Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 7 - DB Episodes 31-35

[Robo4900]

Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone between and beyond, and welcome to week 7 of the first Dragon Ball rewatch of the decade.
We're doing five episodes a week, and we'll be watching every single episode of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT. All 508 episodes. Plus the TV specials and the movies (more on that later, when we actually get there).
I encourage you all to watch in Japanese with subtitles, especially if you have never done so before, but watch along in whichever way brings you the most joy.

Three full-filler episodes this week. :lol
With the fact we're getting into full-on filler, I've decided to add a few extra bits of info to each episode. I'll go back and add these to previous applicable episodes too. I think for full-filler episodes, it makes sense to credit the episode writer, and while I'm at it, I decided to add episode director & animation supervisor credits too.

Previous thread: Week 6 (DB 26-30)
Next thread: Week 8 (DB 36-40)

Anyway, without further ado...

Episode 31 - Ge-ge! A Fake Goku Appears!!
Dub title: Wedding Plans
Originally aired 24th of September 1986
Episode director: Daisuke Nishio
Animation supervisor: Masayuki Uchiyama

The army that was searching for the Dragon Ball was in fact Captain Silver’s Red Ribbon Army unit. Silver and Pilaf go after the Dragon Ball. The Dragon Ball turns out to be inside the stomach of a monster that Gyūmaō defeats. Hearing that Goku is coming, they prepare a reception for him. Pilaf makes Shuu into a fake Goku, and enters the village, but the Silver Corp. attacks! Taking advantage of the confusion, Pilaf gets the Dragon Ball and flees to his moving base. Having reunited with Chichi, Goku perceives that something is amiss, and hurries to the village!!

Anime-only/filler content: Completely filler (written by Yasushi Hirano)

Episode 32 - It Vanished?! The Flying Fortress in the Sky
Dub title: The Flying Fortress - Vanished!
Originally aired 1st of October 1986
Episode director: Yoshihiro Ueda
Animation supervisor: Tomekichi Takeuchi

Giving his parting words to Gyūmaō and Chichi, Goku goes after Pilaf and co. Meanwhile, following the signal on the Dragon Radar, Silver discovers Pilaf’s secret base. Calling for reinforcements, Silver commences a general offensive! Having infiltrated the base, Goku also hurries to where the Dragon Ball is!! Pilaf is forced to flee, but the moving base he is riding in is hit by the combined attacks of the Red Ribbon Army, and Goku is caught in the explosion!! The Dragon Ball finally falls into Silver’s hands.

Anime-only/filler content: All filler (written by Keiji Terui)

Episode 33 - The Legend of the Dragon
Dub title: The Legend of a Dragon
Originally aired 8th of October 1986
Episode director: Kazuhisa Takenouchi
Animation supervisor: Yukio Ebisawa

After returning to Red Ribbon Army Headquarters, Silver receives his orders from the commander, and sallies forth to once again search for the Dragon Balls. Meanwhile, having been rescued by Kinto-Un from the moving base’s explosion, Goku also reopens his search for the Four-Star Ball. Silver realizes that a baby monkey Goku saved on a mountain has a Dragon Ball, and shoots fire at the mountain! The monkeys are pursued by the fire. As Silver aims a rifle at the baby monkey, it is saved by Goku!! However, the Dragon Ball floats down the stream.

Anime-only/filler content: 100% filler (written by Toshiki Inoue)

Episode 34 - The Heartless Red Ribbon
Dub title: Cruel General Red / Cruel Governor
Originally aired 15th of October 1986
Episode director: Yoshihiro Ueda
Animation supervisor: Masayuki Uchiyama

Using the Dragon Radar that Bulma made, Goku easily spots the Dragon Ball that drifted down the river. However, Kinto-Un is blown away by Captain Silver’s bazooka! After defeating Silver with a single swipe of his tail, Goku heads north in a plane flown by a robot who came out of a capsule. Goku shudders from the extreme cold. The robot is frozen solid as well, and the plane crashes!! Having been frozen solid, Goku is saved by a girl named Suno.

Anime-only/filler content: From the opening, up until Goku is flying above the river, tracking the Dragon Ball with the radar (filler scenario written by Keiji Terui).

Episode 35 - The Girl of the North, Suno
Dub title: Cold Reception / Suno, A Little Girl In A Northern Village
Originally aired 22nd of October 1986
Episode director: Daisuke Nishio
Animation supervisor: Katsumi Aoshima

Goku wakes up in Suno’s house, and receives gentle care from her and her mother. Suno is frightened when she hears that Goku is searching for the Dragon Balls. In this village, General White of the Red Ribbon Army has taken the mayor hostage, and is using the townspeople to search for a Dragon Ball! After regaining his health, Goku defeats the soldiers who came in pursuit of him, and heads for General White’s base, Muscle Tower, in order to rescue the mayor! After defeating the soldiers outside, Goku immediately thrusts himself up to the second floor!!

Anime-only/filler content: The opening scene where the Red Ribbon guy shoots up an elderly couple's home, as well as Goku encountering the dig site on the way to Muscle Tower.

-

Interesting trivia:

• Roshi's backstory on the Dragon Balls was aired two years and seven months before Toriyama would write that Kami was its creator in the manga. Roshi's "Get Out of Jail Free" card is that it's told as a legend he heard. Though that doesn't really explain why he didn't recognise the Dragon Ball on his neck in the Pilaf arc.
• In episode 33, Commander Red says they have four Dragon Balls left to get... But they actually have six left to get.
• Dragon Ball Densetsu makes its second appearance in the anime, in episode 33. Funimation's dub once again muted it, but Blue Water's dub replaced it with a piece of library music. It appears again in episode 35, but both dubs muted it there.
• Several filler episodes in the two kid Goku training filler arcs would take a cue from Suno and insert a "young girl about Goku's age who takes an interest in Goku even though he doesn't notice" character.
• Goku doesn't ACTUALLY throw six punches and four kicks at the RRA soldiers in Suno's house. Looks like he still needs to work on his counting!
• The end of episode 35 moves a panel from the manga to a scene not in the manga for the first time. There's a 3/4 angle shot of Goku charging at the Red Ribbon Army labour camp (a filler scene) that is actually from when Goku approaches Muscle Tower itself. In the anime it's swapped with a front-on shot.

Episode summaries, airdates, and titles courtesy of Kanzenshuu's episode guide. Filler breakdowns and Dragon Ball logo courtesy of KBABZ.

[MasenkoHA]

Chi-chi being brought back for anime only material before Toriyama even brought her back is interesting to me as I think it suggest one of two things.

1. Toei picked up on hey “Y’know this girl is the daughter of Goku’s grandfather’s old sparring partner and she has a crush on Goku there’s a decent chance she’ll appear again in the manga”


2. They weren’t convinced Toriyama was ever going to use her again and this was their attempt at following up on the whole “Goku agrees to marry Chi Chi without knowing what that is ” gag with the whole wedding being planned behind his back. But done in a way it could be ignored if Toriyama did follow up on the joke.


Episode 31,I believe, introduces one of my favorite Kikuchi pieces:
https://youtu.be/7Je3gUf-8bE

Sno’s character model sheet looks like it was recycled wholesale for Pansy in Legend of Shen Long.

[KBABZ]

Chi-chi being brought back for anime only material before Toriyama even brought her back is interesting to me as I think it suggest one of two things.

1. Toei picked up on hey “Y’know this girl is the daughter of Goku’s grandfather’s old sparring partner and she has a crush on Goku there’s a decent chance she’ll appear again in the manga”

2. They weren’t convinced Toriyama was ever going to use her again and this was their attempt at following up on the whole “Goku agrees to marry Chi Chi without knowing what that is ” gag with the whole wedding being planned behind his back. But done in a way it could be ignored if Toriyama did follow up on the joke..

Chi-Chi and Pilaf to me are very interesting cases when you think about Toriyama and the anime. The anime first aired when the manga was at the Buyon part of the story (coming up soon!), and right off the bat we had new content with the Pilaf filler. Whether or not Toriyama came up with this or not (we still don't have a good idea as to the extent of his story contributions, IMO), Toriyama did watch the anime sometimes while working and especially did when it first started. So I feel like Pilaf was brought back twice because he was used a lot in these early episodes.

And I kinda think the same is true of Chi-Chi. After this Goku sees this scene again in Korin's past/present/future pots, and then he bumps into Chi-Chi and the Ox-King after getting the new Nimbus and flying to confront Daimao at Central City. So I do feel that there's a chance Toriyama was reminded of these characters by the anime and may have included them again later.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

I love how Goku tells Chi-Chi they can eat wedding later. He wasn't kidding when he said he thought it was a type of food

[Robo4900]

Episode 31 - Yikes! A Fake Goku Appears!!

I really like Silver as a villain. He's really sinister and intimidating.

Goku saves Pilaf by grabbing him by the leg before he hits the ground. Nice try Goku, but in reality, you'd break his legs off doing that. Though that'd probably work out great for you in the long run, since Piccolo and the Black-Star balls will be his fault, eventually.

Of course, this won't be the last time we see cracks in a Dragon Ball. But the next time we see that, it'll be on the real balls.

Gyuumao is the head of a village now? I don't recall this coming up again... Ever.

"This will make a great yakitori for the wedding"
Yet again, a term is left in Japanese. No explanation provided this time. -_-

I like that Pilaf, like the tournament announcer, misreads Goku as "Mago Gosora".

... Wait, how did Mai find out the ball's in the the dinosaur?

Honestly, I never really liked this Gyuumao village filler. Kind of a dull episode, to be honest.

[Robo4900]

Have a bunch of people fallen behind?

[It_Is_Ayna_You_Flips]

Episode 31 - Yikes! A Fake Goku Appears!!

I really like Silver as a villain. He's really sinister and intimidating.

They do a really good job setting him up. And his carefree demeanor contrasts really well with the uniformed soldiers working under him. It really sells the fact that this guy is in complete control.

Actually, come to think of it, Toriyama did an amazing job giving each villain a different look in. So much so that, I guess the anime staff had no problem extrapolating from there to give the smaller ones (Silver, Violet) more fleshed out personalities.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Episode 31 - Ge-ge! A Fake Goku Appears!!

Yet another laid back episode full of humour and character moments, which I feel is needed before the Red Ribbon Army arc gets into full force. We see more of Goku's niavety, Pilaf's goofiness, and
Chi-Chi's innocence. Goku continues to show his loyalty to his grandpa on his journey, Pilaf is still out for the Dragon Balls and Chi-Chi sits and waits for the boy she thinks is her prince (i.e Goku). Ox King takes some convincing but he gets on board with his daughter's dreams. Towards the end we see this arc build up momentum with ships attacking the village.

Episode 32 - It Vanished?! The Flying Fortress in the Sky

Following on from the last episode we have more fun time with Goku and Chi-Chi, and both of them being frightened by the ships flying over them. The threat of the Red Ribbon Army is slowly building and they are gradually feeling more ominous. Chi-Chi's gushing over Goku was quite amusing, even moreso that she had such high hopes but naive little Goku still has to be told what a wedding actually is. Like the last episode the ending is more serious than the beginning, although it got ominous and the Red Ribbon Army come to the fray much more quickly. Even Pilaf is scared, giving him and Goku a common enemy.

Episode 33 - The Legend of the Dragon

A bit more world building in this episode. We get to see some intelligence from the monkeys in this world and hear another story about the Dragon Balls. The monkeys showing the awareness to reward Goku with food was cute and entertaining. Lunch playing a motherly role to Roshi and Kuririn is a nice character moment, as was Kuririn doing push-ups with turtles on his back to show his eagerness to train. The threat of the Red Ribbon Army is once again built up, and towards the end we see the first glimpse of innocent life being put at risk by their actions.

Episode 34 - The Heartless Red Ribbon

Much more tense episode with the action continuing to build up. Seeing the Army operate underwater shows their versatility in the art of war. Meanwhile Goku appears to be having more fun with the monkeys who in turn offer him a banana not wanting him to leave them. Good compassion and loyalty built into their bond. There's also a funny moment where the desert natives struggle to find a Dragon Ball but Goku finds it easily. This is turned on its head by Goku's run in with Colonel Silver who speculates Goku has a radar to locate the balls and he tries to get it from him. Goku, much like the monkeys shows compassion for Kinto Un when he feels it's in danger. So while we see much of Goku's aptitude for fighting in this arc we also see the more loyal aspects of his character. Nonetheless with the ball in his possession we leave this episode with the awareness Goku has become a target.

Episode 35 - The Girl of the North, Sno

Another tense episode, but one with a little bit more levity thanks to Suno's involvement. Suno rescues Goku from the snow, giving him refuge. So on one hand we see how this world slowly begins to see Goku as someone worth protecting, on the other there's Goku's niavety. As Goku admits to be on the hunt for the Dragon Balls Suno and her mother become terrified he may be part of the Red Ribbon Army. The tension escalates even further when the Army invade houses in Suno's village looking for Goku. However once the Army reaches Suno's house Goku manages to beat them quite easily in combat.

[Robo4900]

Episode 31 - Ge-ge! A Fake Goku Appears!!

Yet another laid back episode full of humour and character moments, which I feel is needed before the Red Ribbon Army arc gets into full force. We see more of Goku's niavety, Pilaf's goofiness, and
Chi-Chi's innocence. Goku continues to show his loyalty to his grandpa on his journey, Pilaf is still out for the Dragon Balls and Chi-Chi sits and waits for the boy she thinks is her prince (i.e Goku). Ox King takes some convincing but he gets on board with his daughter's dreams. Towards the end we see this arc build up momentum with ships attacking the village.

Interesting.
Personally, I always found this episode quite lacking. Still...

Episode 32 - It Vanished?! The Flying Fortress in the Sky

Following on from the last episode we have more fun time with Goku and Chi-Chi, and both of them being frightened by the ships flying over them. The threat of the Red Ribbon Army is slowly building and they are gradually feeling more ominous. Chi-Chi's gushing over Goku was quite amusing, even moreso that she had such high hopes but naive little Goku still has to be told what a wedding actually is. Like the last episode the ending is more serious than the beginning, although it got ominous and the Red Ribbon Army come to the fray much more quickly. Even Pilaf is scared, giving him and Goku a common enemy.

I'm personally not a huge fan of the Goku & Chichi interactions, but I thought they worked okay in this episode, because it was done quite sparingly.
The episode itself was solid overall. Great setup for the Red Ribbon Army, and specifically Silver.

Episode 33 - The Legend of the Dragon

A bit more world building in this episode. We get to see some intelligence from the monkeys in this world and hear another story about the Dragon Balls. The monkeys showing the awareness to reward Goku with food was cute and entertaining. Lunch playing a motherly role to Roshi and Kuririn is a nice character moment, as was Kuririn doing push-ups with turtles on his back to show his eagerness to train. The threat of the Red Ribbon Army is once again built up, and towards the end we see the first glimpse of innocent life being put at risk by their actions.

Honestly, I thought the first half of this episode was a bit iffy; the "goku is friends with wildlife!" type stuff is not to my taste. A bit overly saccharine and goofy. The Dragon Ball tale itself doesn't do much for the story, but is quite fun, and the stuff happening after it is cool, but with the episode ending on a cliffhanger, we end up with a fairly insubstantial, unfulfilling episode in my opinion.

I have to say, the Silver mini-arc is a lot slower than I remembered. Still, I think we're basically out of the initial padding out, so it should pick up soon.

I'll watch the last two tomorrow, probably. Then the new thread engages.

[Robo4900]

Episode 34

I really love that, after all the tough-guy stuff with Silver, it turns out Goku beats him in one punch.

Really solid episode overall. I honestly think the stuff with Silver just shouldn't have lasted as long as it did, but it is solid stuff. On the plus side, we're nearly at the Muscle Tower stuff now, which I'm really looking forward to.

Will probably have to watch it alongside next week's episodes, though.

New thread should be open in a few minutes.

[Robo4900]

Episode 35

The flashback sequence is a bit dull, but this was a fun episode.

I do love Goku's "Okay, then... I'll beat them up for you.", and later his "Okay, then... I'm gonna beat you up!!" to the soldiers.
Really great Goku episode.

And now that I'm caught up, I'm off to the current week's thread.