Synopsis: Goku charges head-first into Red Ribbon HQ on kinto-un, shocking Red and Black who watch from their security screen. Red doesn't understand how Goku can even be here, and Black says that it must mean, improbable as it sounds, that Goku defeated Taopaipai. Red orders his men not to let Goku set even one toe inside their facility, but it's too late – Goku has already landed on a building's roof, and following that, proceeds to follow his radar, heading towards the two Dragon Balls the Army has and plowing through any and all soldiers that get in his way.
Eventually the Army realizes that Goku is indeed headed straight for their Dragon Balls, much to Red's outrage. Black asks Red to evacuate into their underground bunker just in case, but Red finds it ludicrous that he'd need to hide from a child. Black reminds him that this is a child that defeated Taopaipai, but Red insists that their army is unstoppable. It seems to be Goku that's unstoppable however, as even a direct shot from Red Ribbon sniper fails to do more than make him mad. As he storms his way into the tower his radar is pointing towards, a soldier informs Red and Black that they've already lost half their forces at this point, outraging Red who says he and Black will go to the tower themselves. At Kame House, Yamcha has finally arrived with an aircraft and is picking up Lunch (still in her blonde form), Bulma, Roshi, and Turtle to take with him, Oolong, and Puar, to go rescue Goku. Bulma and Oolong object once aboard, saying this is a job for experienced fighters, but Yamcha says they're going to need all the help they can get – besides, Goku has saved the lives of everyone on the plane at least once. When the Turtle asks how he can help, Yamcha asks Roshi where Kuririn is, and Roshi says he went swimming to another island to get some groceries since they no longer had a vehicle. The gang looks to the water below to keep an eye out for him, as Yamcha thinks he's more than strong enough to be a big help. As Red and Black get to the tower, Red swears that he won't let anybody touch his Dragon Balls. Black cautions him that things don't look very good, as Goku has proven to be powerful beyond belief, and they've already lost most of their top operatives to him even before this point. Yamcha and the others have finally found Kuririn, who is in disbelief over what Goku is doing. Lunch says her trigger finger is getting itchy, and Kuririn asks her to please not transform back to her kinder, blue-haired form, as for once they actually need her like this. Yamcha asks Puar about how long it should take them to get to Red Ribbon HQ, and Puar says about 40 minutes. Back at Red Ribbon HQ, Goku continues to tear his way through soldier after soldier, having now made his way to the tower. The radar tells him the Dragon Balls are further up, but he can't find any stairs anywhere (not even recognizing a nearby elevator). Goku simply leaps from the floor and breaks through the ceiling to get to the next floor, catching the guards who had been waiting and watching the elevator off-guard. Watching this via another security screen, Red scowls and says he refuses to let the Red Ribbon Army be defeated by a brat that doesn't even know what an elevator is. Review: This chapter right here is why I love this final section of the story so much. It's short-lived, even more-so here in the manga, but I absolutely love the imagery of Goku, a little kid (even one that we already know well to be absurdly strong), just absolutely tearing through an evil armed force. It manages to be powerful and striking even though we've seen Goku tear through similar mooks before, because this time the level to which he's outnumbered is completely absurd. Granted, we never get to see exactly how many Red Ribbon soldiers are left at this point, but if they're as terrifying a force as the story has lead us to believe? There's bound to be hundreds, possibly even thousands, of these guys. And Goku just runs right through all of them. Absolutely amazing. These sections of the chapter are punctuated by commentary by Red and Black who cannot believe what they're seeing, which makes for a fun counter-balance to Goku's friends – in this scenario, it's Goku's enemies who have a much better idea of what he's capable of than his own friends do. As amusing and enjoyable as this is though, this does mark the beginning of Goku starting to pull so far ahead of his friends that the chances of them ever catching up becomes incredibly unlikely, and that is a shame in it's own way. The gap will only get further and further with new training regiments from here forward, and considering how relatively uninvolved the core cast has been much of the time, it's even sadder. Ironically, they'll all start to get more screen time and involvement in the story overall once they're completely eclipsed in strength – weird how that works, isn't it? As good as this chapter is, it really doesn't give me a lot to talk about sadly, as a good chunk of it's pages are dedicated to imagery of Goku mowing down Red Ribbon soldiers – but when it's so enjoyable to read, it doesn't really matter if it's not too deep on this occasion. Go read this chapter for yourself and just bask in the glory of it all, you absolutely won't regret it. 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
September 2022
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