Dragon Ball Z - Episodes 6-10 - Discussion Thread [Rewatch - Week 2]

[Ajay]

Welcome! For details on this rewatch, click here!

Remember, you don't have to watch all five episodes the second this thread is posted. Spread them out if you want! You've got until Sunday before we move on. Don't worry if you fall behind, the threads aren't going anywhere.

Here are some legal ways to stream the series:
Funimation (North America)
AnimeLab (Australia and New Zealand)

This week we're covering:

[spoiler]エンマ様もびっくり　あの世でファイト
Enma-sama mo Bikkuri　Ano-yo de Faito
Even Enma-sama is Surprised — A Fight in the Afterlife

God goes to take the dead Goku to Enma-daiō. God says that before Goku will be brought back to life with the Dragon Balls, he will train under Kaiō, who stands at the peak of all the gods in the universe! After receiving permission from Enma-daiō to meet Kaiō, Goku begins running along the Serpent Road, said to be as long as a million kilometers. Meanwhile, Piccolo steals the unconscious Gohan from Bulma and the others, and takes him to a deserted land. Upon testing out Gohan’s dormant power, Piccolo tells Gohan to strengthen himself so as to be able to draw that power out.

恐竜とサバイバル！悟飯のツライ修業
Kyōryū to Sabaibaru! Gohan no Tsurai Shugyō
Dinosaur Survival! Gohan’s Difficult Training

Piccolo leaves Gohan in the wasteland after telling him that he will teach him how to fight if he manages to survive for six months! Meanwhile, as Goku runs along the Serpent Road, he has a close call as he almost falls into Hell, located below. Elsewhere, Kuririn visits Goku’s house, but is too uncomfortable to tell Chi-Chi and Gyūmaō about Goku and Gohan. Gohan becomes stuck up on a craggy rock after climbing up there while being chased by a gigantic dinosaur, and Piccolo secretly watches over Gohan.

月の輝く夜に大変身！悟飯パワーの秘密
Tsuki no Kagayaku Yoru ni Dai-Henshin! Gohan Pawā no Himitsu
The Great Transformation on a Moonlit Night! The Secret of Gohan’s Power

Unable to tell Chi-Chi and Gyūmaō about Goku and Gohan, Kuririn returns to Kame House, where Bulma and Kame-Sen’nin are waiting. Yajirobe stops by, and delivers a message from Karin that they should come to Karin Tower, as God will train them. When Chi-Chi stops by immediately afterwards with Gyūmaō, she faints when Kame-Sen’nin tells her of Goku’s death. That night on the craggy rock, Gohan transforms into a gigantic monkey! Piccolo destroys the moon once he realizes it is the cause of this, and then removes Gohan’s tail after he returns to normal.

ゴメンねロボットさん　砂漠に消えた涙
Gomen ne Robotto-san　Sabaku ni Kieta Namida
Sorry Robot-san — The Tears that Vanished in the Desert

Falling into a hole out in the desert, Gohan discovers an old robot in some underground ruins. After activating the dormant robot, it tells him he is interrupting his sleep, but then grudgingly begins to look out for Gohan. When the robot says that he was buried in sand by an earthquake during an excavation 80 years ago, Gohan tries to pull him out. But the ruins begin to collapse, and the robot sacrifices himself to carry Gohan to the surface! Overcoming his sadness, Gohan walks on.

泣くな悟飯！はじめての闘い
Naku na Gohan! Hajimete no Tatakai
Don’t Cry Gohan! His First Fight

While doing a part time job as a professional baseball player, Yamcha is called upon by Kuririn as he’s in the middle of a game, and learns of Goku’s death and the Saiyan attack. He then rides with Kuririn in Bulma’s air car so that they can receive training from God. Meanwhile, Gohan becomes indebted to an injured dinosaur, but the carnivorous dinosaur that had previously come after Gohan attacks it! Gohan fights, attempting to save it!! But he fails, and the dinosaur is eaten.[/spoiler]


Suggested Format & Weekly Questions

Language: For the sake of context, let us know which language you're watching the series in (and what score, if required).
General Thoughts: Your thoughts on the episode, possibly linked to the suggested questions if need be. Cover the plot, the tone, the character interactions, and characterisation.
Entertainment Factor: How was the pacing? Did the episode keep you entertained throughout, or what could have been done better?
Animation: Did you like the action sequences, or the way characters emoted? Did things move in a satisfying way, or was it mostly style over substance?
Questions: Not necessary, but if you're curious about opinions on a specific point that hasn't been touched on, go ahead and ask! It's a nice way to spur the topic onward.

- How natural does Piccolo's transition into a mentor feel at this point in the series?

- These episodes have a great deal of filler dedicated to characterising Gohan further. Do they work and feel congruent with the manga material?

[ABED]

The filler episodes with Gohan are some of the best filler in the series. They show gradual but steady progress with his maturity as both a person and a fighter. I found much of it entertaining, but I did find it odd that the robot and dinosaur episode were pretty much the same theme and they are back to back. They aren't bad episodes, but it does feel redundant. I also enjoyed the filler of seeing the band getting back together. In this case, the band is the supporting cast of fighters. Another thing I liked was the end of nearly every episode we would get "The Saiyans are coming!" It creates a great sense of foreboding.

Side note: the way the Ocean dub cut the material is interesting. When I was younger, I didn't realize they spliced in footage from a different episode. Now it sticks out like a sore thumb.

[gaberparadiso]

Episode 6

General thoughts: this is a fairly good episode. I appreciated Piccolo's awareness and clever thinking about raising his worst enemy's son, who might become either an ally or a foe (oh, the irony). Krillin thinking Piccolo wants to eat him was amusing enough. Besides, the portion with Gohan and Big Green is interesting, as it shows the initial signs of the latter's change: even if he threatens to kill him if he doesn't stop whining (which is understandable), he decided to take advantage of his potential to save Earth in order to take it over afterwards. It was great to hear Takeshi Aono and Daisuke Gori as Kami and Enma-sama, respectively, during the Other World scene. Unfortunately, I have three problems with this episode: first off, Kami is way out of his character: he got ridiculed like Shenron in DBS, but at least in that case it made sense, since it saw a far superior being like a God (Beerus). Then, this episode started Chichi's flanderization, and while I think her obsession with Gohan's studies is kinda realistic (mothers should concern about their children's education), this obsession just WENT TOO FAR. It's so goddamn obnoxious. And finally, Bulma and Kamesennin ordering Krillin to tell them the bad news, which was a dick move. I mean, BOTH Bulma and Kamesennin are Goku's friends, right? So, take on your own responsibilities, dumbasses.

Entertainment factor: generally fine pacing. Chichi's whining drags out too long, and here both Bulma and Kamesennin were a bit unlikeable.

Animation: I really like Mitsuo Hashimoto's creative transitions, like Ox King's toy car leading to the car taking Goku to Snake Way, or the water reflection when Piccolo flies down carrying Gohan. Unfortunately, before watching this episode, I was considerably biased towards Ebisawa, since this is the first Studio Live DBZ entry. I expected much worse, to be fair: his art is not appealing by any means, but I've seen far worse approaches from him. That said, he's responsible for drawing the worst-looking Bulma (even Kitano and Kinoshita draw her better), with those massive eyes, pointy features and disproportioned bodies. The other characters, though, look mostly fine. In terms of animation, I feel Hiroshi Takeuchi animated the Other World scene with Goku and Kami, and also Piccolo throwing Gohan to a mountain in the 2nd half. Whilst being pretty much forgettable scenes, Takeuchi's wild artwork is fairly recognizable, with pointy cheeks and shaggy hair spikes on Goku, as well.

Music: for once, the excessive use of M7** soundtrack wasn't that bothersome, as they introduced M731 and M735 (with the former being used twice, I don't like this technique). I also liked M730 and M712, which sounded appropriate for the scene (Piccolo landing and telling Gohan his father was sent into the next dimension). Furthermore, we can also hear DB BGM, like the unreleased Super Divine Poison when Piccolo regenerates his arm, which is one of my favorite DB tracks, and also Chaozu's Theme from movie 3, which sounds overdramatic and all over the place. I disliked this placement, frankly.

Overall score: 6,5/10, harmless episode. But I'm afraid those KINDS of episodes are approaching...

[ABED]

And finally, Bulma and Kamesennin ordering Krillin to tell them the bad news, which was a dick move. I mean, BOTH Bulma and Kamesennin are Goku's friends, right? So, take on your own responsibilities, dumbasses.

It's meant to be funny.

[Snart]

Episode 6:
[spoiler]General Thoughts: I really like Ebisawa's style in this early episode, and it fits right in with how the characters are acting. At the moment, Piccolo is nothing more than a stranger aiming for a common goal of saving the planet. I don't think he plans to hurt any of the crew anymore, as he has finally killed Son Goku, but only because they are useful in helping him succeed in world domination. My favorite thing from this episode was Kami's interaction with King Yemma, and it reminded me that he was actually quite an expressive character.

Entertainment Factor: This episode is a nice little wrap up to the Raditz mini-arc, and in succession, a good build up to the upcoming tension without dropping a heavy sense of dread on our audience. As I said before, the character interactions are great, and, although the good characters are drawn well, evil expressions on Raditz in Gohan's flashback as well as on Piccolo during his conversation with Gohan are botched by Ebisawa's cuter/softer style.

Animation: The animation here was okay. It was nothing substantial, but it did the job well enough to convey the expressions of each character. The only scene that was kind of jarring was the scene where Chichi started bawling over Gohan, where Chichi's crying expression was awkward and made her look like a small child, rather than an adult woman.[/spoiler]

Episode 7:
[spoiler]General Thoughts: Maeda is undeniably one of the best supervisors of the staff. His attention to detail yet expressive drawings are really a sight to behold, and this is an episode packed full of it. One thing that startled me was Baba's voice in the Japanese dub, as I had never heard it before. The background art direction here is superb as well, and I paused a couple of times during Gohan's scenes just to take a look at the nature in Dragon Ball's Earth. My favorite part of the episode was definitely Krillin's facial expressions while he was at Goku's house. They are hilarious, and the dinner scene with Ox-King, Chichi, and Krillin had me laughing for a good bit.

Entertainment Factor: The interactions between characters here are spectacular, and I enjoyed every second of it. That's not to say that the pacing wasn't a bit slow, and things seemed to drag on for a little too long. One thing that was kind of annoying was Kami's monologue over Piccolo's change in heart. That is something that the audience is supposed to realize for themselves over time, not something to blatantly point out before we've even seen any distinctive change in heart.

Animation: Maeda's attention to detail is great here. Some standout scenes such as Piccolo's flight and Kami's conversation with Mr. Popo had much more detail and fluidity than was needed (Kami's jaw moving, etc). Gohan's expressions are great, and we really get to know his sheltered and spoiled nature here, and we also realize as an audience that despite his amazing hidden strength, he is a child.[/spoiler]

[gaberparadiso]

Episode 7

General thoughts: this one is a mixed bag: the beginning part is quite strong, with Piccolo leaving Gohan and Kami noticing Piccolo's change (the music placement is terrible, though). Despite preferring its manga version, with his quote "If you want to feel resentment, curse your own fate as I do", it's still a nice scene. However, the middle part is either unimpressive or plain boring. Gohan trying to take his clothes from a mountain drags out too long, and brings nothing valuable to the story. The sequence with Krillin with Chichi and Ox King didn't leave me an impression, I don't hate it but I don't like it, either. The Other World coffee bar has a wacky design, which is what I'd expect from Toriyama: I kinda liked the bit with the three-eyed woman getting scared due to the cashier losing his head. It makes no sense, but at the same time makes a lot of sense. Moreover, I didn't remember Uranai Baba being voiced by a man, feels bizarre. The ending part is quite nice, with Gohan eating sour apples and Piccolo being annoyed by his whining, which is perfectly reasonable. In fact, do I really need to address a word about Gohan's crying? What else should I say? It's obnoxious. In any language: Japanese, English, Spanish, Italian... still obnoxious.

Entertainment factor: this episode feels disjointed, it has way too many cutscenes, so its pacing is clearly affected by this inconsistency.

Animation: Minoru Okazaki's storyboard is hit and miss. It starts off well in the 1st half, but falls flat afterwards. I expected more nice transitions, especially on an episode with a lot of cutscenes. Then again, this is the first Studio Junio DBZ episode, with Minoru Maeda's extremely qualified staff, which is probably wasted on a mediocre entry like this. 4 animators who have unique way to draw/animate characters, but I have two issues with Nakatsuru: first off, at this point of the series Gohan is 4, then why does his Gohan look like 7? His features are too mature and his neck appears too tall. https://twitter.com/DBanimators/status/ ... 2589671424 Second, and in my opinion his biggest problem, why isn't he expressive? He's on-model and all, and nothing else. It gives an impression of playing it safe, without any risk whatsoever. Either way, they animate large portions throughout the episode, and I was able to spot some:
Takeo Ide = from the beginning to Piccolo leaping; Gohan fearing the height; Goku running in the 2nd half and the Other World bar sequence.
Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru = from Gohan begging Piccolo to come back; the entire sequence with Kami; Gohan being chased by the dinosaur and then teleporting.
Hisashi Eguchi = Gohan trying to take his clothes from a mountain and then him following a grasshopper.
Masaki Satou = Goku jumping and almost going to Hell; Gohan eating sour apples with Piccolo being annoyed to the ending part.

Music: reeeeeally debatable picks: for instance, these early episodes share the bad habit of repeating the same BGM over and over again. Here's no exception, with M714 being played TWICE. But the worst part goes to the sequence with Kami, which is a deep moment on paper, but is totally ruined in the anime because of a TERRIBLE placement. "The Rabbit Gang Pushes Their Weight Around" is one of the weakest DB tracks, and hearing it on such an important moment is UNFORGIVABLE. In this case, I would've preferred to keep it silent, so that the depth of this scene could stand out. Unfortunately, movie 8 (the 1st Broly movie) hadn't been released yet, as M1526 would've been PERFECT. Why has destiny conspired against me so tragically? Anyway, the slowed-down M723 plays for the first time on the show, when Gohan eats his apples. Out of curiosity, why do they use the slowed-down version of this track more than the regular one? I don't get it.

Overall score: mixed bag, so a 5,5/10 is an appropriate score.

[Bear]

#6:Mahogany!

Ebisawa, Ebisawa, oh how you fail us. Okay, I’m being way too harsh here. it’s not as bad as some other episodes (*COUGH* *COUGH* Ep. 39) The scenes of Gohan’s training, as well the scenes in the Other World don’t look too bad, however, as pointed out by gaberparadiso, they were animated by Hiroshi Takeuchi. Also, that shot of Piccolo’s arm regeneration is so AWESOME!!! The music is great too. It’s half M7** and M6**, which if you know me, (but you don't because no ones friends with me on this website ) is one of my favourite sets of BGM. The spirit World theme is great too, however, I’m not a fan of the Snake Way theme. WAY too serious. This is much like episode 3, with everyone reacting to a previous event, and then building up to the next event, however this one is handled MUCH, MUCH better. I liked that episode, but admittedly it was dragged out too long. This gets too the point, but it still has its faults. The scenes with ChChi are again annoying, however it does serve a purpose, as in the next episode, she is pivotal to the “B” plot, that is set up in this episode. And of cause, the characters are obviously off-model.

[Taisa732]

Language: Japanese

General Thoughts: With these five episodes we start the first “filler block” of the series leading up to the saiyans arrival. Going a bit beyond just these five, I can say that for me they are all hit or miss, but I also admit that probability the best are episodes 9 and 10.
There are three characters that are worth talking about, for better of for worst.
First of all Piccolo. This is the start of his journey to become a very important ally and one of the good guys. Since we are not focusing on what he did and didn't do up until now, let's just concern ourselves on what he does here.
We all know now what his relation with this brat will become, but he doesn't. He has concerns and worries. “I'm I doing the right thing? Is he going to become my enemy?”. I like the fact that Piccolo is doubtful about helping his adversary's son, not knowing if this choice will end up backfiring later on. We also start to see a more understanding and gentle side of him. Piccolo gives Gohan the apples and watches over him from afar making sure that he'll survive at least the first night (despite the facts that he ends up being the one in danger!). He already cares enough to gave Gohan new clothes (but with his kanji on it) and a sword.
One of my favourite Piccolo lines is the one he says to Gohan before leaving him, “if you think it's unfair hate your destiny, like I did”. It's a very deep “confession”, especially coming from the previous main villain. Even more so if you consider who he is and why he started as the bad guy. It's message is just implied and there is no other explanation, but us, the audience, understand him better and we are able to relate. This is the first time we can empathize with Piccolo to the point that you can almost feel sorry for him.
The second character I think is worth mentioning, although in a negative way, is Chichi. Sadly this is where Toei starts destroying her, leading to the poor reputation she has still today and the reason she is not well loved among fans.
Let's put things in prospective, in the manga the first time she appears (in the “Z” portion) is when they tell her about Goku and Gohan's fate, after that we see her and the others following the battle between Goku and Vegeta at the Kame House. Everything in between is filler and it shows.
The problem in how they portray her is the focus on one aspect of her character that they take to extreme levels, to the point that it quickly becomes obnoxious and comical in a non funny way. Chichi's character could have been much better represent had they took the time to give her other roles or focused on other traits.
Yes, Chichi is a bit of a overbearing mother and wife, but she is much more than just that. She has more to offer than just being a yelling woman and getting hated by everyone for it.
I guess I'm getting ahead of myself on this, but here is were it all starts going downhill for her and before you know it she'll be on everybody's nerves.
The third and final character I want to talk about is obliviously Gohan, who is the main focus for these first episodes, because for now this is his journey. Like I said at the beginning, episodes 9 and 10 are my personal favourites among this portion of fillers. We start off with this little crybaby that does nothing more than whine on and on, but in these two episodes in particular we can see his progress. It's not a process that happens over night, Gohan has to learn some lessons before he stops crying.
The episode with the robot teaches him that he needs to do things for himself and that he can't always rely on others. He discovers that crying doesn't solve all your problems and sometimes you need to build up some courage. But he still needs some comfort. He sleeps near the robot, the only “person” that can protect him. He shivers at the sight of a snake (by the way, notice how he easily gets rid of the one on the branch in the next episode). Gohan learns to stop crying and so I does, for the most part. I always loved the ending of this episode, were the wind blows off his tears in a symbolic image.
Already his attitude improves in episode 10. We can see him jumping on trees and rocks, cure his wounds (nice little flashback with Goku) and going back to the dinosaur after the first encounter where he initially thought it was dangerous.
Last little note. I like Yamcha as a baseball player, I think is a nice idea.

Entertainment Factor: Let's put it this way. Nowadays I know what to expect, I know that after the Raditz episodes here comes some fillers before the saiyans. However, if I was a first time viewer I would probably be very impatient to see the new enemies in action, therefore I would not care about a stupid robot or a wounded dinosaur. On the other hand knowing how long I have to wait until the battle I can also relax and watch “character fillers” just by noticing little things.
To be honest at this point I've seen Dragon Ball in it's entirety so many times that I stopped counting at least a decade ago. With that said for the first time I've noticed the snake on the branch and admired Gohan's reaction in comparison to just the episode prior. To this day I'm still noticing silly little things like that and it adds on to the value of the content.
Oh, and one last thing, loved the fact that Chichi drives through the desert were they meet Yamcha for the first time.

Animation: It's ironic when a series known for it's fights has better animation quality in non fighting episodes (in these first 10 episodes). There is no choreography here or amazing movement, but the devil is in the details. By far the best animated one is episode 7 because of little moments that elevate a lot of otherwise ordinary scene. Look at Gohan's reaction at the insect (before falling from the stone), look at him stumble wile trying to get his clothes blowing in the wind, or when he wants to retrieve them from the rock and slips. Small things like these I've just mentioned (among others) give life to the characters and therefore to the world they live in.
There are also moments that “cheat” and are there to make you think they are animate, but in reality they are brilliant camera movements that substitute actual animation. Some examples are Bulma and Krilin getting Raditz scouter (episode 6), Gohan realizing he doesn't have a tail anymore (episode 9) and my personal favourite, the dinosaur looking around for Gohan (episode 7) (the background is moving, the dinosaur's head is still).
Plus a lot of good expressions. Again, episode 7, Krilin trying out the speech so he can tell Chichi about Goku, before she opens the door. Not only his facial expressibility is amazing, but also his body language helps to convey his mood. He crouches sitting at the table clearly communicating he's unconformable.
I also want to mention the scene where Gohan is daydreaming about him and his dinosaur friend. The switch in style relay makes you believe that it's a kid's imagination.
But I do have to mention a bad animation moment, episode 8, Gohan on the rocks watching from his prospective, ehm... why isn't his arm moving? He was waving a second ago.

Questions: About the two points for this week. I think I've kinda answered already, but If I have to add something... I like Piccolo transition into a mentor, he obviously doesn't exactly knows what he's doing but he is trying to figure it out. Like I said, love the fact that he has doubts and in a sense he is a bit uncomfortable in the role.
As for Gohan's characterisation, I think it works. The reason I like these fillers is exactly for that reason. If you must have a filler then make it a filler that extends what the source material has to offer in the first place and that it couldn't expand on because of time or media.

[gaberparadiso]

Episode 8

General thoughts: this episode was... less bad than expected. It's harmless for the most part. Chichi's annoyance is used slightly better than last time, as her reaction to Goku's death is simply priceless. I also appreciated the interaction between Krillin and Yajirobe (which is funnier in Japanese, as they're both voiced by Mayumi Tanaka, so it's like she's talking to herself), who the former calls Armadillo. WTF? However, the last 7 minutes are the episode highlight, with Gohan's transformation into an Oozaru, and Piccolo realizing how much power Saiyans do possess. Though, he could've easily cut off his tail instead of destroying the moon. Then again, we can't take DB series seriously. Overall, I had much less problems with this episode, so I have not many complaints about it.

Entertainment factor: much looser pacing than last episode. This time the cutscene with Chichi driving her car works, because it actually leads to something.

Animation: this time I enjoyed Yoshihiro Ueda's storyboarding: there's a solid atmosphere, with fairly accurate sceneries, like Yamcha's desert during the scene with Chichi and Ox King, or Gohan standing on the top of a mountain. Also, in one shot black clouds in front of the moon faded in a similar fashion as Shida's storyboards in DBS. Which shows some nice contrast between lighting and shading right in the following shot of Piccolo meditating. This is the 3rd Last House episode, after 3 weeks, and by now we should probably get used to their lack of actual time (4 weeks to 5, and 3 weeks to 8 ). In fact, their art is hit and miss: Bulma looks adorable, and so does Yajirobe's expression when he imitates Korin. But, their proportions aren't that perfect, especially if we compare them with last episode. For example, Goku looks like a midget while running through Snake Way, with very short limbs. Animation-wise, we have Tai'ichiro Ohara animating the scene with Chichi driving her car, which displays his trademark smoke effect and background animation, and of course, Naotoshi Shida providing key animation during Gohan's Oozaru segment, which is recognizable through his distinctive timing. Not to mention his lovely shading on Piccolo.

Music: whilst not being perfect choices, this placement is much less problematic than last episode. They still have the bad habit of reusing/looping their BGM, but at least it makes more sense. For example, the unreleased M407 (Krillin's theme from movie 2) is played during scenes involving Krillin. Or M713, which is played in the scene with Gohan and the squirrel, or M726 when Gohan pees and sees the moon... although, I hated the use of M727, Vegeta's theme, which can be heard several times in these 8 episodes, but Vegeta appears in none of these. I might sound unpopular, but I don't really like M727. Sumitomo's "Vegeta's training' is more catchier, and sadly, even Faulconer's 'Theme of Vegeta' sounds more glorious. (for the record, I think his score is bad, but I got to give some credit for composing this).

Overall score: despite knowing Chichi was here, I expected a lot worse. So, 7/10. Though, I'm seriously scared of what's coming next...

[Lord Beerus]

Episode 6 - 10

Language: Japanese

General Thoughts: The aftermath of Goku' death was handled relatively well. But it's never settled with well with hosw Bulma and Roshi practically pass the buck to Krillin in regards to telling Chi Chi the bad news about not only Goku dying but her only son being kidnapped by one of Goku's greatest and most dangerous rivals.

I still find the angle of Piccolo (a major antagonist) taking one of the heroes (Gohan) under his wing to train him and manage his potential as one of the unique storylines Dragon Ball hs ever done. It's just so unique and refreshing to see Dragon Ball go down a path like this.

Daisuke Gōri was exceptional as Enma-daiō. I just can't imagine any other seiyuu providing the voice for that character. I just fit so well in providing the imposing and authoritative figure that Enma-daiō was portrayed in being.

Gohan's characterization is wonderful. It just feel so down-to-earth. He's naturally portrayed a very scared young little boy in a scenario that is so far out of his depth and has to quickly adjust so that he can be ready for a threat much great than the one he was unwillingly placed in initially. His reactions his hidden power and how it changes his landscape and surrounding are such a joy to watch. You can see he's having a hard time still grasping what's going on. But as the days go by, he becomes more accustomed to what he is and what he can do. It's fantastic character growth.

I've always found Goku sleeping on Snake Way to be a bit dumb. I mean, this is the same guy the swam practically half the world and it's kind of weird seeing him getting weird seeing a guy like him getting tired from running so quickly. I don't know. Maybe it's me.

Episode 9 and Episode 10, but more-so Episode 9, deserves a very special mention because I feel some of Toei's finer Dragon Ball filler episodes. As not only is a good episode it own regard, but manages to do what some of the filler episodes in the fist Dragon Ball anime did and fill blanks, as in providing more content during a period that the manga left vague in terms of progression of the character. Gohan surviving in the wild, helping those who need assistance and bringing himself to acknowledge that he can't save everyone but he will try he best to do so... it's all just brilliant character development. I can see why Nozawa thought Episode 9 was her favorite episode while voicing Gohan, it's fantastic, as is Episode 10.

I find the concept of Yamcha being professional Baseball player, when he isn't a martial artist, to be wonderful and I'm not surprised by this being a concept straight from Toriyama. Bulma's reaction to seeing Yamcha is the most interesting aspect about this. She's not willing to forgive and forget. It's nice to see characterization with the scenario of Yamcha's affairs is at least consistent.

Entertainment Factor: The pacing of the episodes was quite good, with the expectation of Goku's antics on Snake Way. Scenarios like what we get in both Episode 9 & 10 really should have been in the manga. It's the sort of character growth that was desperately needed in the manga to help better relate Gohan by making his journey from and I'm glad the anime did the job of filling in the blanks the way they did. Both those episodes were great.

Animation: Studio Live strikes again in Episode 6 with the ugliest looking Bulma I think I've ever seen in Dragon Ball. Ebisawa just wasn't as a good Key Animator. Despite that, the direction in Episode 6, as well as Episode 7 and 9, was quite good.

[gaberparadiso]

Episode 9

General thoughts: I TRIED to be as less biased as possible, but this is not a very good episode. Which is strange, since the first minutes were pretty much okay. I kinda liked Gohan realizing he no longer had his tail, much like his father in DB, and the climax with the tiger, the alligator, the eagle and the pterodactyl was actually pretty fun. Unfortunately though, the positive aspects end immediately, as the rest is so DULL. First off, the robot has a very irritating attitude, 80% of his lines is "Turn my garbage off", "Leave me alone", "Imma robot", which does get old really quickly. And that's exactly the main problem with this sort of "character": it's so tasteless you can't sympathize with him. If it doesn't care about anything, why should I? Besides, I feel this episode is the quintessence of deja vu, since after seeing a specific scene, like Gohan trying to leave the cave or Gohan crying, the before-mentioned scene is brought back up immediately after. And, I'm going to state the obvious, Gohan cries a lot in this episode, and if we add up his obnoxious whining with the robot's douchebag personality, the result leads to DISINTEREST and BOREDOM. And due to this convention, there's nothing interesting: if it had a noteworthy action scene, I might PRETEND I wasn't bored to death. And while I kinda like how they portrayed Gohan's culture, which is what makes him different from Goku, his attitude just screws everything, in any sense. As for the ending bit with Gohan looking confident, which everyone seems to adore, I personally believe it's DECEIVING. When I first watched this episode lots of years ago, I was actually surprised, much like you, because I used to think this could've been a crucial point for Gohan's character development: we would finally see a character who overcame his fears. I couldn't be more WRONG. After witnessing his pitiful attitude in eps. 23, 24 and 25, it did confirm that this episode was COMPLETELY pointless. And again, if it had a genuine moment between pre-existing characters, or decent action, it wouldn't bother me. At all.

Entertainment factor: Moreover, this episode has a mediocre direction: we see Goku running across Snake Way in different and tiny cutscenes. Why not showing it in just ONE, substantial cutscene? Its pacing is okay, I guess.

Animation: despite my harsh criticism, Kasai's storyboarding demonstrates why he's considered one of the best in the older series. Simply wonderful atmosphere and pretty remarkable views like the ending part with Gohan (ONLY its execution, NOT its intentions). In terms of artwork, Aoshima is back after 7 weeks. Don't like him, don't hate him. I'm not a fan of his design, but it's not that bad. It just leaves me indifferent. Animation-wise, there's nothing much to add, I simply want to point out this episode looks much less conservative than his usual, which is likely related to the considerable lack of action.

Music: moving on bad things, its music placement is the thing I hate more about this episode. Again, it's still related to INTENTIONS, which are completely WRONG: you put M721, a cheerful BGM, when Gohan is being chased by carnivorous beasts, during a moment of FEAR. Then you reuse M740 and M741 for the umpteenth time (I mean, DBS also repeated several Sumitomo's soundtracks over and over again, who got a lot of hate, then why doesn't early DBZ get his same punishment?). But, Gohan's Crying theme is what LITERALLY killed it, because we hear it THREE TIMES throughout the entire episode. Did we really need to listen to such whining that much? Even though Super Divine Poison is used quite correctly, it's not enough. Awful placement.

Overall thoughts: 4/10, started off decently, but the rest fell apart at once.

[ABED]

which does get old really quickly. And that's exactly the main problem with this sort of "character": it's so tasteless you can't sympathize with him. If it doesn't care about anything, why should I?

But he comes to care. And fair enough that you don't like it, but since he starts off one way, it gives the character somewhere to go. Some stories are more successful in others when introducing a character who starts off as unlikable with the intention that by the end of the arc, you come to like them. I felt they did a good job in a single episode getting me to like this robot that wanted nothing more than to be left alone that by the end wanted to protect Gohan from harm.

When you bring up the later episodes, I assume you mean when Gohan chickens out during the fight against Nappa? I see your point, but overcoming a fear doesn't mean you overcome all fears. Gohan learning to surivive nature is different than someone trying to murder you and your friends in a brutal manner.

What I like about Yamcha being a baseball player is his boredom of it all. Yeah, he gets paid well because he would naturally be the best on the team, but it's not a challenge. His reaction to the fight breaking out is funny. It's a great sequence that doesn't overstay its welcome.

[Haseowolf]

Week 2 Thoughts

I'm actually getting a little ahead here. As I type this, I just watched episode 15 this morning. I know that's probably fine, but I feel like I remember less and less the further out I go.

Anyway, I remember liking this whole arc leading up to Vegeta and Nappa coming to Earth. Watching Gohan get explored more is a lot of fun, though next week I'll have more criticisms than I do for Week 2.

Episode 6 - A fun episode where we get to see where everyone is going for the foreseeable year. Goku gets to go on Snake Way, Gohan taken by Piccolo, and everyone else is left to figure out how they want to get the gang back together. It's a good start to the next leg of the story!

Episode 7 - All the Gohan stuff here is great and the animation is top notch! Poor little guy. And speaking of poor little guys, Kuririn is having a tough time, isn't he?

Episode 8 - This episode is always cool to see. One thing I forgot about was that, yeah, Piccolo would have no idea about Saiyans and their transformation here since by the time he met Son Goku, there wasn't a tail to be seen. The poor moon always gets the short end of the stick, though. Sorry, Mr. Moon!

Episode 9 - This one is just *tears emoji* all damn day. It's been a while since I've seen this episode the whole way through and totally forgot Nozawa's "It's a scorpion!" delivery when Gohan is terrified and needs to be quiet in the cave. I laughed SO HARD. I'm not the only one who thought that was hilarious, right?

Episode 10 - Another one of Gohan having to learn tough lessons all on his own. Poor kid is gonna have PTSD by kindergarten! And baseball player Yamucha is always a good time. I forgot how much time is spent here on this, probably thanks to this section being so short in the old Ocean/Saban days.

[gaberparadiso]

Episode 10

General thoughts: good thing that I rewatched this episode. I definitely underestimated it, it's clearly much better than the last one. Apparently NOT every single Saiyan arc filler is bad, as I actually enjoyed this one. In fact, that's how a filler episode is supposed to be: entertaining, funny at times and substantial. I liked that Gohan started to adapting himself to the wild, and FINALLY cries much less than before. Even though I don't think this change of his was that sudden, it's still a step up over last episode. Gohan calmly moving the snake while sitting on a tree, or him trying to fight a carnivorous dinosaur were clear signs which makes us realize he's no longer a crybaby. Besides, it was nice to see him adopting his father's "healing leaf" on the herbivorous dinosaur, which demonstrates how he's able to adapt himself better. The episode also teaches a concrete and harsh lesson to Gohan, that is the law of nature: the mightiest survive. As for the cutscenes with Yamcha, they're great: the baseball brawl was funny and Yamcha's silly expression while beating the players' asses was even funnier.

Entertainment factor: a lot more enjoyable than last episode, it has far looser pacing and entertains quite well.

Animation: Takenouchi's storyboard is kinda enjoyable. Nothing spectacular, but still a better job than episode 3. And speaking of episode 3 staff, Shindo is back as well, and his supervision is actually fine. His corrections feel more dominant here than in his last episode. Also, I'm not sure who drew her, but I adore how Bulma's body is represented here. https://twitter.com/DBanimators/status/ ... 5160370176 In terms of actual animation, we have Gohan trying to fight the dinosaur in the 2nd half, which is most likely animated by Yamamuro, since he was the most talented Shindo Pro animator and knew how to deal with martial arts. Although, Shindo's corrections are quite deceiving, as his ears and shut eyes were often redrawn. This shot in particular seems to be untouched. https://twitter.com/DBanimators/status/ ... 5431245824

Music: despite looping BGM over and over again, the music placement here was far more coherent than last episode. The unreleased M426 is quite catchy and fits Yamcha's scene pretty well, and M717 and M718 are nearly perfect choices for Gohan's rescue. Unfortunately, precisely like last time with Gohan's Crying theme, they reused the slowed-down M723 THREE TIMES, with the last time being at the end, when Gohan sees his friend's bones. This is a SAD SCENE. A F*****N' SAD SCENE. And the Training theme is being played during this moment. No excuse, NOT EVEN the worst DBS episode failed SO MUCH at nailing the music TIMING.

Overall thoughts: 7/10. I genuinely enjoyed this one.

[Bear]

#7: Clickbait Title!

Firstly, change of format. Although I’ll still be making my own titles for these episodes.

General Thoughts: This episode has almost nothing going for it. It feels very disjointed, and as much as I love many of the scenes, it’s as if nothing happens. The scenes with Kuririn at ChiChi’s house, and The boogeyman restaurant are hilarious, but aren’t needed. This is also one of the episode that has a misleading title. The dinosaur barely appears. This is clickbait before the internet! I will call this, “Clickbait episode.” I now currently have two tropes, this one, as well as the “ChiChi Scene”

Entertainment Factor: Yeah, this episode was entertaining.

Animation: What a beautiful episode. Maeda is undoubtedly one of the best supervisors, but him and everyone else on his team were wasted on this episode, which sucks because Studio Juno rarely appear. The scene of Goku running in the first half is probably my favourite, as well as many scenes by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru and Takeo Ide.

Music: I loved the music in this episode. The “ChaLa Head ChaLa” victory theme is one of my favourites, and I’m glad that it’s used here, and well. “The Rabbit Gang Pushes Their Weight Around” is used for the conversation between Kami and PoPo. I like it, but some others don’t, which is understandable, and it does drag on for a while. The boogeyman restaurant is great, but it hasn’t been released already and never will.

Rating 6.5/10

[Ajay]

Right, finally finished all the episodes just in time!

Episode 6

General Thoughts: Kinda love this episode for all the world-building it does. Otherworld has such a terrific design, and I really appreciate the anime for expanding on some of the establishing scenes from the manga, not to mention extending the Enma section. It's all wonderfully written. I love it.

Gohan's extended crying during the Piccolo "Training 101" section towards the end is a little too much for me, but on the whole, the placement of the scene does a nice job of setting up the batch of filler episodes to come in a natural way. Can't complain too much.

Entertainment Factor: Pretty much zero complaints. It's a little slow, but that's totally fine after the balls to the wall episodes that made up the past few episodes. Denouements exist for a reason~!

Animation: This marks Studio Live's debut on Z. Considering their pretty dire reputation up through the Cell arc, this isn't bad looking at all. In fact, I really like the way Ebisawa draws Goku. He looks so cute! With a flashback to the Raditz fight, you do unfortunately get a preview of the issues that become a staple of their episodes in the future - pointy chins, goofy expressions, slim faces, and colossal ears. They don't work with villains, and they'll become very prominent on characters like Vegeta when he eventually pops up for realsies.

Hashimoto's direction and storyboarding is a little underwhelming. The neat transitions have already been mentioned in this thread, and unfortunately, that's about all there is to it. Everything else is quite flat. Bit of a shame since Otherworld opens up the opportunity for some pretty unique perspectives.

Episode 7

General Thoughts: Kinda love all the filler content in this episode. Goku getting attacked by spooky demon arms as he nearly falls off the Serpent Road is a nice way of making that threat feel very real. The Fortunetelling Crone meeting up with the skinny horned blue fellow in that Star Wars cantina place is so great. Like the last episode, I love everything they're doing in terms of world-building here. It's mental, but it fits.

Entertainment Factor: It's not the most entertaining thing ever in spite of all the good things it does. It mostly meanders through everything in comparison to the manga that zooms right through to Gohan's transformation within a few pages. Way too much cutting, not enough cohesion. Hard to really engage with anything that's happening beyond a superficial level.

Animation: Studio Junio are superstars, so of course, this looks absolutely gorgeous. You've got all the legends here: Maeda, Sato, Eguchi, Ide, and Nakatsuru. Personally, Sato's my favourite. His Piccolo is so perfectly demonic.

Minoru Okazaki directed and boarded the episode. It's filled with lots of great angles - in particular, a number of interesting and iconic shots that aren't in the manga. Some of them are reinterpretations of Toriyama's panels to better fit the aspect ratio of an anime. It's all so seamless. Terrific job all around to match the great art.

Episode 8

General Thoughts: The scenes with Kuririn trying to come up with a way to tell Chichi and Goku's death were mostly played for laughs in the past episodes, but here we get a nice little introspective scene of him really takes things seriously and contemplating what to do. When filler content doesn't really go anywhere, it's nice to have moments like these that make them feel worthwhile.

All the manga content is as solid as ever. I find it hard to really come up with anything interesting to say about that stuff since they're mostly fleeting moments in the manga. They're drawn out there as expected - that's fine. It doesn't ruin anything.

Entertainment Factor: Considering the vast majority of this episode focuses on side characters talking about things, it's actually very entertaining. I chalk that up to yet more excellent direction from Yoshihiro Ueda. It's so funny writing positive things about him in 2017 considering how painfully meh he is these days.

Animation: Last House return after only three weeks, and despite that, it's a very animated episode. You've got the car scenes, Gohan's transformation, and the general character acting throughout. I really wasn't expecting so much movement in such a short amount of production time.

The major highlights come from Naotoshi Shida who animates the big ol' monkey transformation. I was quite surprised to see an uncorrected shot of his Piccolo show up. Uchiyama's usually pretty heavy with his AD work... to a fault. Nice to see Shida escaping that!

Episode 9

General Thoughts: Far and away my favourite episode of the bunch. It's such a wonderful depiction of Gohan's growth throughout this intense life experience. It's a brief bit of company in an otherwise lonely situation that's snatched away from him in an instant. Learning to deal with that and grow stronger as a result is a really powerful thing to commit to screen, and it mostly sells that moment with zero dialogue.

Entertainment Factor: 100% engaging. It's a really focused episode, to the point where it only cuts away to Goku once. Very ballsy committing to it so strongly. It does not half-ass things.

Animation: For once, I don't really have much to say here. It's almost a solo episode, which is pretty normal for episodes supervised by Aoshima. Throughout Dragon Ball, he basically played the role that Yoshitaka Yashima currently does on Super, soloing episodes to ease up the schedule. Despite hie major presence on the first series, this is the second of only five episodes he does on Z before leaving.


Episode 10

General Thoughts: In contrast to last week, this is my least favourite of this batch. The Yamcha content, while interesting to see what he's been up, is pretty inconsequential and bland. It takes up far too much time and says things that could have been established in a much smaller amount of time.

The Gohan moments with the dinosaur feel like a retread of the last episode, but unlike that episode, it isn't given the chance to really mean anything. It cuts away to other things constantly. It's not interested in building the same relationship that the last episode did before snatching it away. As a result, it's nowhere near as effective.

Entertainment Factor: Not a fan. Too dragged out, no real impact, nada.

Animation: I've had real issues with Takenouchi's directing/storyboarding so far, but this is probably his strongest episode, even if it's very inconsistent. There are a whole bunch of really cool looking shots, but they're a small slice of what's otherwise a pretty flat episode.

Mitsuo Shido's work is still much too angular in comparison to anyone else, but at least Gohan remains nice and soft. Once again, we get a little peak at early Yamamuro in Z. It's interesting seeing how mediocre this studio's output is at this point in the series. Their later work is much, much stronger.

-

- How natural does Piccolo's transition into a mentor feel at this point in the series?

Perfectly natural. He's very aggressive with Gohan, which is totally in line with the character we've known up to this point. At the same time, he shows a little bit of kindness with the apples before leaving him to fend for himself. It's a very gradual process, and I really like how we're drip-fed these little moments of 'good'.

- These episodes have a great deal of filler dedicated to characterising Gohan further. Do they work and feel congruent with the manga material?

Yeah, absolutely. I know while I've been tweeting brief thoughts this week, some people have claimed that the robot and dinosaur episodes contradict how Gohan acts in the face of Nappa later in the series, but I can't say I agree. I feel like it's easy to rationalise that away. You can prepare for something endlessly, but when faced with something entirely unpredictable with real consequences on the day, it's not at all unreasonable to crumble. Subverting expectations is totally fine storytelling. There's nothing egregious about this decision. All fine in my book.

[Apollo Fungus]

Though I'm still excited to be watching Dragon Ball Z, these next few episodes haven't made too much of an impression on me, so the few thoughts I have will be fairly all over the place (moreso than the last post, at least).

Episode 6

-I love the scene where Kami is thinking to himself, as images of Goku and other characters fly by, and then King Enma flies in and slams on the desk, yelling at Kami to stop talking so loudly. It's hard to really explain without seeing it firsthand, but it's such a creative way to use an old anime storytelling tool and then twist it for comedy's sake. I honestly prefer it over the manga for that alone.

-I quite like the match cut of the toy car during Chi Chi's rant to the tour guide car heading towards the Serpentine Road. Nice job to whoever thought of that!

Episode 7

-I like the brief scene in the monster bar. It's really silly, but it fits in nicely with Baba's habit of finding horror movie monsters to fight for her, and I like that it just establishes itself without needing to explain anything to the audience. I also really like the music used in that scene. Would anyone know what its name is, if it was ever released officially or otherwise?

-"Goku's not fit to be a parent!", says Chi Chi in her sixth or seventh rant in the last few episodes. I don't hate Chi Chi, but I really am starting to get why some people feel the anime ruined her. Good lord!

Episode 8

-The opening scene in the wastelands is very nice, and uses numerous shots of the environment and the animals going about their lives to establish a quiet, but still tense atmosphere.

-There's a nice use of hatched lines of Piccolo and Gohan when the former destroys the moon. Really shows the size and brightness of that blast when it seems like it's even affecting the artstyle!

Episode 9

-I like how this episode actually shows us how well-read Gohan is. Yes, we hear that he wants to be a scholar, and that he studies a lot, but it's nice to see him demonstrate that by talking about the Numerian ruins he's stuck in and the robot's functions.

-On that note, I really like the robot. I like his voice, I like his personality, and I like how much is carried across despite how little is said. It's pretty impressive to think how a kids' show from the late 80's (even if it is Japan) pulls that off so well, and yet there are countless adult-targeted shows today that have to have characters expositing everything about themselves because the audience can't be trusted to pay attention.

-I love the rendition of Gohan's theme that plays as the hours pass in the ruins. It's beautiful, and I'd love to know where I can find it.

Episode 10

-Holy shit, the art direction in Part A is gorgeous. Seriously, it's just filled with beautiful backgrounds painted with bright, striking colours that give each scene or locale a particular atmosphere that really stands out to me. It's such a shame that this only happens during the night scenes, since the daytime scenes look considerably less memorable. Big props to the art director Shigenori Takada and background artists Studio Wyeth, Noriyoshi Tsuchī, Hitoshi Nagasaki, Shinobu Takahashi and Hideaki Edō for livening up what is otherwise a pretty underwhelming episode.

---

And that's it for now. I'll still keep watching Dragon Ball Z to see how things go, but I really hope these next few episodes get a bit more interesting.

[TrunksTrevelyan0064]

Note: I decided to exclude the "Entertainment Factor" and "Animation" segments, as I find I personally don't have much to say about those aspects - and anything I do say about them is covered in my general thoughts anyway.

Episodes covered: 6-10

Language: Japanese.

General Thoughts:

-EPISODE 6-
* If Piccolo hadn't been there, I suppose Gohan would not have received any training whatsoever because Chi-Chi would've insisted on taking him back home. Still, I can't help but think how awesome it could've been if Gohan had become one of Muten Roshi's pupils here. He's connected to three of Roshi's former students ("Grandpa" Gohan, Gyûmaô, and of course Goku) and, just like his dad, he could've had Kuririn as a training partner before the latter went off to train with God.
* Interesting to see Muten Roshi interacting with Piccolo almost casually, considering their history (if you count both Piccolos as the same character).
* "WELLCOME" to the afterlife. Kikuchi's goofy "afterlife theme" (at least that's what I call it) is so stupidly loveable. Same goes for that Oni driver.
* Though Chi-Chi's fussing and worrying can get on one's nerves, her overly-specific imagination about what misfortune might befall Gohan is hilarious.

-EPISODE 7-
* This looks so much better than episode 6! Some very "detailed" animation (not sure how else to describe it), as though they went out of their way to put extra effort into it, or something.
* Nozawa's "scared Gohan" voice is adorable, and on top of that we have Toshio Furukawa speaking while Piccolo's theme is playing. This is like... chocolate cake in audio form.
* I love that Piccolo's "blame your own fate" line got included in Dragon Ball FighterZ. It seems iconic yet relatively unknown.
* Mayumi Tanaka's "Kuririn laugh" is just the best, too. Wait... is this the first time Kuririn and Gyûmaô have met and interacted? They act like they know each other, but.....? I guess they might've met at Goku and Chi-Chi's wedding? *checks DB #153* Hmmm I see no Kuririn there but it's not impossible.

-EPISODE 8-
* Mayumi Tanaka interacting with herself as Kuririn and Yajirobe is great. Almost want to say it's a shame it doesn't happen more often; but that just makes the few times that it does happen all the more entertaining.
* Gyûmaô and Chi-Chi appear almost like a typical Toriyama villain duo here; a huge, threatening-looking one, and then a small one who is the actual threat.
* Piccolo's theme kicking in the second it zooms in on the "魔" character on Gohan's back; I love it.

-EPISODE 9-
* I seem to recall Masako Nozawa calling this one of her favorite episodes. It's interesting to watch with that in mind.
* Is "desert sinkhole into underground den" some kind of trope? It's also a thing in Pokémon Black/White, for one.
* That whispered "Son Gohan desu" is the cutest thing ever.
* Gotta say I didn't really notice the animation this episode, that's how immersed I became in it. I'd say that's a good thing!
* That smile on Gohan's face as he walks off into the sunset. I still remember that scene having an impact on me when I first saw it as a kid. Although I don't think this robot episode aired over here... I guess they slapped that final scene onto a different episode?

-EPISODE 10-
* Okay, yeah, that "Don't cry, Gohan!" title immediately reminded me of last episode's robot. I don't really mind but you can't ignore the fact that this episode touches upon many of the same themes.
* I like that Kikuchi's "Gohan's theme" comes in variations ranging from cute and innocent to tough and adventurous. It's a nice show-don't-tell way of giving you an idea of what mindset Gohan is in.
* So many snakes in these episodes! But they actually help show Gohan's progression! First he's scared of them, then only somewhat creeped out by them, and now they don't even faze him anymore.
* Love love love love love that moment of "this one can handle himself" with Yamcha and Kuririn. Ahh, they do a good job of making me think these characters will remain involved and relevant...
* Just want to point out - Pu'er is floating. As he does. But he's doing so inside a moving flying car thing. No nevermind good luck with that.
* The way the dinosaur walks out of the cave and then suddenly collapses for seemingly no reason is kinda funny. Until of course you see the blood and the death and the sadness. Forgive me, dinosaur-san :'(


- How natural does Piccolo's transition into a mentor feel at this point in the series?
When Piccolo goes out of his way to give Gohan the clothes and the sword, and he's talking about how he's going to raise him as a member of the Mazoku, I get the feeling Piccolo is trying to convince himself that he's still the pure-evil Demon King and doesn't care about this boy. Hard to say if that's true, though. He may actually not yet care at this point; it has only been 1 or 2 days.

- These episodes have a great deal of filler dedicated to characterising Gohan further. Do they work and feel congruent with the manga material?
They absolutely work! In Kanzenshuu's (still Daizenshuu EX at that point) "Manga Review of Awesomeness", Jeff mentioned a kind of a lack of personality on Gohan's part in the Saiyan arc. So you could say the manga rushes through this material just a tad too quick; it's nice to get more breathing time with Gohan to get to know him better. We see that he doesn't actually want to kill the animals that are after him, and that he has some knowledge about that ancient civilization in the desert, as well as the robot. That, along with his polite way of speaking, is all very in-character and consistent with his whole "I'm-a-scholar-not-a-fighter" thing.
As for Gohan overcoming his fears - I very much agree that "surviving in the wilderness" and "facing a big bulky murderer who just annihilated all of your dad's friends" are worlds apart.


Favorite character:
Gonna give it to Gohan this week! These episodes, especially the last two, simply do a good job of helping you grow attached to the lil' guy.
Previous favorites (I'm gonna keep a tally, should be fun to see which characters end up winning me over the most): Raditz.