Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone between and beyond, and welcome to week 56 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.
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.
Return of the recurring death tallies!
And Funimation's episode titles becoming more awful than they've ever been at any other point!
And their dialogue being at its worst too!
And Z's pacing being at its worst!
And Kai's too...
...
But uhh... On the positive side, the animation is great, and Ryusei Nakao and Chris Ayres both kicked ass as Freeza in these episodes.
Previous thread: Week 55 (DBZ 80-84)
Next thread: Week 57 (DBZ 90-94)
Anyway, without further ado...
Episode 238 - The Moment We’ve Waited For!!! Son Goku is Revived (DBZ episode 85)
Dub title: The Renewed Goku
Originally aired 3rd of April 1991
Kai equivalent: Episode 41 - The Moment We’ve Waited For! Son Goku is Revived (last half)
Written by: Katsuyuki Sumisawa
Episode director: Kazuhito Kikuchi
Animation supervisor: Masayuki Uchiyama
Even after having tremendously powered up, Vegeta is no good against Freeza. But Vegeta still challenges him, saying that as a Super Saiyan there’s no way he could lose. However, his attacks are all dodged, and even his full-power energy attack is knocked back with just a kick. Vegeta trembles in fear and despair, and finally weeps… He is handily beaten. Piccolo and the others can merely watch. At that moment, Goku is revived!
Anime-only/filler content: Extensions to the scene where Vegeta fires an energy blast (expanded to several) at Freeza, which he dodges; another scene with Kaio, Freeza throwing Vegeta into the sea, parting the water, and eating the friendly crab.
Episode 239 - Such Regret…!! The Proud Saiyan, Vegeta Dies (DBZ episode 86)
Dub title: The End of Vegeta
Originally aired 10th of April 1991
Kai equivalent: Episode 42 - Defeat Freeza, Son Goku! The Proud Vegeta’s Tears (first half)
Written by: Katsuyuki Sumisawa
Episode director: Yoshihiro Ueda
Animation supervisor: Mitsuo Shindō
As Freeza is about to finish off Vegeta, Goku arrives! Freeza senses that Goku resembles the Saiyan Bardock, who caused an uprising in the past. Goku is Bardock’s child. Vegeta tells Freeza that Goku is a Super Saiyan, and the very next moment a beam pierces his heart! Vegeta begs Goku to avenge the Saiyan, and then dies. With the pride of the Saiyan in his breast, Goku challenges Freeza.
Anime-only/filler content: Extensions to Freeza realising Goku is Bardock's son, the flashback with young Vegeta, King Vegeta, and Nappa.
Episode 240 - The Curtain Opens on the Super Decisive Battle!! I Am Going to Defeat You (DBZ episode 87)
Dub title: The Ultimate Battle
Originally aired 17th of April 1991
Kai equivalent: Episode 42 - Defeat Freeza, Son Goku! The Proud Vegeta’s Tears (last half) and Episode 43 - Son Goku vs Freeza! The Curtain Opens on the Super Decisive Battle! (first half)
Written by: Aya Matsui
Episode director: Akihiko Yamaguchi
Animation supervisor: Masahiro Shimanuki
Sensing the tremendousness of the decisive battle that is about to begin, Piccolo and the others head for a safe place. As Gohan tells him to defeat Freeza, Goku replies with a silent back. The next instant, he charges Freeza. The true battle has finally begun. Freeza senses that there is something different about Goku’s strength from all the other Saiyan before. As magma erupts around them, the two’s fight grows more and more intense.
Anime-only/filler content: Freeza missing Goku with eye lasers leading Goku to figure out Freeza can't sense Ki (see trivia), Bulma and the frogs, Goku's encounter with a lava pool.
Episode 241 - The Two Great Superpowers Collide! A Physical Battle Where Both Get Serious!!! (DBZ episode 88)
Dub title: Clash of the Super Powers
Originally aired 24th of April 199
Kai equivalent: Episode 43 - Son Goku vs Freeza! The Curtain Opens on the Super Decisive Battle! (last half)
Written by: Aya Matsui
Episode director: Kazuhito Kikuchi
Animation supervisor: Masayuki Uchiyama
On Earth, Chi-Chi raises a big fuss about going to rescue Gohan. Meanwhile, Goku realizes that Freeza cannot sense ki. Tricking Freeza with two Kamehameha that he fires from underwater, Goku takes advantage of this opening to land a kick. But Freeza isn’t stopping… This time, he seals Goku within an energy bullet, and attacks him while he’s immobile. However, Goku succeeds at escaping at super speed the moment of the explosion!
Anime-only/filler content: Chichi packing to go to Namek (and of course, because it's Toei, her panties are on top of the pile of clothes to pack... -_-), Freeza beating Goku up and throwing him onto the ground after trapping him in an energy ball.
Episode 242 - Freeza’s Terrible Declaration! I Will Defeat You Without Using My Hands (DBZ episode 89)
Dub title: Frieza's Boast
Originally aired 1st of May 1991
Kai equivalent: Episode 44 - A Physical War That Exceeds All Limits! Goku and Freeza and Ginyu, Again?! (first half)
Written by: Aya Matsui
Episode director: Yoshihiro Ueda
Animation supervisor: Yukio Ebisawa
A composed Freeza announces that he will fight Goku without using either of his hands. Meanwhile on Earth, the fuel supply for Chi-Chi’s spaceship advances along. And on Planet Namek, as she’s off on her own Bulma meets Ginyu, now a frog, and he uses Body Change on her… As Freeza is attacking with his tail, Goku counterattacks by biting, and Freeza unthinkingly uses his hand. Goku warns Freeza that he has too much confidence, and thus leaves himself open.
Anime-only/filler content: Chichi and some others bothering Dr Brief for his ship so they can go to Namek, Bulma and the Ginyu frog.
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Interesting trivia:
- At this point in time in the manga, Goku fights Freeza and delivers his "I am" speech, Freeza tries and fails to destroy Namek correctly, Freeza begins to fight at 100% of his strength, God and Kaio make their gambit to wish the Grand Elder back to life, and the Grand Elder tells Dende to hurry to Porunga.
- Forgot to mention this a few weeks ago, but Freeza blowing off his armor is a rare look at what he looks like without any on in his first form. This would not be seen again until the opening of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, where he has a less developed design (particularly around the shoulders and clavicle), possibly to reflect his younger age at the time.
- In the anime, Vegeta's big attack on Freeza is shown flying right past Vegeta and exploding in space after Freeza kicks it away, showing its colossal size. It also gives an idea regarding how big Freeza's planet-destroying attack is, given that Piccolo shouts at Vegeta asking if he's trying to take the planet with him. In the manga, the attack flies past much further away, and isn't shown exploding.
- In the manga, there are narrator panels explaining Vegeta's utter despair at the situation. In the anime, this dialogue is given to Kaio. This forms a bit of an in-joke, as Kaio's Japanese voice actor also plays the narrator!
- For all but the last manga panel, Freeza doesn't grip Vegeta's neck tight enough with his tail to actually hold him up.
- Freeza rubbing the rock into Vegeta's chest also doesn't happen in the manga; the anime was presumably inspired by a single panel of Vegeta on the ground with a rock on his chest.
- Freeza also picks up Vegeta by the shoulder loop of his armor, where it bends like a singlet. Despite the non-newtonian properties of the armor, this shouldn't be possible!
- There's a rare colouring error in the Full Color edition of the manga: in Freeza's reaction panel to Goku's arrival, the gem on his chest is colored white instead of purple as it's supposed to.
- This is the third time Goku arrives on a character's deathbed and casually walks past several of the combatants whilst analyzing the situation, after Nappa and Reacoom.
- It's easy to forget, but Goku and Freeza don't actually meet each other until right before they fight.
- In the anime, Goku comments that Freeza is smaller than he thought he'd be. In ViZ's translation of the manga, he says he's younger.
- In another case of spoiling the story, the episode where Vegeta dies is called "Such Regret...!! The Proud Saiyan, Vegeta Dies".
- Very famously, Toriyama liked the Bardock Special so much that he included a moment where Freeza recognizes Goku's similarity with "the Saiyan who resisted until the end... when I destroyed Planet Vegeta!!". These panels debuted in the manga two and a half months after the special aired on TV, and include a shot of Bardock facing Freeza in space surrounded by his men, and Bardock getting blasted by Freeza's attack, with the red bandanna and accurate armor damage from the special. Interestingly, Freeza does not attack with quite the same pose, and Bardock doesn't have his tail wrapped around his waist.
- Because of Toriyama's inclusion of these panels, as well as the sheer quality of the special itself, many fans assumed that the Bardock Special was outright canon to the manga itself, not just the anime. This is why it was such a shock then in 2014 that in the bonus chapter of Jaco, Dragon Ball Minus, Toriyama wrote a very different version, where Bardock sends Goku away on his own in secret after Freeza's ship hovers over the planet. Here, Bardock has a slightly softer character and lacks the red bandanna, and Goku is sent away slightly older than before and in full armor (it's also the first time Toriyama invented his own original female Saiyan character in Gine, Goku's mother).
- When Dragon Ball Minus was adapted as part of Dragon Ball Super: Broly's first act, the finale of the original special was referenced in several shots depicting Bardock, again with the same damage to his armor, futilely attempting to destroy Freeza's attack in space while surrounded by Freeza's men, before being consumed by it as his armor disintegrates. Aside from the lack of the headband and modern armor design, this makes Toriyama's revised version of Bardock's backstory fit with the manga panels a bit better.
- That said, it does contradict the manga in that Bardock does not have a direct confrontation with Frieza, because Frieza destroys the planet almost immediately after exiting his ship. This is a contradiction because Frieza recognizes Goku as looking like "the Saiyan who resisted until the end", which is the entire reason why the two panels were included in the first place!
- For its part, the original Z anime simply re-used clips from the Bardock Special, and in Yamamoto's score for Kai, this flashback uses the same music track as the original scene in Kai's very first episode.
- The logo used for the Chapter with Bardock's two panels would later be the basis for the Dragon Ball Minus logo. It's unknown how purposeful this is.
- Appropriately, Goku is the first character to land a hit on Freeza's Final/Base form.
- In the manga, Freeza doesn't fire at Goku with a single shot first, and instead starts right with the rapid-fire barrage. The anime also makes things more dramatic by extending the barrage and showing a large amount of them exploding, as well as Goku hitting the last one down to the ground for the classic "smokescreen reveals he's alive" padding trick.
- This is the fourth and final time Vegeta mistakenly thinks somebody could be the Super Saiyan, after Goku when fighting Recoome, Gohan while fighting Freeza, himself when fighting Freeza, and lastly Goku before fighting Freeza. In the anime, he finally gets it right on the fifth go after Porunga wishes him back to life.
- Vegeta correctly makes two predictions shortly before his death. First, that Freeza shouldn't hold back against Goku: it'll take him going Super Saiyan for Freeza to fight at 100% power. Second, that "the Super Saiyan" doesn't have any remorse or sentimentality. Both Goku going Super Saiyan and Gohan going Super Saiyan 2 initially show this (Goku even pointing this out), but this is overcome as they become accustomed to these forms.
- In the anime, the additional sequence of Vegeta thinking upon how ruthless he and his father were uses footage from the older flashback when Freeza mentions killing Vegeta's father the king. This is kept in Kai.
- Vegeta's dying breaths are the first time Vegeta's father, the king, is directly mentioned in the manga (he was of course kinda implied given that Vegeta is known as Prince of the Saiyans, but still).
- In Vegeta's dying breaths, he's notably shown to be more upset about Freeza wiping out the Saiyans than he was when Dodoria revealed this him earlier in the arc. This implies that Vegeta kept his true feelings on the matter close, however it does contradict the ending of the earlier Bardock Special where he's shown to genuinely not care at all.
- With his last words, Vegeta begs Goku that Freeza must die by a Saiyan's hands. This will eventually happen, but thanks to his son Trunks. Goku wouldn't kill Freeza in a Dragon Ball story until Resurrection 'F'.
- The shot of Goku with his head bowed down in anger is very similar to later on, where he assumes the same pose after Kuririn is killed and his body struggles to go Super Saiyan. Both poses happen after an important character death.
- In the anime, Goku making a hole in the ground to bury Vegeta makes less sense than in the manga, as there's a crater from earlier in the episode where he deflected the last of Freeza's finger beams.
- Recurring death tallies:
- Piccolo: 2
- Chaozu: 2
- The moon: 2
- Vegeta: 1
- Yamucha: 1
- Tenshinhan: 1
- Son Goku: 1
- Roshi: 1
- Kuririn: 1
- Changes in the TV edit of the original dub:
- In episode 85, the whole shot where Freeza eats the crab and punches Vegeta in the back is cut, some of the blood flying off Vegeta when he was tossed through the air by Freeza was painted out (but not all of it!), another two shots later on are cut in which Freeza punches Vegeta in the back (the BGM noticeably skips on the first cut).
- In episode 86, five shots of Vegeta coughing up blood were cut, and Vegeta's burial was slightly shortened.
- There are no cuts or paint edits to episode 87, though interestingly, the flashback to episode 70 keeps all the content that had previously been cut from that episode. Furthermore, dialogue-wise, even though Funimation are still blatantly dodging using the words "kill", "die", "death", etc. in general, Freeza says "Basically I'm trying to kill you." at one point in this episode. One piece of dialogue that was changed compared to the uncut version, however, was "My butt's on fire" becoming "My rear's on fire".
- In episodes 88 and 89, Dr Brief's cigarette is painted out. 89 also cuts out the shot of Roshi getting a facefull Chichi's butt when he tries to pull her off Dr Brief, leading her to elbow him, which leaves him with a nosebleed.
- Chris Psaros notes that most of the edits here are completely unnecessary, as Tenchi Muyo was getting away with all the kinds of stuff being censored here in about the same timeslot on Toonami.
- There's a lot of nonsense in the Funi dub this week that I don't have to write complete notes on, but a few highlights include Goku saying "Hammer time!", Bardock's dialogue in the flashback implying all the Saiyans crowding around Freeza are fighting with him against Freeza, Freeza telling Goku his shoelaces are untied, and Goku responding that he doesn't have shoelaces, Freeza saying something in his "native tongue" (when he just laughed in the Japanese version)...
- The worst dialogue change of all is that Vegeta's death scene was completely rewritten. In the dub, he has lines like "He took me from my father when I was just a little boy!", he basically lays out that the only reason he's "the way I am" is because of Freeza. Similarly, Goku is given dialogue in which he forgives and pities Vegeta, after all he was just led astray by Freeza... In the Japanese version, what's happening here is that Vegeta explains that the Saiyans served Freeza loyally, but when he got scared of their power, he wiped them out, and then, while burying Vegeta, Goku talks about how he respected his pride despite hating him. It's all very personal to these characters, and Funi's original script completely fucked it all up. Be glad we have Funi's Kai dub these days, which -- for all its flaws -- does a good job of rendering the original intent behind the important scenes like these.
- The final shot of the episode with Vegeta's death shows Goku and Freeza in their stand-off. While this is very evocative of Bardock's vision when he was running up the stairs, Goku and Freeza are in the wrong places. Freeza is also in his weakest form, making the vision inaccurate (and lending credence to the idea that Toriyama initially didn't plan for Freeza to have so many transformations).
- Before fighting Frieza, Goku now formally accepts his Saiyan heritage and decides to fight for his race. This is the inverse of his feelings when Raditz first revealed this to him, and is a strong reason why many find the Freeza fight to be a finale of sorts for the story. However this assumes that Z is the start of the story (it isn't), but it still acts as a fitting conclusion of the cycle that began with Raditz, similar to how Goku catching the Four Star Ball after reviving Bora concludes the journey he started in Chapter 1.
- Other examples of cycles with climactic story conclusions are the 22nd TB/Daimao/23rd TB cycle, the Black Star/Baby+17/Evil Dragons cycle of GT, and Androids/Cell that ends Gohan's journey towards new protagonist. The other Dragon Ball arcs, such as Boo and most of Super, tend to stand alone rather than flow into a continuing arc to form a cycle.
- Goku catching Freeza's attack, the attack pushing him back, and Goku shaking his hands afterwards over how hot they are, is exactly the same as him catching Tao Pai-Pai's Dodon-pa back in the Red Ribbon Arc (which was replicated in the Mystical Adventure movie).
- The title page of Chapter 309 shows Freeza leaning up to Goku and Goku leaning down to Freeza, showing their height difference. Typically however the anime makes Freeza a bit bigger, having him come up to the shoulders rather than just above the waist.
- The scene where Kaio informs Tenshinhan, Yamucha and Chaozu that Vegeta died originally happened shortly into Goku's fight with Vegeta, and is part of a larger update on what's happening on Namek. The anime moved the Vegeta half to when he died, and expanded it with Kaio explaining the monster they have awakened.
- In the anime, while Frieza fires at Goku with his eye lasers, he misses wildly since Goku's hiding in smoke, which is when Goku realizes that Frieza can't sense ki. In the manga, this moment never happens, and Goku only vocally assumes this when he's hiding underwater.
- When using his underwater sneak attack, Goku is able to summon two small Kamehamehas only by thinking the words. He also able to keep them suspended and control when they move, similar to how he could bend it at the 23rd Tournament.
- After Goku's underwater sneak attack, Freeza mentions that Goku's the first to put a speck of dust on his body. This ignores the damage he took before Goku showed up, most notably Gohan's enraged attack and Kuririn cutting off his tail. He may be referring to his "original" form, but this isn't obvious in the dialogue.
- ViZ's translation of the Full Color manga has a rare spelling mistake. After Goku survives the rock-throwing trap and escapes the explosion, Freeza says "I suppost that's enough warm-up". This error is not present in their original Tankobon translation.
- Episode 89 marks the point where the anime starts adapting one manga chapter into one whole episode in a desperate attempt to avoid catching up with the anime. This will last until Episode 95, which is when Goku achieves Super Saiyan.
- The end of Chapter 310 shows Chichi and Gyuumao wondering why Goku and Gohan aren't back yet. This small scene may have inspired the filler where Chichi and other B-Tier Dragon Team members try to go to Namek.
- Goku's advice to Freeza, that his confience leaves him wide open, is rather prescient, since it's exactly how Freeza gets himself sliced up by both his own discs and by Trunks' sword.
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