Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 59 - DBZ 100-104

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Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 59 - DBZ 100-104

Post by Robo4900 » Wed Feb 17, 2021 3:36 pm

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Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone between and beyond, and welcome to week 59 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.

The penultimate week of the Freeza arc!
Next week will be something of an experiment; three episodes and a movie (the movie is pretty much equivalent to two episodes in length). If people like that method of viewing, we'll continue it going forward. If not, we can switch back, but I personally think this is a better way to do it. Naturally, the longer movies will be accompanied by fewer episodes.

Previous thread: Week 58 (DBZ 95-99)
Next thread: Week 60 (DBZ 105-107, Z movie 5)

Anyway, without further ado...

Episode 253 - I am Son Goku’s Son!! Gohan Returns to the Battlefield (DBZ episode 100)
Dub title: Gohan Returns
Originally aired 24th of July 1991

Kai equivalent: Episode 51 - Goku’s Furious Battle Cry! Make it in Time… The Resurrection Wish! (First half)
Written by: Katsuyuki Sumisawa
Episode director: Jun’ichi Fujise
Animation supervisor: Masayuki Uchiyama


Shen Long hears the wishes, but it will take some time for them to be granted. Meanwhile, Goku is buried under the Earth by one of Freeza’s attacks. Sensing this, Gohan flies to the battlefield to fight in Goku’s place. If he can detain Freeza until Planet Namek explodes, perhaps they can defeat Freeza. But Gohan is no match for Freeza. However, Goku revives as Gohan is about to be finished off. And then Planet Namek’s Eldest is resurrected.

Anime-only/filler content: Gohan returning to the battlefield, believing his father to be dead. The gang on earth reacting to the events on Namek.

Episode 254 - I’m Staying on This Planet!! A Final Wish Toward Victory (DBZ episode 101)
Dub title: The Last Wish
Originally aired 31st of July 1991

Kai equivalent: Episode 51 - Goku’s Furious Battle Cry! Make it in Time… The Resurrection Wish! (Last half)
Written by: Takao Koyama
Episode director: Kazuhito Kikuchi
Animation supervisor: Mitsuo Shindō


Kaiō telepathically calls out to the Eldest. Hearing this, Goku requests that he and Freeza be left on Planet Namek. Kaiō grudgingly complies with Goku’s strong resolve. Elsewhere, Dende and Vegeta come back to life, and Dende hurries off to the revived Super Shenlong. But Freeza quickly arrives there, and cries out his wish for immortality. But Super Shenlong ignores this wish, since it was not spoken in Namekian. Kaiō’s plan has succeeded!

Anime-only/filler content: Goku and Freeza fighting while Goku tells Kaio to leave him on Namek, Bulma considering trying to take off in the ship without Gohan, Vegeta checking that he really is alive, Freeza attempting to kill Dende before he gets teleported, Vegeta seeing Goku in his Super Saiyan form and trying to join the battle against Freeza, Kaio telling his guests about what's happening.

Episode 255 - Let’s Get It On!! Two Remain on a Vanishing Planet (DBZ episode 102)
Dub title: Duel on a Vanishing Planet
Originally aired 7th of August 1991

Kai equivalent: Episode 52 - Two Remain on a Vanishing Planet! This is the Final Showdown (Some scenes)
Written by: Takao Koyama
Episode director: Daisuke Nishio
Animation supervisor: Masayuki Uchiyama


It is two minutes until Planet Namek explodes. A fierce battle unfolds between Goku and Freeza as they try to settle things. Having warped back to Earth, Gohan and the others hear from the Eldest that Goku is still on Planet Namek, and they are all surprised. Even Piccolo can’t hide his chagrin. But Vegeta laughs, saying that if Goku and Freeza die he will automatically be the strongest in the universe. As Gohan and the others pray for Goku’s safety, the time remaining before the explosion reaches one minute.

Anime-only/filler content: Entirely filler!

Episode 256 - Pathos of Freeza! Once He Starts Shaking He’s Unstoppable!! (DBZ episode 103)
Dub title: Pathos of Frieza
Originally aired 14th of August 1991

Kai equivalent: Episode 52 - Two Remain on a Vanishing Planet! This is the Final Showdown (First half)
Written by: Hiroshi Toda
Episode director: Yoshihiro Ueda
Animation supervisor: Kazuya Hisada


As Goku continues his even fight with Freeza, Kaiō reminisces on the battle up until now. On Earth, Bulma prays for Goku’s safety with a good luck charm, but gets ominous results… Freeza begins to be gradually pushed back by Goku. As backlash from using his full power, his energy has begun to drop. Goku is satisfied that he has shattered Freeza’s pride, and tries to stop their fight. But Freeza will not give up.

Anime-only/filler content: Kaio commentating on the fight, Bulma burning some leaves in a circle for Goku's good fortune (which the wind blows out), completely different fight choreography in the lead-up to Goku giving up on his fight with Freeza.

Episode 257 - Goku’s Declaration of Victory!! As Freeza Destroys Himself… (DBZ episode 104)
Dub title: Frieza Defeated!!
Originally aired 21st of August 1991

Kai equivalent: Episode 52 - Two Remain on a Vanishing Planet! This is the Final Showdown (Last half)
Written by: Hiroshi Toda
Episode director: Shigeyasu Yamauchi
Animation supervisor: Yukio Ebisawa


Goku evades Freeza’s attack. His level of composure irritates Freeza. On Earth, Vegeta remembers the days when he worked for Freeza. As Vegeta is happy at becoming the strongest in the universe, Gohan retorts that Goku will definitely return… Freeza fires two circles of ki at Goku, but Goku dodges them and they slice Freeza’s own body in two. As Freeza finally begins begging for his life, Goku gives him some of his energy.

Anime-only/filler content: Kaio commentating on the fight, Vegeta's flashback sequence, Goku slapping Freeza.

-

Interesting trivia:
  • At this point in time in the manga, Trunks details the terrible future he comes from and who his parents are before returning to his own time, the Dragon Team train for three years, and they assemble on the island before 19 and 20 show up by destroying Yajirobe's aircar.
  • This is absolutely something we should have mentioned several weeks ago, but the total Dragon Ball anime episode count hit 243 episodes. This is an important number because that's the episode count of the original Dr. Slump anime, which goes to show how monumentally popular that property was; Dragon Ball Z wouldn't hit this episode count until mid-way into the Majin Boo arc. It's a good illustration of how Toriyama was already a hugely successful manga author before he even started Dragon Ball; DB would be his first work with a long, continuous storyline, but had he wished to, he could have easily retired off the millions he was already making off of Slump. So any ideas that Toriyama was pressured into continuing Dragon Ball after trying to end it (such as the conclusion of the Namek arc) are dubious, since he never had a need to start Dragon Ball in the first place outside his own creative interests.
  • This week opens with DBZ's 100th episode. DB's 100th episode had Tenshinhan use his Multi-Arm technique and then the Kikoho. Kai's 100th episode has Gohan get found out as Great Saiyaman by Videl and gets blackmailed to fight in the next Tournament, which Goku decides to attend. Super's 100th episode features Goku teaching Caulifla to go Super Saiyan 2, and Kale going berserk before Geran takes her down in one hit.
  • Episode 100 introduces a new piece of filler where, after Freeza blasts Goku into the ocean floor, Gohan decides to return to fight Freeza after believing his father to be dead. Eventually it's revealed that Goku is alive and he sends Gohan back, which is a plothole since Gohan should have been able to sense Goku's ki again by this point.
    • More than that however, in the anime Freeza forces Goku into the ground and he gets caught in a lava explosion just before Shen Long successfully grants Mr. Popo's wish, and Freeza acts as if he's won. Many fans therefore interpreted Goku's return (which is accompanied by light coming out of the water) as him being resurrected by Shen Long. This however is impossible: at this point in time Shen Long can only wish somebody back from the dead once, and Goku had already been brought back to life in the Saiyan Arc. In the manga Gohan returning to fight Freeza doesn't happen, so nobody in-universe thinks he dead except for arrogant Freeza. In either work Goku never notes that he died, which he almost certainly would have done had that actually happened.
    • There's also a slight dialogue difference. In the ViZ translation of the manga, Freeza sarcastically wonders if Goku's a zombie. In the anime, he says that Goku doesn't know when to die.
    • Gohan returning to fight Freeza is also in Kai. Since Kai created no new shots and instead stuck with tracing over the original animations, they included Gohan leaving because he and Bulma are wished back to Earth separately, rather than together while flying as in the manga. Why they left in the scene of him confronting Freeza is unknown, but it's likely they needed to pad out the runtime for broadcast.
  • Episode 100 also marks the first instance of lava appearing alongside Namek's destruction and turning the sky and water red, which would become a strong visual for the rest of the fight. However this was an invention of the anime, which explains why it doesn't appear in the Full Color manga, or as the extended opening of Resurrection of 'F' which revisits Freeza's death.
  • The word "Resurrection" was dropped from the Funimation title for Kai episode 51 "Goku's Furious Roar! A Last-Minute Resurrection Wish!" when it aired on NickToons and Toonzai.
  • According to Chris Psaros, Z episode 100 is the first time Funimation used the name "Shenron" to refer to the earth's wish-granting dragon. This isn't really a good thing; "Shen Long" means "Dragon God", so their old way of just calling it "The Eternal Dragon" was actually more accurate. Plus they're romanising it from the Japanese approximation of the original Chinese, "Shen Long".
  • Funimation's TV censorship:
    • In Z episode 100, Dr. Brief's cigarette was painted out.
    • Z episodes 101 and 102 have no edits noted by Psaros, though the dialogue is very heavily changed, some of which may be for censorship reasons.
    • Z episode 103 cuts 30 seconds of Goku and Freeza fighting, and paints away some spit and blood.
    • Z episode 104 inherits a paint edited blood removal in its recap, they also painted out the blood shooting out of Freeza's nose when Goku hits him in the head, and they censored a lot of blood as he is cut by his energy blades. (Though they didn't edit any subsequent shots, as there was no blood in the original in those shots)
  • Chris Psaros also notes that Z episode 104 marks a recasting of Funi's Tenshinhan.
  • Mr. Popo's wish to revive all those killed by Freeza and his henchmen will eventually give birth to Yi Xing Long, the one-star evil dragon in GT.
  • After the Namekians are brought back to life, they wonder why the sky is dark. This suggests that Porunga being summoned is a very rare occurrence for them.
  • Freeza also wonders if the sky going dark is part of the chain reaction he set off. This suggests he's never actually been on a planet while attempting to destroy it, hence why he didn't do it entirely right earlier.
  • In yet another dialogue observation, the Grand Elder wonders why he's "back in this world", and Kaio talks to him as if he understands the hierarchy of Other World. This suggests that the Grand Elder has a good conception of this sort of thing, making him comparable to the God of Earth.
  • In the ViZ translation of the manga, everyone refers to Porunga as Shen Long when he's brought back to life, including the Grand Elder. This is possibly because Porunga was being referred to as the "dragon god", which is what Shen Long means, and ViZ made an error. This certainly explains why Freeza calls him that despite not knowing the names of either two dragons.
  • Famously, the anime adds an extra moment where Vegeta meets with Goku at Porunga and sees his Super Saiyan form before being wished away. While cute, this contradicts a later scene where Vegeta is shocked when Gohan announces that Goku became a Super Saiyan. Kai solves this by cutting away from Gohan before he says Goku accomplished the form, and thus Vegeta's reaction.
    • This scene also has Freeza attempt to attack Dende after he shouts the wish, only for Dende to vanish, then Vegeta tries to attack Freeza but is warped away before he can release it. KBABZ always found these cute anime additions.
  • DBZ episode 102 is the first all-filler episode since Z episode 41. (Although 42-44 were also mostly filler)
  • The Captain Ginyu frog joining the others in going to earth in the all-filler episode 102 was later followed up on in Resurrection F.
  • Kai episode 52 (equivalent to Z episodes 102-104), being the final episode on Kai Part 4, is the last to feature Kenji Yamamoto's original score on English releases. Parts 5-8 would feature a replacement score reusing themes composed by Kikuchi for Z, while the later Season sets would entirely feature the Kikuchi replacement (except in the UK, where the equivalent to Parts 1-3 still use the Yamamoto score).
  • The fight just before Goku calls it off isn't just extended, but almost entirely replaced by a longer sequence in the anime. In the manga, Goku is able to beat Freeza blow-for-blow in a notably less dramatic fashion for this fight and kicks Freeza into the ground. In the anime, a kick and a punch from the manga fight occur, then Goku kicks Freeza away and he tries to get some breathing room between him and Goku, but Goku effortlessly keeps up. This is then followed by a one-sided fight in the air (this part is meant to be on the ground), ending with Goku punching him through the landscape. Both end with Freeza huffing and puffing while Goku has no issue at all, prompting him to end the fight.
    • Resurrection of 'F' would finally adapt the manga fight more accurately for its extended opening, where Future Trunks retells Goku's defeat of Freeza. This itself is somewhat contradictory because Trunks knew very little about Goku such as his ability to use Instant Transmission, making it unlikely he knew exactly how the end of the Freeza fight went.
    • Robo would like it known that KBABZ wrote this entry based off of Kai, so the anime's version is actually even longer than that.
  • The tactic that Goku uses on Freeza with his death saucers (called a Wronski Feint on TV Tropes after a Quidditch move) is the same tactic he used against Piccolo Jr. at the 23rd Tournament.
  • Freeza getting sliced by his own saucer is much clearer in the manga than it is in the anime. There's a panel looking down where you can see the disc Freeza dodged below, and the second disc approaching where he jumped from. Goku elbows Freeza back down, where he gets sliced by the second disc. This makes less sense in the anime because both discs fly past Freeza the first time, so the one that does slice him appears out of nowhere. Further, Goku and Freeza fight some more before Goku sends him back down.
  • In the manga, Gohan, Bulma and the Namekians appear on Earth in an open field. In the anime, they appear in a forest clearing, at least at first.
  • A Namekian mentions that nobody has returned from Caracol's village. You guessed it, Caracol is a breed of snail.
  • In the original Funimation Z dub, Raditz was voiced in Vegeta's flashback by Chris Sabat. In the "Remastered dub" seen on modern home video releases, he is redubbed by Justin Cook, who voiced him in the "Ultimate Uncut" dub of Z episodes 1-67.
Episode summaries, airdates, and titles courtesy of Kanzenshuu's episode guide. Filler breakdowns and Dragon Ball logo provided, and trivia co-written, by KBABZ. Additional trivia courtesy of Chris Psaros's DBZ Uncensored guide.
Last edited by Robo4900 on Wed Feb 24, 2021 1:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 59 - DBZ 100-104 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by MasenkoHA » Wed Feb 17, 2021 4:54 pm

Well the longest fight in Anime history finally comes to a close. I enjoy that the last two times Goku spared a big bad it was because he wanted a rematch. Here it’s like “You’re pitiful have a nice day”



M
Robo4900 wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 3:36 pm
The penultimate week of the Freeza arc!
Next week will be something of an experiment; three episodes and a movie (the movie is pretty much equivalent to two episodes in length). If people like that method of viewing, we'll continue it going forward. If not, we can switch back, but I personally think this is a better way to do it. Naturally, the longer movies will be accompanied by fewer episodes.
At the very least I do think it’s a good move putting the end of the Freeza arc with movie 5 together. They complement each other well and it puts the Garlic Jr arc in an even two weeks.
[*]The word "Resurrection" was dropped from the Funimation title for Kai episode 51 "Goku's Furious Roar! A Last-Minute Resurrection Wish!" when it aired on NickToons and Toonzai.
I’m guessing Funimation was worried of the connotations of resurrection potentially offending Christians.
[*]Chris Psaros also notes that Z episode 104 marks a recasting of Funi's Tenshinhan.
John Burgmeier replacing Chris Cason. Sabat will replace him as Popo at some point as well (although Cason would get the role back for Kai and Super)

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 59 - DBZ 100-104 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by KBABZ » Wed Feb 17, 2021 5:10 pm

I remember first seeing Frieza get himself killed when it first aired here in New Zealand and I thought it was rather anti-climactic (as mentioned in the manga, which titles it "An Empty Conclusion"), but now as an adult, it's my favourite villain death because it's 100% character-driven. It's certainly far more interesting than the defeats of Daimao, Vegeta, Cell and Buu, who get generic "I WILL WIN!!" deaths.

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 59 - DBZ 100-104 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by ikaos » Wed Feb 17, 2021 9:29 pm

Many fans therefore interpreted Goku's return (which is accompanied by light coming out of the water) as him being resurrected by Shen Long.
I legitimately got into fights with my friends about this, since I was less familiar with the rules during my first watch of the show. It really seems like Toei wanted the audience to think he was actually dead.
In the original Funimation Z dub, Raditz was voiced in Vegeta's flashback by Chris Sabat. In the "Remastered dub" seen on modern home video releases, he is redubbed by Justin Cook, who voiced him in the "Ultimate Uncut" dub of Z episodes 1-67.
The same can be said for Nappa, who went from Sabat to Phil Parsons in the "Remastered" Dub.

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 59 - DBZ 100-104 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by KBABZ » Wed Feb 17, 2021 9:38 pm

ikaos wrote: Wed Feb 17, 2021 9:29 pm I legitimately got into fights with my friends about this, since I was less familiar with the rules during my first watch of the show. It really seems like Toei wanted the audience to think he was actually dead.
There's a very Christ-like quality to the way he dies and then re-appears I agree. It's super-weird.

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 59 - DBZ 100-104 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by Cure Dragon 255 » Thu Feb 18, 2021 1:31 am

I love these threads. I love Robo and KBABZ and they can always be found in them. I really miss Robo in particular.
Marz wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 11:27 pm "Well, the chapter was good, the story was good and so were the fights. But a new transformation, in Dragon Ball? And one that's ugly? This is where we draw the line!!! Jump the Shark moment!!"

This forum is so over-dramatic that it's not even funny.
90sDBZ wrote: Mon Jul 01, 2019 2:44 pm19 years ago I was rushing home from school to watch DBZ on Cartoon Network, and today I've rushed home from work to watch DBS on Pop. I guess it's true the more things change the more they stay the same. :lol:

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 59 - DBZ 100-104 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by Robo4900 » Thu Feb 18, 2021 1:37 am

Cure Dragon 255 wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 1:31 am I love these threads. I love Robo and KBABZ and they can always be found in them. I really miss Robo in particular.
Thanks buddy.

No need to miss me, though -- I'm right here! :)
The point of Dragon Ball is to enjoy it. Never lose sight of that.

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 59 - DBZ 100-104 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by KBABZ » Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:16 pm

Cure Dragon 255 wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 1:31 am I love these threads. I love Robo and KBABZ and they can always be found in them. I really miss Robo in particular.
Aww. I'm not in other threads because I find 'em kinda trashy, sometimes necrobumps, and are otherwise topics I have no interest spending energy to participate in, especially when they go round and round in circles.

Wish more folks engaged with the Rewatch threads though, I spend a lot of time on 'em!

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 59 - DBZ 100-104 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by SuperSaiyaManZ94 » Thu Feb 18, 2021 4:45 pm

Interesting how with all the padding out and filler extensions in the Freeza arc the manga was able to stay ahead a good ways and maintain a relatively spaced amount of separation from that point onward until the former concluded, as it wasn't until early 1992 many months later that the anime reached the same point as noted above since they were briefly at such a close point to one another where there was a good possibility the show could likely have actually caught up with the weekly serialization and resulted in a hiatus or something. Had such filler material as the Garlic Jr. arc and other things not been created by the anime writers it wouldn't been long before that would have inevitably happened.
DB collection related goals as of now:

1.) Find decent priced copy of Dragon Box Z Vol. 4 (Done)

2.) Collect rest of manga

3.) Get rest of Daizenshuu (2-7)

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 59 - DBZ 100-104

Post by Planetnamek » Sun Aug 01, 2021 3:07 am

I fondly remember seeing these episodes on CN, particularly the bit where Goku is holding Freeza back with an energy beam and Freeza zig-zags around it and attacks him.

I too liked seeing a villain get defeated by Goku deciding they aren't worth wasting time on anymore.
"Why run away from something you're not afraid of?" - Goku

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