Synopsis: Oolong, still in the form of a gigantic bull, is prepared to take Goku down when he notices the clock and realizes he's just about out of time. He hightails it to just outside of the village, transforming back into his true form – a small pig person – just before Goku follows along in hot pursuit. Oolong tells him that 'Oolong' went the other way, and his powers are explained at last: Oolong can change form as quickly and often as he wants to, but any transformation lasts for only five minutes, after which time he has to revert back to normal and rest for a full minute before he can transform again.
Goku comes back and tells the villagers that Oolong ran away, and Oolong realizes this could ruin the sweet deal he has going here. He decides to up the ante to really scare Goku, and turns into a giant robot holding a bowl of soup, threatening to eat Goku like ramen. Goku's unimpressed however, and in his bluster Oolong burns his thumb in the soup. One of the village's children chooses then to fight back and slingshots a rock into the back of Oolong's head, hurting him enough to prompt chastisement from both Oolong and the boy's mother. All of this causes Goku to ask if Oolong is actually a weakling, a fact that Oolong fervently denies. He asks if Goku is tough himself, to which Goku says his grandpa taught him martial arts. Oolong pulls out three bricks and asks Goku if he's strong enough to break them with his bare hands, and Goku says he can do it with just one finger before proceeding to do just that. Faced with an opponent he can't just scare away...Oolong turns into a bat and flees himself. Goku calls down kinto'un and chases after Oolong as the villagers realize they'd been duped all along. Realizing he's about to be caught, Oolong turns into a rocket in an effort to get away, but he runs out of time and reverts to his true form, having to be saved in mid-air by Goku. Captured and with no other choice, Oolong leads everyone back to his hiding place where he's kept the kidnapped girls. As it turns out however, all the money he'd extorted has proven to make for quite the elegant lifestyle for the girls, which is why Oolong was going for a more 'shy' type of girl this time. Now with five Dragon Balls to their name, Goku and Bulma set out onto the road once again, this time by boat. Joining them in their journey now is Oolong, whom Bulma has forced to come with them, thinking his transformation powers could come in handy. Review: I love Oolong. He's such a fun little asshole of a character to have around, and while some of the things he does at this point in time are far more questionable overall, his overall perverseness is less awkwardly handled than Kame-sennin's is at times, making him somewhat less abrasive of a character. It also helps that Naoki Tatsuta, his Japanese voice actor, is absolutely phenomenal, and wildly underrated by fans. I mentioned before that Oolong's dub voices have often opted for a more chain-smoker, middle-aged guy kind of sound, but in Japanese it's a much squeakier kind of voice befitting of his character design. At any rate, while Goku and Oolong never really come to blows as it were, this fight still marks the first time that Goku faces an opponent with any sort of special move. Oolong's transformations are usually quite cleverly designed, with some remnant of his face to let you know it's him, while also showing that he's not really the greatest at it. Honestly though, having the limitation of five minutes makes his power more interesting than if he had it fully at is beck and call in my opinion. It certainly provides more room for gags. It's a bit of a shame that Oolong's bravado doesn't really stick around after this chapter. I guess it'd be hard for him to act all high and mighty when everyone else in the cast knows what he's really like, but his banter here when he's trying to act tough is hilarious. We don't really get anything quite on this level until Mr. Satan, and that's a long, long time from now. It's also pretty funny to see the village's disbelief that they were ever scared of Oolong at all. What, did none of them ever even try even once to fight him off? Guess his bravado's easier to buy into when there's not a main character around or something. It does sort of make you wonder if this is the first village Oolong has done this to as well, or if there have been other villages that he's terrorized for a while before moving on to the next. The reveal that the girls Oolong kidnapped are the ones who have, in the end, taken advantage of him in a way is the perfect payoff to make what could have been a really uncomfortable resolution funny instead. It also allows Oolong to just be extra pitiful rather than monstrous, making his inclusion in the group easier to stomach. A shame that inclusion won't be easier on HIS stomach, ultimately...Until next time! Favorite Panel:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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
Categories
All
|