Synopsis: Goku wakes up for another day of training at Kami's sanctuary and begins meditating, but Mr. Popo tells him he hasn't fully mastered what he should be doing yet. As they speak, Popo waters the flower beds around the sanctuary, instantly bringing drooping flowers back to life with 'the water of life' that can grant life to anything. Popo suddenly has an idea and offers Goku a new form of training – a sparring partner. Goku likes that idea, so Popo says he'll bring him by shortly. When Goku asks if this opponent is good, Popo assures him that he'll match Goku's skills perfectly. Popo then takes a hair from Goku's head, and leaves the boy to meditate while Popo goes to 'retrieve' his sparring partner. In another room of the sanctuary however, Popo builds a doll out of clay, and sticks Goku's hair into it's chest. Down on the Earth, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, Kuririn, and Chaozu jog towards the land of Karin with the intention of scaling Karin's tower and receiving the same training that Goku did previously. As they race past people and even a car, they eventually come to a large mountain they'll have to climb first as well, with Kuririn vowing not to lose to Chaozu (who can fly). Mr. Popo finishes working on the doll he was working on, and it follows him out of the back of the sanctuary, where he introduces it to an impatient Goku. Goku has his doubts and asks Goku if this opponent is really that strong, and Popo assures him that he'll find out when they fight. Popo says the pair will fight until one of them is unable to continue, and Goku and the doll begin their fight, with the doll almost perfectly mirroring Goku's fighting style. Goku is surprised to find his opponent's power, speed, and technique are almost exactly like his own, but notices one difference right away – he's getting out of breath due to the thin air, while his opponent isn't. As the two start to fight again, Mr. Popo pops a balloon, distracting Goku long enough for the doll to knock Goku down, with Popo chastising the boy and telling him not to get distracted. Goku decides to up the ante and moves fast enough to leave behind multiple after-images, but his opponent sees through them and hits the real Goku, knocking him down again. The doll continues to surprise Goku, but nothing surprises him more than when he knock's it's mask off and sees his own face looking back at him. Popo reveals the origin of Goku's opponent to him, and the fight continues, with Goku at first faring no better than he did before. Popo listens as the two move fast enough to be unseen and clash violently, but eventually the doll gets the better of Goku yet again. Goku finds that he can't read any of the doll's movements even though it seems to be able to read his, and Popo says it's due to ki – with Goku so full of bloodlust in the fight, even the doll can tell what he's going to do before he does it. Deciding to try something different, Goku zips around the doll in an effort to confuse it, and then tries attacking from far away, launching a Kamehameha at the doll. To his surprise however, his attack catches only an afterimage, before the doll reappears and appears to be firing a Kamehameha of it's own. Goku attacks, but that too proves to be an afterimage as the doll appears from above and knocks him to the floor. Goku says the doll is way stronger than him, but Popo says that the doll has the same level of strength that Goku does – it just has a far clearer mind, free from distractions, making it what Goku could be if he masters his training. Popo says that if Goku can do that, then he wouldn't lose to the doll. Goku says he doesn't understand what Popo is saying, but he refuses to give up, and gets back up to attack the doll. Popo tells Goku that giving up and relying on brute force won't work, and again urges him to calm his mind. Goku tries to empty his mind, but only succeeds in blanking out and getting hit by the doll. The fight continues long into the day, and as the sun begins to set, Popo warns Goku that at this rate, he's going to get killed by his own doll. Goku finds himself at the edge of the sanctuary, unable to think of any way to defend as the doll rushes him – but to his surprise, his body moves on it's own, punching the doll back. As Goku marvels at this, the doll gets back up and attacks again, with Goku barely being able to dodge back onto the sanctuary. Popo notes that after his one brief success, Goku's mind is now flustered as he tries desperately to remember what he just did. As he focuses, Goku can sense the doll's approach, and dodges instinctively out of the way before pummeling it with a series of blows, sending it flying. Goku is happy, thinking that he's finally mastered controlling his ki, but Popo says that's not the case, pointing out that the water's effect on the doll has worn off, as it's body returns to motionless clay. Goku is disappointed that he wasn't able to conceal his ki after all, and Popo tells the boy he still has a long way to go yet, as he falls to the ground and falls asleep, utterly exhausted. Down on the Earth, Goku's friends continue their journey towards Karin's tower to continue their own training, as the future of Goku's own training continues to be in doubt. Review: After three really good episodes following Goku's training, I think we've finally hit a point where they're not getting as much mileage out of it as they were before. This episode has more outright fighting than any of the previous three, and there is some pretty great choreography between Goku and his doll's clashes, but overall? It just feels underwhelming. That said, Popo's lesson that he's wanting to teach Goku, which all still ties back to him quieting his mind, is still an interesting one. We're beginning to see how all of that ties together now – if Goku can keep from getting distracted and react without thinking, he'll move much quicker, but he'll move only when needed. He won't make wasted movements that expend energy needlessly, and he won't make movements that will give away what he's doing to his opponent. He'll be able to control his energy as well, and get the drop on them when they least expect it, while also masking his movements better that way as well. These are all great, martial arts philosophy lessons for Goku to learn. But after three episodes of seeing him kind of get it, only for it to end every time with him not quite getting it after all...it all just starts to feel mundane. And that's really unfortunate, as actually seeing the training rather than skipping right over it is usually one of the more fun parts of filler like this. I think it comes down to the fact that Goku's just not getting any wins here. He's constantly on the backfoot, constantly not figuring out what it is Popo's trying to teach him, and when it's largely the same lesson but approached different ways? It gets tedious seeing Goku not improve much for four episodes in a row. I think this episode could have been saved at least a little bit by changing just the very ending of it. Let Goku actually have figured out how to quiet his mind, but have Popo tell him not to get too happy with himself, as now he expects Goku to be able to do that more often and much easier. This would allow Goku to still have a ways to go, without making his 'win' at the end entirely a fluke where he's learned nothing. Beyond all of that though, I do like the idea of the weird training doll. Having Goku fight himself is a pretty unique way of showing him what he could be if he can just master his own powers, while also seeming to further set the precedent that the best training happens when there's at least one training partner involved, so there's not much to dislike with this part of the episode. It just isn't enough to save it overall. I can't help but wonder if the staff also started to realize they'd taken this train of thought with Goku, the 'we'll show him training but not actually improving yet' thing, about as far as they could too, because now with the next episode, we'll be switching to following Kuririn and the others instead. I honestly don't remember if we even SEE Goku in the next two episodes, and if we don't, that's a really rare feat that almost never happens. Until next time! Favorite Scene: Kuririn and the others passing a driver on the road while running is pretty great. Especially love the snippet of one of Kame-sennin's characters songs on the guy's radio. Next Time: Alright, enough about Goku – what are Kuririn and the others up to?
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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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