Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25

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Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25

Post by Robo4900 » Mon Jan 24, 2022 1:55 pm

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Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone between and beyond, and welcome to week 106 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.

Let's hope we steer clear of power level debates this week. ;)

Previous thread: Week 105 (GT 16-20)
Next thread: Week 107 (GT 26-30)

Anyway, without further ado...

Episode 465 - What’s This?!! Goku Turned into a Metal Slab (GT episode 21)
Ocean dub title: What's Happening? Goku Has Become A Metal Slab!
Funimation dub title: A Secret Revealed
Originally aired 14th of August 1996

Written by: Aya Matsui
Episode director: Osamu Kasai
Animation supervisor: Toshiyuki Kan’no


Goku gets Han Solo'd.

Trivia:
.

Episode 466 - Ambitions Exposed!! The Evil Lifeform, Baby (GT episode 22)
Ocean dub title: The Neo-Machine Mutant: An Awesome Fellow With a Baby Face!
Funimation dub title: The Baby Secret
Originally aired 21st of August 1996

Written by: Aya Matsui
Episode director: Takahiro Imamura
Animation supervisor: Kazuya Hisada


Goku gets M. Night Shyamalan'd.

Trivia:
.

Episode 467 - A Hidden Danger?! The Derelict Ship and the Mysterious Boy (GT episode 23)
Ocean dub title: Rescuing a Child Lost in Outer Space!
Funimation dub title: Hidden Danger
Originally aired 28th of August 1996

Written by: Junki Takegami
Episode director: Yoshihiro Ueda
Animation supervisor: Masayuki Uchiyama


Goku gets Alien'd.

Trivia:
.

Episode 468 - Baby Strikes Back!! Target the Saiyans!! (GT episode 24)
Ocean dub title: The Sought After Saiyan Power!
Funimation dub title: Discovering the Truth
Originally aired 4th of September 1996

Written by: Atsushi Maekawa
Episode director: Kazuhito Kikuchi
Animation supervisor: Takeo Ide


Trunks gets Venom'd.

Trivia:
.

Episode 469 - This is Terrible!! Baby Appears on Earth (GT episode 25)
Ocean dub title: Baby Arrives on Earth!
Funimation dub title: Baby's Arrival
Originally aired 16th of October 1996

Written by: Atsushi Maekawa
Episode director: Mitsuo Hashimoto
Animation supervisor: Tadayoshi Yamamuro


Vegeta gets shave'd.

Trivia:
.

____

Trivia written by KBABZ and Robo. Episode summaries, airdates, and titles courtesy of Kanzenshuu's episode guide.
Last edited by Robo4900 on Mon Jan 31, 2022 5:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by Koitsukai » Mon Jan 24, 2022 2:33 pm

Glad I wasn't the only one confused about Trunks' plan. I brought up my confusion in the previous week.

Do we have names for the 4 guys possessed by Baby on Earth? Somewhere I've read they were Hanma, Acus, Nidor and Longe.

My own trivia: the kid rescued is used as Goku and Vados' son in fucked up fanwork.

You can always count on Uchiyama for making an episode god awful, huh?

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by MyVisionity » Mon Jan 24, 2022 11:21 pm

So I think that these episodes have been the best of GT so far. It feels like things were really beginning to click for the writers here and they had some real confidence in the direction that the show was headed.

The exposition dump by Trunks in Mu's hidden Baby lab was complete nonsense, but the visuals and overall atmosphere in the scene were very well done. Baby's awakening was another good moment, despite how silly it was. I do like the idea of an evil baby chasing the gang around space.

Baby's actor in the original, Yūsuke Numata, does a very good job in the role. It's perfect casting to me. I love Baby's voice.

I enjoyed all of the hijinks on Planet Pital. Baby was hilarious sneaking around and attacking everybody. Trunks with another fake-out here is less believable. I laughed at Baby crawling around on the floor during the fight.

I'm glad to see everybody back on Earth. One thing that GT does well is the relationships between the DB families and friends. Goten is particularly well done. His adult self in GT feels true to his child self from the Boo saga, without feeling too similar. Some of it is the writing, and some of it is the acting. Nozawa's performance is a big part of why this version of Goten works.

My favorite part of these episodes though has to be Goten's date with Palace-chan!!! It's good to know my man got his priorities IN CHECK!! You could see just how much he was diggin Palace-chan, Goten was so damn happy lol. And my man was smoov af! Dat soft-serve ice cream? Great mindz, Goten. Great mindz. Everything was going good and things were looking up! So of course that's when Captain Cockblock appears and starts blowin shit up. Seriously, fuck Baby. I wanted to see the rest of dat date...!!

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by MasenkoHA » Tue Jan 25, 2022 11:19 am

I’m curious about the Blue Water titles. They’re almost all structured like the Japanese episode titles but are often worded differently and sometimes a bit off. Is it a Japanese to French to English thing?

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by Koitsukai » Tue Jan 25, 2022 12:19 pm

I like Dr. Myu's secret lab, I like the dome that looks like space, or a night sky... at first I couldn't tell if it was an open space, if they were outside or what. And the team up to fuck Baby up also works, how he gets shot... like when the crowd threw stuff at a drunk Coop in BASEketball. I happen to like more baby Baby than adult Baby, design-wise.

Also, Trunks and Baby's encounter in planet Pital reminded me of DB Final Bout's opening, when GT Trunks is cutting a metal ball in half and then it explodes. That chamber looks like where Trunks fights Baby out of his body. It was nice to see SS Trunks for once, this is the first time in GT a non-Goku SS appears.

I agree with MyVisionity, those episodes are my favourites so far. The return to Earth is also nice to see, Goten has some badass vibes even if he's more of a playboy by now. And I do love that he has some sort of rapport with Mr. Satan and that he is willing to help him out and pretend he is his student. He faces Baby in a way, that if Baby wasn't a creep with unexpected abilities, he would've defended Earth with flying colours. And, he was showing off for his girl as well.

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by MyVisionity » Tue Jan 25, 2022 6:03 pm

I almost forgot to mention the demise of General Dildo. Wtf was that? Did Baby kill him? Or did the gang somehow miraculously finish him off with their combined strength? For a guy who supposedly shits all over Majin Boo, that was one laughably weakass end.

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by WittyUsername » Tue Jan 25, 2022 8:44 pm

Rildo’s defeat has always stood out to me as anti-climactic. I know he’s just a minion, but for someone with a fairly broken set of powers, the fact that he gets defeated so casually feels like a copout.

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by ABED » Tue Jan 25, 2022 9:27 pm

WittyUsername wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 8:44 pm Rildo’s defeat has always stood out to me as anti-climactic. I know he’s just a minion, but for someone with a fairly broken set of powers, the fact that he gets defeated so casually feels like a copout.
What do you mean by "broken set"?
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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by WittyUsername » Tue Jan 25, 2022 10:18 pm

ABED wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 9:27 pm
WittyUsername wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 8:44 pm Rildo’s defeat has always stood out to me as anti-climactic. I know he’s just a minion, but for someone with a fairly broken set of powers, the fact that he gets defeated so casually feels like a copout.
What do you mean by "broken set"?
I mean the fact that he’s able to essentially become one with the planet by controlling all of its metal and make new bodies for himself.

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by Koitsukai » Wed Jan 26, 2022 9:40 am

I always assumed Rildo survived that blast, and was just left behind by the saiyans and the plot, until I saw him come back to life in the Super 17 arc.

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by Robo4900 » Wed Jan 26, 2022 10:42 am

MasenkoHA wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 11:19 am I’m curious about the Blue Water titles. They’re almost all structured like the Japanese episode titles but are often worded differently and sometimes a bit off. Is it a Japanese to French to English thing?
Keep in mind that the Japanese episode titles you're seeing are the Kanzenshuu translations; on the Funi DVDs you can see Steve Simmons' translations, which differ from Kanzenshuu's, because translating Japanese to English is quite hard and is more of an art than a science. Add to this that sometimes Ocean saw fit to change a title (perhaps because the original was a bit spoilery, or it was overly redundant, or a direct translation just doesn't sound any good in English), and sometimes they would trim the title down or otherwise change it to something else.

It seems that particularly in this chunk of episodes, Ocean started changing the titles up fairly regularly. "This is Terrible!! Baby Appears on Earth" is fine as a translated Japanese title, but "Baby Arrives on Earth!" communicates the same idea in a way that flows better in English. The same sort of compromise good dub scripts have to make all the time.

But no, it was never a Japanese to French to English thing. Ocean's scripts for GT were always translated from Japanese, as far as I'm aware. France only supplied the video and audio masters.

More musing about Ocean's GT translation:
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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by ABED » Wed Jan 26, 2022 7:30 pm

WittyUsername wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 10:18 pm
ABED wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 9:27 pm
WittyUsername wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 8:44 pm Rildo’s defeat has always stood out to me as anti-climactic. I know he’s just a minion, but for someone with a fairly broken set of powers, the fact that he gets defeated so casually feels like a copout.
What do you mean by "broken set"?
I mean the fact that he’s able to essentially become one with the planet by controlling all of its metal and make new bodies for himself.
I know what his powers are but I don't get the term "broken set".
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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by WittyUsername » Wed Jan 26, 2022 7:35 pm

ABED wrote: Wed Jan 26, 2022 7:30 pm
WittyUsername wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 10:18 pm
ABED wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 9:27 pm What do you mean by "broken set"?
I mean the fact that he’s able to essentially become one with the planet by controlling all of its metal and make new bodies for himself.
I know what his powers are but I don't get the term "broken set".
It means that his abilities come across as pretty overpowered for someone who ultimately gets killed as easily as he does.

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by PremiumSalt » Thu Jan 27, 2022 1:27 am

I've had a week straight out of hell thus far, so very behind.

Episode 21: What’s This?!! Goku Turned into a Metal Slab

Positives:
-I enjoyed the portion of the Goku/Rild fight where Goku travels up the pipe, very narrowly avoiding Rild'd "metal-ization" (why yes I did just invent a new word what about it). That fight continues to impress me with it's creativity.

-I liked the bit where Goku and Pan play "hot potato" with the Machine Mutants, trying to get back "Trunks".

-Gill doing his little action pose is still adorable.

Negatives:
-Having Pan be mean to Gill for the umpteenth time was annoying, especially how she couldn't put two and two together and figure out he'd rescued him for a moment.

-Yeah so, Trunks and Gill's plan is some impressively bad writing. Honestly, it's way more convoluted than it needed to be, and if they had dialed it back just a tad, it'd have made more sense

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Episode 22: Ambitions Exposed!! The Evil Lifeform, Baby

Bummer that we're closing out the arc on a low note, but I did not like this one.

Positives:
-I dunno how hot of a take this is, but I much prefer Baby's design here over the "Baby Vegeta" design we wind up spending the most time with. Just more visually striking and unique.

Negatives:
-The plot points regarding Gill's and Trunks' scheme continue to be contrived.

-GT continues to have an exposition problem, with the latest example of the writers not knowing how to deliver it other than just have the characters exposit for minutes on end with no natural prompting.

-OH MY @#$%ing GOD, SHOOT DOWN MU'S SHIP OR FLY AFTER IT OR SOMETHING!!! Y'all just took down the most powerful Machine Mutant (well not really, but they think they did), and yet you can't think of something to do about one (1) spaceship!?!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was really hoping to do "Overall Arc Thoughts" after 22, but alas, I don't have time to write that up at the moment. I'm sure I'll have time before the next thread though.
Dragon Ball Arc Rankings: 1. Piccolo Daimaō 2. Saiyan 3. 22nd Budōkai 4. 23rd Budōkai 5. Hunt For the Dragon Balls 6. Zamasu 7. Moro 8. Tournament of Power 9. 21st Budōkai 10. Broly 11. Battle of Gods 12. Boo 13. U6 Tournament 14. Freeza 15. Red Ribbon Army 16. Artificial Humans/Cell 17.Golden Freeza
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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Fri Jan 28, 2022 3:08 pm

Anyone else think episode 23 would have been a great opportunity for a little Namek throwback when Giru says there's five minutes to escape the abandoned ship? Rewatching this I think it would have been neat if Goku said "Five minutes? Piece of cake, I did that on Namek" :lol: . It also would have been refreshing after how much the joke about Goku being hungry has been recycled.
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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25 (CURRENT WEEK)

Post by NeoKING » Tue Feb 01, 2022 6:44 am

MasenkoHA wrote: Tue Jan 25, 2022 11:19 am I’m curious about the Blue Water titles. They’re almost all structured like the Japanese episode titles but are often worded differently and sometimes a bit off. Is it a Japanese to French to English thing?
The BW dub has a couple changes from the original, namely attack names. A couple times moves are changed and in one instance, created. They gave Yi
Xing Long an attack that had no name in the JP version (“Sunburst Refractor” or something to that effect, it’s been years since I’ve seen it)

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Re: Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 106 - GT 21-25

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Tue Feb 01, 2022 6:56 am

Episode 21 - What’s This?!! Goku Turned into a Metal Slab

By virtue of being one more action-packed M-2 mini-arc this episode more than delivers both in terms of Goku’s fight with Rild and the greater conflict with Dr Mu that had been foreshadowed, while also leaving plenty left to discover as a larger story arc only begins to unfold.

Throughout Goku and Rild’s fight there are plenty of musical cues which escalate the tension appropriately further, preempting the increase in intensity of their combat. In the beginning Rild’s laugh, which is accompanied by an ominous track from Tokunaga clearly indicates that this villain remains a threat. The music also drags on as Goku and Rild stare one another down to create a dramatic effect, setting the stage perfectly for the moment where they charge towards one another and the buildings around them begin to collapse. While much of this battle offers similar beats to previous fights, like Goku dodging punches and unexpectedly landing a blow on his opponent there are some unique moments such as when Goku uses a movie to taunt Rild, and when he tried to camouflage into a movie poster, which Rild was too smart to fall for.

As Rild proves himself to be the toughest adversary Goku and his friends have encountered on their journey throughout the cosmos his weakened state having been turned into a kid becomes apparent. For much of this fight Rild has the upper hand, as he manages to kick Goku, plummeting the Saiyan towards the city and ultimately falling through the roof of a building and being easily able to turn both Goku and Pan into slabs. The suspenseful track from Tokunaga that plays as Rild walks around looking for Goku after he made a misstep carries this sense of danger the metal antagonist poses to our hero.

For the rest of the episode there is much uncertainty, especially as Goku, Pan and seemingly Trunks have all been captured, Giru apparently no longer being on their side and the earlier foreshadowing of Dr Mu being an even greater threat. The darker turn Tokunaga’s music takes as Dr Mu’s lab is introduced adds to the sense of despair, as does the drills and saws that were about to tear apart the slabs. Luckily Giru manages to stop the machines, much to Dr Mu’s disappointment and ire.

While this episode was largely very serious, it had some endearing moments. Specifically when Giru asked to wait before transmitting Pan’s slab we see how attached the little robot has grown to the young Saiyan girl. Moreover, when Dr Mu is shocked by Giru’s betrayal and Giru tells him he’s a genius and should be able to figure out what he was doing was a great character moment for the robot that very quickly became an integral part of Goku, Trunks and Pans’ crew. The sequence where what our heroes thought was Trunks’ slab being thrown around, which had a goofy musical track was also entertaining, and felt more rewarding when Trunks revealed he had deceived Dr Mu and the machine mutants.

Trunks had shown himself to be a great leader throughout the entire quest for the Dragon Balls, but devising the plan to swap his slab with a counterfeit, but the fact he was aware of Giru’s plan demonstrates the trust he had in the little robot, especially given his connection to Dr Mu and the other machine mutants. The uplifting track that plays as Trunks walks down the stairs, informing Goku and Pan he is alive and well creates a sense of relief, which made the plan he had with Giru all the more exciting to hear.

As a few more machine mutants with missiles turn out to be no match for Goku, Trunks and Pan this episode ends, making no secret of the fact that the real threat is still yet to reveal himself, although that is to be sooner rather than later.

Episode 22 - Ambitions Exposed!! The Evil Lifeform, Baby

Following on from an action-packed episode, this episode is more about establishing the real threat of this arc and elaborating further on what Trunks had gotten up to behind the scenes.

As Goku and Pan first witness Baby with their own eyes there is a sense of mystery to this strange being, not only does it appear that he is more than another machine mutant, but also one that there is far more to than any of the other antagonists that our heroes have encountered on their quest does far. The Tokunaga track used when Baby is revealed within the tank has a very ethereal sound, foreshadowing there being more to Baby than meets the eye, although what that is remains to be seen.

Dr Mu seems to worship Baby in a similar fashion to Lood’s loyalists who would kneel before their lord, although he was not restored to full power. In addition, Dr Mu appears insecure and previously protective of Baby, and now that the creature has been uncovered the devastated Dr Mu becomes paranoid about him not reaching his full potential. Knowing that Baby’s life could very well be at risk Dr Mu acts desperate for him to awaken, in the hopes that he may still be a match for Goku, Trunks and Pan.

The revelations such as Giru knowing Dr Mu’s plan, relaying it to Trunks, Trunks reprogramming the computer to try prevent Baby’s resurrection, and Giru’s memory being suppressed due to a glitch were neat, and added to the sense of reward to Trunks not only being alive, but playing a crucial role in saving the day during this M-2 mini-arc. The flashback to Giru freeing Trunks from the slab he was frozen into was also a nice touch.

Trunks’ leadership skills are also evident, given Giru trusted him with sensitive information about his past, and how he was created by Dr Mu, which was of course a source of concern for Goku and Pan initially, who had to learn whether or not they could trust the robot who they didn’t even know prior to embarking on this quest. Later on, Trunks also plays a sort of guardianship role telling Pan to let it go as they need to carry on with what is important (which is, of course finding the Dragon Balls) when she gets frustrated by Dr Mu’s escape, which is treated as a gag in light of the goofy track that accompanies the scene, this was likely done to highlight Pan’s immaturity in comparison to Trunks.

Conversely Goku remains quite naive, despite being the oldest with the most life experience between himself, Pan and Trunks. Pan and Trunks’ embarrassment as Goku climbs around Baby’s tank, examining the creature and not taking the situation seriously. The dramatic track that plays as Baby awakens emphasizes Goku’s naivety, and as the tank lights up the sense of mystery evident in the story, which represents itself through Tokunaga’s compositions persists.

Gradually the threat of Baby becomes more and more apparent, he grows, scaring Dr Mu (who later falls down) and blowing Goku, Trunks and Pan away as he makes his great escape. Tokunaga’s score takes a more ominous turn at this point as the dust clears, escapes and begins to emit his enormous power, which Goku, Trunks and Pan sense and realize the time is right to take action. Although it initially appears Baby vanishes, and Dr Mu escapes it isn’t long before our heroes realize that they haven’t seen the full extent of Baby’s powers.

The final revelation in this episode, albeit a more dangerous one than the reveals about what Trunks knew and did to help our heroes was Baby’s plan for revenge, and Dr Mu’s death ensures that no one will get in his way until he reaches the Saiyans.

Episode 23 - A Hidden Danger?! The Derelict Ship and the Mysterious Boy

This episode offers another great adventure in space, and an additional side quest for Goku, Trunks and Pan as a breather from the terror that is set to unfold as little do our heroes know that Baby soon makes his way towards Earth.

Giru shows himself to once again be a useful and crucial member of Goku’s team, right off the bat restoring their ship and its surroundings due to his ability to dissolve metal, and later by locating the Dragon Ball and calculating approximately how much time they will have before a magnetic pull carries the Dragon Ball and the ship its on towards a nearby sun. It was also Giru that noticed the potentially innocent, stranded green boy and alerted our heroes to come to his aid.
 
Interestingly there are subtle reminders throughout the episode that danger looms around every corner, emphasized by the use of an eerie Tokunaga track, which helps to offset the sense of relief Goku, Trunks and Pan may have felt believing they have defeated Baby. The excitement on Goku, Trunks and Pan's faces as they prepare to head back into space is quickly subverted by the sudden halt to their takeoff, which Pan initially blames on Giru only to see it was Rild preventing our heroes from escaping. While Rild is easily defeated the sight of Baby emerging and roaring at his feet demonstrates that this mysterious creature remains very much a threat.
 
The theme of something ominous lurking around every corner is also apparent in the scene where Pan manages to easily get the next Dragon Ball, but still notices something behind Goku and Trunks. The fact Pan sets out to find what may have been behind Goku and Trunks herself was an admirable act and shows some needed character growth, especially in her case having not been the most confident member of the crew previously.

Once more, Trunks demonstrates his leadership skills, being the character that first notices when himself, Goku and Pan are walking into a room with breathable oxygen, and he takes it upon himself to be the one who carries the mysterious green boy back to their ship.

Goku also shows some smarts when it came to escaping the magnetic pull dragging them towards the sun and back to their ship. Not only did Goku show understanding of how weight can affect them by suggesting they dump the cruisers, he also suggests they link arms when Pan begins to drift back, as well as himself, Pan and Trunks all using the Kamehame Ha to reverse the pull. These are of course lessons Goku learned from combat, and demonstrates that being a great warrior has been beneficial to him in more ways than just winning battles, which is nice to see.
 
There is not much humour in this episode, although Goku being hungry may have been an attempt at this, it feels like an overdone joke and has reached the point of diminishing returns, and it undermines his position as the hero to constantly not be taking his quest seriously. Goku and Trunks blocking the missiles fired at them with their mouths was charming in its own right, and a neater choice than have them simply deflect the missiles back at the machine mutants.
 
While there is little action in the episode other than the sequence where Pan comes across the aforementioned machine mutants there is plenty of thrill otherwise when it comes to the escape from the sun against the magnetic pull that was pulling Goku, Trunks, Pan, Giru and the green boy back. Funnily enough the mention of them having five minutes to escape is quite reminiscent of Goku’s five minutes to escape Namek, albeit this time not with the extra obstacle of a major threat. Likewise, Goku, Trunks and Pan narrowly escaped with only a few seconds left. The dramatic Tokunaga track that was played when the machine mutants fired missiles at Pan was perhaps used to illustrate the impending sense of doom while also having to contend with unwanted adversaries.

Perhaps unsurprisingly it appears that there is more to the green boy Goku, Trunks, Pan and Giru rescued than meets the eye. Initially the message Giru transmits implies that the green boy’s circumstances were serious and a risk to his life. Nonetheless, as electricity goes down in the hospital it seems that once more the end of one problem for Goku, Trunks and Pan is just the beginning of another.

The question however was what the stranded green boy’s purpose was, as the episode ends with him having a smirk and causing havoc in the hospital on the planet Pital. With what Goku, Trunks and Pan have seen on their quest so far nothing is out of the question.

Episode 24 - Baby Strikes Back!! Target the Saiyans!!
 
Following on from the last episode, this episode takes the threat of Baby to the next level, and shows his abilities, which distinguish him from other antagonists in the series thus far.

From the onset there is much tension, caused by the fire in the hospital, and although Goku manages to save the green boy and the nurse, causing some relief, although Goku’s quick escape very quickly removes any hope of celebration.

There are some humour in this episode, which does a serviceable job at deviating, even subverting the running gag about Goku always being hungry. Goku's reluctance to be in a hospital environment, despite the promise of food was a decent effort at a new joke that wasn't already exhausted. Pan and Trunks having to yell at Goku while he's hiding in a tree is rather ironic given he is so much older than both of them.
 
While this episode was largely serious and significant to the progression of this arc, there were some nice character moments here and there. Trunks' eagerness to see the hospital facilities, like their microscopes was both realistic and fitting given his high tech background. Pan feeding the deer, who in turn showed affection towards her was very sweet and added some tranquility, which served as a breather for all the action that was about to unfold with Baby.

All the scenes with Baby inhabiting the bodies of others, including the green boy, the doctor that tried to carry him, Trunks at one point, and a passenger about to board a flight were all appropriately creepy and fit his role as a parasite-of-sorts. The daunting Tokunaga track that plays as Baby reveals himself emphasizes there being something unusual and potentially dangerous about this creature. The scene where Trunks was strangled by Baby, who was at the time inhabiting the doctor demonstrates how seemlessly the tsufurian is able to control another being without notice. Additionally all the passengers on the flight being left for dead encapsulates the idea of a horror yet to be unleashed.
 
The action was enjoyable for what it was. Goku and Trunks had a chance to stop Baby in his tracks, which highlighted them quickly catching on to his ability to control seemingly innocent individuals. Pan kicking Baby around was also wacky but suited her character, who has shown to be the second most childlike aside from Goku. It is not long before Baby’s immense powers are shown, as he powers up and blows Goku, Trunks and Pan away, even causing a scar on Trunks’ arm.

With another major threat established, especially one that can so easily submerge into crowds, as seen, it soon becomes clear that Baby is a new threat unlike any Goku has seen thus far, and his journey to Earth has the potential to be even more fatal than the previously feared late return for our heroes.

Episode 25 - This is Terrible!! Baby Appears on Earth
 
After a long run of episodes in the cosmos this episode makes a much needed relook at Earth and Goku's friends and family, having been separated from our hero, Pan and Trunks for several months.
 
While the scene with Goku, Trunks, Pan and Giru was brief it was adequate, both as a reminder of their quest to find the Dragon Balls and as an appropriate juxtaposition to Bulma and Chi-Chi's concern as they look out the balcony of Capsule Corp worried for their wellbeing. As per usual the situation with the Dragon Ball is another sentient being on some farway planet is unaware of its significance with a giant tiger sleeping on it and Goku having to outrun the creature when it awoke, which was entertaining in its own right, if short-lived.
 
The slice-of-life moments are quite good, Chi-Chi realizing Goten's real intentions for accompanying her to the city was amusing, as was Vegeta's embarassment that his own daughter wasn't a fan of his moustache. Goten and Palace's date was very sweet, especially Goten carrying Palace's ice cream and showing her how to eat it.
 
As always Mr Satan is a great source of comic relief, retaining his role as the false prophet that announces from the rooftops Baby will be punished, only to jump and hurt his foot. Initially it seems that the people of Earth are beginning to see through Mr Satan as he looks embarassed when they witness him not landing without injury, although when he tries to cover it up with trash talk the Earthlings seem as naive as ever. While Mr Satan's scared look when he gets blasted makes him a sympathetic character, it also feels like karma given the expectations Mr Satan set for himself trying to convince the Earth he was the one who defeated Cell and Boo, which puts immense pressure on him to live up to this expectation to be the saviour of the people.
 
All the scenes with Baby build upon the feeling of terror previously developed surrounding his character. An ominous Tokunaga track plays as Baby walks around Earth in another host's body and is threatening people to tell him where the saiyans are. It is at this point that we see GT's flaws begin to show, particularly when it comes to Baby and his motives. Considering the potential for Baby as a figure whose people's lives were genuinely torn apart by the saiyans, his acts don't do much to show him as a sympathetic character, but more of another generic villain who causes havoc in a city and buildings to collide with one another.

Conversely, it was Mr Satan who comes across as the sympathetic character, not only because he hurt himself when trying to stand up to Baby, but because he had to rely on Goten to fight Baby and not say anything to his loyal followers. Funnily enough when Baby’s host is tied up and Mr Satan laughs insisting the city is safe as long as he’s around it’s clear the world champion is still up to his old tricks. Unsurprisingly Baby shows Mr Satan’s naivety, or perhaps paranoia by inhabiting another host, attacking Goten and causing him some pain.

Ultimately, as Goku, Trunks and Pan’s journey throughout the cosmos carries on the question remains is the Earth safer with or without them despite the danger that could arise from the Dragon Balls not all being collected.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula :thumbup:

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