Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 87 - DBZ 223-227

[Robo4900]

Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone between and beyond, and welcome to week 87 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.

Hopefully less arguing about name translations this week.

Previous thread: Week 86 (DBZ 218-222)
Next thread: Week 88 (DBZ 228-230, movie 11)

Anyway, without further ado...

Episode 376 - Goku’s Power Wide Open!! Blow Away Yakon (DBZ episode 223)
Dub title: Next Up, Goku
Originally aired 13th of April 1994
International Kai equivalent: Episode 116 - Don’t Underestimate a Super Saiyan! Vegeta and Goku’s Full Throttle Power! and Episode 117 - Who is the World’s Greatest?! A Battle Royal Match to Decide!!; one scene incorporated into Episode 118 - What Incredible Kids!! The Great Struggles of No. 18
Japanese Kai equivalent: Episode 109 - Don’t Underestimate a Super Saiyan! Vegeta and Goku’s Full Throttle Power! and Episode 110 - Who is the World’s Greatest?! A Battle Royal Match to Decide!!; one scene incorporated into Episode 111 - What Incredible Kids!! The Great Struggles of No. 18
Written by: Hiroshi Toda
Episode director: Yoshihiro Ueda
Animation supervisor: Masayuki Uchiyama

Yakon’s opponent is Goku! Bobbidi changes Stage 2 to the pitch-dark world, the Planet of Darkness, which is advantageous to Yakon. Goku becomes a Super Saiyan and illuminates his surroundings, but Yakon, he can eat light, and sucks up Goku’s aura. Now knowing Yakon’s ability, Goku becomes Super Saiyan once again and emits a powerful aura, forcing Yakon to suck up a huge amount of light and explode. And then at Stage 3, Dabra sallies forth…

Anime-only/filler content: Goku hurting his leg by walking into a rock, everything at the tournament grounds.

Episode 377 - A Great Miscalculation!! Satan vs Three Super Warriors?! (DBZ episode 224)
Dub title: Battle Supreme
Originally aired 20th of April 1994
International Kai equivalent: Episode 117 - Who is the World’s Greatest?! A Battle Royal Match to Decide!!; one scene incorporated into Episode 118 - What Incredible Kids!! The Great Struggles of No. 18
Japanese Kai equivalent: Episode 110 - Who is the World’s Greatest?! A Battle Royal Match to Decide!!; one scene incorporated into Episode 111 - What Incredible Kids!! The Great Struggles of No. 18
Written by: Hiroshi Toda
Episode director: Osamu Kasai
Animation supervisor: Yukio Ebisawa

Since Goku and co. have left the tournament grounds, the final round of the Tenka’ichi Budōkai is changed into a Battle Royal. At Mister Satan’s suggestion, the remaining contestants all enter the ring and fight… but fearing that the other four contestants will concentrate their attacks on him, Satan regrets having suggested the Battle Royal… However, as soon as the match begins, No. 18 and Mighty Mast easily defeat the other two contestants, and begin a one-on-one battle, completely ignoring Satan.

Anime-only/filler content: Dabra meditating before fighting, Mr. Satan fantasising about winning, the two and a half Saiyans waiting for Dabra.

Episode 378 - Such Strong Kids!! No. 18’s Close Fight?! (DBZ episode 225)
Dub title: Eighteen Unmasks
Originally aired 27th of April 1994
International Kai equivalent: Episode 118 - What Incredible Kids!! The Great Struggles of No. 18
Japanese Kai equivalent: Episode 111 - What Incredible Kids!! The Great Struggles of No. 18
Written by: Hiroshi Toda
Episode director: Kazuhito Kikuchi
Animation supervisor: Masahiro Shimanuki

Inside the spaceship, Dabra enters the meditation room and continues to raise his ki in preparation for battle. At the tournament grounds, an intense battle unfolds between No. 18 and Mighty Mask. Inside the Mighty Mask costume, Goten and Trunks transform into Super Saiyans and unleash a formidable energy attack. But having seen through their identity, No. 18 launches a round ki blast and cuts Mighty Mask’s torso in half. With it revealed that they were two people fighting as one, Goten and Trunks are disqualified…

Anime-only/filler content: Dabra still meditating, any time that Goten or Trunks actually hit 18 (as well as various other extensions to the fight), Chichi and Bulma telling Goten and Trunks off for what they did.

Episode 379 - A Confrontation With the Demon King! It’s Your Turn Gohan!! (DBZ episode 226)
Dub title: Pay to Win
Originally aired 4th of May 1994
International Kai equivalent: Episode 118 - What Incredible Kids!! The Great Struggles of No. 18 and Episode 119 - The Star Performer Takes the Stage! Take Down the Demon King!!
Japanese Kai equivalent: Episode 111 - What Incredible Kids!! The Great Struggles of No. 18 and Episode 112 - The Star Performer Takes the Stage! Take Down the Demon King!!
Written by: Masashi Kubota
Episode director: Mitsuo Hashimoto
Animation supervisor: Keisuke Masunaga

For the tournament finals, No. 18 and Mister Satan end up fighting each other. No. 18 suggests to Satan, who is trembling from having seen how she fought against Might Mask, that she’ll let him have the championship for the price of 20 million zenny. After Satan accepts the conditions, No. 18 loses to him on purpose, and he gains the championship. Meanwhile in the spaceship, Dabra appears at Stage 3 and his fight with Gohan finally begins. Having heard about what’s going on from Videl, Goten and Trunks excitedly take off in the direction of the spaceship.

Anime-only/filler content: Mr. Satan worrying about losing, extensions to the fake fight.

Episode 380 - A Wicked Heart is Discovered!! Dabra’s Good Idea (DBZ episode 227)
Dub title: Heart of a Villain
Originally aired 18th of May 1994
International Kai equivalent: Episode 119 - The Star Performer Takes the Stage! Take Down the Demon King!! and Episode 120 - A Wicked Heart is Revived — Vegeta, the Prince of Destruction!
Japanese Kai equivalent: Episode 112 - The Star Performer Takes the Stage! Take Down the Demon King!! and Episode 113 - A Wicked Heart is Revived — Vegeta, the Prince of Destruction!
Written by: Masashi Kubota
Episode director: Yoshihiro Ueda
Animation supervisor: Yūji Hakamada

A fierce battle unfolds between Gohan and Dabra on Stage 3, which Bobbidi has used his magic to turn into a place with a lake. But Vegeta is irritated that Gohan is having a difficult fight against Dabra, who ability-wise is far below them. Sensing Vegeta’s evil heart, Dabra leaves the stage mid-fight, saying that he has found a warrior. Dabra has decided to use Bobbidi’s magic to make Vegeta their ally, and have Goku and co. fight amongst themselves.

Anime-only/filler content: Significant extensions to Gohan vs Dabra, everything at the tournament grounds, a pointless cutaway to Goten and Trunks talking crap.

-

Interesting trivia:

• At this point in time in the manga, Vegeta continues to battle Boo before sacrificing his life, Boo returns to life anyway, Goku wakes up and proposes teaching Goten and Trunks the Fusion technique, and Babidi sends his message to the people of Earth regarding the two.
• The Boo Arc has so far compared characters to previous villains twice now, once each for Freeza and Cell. Dragon Ball GT also had a habit of doing this early on to give the viewer perspective on Goku's opponents.
• Of the minions branded with Babidi's M (we'll talk about this a little more next week), Yakon is the only one to not have it on his forehead.
• The instance of Goku dodging Yakon suggests that while sensing ki will tell you the position of your opponent, it's not precise enough to give you an idea of what their limbs are doing.
• The scene with Yakon also confirms that the Super Saiyan aura gives off light. This has actually been shown in the anime since its debut: the colouring of a Super Saiyan's clothing is dark in the middle but with highlights on the edges. The first time this wasn't used was when Goku and Gohan mastered the form and no longer projected auras.
• The scene where Babidi measures Goku's strength as a Super Saiyan gives a name to the units, Kiri. Goku's at that moment was 3,000, but any comparisons to previous readings are moot due to various factors, such as Goku's higher base battle power and the possibility of him holding back. That said, Goku's Super Saiyan Battle Power on Namek was 150,000,000 according to Daizenshuu, so even on that basis Kiri units are more compressed by an order of at least 50,000 (obviously more for the reasons we just stated).
• Babidi's measuring device displays 3,000 Kiris at two-and-a-half ticks. It has twelve overall (one obscured by Babidi's thumb, meaning that it can measure up to 14,400 Kiris. Using the inaccurate math from the last entry, that means that it can measure up to a Battle Power of at least 720,000,000. Of course, this assumes Kiris are measured as a linear function of power. If it's logarithmic, we'd need a lot more zeroes on the end of that figure.
• The fact that Yakon can just vacuum up Goku's Super Saiyan form throws some interesting physical questions regarding how exactly light gives it its look and how it is and isn't sustained (which we won't get into).
• Goku killing Yakon is the first time he's directly killed someone since Piccolo Daimao, and the first time he's killed anybody in Dragon Ball Z material. This of course does not count the movies, or the various river fish.
• As Dabra leaves, Babidi says that if he's beaten, he's out of weapons. Babidi seems to be forgetting that if Dabra can be beaten, any other weapon he has would be totally ineffective anyway.
• Roshi can sense the ki of those in Babidi's ship. This is the first time he's shown being able to sense ki.
• The Tournament officials debate over whether Videl, Spopovich, Yamu, Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo and Kuririn should be disqualified for not being present for almost an hour. This is similar to when nobody could find Goku before his match with Giran (and Pampoot in the anime), where failure to turn up to your match by a certain time would result in disqualification. Exactly how long this time period is has never been specified.
• Trivia correction: as it turns out, the original official whose photo we pointed out last week is not dead, since he's present in the scene where Mr. Satan proposes the battle royale format.
  • Though it's possible it's his son or brother.
• A battle royale is a very appropriate suggestion for Mr. Satan to make as it's a format of professional wrestling. The format dates back to at least the 1700s, but entered pop culture with the Japanese Battle Royale novel and movie, but especially with the genre of video games thanks to mods in Minecraft and ARMA 2, PUBG Battlegrounds, Tetris 99, and especially Fortnite's Battle Royale mode.
• 18's fight against Mighty Mask and Mr. Satan is the the last time a woman participates in a fight in the manga until Pan in the End of Z tournament. Despite making it to the Final Two (being the first woman to ever make it to the finals of a tournament), she doesn't win, but her clear dominance over Mr. Satan and walking away with double the grand prize arguably makes up for it.
  • 18 and Videl fighting in the Boo arc tournament makes the Great Saiyaman/Boo arc the most feminist era of classic Dragon Ball in terms of the number of female fighters, with a grand total of... two... -_-
• Assuming the Announcer is referring to the same Tournament, Jewel faced Mr. Satan in the finals but lost to him.
• Trunks fires his ki blast at 18 by using a finger gun. Whether as part of the disguise or not, it's the first "silly" move he performs in the story.
• In the ViZ translation, the sound effect for Trunk's ki explosion is "D-ZOOM". They were kind enough to format the word so that 18 is still visible, inside the first O.
• Appropriately, 18 uses one of her husband's moves, the Kienzan.
• During his fight with Dabra, Gohan gets spit on and quickly takes off his glove to avoid being turned to stone. Toriyama would then spend the next several Chapters accidentally drawing the discarded glove back on his hand anyway.
• The manga never actually shows the transition to the battlefield where Gohan fights Dabra: we simply cut back from the battle royale to find them fighting in a new location.

Trivia primarily written by KBABZ. Episode summaries, airdates, and titles courtesy of Kanzenshuu's episode guide.

[MasenkoHA]

I think having Dabra be as strong as Perfect Cell was a useful tool because it tells us two things 1. Goku has gotten a lot more powerful in the 7 years that he doesn’t even sweat at the knowledge 2. Gohan has gotten a lot weaker that he can barely keep up with a guy that’s as strong as the guy he kicked around when he was in third grade. It’s a shame Gohan’s own character weaknesses won’t be properly addressed until Super. For all Super’s many many many flaws and general underwhelming feeling they at least handled Gohan’s character better than anything after the Namek saga in the original story.

Wild that Yakon is the first guy Goku had killed since Piccolo Daimao. A whole 20 year gap of not taking any lives.

The money 18 gets from Mr.Satan was used to buy her and Kuririn home in Super, I guess? Toriyama never really follows up on this deal. Koyama at least remembers it to use as a plot point for the next Dragon Ball movie but it doesn’t actually go anywhere. It’s a shame this is the most action 18 will get in the main story until the Tournament of Power (which even then she plays second fiddle to her brother and most of the U7 fighters)

[KBABZ]

The money 18 gets from Mr.Satan was used to buy her and Kuririn home in Super, I guess? Toriyama never really follows up on this deal. Koyama at least remembers it to use as a plot point for the next Dragon Ball movie but it doesn’t actually go anywhere. It’s a shame this is the most action 18 will get in the main story until the Tournament of Power (which even then she plays second fiddle to her brother and most of the U7 fighters)

I'll be seeing that movie for the first time this week, but from what I understand it's only about 18 collecting the money, as opposed to spending it.

[MasenkoHA]

The money 18 gets from Mr.Satan was used to buy her and Kuririn home in Super, I guess? Toriyama never really follows up on this deal. Koyama at least remembers it to use as a plot point for the next Dragon Ball movie but it doesn’t actually go anywhere. It’s a shame this is the most action 18 will get in the main story until the Tournament of Power (which even then she plays second fiddle to her brother and most of the U7 fighters)

I'll be seeing that movie for the first time this week, but from what I understand it's only about 18 collecting the money, as opposed to spending it.

Saying she used the money to buy the house was meant to be somewhat of a joke

Spoiler:

She doesn’t get her money in Bio-Broly either

[Robo4900]

It’s a shame Gohan’s own character weaknesses won’t be properly addressed until Super. For all Super’s many many many flaws and general underwhelming feeling they at least handled Gohan’s character better than anything after the Namek saga in the original story.

Super barely addressed anything about this, though. All it does is make him fight again, and even that is done in a very shallow way.

He got sad in Resurrection F because he can't protect his loved ones and he asks Piccolo to train him back up (which is a neat character turn, but it's the beginning of a journey...), then aside from a mention in one or two filler episodes we see and hear nothing about this until the tournament of power, at which point it's basically used as an excuse to get him in the fighting ensemble (like "oh hey, we had gohan say this a few years ago, that'll work right?" "yeah sure, if it gets him on the poster, go with that") without any examination about how he's found this balance in his life or whatever else, what journey he's gone on as a character to reach this point, etc. There's not really any character growth explored there; there's definitely some implied character growth, but much like Dumbledore's implied homosexuality, implication of an idea isn't an actual exploration of that idea.

I'll grant you, I only watched the anime up to a point, and it was quite some time ago, so this may only really apply to the manga, but I'm fairly sure I remember this being how it was in the anime too...

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

At this point in time in the manga, Vegeta continues to battle Boo before sacrificing his life, Boo returns to life anyway, Goku wakes up and proposes teaching Goten and Trunks the Fusion technique, and Babidi sends his message to the people of Earth regarding the two.

Crazy to think how close to each other the manga and anime were at this point, given the series covered the above mentioned events not too long after. I believe it was only a few weeks later that Majin Boo/Buu was unsealed by Babidi in the latter.

[Robo4900]

At this point in time in the manga, Vegeta continues to battle Boo before sacrificing his life, Boo returns to life anyway, Goku wakes up and proposes teaching Goten and Trunks the Fusion technique, and Babidi sends his message to the people of Earth regarding the two.

Crazy to think how close to each other the manga and anime were at this point, given the series covered the above mentioned events not too long after. I believe it was only a few weeks later that Majin Boo/Buu was unsealed by Babidi in the latter.

Yep!

They were working very closely against the manga for pretty much everything after the Saiyan arc.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

At this point in time in the manga, Vegeta continues to battle Boo before sacrificing his life, Boo returns to life anyway, Goku wakes up and proposes teaching Goten and Trunks the Fusion technique, and Babidi sends his message to the people of Earth regarding the two.

Crazy to think how close to each other the manga and anime were at this point, given the series covered the above mentioned events not too long after. I believe it was only a few weeks later that Majin Boo/Buu was unsealed by Babidi in the latter.

Yep!

They were working very closely against the manga for pretty much everything after the Saiyan arc.

I guess by this time they weren't quite as worried about the show catching up to the manga in terms of where it was at that particular point, so there was enough breathing room while Toriyama was still cranking out chapters weekly for them to be able to adapt the material at a reasonable pace and not have to do another painfully drawn out filler like the Garlic Jr. arc again.

The only times the anime really came that close to overtaking the manga was when the Freeza arc ended and the time skip between the Cell Games and seven year time skip/Great Saiyaman/Gohan in high school and 25th Budokai which is why the Afterlife Tournament mini arc was created.