Synopsis: Gohan awakens to another day living in the wilderness, and goes about his morning ritual of gathering food both easily and happily. His breakfast is soon interrupted by the carnivorous dinosaur that always tries to eat him, but he easily runs from it now, and even cuts off part of it's tail to cook and add to his breakfast. Witnessing this, Piccolo is pleased to see how far he's already come. Meanwhile, Bulma, Kuririn, and Yamcha continue to fly through the skies, heading towards Tenshinhan and Chaozu. Out in space, the two Saiyans race towards Earth in their pods, though a beeping noise awakens them before they arrive. The taller of the two (Nappa) asks the shorter (Vegeta) if they've arrived at Earth yet, but Vegeta says that he set up an early wake-up timer as there's a planet on the way that they should check out, as it could potentially be sold for a high price. Nappa is delighted by this, saying that spending a whole year in deep sleep could make them rusty after all. The pair crash land on a desolate looking planet that already looks like it's been attacked, causing Nappa to wonder if it's really worth that much. Vegeta says they'll have to inspect it more thoroughly to be sure. Just then, a pair of giant bugs pop from the ground, and the two bug-like people riding it say that these aliens could make great gifts for their king. Nappa prepares to fight back against the aliens, but Vegeta orders him to allow them to be “captured”, as it will just result in them being taken to this king. On Earth, Lunch (in her blonde state) is running from the cops after another successful heist, with Lunch saying that this money is a gift for Tenshinhan. As Vegeta and Nappa are taken to the bug people's king, they witness the state of the planet, as it seems the king keeps a rather oppressive rule. The Saiyans are locked in a jail cell along with some other bug-like prisoners, with one in particular warning that they've arrived at a bad time – things on Planet Arlia have been crazy ever since King Moai took the throne, with one prisoner explaining how he even had his wife taken from him on their wedding day. In the throne room, Moai asks his new queen, the kidnapped Lemuria, what's wrong, as she doesn't seem to be enjoying the battle staged before them, and wonders if she's still thinking about that other man. The loser of the staged battle is tossed into a pit, where a larger Arlian waits to eat him. Bored now himself, Moai orders the two space men that were captured to be brought before him, as they might make good pets. To Moai and the guards surprise, the two Saiyans soon walk out before them under their own power, causing them all to wonder what happened to the guards. The surviving prisoner who had his wife taken unburies himself from the rubble left behind and remarks at the amazing power these two aliens have. Moai challenges the Saiyans to a bet, saying that if they can beat his warriors, he'll give them anything they like, though he thinks they don't stand a chance, saying he really just wants to see what kind of blood aliens have. Vegeta instantly kills Moai's warrior however, shocking the king greatly. Vegeta says what he wants is the planet itself, causing the rest of the king's warriors to spill out around them. They try to attack, but are quickly overpowered, with Vegeta revealing they let themselves be captured on purpose. As Goku is shown to continue running down the Serpent Road, Moai orders the release of Yedi, the gigantic Arlian from the pit, but even it is quickly dispatched by Nappa. Seeing all of his forces defeated, Moai tries to flee, but is soon killed by a rock Vegeta sends flying through him. The surviving prisoner rushes out to see the throne room in disarray, but is happy to be reunited with Lemuria. As Vegeta calls for their pods, the prisoner thanks the Saiyans for saving their planet, thinking that peace will surely return to their planet at last now. As the two lovers reunite however, Vegeta and Nappa decide that this stop was a waste of time and that they wouldn't get anything for this planet, so Vegeta simply blows it up with a blast fired from his fingertips. With Arlia no more, Vegeta and Nappa continue their journey towards Earth, hoping that it's a more fruitful visit than this one was. Review: The opening of this episode takes some of it's material from the previous chapter I reviewed, once again showing that there is no perfect way to bounce between the anime and manga medium the way I'm doing, but alas – it's the method I chose, and it's the method I'm sticking with. From there though, the episode jumps immediately to completely original material, including a rare scene of Lunch! I'd imagine Lunch was an incredibly confusing character for fans who first got into the franchise from DBZ's original Toonami airings, as you're really given no context for who she is or why she's important, and then she almost immediately just...disappears soon after. The real meat of this episode comes in the form of seeing the two Saiyans in action. Only Nappa is named in this episode, but if it's going to give me one of their names, I figured I may as well start referring to both of them by name going forward so as to make things easier – I'm not entirely sure when their names are first uttered in the manga as a result, but if I had to guess it's probably when they arrive on Earth at last. Irregardless, this episode gives us an early taste of what the Saiyans are going to be like, but only a taste. And frankly, as entertaining as seeing the pair in action is...it's really not needed. Don't get me wrong, it's always great to see scenes with the villains as the focus rather than our heroes, but basically everything we see the Saiyans do here are things we could already pretty well surmise they'd be capable of. After all, we got a good look at what Raditz could do in a fight, and both Nappa and Vegeta are already said to be far, far stronger than he was. So seeing them flying, shooting energy blasts, and even taking down warriors far larger than themselves...really isn't that impressive, nor is it doing much to impress upon us how strong they are. The Arlians (also unnamed in the episode, but I figured if I'm in for a penny I'm in for a pound) aren't the most interesting either, though I do like their designs. Mostly they're here to get slaughtered by Nappa and Vegeta and look even more alien than the Saiyans do. There is a underlying ironic humor in the Saiyans saving them from an oppressive king in the process of scoping the planet out, only for them to end up dying anyway, so that's enjoyable in a sick way I suppose. The end of the episode where Vegeta blows up the planet is really the only moment that I think succeeds in bigging up the Saiyans more than they already were. We saw what Raditz could do, but nothing in that fight or any previous Dragon Ball fight suggested that the planet was ever in any danger of just being blown up. If Vegeta can do that, then our heroes really are in trouble. In a way, maybe that was the point of the episode in the end, to lure viewers into false expectations, thinking that these other two Saiyans didn't seem THAT impressive, only to end on one of them casually blowing up a planet to really blow your mind. It's effective in that way, but also a little misleading given what we're later going to see Vegeta be capable of, and also – well, spoilers going into a later character and story reveal. I'll try to remember to touch on that then. Until next time! Favorite Scene: The short scuffle between the giant Arlian and Vegeta and Nappa is pretty fun, especially with the background being unlike anything else we're going to see these two fight in. Next Time: While everyone else continues training, our hero takes a nap. Maybe you deserve what happens next, 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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