Synopsis: Goku's transformation into a giant ape has left the crowd speechless and the announcer wondering if this is some sort of technique, but Goku's oldest friends know better. As the ape breaks free from the Bankoku-Bikkuri-Shou, it lands back on the ring and starts to smash the building behind it, stomping and throwing pieces of building around like toys. The crowd starts to scatter, with only Goku's friends and the announcer remaining, while Jackie frets about not being able to run away without getting disqualified for leaving the ring. Kuririn shouts to Goku that he can transform back now before he ends up killing the whole audience, but Goku throws a piece of building at him. Yamcha tells Kuririn that it's no good, when he's like this, Goku becomes a real monster. Hearing this, Jackie thinks that there's only one way for him to put a stop to this before someone gets hurt, or worse. Yamcha tells Puar to turn into a sword and cut off Goku's tail when he grabs it, but Oolong stops them, saying that it looks like Jackie Chun has a plan of his own. Taking off his shirt and buffing out (as Roshi did at Fry-Pan Mountain), he yells that he's going to use a Kamehameha at full power. Yamcha yells that that will probably kill Goku and tries to run in to stop Jackie, but it's too late. The Kamehameha fires, Goku and the arena are enveloped in light, and a loud cracking noise fills the air. As the dust settles, Jackie laments that he had no choice and this was the only way. To the horror of Goku's friends, Goku is nowhere to be seen, seemingly blown away by the Kamehameha...and killed. Review: Well, this chapter took a darker turn than one would have expected from the series up to this point, didn't it? While we certainly had Goku and his friends in danger in the first arc, the source of the danger was usually still just silly enough to not be taken too seriously. By the time they got to the Pilaf crew, not only were those villains not the most threatening in the world, the real threat turned out to be from Goku himself. Even once that threat was established however, it was dealt with quickly enough and in a peaceful enough way that there was never any true feeling of how dire the situation was. Here, that situation is inverted. There's no quest for anything here, there's no villain – hell, even our main antagonist at this point is also one of the good guys – this was just a competition to test their skills out in. And yet, it's seemingly ended in the death of our main character? Talk about mood whiplash. Granted, I can't say for sure how likely it is that a lot of people, even kids, would have thought Goku was actually dead here or not, but the way the scene is set up, especially with how it ends the chapter with a cliffhanger, is definitely designed in a way to try and make you feel like it was possible. It certainly would have gotten people talking at the time if nothing else, I'm sure. That's jumping ahead a bit though, because before Goku's seeming demise, he realy should have been disqualified already. Nothing was ever stated as such, but I can't imagine attacking the audience isn't considered a violation, and the way Goku's throwing around pieces of building, someone is sure to get hurt. There's also the fact that, while he somehow miraculously lands in the ring and not outside of it when he first transforms, his foot is shown going through the building next to the ring. That's clearly a ring-out. Once again, Goku is saved from losing the boring way by plot armor. In the ensuing chaos, it's understandable enough that none of Goku's friends wonder where Roshi has ended up once Goku transforms, but you'd think that at least Yamcha, who was the most skeptical of Jackie Chun in the first place, would have reverted back to thinking he was Roshi once he sees him transform. Unless Yamcha now thinks all old martial arts masters can take on huge muscular forms, which at this point... On the other end, Toriyama actually shows a bit of brilliance himself by showing the true target of Roshi's Kamehameha in the same panel as the ape Goku, but I'll touch on that next chapter as it's a whole discussion in of itself. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Goku's dea – wait, no, false alarm.
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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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