choice, he decides to go with plan B. He pulls out a pair of panties he'd kept in his shirt and tosses it onto the ring, and when Jackie goes for them, he kicks the elder warrior, sending him flying through the air, and seemingly out of the ring. While Goku and Kuririn celebrate Kuririn's seeming victory, Yamcha wonders how he could ever have thought someone like Jackie was actually Kame-sennin. Review: Almost the entirety of this chapter is focused on how ludicrously fast the characters are moving now, and while it does serve to hype up the fight while also getting a laugh or two, it does somewhat muddy the waters a bit in regards to later fighting. I mean, if the characters are already moving this fast NOW, just imagine how fast they're moving by the time of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai, or even much further, into the 'Z' era? That's all a problem only brought on by how much longer the series goes and only in retrospect however. For now, it's just an easy way for Toriyama to illustrate just how crazy strong these characters are. The ruse of Jackie being Kame-sennin lifts even further this time, with Jackie commenting mentally to himself on things that only make sense for him to think or say if he knows Kuririn personally. I can't help but wonder if Toriyama got feedback from his editor telling him to basically not even hide it anymore because it wasn't fooling anyone and was funnier this way anyway. The lengthy explanation for how Jackie and Kuririn fought each other in the space of just a few seconds is equal parts funny and ludicrous. My personal favorite is the exchange of spit and snot, especially the snot given that this very same arc just a few chapters ago established that Kuririn doesn't even have a nose. How did he snort out boogers without a nose? He's just that damn good. The rock-paper-scissors game where the loser is told to look in a direction and receives a hit if they do is something I've seen a lot in anime and manga, but never once in real life. It's certainly not a way that I've ever played the game, so I'm left wondering if this is a Japanese thing, or if it's something pulled from another anime or manga and is referenced in tons of later works. Or maybe we just played it wrong when I was a kid, who knows. As funny as the gag with the panties is, I have to say it – Kuririn should be disqualified. Sure, he brought the panties into the ring with him, though where, how, and why he got them in the first place is a bigger mystery, but by that same logic someone could have brought in any other sort of weapon into the ring. It was already on their person, so why would panties get a free pass? Is it only because he used them as a distraction rather than a weapon? That's just silly. Until next time! Favorite Panel:
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