Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 9 - DB Episodes 41-45

[Robo4900]

Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone between and beyond, and welcome to week 9 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.

I realise I've used this particular logo a few times, but so did Toriyama.
Next week is the first movie! I'm guessing a few of you will be watching it with the new Toei remaster for the first time. Personally, I'll be watching the older Funimation remaster, since it's in the original 4:3 ratio. Some argue they were presented in 1.85:1 widescreen in cinemas, which is why Toei's remaster chose that ratio, but all evidence I've been able to find suggests most presentations were 4:3 for the first few movies, at least. I think the first Z movie was animated for both, and I'm fairly certain the third was too, but I'm unsure precisely when they started framing them for both, rather than just for 4:3. Might've been DB movie 3, might've been Z movie 1... Either way, all the movies were framed for both, at least, so I prefer watching with more frame.
Oh, and note that next week will only be the movie. No episodes. I think 5 episodes per week might be too fast for some; it looks like a few people have dropped off viewing. And I personally am having a little trouble keeping up with my study schedule having ramped up a ton at the beginning of this month, so... I think having the movies take up a week by themselves is at least an experiment worth trying.
As for why I chose to put DB movie 1 here in particular; episode 45 feels like a fairly natural breakpoint between stories. I've made an effort to achieve that for my placements of the movies. We'll see how that shakes out in practice.

Previous thread: Week 8 (DB 36-40)
Next thread: Week 10 (DB movie 1)

Anyway, without further ado...

Episode 41 - The End of Muscle Tower
Dub title: The Fall of Muscle Tower / The Last Day of Muscle Tower
Originally aired 3rd of December 1986
Episode director: Kazuhisa Takenouchi
Animation supervisor: Masayuki Uchiyama

After being beaten up by Goku, White guides the two of them to the mayor’s room. The second Goku and Ha-chan let their guard down, he takes the mayor hostage! Ha-chan doesn’t know what to do. Goku is downed after being hit with a single shot from the powered gun!! The second shot will finish him off. However, Ha-chan acts as a human shield and protects Goku!! With White in a panic, Ha-chan’s punch explodes!! Having saved Goku and the mayor, Ha-chan destroys Muscle Tower.

Anime-only/filler content: White throwing Goku by the tail and Ha-chan encouraging Goku from the sidelines, White tring to force Ha-chan to kill Goku in exchange for the Village Elder's life.

Episode 42 - Imminent Danger!! Go for it, Ha-chan
Dub title: The Secret of Dr. Flappe
Originally aired 10th of December 1986
Episode director: Minoru Okazaki
Animation supervisor: Mitsuo Shindo

It turns out that Ha-chan had the Dragon Ball. He had hidden it, knowing that the villagers would be killed once they found it. The mayor recommends that Ha-chan stay in the village, but Ha-chan says it is dangerous, because of his self-destruct mechanism. In order to get Ha-chan’s self-destruct mechanism removed, they visit his creator, Professor Frappe. But Murasaki has gone there ahead of them! He steals Goku’s luggage, in an attempt to find the Dragon Balls. However, it only contained Goku’s bentō (single-portion meal)?! The self-destruct mechanism is safely removed.

Anime-only/filler content: Everything after the dining room scene, with the exception of the scene in Suno's bedroom -- see Trivia below. (Written by Keiji Terui)

Episode 43 - Bulma’s House in West City
Dub title: A Trip to the City / Bulma's House in West City
Originally aired 17th of December 1986
Episode director: Yoshihiro Ueda
Animation supervisor: Tomekichi Takeuchi

In order to fix his malfunctioning Dragon Radar, Goku heads to West City, where Bulma lives. Kinto-Un is also revived, and the trip goes well. However, Goku doesn’t know Bulma’s address! While having trouble with hoodlums, Goku goes around asking for Bulma, but there’s no way for him to find her in such a big city. Goku is taken to Bulma’s house by a policeman. It turns out that Bulma is the sole daughter of Capsule Corporation, a large company famous even in this metropolis!!

Anime-only/filler content: Everything before Suno's mother suggests Goku stays at her place for the night (see Trivia below).

Episode 44 - Goku, Friends, and Tons of Danger
Dub title: Master Thief, Hasky / Commander Red Fights Back!
Originally aired 24th of December 1986
Episode director: Kazuhisa Takenouchi
Animation supervisor: Masayuki Uchiyama

Goku finally reunites with Bulma. However, Bulma and Yamucha are right in the middle of an argument! Riding on Kinto-Un with Bulma, who has become small using the micro-band, Goku reunites with Yamucha and the others. But Yamucha, unaware of the shrunken Bulma, talks bad about her right to her face!! Goku and the others set off for the floating amusement park, with Bulma in a completely bad mood. Husky is there, an entrepreneur hired by the Red Ribbon Army, and is aiming for Goku’s Dragon Balls.

Anime-only/filler content: Everything after Goku and Bulma leave Capsule Corp. and Goku spots the amusement park tower. (Written by Michiru Shimada)

Episode 45 - Watch Out! A Mid-Air Trap
Dub title: Danger in the Air
Originally aired 7th of January 1987
Episode director: Kazuhisa Takenouchi
Animation supervisor: Yukio Ebisawa

Drawing closer to Goku and the others as they play in the floating amusement park, Husky tries to seduce Yamcha, who was carrying a Dragon Ball. Figuring out his opponent’s true identity, Yamcha corners her but is taken out by Bulma, who mistakes this for a love scene!! Husky leaves a bomb and runs away. Goku breaks the bomb’s controls just in the nick of time, and retakes the Dragon Balls. But it’s a completely angry Bulma who sets out with Goku to search for the Dragon Balls.

Anime-only/filler content: Everything before the wide shot of Goku and Bulma leaving West City. (Written by Michiru Shimada)

-

Interesting trivia:

• While #8 knocks down Muscle Tower in the anime, the tower is actually left standing in the manga.
• Episodes 41 and 43 contained previews for the upcoming first Dragon Ball movie in addition to a half-length regular preview for the next episode of the show.
• Both Episodes 42 and 43 feature a dining room scene. In the manga these were originally one scene set at night, but were split in the anime for the Dr. Frappe filler. The split occurs when it cuts back to the outside of Suno's house again, and reunites with the manga when Suno's mother suggests Goku sleeps at her house for the night.
• It gets better! The two scenes in Suno's bedroom were ALSO split. The split starts when Suno suggests that Dr. Frappe could fix the Dragon Radar, and it reunites just after Goku tests the Dragon Radar back in her bedroom and says it still doesn't work.
• The only scene that isn't adapted into the anime is Ha-chan opening up the Dragon Radar in Suno's bedroom and finding it's far too complex: in the anime, Professor Frappe does this off-screen.
• Dr. Frappe debuted in the anime four and a half years before Trunks would mention Dr. Gero and the Androids to Goku at the start of the Android arc.
• Episode 43 switches the eyecatches from the ones with Goku and Oolong to the ones with Goku and Roshi, which would remain until the end of the show's run.
• Episode 43 also contains the first and only appearance of the insert song The Son Goku Song, sung by Masako Nozawa in-character as Goku. Sadly, both dubs omitted this; Funimation had the narrator recap some things that already happened/were said seconds earlier, while the Blue Water dub simply abbreviated the scene, but otherwise let it play out as it was originally intended, but without music.
• Goku's visit to West City is the first time the story visits one of the futuristic cities. Before this point, there were no abjectly futuristic locations, with futuristic elements like Hoi Poi Capsules and floating cars sprinkled over comparatively more low-tech locations.
• The scene where Goku easily beats a Bruce Lee look-a-like is taken directly from the film Five Fingers of Death (or King Boxer): a street fighter challenges opponents for a cash prize and is unbeatable until a lone travelling stranger arrives in town and easily defeats him, which gets him attention from unscrupulous folk (thanks, Kunzait!).
• A Tori-Bot (Akira Toriyama's cartoon avatar of himself) can be seen on a tree in the first floor garden of Capsule Corp. in episode 43.
• Akai Tomato from Akira Toriyama's one-shot "Tomati, Girl Detective" makes a cameo in episode 43.
• While the drinks Goku is offered in the Japanese version are alcoholic (which, in hindsight, given the fact he's 12 at this point, sounds like a bad idea), the dubs censor this to not be specified.
• While the man and boar man were originally in the manga, the anime adapts them into henchmen of Husky.
• Funimation's TV edit of episode 45 adds boxers with Dragon Balls on them when he drops his trousers.
• Blue Water's dub of episode 45 is their first time completely discarding Funimation's scripting; unlike the rest of their episodes up to this point, which were rewritten/re-adapted from Funimation's scripts (some lines left the same, many lines changed a little, largely the changes being for flow, but a lot also improved accuracy of the translation), episode 45 is an entirely original script, translated from the original Japanese; aside from some fairly minor censorship changes, the accuracy of their script of this episode is impeccable. Meanwhile, Funimation's script is full of their usual deviations and inventions. I think they do this a few further times as the Red Ribbon arc goes on, and eventually do it more and more regularly throughout the Piccolo arc.
• Kanzenshuu's episode descriptions render Ha-chan as "Hacchan" for episodes prior to episode 42. Episode 42's description, however, renders his name as "Hatchan"

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

[MasenkoHA]

[*]Funimation's TV edit of episode 45 adds boxers with Dragon Balls on them when he drops his trousers.

How did Blue Water handle it?

[. Meanwhile, Funimation's script is full of their usual deviations and inventions. I think they do this a few further times as the Red Ribbon arc goes on, and eventually do it more and more regularly throughout the Piccolo arc.

For what it’s worth I don’t recall the Funimation dub being anything too bad in terms of accuracy at this point. Not faithful but not a mass butcher fest. It gets way worse around Tien saga when we get back to Namek era of writing where the show can’t go without a “joke” and of course Piccolo is just completely butchered with talk of power levels and extraterrestrials.

[Robo4900]

How did Blue Water handle it?

Heh. I was under the impression they cut it completely, but it looks like they changed the joke instead. The woman says the same "I see two balls... They hold great danger within them... I need to get a closer look." Goku says okay, he begins to loosen his belt, then stops over footage of him tightening his belt, and he says "Sorry, I forgot I ate those meatballs yesterday." And Oolong and Yamucha laugh.

In fairness, it's better than outright cutting it entirely, and if you have to censor that scene... I'm not sure there's another way to do it. How does the original joke work if Goku's still wearing his boxers?... I'm guessing Funi invented their own joke too (after all, allegedly the way they censored Kuririn exposing the invisible man using a Roshi nosebleed was that Kuririn went to Kame House to fetch some tomato juice, which he pours over the invisible man, and Bulma came along for some reason). And of course, the edited-on boxers is anecdotal; we don't actually have evidence for it, so it's possible it's not even true... (Though I'd guess it is true)

But yeah, I guess this is a great example of how bad the TV edits can be in Blue Water's dub. A shame, really; the TV edits aside, it's not much less accurate than their dub of GT, or Pioneer's dub of the first three Z movies.

For what it’s worth I don’t recall the Funimation dub being anything too bad in terms of accuracy at this point. Not faithful but not a mass butcher fest. It gets way worse around Tien saga when we get back to Namek era of writing where the show can’t go without a “joke” and of course Piccolo is just completely butchered with talk of power levels and extraterrestrials.

My experience is different; I see the Funi dub being evenly unfaithful throughout the run, it just blends in better before the introduction of Tenshinhan, at which point they decided "we should try to make it feel more like Z", so they started talking about power levels and such, in a way that more clearly stands out, whether or not you're familiar with the original.
Still, before then, they were clearly deviating just as much as they did in the Cyborgs/Cell arc; it's just that most fans haven't watched OG DB in Japanese, and because Funi didn't screw up the tone quite so badly as they did in Z and GT, a lot of people assume DB was pretty faithful; but it wasn't. There's one particularly bad moment here, which you'll bump into when General Blue shows up:

Mandelin subtitles:
<Red Ribbon officer> While we're only up against an old man and a woman, we have no idea what kind of secret weapons or machines they might have! Don't let your guard down!

<Soldiers> Roger!


Funimation dub:
<Red Ribbon officer> Alright men, listen up! The circus is coming to town in five! You know the drill. I want this one strictly by the book. Tonight is hoagie night, and we're not going to miss it!

<RR Soldiers> Yes sir!


Blue Water dub:
<Red Ribbon officer> Even though our enemy consists of an old man, a young woman, and a turtle, we believe they are heavily armed. Be careful out there!

<RR Soldiers> Yes sir!

As you can see, while Blue Water's dub gets it pretty much spot-on, Funi's is total nonsense. The original meaning is technically in there (the vague idea of "move out, men, and be on your guard!" is there, at least), but they've buried it under several layers of bullshit ("HOAGIE NIGHT!!"). And honestly, that's how most of their dialogue on DB is written. And you'll find the same is true of Z and GT, too.

As I've noted in the past, Blue Water -- particularly after the first couple of sagas -- tended to correct a lot of Funi's bullshit in the scripts. Early Red Ribbon still kept some stupid deviations, but even those, they tended to soften out a bit to make them... Not totally accurate to the original, necessarily, but they sanded off some of the more ridiculous bullshit Funi added (Funimation has Goku name the mouse that saves his life in the fight with Blue "Jack". In the Blue Water dub, he calls the mouse "Mouse". In the Japanese, he simply referred to it as "a mouse").

By the time we're in the Piccolo arc, they're correcting/rewriting the scripts so heavily, I think a lot of episodes are -- as with the theme park epsiode -- pretty much completely original scripts. In fairness, probably they couldn't avoid doing that, with the fact Funi's changes there stand out much more than in previous sagas. But regardless of the reason, the result is a far, far, FAR more accurate dub.

Naturally, Blue Water do put their own flavour of bullshit in from time to time thanks to censorship (see the top of this post), but honestly, with the sheer amount of bullshit Funi put in (as I say, that comparison isn't a particularly bad case; they do shit like that constantly), and the fact Blue Water's bullshit is quite rare (usually their edits are very well done, really), and the massive amount of corrective work they do, I think Blue Water's still stands out as the more faithful dub... And honestly, I think the performances are a little better too.

Ultimately, the philosophy I've come to is this: Funi's dub is censored. A lot of people seem to not realise this (basically unless the edit would require visual editing to make it work, any of Funi's censorship persists in their uncut dub as well as their TV edit; but because it's just dialogue censorship, a lot of people just don't know it's a change), and both dubs have a lot of deviations. So, ultimately, you're picking one of two censored, changed dubs. Blue Water, despite having a censored dub, did a much better job overall, so I consider it the superior viewing choice. They took out basically all of the notable changes Funi made in dubbing, and end up as just a much more faithful dub.
Sadly, of course, Blue Water's dub just isn't availble to the masses (and the versions that float around online are missing episodes, and a huge portion of episodes -- particularly later on -- are so poorly captured, they're unwatchable). But if it was, I would unreservedly direct people to watch that instead of Funi's shitty dub.

[MasenkoHA]

My experience is different; I see the Funi dub being evenly unfaithful throughout the run, it just blends in better before the introduction of Tenshinhan, at which point they decided "we should try to make it feel more like Z", so they started talking about power levels and such, in a way that more clearly stands out, whether or not you're familiar with the original.

Meh, for whatever reason the tournament saga was fairly accurate. There’s still the typical Funi-isms (censoring sexual dialog, some added unfunny jokes, secularizing religious characters ) but those episodes were overall handled much better than the rest of the dub. After that it was back to the standard of the first 13 episodes and then worse by Tien and Piccolo.

(Funimation has Goku name the mouse that saves his life in the fight with Blue "Jack".

That didn’t happen. He just calls him mouse-y.

Ultimately, the philosophy I've come to is this: Funi's dub is censored. A lot of people seem to not realise this (basically unless the edit would require visual editing to make it work, any of Funi's censorship persists in their uncut dub as well as their TV edit; but because it's just dialogue censorship, a lot of people just don't know it's a change),

I’ve said and agreed with you on such. That Funimation’s basic philosophy was “If we don’t have to keep the sexual stuff we’ll change it” there’s a few times where they keep it in but very rarely.

and both dubs have a lot of deviations. So, ultimately, you're picking one of two censored, changed dubs. Blue Water, despite having a censored dub, did a much better job overall, so I consider it the superior viewing choice. They took out basically all of the notable changes Funi made in dubbing, and end up as just a much more faithful dub.
Sadly, of course, Blue Water's dub just isn't availble to the masses (and the versions that float around online are missing episodes, and a huge portion of episodes -- particularly later on -- are so poorly captured, they're unwatchable). But if it was, I would unreservedly direct people to watch that instead of Funi's shitty dub.

I would direct them to the Japanese version

But in the case of “I only watch dubs” well there’s not much of a choice there.

[Robo4900]

(Funimation has Goku name the mouse that saves his life in the fight with Blue "Jack".

That didn’t happen. He just calls him mouse-y.

You're half-right.

In Funi's dub, he says to Kuririn "This is Mouse. Keep him safe." and gives him to Kuririn. In the Blue Water dub, he says "This is Jack. Keep him safe."
So, I got my changes mixed up.

I guess it's like what I said in the HG thread; it's a give-and-take.

I still maintain that the Blue Water dub generally had a significant edge, though.

I would direct them to the Japanese version

But in the case of “I only watch dubs” well there’s not much of a choice there.

Yeah.

Japanese is the way to go, but if you must watch dubbed... You're gonna be watching a heavily compromised version, so I'm at least going to recommend the version that's somewhat closer to what the original was intended to be... Even though ultimately both significantly deviate from that.

[Robo4900]

I was unable to get in touch with KBABZ today until just a little bit ago, so I had to come up with the trivia and the filler breakdowns on my own, from info I could gather online.
I've now contacted him, and he's given me much better filler breakdowns, and also added a significant amount of trivia, which I've now put in the OP:

• Both Episodes 42 and 43 feature a dining room scene. In the manga these were originally one scene set at night, but were split in the anime for the Dr. Frappe filler. The split occurs when it cuts back to the outside of Suno's house again, and reunites with the manga when Suno's mother suggests Goku sleeps at her house for the night.
• It gets better! The two scenes in Suno's bedroom were ALSO split. The split starts when Suno suggests that Dr. Frappe could fix the Dragon Radar, and it reunites just after Goku tests the Dragon Radar back in her bedroom and says it still doesn't work.
• The only scene that isn't adapted into the anime is Ha-chan opening up the Dragon Radar in Suno's bedroom and finding it's far too complex: in the anime, Dr. Flappe does this off-screen.
• Dr. Frappe debuted in the anime four and a half years before Trunks would mention Dr. Gero and the Androids to Goku at the start of the Android arc.
• Goku's visit to West City is the first time the story visits one of the futuristic cities. Before this point, there were no abjectly futuristic locations, with futuristic elements like Hoi Poi Capsules and floating cars sprinkled over comparatively more low-tech locations.
• The scene where Goku easily beats a Bruce Lee look-a-like is taken directly from the film Five Fingers of Death (or King Boxer): a street fighter challenges opponents for a cash prize and is unbeatable until a lone travelling stranger arrives in town and easily defeats him, which gets him attention from unscrupulous folk (thanks, Kunzait!).
• While the man and boar man were originally in the manga, the anime adapts them into henchmen of Husky.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

(Funimation has Goku name the mouse that saves his life in the fight with Blue "Jack".

That didn’t happen. He just calls him mouse-y.

You're half-right.

In Funi's dub, he says to Kuririn "This is Mouse. Keep him safe." and gives him to Kuririn. In the Blue Water dub, he says "This is Jack. Keep him safe."
So, I got my changes mixed up.

I guess it's like what I said in the HG thread; it's a give-and-take.

I still maintain that the Blue Water dub generally had a significant edge, though.

I would direct them to the Japanese version

But in the case of “I only watch dubs” well there’s not much of a choice there.

Yeah.

Japanese is the way to go, but if you must watch dubbed... You're gonna be watching a heavily compromised version, so I'm at least going to recommend the version that's somewhat closer to what the original was intended to be... Even though ultimately both significantly deviate from that.

That's generally how i watch the original series most times, same as with GT because it's own dub from FUNi isn't all that good either. At least with DBZ i have an alternative via Kai (mainly 1.0, TFC is another story) because though it no doubt has it's flaws the dub is hands down much better than Z's by a wide margin and i can watch without wanting to cringe constantantly unlike the latter.

[Robo4900]

That's generally how i watch the original series most times, same as with GT because it's own dub from FUNi isn't all that good either. At least with DBZ i have an alternative via Kai (mainly 1.0, TFC is another story) because though it no doubt has it's flaws the dub is hands down much better than Z's by a wide margin and i can watch without wanting to cringe constantantly unlike the latter.

Fair.

Personally, I've grown a bit sour on Funi's cast, so... I either watch subbed, or watch the Ocean dubs. Maybe one day Ocean Kai will release, and I'll have that option too!

[MasenkoHA]

Dub discussions aside I must say I really did enjoy the “Goku in the city” episodes. Particularly the one where he’s looking for Bulma but even the one at Brief’s manor and the amusement park episode.


Goku’s song about his kinto un was cute but perhaps too saccharine for my taste. Sure Gohan’s Z movie songs were cutesty too but the “wtf” imagery helped.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Dub discussions aside I must say I really did enjoy the “Goku in the city” episodes. Particularly the one where he’s looking for Bulma but even the one at Brief’s manor and the amusement park episode.


Goku’s song about his kinto un was cute but perhaps too saccharine for my taste. Sure Gohan’s Z movie songs were cutesty too but the “wtf” imagery helped.

Yeah, Tenkaichi Gohan and Piccolo Dai Suki are cutesy as well from a song standpoint but like you say it's the crazy animation going on which really make them work in the scenes they accompany.

[KBABZ]

Goku’s song about his kinto un was cute but perhaps too saccharine for my taste. Sure Gohan’s Z movie songs were cutesty too but the “wtf” imagery helped.

I loved it, for me it really helps you put you in Goku's mindset at that point as he's between waypoints on his adventure. Also remember that Goku legit thought he'd lost Nimbus there so of course he'd be elated to have his friend back!

[MasenkoHA]

Goku’s song about his kinto un was cute but perhaps too saccharine for my taste. Sure Gohan’s Z movie songs were cutesty too but the “wtf” imagery helped.

I loved it, for me it really helps you put you in Goku's mindset at that point as he's between waypoints on his adventure. Also remember that Goku legit thought he'd lost Nimbus there so of course he'd be elated to have his friend back!

At the end of the day its a show for kids as young as first grade can’t say it’s out of place.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Dub discussions aside I must say I really did enjoy the “Goku in the city” episodes. Particularly the one where he’s looking for Bulma but even the one at Brief’s manor and the amusement park episode.

Me too. It's great that we get to see Goku learning how different the big city is to the wilderness he was raised in, like how he discovers it's neither easy to find the people your looking for nor likely some randomer will know them.

It's these little things in our heroes development that makes all the post-Diamao stuff so much more rewarding. As you watch you feel you get to know the characters, and with Goku we accept his naivety because that's how he was brought up.

[KBABZ]

Dub discussions aside I must say I really did enjoy the “Goku in the city” episodes. Particularly the one where he’s looking for Bulma but even the one at Brief’s manor and the amusement park episode.

It's these little things in our heroes development that makes all the post-Diamao stuff so much more rewarding. As you watch you feel you get to know the characters, and with Goku we accept his naivety because that's how he was brought up.

For me this is why I keep beating the drum that OG-DB goes a long way to explaining why Goku cares about the Earth so much later on.

[Robo4900]

Episode 41 - The End of Muscle Tower

Wow, the recap here goes on for quite a while before the narrator says anything. That's kinda neat.

Fun episode on the whole. I like #8 reaching breaking point, and going completely badass. And while I know it wasn't in the manga, I think him knocking down Muscle Tower was a really great way to cap off the main run of the Muscle Tower story.

... Heh. I'm glad it's just the movie next week. I'm gonna have real trouble catching up with how busy I am right now.

[Robo4900]

Episode 42

Huh. This one doesn't have a prologue/recap.

Goku peeing on Murasaki is great.
I know this is filler, but the Looney Tunes antics continue to be fantastic.

I completely forgot about the dumb twist with Goku's lunch. This episode is hilarious.

Huh. No closing narration either? That's really weird.

Not much to say about this one, honestly. Just a fun episode IMO. Though how precisely Dr Frappe fits into canon with Dr Gero is messy at best, in hindsight.

[MasenkoHA]

Though how precisely Dr Frappe fits into canon with Dr Gero is messy at best, in hindsight.

Dr.Gero was taken off the Artificial Humans project for being too crazy but continued building weapons and mechs for the Red Ribbon army, Dr.Frappe built Cyborg 8 based on early blue prints of Gero. After the Red Ribbon Army disbanded Gero continued with Artificial Humans 9-19

(Head canon I’m just gonna go with)

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

Episode 41 - The End of Muscle Tower

The conflict on Muscle Tower reaches it's climax with Goku and #8's confrontation with White. White demonstrates pure maliciousness in his disregard for #8, trying to expose Goku's naivety saying he will return the village chief and giving #8 an ultimatum between the chief and Goku. #8 is arguably partly responsible for convincing Goku to show White mercy. This contrast between White's ill intentions and #8's compassion is really engaging as it adds an extra dimension to the tension in this episode. Nonetheless #8's increasing concern for Goku, as seen when his weak spot (i.e. tail) is grabbed again is what ultimately drives him off the edge to knock White out the window. So with the help of Goku's new friend this part of the arc is brought to a satisfying conclusion, Suno is happy to see Goku again, Goku is happy to be fed again, and we are given a breather for more action as evil remains lurking in the background.

Episode 42 - Imminent Danger!! Go for it, Ha-chan

After a good round of action it's nice to see Goku and #8 being treated well by the villagers. Suno seems happy to see Goku being himself stuffing his face. As Goku, #8 and Suno set out to find Dr. Frappe we return to the adventurous feel of the earlier episodes. Murasaki is still on Goku's tail disguising himself as part of a tree and a bear, but is once again humiliated at every turn. Once our heroes and Murasaki reach Frappe we see Murasaki's beef with Frappe for creating the cyborg he feels betrayed them (#8). Towards the end we get a new chase sequence with Murasaki stealing Goku's Dragon Ball. Murasaki thinks he can outrun Goku with his snow scooter, but seems to forget while Goku can't drive he also has his unique skill that gives him the upper hand (the Kamehame Ha) by causing an avalanche. So Goku gets his win, and #8 has his explosive device removed by Dr Frappe, wrapping up this mini-adventure rather well.

Episode 43 - Bulma’s House in West City

Following a short adventure and mini-conflict with Murasaki we get some more downtime in Suno's household. Goku once again receives an offer to stay but demonstrates loyalty to Gohan by saying he has to find his Dragon Ball. Suno, shocked by Goku wanting to walk to West City offers to make him lots of lunches. Interestingly the villagers see the Kinto Un as a legend and give Goku some relief saying it can't die. Goku gets a pleasant surprise seeing as he can still call upon the Kinto Un. Once Goku arrives in West City we see more of his naivety as he expects it to be just like the wilderness, thinking Bulma can be found easily or someone on the street will know her. The thought of needing money to get around is another amusing revelation for our young hero. Luckily though Goku finds the opportunity to do what he loves for the prize of money city life needs - a fight. Once Goku wins he finds a police officer who is able to help him but he also teaches Goku not everyone's job is the same as a taxi driver.

Episode 44 - Goku, Friends, and Tons of Danger

Perhaps quite a pivotal moment in the series as we see the inside of Capsule Corporation for the first time. It's a whole new world for country bumpkin Goku who is in awe of the size of it and the inside garden. Not only is this the place Goku would have many social gatherings later in the series but it is at this point he learns what money can truly give you. Once we meet Bulma's parents there are jokes about her and Goku being a couple, and while they may not be one the two still have some good friendly banter. Goku, oblivious to the complexities of relationships seems freaked out by Yamcha's fanclub and inadvertently twists Bulma's words to say she hated him. Yamcha knows what he wants however, and in another humorous moment makes an excuse to follow our heroes to the amusement park.

Episode 45 - Watch Out! A Mid-Air Trap

Much like the last episode we see a contrast between Goku's lightheartedness and Yamcha's heartbreak. The former has fun at the park while the latter is still hurt over Bulma not speaking to him. Yamcha is also eager to meet who he thinks is a fortune teller, although Goku is confused over her. Goku, unaware of what fortune tellers allegedly can do is impressed by her knowledge of Muscle Tower, and the fact he is in position of round balls. In classic Toriyama humour fashion Goku shows her his actual balls, which she was prepared to swap fake Dragon Balls for. As with previous foes we see a chase sequence with the fortune teller, who turns out to be blonde Lunch trying to escape with the Dragon Balls and Goku following her on the Kinto Un. The tension escalates when Lunch threatens to blow up the amusement park, but Goku is able to smartly outmaneuver her with the nyoibo. It doesn't end as happily for Yamcha though, as Bulma returns from her home to slap him. Overall, while this episode does a wonderful job at ending this mini-adventure to bridge off into a new one in this story arc. With a beautiful shot of the sun at dusk against a sparkling sea we are given the feeling it's a breather for now but there is much more to come.

[Danfun64]

Launch isn't Hasky though...

[Robo4900]

Finally found some time to watch another two.

Episodes 43-44

Goku's reunion with Kinto'Un is adorable.

Fun city shenanigans in episode 43. Not much to say, though, honestly.

I do love Goku and Bulma's reunion. And the police officer sniffing to try to get the scent Goku smelled is a great little gag.

Dr Brief is a delightful addition to the tertiary cast.

Man, the expressions in this episode are great.

... Y'know, it is kinda annoying that they go from "Let's find the Dragon Balls!" to "lol let's spend a day at the amusmenet park." It's... Eh, I'm not a fan of that way of segueing into a filler arc.
And the scene of everyone shittalking Bulma and her interrupting at exactly the wrong moment... That's just a really frustrating piece of writing.

I recall the next episode, with them actually at the amusment park, being actually quite fun, but this setup for it is not great.

Still, the manga-sourced material here is fun. A fine pair of episodes in general, really.