Synopsis: As Gyumao continues running for his life and to save his late wife's wedding dress from the fires engulfing his home, Goku and Chi Chi fly on kinto'un to an ice-covered mountain said to have something to do with the Basho Fan. As they get near the summit, a snowstorm suddenly kicks up and knocks them from the cloud, sending them crash-landing into a nearby forest and right in front of an old lady's home. The frozen couple introduces themselves to the old lady, who likewise introduces herself as the 'Octagon Woman'. The pair immediately wonder if this is who Baba meant all along and if the Basho Fan is finally close at hand. The Octagon Woman takes the pair inside to warm up, and informs Goku that the reason the snowstorm kicked up was because he tried to bring Chi Chi with him – the mountain has long been called 'Mt. No-Women-Allowed by locals due to a curse that refuses to let women set foot on it. She inquires why they want to go on the mountain in the first place, and when they explain about the Basho Fan, she claims to have never heard of it before. Goku finds this strange, given Baba's reading and the old lady's name being 'Octagon', but the lady reveals that they misheard her – her name is actually the 'Teeth-All-Gone Woman'. It seems like the Basho Fan isn't here after all, but the old woman consoles Goku, saying that if their goal is to put out a fire, then he just needs some of the snow off of the mountain, as it's so cold it can even freeze fire. Goku and Chi Chi think this sounds like a good plan after all, so Goku prepares to head out on his own this time to get some of the snow, leaving Chi Chi behind with the old lady. The woman asks Chi Chi if Goku is a good husband and if Chi Chi wants to be a good wife for him, and decides to 'train' Chi Chi in proper wifely etiquette. Flying over the mountain in an aircraft, the Pilaf gang looks all over, trying to find this Basho Fan thing that Goku and Chi Chi were looking for, thinking that it might be even more powerful than the Dragon Balls, and thus they could conquer the world with it for sure. A snowstorm kicks up again due to Mai's presence, freezing even the flames from their engines, and the trio crashes into the side of the mountain. In their robot suits, the trio tries desperately to salvage their ship when suddenly Goku comes across them, interrupting and causing them to let their ship fall to the ground below. Mai tries firing a rocket at Goku, but it misses and fails to hit Pilaf only due to the flame freezing again. Goku thinks this snow really will work after all. Back at the old lady's house, the woman sets Chi Chi to cleaning up various neglected and messy rooms of her home, instructing her that if she needs water that there's a lake just a few valleys past the forest. Pilaf demands that Goku hand over this Basho Fan thing, and tries to instruct Shu and Mai to attack, but they balk due to knowing how strong Goku is. Goku wonders how they even know about the Fan, and though the trio ultimately does try to attack him again, they find that all of their fire-based weaponry instantly freezes. Goku figures out that Mai is a girl, and tells the trio that it's because of her presence that the mountain is making a snowstorm. Hearing this, Pilaf kicks Mai down the mountain as a test, and sure enough, the snow instantly stops. Back at the old lady's house, Chi Chi throws herself into the housework set to her, determined to prove that she can be a good housewife for Goku. Meanwhile, back on the mountain, Goku rolls up a massive snowball, thinking it'll be easier to carry back the snow this way. Pilaf thinks this is the perfect time to try to attack Goku again, but just as they try, Mai returns and causes the snowstorm to kick off once again. Pilaf vows to Goku that this won't be their final meeting, and the trio rush off. Chi Chi brings a cup of tea to the old lady as she tends to her bees, claiming to have finished all of the housework. The old lady next sets her to tending to her garden, which just so happens to be the entire forest, telling her about a dustpan out back that she can use. As Goku tries carrying back the snow, it all starts to melt. Meanwhile, the old lady looks over Chi Chi's housecleaning efforts, finding that she did well save for a pile of broken dishes. Suddenly, Chi Chi is attacked by a gigantic bee, and in her efforts to shoo it away, she swings the dustpan at it, inadvertently causing a strong wind – the 'dustpan' is actually the Basho Fan, which the old lady found on the beach years ago. As Goku returns to the house, dejected due to the snow all melting, Chi Chi shouts up to him that they found the Basho Fan. The pair is excited to return home and save Gyumao now, but the Pilaf trio reappears and steals the fan out of Chi Chi's hands. Goku demands that they give it back, but Shu threatens to cut it with scissors if Goku doesn't back down. Mai wonders if such a grubby looking thing can really be worth all that much however, so Pilaf asks Chi Chi what it is. She tells him to try swinging it and find out, so Pilaf orders Shu to give it a swing. He does so, and sends Pilaf and Mai flying towards the mountain again, after which Shu flees in fear, dropping the Fan before Goku and Chi Chi. Chi Chi thanks the old lady for teaching her so much, but the old lady has one final gift for Chi Chi before she leaves, handing her a small vial of honey made by her bees, revealing that it's extremely rare as her bees only live in octagon shaped beehives. The old lady thinks the honey will come in handy for them someday as it's said to have many great properties, and tells Chi Chi she has faith that she'll become a great bride. As the Pilaf gang are once again beset by a snowstorm on the mountain, Goku and Chi Chi return to Mt. Frypan at last with the Basho Fan in hand. Goku swings the fan numerous times, but no matter how hard they try, it doesn't seem to be able to put the flames out at all. Review: There's a lot of places you could have predicted this episode to go, but I don't think there's any way you could have predicted that it would involve a sexist mountain. And yet, here we are, at the foot of Mt. Misogyny. There's never really much of a reason given for why this particular mountain is cursed so that women can't step foot on it, but at the end of the day, I guess it doesn't really need one, as it's really just a means to an end to set up two different things – Chi Chi having to stay behind with the old lady they've just met, and some amusing antics with the Pilaf gang trying to deal with Goku. The first part of that setup is the main focus of the episode in a lot of ways, especially given how it's that relationship that ultimately leads to the end of the episode and where the story will be going next. Having Chi Chi, who was so fervent about marrying Goku that she suddenly reappeared in his life at the Tenkaichi Budokai of all places, have to undergo 'training' to become a housewife is...well, it sure is a thing, I guess. I'm holding back from putting my full thoughts on where Chi Chi's character is ultimately going until we get to her (or at least discussion of her) when I get back to the manga, but suffice to say, a lot of issues I have with the character could be placed at the foot of the Teeth-All-Gone lady apparently, at least in-universe. Oof. The latter part with the Pilaf gang is actually really funny, and makes for a way for them to interact with the now much stronger Goku in a way that doesn't leave them as completely flummoxed as they otherwise would be. Goku doesn't have to do a thing to stop them, the mountain keeps doing that for him by freezing the flames needed for their attacks. It's also just hilarious to see Pilaf just throw Mai off of the mountain to see if Goku's lying to him or not. Remember that this is a character that finds crass things to be absolutely horrifying, but seemingly has no problem yeeting his own servant off a mountain on the off chance that his enemy is telling him the truth, but doesn't think far enough ahead to realize that the decrease in man power is going to make the job of taking down this incredibly strong foe even harder. I love Pilaf's stupidity. Beyond that, the only other thing to really talk about in this episode is how they finally come across the Basho Fan – apparently when Roshi threw it out, it eventually washed up on the shores of a beach near here, and this old lady has just been using it as a dustpan for years. Guess it's a good thing she never tried to shake any lingering dust off of it, she could've blown away her whole house. From there, the ending of this episode continues to do what this arc as a whole has done for it's whole run thus far, and show that every step forward is actually a step back seemingly. Not only did the snow turn out to be a bust, but now the Basho Fan itself, the thing that they were desperately trying to find some way to get, doesn't seem to work on the fire at all. With that option exhausted, is there any way at all for them to save Gyumao? ...Is...there any reason at all that none of them are considering the Dragon Balls? I guess the idea is that it would perhaps take too long to gather them all again, and given how every other quest to gather them really has turned into a whole debacle that's a fair assumption, but c'mon, they're already spending a lot longer trying to save things than they expected, just go summon Shenlong and ask for help! Until next time! Favorite Scene: Pilaf kicking Mai off of the mountain just to test if what Goku told him about the mountain being sexist is hilarious. Next Time: Oh, things weren't weird enough already? Let's make it all MYSTICAL now.
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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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