Synopsis: Goku talks to Kaio-sama via telepathy and says he knows he's probably been listening in on them, so he asks if he knows where this 'Planet Namek' is. Kaio-sama says that he does, and speaks so that everyone on the plane can hear him, surprising all of the others. Kaio-sama first praises everyone on a job well done, confessing that he thought all hope was lost as soon as Goku went down. Goku confesses that he didn't expect Vegeta to be as strong as he was, as not even a Kaio-ken was enough to beat him, and Kaio-sama says he's partially to blame as he didn't predict the Saiyan being as strong as he was either. Goku asks if it was a mistake to let him get away, and as Kaio-sama hesitates answering, Roshi asks Kuririn what he means by that – surely Goku didn't let him get away on purpose? Kuririn promises to tell him all about it later on. Using a reference book, Kaio-sama reads off the coordinates to Planet Namek using Earth terms, shocking Bulma as she hears them. She has Roshi take the wheel again as she does some quick calculations, and Kaio-sama tells them more about Namek. He explains that Namek was once a paradise, but a cataclysm struck it a long time ago, and he assumed it to have wiped out all of the Namekians at that time. He wonders if any of them could have survived, and as the others worry they may be out of luck after all, Kaio-sama checks in on things on Namek. Karin says that Kami must have escaped the cataclysm on Namek before it happened and came to Earth only to forget his heritage, either due to his young age at the time or some kind of head injury. Yajirobe questions how anything could have taken the Namekians out if they had the Dragon Balls, but Roshi explains that they got the answer right from Shen Long himself when they wished Goku back to life – the dragon, as it turns out, isn't all powerful, and can only grant wishes within the power of it's creator, so this cataclysm must have been too much for even the Namekian Dragon Balls. As Yajirobe scoffs, thinking that the Dragon Balls aren't all they're said to be after all, Kaio-sama shouts with joy – there are about a hundred Namekians alive on Planet Namek even as they speak! Everyone is happy to hear this save for Yajirobe who thinks back to how scary Kami could be, but Kaio-sama explains that most of the Namekians were peaceful like Kami was, and that it must have been evil Earthlings he met along the way that brought out the corruption that became King Piccolo originally. Roshi thinks this is great news, as they should be able to wish even Kami back to life now, but Bulma puts a damper on everyone's celebrating by revealing that even using the fastest space ship her and her father could build, it would take over four thousand years to reach Namek. Everyone is taken aback, and when Goku asks Kaio-sama for advice, Kaio-sama is also at a loss. Kuririn suggests that they use the Saiyan's spaceship then, and reveals that the ship Vegeta escaped in was small, meaning a second ship must have been left behind by Nappa. Goku points out that there was the ship his brother came in to, though Gohan broke that one... Bulma thinks this is a great idea, as if she can even look at the ship, she can probably use it to make another one. Roshi says the ship is probably where the Saiyans first landed in East City, and as Kuririn reveals that he took the remote Vegeta left behind that can probably call the ship to them, everyone celebrates again. The next day, everyone has received medical attention at a hospital in West City, where it's revealed that Gohan and Kuririn will be ready to leave in about three days. Goku however is injured badly enough that the hospital says it'll take at least four months for his body to heal, and they aren't even sure if he'll ever be the same at all. Karin tells him just to wait however, as he should have some senzu for Goku in about a month's time. Yajirobe scoffs at not even having to be hospitalized after all he went through, and Kuririn teases him by revealing that he heard Yajirobe begging the Saiyan to let him join him, a fact Yajirobe decries as a 'strategem' he was working. The moment is soon interrupted by a returning Bulma, who turns on the TV to show the news talking about an alien space pod that was recovered from East City. Roshi thinks this isn't good, as they can't get it if the scientists there already have it, but Bulma thinks it's more fun this way – she hits a button on the remote, intending to bring the ship to them on live TV...but the button she hits causes it to self destruct instead. As everyone laments that they now don't have a way to get to Planet Namek and use their Dragon Balls to revive everyone, Bulma accuses Kuririn of this being his fault for picking up the remote, and he objects and points out that it was her that hit the wrong button. The conversation is interrupted by Mr. Popo, who floats outside the hospital window on a flying carpet, surprising them all. What Popo says surprises them even more however, as he asks someone to come with him, as he believes he's found another ship. Review: This chapter continues with the question of what exactly our heroes are supposed to do now that they don't have the titular Dragon Balls at their disposal to fix things. Running with the intel that Kuririn picked up from listening to the Saiyans, Goku brings Kaio-sama in to help them out, and it's all thanks to him that we finally get some details on how exactly an alien other than Goku made it all the way to Earth long, long ago. Before moving on to that though, I have to touch on something I said last time. I mentioned that every time exactly how Vegeta got away was brought up, the exact details of 'Goku let him leave' were avoided, prompting me to wonder if anyone other than Goku, Vegeta, Kuririn, and Kaio-sama ever found out about that fact. Well, turns out Goku basically says it in this chapter and Kuririn promises to explain it all a little later, so chances are they do all find out about Goku's dumb and selfish request. So much for my memory, I completely forgot about that, but in my defense it's a really quick moment here and the actual explanation and any reactions it causes all happen off screen, so...it's forgivable enough, I'd say. Really does make you wonder how Chi Chi especially reacts to this information though. Once Kaio-sama finds where Namek is, he gives us a quick rundown on Namekian history as well. It seems that unlike King Piccolo or his offspring, there's probably nothing to fear from the Namekian people as, in general, they were more peace-loving than warlike like the Saiyans were. There's also a pretty good chance they're all dead. Well, that's unfortunate news, but as Kaio-sama thankfully checks in and finds out that they are not in fact an extinct race as of Piccolo's death, Karin makes a couple of theories about how Kami lost his memories in the first place. We never really get any other discussion on this subject moving forward, so it's all basically speculation, but honestly I like to go with the 'too young to remember what happened' myself, mostly due to 'hitting his head' already been taken by Goku, and it's a little much to expect that to have happened to both of Earth's first known alien visitors. There's also a nice reminder that the Dragon Balls are no longer all powerful – something to keep in mind as the arc continues forward. Even once they know where Namek is and that there are survivors however, a more immediate problem comes in the form of them having no readily available way to get there in any amount of time that works. Once again, the problem seems to be solved almost instantly however, as Kuririn points out that there's still a Saiyan pod to make use of. While it'd only fit one of them, there's still the option of using it as research fodder, which is where Bulma comes into play. This is a great idea story wise, as it finally gives Bulma something to do in the story again, something that she really hasn't had since...huh. In the grand scheme of things, she hasn't really had a major role in the story since about halfway through the Red Ribbon arc. That's a real shame once you realize it, and it's nice that it's something that Toriyama seems to be working on changing as we head into another arc. And speaking of nice things, let us pause for a moment as I do the cartoon wolf whistle reaction to Bulma's new look when she comes to visit everyone in the hospital. Absolutely one of her best looks, and I will hear absolutely NO ARGUMENTS on this point, AWOOGA. ...Don't you judge me. Alright, so with that potentially sexist moment out of the way, things unfortunately take a downward turn for everyone again when Bulma, sexy new look and all, accidentally explodes their nice new Saiyan pod instead of getting to deconstruct how it works at all. Oops. Just when things were looking up at last, things once again seem impossible – and that's when a rather unexpected visit from Mr. Popo comes in. As strange as it is to see him off of Kami's sanctuary, what he says is even more of a surprise. Where in the world could he have found another spaceship? Hmm... Until next time! Favorite Panel:
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Synopsis: Goku and Kuririn (holding a naked and unconscious Gohan) both watch as an airship full of their friends lands on the battlefield. Upon it's landing, Chi Chi rushes past everyone else to get off the ship, and runs to grab Gohan from Kuririn's arms, even leaping over her injured husband's body in the process. As Chi Chi tries to wake Gohan up and talk to him, Kuririn points out that it's Goku who's in the worst shape, but Chi Chi ignores him and promises Gohan that she'll never leave Gohan alone again. In contrast to her, Roshi, Bulma, and Karin all go to check on Goku who's in bad shape. Goku apologizes for letting the Saiyan get away and says there's no way to describe how strong he really was, as Kuririn tells Bulma that everyone else died, including Yamcha. Bulma says she figured that was the case, but says they can just wish everyone back in a year's time with the Dragon Balls. Everyone is silent for a moment before Goku tells Bulma that Piccolo died to, so the Dragon Balls are gone. Bulma thinks he must be joking and says that Karin said four people survived, so surely the fourth after Goku, Gohan, and Kuririn must be Piccolo, right? Yajirobe pops up and reveals his own survival, prompting Bulma to realize the Dragon Balls really are gone, and break down crying when she realizes that Yamcha won't be coming back. Roshi asks Karin if he knew it was Yajirobe and not Piccolo, a fact Karin remorsefully confirms, causing Roshi to lament his own assumption that it was Piccolo that survived as well. Yajirobe interjects and accuses them all of sounding like they wish he'd died instead, pointing out that he helped save everyone too, but Karin quiets him down by pointing out that everyone needs medical attention and he's out of senzu beans. Everyone carefully loads Goku onto the plane before it takes off again. With Bulma still overcome with emotion and crying, Roshi takes over piloting the plane as Kuririn gives him directions to the previous battlefield. Kuririn tries to console Bulma by telling her that he doesn't want to get her hopes up, but saying there could still be a chance to bring everyone back after all. Everyone is surprised by this statement, and Goku says that Kuririn said that once before as well and asks him what he means. Kuririn says the explanation will have to wait however as they've arrived, and when the plane lands, they stop to pick up Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and Piccolo's bodies. Karin and Roshi discuss their feelings about everyone's sacrifices and how they wish there was more they could have done, and as she takes back over the wheel, Bulma tells them to go have a good cry – it did wonders for her. As they take off into the air once again, Gohan wakes up at last and wonders where he is. Chi Chi starts to hug him and cry loudly, trying to console her little boy. Roshi tells Gohan he should be proud and Kuririn tells him the fight's over. Gohan asks Kuririn what happened to the Saiyan and Kuririn tells him he got away. Gohan worries about his father next, but Goku tells him they all made it out alive thanks to Gohan's help. Yajirobe notices that Chi Chi only seems concerned about Gohan rather than her husband, and Chi Chi angrily says she told Goku not to get their son mixed up in things like this so it's his own fault. Even Gohan objects to this and starts to say that the Earth itself was in danger, and when Chi Chi says she doesn't care about that, Yajirobe asks Goku if he can hit her. Bulma reminds Kuririn of what he was talking about before, and Kuririn tells them all about how the Saiyans already knew about the Dragon Balls by hearing Piccolo talk about them when they killed Goku's brother a year prior. He further explains that when the two other Saiyans saw Piccolo, they recognized him as an alien as well, a species called 'Namekian'. He finishes his recollection by bringing up what Vegeta said before Nappa killed Piccolo - “So it's true there are wish-granting orbs on Planet Namek as well. If we can't get the ones here, we should just go there.” Everyone is taken aback by this revelation, and Kuririn theorizes that if there really are Dragon Balls on this 'Planet Namek', then they can go there and use that set to wish their fallen friends back to life. Gohan is excited as this means Piccolo could come back as well (a thought that horrifies Chi Chi), and Kuririn realizes that if they do that, then their Dragon Balls should come back when Kami is revived as well. Everyone is excited by this idea to set things right, but Bulma interjects sadly and points out that they have no idea where this Planet Namek, if it even exists, is. Goku pipes in however to suggest that he ask Kaio-sama, as he has a feeling that he'll know where to find it. Review: As mentioned in the last chapter review for the Saiyan arc, this beginning of this arc works almost as much as an epilogue for that as it does the beginning of something brand new – hence why many people consider these two arcs to be one and the same. There really are no other arcs in the series that dovetail from one into the other quite as much as these two do (even the King Piccolo arc's lead-in to the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai gets a time skip to handle some training off-screen first), and as such, most of what this chapter brings to the table is building off of where the last one left things rather than getting us anywhere new. Save for one big detail, that is. Before we get to that though, I suppose I've put it off long enough – let's talk a little further about what I like to call 'The Chi Chi Conundrum'. You'll notice, just as the characters do, that Chi Chi spends every bit of her time in this chapter worrying about Gohan and basically refuses to give a much more injured Goku more than a passing glance. Kuririn starts to point this out, and Yajirobe outright calls her out for it later in the chapter. Chi Chi's response? She's only concerned about Gohan at the moment, because this whole thing happened because she let Goku leave the house with Gohan in the first place. When even Gohan objects to this interpretation of everything that's happened in the past year, Chi Chi remarks that she doesn't care about the Earth itself at all, only her son. On a coldly clinical first look, this comes off as extremely unreasonable. On a certain level, it really is unreasonable too – after all, if there's no Earth, then there's no Gohan. That's thinking logically however, and I think that's a detriment to how a lot of people absorb this story beat. Think about it emotionally for a moment. I'm not a parent, but I can certainly empathize with Chi Chi and imagine how horrifying this whole ordeal would be for her. Think about it from her perspective for a moment - she let her child leave the house one day, only to find out that he'd been essentially kidnapped by someone her husband once fought to the death with, for the exact purpose of fighting people strong enough to blow up a planet when they arrive in a year's time. Her FOUR YEAR OLD child I might add. I've talked at length already about how insane that is to think about for Gohan, but it would almost be even worse for the like's of Chi Chi. It's also important to remember that this is a Chi Chi who has already seen what these fights can look like. She was there when Piccolo almost killed Goku. She doesn't want to think about the same thing happening to her son, but it's very likely that that's ALL she's been able to think about for the past year, a year where probably the only person who checked in on her at all was her father. So yes – it might be illogical to worry about her son to the point of saying she doesn't care about the Earth itself, and it might fly in the face of the ethos of the series as a whole (fighting because fighting is cool), but it ABSOLUTELY MAKES SENSE that she'd react this way. If anything, we should be feeling bad for her here rather than being annoyed by her, but the series is written in such a way that most tend to agree with the other characters reactions to her rather than Chi Chi's reaction. And I'm calling myself out for this too, because I've often opined in the past that Chi Chi could be really abrasive. The anime doesn't help matters either, as going forward, it's going to be how Chi Chi acts in this moment that they're going to run with for basically every filler scene of her character they'll ever produce, leaving her basically a shrill worrywart with nothing else to her character. They'll also put an even heavier emphasis on her concern over Gohan's studies – and don't get me wrong, she is absolutely concerned about his studies. The anime drives it in to such a point though that it's ludicrous how often that's all she talks about, and frankly, it's little wonder anime only fans are left with such a bad opinion of her as a result. Moving on from Chi Chi, there's also a couple of rather curious moments in this chapter that I don't think I ever really noticed before. Firstly, there's a few times that the subject of Vegeta's escape comes up – Goku apologizes for him getting away, and when Gohan asks about him, Kuririn says the same thing, that he “got away”. Neither of them mention that Goku CHOSE to let him get away, and other than a watching Kaio-sama and Vegeta himself, they're the only two that know. I'm...not entirely sure this ever comes up again anywhere else, so it's quite possible that none of the other cast ever learns that Goku did this really selfish and stupid thing or why he did it. Certainly makes you wonder about a similarly motivated choice made decades later (both in universe and in the real world) and how the characters react to THAT – Chi Chi may have actively divorced him if this had come out, good lord. But again, the logical choice isn't always the most interesting one, so that's the last I'll be talking about Goku's choice in regards to Vegeta for a while probably. The second interesting point is when they collect the bodies of their fallen friends. It's pointed out that Chaozu doesn't have a body left behind, and then we see two of the same kind of caskets Bulma made back in the King Piccolo arc being watched over by Roshi and Karin. Wait...two caskets? Yamcha, Tenshinhan...they surely didn't just leave Piccolo behind, right? I can't remember if the anime shows a better shot of everything to show them collecting his body as well but I'm just going to assume that Goku and Kuririn vouched for his body getting taken along as well – Gohan definitely would have, but he was unconscious at the time. This whole revelation actually gave me another one entirely, but I'll be touching on that one at a later date if I remember it hopefully, as it requires talking about a matter we won't be getting to for some time yet. Talking about Chi Chi's reaction earlier, there's another reaction in this chapter as well that's worth touching on, and that's Bulma's. Between the anime and manga, there's a bit of a division in how her grief and reaction is handled. In the anime, she already knew Yamcha was dead not through assuming but through actually seeing it with her own eyes via some help from Urunai Baba. There's a really great scene of her reacting to the loss in a heartbreaking and realistic fashion, and it's handled extremely well by the animators and actors both, to the point that Roshi doesn't even try to perv on her during it. Even the scene we get here, with Bulma realizing that Yajirobe is the one that survived instead of Piccolo, is handled differently in the anime to the best of my recollection – it's treated like a gag at least to the degree of Yajirobe's attitude, but her crying afterwards and as they gather everyone's bodies are treated with the full respect such a scene deserves. Here in the manga however, we don't see her reaction to Yamcha's dying because she didn't see it, she just figured with only four people left he must be one of those that died (wow, lot of faith in him there, huh?). When she realizes Piccolo died as well and has to deal with the fact that Yamcha won't be coming back, she breaks down in tears, but the way it's drawn and laid out in the panel comes off less emotional in comparison. It's not the worst it could have been, but I think I have to put this one down to Toriyama's limitations in regards to conveying more complex emotions – it just wasn't in his wheelhouse to handle this scene the way it really needed to be. With all of that done, we finally come to the reason this chapter is the start of the new arc rather than the end of the previous one. Kuririn tells everyone about what he overheard the Saiyans talking about, including Piccolo and Kami's alien origins, and the fact that there might well be another set of Dragon Balls out there on another planet out in space. If they could just get those, they could wish everyone back to life, and even seemingly get their own Dragon Balls restored in the process. The day is saved! Except, maybe not – as Bulma points out, they really don't have a lot to go on, and even if it is true, they have no way of knowing where Planet Namek even IS. If only they had some sort of galactic tour guide, or you know, an all-seeing deity that knows about space, to help them out at a time like this. ...Oh, wait. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: In space, a small probe is shown hurtling towards the Earth. In a forest, Bulma, Oolong, and Kuririn are all making preparations to camp, when Gohan arrives with a big backpack full of supplies (mostly things his mother packed that he doesn't really need). As night falls, the probe from space crash lands in the forest, causing a fire to break out and soon engulf the entire area. As the forest burns, animals flee as our heroes try to deal with it themselves, with Gohan and Kuririn trying to blow the fire out with the force of their ki. When Gohan spots a small dragon stuck beneath a fallen tree, he frees it before returning to help Kuririn, and their efforts prevent the forest fire from reaching their camp site...but the forest itself is entirely destroyed by the blaze. Feeling sorry for the displaced wildlife, Kuririn suggests they gather and use the Dragon Balls to fix this problem, leading to an opening credits montage of the Dragon Balls being gathered. The group summons Shen Long, and though Gohan has to hold back the baby dragon (whom they have named Haiya Dragon) from trying to attack him, they successfully wish for the forest to be restored. The next day, the probe that landed in the forest sprouts mechanical spider-legs and walks around observing the condition of the planet, relaying this information to a ship flying through space. An alien (Amond) tells his leader Tullece that there are signs of life on Earth, which confuses the unseen leader as this was the planet a young Kakarot was sent to – there shouldn't BE any life left by now. Noticing how pristine the planet appears however, Tullece believes it when Amond tells him that the Earth's soil appears suitable for growing the Shinseiju (Divine Essence) tree. Back on Earth, Chi Chi heats up a barrel of water for Goku and Gohan to bathe together in, and as the father and son try to see who can hold their breath the longest, Chi Chi interrupts out of fear when Haiya Dragon suddenly appears. Gohan is happy to see his friend, but Chi Chi is terrified and chastises Gohan, saying that he's falling under the bad influence of Goku's friends more and more. Gohan tries to convince her to let him keep Haiya Dragon if he studies harder, but Chi Chi insists that he send it back where it came from. Feeling bad for his son, Goku shows Gohan a nearby cave that he can keep Haiya Dragon in, complete with food and hay for a bed. Elsewhere, Yamcha is driving a small plane that he bought on a fifteen-year loan, looking to surprise everyone when he arrives in it. Suddenly however, he can feel a strange ki somewhere, something that Piccolo can feel as well. Amond is shown on Earth, standing before the crater that the probe made, as he causes an explosion that makes that puts a deep ridge in the ground, the impact of the explosion also causing Yamcha's plane to explode. Another of the alien crew (Daiz) flicks a seed down into the ground, and the rest of the alien group (Cacao, Rasin, and Lakasei) all urge the seed to grow quickly. Gohan enjoys playing with Haiya Dragon even if he has to keep it a secret from his mother, and as he heads back home when Goku calls out to him for dinner, Haiya Dragon seems to pick up on the feeling that something is very wrong. As the seed in the ground grows at an incredible rate, it's roots spreading and eventually pushing a small bud out of the dirt, Kaio-sama senses something amiss all the way from his planet. Tullece still can't believe that the Earth was the perfect place to grow the Shinseiju, and thanks Kakarot for failing in his mission. As the tree's roots continue to spread, they cause rampant destruction around the planet, once again driving animals from their forests and even destroying cities, all while a massive tree begins to grow and tower above everything. At Goku's house, a reunion of sorts is held for dinner, with Goku's family hosting Bulma, Yamcha, Oolong, Puar, Kuririn, Roshi, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu. Yamcha tells them all about his fifteen-year loan bought plane being destroyed, causing Bulma to chew him out and accuse him of trying to show off to other girls. Roshi tries to break up the fight by thanking Chi Chi for letting them all visit, and Chi Chi says it's fine as long as they don't interfere with Gohan's studies – Yamcha offers to help Gohan study, prompting Chi Chi to retort that's exactly what she's worried about, and everyone laughs. Haiya Dragon suddenly appears and taps at the window, angering Chi Chi when she discovers that the dragon is still around, and Goku tries to convince Chi Chi again that it's fine. Gohan struggles to send Haiya Dragon away, and as Goku wonders why it seemed agitated, Kaio-sama contacts Goku telepathically. Kaio-sama tells Goku that the Shinseiju tree has taken root on the Earth, explaining that it's a tree that produces fruit that normally only the Gods are allowed to eat. The tree grows this fruit by taking every bit of sustenance from the planet it's growing on, depleting it to a dried husk that nothing can live on for several centuries afterward. Kaio-sama warns Goku that since the tree has already taken root, it's too late to do anything about it either. As the alien group watches the fruit grow, they think it won't be long until it matures, and once they eat it, the Crusher Tullece Corps will be the strongest force in the universe, even beating the likes of 'Freeza' to allow Tullece to become the new Emperor of the universe. They say it's thanks to the tree, but as Tullece wraps his furry tail around his waist, he says it's all thanks to Kakarot. Goku relays everything Kaio-sama told him to his friends, and says that if they all put their powers together, maybe they can destroy the tree altogether and prevent the Earth's destruction. Kuririn, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu all agree to this plan, and when Gohan tries to join in, Chi Chi forbids him from going. Goku and his friends soon arrive at the Shinseiju tree, and they all fire Kamehameha's and Dodonpa's at the tree, only to find they can't even put a scratch in it. Yamcha thinks they won't be able to destroy it without destroying the Earth itself, but Goku senses energy higher up on the roots. The group flies upwards to meet the Crusher Tullece Corps, who laugh and tell them that nobody can destroy the tree. Tenshinhan can feel a strong power coming from the group, and when Goku asks if they're the ones that planted the tree, they tell them that anyone that gets in their way will be killed. Yamcha realizes they must be the ones that caused the explosion that destroyed his plane, and though Kuririn can tell these guys aren't Saiyans, he's still getting a bad feeling from them. Back at Goku's home, Gohan takes Haiya Dragon to discreetly fly towards the battlefield. A fight breaks out between Goku and friends and the invading Crusher Tullece Corps, with Tenshinhan and Chaozu taking on the diminutive Rasin and Lakasei, Kuririn fighting the large Amond, Yamcha facing off against the android-like Cacao, and Goku fighting against Daiz. Although Goku's friends put forth their best efforts with techniques like Taiyo-ken, Kienzan, and the Sokidan all coming back into play, none of them seem to be able to defeat their opponents, with Goku having to help Yamcha against Cacao. Lakasei corners Chaozu, only for Chaozu to be saved by a late arriving Gohan. As Gohan fires an energy blast, his power skyrockets, catching the attention of a watching Tullece who deduces that Gohan must be a Saiyan. Tullece is then revealed to be wearing a Saiyan scouter...and to look exactly like Goku. Lakasei tries to fight back against Gohan, who more than holds his own against the alien, even seeming to defeat him for a moment. Pleased by what he's seeing, Tullece approaches Gohan who mistakes him momentarily for his father. Tullece figures out that Gohan must be Kakarot's son then, and says it's not surprising that he and Kakarot look similar, as lower-class Saiyans 'only come in a few types'. Tullece's scouter reads Gohan's power level as 10,000, and says he shouldn't be surprised given Gohan has inherited Saiyan blood from his father. Tullece introduces himself as another surviving Saiyan and asks Gohan if he'd like to join him conquering the universe, and when Gohan refuses, Tullece tells him the Earth is already doomed so he should really take Tullece up on his offer. Tullece's scouter suddenly picks up another power level of 18,000 approaching, and Piccolo arrives to demand Tullece unhand Gohan. Tullece tosses Gohan to Piccolo before appearing behind him and blasting them both to the ground before continuing his conversation with Gohan. As Gohan's tail grows back suddenly, Tullece offers to show Gohan what being a Saiyan is truly about, as he makes a power ball and throws it into the sky. Tullece then holds Gohan's eyes open and makes him look at the fake moon, and as the boy transforms into an Oozaru, Tullece destroys the fake moon to prevent his own transformation. Seeing this, Goku tries to hurry over to his son but has to fight off attacks from the Crusher Tullece Corp, and the fighting eventually gets the attention of the Oozaru Gohan. Goku tries to dodge his son's attacks, and even has to use Kaio-ken to try and escape him, much to Tullece's delight who promises Kakarot to take care of his son when he's gone. Piccolo flies in to help and tells Goku to cut off Gohan's tail, and Tullece blasts him away again, with both Goku and the Oozaru Gohan getting caught in the attack as well and sent falling into a cave filled with water. The Oozaru Gohan manages to grab his father in hand and begins to crush him, but Haiya Dragon shows up and surprisingly mollifies the beast, who begins to watch and play with the smaller creature. Tullece is disgusted by this display and asks Gohan where his Saiyan pride is, causing Goku to retort that he and his son are both Earthlings, not Saiyans. Tullece decides to test this theory and viciously blasts Haiya Dragon away, sending Gohan into a rage again, but the Oozaru soon spots Tullece and attacks him instead. Tullece says he was mistaken to think there would be any worth to Kakarot's son after all, and fires a blast meant to kill the Oozaru. Acting quickly, Goku throws a ki disc that cuts off Gohan's tail, allowing the boy to narrowly avoid being killed by Tullece's attack. Goku catches his son and promises to protect him and turns with an angry scowl towards Tullece. As the planet continues to decline rapidly from the Shinseiju's growth, Tullece tells Kakarot that he's a disgrace to the Saiyan race, causing Goku to retort that his name is Goku. The Crusher Corp shows up once again and asks Tullece to leave Goku to them, and it's shown that all of Goku's friends were defeated by the group. Goku takes on all five of them at once as Tullece watches, and Piccolo takes this opportunity to try to attack Tullece again, but not even a point blank Mankankosappo is enough to hurt Tullece. An angry Goku uses the Kaio-ken to finally defeat all five members of Tullece's group just as Piccolo falls to Tullece, and Tullece gives Goku one last chance to join him. Goku refuses, and Tullece asks him if he really thinks he has enough power to beat him – after all, Tullece has already eaten the fruit from the Shinseiju many times before to grow as strong as he now is. Goku tells Tullece that he's glad to have hit his head so that he didn't end up like Tullece, and as the two begin to fight, Tullece is surprised to see Goku's power at 30,000 and growing quickly. Left with no choice, Tullece grabs one of the fruit off of the Shinseiju declares himself the victor before taking a bite of it. Tullece's power grows instantly and he quickly overwhelms Goku, whom he promises to build a fine grave for. Goku uses a Kaio-ken x10 to try to even the odds, but not even that is enough to defeat Tullece, who takes down Goku once again, leaving him for dead. As Tullece flies towards the top of the Shinseiju tree, Goku's friends telepathically speak to him and tell him to hit Tullece with a Genki Dama. Goku says he's out of energy to do so, but hearing that they're all still alive and willing to fight, Goku decides to give it a try. As Piccolo, Kuririn, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu try to hold Tullece off, Goku starts gathering energy for the Genki Dama. As Goku gathers energy and throws the Genki Dama, Tullece spots Goku and counters the attack with a blast of his own, causing an explosion that knocks Goku back to the ground. Kuririn says that the Shinseiju tree must have taken too much of Earth's life energy for an effective Genki Dama to be made, and all seems lost as Tullece looks at how many more Shinseiju fruit there are left for him to eat. With the Earth drained and seemingly barren, all seems lost, but Goku can feel a warm energy reaching out to him. A breeze begins to blow, and Goku's friends feel Goku gathering energy from the fruit still on the tree. As Tullece eats another fruit, he also feels this, and turns around to find Goku standing before him once again. The two Saiyans stare each other down, and as Tullece tries to fire a final blast to kill Goku, Goku throws another Genki Dama that hits Tullece this time, dragging him through the Shinseiju tree and killing both him and the tree at once and releasing the stolen life energy back to the planet. Haiya Dragon wakes up a sleeping Gohan who is happy to see him, and Kaio-sama says that with the Shinseiju tree destroyed, the Earth might well recover from this after all, while also commenting on the irony that it was the tree itself that gave Goku the energy to destroy it. Goku and his friends go camping again as a larger group this time, and Bulma and Roshi say it really is a good thing Goku hit his head or else he might have actually joined up with Tullece to ravage the universe. Oolong compliments Haiya Dragon for helping out as well and tries to pet him, causing the dragon to bite at him, and Oolong to comment that the creature is just like Piccolo and only lets it's guard down around Gohan. Everyone laughs, while Piccolo meditates near a waterfall somewhere and scoffs. Review: From the very start of this movie, you might have noticed something that it has in common with the last two movies. The first DBZ movie had Garlic Jr. using the Dragon Balls to wish for immortality; the second one had Dr. Cochin wishing to free Dr. Uiro from the ice; and this one has our heroes wishing with the Dragon Balls to fix a forest destroyed by a massive fire. Compare that to the amount of times the Dragon Balls were used in the three Dragon Ball movies prior to the Z title – movie 1 had a wish made to save Pansy's village by ridding them of the Rich Stones, and movie 3 had a wish made to resurrect Bora, a wish that's already directly pulling from the source material rather than being unique to itself. It's clear that a pattern is starting to form within these films, and we're only three movies in out of thirteen total. While some patterns will come and go as different formulas develop, it's indicative of an overall trend with these movies that will become more apparent as I cover further ones...and it's also at least part of why this movie doesn't work quite as well for me. The idea of a forest fire being what the Dragon Balls are used to fix rather than anything bigger or getting used by the villains again is a little bit refreshing, though even then it's really only used to introduce the character of Haiya Dragon (who I'll be touching on more later) rather than doing anything for the film itself's plot. As a result, the Dragon Ball wish feels like it's only here because they think they have to use the Dragon Balls in each film rather than it feeling more organic to the film's plot in the way the last two films used them. Likewise, the movie makes at least a passing use of Goku's extended friend group rather than only using the core group of Goku, Gohan, Piccolo, and Kuririn. In fact (spoiler alert), this movie is the last one we're going to see Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu in for some time. This unfortunately makes their use in this film all the more frustrating though. Sure, they all get to appear, and there's a fun moment where we get to see them all using some of their best techniques to try to take down their Crusher Tullece Corps opponents (more on them in a bit as well), but it all amounts to nothing in the end. They all get defeated – off-screen, no less – just so their opponents can go on to get similarly curb-stomped by Goku. This problem is particularly highlighted by the fact that two of them, the twins Rasin and Lakasei, are already shown up by Gohan earlier in the film. Despite that, they still have to be able to get back up and be just fine...for Goku to take them down. The film wants to give us all of the other characters, but it doesn't want to let anyone but Goku get any victories here, and that is a major, major flaw. Before I move on to talk more about the villains and their plans, which are once again the main focus of the film, I want to talk about the one other element the hero's side of the story brings to the table this time, and that's Haiya Dragon. The idea of giving Gohan a pet is something the anime staff must have really felt strongly about, because despite Haiya Dragon being introduced in this film, it's far from his only appearance. In fact, we'll be seeing him in the next couple of films, as well as him putting in a few appearances in the TV anime as well. This puts him in a category with very few other movie original characters making appearances outside of the films, and even with that, he's the only one to appear in multiple story arcs when we don't count another character that only achieves that by being a rebooted version of their original selves. Needless to say, someone at Toei really thought highly of Haiya Dragon as an addition to the character roster. How do I feel about him myself? ...He's alright. There's not really anything about Haiya Dragon that I think requires him to be part of the series overall, but at the same time he doesn't really take away from anything either. Heck, if anything it gives Gohan a character that's directly related to his presence rather than to his father's, so in a way that's a definite win no matter how inconsequential his presence is overall. And speaking of inconsequential, let's switch to talking about the villains and start things off by talking about the Tullece Crusher Corps themselves. This is the biggest group of villains we've yet had in any of these movies, and maybe that's part of the reason they don't really have much personality outside of their designs – and even then, it's really only Cacao who really stands out greatly on that front. The bio-warriors in the last movie were practically non-verbal, and yet they all managed to get unique abilities and showcases for those abilities to help them feel fleshed out and interesting. Here however, the Crusher Corps don't really have anything more going for them than “hey, they sure are strong”. Except, here's the thing – they're only shown to be strong against those pesky “lesser heroes”. They dominate Kuririn, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu, but get shown up immediately every single time they pop back up to try and fight Goku. It's a complete and utter waste. It doesn't deserve all of the blame as it's clearly emulating what it's learned from the series proper – after all, let's be honest: what did the human cast outside of Kuririn really accomplish in the Saiyan arc at the end of the day? - but shouldn't a film try to fill in a gap in what the original series offers us? Instead of giving us nothing but token appearances for the other heroes, I think I would have liked it better if at least some of the Tullece Crusher Corps actually got to show what made them unique, and still lost to at least some of our heroes in an interesting fashion instead of all of them ultimately being used as props to go “oh wow, Goku is strong!”. So with the backup villains of this film being less than inspired, the onus to be interesting in some way falls on it's main villain. Enter Tullece, who...well, he tries. Sorta. The idea of Tullece, as highlighted directly in the film's closing comments, is that he's more or less what Goku would probably have been like if he'd never hit his head and had kept his Saiyan nature all the way into adulthood. On the surface, this is an interesting idea, but in execution it, if I'm being honest? I don't think it really shows us anything new. We've already seen what the Saiyans are like and how that contrasts with Goku's character and personality, so Tullece doesn't give us any food for thought that we didn't already get from Raditz, Nappa, and Vegeta. It doesn't help that Tullece isn't really any more like Goku than any of the other Saiyans are either. He's described as a low-class warrior who has achieved power far beyond what is expected of that class, and he looks almost exactly like Goku, right down to sporting the same iconic hair-do. There's a toss-away line about how low-class Saiyans only coming in a handful of types, but 1) that's just...stupid, and 2) the real reason is that it uses their similar appearances as a crutch with which to go “look, look, this is totally what an evil Goku would be like!”. Except, it's not. Tullece doesn't act anything like Goku. He doesn't act exactly like any of the original series Saiyans (which is in of itself a good thing actually, allowing his personality to be his own), but he doesn't say or do anything that really makes you think of Goku outside of his appearance. The only non-superficial similarity between the two is that they both pursue greater power than what they currently have, but that's basically a given for every hero and villain in the franchise rather than something unique to Goku's outlook on life. It's the specific way and reasoning that Goku brings to his pursuit of power that sets him apart from everyone else, and that's not replicated in Tullece at all. As much as they want Tullece to be “what if Goku was evil?”, he's actually his own character in Goku clothing, but since his supposed similarity to Goku is where most of the focus is, it leaves him feeling lacking. As much as I've been dumping on the film and it's new characters, it's not all bad, as there's one element to the film that is entirely unique to it, and it's honestly quite a good one. The real villain of this film, the real threat that actually holds my interest and I would guess the interest of lots of other fans, is the Shinseiju tree itself. The idea of a tree that sucks all life out of a planet to produce fruit only meant for the Gods to eat is one hell of an interesting idea, and it's unlike anything else we've had in the series before now. Not only does it serve as a way to actually power up the villain in real time during the film rather than just having them transform (and trust me, we've got plenty of that on the horizon), it actually affects the entire planet rather than just the battlefield our heroes find themselves on. It also really raises some dark questions to think about that I'm not sure was the staff's intention or not. The Shinseiju tree's function is never called into question, only the ideas of it being used on Earth and the idea of someone other than the God's using it and profiting off of it. Kaio-sama never suggests that the tree does anything different when the God's use it, so that means...the tree's ability to drain all life from a planet all to produce some food for the Gods to eat isn't a glitch, it's an expected feature. What the hell, Kaio-sama, that's messed up! It really makes you wonder what exactly the fruit tree in Hell that only Enma is supposed to eat from is using as fertilizer, doesn't it? All things told, the Shinseiju tree is far too good for the rest of the film around it honestly. If nothing else ever makes a comeback from this film, that'd be understandable, but if we ever saw the likes of the Shinseiju tree reinterpreted again for a modern story, I'd be pretty excited to see what they'd do with it. This makes the fact that the tree (and Tullece) are both taken down by another Genki Dama a bit disappointing to boot. For a technique that failed to put down the villain it was first used against in the main series, we've seen it save the day twice now in the movies, and it won't be the last time that happens yet. For what it's worth though, I'd say this time is probably the most tonally and thematically fitting. The tree takes the energy from the Earth by force rather than asking as Goku does, and it's only through Goku taking some of that energy back from the tree itself that he pulls off the technique properly – if it wasn't for the fact that it's already been used to end one film and it'll be used again for another, then this ending would be perfect conceptually. And now, we come once again to the point in time where I talk about where the film would fit if it could fit, and why it doesn't. And once again, I've discovered a bit of a problem in regards to that that I never remember when I think back about the film. In theory, this movie seems to take place after the Saiyan arc just like it's predecessor – Goku has the Kaio-ken and the Genki Dama, so it can't really take place any time before that. Just like it's predecessor however, the use of the Dragon Balls themselves presents a potential problem, with a bigger issue coming in the form of Piccolo, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu all still being alive. The movie as it is can't take place in the series at all at this point without making a major change – in this case, it'd require everyone to have survived the fight with the Saiyans, likely stemming from Goku arriving in time to defeat Nappa before any of them die, and things end up playing out in a deathless fashion past that point as well. Problem solved! ...Except not fully. See, there's a few elements that happen in this film that I completely forgot about when choosing to review it at this point. There's a handful of power levels mentioned that probably seemed a little bit too inflated for where I left off in the main storyline, namely Gohan's power level being anywhere near 10,000. That's probably a little too close to his father and Vegeta's power levels from before given that we don't see any sort of angry outburst in this movie. There's also Gohan's general appearance not looking like he did in the previous arc, with a much shorter hairstyle, one that we're going to be seeing very soon in the next arc. Goku uses a Kaio-ken x10 when the highest we ever saw him use against Vegeta was a x4 and that was enough to absolutely wreck his body. And there's also a curious mention of a guy named 'Freeza', that going off of the Saiyan arc, we have no idea who that is. Without going too far into the minutia, these are all elements that would more firmly place this movie's placement in or after the next arc rather than the Saiyan one. Similar problems lie in that placement as well though, namely that the powers aren't nearly inflated enough and the lack of certain tell-tale elements coming from the end of the next arc. Okay, so maybe this storyline could take place in the middle of the next arc? Except that's even more impossible given that the next arc is going to take most of these characters well off of the Earth, and also a good chunk of them are also still dead. So there's really only one way that this film could ever happen – it'd have to exist in a turn of events where our Goku, Gohan, and Kuririn all survived the Saiyan arc as they did in the main series, they venture out into some form of the following arc without ever running into some of the major issues from it (but still run into enough of them to grow stronger), their friends are revived, and everyone comes back to Earth fine and dandy. It's...a lot, frankly, and shows that there's really no perfect time to cover or talk about this movie from a story point of view. I'm beginning to think that MistareFusion's method for covering the franchise over on Youtube, where he covered the movies roughly where they came out in the series proper, makes a heck of a lot more sense than how I've been doing it. At the end of the day, this movie is far from perfect. It's about as cookie cutter as it can be in a lot of ways, something that's amusingly fitting given that it's Japanese title could be used for practically any other part of the series without problem. It tries to do a few new and interesting things, but by and large it doesn't take advantage of those concepts at all, choosing instead to just go through the motions until it's over. It's far from the worst movie we're going to be talking about before we're done, and it's definitely far less shamelessly a retread than some other ones as well (looking at you, 'Mystical Adventure'), but for the first three DBZ movies, it's definitely my least favorite thus far. Oh yeah – but what about that Freeza guy? Until next time! Favorite Scene: The scene of everyone relaxing at Goku's house before the shit hits the fan is really fun, even if it does dump on Yamcha some more. Next Time: Turns out everyone's dead after all, so...what next? Synopsis: In the icy Tsurumai-tsuburi Mountains, Piccolo trains alone by trying to blow up a mountain, but is unable to put so much as a scratch in it. Elsewhere in the mountains, Oolong and Gohan are watching the Dragon Balls be gathered via Bulma's radar that Oolong has “borrowed”, and Oolong tries to get Gohan to hurry so he can make a wish instead. Oolong makes sure Gohan has kept his promise about not telling anyone what they're doing though, and while Gohan assures him he hasn't, the young boy can't help but wonder what Oolong wants to wish for as the pig daydreams about his last wish for panties. Much to Oolong's surprise, the Dragon Balls have already been completely gathered by an unfamiliar old man named Dr. Cochin, who summons Shen Long and wishes for the revival of Dr. Uiro, who he says is sealed in ice beneath the Tsurumai-tsuburi Mountains. Shen Long grants this wish and melts away the ice, and as a brain in a jar is briefly shown, Dr. Cochin swears his and Dr. Uiro's vengeance upon the world. As the ice melts away, Oolong and Gohan discover a large facility and Gohan says he can sense a large power inside of it, followed by another glimpse of the brain. While Gohan wants to investigate, Oolong tries to run away, but both are stopped by the arrival of bizarre creatures, the bio-men. The bio-men quickly overwhelm Gohan, but one is stopped from killing him by the arrival of Piccolo, who is easily able to defeat them all. As Gohan faints while seeing Piccolo, three mysterious foes are shown watching Piccolo as a beam of light envelopes him just as Gohan and Oolong fall into a collapsing snow cave. When Gohan wakes up, he wonders what happened to Piccolo, and Oolong reminds him of his promise not to tell anyone what they were doing as the two escape the mountains. Once back home, Gohan studies while overhearing his parents argue about his absence. Chi Chi worries what he may have been doing and how it'll affect his studies, whereas Goku thinks that as long as he's fine and growing up strong, he can study some other time. Gohan tries to focus on his studies but can't stop his mind from wondering back to Piccolo, and worrying about what happened to him. Gohan also can't make up his mind of whether or not he wants to be a scholar or a fighter. As he dozes up and dreams about Piccolo, Chi Chi walks in and wakes him up for dinner, causing her to worry all the more about her son's studies. At Kame House, Oolong is punished by Bulma for taking the radar without permission by being forced to cook them all dinner. As Oolong's cooking starts to burn, the doorbell suddenly rings and the turtle answers it to find more of the bio-men. The bio-men ask to see Roshi, and as Roshi steps out to talk with them, they say that Dr. Uiro is asking to meet him. Roshi declines saying that he doesn't know a Dr. Uiro, and as Bulma and Oolong step outside as well, Oolong is scared when he recognizes the monsters from the mountains. Roshi tells Bulma not to worry and to step back inside, and as the bio-men attack him, he defeats them all easily. This pleases a suddenly appearing Dr. Cochin, who says he should have expected as much from the legendary Kame-sennin, and once again asks for Roshi to come with him. Roshi declines again, but when he turns around to find the bio-men have captured Bulma, he agrees at last. Dr. Cochin says it makes sense that the 'strongest man in the world' would also be smart enough to see reason, and as a strange ship pops out of the water to take them back to the lab, a scared Oolong hides in the kitchen. Oolong goes to Goku's house to explain what's happened, and while Goku isn't concerned at first since Roshi should be able to take care of himself, Oolong eventually confesses everything that he and Gohan witnessed three days before. This is enough to make Goku think he should check things out after all, and he calls down kinto'un to fly out to the mountains to investigate. Gohan tries to go with him, but Chi Chi puts a stop to that while also yelling at him for associating with Piccolo again. Back at Uiro's lab, Roshi demands that they release Bulma and tell him what this is all about. Dr. Uiro instructs Dr. Cochin to test Roshi immediately, and Dr. Cochin presses a button that takes Bulma away while releasing the three figures that were watching Piccolo before – even stronger bio-warriors named Misokatsun, Kishime, and Ebifrya. Dr. Cochin tells Roshi to show them what the 'strongest man in the world' can do, and Roshi does his best to fight them off but is ultimately defeated, surprising and disappointing a watching Cochin. Bulma calls Dr. Cochin an idiot and says that while Roshi may have been the strongest fifty years ago, he's long since been surpassed. Dr. Uiro is curious about this, and when Bulma tries to find who's talking to her, Dr. Cochin introduces her to Dr. Uiro – the brain in a jar seen earlier. Hearing Uiro and Cochin's names together jogs Bulma's memory as she realizes who they are – renowned scientists in the field of bio-technology who both took their experiments too far, and when a sudden weather shift in the Tsurumai-tsuburi Mountains caused their lab to be frozen over in ice, it was presumed to have been divine punishment that also killed the two men. Dr. Cochin reveals that while it's true they were trapped in the ice, neither of them truly “died”, and he chastises humanity's foolishness for disregarding their brilliance as “evil”. Dr. Uiro asks Bulma who the strongest person in the world is now if it's not Roshi, and she tells them both about Goku. Dr. Uiro is pleased, thinking that Goku's body might just make the perfect vessel for him, an idea that horrifies Bulma. Dr. Cochin further horrifies her by revealing that they were behind a recent area turning into a desert overnight, asking her to imagine what more they'd be capable of once Dr. Uiro is the strongest as well as the smartest. Realizing how depraved they are, Bulma refuses to tell them where Goku is, but just then Dr. Uiro picks up a strong energy coming towards them, and determines that it must be Goku himself. Meanwhile, back at Goku's house, Chi Chi finds that Gohan has changed into his Piccolo clothing once again and has left to join his father after all. With Goku outside of the lab, Dr. Cochin confirms his identity. Goku asks where they're keeping Roshi and Bulma, and Dr. Cochin tells him he can come inside and get them...if he can. As Goku lands and notices how cold it is here, Dr. Cochin instructs his bio-warriors to try and kill Goku. The first to attack is the large, portly Misokatsun, who bursts out of the ice beneath Goku's feet. Goku fights back but realizes his punches aren't affecting the fat creature, and is forced to run into the building as he realizes it's too cold to channel his ki properly. Once inside, Goku finds a room filled with floating metal spheres that soon pop out spikes and try to impale him, but Goku is able to deal with them with energy blasts. Having followed him into the room, Misokatsun resumes it's attack as well, and while Goku is at first still unable to harm it, he ultimately wins by using Kaio-ken and flying through Misokatsun's stomach further than it's stretchy body can handle. Goku flies through the ceiling and up to the next floor, leaving behind a beaten and deflated Misokatsun. Dr. Uiro and Cochin are impressed, as Goku finds himself face-to-face with Kishime and Ebifriya next. The fight goes back and forth as Goku has to overcome Kishime's speed, but the bio-warriors ultimately get the drop on Goku when Kishime hits him with an electric energy whip that distracts him long enough for Ebifriya to hit him with a freezing ki blast. As the ice envelopes Goku's body, Dr. Cochin laughs, but help arrives in the form of Gohan and Kuririn. Dr. Cochin tells Ebifriya to kill them both, and the pair are ultimately unable to defeat either bio-warrior. Unable to watch his friend and son be hurt, Goku uses the Kaio-ken again to break free of the ice and take down Kishime and Ebifriya for good this time. A pleased Dr. Uiro praises Goku for being better than he imagined, as Goku, Gohan, and Kuririn run deeper into the lab. They eventually find Bulma chained on a pedestal, and as Goku tries to run forward to free her, he's thrown back when it turns out to be electrified. Dr. Cochin introduces himself, and when Goku demands to know where Roshi is, the mad scientist says he's sleeping upstairs waiting for his turn to be turned into a bio-warrior. When Gohan spots Dr. Uiro's brain behind them, Bulma explains everything as Dr. Uiro tells Goku that he'll be taking his body for his own. Goku refuses, but soon finds his arms and legs wrapped up in wires as the same light that enveloped Piccolo before now envelopes him. Gohan tries to save his father, but Dr. Uiro tells Cochin to unleash their “final fighter”, and Gohan and Kuririn are soon faced with a red-eyed Piccolo. Goku breaks free from his bonds just as Roshi is shown stumbling back down the stairs, and while Gohan tries to greet Piccolo, Piccolo ruthlessly smacks him away and turns his attention towards Goku. As his turban comes off, a vein-like crown is shown on Piccolo's head, as Dr. Cochin reveals that their technology even allows them to control someone as strong as Piccolo. As Goku and Piccolo fight, Gohan demands the release of his master while Kuririn tries in vain to free Bulma. When Gohan is unable to stop Piccolo from fighting, his rage unleashes towards the two mad scientists, with his power threatening to break everything around them. Dr. Cochin foolishly mocks Gohan against Dr. Uiro's advice, and as Cochin tries to attack Gohan with an energy blast from his staff, Gohan's power erupts and damages everything around them, including putting a crack in the crown on Piccolo's head. Dr. Cochin tries to attack again, but Kuririn knocks his staff away and tells him to free Bulma. Dr. Cochin turns his arm into a machine gun and fires at Kuririn, and as Kuririn flees, the gunfire damages the power source to Bulma's pedestal before Roshi ultimately drops in and breaks the machine gun arm off. The damaged crown on Piccolo's head falls off as well, finally freeing Piccolo from the villains' control. Dr. Uiro laughs and praises the warriors for all being better than he'd expected, and says he'll take things into his own hands now. The entire building shakes as a gigantic robot with Dr. Uiro's brain in the cockpit breaks free from the wall, causing Dr. Cochin to fall down a chasm and be electrified and blown up as his true robotic nature is revealed. Now freed, Dr. Uiro says he'll have no use for this robotic shell once he has Goku's body, but the heroes all stand ready to fight him. As Goku notes how strong Uiro seems to be, Piccolo tries and fails to take the robot down, and the Turtle students fire a combined Kamehameha, but none of it manages to do anything substantial to the mecha before them. Goku isn't sure if even a Kaio-ken will do much, and as Gohan, Kuririn, and Roshi are all taken out of the fight, it comes down to him and Piccolo working together once again. Not even their combined might is enough to stop Uiro however, and Piccolo is ultimately crushed against the ceiling, leaving only Goku to face off with the mad scientist. Left with no other choice, Goku uses Kaio-ken x3 and manages to break off one of the robotic Dr. Uiro's arms, before firing a Kamehameha that the scientist matches with a large energy attack of his own. The beams struggle against one another but Goku ultimately manages to overcome it by tapping into a Kaio-ken x4, blowing up much of the surrounding building and sending Uiro flying high into the sky. Kuririn congratulates Goku on his victory, but Goku says it's not over yet as he can still sense Dr. Uiro's energy. In the atmosphere above Earth, Dr. Uiro praises Goku's power but says that if he can't have it as his own, he'll just blow the Earth itself away. As the Earth begins to shake, Goku tells his friends to run as he starts to gather energy for a Genki Dama. Dr. Uiro can sense that Goku's up to something and opens fire just as Goku finishes the attack, preventing him from throwing it. Gohan, Kuririn, and Piccolo fly up to prevent Dr. Uiro from coming back down to the Earth, and while Gohan and Piccolo are able to hurt Uiro, Kuririn gets slapped away. The trio manages to distract Uiro long enough for Goku to stand back up however, and as Dr. Uiro fires a blast intended to destroy the Earth, Goku throws the Genki Dama. The Genki Dama manages to push back and finally break through Uiro's attack, and as Gohan and Kuririn feel the energies of everyone on Earth inside of the attack, it hits Dr. Uiro and evaporates the brain and robot both, finishing him off for good. As the lab crumbles to the ground, Goku finds himself laying on the ground, injured but alive and surrounded by his friends. Goku spots Piccolo walking away and thanks him for his help, but Piccolo says that it was Gohan that rose to the occasion this time. The Earth is saved, though the narrator notes that as long as humanity craves more and more power, someone else like Dr. Uiro could appear one day. The narrator thinks that if they do however, Goku and his friends will surely be there to stop them. As the movie ends, Roshi says that he did think Uiro had one good quality in that the scientist thought he was the strongest person in the world, prompting Bulma to say that he's really just the world's greatest pervert, and everyone laughs. Review: I may as well get my gushing out of the way at the start: I absolutely ADORE this movie. For me, this is the absolute best of the original run of Dragon Ball films that came out alongside the original manga's release, which means it's only downhill from here (though that's not to say all of the films left are bad, just less good than this one...and also some are bad). Maybe it's the sci-fi horror setting, maybe it's the unique story focus, whatever it is there's just something about this movie that's resonated with me ever since first seeing it back in the days when the only version available to me was the original Ocean dubbed version – and it's still one of my favorites regardless of which version I watch (though usually it's with the Japanese version nowadays). Let's get the obvious stuff out of the way as well though: this movie does blatantly rip off a lot of scenes and imagery from the latter part of the Saiyan arc. The basic foot soldier bio-men that Dr. Cochin sends out to protect the lab and to bring Roshi to him are blatant Saibamen re-designs, and it is beyond lazily handled – I can't think of a single other non-Dragon Ball Heroes addition to Dragon Ball's vast cast of characters that are this blatantly ripping off the design of an entirely separate character. This also leads to a similar moment where Piccolo grabs the wrist of one of the Not-Saibamens to stop it from attacking Gohan prior to destroying it, same as he did with the actual Saibamen. There's also the movie's use of Goku's Kaio-ken. At one point, he seemingly breaks the back of one of the two final bio-warriors in the same fashion he did to Nappa, and then there's his Kaio-ken x3 beam struggle against Dr. Uiro that ultimately forces the mad scientist high into the sky – both of these are lifted straight from his fight with Vegeta. The same thing goes for his ultimate use of the Genki Dama, and how the Genki Dama itself almost doesn't get to be used at all. Here however, the Genki Dama is what ultimately saves the day as opposed to being a red herring of an ending – and fair warning, you might want to get used to that idea for a bit, because it's not going anywhere for a while in these movies. Much of the rest of the movie's plot is thankfully pretty original however, and similar to the previous film, it decides to put some of it's focus on another character's back history. Well, sort of. Whereas the first DBZ movie tied itself to Kami, with Goku only getting drawn into the conflict due to Garlic Jr. and his cronies kidnapping his son, this time the film's story ties itself to Roshi. And it's honestly a really well thought out idea for a film's villain if you ask me – Roshi was thought of as the strongest person in the world for a long time in-universe, so the idea that some villains out there don't realize that he's long since been surpassed makes a certain amount of sense. Roshi never competed in any of the three tournaments we got to see under his own name, so they'd have no way of knowing that he'd retired from fighting as the next generation came into their own. Even beyond that however, there's the bit about them having been stuck in the the ice and snow of the Tsurumai-tsuburi Mountains for like fifty years – the last time they were actively out in the world, Roshi WAS the strongest guy around, and I doubt Cochin really did much checking into things on that front once he got out and started gathering the Dragon Balls. Speaking of, there are a few oddities here and there, and one of them is just how absurdly quick Cochin is able to gather those things. Oolong literally watches the Dragon Balls increase in number over a matter of seconds on the radar. How in the hell did Cochin travel that fast, much less track them down in the first place? There's never any indication that he has a radar of any kind, but surely he must have. Weird. There's also little things like Uiro being able to sense ki and give out a tremendous amount of ki himself (sensing I guess we could chalk up to the technology giving him something similar to a scouter's capability, but why is he so strong if he was just a scientist before all of this?), as well as Oolong and Gohan acting like they're old friends when I'm honestly pretty sure they've never met in any version, anime or manga, by roughly this point in the series - I'll touch more on THAT conundrum shortly. The ultimate oddity though is the status of Uiro and Cochin in the first place. Cochin's wish seems to have brought Uiro back to life, but the way they talk about him later implies he was never dead at all. For that matter, Cochin is ultimately revealed to be a robot seemingly rather than a living being at all, so...was there ever a real Dr. Cochin, or was he always a robot? Also, if Uiro really can detect ki, how could he not tell that the already captured Piccolo was way stronger than Roshi? There's also the part where Cochin reveals to Bulma that they caused an area to turn into a desert. It's...neat, I guess, and it's certainly horrifying, but nothing about it ever comes up later and it also comes out of nowhere in the first place, so it's really, really weird. Oh yeah, and while I don't think it quite counts as an oddity, it's worth mentioning that this is the only other DBZ movie to really feature a Gohan song moment as Dead Zone did. The song here is really catchy and has some fun and cute visuals, but it sort of just happens out of nowhere as opposed to the drunken Gohan moment in the last film, so...I can't really say I'm quite as fond of this one. I think it's less than stellar implementation might be a reason we don't keep getting these moments moving further into the films either. Overall though, this film does so much different and interesting that it's hard to be too upset with it for the things that don't make sense or feel too familiar. The idea of evil mad scientists is a well that Dragon Ball, including from Toriyama himself, is going to go back to repeatedly in it's future, but this is the first time it comes up, so it manages to feel completely fresh and new. After we've had evil armies, a revived demon king, and invading aliens, mad scientists coming out of nowhere make for a new threat unlike anything Goku has gone up against before. They also make for a different threat to the world at large in a way too: they're not looking to “destroy” it, though they can certainly achieve that through either power or science; they're looking to “transform” it. Uiro and Cochin want to force the world to acknowledge their insane science as the brilliance they believe it to be, and to make humans more than they are currently, and if they have to do that by force then well, humanity will still benefit from it once they finally understand it's for their own good. It's a very dark and honestly horrifying type of threat on it's own, and the film makes good use of it's background scenery and how shots are shown to get the most out of it too. They know exactly what sort of Dragon Ball movie they're making this time around and it shows. Any of these old Dragon Ball Z movies are made or broken by how memorable or not their villains are, and thankfully this one comes out swinging on that front as well. The ripoff Saibamen are lame, but the other bio-warriors manage to be memorable enough between their designs and powers, and that's saying something given that they don't really have much in the way of actual personalities or lines this time around. Misokatsun's fight with Goku in particular is a fun one, though I'm probably biased towards that part in general because not only does it have a great musical cue – Makafushigi Adventure is ten times the theme that Head-Cha-La is and I will fight you on this – it has threats beyond just how strong it is. I love the spiked ball room as it's something working against Goku that isn't another fighter of some kind, and we haven't had that sort of thing in a long time now. Even once he's managed to get through that though, there's still how cold the area is and how that seems to make it harder to channel ki properly. To top it all off, Misokatsun also seems capable of absorbing any damage Goku throws his way (but in a different way than we usually see damage being absorbed), and Goku has to get creative to find a way to beat him. After Misokatsun, the fights with Kishime and Ebifriya are fun as well, and they both have a unique way of attacking – Kishime with his lightning whips that can paralyze, and Ebifriya with his freezing ice attacks – but those both boil down more to outright hitting an opponent, and thus feel a little less novel in comparison. It's also a little disappointing that there's two of them, Gohan and Kuririn both show up and seem like they're going to get to save the day by equally matching them, and...they fail immediately only for Goku to have to win the fight after all. Lame. If you're going to bring in the other heroes at a moment like that, when they evenly match the number of enemies no less, give them SOME kind of win, c'mon. The real stars of the villain side are of course the two mad doctors themselves, Uiro and Cochin. So much of their personalities are tied to their plans themselves, but they do manage to get some fun action scenes as well. Cochin doesn't seem like much, and he probably isn't all that strong all things told – despite Uiro taking a few cues from Vegeta in terms of the fight, Cochin is definitely not a Nappa stand-in – but he makes up for it with just how despicable he is, as well as having a weird blaster staff and a hidden machine gun arm. And Dr. Uiro's “true form” of a brain in a jar is both disturbing and unique among anything else in the franchise, with his cold metal shell not even having a face to speak of. Even once the giant robot he's in is revealed, it still looks bizarre and alien in design, making the idea of seeing this thing fight feel really unnerving. I would imagine it's massive size is something taken from Vegeta's Oozaru state though if I'm being honest. It's really his desire to take the body of the strongest person in the world, coupled with that brain-in-a-jar design, that really makes him such an eerie villain. It's a unique desire within the franchise (again, at least at this point in time), though as far as the design goes, I'd imagine Uiro's gimmick HAS to be an homage to the villainous Mamo in the first Lupin III anime film. It just has to be. I said that these movies depend on how interesting the villains are, and that's no lie because the heroes don't really get much in the way of interesting things to say or do in this movie either. They basically show up as needed, find out what's going on, and fight until the film's conclusion – soak, lather, rinse, repeat. This one doesn't even give anything interesting to it's non-fighting crew either, as outside of Bulma being there to help with exposition, Oolong's really only there to help set up the plot at the beginning (though it is nice to see him again). There's a bit with Chi Chi being worried about her son's future, and it's arguably handled way more nicely here than it will be in future installments of either the manga or anime, but it doesn't really get any time to breathe either. It's just the nature of these shorter films, and for what they are it works well enough even if it's not always the most interesting from the point of view of following them. That said, Piccolo does get a unique factor in this movie in that he gets mind controlled briefly, but sadly that amounts to a whole lot of nothing in the end – he appears early on to save Gohan (get used to THAT in these movies too), disappears for much of the rest of the movie, and then reappears when it's time to fight. His fight with Goku is neat and all but doesn't really do anything to service the plot as a whole, and it's over almost as soon as it started, so... Honestly, I can't help but wonder if there's a cut story idea here or if it's just me thinking of it way after the fact, but it would have been interesting if Uiro's focus had switched to wanting to take Gohan's body after his power was unleashed briefly. That would definitely have lit an even bigger fire under Goku to put an end to this whole mess, while also making the idea of body stealing all the more repulsive. If there's one other critique I'd have to level at the film, it's that I do think it's closing scene is a little bit heavy handed. No, I don't mean Piccolo saying Gohan did a good job to deflect his helping Goku again, that's fine – it's the bit with the narrator, who was absent for the entire rest of the film, saying that humanity will always be power hungry and produce people like Uiro, but it'll be fine because our heroes will be there to save us. It's a nice bookend about how humanity can and probably will be it's own doom somehow, someday, but that...feels a little out of place, at least with how it's awkwardly brought up only at the end here. There will be a similar sentiment expressed in the story WAY further down the line, but there it's the story itself expressing it rather than a narrator saying as much to us, and I can't help but think that it handles this idea way better than what we got here. It also doesn't help that the movie's final closing moments are basically a one-liner followed by everyone laughing. It feels...fake, somehow, honestly. And that about covers everything the movie itself does right or wrong, so before I close this review out, let's talk about something that I did not expect to be such an ordeal when I got to this movie to review – where it would seemingly take place, and why it can or can't take place there. So, right up front – I wasn't originally planning to review this movie AFTER the Saiyan arc. I'd originally planned to review it a few other places, but thankfully before I got committed to doing so, I realized there were a few problems with my placing it there to review. The first place I'd originally placed it was right at the arrival of the Saiyans. That seemed like a perfect middle breaking point between acts – but then I remembered that the movie makes it a point of showing Piccolo's sacrifice to save Gohan from Nappa when Gohan thinks about how much Piccolo means to him. Oops. So I moved the review's placement, with my aim now being to review it as soon either right after Piccolo's sacrifice, or right as Goku landed on the battle field, so as to break up those two parts of the story as well...and then I remembered that the movie made use of the Kaio-ken and the Genki Dama, and while the Genki Dama at least been somewhat shown and explained on Kaio-sama's planet, the Kaio-ken wouldn't get it's showcase until Goku fought Nappa. Oops again. It was at that point that I re-evaluated the movie's placement from the ground up, and I realized that even while the Genki Dama was previously shown on Kaio-sama's planet, we didn't really see what it's use was really like until Goku used it against Vegeta, so in the end I moved the film to where I've now reviewed it. Good thing too, because I'd completely forgotten that the movie also uses the higher levels of Kaio-ken. OOPS. All of this moving around of where to review the film is hilariously fitting too, because this might be one of the most impossible movies to try and place where it would take place in the actual canon of the story. It really just CAN'T take place anywhere. For this movie's events to happen, Piccolo has to have sacrificed himself to save Gohan...but he also has to still be alive, something that we know doesn't happen in the manga. That alone breaks the continuity in a way that really can't be ignored, so while my normal head-canon roughly shoves this movie somewhere after the Saiyan arc (as my review placement ultimately ended up putting it, how's that for irony?), it can't take place there at all. The only way this movie can exist is in an alternate turn of events, one where not only did Piccolo survive Nappa's attack, but one where Goku either comes out of the fight nowhere near as injured or at least has had time to heal up since. The fates of other characters are a little harder to determine in this version, as Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu are completely absent nor are they mentioned, so it's hard to say if they also survived, or if they just got wished back later on since Piccolo and Kami's survival means the Dragon Balls are still active (hence they're use at the start of the movie too, come to think of it). That doesn't really work for Chaozu though and I have a hard time imagining Tenshinhan coming back to life without him, so...this movie's bizarre placement or lack of ability to be places really raises more questions than it does answers frankly. All things told though, this really does stand up as my favorite of these older DBZ films, and it's always an absolute delight every time I rewatch it. If you've somehow never seen this one before and you're a longtime Dragon Ball fan, I can't recommend it highly enough. Until next time! Favorite Scene: It is EXTREMELY hard to pick just one scene, but I think I have to give it to Goku's fight with Misokatsun. Both parts of the fight happen in unique locals with different factors, we get to see a creative use of a foe's abilities used against them, AND the score brings back Makafushigi Adventure from the original anime? How can I NOT love it? Next Time: How evil can an evil Goku really be if he doesn't even have a mustache? Synopsis: Goku's non-combatant friends and family fly towards the battlefield in one of Bulma's airplanes. Bulma asks Roshi for directions again and Roshi tells her to go a little more to the left, which Karin seconds and tells them to head for underneath the light (the remnants of Vegeta's power ball) in the sky. Chi Chi begins choking Karin and demanding to know if Gohan really is still alive, and as Karin says 'probably', Roshi says that they really should have left her behind. As Chi Chi continues to go crazy, Roshi says that he can feel at least four or five energy sources at their destination, but they're all so weak...he wonders what happened down there. Karin says he can't say for sure as he didn't see it either, but he assumes this means the Saiyan must be gravely injured as well.
Vegeta's space pod hovers above the battlefield before landing on the ground beside him, and as Goku and Kuririn watch, Vegeta crawls out from underneath Gohan and heads for his ship. Realizing what Vegeta is up to, Kuririn struggles to his feet and heads towards the Saiyan to stop his escape, as Vegeta curses how hard it is to struggle to the pod in his current state. Seeing Yajirobe's sword on the ground, Kuririn picks it up, as Kaio-sama watches events unfold from his planet far away. Kaio-sama supposes that he really shouldn't play favorites, but given how much trouble Vegeta has caused across the galaxy...he only regrets that this won't stop the true source of evil, not at all. Vegeta crawls up, trying to get inside his escape pod, as Kuririn finally catches up with him. Vegeta curses as Kuririn raises the sword above his head and says this is for all the people the Saiyan has killed. Before Kuririn can plunge the sword into Vegeta however, Kuririn hears a voice inside his head telling him to stop. Kuririn and Kaio-sama are both surprised by Goku's telepathic request, as Goku explains that his body's too injured for him to talk right now. That says, he has one request for Kuririn – he begs him to let Vegeta go. Kuririn asks Goku if he's insane and reminds him of all the things Vegeta has done, warning him that if they let him go Vegeta is bound to come back to try to kill them again someday. Goku concedes that Kuririn is probably right. Kuririn says that if Goku is thinking Vegeta will see the light someday and change like Piccolo did, he's wrong – Vegeta's far too evil and doesn't have a leaf to turn over. Goku concedes that he knows how dangerous Vegeta is but confesses that all he can think of while watching Kuririn about to kill him is “what a waste.” Goku explains that after he finished training with Kaio-sama, he thought he'd reached the pinnacle of power, but Vegeta had been much stronger than him still. Goku was shocked, scared, but ultimately excited by the idea of fighting someone so much stronger than himself...Goku admits that this is foolish and attributes it probably to his own Saiyan blood. Goku pleads with Kuririn even while admitting that it's wrong to please let Vegeta live, because Goku wants to beat him on his own the next time that they fight. Kuririn struggles with Goku's request, but ultimately gives him what he wants, dropping Yajirobe's sword and allowing Vegeta to finish crawling into his space pod. Kuririn says that Goku has probably earned the right to be selfish for saving the world, but makes him promise to take care of Vegeta if he comes back looking for trouble. As the door on Vegeta's pod closes, the Saiyan laughs mockingly, saying that there won't be any miracles the next time they meet and telling them to enjoy life while they can. Once the door closes, the pod shoots into the sky and back out into space. Kuririn walks over and picks up a still unconscious Gohan as Yajirobe gets back up and calls them all idiots for not finishing Vegeta off. Goku apologizes to Kuririn for his unreasonable request, but Kuririn tells him not to worry about it – instead, they need to think about their friends that died and try to figure out if there's any way to bring them back. The two's conversation is soon interrupted by the arrival of Bulma and the others overhead in their plane. Review: It's interesting that this chapter opens up with Goku's friends and family on their way to the battlefield. The last time we saw them, in the manga at least (the anime adds quite a few different scenes, at least one of which I'll be touching on in the next chapter most likely), Bulma was keeping track of Goku's rapidly rising Kaio-ken power and the scouter exploded. They've basically been without any way to see how the fight is going or what's happening ever since, and I guess the curiosity finally got the better of them all and they're heading out to have a look for themselves. This might seem a bit foolhardy, but honestly, if their friends haven't won? They're all going to die soon anyway, so they may as well check in on things. And yes, as you can probably tell, this sort of reaction is going to basically be Chi Chi's contribution to the manga going forward. Buckle up, you haven't seen anything yet. As much as I forewarn and joke though, let's be fair and not lambaste her too heavily, because this is 100% a realistic reaction for someone to have when their child is on a field of battle and might not survive it – especially when said child is, you know, LITERALLY a child. Seeing Vegeta crawl away in such a pathetic manner is immensely cathartic after everything the Saiyans collectively have done, and it makes for a fittingly somber closing image for this arc. Our heroes may have won, but it's came at an extremely high price, making it bittersweet at best – it's a feeling we've never had when closing out a Dragon Ball arc before. Honestly, things have never been as bad as they are here either – they've saved the Earth, but due to Piccolo's death, the Dragon Balls are no more. No Kami means no easy way to bring them back either, they are quite literally up shit creek without a paddle as the old saying goes. And that's without even going into Kaio-sama's rather curious dialogue about how Vegeta's death is totally deserved, but ultimately won't take out the roots of evil in the universe. While one might choose to look at this dialogue as just an off-hand remark about how there's always going to be evil out there (and perhaps on some level, it is), it doesn't take being super familiar with the franchise to read it another way as well – there's still something specific and much more concerning than Vegeta out there. Neither Kaio-sama or the series itself offers any hint as to what that might be, but it certainly doesn't make this already dour ending any more hopeful. And before I talk about Goku's controversial request here, I should probably point out a small detail I forgot to bring up before – Goku's psychic now apparently. Starting here and a few other times in the future, there will be weird instances where Goku will communicate telepathically with people, and there's never really been an explanation for how or when he developed this skill. I guess it's just something we're meant to think he picked up after all these years of training, but it seems a little weird that he can do this so casually while he was impressed not that long ago by Kaio-sama doing the same thing. Granted he's doing it with the person on the receiving end being just a few feet away as opposed to many, MANY lightyears apart, as Kaio-sama does it, but still. The biggest thing in this chapter of course is what happens with Vegeta, or rather what doesn't happen. Kuririn is poised to finish him off for all that he's done, and to make sure they won't have to deal with him again in the future...but Goku stops him. And why does Goku stop him? ...Because he wants to fight him again in the future and win outright instead of technically losing and only winning via an extremely specific set of circumstances as he did here. This is a decision that no doubt surprised a lot of fans when it was first published. We've always known that Goku hates “cheating” and prefers to fight and win on his own, but never before have we seen his desire for a good fight trump what clearly would be the right decision, at least not quite like this. Yes, he spared Piccolo, but that at least had the caveat that doing so would keep the Dragon Balls active, as well as Goku having outright beaten him. Here however, there are no such guarantees – there's every chance Goku would just lose again if and when they had a rematch. Goku chalks this up to his Saiyan blood influencing him, and I'm inclined to agree with that assessment as, going forward? Goku's going to make quite a few more decisions that seem entirely fueled by a desire to fight, and they're going to be decisions that fly completely in the face of logic. As I've said before though, logical decisions don't always make for the best story – oftentimes, it's the illogical choice that does end up making for the most entertaining plot. Realistically speaking? Kuririn absolutely should have run that sword through Vegeta and put him out of all our miseries. He would have been completely in the right to, and nobody, not even Goku, could really have blamed him if Kuririn had blown off his request and just done the deed. That said however, while we've already seen Goku spare Piccolo once before, this time still manages to feel different just because of how crazy a decision it is. And with everything as dark as it is right now, even without knowing where the story goes, it'd be a pretty easy guess that Kuririn's right and things aren't going to go as smoothly as they have with Piccolo. I'll be holding off on making any 'final assessment' type commentary on Vegeta as of yet, simply because there is no 'final assessment' to be had – spoiler warning, there's going to be a lot more of him to come. I will say though that for this arc in particular, he has served as a pretty serviceable final villain. His personality is closer to Raditz's then Nappa's, but his ego-maniacal side is entirely his own, and there are definite hints as to what he's going to be like in later situations if you look closely at his conduct in his fight with Goku. Again, no final assessment just yet – but let's just say that both Vegeta's best...and his maddeningly, infuriatingly, RAGE-INDUCING worst...are both still to come. And with that to look forward to, this chapter brings the Saiyan arc to a conclusion. What's that, you might ask? This doesn't feel like the ending of an arc at all, there should be another chapter or something? Well, the last so many arcs have been pretty abrupt endings themselves if you look back over them, but this arc is unique in that it flows much more naturally into the next arc than any before, and definitely any after it as well. In fact, there's many fans who consider this arc and the next one to be one, super long arc, and there's definitely ample evidence to support that idea as well. As a result, this arc's ending and the beginning of the next one definitely feel like one story beat rather than two separate ones, so it's a little unfortunate to cut the story line here – but there are enough unique features to the following arc to consider it it's own thing in my opinion, as well as a few non-manga related things that I need to cover next, so here's where we'll be closing up shop on the Saiyan arc. As the first arc of the 'Dragon Ball Z' era, the Saiyan arc brought a lot of change to the world of Dragon Ball – in some ways, arguably more than any arc before or after it. The King Piccolo and the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arcs started the transition into a fully combat focused outlook for the series with gags and comedy taking a back seat, and the Saiyan arc brings that outlook to it's next step by shifting away from fantasy to a more sci-fi setting. Which style of Dragon Ball you prefer has long been a bit of a litmus test between fans who prefer the earlier, fantasy-comedy storylines, and the new, combat-sci-fi ones, but honestly I like them both. They both have their highs and lows, and it's clear that Toriyama has a deep love of sci-fi as well. It's definitely going to be fun to talk about the next arc as I get into it, because while it has a ton of weaknesses, it also has some of the best material in the original run of Dragon Ball in my opinion. I might be a bit biased though, because in this next arc? We're going to be getting to my own origin as a fan of Dragon Ball. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: Vegeta punches and kicks Gohan in an attempt to stop him from transforming into an Oozaru, but Gohan's body keeps changing. As Vegeta tries to kill the child, Goku and Kuririn watch on, with the latter thinking this is a long shot but it's all they have. Suddenly remembering that all he needs to do is take off Gohan's tail, Vegeta grabs hold of it and tries to rip it off, but an angry Gohan hits him with an enlarged fist. Vegeta falls to the ground and looks up to see a fully transformed Oozaru Gohan. Kuririn remembers how Goku seemed to lose control of himself while he was an Oozaru, and he wonders if Gohan will be the same. He doesn't have to wonder long, as Gohan slams a massive fist into a nearby rock pillar, bringing it crashing down and scattering debris everywhere. Kuririn further wonders however if it's less that he and Goku lose control, and more that they regain their natural Saiyan ferocity... As the Oozaru Gohan lifts a large boulder over head, Kuririn shouts at him to go for Vegeta, and Gohan freezes in place. Vegeta curses as the Oozaru seems to struggle with something, and Goku shouts to his son to do it. The Oozaru Gohan roars, and turns it's attention at last towards Vegeta. The Oozaru Gohan throws the boulder down at Vegeta who quickly dodges out of the way, Kuririn reminds Gohan that he's half-human and says he's glad he's listening to his human side right now. Vegeta says that if he was less wounded this wouldn't even be a problem, and curses that it's his own fake moon that brought him to this situation as well. Realizing that his only hope lies in cutting off Gohan's tail, Vegeta forms an energy disc similar to Kuririn's Kienzan, and as the Oozaru leaps into the air above him, Vegeta throws the energy disc. The disc cuts off Gohan's tail, and at first Vegeta smirks, thinking victory will be his at last – but as he falls forward, a still very large and reverting Oozaru Gohan falls on top of him, crushing him into the ground. As the dust clears, a naked and unconscious Gohan lays atop a defeated Vegeta. Barely conscious, Vegeta reaches into his armor and pulls out a remote control. He hits a button on it before his arms collapse next to him, and Kuririn questions what he's even made of. Elsewhere, in the city that the Saiyans crash-landed and Nappa razed to the ground, a group of scientists are recovering the Saiyan pods while trying to figure out what they are and what happened to the city. One of the pods suddenly flies into the sky and away from them before they can do anything to stop it, and as the pod flies through the sky, Vegeta remarks that he's never once in his life been forced to retreat before today. Review: There's something ironically hilarious about Vegeta having just used the Oozaru form himself earlier now having to do his damndest not to face off with one himself. Try as he might however, Gohan's going ape, and he's gonna be on the receiving end of it. That said though, there is just enough questionable about this turn of events that doesn't make it an obvious saving throw from the get go. As Kuririn points out, every time we've seen an Oozaru other than Vegeta, they've been beasts that are more apt to destroy everything around them, friend and foe alike, rather than being anything useful. And we've also previously seen Gohan transform as well, so there's already evidence to suggest that this time isn't going to be any different – our heroes might be just as screwed as they were before, and their 'only hope' might actually kill them as well as Vegeta. While that would technically still save the planet itself, that...would still be a really, really bad turn of events. This time however, something miraculous occurs, and Gohan DOES listen to reason – at least, by Oozaru standards. And it's not just Goku's scream at him that does it, as even Kuririn's scream before that seems to cause Gohan to stop his rampage. While I'm not entirely sure how much I buy Kuririn's earlier theory that the Oozaru's just revert Goku and Gohan to their true Saiyan nature – ancillary material outside the manga seems to suggest that only very well trained Saiyans such as Vegeta can control the form, and they wouldn't have any repressed Saiyan nature, they'd just be as they were – I do like his theory that it's Gohan's human side that allows him to finally exert a very minimal amount of control over the form here. He may be way younger than Goku was when he transformed, but he's far more intelligent and he does have a non-Saiyan nature inside of him – there's reason to think that maybe, had the series gone differently, Gohan really could learn to control this form. But alas, as we'll be seeing soon enough, the series is going to have different ideas in mind. In fact, as things stand, this is the very last time in the manga that we'll be seeing an Oozaru, and we won't be seeing very many more of them in anime form for a long, long while either. Given how far back the form dates, it's a little sad to say goodbye to the werewolf monkeys, but at least Toriyama got a lot of mileage out of them for one last run in this arc. I do find it interesting that Vegeta makes an energy disc similar to the Kienzan to cut off Gohan's tail though. Did he come up with that after seeing Kuririn's attack, or did he always have something like that up his sleeve? Either one would make sense actually. If he already had such an attack, that would explain why he knew what it was capable of and shouted a warning to Nappa. If he didn't however, it also makes sense that he'd be astute enough both to know what it could do, and to later mimic it himself. It's an interesting conundrum. This is jumping ahead a bit, but let's just say this isn't the last time we'll see something that isn't a Kienzan but totally seems to be for all intents and purposes. With Vegeta crushed beneath Gohan, the Saiyan is finally well and truly defeated...but not dead. We've seen just how impossible Goku was to kill, so it's not that surprising to see Vegeta be just as durable, but he HAS seen quite a bit of damage here, so I guess it's surprising enough in it's own way. And while we don't see for a fact where the Saiyan pod is flying off to, the fact that it only takes to the air after Vegeta uses a remote and he then talks about retreating makes it clear enough – the pod is coming to where everyone is, and Vegeta's about to make a break for it. Surely this isn't about to be a King Piccolo to Piccolo Jr. situation though, right? ...Well... Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: A completely selfish, totally illogical request. Synopsis: Struggling to walk over to our exhausted heroes, an equally tired Vegeta curses them all for pushing him to his limits and hurting his pride. Vegeta calls them scum and tells them all to die, and with no time to prepare, everyone – including Yajirobe – is blown away when Vegeta crosses his arms in front of him and throws them upwards and causing a massive explosion of energy.
As the dust clears, Vegeta looks around the battlefield, but much to his disappointment, everyone is shown to have survived the attack. Vegeta can't figure out how they survived but soon realizes that he's far more weakened than even he realized. Flying weakly over to Gohan's body, Vegeta prepares to kill him but makes a horrifying discovery – Gohan's tail has grown back. Kuririn remembers that Goku's used to grow back all the time too, and as Vegeta glances up at the sky and sees the fake moon power ball he created is still there, he tries to kill Gohan before the boy can spot it. Vegeta's attention is drawn away by a feral yell, and he turns his head just in time to see Yajirobe descending upon him. Yajirobe quickly slashes his sword, cutting through Vegeta's armor and his back. Both Vegeta and Yajirobe fall to the ground, and as Yajirobe gets back up, he yells jubilantly for his victory. Vegeta gets back up however, and although Yajirobe tries to cut him again, Vegeta dodges. Dropping his sword, Yajirobe tries to sweet talk Vegeta, saying that he was just kidding around and even offering to join him. Vegeta rejects Yajirobe's offer however, kicking him away before punching him viciously in the face, sending Yajirobe crashing into a pile of rocks. Turning his attention back towards Gohan, Vegeta walks back towards him with murder in his eyes. Goku yells at Gohan to look at the sky, and Gohan opens his eyes to do so. Vegeta yells at the boy to stop and hurries over to stomp him dead, but it's too late – Gohan's body has already begun to transform into an Oozaru. Review: After everything the characters have been through since Vegeta and Nappa arrived, it's probably not too surprising to see them all running on fumes by this point. Gohan and Kuririn may have gotten part of a senzu bean earlier, but they've never gotten to rest and have only gotten hit that much harder since healing. Goku and Vegeta have likewise never stopped since their fight started either, and both are definitely worse for wear after putting their bodies through the wringer. As such, don't expect anything quite as exciting as the fights we've seen before now. This isn't the part of the fight that you should expect our heroes or their foes to go above and beyond – this is a struggle to get to the finish line for both groups. Which, in of itself, is a little different and refreshing. We haven't really seen a fight just refuse to end before in quite this same way. That said, I'm not entirely sure I feel as enthused about this last portion of the Saiyan arc as most people are. That's not to say there's not still some interesting things left though. Speaking purely on the art itself, Toriyama brings his A-game to making the characters look as rough as possible – hell, just look at Vegeta's hair in a few of the far shots. It's almost lost all of it's iconic shape, he's just as frazzled as any of the our heroes are. There's also the almost casual way that Gohan's tail comes back – you can spot it in a panel before it's even brought up in dialogue, a rewarding little tidbit for fans really paying attention to what they're looking at in the panels. It is a little coincidental that his tail chooses now of all times to grow back, but to be fair Goku's tail did the same thing back when he was a kid. Actually, perhaps there's something to that...maybe a Saiyan's tail is generally meant to grow back in a moment of peril to give them that last burst of strength needed to overcome a really tough fight? Given what we'll be learning about Saiyan biology soon enough, that actually seems pretty possible. With Vegeta in particular so down and out, Yajirobe finally feels brave enough to jump back into the fray again. Unlike his previous attempt at being heroic however, this one doesn't end quite so well for the portly samurai – which is probably a good thing, considering what happened to the last guy Yajirobe actually killed. Vegeta gets his sweet revenge on the cowardly Earthling for cutting off his tail, but speaking of tails, he probably shouldn't have gotten distracted as long as he did, because it's that distraction that gives Goku enough time to figure out what's going on and to shout for Gohan to look at the sky. That said, will an Oozaru Gohan actually be a saving grace...or another threat to the Earth? Until next time! Favorite Panel: Synopsis: Kuririn pleads for the Genki Dama to hit Vegeta, but due to Yajirobe's yell, Vegeta is able to jump out of the way. Goku, Yajirobe, Kuririn, and a far away Kaio-sama all watch with horror as the energy sphere bypasses Vegeta entirely and heads for Gohan instead. Goku telepathically contacts Gohan and tells him that he should be able to bounce it back as he doesn't have evil ki, and Gohan reacts quickly, throwing up his arms and successfully bouncing the Genki Dama away from him and back towards Vegeta. Completely unprepared, Vegeta is hit by the attack, and everyone watches as the energy completely envelopes Vegeta's body, rocketing him off into the sky. The tired warriors and Kaio-sama all celebrate their hard-fought victory over Vegeta, and Kuririn and Gohan rush back over to Goku's side. Goku jokingly says they both look pretty awful after the fights, and Kuririn points out that he's no better off. The warriors attention is drawn away by something falling from the sky, just before it's revealed to be Vegeta's body as it crashes to the ground. Gohan is worried, but Kuririn is certain that the Saiyan is dead for sure this time. Walking over to Vegeta's body, Kuririn says he was a nasty guy but praises how strong he was, and thinks he'll at least dig a grave for him. To Kuririn's horror, Vegeta awakens and asks him if the grave he's digging is for all of them. Everyone is horrified as Vegeta struggles back to his feet. Vegeta says they've given him quite the beating, to the point that even he thought he was dead after that last attack. Kaio-sama can't understand how Vegeta could possibly be so strong. Vegeta says he should have just enough strength left to kill them all and viciously slaps Kuririn away, causing the Earthling to cough up blood. Vegeta swears that he's going to kill them all and then, after he's taken some time to heal and rest, he'll finally destroy the Earth itself. Review: If it sounds like this chapter description is fairly short, that's because this chapter itself is rather light on content – a whole four pages is spent just on Vegeta being hit by the Genki Dama. This definitely feels like one of those chapters that Toriyama decided needed to end on a particular note to be shocking, but he got through too much material in the last chapter, leaving this one just a bit lacking in terms of material to work with. That said, there's at least a few curiosities worth talking about even if only briefly. The idea that Gohan can bounce back the Genki Dama because he doesn't have evil energy is an interesting one. Along with the idea that Gohan wouldn't have been able to handle wielding the attack due to his lack of training, it's a small step towards keeping some elements of fighting in play that don't boil down to 'stronger guy hits harder, thus he wins' – and I'm all about anything that adds more nuance to the combat. That said, it's something that I really wish was delved into a little more or even hinted at prior to this moment, because as things stand it feels like it comes out of nowhere just to get a cheap and easy moment of drama from us thinking the attack had missed and wasn't going to take Vegeta down. Which uh...brings us to the other main element of this chapter: the fact that the fight isn't over yet. No, despite Kuririn being ready and willing to dig Vegeta a grave – something that shows his level of empathy even towards their foes – Vegeta's not ready to roll over and die just yet. The Genki Dama, the final lesson Goku learned from Kaio-sama and the one thing that seemed certain to save them all, and has already been through the usual ping-pong match of 'is it going to work or not' has landed on not. While this really drives home just how much of a threat Vegeta is and just how tough these Saiyans really are, one can't help but feel that this feels like too much at this point. Toriyama's really going to have to pull out all the stops to make things past this point in the arc feel worth this completely ignored ending point. Will he? Well... Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Heroes and villains, both running on fumes. Synopsis: As Gohan and Vegeta continue fighting overhead, Kuririn asks Goku what he means by saying he'll “give him” the Genki Dama. Goku explains what the Genki Dama is and that he thinks it should be just enough to take Vegeta down now that he's weakened, and asks Kuririn to grab hold of his hand before Gohan gets killed. Kuririn holds Goku's hand and notices that Goku's arm is broken, but Goku pleads with him to hold on regardless as he transfers the Genki Dama's energy to Kuririn. Gohan and Vegeta's clash continues overhead while all of this is happening, and Kuririn is overwhelmed by the power he feels as the Genki Dama is transferred to him. Goku tells him to hold his palm up and concentrate until it forms a ball, telling Kuririn that it's up to him as Gohan couldn't handle power like this. Kuririn does as instructed and forms an energy ball above his hand, and Goku praises Kuririn for pulling it off. Goku tells Kuririn that he has to hit Vegeta with the attack the first time as he's too weak to make another one, and Kuririn tells Goku to leave it to him. In his fight with Vegeta, Gohan keeps coming up short, and he laments that even though his dad weakened him a lot, the Saiyan is still way too strong. Nearby, Kuririn leaps onto a tall rock pillar and watches the fight, waiting for his chance to throw the Genki Dama. Gohan and Vegeta exchange energy blasts, and while Gohan is just barely able to dodge Vegeta's attack, Vegeta is easily able to dodge Gohan's. Kuririn thinks Vegeta is too fast and wonders if he'll ever get a chance to hit him. A voice suddenly speaks to Kuririn, telling him not to aim with his eyes but to feel Vegeta's evil ki and to throw the Genki Dama at that. Kuririn is confused, and Kaio-sama explains who he is and tells Kuririn that the hope of the entire Earth rests in his hands. As Vegeta taunts Gohan, telling him that no matter how many lesser being challenge an elite such as himself it'll never make a difference, Kuririn tries to follow Kaio-sama's advice. Seeking to end the fight at last, Vegeta hurls a barrage of energy blasts at Gohan, who has to leap repeatedly backwards to avoid being caught in the assault. Kuririn closes his eyes to focus just as Gohan is thrown against a rock face by the blasts. Yajirobe notices the massive energy Kuririn has and wonders what he's up to. With Gohan downed, Vegeta rushes in for the kill, and Kuririn thinks he finally has a lock on Vegeta. Just as Kuririn prepares to throw the Genki Dama however, Yajirobe shouts at him to hurry up and throw it, causing Vegeta to notice him at last. Cursing Yajirobe, Kuririn throws the Genki Dama, and it hurtles towards Vegeta. Kuririn pleads with it to hit Vegeta...but Vegeta leaps up over the energy ball at the last second. Review: While Gohan gets all of the action with Vegeta in this chapter, I'd argue that the real focus of this chapter isn't on the fight at all – or rather, it's not about that part of the fight. While seeing Gohan rise to the occasion is a great moment, it's made very clear from the get go that this isn't his fight to win, he just has to keep Vegeta's attention away. Believe it or not, it's going to be Kuririn who's taking center role on taking the Saiyan down. This probably came as a bit of a surprise even for fans who read Dragon Ball from the beginning. Kuririn has never been the central focus of any fight before now, and nothing has ever really relied on him either. He's been a character free of any real narrative weight, and the one time a rather major plot point was appointed to him, it was at the expense of his own life – he died to inspire Goku to fight King Piccolo. Now however, the only hope our heroes have of winning the day actually rests on Kuririn's shoulders. This is quite the boost from his place within the franchise before now, and it's something that I think has been being built ever since the Saiyans arrived. Before this arc, Kuririn was probably the third strongest active hero at best, behind both Goku and Tenshinhan. With this arc though, while he's arguably slid down to fourth (behind Goku, Piccolo, and Gohan if we take his hidden powers into account), this puts him in a position as probably the strongest non-alien Earthling, a position he'll arguably hold for the rest of the series. A boost in power and in relevancy status bodes well for my favorite short fighter, but it's not all sunshine and rainbows just yet either. While Goku entrusts Kuririn with the Genki Dama and suggests only he can use it (though I think that has far more to do with Kuririn's advanced levels of training in comparison to Gohan than it does his power itself), he still has to hit Vegeta with it. Despite the beating Vegeta has taken so far too, the Saiyan is still way faster than everyone, and with only one chance to take him down, there's far more riding on Kuririn than he's used to. With some guiding words from Kaio-sama however, Kuririn rises to the occasion and... ...and Yajriobe mucks it up. I guess it was time for the pendulum to swing back towards Yajirobe being useless again after his saving throw a few chapters ago, but it couldn't have swung back at a worse time. With only one chance to take Vegeta down, the Genki Dama misses. But was that really the last hope left? Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: The End of Vege-oh, wait, scratch that... Synopsis: As Vegeta reverts back to normal, Kuririn thinks there's cause for celebration, but a hidden Yajirobe is sure things are about to get a lot worse. Gohan tries to figure out why the big monster disappeared, and Vegeta accuses them all of being suicidal and asks if they truly know the cost of making him angry. Vegeta rushes towards Gohan before Kuririn can shout at him to run, and Vegeta tells him he can be the first before slamming a fist into the young boy's stomach. As Gohan doubles over in pain, Vegeta tells him to act like he truly does have Saiyan blood and show him his power. Kuririn tries to fly in to save Gohan, but Vegeta spots him and kicks him away, causing Kuririn to ricochet off of the ground and various large rocks around. Vegeta turns his attention back towards Gohan, picking him up and headbutting him. As Gohan starts to bleed, Vegeta mocks him and says he'll at least be kind enough to let him die next to his father, and tosses Gohan down beside Goku. Goku weakly talks to Gohan and tells him that his body is too banged up to fight now and asks Gohan to fight in his stead, saying that Vegeta should be a lot weaker now as well. As Vegeta scoffs and calls Goku stubborn for still being conscious after all that was done to him, Gohan tells his father that Vegeta's too strong for him to fight. Vegeta says that he'll kill Kakarot first after all, then his kid, then 'the bald one', and finally the coward who cut off his tail – hearing this, Yajirobe is disappointed to find that Vegeta hasn't forgotten about him at all. Goku insists to Gohan that he doesn't have to win, just hold Vegeta off, and that Kuririn will be the one to finish Vegeta off. As Vegeta leaps from up above and Kuririn tries to struggle to his feet, Gohan weakly tells his father that it hurts too much to fight, causing Goku to chastise his son for being a coward and asking him if Piccolo really taught him to do nothing after everyone has died. Goku's words are cut off as Vegeta's knee slams into his stomach, causing him to cough up blood and scream in pain. Vegeta begins to attack the downed Goku again, causing a watching Gohan to get angry enough to stand back up and scream for him to stop. Threatening to kill Vegeta, Gohan fires an energy blast at Vegeta that the Saiyan has to dodge, leaving Gohan to move quickly into the air and kick him away. Vegeta is hurt, but he quickly retaliates by violently kicking Gohan in the face. As the two fight in mid-air, with Vegeta seemingly having the upper hand but Gohan refusing to back down, Kuririn struggles his way over to Goku. Kuririn tells Goku that it's hopeless and asks him why he didn't tell Gohan to run, but Goku says that as long as they're both still alive, there's a chance – he can give Kuririn the Genki Dama. Review: Just as things seemed like they couldn't possibly get any worse, that they surely had to get better now that Vegeta had been forced to revert from his Oozaru form, they instead find a way to be just as bad if not actually worse than before. Sure, Vegeta's not as powerful as he was moments before, but he's just as angry, and he's also still way stronger than anyone left standing on the battlefield right now. Even in his weakened state, the Saiyan is still more than Gohan or Kuririn can handle, and he's definitely in the mood to drive that point in as painfully as possible. Oh, and as a small aside before moving on, there's a moment of Gohan wondering why the Oozaru went away when it's tail was cut off. This reminds us that despite having transformed into an Oozaru once before himself, Gohan really doesn't know how any of that works himself. Foreshadowing, perhaps? Hmm... Much of the rest of the chapter is just Vegeta pummeling away our heroes – save for Yajirobe who has hidden himself away again, but Vegeta makes it a point to say he hasn't forgotten about him – and their various reactions to said pummeling. Kuririn gets hurt and manages to get back up and walks over to Goku to ask him what the plan is; Gohan gets hurt and wants to stay down rather than get hurt further; but Goku, the most injured of all? Goku doesn't want to give up. He encourages Gohan to keep fighting, already hinting that he still has a plan to avenge everyone and save the planet, but Gohan doesn't want to get hurt. Goku calling his own son a coward is probably a little harsh – I feel the need to once again remind people that he's like FIVE at this point – but he does raise a valid point. If Gohan doesn't stand up and fight, they're all doomed, and everyone died for nothing. It's for this same reason that Goku didn't tell his son to run as Kuririn thought he would. Where exactly is Gohan going to run if Vegeta blows up the whole planet, after all? It's also kind of why some of Vegeta's threats ring hollow as well. We already know he wants to kill them all and to blow up the planet, so calling them foolish or suicidal for fighting back is really kind of pointless banter at this point, you know? Gohan might be too young to really understand what Goku is telling him, but he does still love his father and he does still have that hidden power deep within him, so seeing Vegeta mercilessly beat the downed Goku in front of his eyes is more than enough to get Gohan back in action. Gohan's power is at least enough to help him keep Vegeta's attention for a time, and that's all Goku ever wanted him to do in the first place, as his real plan still involves the Genki Dama. But what I'm sure anyone new to this storyline might be wondering is how he can just “give” it to Kuririn? Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Finally – the Genki Dama! |
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