Synopsis: Goku's training continues as he once again spars with Mr. Popo, and still finds himself unable to actually land a blow on Popo at all, even when using what he's learned thus far. Popo says that Goku has gotten stronger but only a little bit, and tells him that today, Goku will be starting another new training regiment. Leading Goku to another part of the sanctuary, Popo first makes Goku a new gi to replace his damaged one, saying that it's important to approach this new training with a new mindset. He then leads Goku to a room filled with clock faces, called the Room of Time. Popo explains that all of time is connected in this room, and as such, Goku will be able to travel through time and meet a strong person who will help Goku learn something. Goku asks if this person is really that strong, and Popo says he'll understand once he meets him. Popo sets one of the clock faces to a particular time, and Goku then falls through a hole that opens up, seemingly plummeting through time itself. Elsewhere, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Kuririn continue their own training, marching up a mountain while carrying large boulders upon their backs. Roshi's advice echoes in their minds, and Tenshinhan breaks his boulder with his fist, saying that at this rate, they'll never be able to catch up to Goku. Back at Kame House, Bulma and the others wonder how everyone is doing, with Bulma hoping they don't hurt themselves trying to hard. Roshi scoffs and says that at their age, worrying about getting hurt should be the last thing on their minds. Puar asks Roshi what kind of training he went through when he was young, and Roshi describes his training under Mutaito as a daily hell. Bulma asks if this was back when Tsuru-sennin was training with them as well, and Roshi confirms it, saying that the Crane Hermit has been a pompous jerk for as long as he can remember. Roshi boasts that in comparison, he was a much better student, and soon became renowned for his skill, with Bulma wondering how he ended up becoming just a dirty old man after all that. Everyone's concern turns towards Goku next, as they hope he's doing well in Heaven as well. The scene changes to a young man in sunglasses trying to peep on a girl bathing in a hot spring. His attempts to peek are soon interrupted by Goku falling from the sky on top of him, alerting the woman to their presence before she mistakenly thinks what she heard was a nearby monkey. The man chastises Goku, telling him he needs to be more careful when he's trying to be a peeping tom. Goku thinks the man seems familiar, and he introduces himself as Turtle-chan, thinking Goku must have heard of him due to his fighting prowess. Goku is surprised to hear he's a fighter as well, and when Turtle-chan mentions that he trains under Mutaito, Goku asks if that guy's really strong, prompting Turtle-chan to be outraged that Goku's never heard of the greatest martial artist in the world. Hearing such praise of him, Goku resolves to fight Mutaito, a notion that Turtle-chan finds laughable. Changing the subject, Turtle-chan asks Goku if he got a look at Fanfan's boobs before she left, but their conversation is soon interrupted by a pebble striking the back of Turtle-chan's head. The rock is soon shown to have been thrown by a man Turtle-chan refers to as Crane, with his two henchmen in tow. The henchmen accuse Turtle-chan of peeping at the girl who will someday be Crane's wife, a notion that Turtle-chan scoffs at, saying Fanfan would never fall for a guy like him. Crane says those are strong words coming from a weakling, and the two prepare to fight, only for Turtle-chan to fake back pain to get out of fighting. Goku finally figures out who that Turtle-chan reminds him of Kame-sennin, and Turtle-chan objects to being compared to some old man when he's only eighteen. At Mutaito's dojo, Turtle-chan introduces Goku to his master. Mutaito asks Goku where he trains, and when Goku says he's currently training with Kami-sama in heaven, all of the other students laugh at him. Mutaito asks Goku for his name, and Goku introduces himself before asking Mutaito to fight with him. Crane interjects saying that Goku wouldn't stand a chance, but Mutaito accepts his challenge, sensing that Goku is a true martial artist. Crane offers to fight in his stead, but Mutaito tells him to step back as he wants to fight Goku himself – besides, he feels that Goku is likely too much for Crane to handle. Goku gets into fighting position and asks Mutaito why he isn't doing the same, but Mutaito says he's been in position ever since Goku entered the room. With that, Goku launches an attack on the sitting Mutaito, but soon finds all of his blows blocked easily. As Turtle-chan, Crane, and the rest of the students marvel at how fast Goku is, Goku soon finds himself outmatched, barely able to dodge one of Mutaito's attacks before Mutaito flanks him, ending up catching up to Goku and knocking him backward with only a finger. Goku is amazed by how strong Mutaito is, but Mutaito says that it's Goku who possesses rare speed and power. Goku wonders how Mutaito was able to knock him back so easily by barely even touching him, and Mutaito explains that he used his ki, the energy that every living being possesses, saying that if Goku trains hard enough, he should be able to use it as well. Mutaito leads Goku and Turtle-chan to a waterfall, and asks Goku if he can cut it. Goku is confused, and Mutaito gives him an example, swiping his hand upward and causing the waterfall to split into two separate waterfalls temporarily. Mutaito instructs Goku to concentrate all of his energy into one fist until he's able to do the same. Watching from behind the rocks, Crane is infuriated to see his master teaching an outsider something more advanced than he's ever been taught. As Goku tries to do what Mutaito showed him, he proves unable to, and a watching Turtle-chan tells him that just because it was simple for Mutaito doesn't mean it'll come easily for anyone else. As Turtle-chan takes a nap, Fanfan washes clothes in a nearby river with her grandmother, only for one of her shirts to get away from her and end up going over the waterfall. Goku fishes the shirt out of the water and returns it to her when she comes looking for it, and an awakening Turtle-chan uses this chance to try to impress her, saying that he's teaching the young Goku all he knows about martial arts. Fanfan isn't impressed however, and leaves after wiping away some of Goku's sweat for him. A watching Crane scowls as he watches Turtle-chan follow after Fanfan, and he and his goons soon catch up with her. Crane asks Fanfan for a response to his love letter, and Fanfan turns him down, saying that people like him really aren't her type. Crane's toadies are outraged and ask her what her type is then – surely not someone like that twerp (Goku) she was just talking to. Fanfan messes with them by saying that he was pretty cute, causing Crane to demand that she agree to be his girlfriend, and when Fanfan mocks him, he knocks her out with a punch to the stomach. Outraged, Turtle-chan moves in to stop him but gets knocked back, and Crane gives him a message to pass on to Goku: come to the harvest field. Elsewhere, Tenshinhan and the others have made camp when Tenshinhan suggests they go meet this Karin person that Goku trained with before, as it might help their own training. Turtle-chan quickly grabs Goku and rushes with him towards the harvest field to rescue Fanfan, and they find Crane waiting for them there. Crane attacks Goku viciously, but quickly proves unable to land a single blow on the boy. When Goku hits him, Crane points out Fanfan tied to a tree with one of his henchmen pointing a knife at her, telling Goku that she's dead if Goku so much as moves again. Goku allows Crane to pummel him, but much to Crane's annoyance, nothing he does is enough to put Goku down for good. Left with no other choice, Crane has his henchman light the grass on fire, surrounding Goku and Turtle-chan with flames. Turtle-chan resigns himself to his demise, but Goku remembers what Mutaito told him about focusing his energy, and uses the waterfall splitting technique to create a path through the flames. Waking up at last, Fanfan incapacitates one of Crane's men with a kick to the groin, and as the other prepares to hit her, he finds his fist stopped by Mutaito. Facing with both Goku and Turtle-chan now, Crane tries to leave but is stopped by Mutaito, who gives him a choice – he can either leave, or he can start over all of his training from square one. Crane is outraged, but accepts the offer to start his training over again. Mutaito apologizes for the trouble that his student has caused Goku, but Goku isn't fazed at all. Turtle-chan tells Goku he was really impressed to see what he did before, and vows to train really hard and surpass Goku one day. Fanfan says that if Turtle-chan keeps that promise, she'll wipe his sweat off for him, greatly thrilling the young fighter. Mutaito chuckles, and Goku and Turtle-chan return to the waterfall, only to find that Goku hasn't quite mastered what he did before as he can't get the waterfall to split at all. A watching Kami and Popo can't decide if Goku has promise or not, as they watch him train alongside the young Turtle-chan to try to split the waterfall. Review: This is a really hard episode for me to judge honestly. On the one hand, it continues what Goku has been doing for the past couple of episodes, by trying to teach him to better control what he already has in is fighting arsenal – this time though, the focus switches from improving his movements to improving his ki control. On the other hand however, it doesn't really explain it's goals as clearly as the previous two episodes, and as such comes off a little less focused in comparison. That said, we get quite a bit more compelling group of “new” characters to follow in this one, which makes for a more entertaining romp even if that might also be part of the reason the episode's lesson is slightly more muddled. It's really fun to see a young Kame-sennin – or as he calls himself in this episode, Turtle-chan, proving that he's been known by some moniker related to Turtles for some time now, rather than whatever his real name is – and Tsuru-sennin, not to mention their master Mutaito. These are characters who's pasts are largely shrouded in mystery outside the most basic moments the series usually makes mention of, so it's nice to see at least a little bit more of them in action. At the same time though, I really can't shake the feeling that them being characters we have an attachment to on some level is why the episode feels a bit distracted. There are moments where it feels almost more like it wants to revel in showing us these characters, in particular the younger Kame-sennin, rather than focusing on Goku's growth as a character. It pulls things back in the right direction as it moves along, but it always feels like it wants to show us more of Turtle-chan instead. Which, again, is nice, it's something we don't really get to see much of – but this feels like maybe the wrong time to give it to us? That said, it is interesting to see what a different person the younger Kame-sennin was compared to the old man we've known for so long now. Oh he's still a perverted letch – something that seems to go against previously established comments from the sea turtle and the fact that he could ride kinto'un – but here he's seemingly far less sure of himself in a fight despite boasting about his skill, as he does everything he can to avoid actually fighting Crane. It's somewhat implied that his interactions with Goku are what lead him to become a more serious martial artist, but it's hard to say how seriously we can take that given...well, time travel. The time room itself is an interesting mechanic, and it's one we'll see revisited in another filler episode in Z (though it shouldn't be confused with a similarly named room that will become pretty important far later in the Z era). It's certainly more mystical in nature than the random teleportation machine at the sanctuary, though I'd wager that while that actually takes Goku somewhere in the world that actually exists, this room just recreates a simulation of the past – especially given it's ability to leave Earth entirely in that later filler episode. All things told though, it's still an entertaining episode to watch, even with these faults, and it's always nice to see emphasis placed on how ki channeling actually works as opposed to it just happening as will become more and more common place as the series progresses. I wish we could have seen more done with that element of the episode, but it is what it is. Until next time! Favorite Scene: Goku's interactions with Mutaito when first meeting him are fun, particularly their short sparring match. Next Time: Goku V.S. ...Goku!?
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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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