Synopsis: Bulma and Kuririn wait for Goku in the pirate sub, but the quickly collapsing cave has Bulma saying they can't wait any longer. Kuririn insists that they can't abandon Goku, but Bulma says her number one priority in life is herself – a notion Kuririn doesn't really disagree with – and says that, knowing Goku, he'll be just fine. Before they leave however, Kuririn spots Goku running into the room and quickly gets his attention ,getting the young boy (who still has the mouse in his mouth) into the sub. With everyone accounted for, Bulma starts to pilot the ship out of the cave. Goku takes the mouse out and says that they're all safe now, but Bulma says they're not safe until they get back to the open sea. Even more rocks start falling as they realize the entire cavern is collapsing now, and the ship is pelted with boulders. Bulma spots a big side passage that they can probably use to get out to the sea, but even it starts to collapse as they drive through it. Suddenly, the ship comes to a stop, and Kuririn asks Bulma why they're not moving, with Bulma coming to the horrible realization that they're out of fuel. Kuririn laments that he's not ready to die before he's had his first kiss, but Goku simply hands him the mouse and tells him to take care of it. He then warns the both of them to hold their breath, and stands up on the seats before firing a Kamehameha into the water, breaking open the top of the sub but propelling them all out of the cave, into the sea, and ultimately out onto the water's surface. Goku quickly calls to kinto'un, and upon landing on it he catches Kuririn who in turn catches Bulma. They're saved! Elsewhere in the water, the scheming face of General Blue pops out of the sea. As Goku remarks that they cut it really close, Bulma says she's glad Goku is her friend, with Kuririn calling her out for being ready to abandon him before. He then laments that they lost the treasure, but Bulma laughs and pulls a big diamond out from the front of her bikini bottoms. Kuririn is amazed and says he thought it looked like her bottoms were bulging too much, and Bulma says the diamond is probably worth several billion zeni. Goku says he got the Dragon Ball as well, but is disappointed when he checks it to see that it's the three-star ball, not the four-star he was looking for. Bulma asks Goku if he's going to keep looking until he finds the one he wants, and Goku says he will. Bulma tells him to forget her helping him out any further after all of this, and Goku says she was the one who pushed to come along this time, something Bulma says she would never had done if he'd properly explained about the Red Ribbon Army. Kuririn says they should all head back to Roshi's island for now, pointing out an abandoned Red Ribbon aircraft that he and Bulma can take while Goku rides kinto'un. As the three head out, Blue crawls out of the water back onto the island and watches them leave, saying they must be heading for their secret base. Bulma gives the diamond to Kuririn as payment for losing Roshi's sub, telling him to keep the change since she's already rich and all. Kuririn sniffs the diamond, and when Bulma asks him why, he says he wondered if it smelled or something, prompting her to yell at him. Unbeknownst to the trio, Blue has taken to the sky with his own aircraft, and is following behind them. Review: If I didn't already know where the story was heading, I would almost think this chapter was finishing up the General Blue portion of the story arc. In fact, even with his reappearance here, a new reader might still be thinking we're setting Blue up to just get smacked away one last time in the following chapter. After all, we've already seen Kuririn handle him at least adequately well for a little while, we've seen Goku outright beat him save for his psychic abilities, and now he's coming to an island where both them and Roshi – not to mention potentially the blonde form of Lunch – are all hanging out at. It really seems like the odds are against him, and given Toriyama's penchant for doing the opposite of what you might expect, I can't help but wonder if this is all very intentional on his part. Needless to say, we're not quite through with Blue just yet...but again, getting ahead of ourselves. Bulma's cold-hearted willingness to leave behind Goku definitely speaks volumes about her character. She's grown quite a bit since we were first introduced to her, and she'll continue to grow throughout the series, but at the end of the day, this is who she is – someone who, 9 times out of 10, puts herself before others. She's not a complete monster by any means, but she makes no bones about being who she is either, which certainly explains a certain major life choice on her part later on. Even Kuririn though doesn't disagree that he's also the type who puts himself first when it comes down to it, and for as selfless as he himself is, Goku's not exactly a hero of justice either. No, Dragon Ball at it's core is a story about a bunch of misfits of various dubious qualities and how they somehow end up being the protectors of their planet, and it's all the more interesting because of their moral failings honestly. Even amongst all the chaos of the cave, Toriyama has clearly kept the little things in mind throughout this entire section of the story. Goku needs to get the radar fixed, so he goes to Bulma; Bulma forces herself along and shows off her shrinking wristband; Bulma gives that wristband to Roshi for a ship, and Kuririn comes along while talking about a treasure; the ship ends up being lost, but Bulma manages to snag a diamond to pay back their losses. It's a small thread that runs from beginning to end of Bulma's involvement here, linking the end of the Muscle Tower segment of the story to this one, and ultimately it leads the ending of this story to the next one as well. I will never not be impressed by Toriyama's ability to keep all of this in line while also writing by the seat of his pants. Of course, it also wouldn't be Toriyama if there wasn't a dirty joke somewhere in there, and I think Kuririn sniffing the diamond that had just recently been at Bulma's crotch speaks perfectly well for itself. Until next time! Favorite Panel:
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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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