Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone between and beyond, and welcome to week 74 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.
I must apologise for the inconsistent posting days/times for the past few weeks.
The good news is that we're pretty much at the end of that issue; it shouldn't rear its head again after next week.
Furthermore however, KBABZ and I have decided to move the day we post the threads. Starting after next week, we will be posting threads on Monday, to allow KBABZ to coalate trivia over the weekend and then to allow me to post it on Monday (since I'm often busy over weekends).
So, the current plan is that next week, the thread will go up on Wednesday, then all weeks after that, we will be posting on Monday.
Previous thread: Week 73 (DBZ 164-168)
Next thread: Week 75 (DBZ 170-174)
Anyway, without further ado...
Episode 322 - Goku’s Composure?! Just Rest and Wait for the Cell Games (DBZ episode 169)
Dub title: No Worries Here
Originally aired 16th of December 1992
Kai equivalent: Episode 84 - Training Completed! Does Goku have the Composure to Defeat Cell?!, Episode 85 - An Interrupted Rest! The Self-Defense Army’s General Offensive Against Cell
Written by: Katsuyuki Sumisawa
Episode director: Mitsuo Hashimoto
Animation supervisor: Masayuki Uchiyama
After Goku and Gohan emerge from the Room of Time and Spirit, which they can enter for one more day, they leave Vegeta and the others dumbstruck as they head for Karin Tower. There Goku displays half of his power, but even then Karin thinks that Cell’s is greater. But Goku accepts this with a laugh, and heads to Kame House to meet Chi-Chi. Their family is then reunited for the first time in awhile. Following after them, Kuririn sees Gohan and the relaxed Goku, and wonders why they aren’t training…
Anime-only/filler content: Cell warming up and destroying a meteor, Goku and Gohan fishing, and most of the other related chillout stuff going on.
DBZ movie 8 - Burn Up!! A Red-Hot, Raging, Super-Fierce Fight
Dub title: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan
Originally released 6th of March 1993
Written by: Takao Koyama
Director: Shigeyasu Yamauchi
Animation supervisor: Tadayoshi Yamamuro
Vegeta travels to the planet New Vegeta in search of the Legendary Super Saiyan, who has been destroying planets. Goku is also in pursuit of the Legendary Super Saiyan, teleports to the planet, and Broly goes berserk. Goku must defeat the Legendary Super Saiyan… to save the universe!!
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Interesting trivia about Z episode 169:
- At this point in time in the manga, Goku has Gohan take his place in the fight against Cell, and gives Cell a senzu.
- Kuririn throwing a rock at Goku is arguably a repeat of the joke from DB episode 8, a full 316 episodes before, in which Chichi launches a blade at Roshi while he's not looking to test if he really is Roshi. The joke would repeat once again in Z episode 250, a full 81 episodes later, where Goku throws a ki blast at Elder Kaioshin to test his abilities.
- This episode begins a stretch of filler episodes leading up to the Cell Games. Arguably it even continues after that, with a few of the early Cell Games episodes bogged down by the Mr Satan gang filler, so we don't really get out of the fillerific territory until Goku begins fighting Cell.
- At this point in time in the manga, Cell self-destructs and Goku teleports him to Kaio's planet.
- DBZ movie 8 released in the March 1993 Toei Anime Fair. It was shown with Dr Slump And Arale-chan: N-cha! Clear Skies Over Penguin Village.
- If it wasn't for Goku and Gohan not being Super Saiyan in this movie, it would perfectly fit in the timeline of the TV series, between Goku and Gohan emerging from the Room of Spirit and Time and the gang fighting Cell.
- Akira Toriyama advised on Broly's visual design, specifically providing the idea of the arm bands and the fact he doesn't wear Saiyan armour (since it's actually Freeza armour, and Broly and Paragas never worked for Freeza).
- On its original release, DBZ movie 8 earned a total of 2.47 billion yen at the Japanese box office. It still stands as the 6th-highest-grossing Dragon Ball movie (only edged out of the top 5 by the release of Super Broly in December 2018, which took the top spot with 3.8 billion yen).
- The Funimation dub of this movie features the Team Faulconer opening theme for Dragon Ball Z. This is significant in that it's an arrangement that fits the original Japanese opening visuals for Cha-La Head Cha-La. It still puzzles me to this day that they didn't use this opening on the Season DVDs and Blu-rays as the opening for the first 199 episodes on the US broadcast score mix.
- Funimation censored all dialogue references to Roshi being drunk, except for one line in which he says "I'm so hungover."
- Despite the censorship and some other liberal adaptational choices in the script (such as, when Piccolo explains that he overheard Goku's telepathic conversation with Kaio, the addition of "I couldn't help but listen in; with my ears, I can hear just about everything in the universe."; as usual with Funi's additions of this type, the original meaning of the line is here, right before the quoted portion, but the focus of the line is completely shifted, as Funi's added bullshit now make up more than half of the original line, and this nonsense is how the line ends), it's still arguably the most faithful dub script Funimation would write for the movies until Battle of Gods.
- Z movies 1 and 2 may be slightly better, but that's only because they're based off the really great Pioneer scripts. Funi's additions and changes are all for the worse there, so all of Funi's writing in those movies is really bad.