Synopsis: Three years have now passed since Goku last saw his friends at Baba's palace, and the day of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai has almost arrived. As Goku searches for food in a forest, he soon comes across a car chase happening on a nearby road where a green fox-man is trying to get away from another car with a tiger, boar, and gorilla inside of it. The trio eventually catch the fox and begin beating him up, but Goku intervenes and tells them to stop bullying weaker people. Goku makes quick work of the trio, thus rescuing the fox, Konkichi, who is incredibly grateful to him. As repayment, Konkichi takes Goku with him in his car and gives him plenty of canned food to eat, though Goku notices that he keeps calling him 'bro' instead of Goku. Either way, Goku is glad he ran into Konkichi as he has no idea how to get to Papaya Island from here, and Konkichi says the least he can do is take Goku to the airport. Goku says he was just planning to run there rather than take a plane, and Konkichi thinks that Goku must be joking. Once at the airport, a receptionist tells them that the next flight to Papaya will leave at 3 P.M., after which the next plane won't leave for another week. Unfortunately, one ticket cost 15,000 zeni, and Goku doesn't have a bit of money on him, causing Konkichi to be horrified to realize that Goku was serious about running everywhere. Konkichi tells Goku that Papaya Island is on the other side of the world from where they are now and that there's no way Goku will get there in time unless he takes that 3 P.M. flight, but Konkichi tells him not to worry as he'll take care of this. Konkichi runs through the airport, eventually bumping into a man who is talking with his wife about catching that flight, before running into a police officer and worrying that he or someone else may have seen what he just did – Konkichi it seems is a pickpocket, and though he attempted to steal the tickets for Goku, he ends up returning them to the officer out of fear of being caught and leaves the airport quickly with Goku. Konkichi tells Goku they have an hour and a half to somehow get 30,000 zeni, and Goku notices that's more than what one ticket costs, with Konkichi now saying he'll be taking that flight alongside Goku. The pair head into town, and Konkichi leads Goku to a street where a carnival is being held. Goku asks how they can get money at a festival, but the pair soon come across a crying young child whose balloon has flown away into the sky. Goku leaps up to get the boy's balloon, but as he's returning it to him it gets popped, causing the boy to cry again. Konkichi gives the boy a lollipop and makes funny faces to cheer him up, and Goku tells him he's good with kids, with Konkichi confessing that he loves kids. Nearby, a strength tester competition is being held where whoever can make a bell ring with a hammer wins 30,000 zeni, with an entry fee of just 3 zeni. Konkichi enters Goku and tells him what to do, though the game runner thinks Goku doesn't stand a chance. Goku tosses away the hammer and hits it with a chop of his hand, breaking the game but ringing the bell just the same, earning the pair the 30,000 zeni they needed. Konkichi is overjoyed that Goku and he have enough money now to go to Papaya Island, but the pair are soon found by a familiar face – Fortuneteller Baba recognizes Goku after seeing him win the strength tester game and tells him he really must have gotten stronger in the three years since she last saw him. Goku asks what she's doing all the way out here, and she says it's nice to go sightseeing every now and then. Goku introduces Baba to Konkichi, and Konkichi explains how Goku saved him from some people after him before, and Baba starts to get suspicious about Konkichi's true nature, asking him why those men were after him in the first place. Konkichi nervously runs off to get some juice and wonders if he should make a run for it while he can, though he doesn't want to leave Goku hanging, only for him to be found by the three men from before. They gang up on him and find the 30,000 zeni on him, telling him that he's still 20,000 short of what he owes them. Konkichi protests that the money isn't his, but they demand that he repay them what he owes, but offer to give him a job to make up for the rest of the money instead. On Roshi's island, Roshi and the others prepare to head out to Papaya Island, with Roshi making them run behind by trying to find the best suit to wear. Lunch is ready to stay behind, but once she sneezes and turns back into her blonde form, she decides to go along with them after all. Yamcha and Kuririn are excited to show what they can do now, as well as seeing Goku again and finding out how strong he is now too. Goku waits with Baba for Konkichi to return, but it's soon only 40 minutes until the plane leaves. Baba suggests that maybe Goku should go look for him, when the sound of gunshots suddenly ring through the air. Police swarm a bank where a bank teller has been shot, and Konkichi is standing there holding a shotgun. The police quickly apprehend him, but Konkichi yells that it wasn't him. Goku and Baba come across this, and Konkichi begs Goku to help him, but the police insist that they'll be arresting him. Baba convinces them to let Goku talk to him first, and Goku asks Konkichi if he's really a bad guy. Konkichi insists that he hasn't done anything wrong, but one of the officers is the policeman from the airport who tells Konkichi he knows he actually tried to steal those plane tickets before. Konkichi confesses to Goku that he's a thief who's never had a friend before or anyone to help him, so he was happy when Goku saved him and just wanted to help him out. He pleads with Goku to believe him when he says he didn't rob the bank however, saying it was the men from before who made him take the blame for the robbery to repay the money he owed them. Goku believes him and asks Baba to locate the three men for him. Baba says she doesn't divine for free, but she'll let Goku owe her payment later, and uses her crystal ball to find the three men driving away in a car. Goku runs off and soon catches up to the three men who are horrified to see Goku again, even more so when he catches the bullets from the gun they fire at him. He stops their car and turns them into the police, but unfortunately sees the plane he was supposed to be taking leaving without him when it flies overhead. Konkichi tearfully thanks Goku, and the boy that Konkichi cheered up before runs over and gives Konkichi a lollipop of his own and asks him to play with him sometime, causing Goku to praise him for finally having made another friend. Baba tells Goku that Papaya Island is on the other side of the world in a straight line from where they are now, and Goku decides to swim there. He tells Konkichi to take care of himself before leaping into the ocean, and Konkichi shouts that he truly believes Goku can make it all the way to Papaya Island, as crazy as it seems. The 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai begins in just three short days, and martial artists from all over the world are gathering for it, including the pair of scam artists fighters Goku ran into before. Who will be the champion this time? Review: This episode sees us off from the filler arc about Goku's training in a rather subdued fashion. Rather than giving us any actual fights to showcase how strong Goku may have become, it instead gives us a more mundane story that chiefly exists to show how Goku ended up having to swim all the way across the world to get to Papaya Island (as we'll see in the following chapter). Despite all of that however, the episode does manage to have it's own charms, and honestly? In this case it's better that they do hold off on showing us exactly what Goku can do now. I realize I've been very back and forth on what I want to see of Goku's training – on the one hand, I've praised this arc for filling in a gap left in the original manga; on the other, I've criticized it in places for showing off Goku's tail training and spoiling the existence of Tenshinhan and Chaozu. There's a delicate balance here that I don't think either version of the story has really hit just right to be honest. I WANT to see Goku's training period, I want to see what kind of people he runs into during the three years on his own, and I want to see the kinds of things he's getting up to that might provide more reason for him being as strong as he is by the time of the tournament. At the same time however, the tournament is just around the corner, and it definitely holds a few surprises for us. Spoiling too many of them beforehand can take away from the experience, and a couple of moments in these episodes came a little too close to doing just that. But that's all about this arc in general. For this episode itself, I think it plays it's cards appropriately close to the vest, especially seeing as how it's now jumped to just a few days before the tournament and Goku's training period is all but complete. If it had given us a fighter of any note for Goku to go up against here, it could have risked giving away a hint of just how much stronger Goku has become, and while done right that could have been interesting, I can't blame them for playing it safe and just having Goku run across mooks with guns, the very sort of people he's been able to take out easily since the very first chapter. The character of Konkichi also presents Goku with a rather interesting lesson that could be argued becomes another key point of Goku's character. Konkichi isn't evil by any means, but he is on the wrong side of the tracks, the sort of person Goku would consider a 'bad guy' under normal circumstances. By the end of the episode however, he's able to turn over a new leaf, showing Goku that sometimes people can change for the better – given how often Goku is willing to give even the worst sort of people the benefit of the doubt, this is a lesson that Goku definitely seems to take to heart at some point even in the manga...though in some cases, this lesson could definitely be seen as a detriment, but we'll get to those moments later on. All things told, this episode is kind of just so-so when you actually watch it. As much as it gives me room to ruminate on what's been done right or wrong with this filler arc as a whole, Konkichi unfortunately doesn't make for the most interesting or engaging character, and is largely forgettable as soon as the episode is over. It was interesting to see an animal-type person actually given a plot for once though, but when that's all there is I can really praise Konkichi for, it's not much really. Until next time! Favorite Scene: I'm going to have to cheat and choose two scenes here as they make a collective whole – the scenes with Konkichi and the little boy he cheers up and befriends at the end are adorable as heck. Next Time: New (unless you watch the anime) rivals, same old Goku.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
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
Categories
All
|