Dragon Ball Z - Episodes 46-50 - Discussion Thread [Rewatch - Week 10]

[Ajay]

Welcome! For details on this rewatch, click here!

Wow, we're 50 episodes in now!

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

This week we're covering:

[spoiler]悟空パワー全開！！銀河の果てまで６日間
Gokū Pawā Zenkai!! Ginga no Hate made Rokkakan
Goku’s Power at Full-Force!! Six Days to the End of the Galaxy

Freeza and his men pass by in front of the cave that Gohan and the others are hiding in. Gohan and Kuririn tremble as they sense Freeza’s bottomless battle power. After receiving the news that Vegeta and Freeza have come to Planet Namek, Goku revives himself with a senzu! He heads to Capsule Corporation on Kinto-Un, and sets off for Planet Namek on a spaceship that Dr. Brief prepared! It will be six days until he arrives. Goku begins intense training!

意表をついた攻撃！！長老の狙いはスカウター
Ihyō o Tsuita Kōgeki!! Chōrō no Nerai wa Sukautā
Surprise Attack!! The Elder’s Target was the Scouter/b]

Gohan and Kuririn follow after Freeza, and arrive at a Namekian village. As they investigate the situation, Freeza begins killing Namekians in order to steal the Dragon Balls! At this point Namekian warriors come running in and defeat Freeza’s underlings. The village elder then learns that Freeza and his men found the village using their scouters, and destroys them. But this enflames Dodoria’s anger!

悟飯危うし！死を呼ぶ追跡者ドドリア
SGohan Ayaushi! Shi o Yobu Tsuisekisha Dodoria
Gohan in Peril! A Pursuing Dodoria Summons Death

Dodoria ends up massacring the Namekian warriors. In order to protect the children, the elder gives Freeza their Dragon Ball. But since the elder wouldn’t tell him the location of the remaining two Dragon Balls, Freeza kills him! As the sole survivor Dende was about to be killed, Gohan flies out!! Kuririn follows after him, and the two rescue Dende and run away. As Dodoria follows in pursuit, his eyes are blinded by the Taiyō-Ken, and Kuririn and the others hide themselves behind a rock.

爆死ドドリア！ベジータの恐るべき衝撃波
Bakushi Dodoria! Bejīta no Osoru Beki Shōgekiha
Dodoria Dies by Explosion! Vegeta’s Fearsome Shockwave

The furious Dodoria blows up all of the surrounding area, but Gohan and the others narrowly escape. As Dodoria is about to return to Freeza, Vegeta comes in for a surprise attack! No longer a match for Vegeta, Dodoria begs for his life, telling the secret of Vegeta’s home world, Planet Vegeta. Planet Vegeta was destroyed by Freeza! But Vegeta isn’t greatly shocked by this, and kills Dodoria.

燃える惑星からの脱出！！命がけのカメハメ波
Moeru Wakusei kara no Dasshutsu!! Inochigake no Kamehameha
Escape From a Burning Planet!! A Life-or-Death Kamehameha

Having escaped from Dodoria’s pursuit, Gohan and the others arrive at their hiding cave, and everyone is overjoyed when they hear that Goku is on his way to Planet Namek! At this time, Goku’s spaceship is damaged from a meteorite impact. At this rate, his trajectory has been thrown off. Goku goes outside and makes repairs, but the shoes of his spacesuit get stuck in the adhesive and he can’t move! A star is right before his eyes! He escapes from the star with an extra large Kamehameha. This is the result of his training at 20x gravity!![/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.

- Cargo's killer was changed from Freeza in the manga to Dodoria in the anime. Why do you think this detail was altered? How does this affect the portrayal of Freeza's leadership?

[gaberparadiso]

Episode 46

General thoughts: AT LAST the horrible hospital cutaways are OVER. Goku is fully healed, and we'll never see those two annoying doctors again. This thing aside, this episode is okay-ish. Mrs. GILF makes her first appearance on DBZ, and immediately hits on Goku. Makes sense. The latter is obviously excited to find out someone stronger than Vegeta. Nothing else to add, since the whole episode is pretty much calm.

Entertainment factor: it's okay. Hashimoto's direction is alright. Nothing great, nothing terrible.

Animation: Ebisawa's Goku looks fine, but the others share outright wrong proportions: Bulma's massive eyes, Krillin's oversized forehead, Gohan's triangular features. The 2nd half is slightly more polished, with Tomoya Handa and early Toshiyuki Kan'no, in his official debut, dominating under Ebisawa's supervision. The latter animates the ending sequence with Krillin and Gohan approaching the Namekian village and Goku starting his training in his spaceship. Whilst being heavily corrected, his twitchy character acting can be easily recognized. https://twitter.com/DBanimators/status/ ... 6801502208

Music: maybe the episode with the lowest amount of BGMs so far. We even get a new insert song, FLY HIGH, while Kamesennin is getting dressed at Kame House.

Overall: 6/10. Alright.

[gaberparadiso]

Episode 47

General thoughts: great episode. At last Freezer's character is analyzed in depth, and of course, his characterization is incredibly solid. He's so intimidating he doesn't even need to make a move: he simply charges a ki blast from his finger while he's wagging his tail against his pod. His two underlings are basically opposite: Zarbon represents elegance, while Dodoria is certainly more uncouth. Their different personalities are displayed through their own actions: Zarbon eliminates Namekians with grace and calmness, whereas Dodoria is definitely bad-tempered, as he wants to slaughter Moori for destroying his scouter (again, clever thinking, considering they can't sense ki). The overall structure of this episode is really nice, because it builds up the story, but also provides some neat action at the same time. Exposition is important, but entertainment is even more.

Entertainment factor: really fun to watch. Needless to say, Ueda is a perfect choice for this kind of episode: his direction is just great.

Animation: despite Takeuchi's corrections being light here, this is a pretty solid episode art-wise. Once again, we get some great individualities from Masahiro Shimanuki, whose artstyle is evolving at this point. It's weird to see a different take of his Freezer, who is well-known for being one of his best drawn characters. https://twitter.com/DBanimators/status/ ... 4549479424 By now the gap with Takeuchi is getting wider, as the latter has clear issues with twitchy character acting and weird expressions, like on Gohan. https://twitter.com/DBanimators/status/ ... 7733893121 In terms of animation, we get some great fight scenes with Namekians being involved: I really like that Kazuya Hisada is moving away from Shimanuki's influence, as he's developing a new style, by focusing on elongated movements and exaggerated character acting (also using smears, and I do love seeing impact frames). The Namekians vs Freezer's soldiers fight is one of my favorite so far, because the quality of Ueda's storyboarding and Shimanuki/Hisada's animation enhanced the scene quite a lot. https://twitter.com/DBanimators/status/ ... 7976559617

Music: the first episode to use M9**, movie 2 soundtrack. Overall, I do believe M9** is slightly less strong than M8**, but I cannot deny that they have some really nice tracks. Curiously enough, M912 is used to introduce both Dr. Willow (movie 2 enemy) and Freezer himself (the enemy of this arc), which fits his character a lot, despite lasting a bit too much. M909 and M922 are probably my favorite BGMs from M9**, and once again, they're really well placed in this episode, too. As for the other tracks, I love M814 and M815 at the end, but M615 is kinda weird choice to introduce the Namekian warriors. Anyway, still great placement.

Overall: 8/10. Great.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

If I hopefully pass my exam today I might jump into the rewatch here, I really wanna hear how Nakao sounds in his prime having been less than impressed with him in modern DB (ResF movie was pretty good but I found him to be soo hit and miss in DBS).

[gaberparadiso]

Episode 48

General thoughts: the 1st half is so brutal. Dodoria starts slaughtering Namekians, by piercing through, headbutting and turning them into bonfire. Moreover, in the anime version he kills Cargo, while in the manga it's Freezer who kills him. I don't know the reason about this change, but I like it either way, because I interpret this change as a way for Freezer to let his minions do the dirty work in his place. Again, his presence is threatening just by making a mountain explode in a blink of an eye. As a whole, this episode is a lot of fun, as well. The chase sequence is really enjoyable, despite being much longer than in the manga.

Entertainment factor: again, really enjoyable. Okazaki's direction is not that great, but it's still serviceable.

Animation: as expected from a Studio Junio episode, the art is solid as a whole, with Maeda making some light corrections here and there (for example, on characters' jaws). However, despite availing of roughly 7 weeks, the staff list is a bit odd on paper: for instance, Nakatsuru isn't involved in this, because of his recent supervision in 44, Satou and Ide's presence is restricted to the 1st half, maybe due to their task in movie 3, and the 2nd half is outsourced to Miyahara, Okimoto and a few uncredited key animators. In terms of action, the initial sequence with Dodoria killing the Namekian warriors is animated by Satou and Ide, whereas Eguchi handles the segment with Dodoria finishing Moori off (his timing is quite aggressive, so it's quite easy to point out). https://twitter.com/DBanimators/status/ ... 4273836032 During the 2nd half, Seigasha animators Kazuya Hisada and Yoko Iizuka (possibly) seem to have provided some key animations during the chase sequence. The former can be traced through his elongated beam effects. https://twitter.com/DBanimators/status/ ... 6442221569

Music: fairly good placement. I liked the use of M909 (Dodoria killing Namekian warriors) and M922 (the ending track), and we get to hear Murasaki On The Run during the chase sequence before Krillin's Taiyoken, which sounds really nice. And FINALLY M723 has been played at normal speed, for once.

Overall: 8/10. Another really fun episode.

[Taisa732]

Language: Japanese

General Thoughts:
Episode 46: The first time we get a sense of Freeza's power is at the beginning of this episode. Krillin's and Gohan's reactions, when the party goes by, tells you everything. The fear on there faces and the fact that they still are petrified even after the danger past. If you think Vegeta was bad, you haven't seen nothing yet.
Other than that, we have Goku in full form and ready to go. Bulma's parents are always funny because of how absent-minded they both are in there one way.

Episode 47: This is more of a world-building episode where we see the start of the conflict between Freeza's army and the namekians.

Episode 48: I kinda like this episode. Gohan and Krillin are the underdogs of the situation, but despite not having any real possibility of making it out alive they somehow do.
Guess this is a good time as any to talk about Krillin and the role he plays. I really think that the Namek arc is is his highlight. We don't know him for being a leader, and he himself doesn't feel like one. Krillin is usually unsecure and constantly second guesses his one possibilities. So he is kinda forced to become the leader without any choice in the matter. Bulma can't fight and Gohan is a five year old with barely any experience, so it's up to Krillin to take responsibility and keep everybody safe.
I like how he struggles with it, not being use to it, but he still does his best.

Episode 49: Love this one, a bit of a backstory for the saiyan race and for Vegeta. It's the first time we are made aware of Vegeta royal title, before he was just and elite, but now we know he's the prince. I like how the dialogue between him and Dodoria, how the information is delivered, still building up the world and the battle against the evil army.

Episode 50: I'll be honest, the scene where Vegeta almost gets to Krillin and Gohan is on of my favourites. Why? Because I remember the firth time I've watched it and I recall being terrified for the good guys. I followed Krillin from the start of the series and Gohan is Goku's son, so I didn't want anything bad happening to them. I remember thinking that if Vegeta got to them they couldn't survive.
Although I don't have that fear anymore, knowing everything about these characters, I still think how breathtaking it is on a storytelling point of view. You need to analyse the scene to understand why it's so effective.
The reasons are the characters, if Vegeta catches them they don't have any hope. Caring about the faith of these people is the key.
And Vegeta was so close, wonder if Krillin or Gohan ever told him years later.

- Cargo's killer was changed from Freeza in the manga to Dodoria in the anime. Why do you think this detail was altered? How does this affect the portrayal of Freeza's leadership?

I never understood why they changed Cargo's killer, it never made sense to me, no mater how hard I tried to justify it to myself. Especially because Dodoria is a short-lived character that dies after a few episodes and Freeza is the main bad guy for this arc.
The purpose of the entire scene is to show us how gruel and cold Freeza can be, so it makes no sense to give a henchman the task to kill Cargo.
We know now how evil Freeza is, but the death of a child that is also running away in fear is an important warning sing for the audience. It sets the foundation to get to know this new enemy.
Lucky it doesn't effect Freeza's characterisation too much, but it still is so confusing.

[gaberparadiso]

Episode 49

General thoughts: okay, I might sound cheesy, but because of the Bulma cutaway, I already like this version FAR MORE than the manga. As though the Fake Namek arc never happened... jokes aside, this episode is a tad less entertaining than the last two, but still good. However, there's something quite puzzling, that is Dodoria telling Vegeta their home planet and entire race was wiped out by Freezer. Much like in the manga version, Vegeta seemed to be unaware of the real cause of the destruction of Vegeta. Unfortunately, in ep. 104, someone would decide to include a really poorly made flashback, in which it turns out Vegeta DID actually know that Freezer destroyed their home planet. Because of that flashback, I'm really confused. Considering both this episode and the respective manga chapter state that Vegeta didn't know about this info, what's the exact purpose of that flashback? It's a bit baffling.

Entertainment factor: not very well directed, and less fun than the other two.

Animation: however, I got to give some credit to Yamauchi's storyboarding, which is definitely a step up over ep. 45. It's clearly better than his direction, and I like the use of different perspectives. https://twitter.com/DBanimators/status/ ... 4983617536 https://twitter.com/DBanimators/status/ ... 8767968256 Animation-wise, I do believe Tai'ichiro Ohara and Tetsuya Saeki handled this episode for the most part, with the former being more recognizable through his shading (a.k.a. the fanservice scene or Vegeta trying to break Dodoria's arms). At this point I'm not that sure about what Saeki actually animated. On the other hand, we know for sure that Naotoshi Shida animates the last minutes, including the Saiyans flashback, Vegeta sending Dodoria into the next dimension and Goku training under 20x gravity. Especially in this latter case, I simply adore his art, because it's not geometric or roughly square unlike someone else, and does feel quite expressive, too. https://twitter.com/DBanimators/status/ ... 8735123456

Music: questionable placement: M602 (The Wrath Of Tao Pai Pai) is used for the 1st time on DBZ (and also quite well), but M904 (Thinking About Piccolo) being played during the fanservice cutaway is so weird. Or again, looping M813 sounds like a terrible idea. Despite this, maybe my least favorite pick here is M916 during the Saiyans flashback, which is one of the worst M9** tracks in my opinion.

Overall: 7/10. Expected more.

[TrunksTrevelyan0064]

Episodes covered: Dragon Ball Z 46-50 ("Dragon Ball 199-203")


EPISODE 46
* I'll just reiterate what I wrote about this opening scene last week: Gohan and Kuririn being paralyzed with fear upon sensing Freeza's terrifyingly huge ki, solidifies Freeza as a threat so unfathomably large that it is inconceivable that anyone could possibly ever stand up to him. At least, that's the impression I got when I first saw that scene as a kid. It really impressed upon me that Freeza is scary, someone you don't ever want to mess with.
* Unexpected awesome insert song on Muten Rôshi's radio is unexpected and awesome. (Unexpected because I've watched the series in Japanese only once before)
* Pretty lucky that Bulma was able to call home AND new senzu arrived on time AND Goku's spaceship takes only 6 days to reach Namek, or Gohan and Kuririn would be wiped out by the Ginyu squad.

EPISODE 47
* Great music piece when Freeza is interrogating the Namekians (in his own delightfully diabolical manner, I might add). Not sure what to call it; Kenisu's guide refers to it as "Dr. Willow Is Introduced". I'm surprised that it was apparently introduced in a movie, since it has such an "intergalactic" atmosphere that suits Freeza perfectly.
* No idea if this was intentional or not, but I love that M725 plays when Dodoria's scouter detects a power reading, as that theme was introduced alongside Raditz and scouters to begin with.
* It seems strange that Freeza would surround himself with so many utter weaklings; wouldn't he want a more competent army? Then again, I suppose he wants to rule out any possibility of them collaborating and overpowering him, case in point being Planet Vegeta...
* Props to Muuri for targeting the scouters, you clever badass. We don't get too much out of him as a character, but that is probably his finest moment.
* Oh shit, Dodoria is so pissed off that his hand started bleeding. These Namekians are about to get HURT.
* As usual I don't have anything substantial to say about the animation, except that it was good - from subtle to action-packed - and that there was a neat use of color to convey certain moods/tones.

EPISODE 48
* Y'know, we give Nappa a lot of credit for being brutal and destructive, but Dodoria is far more brutal here. Nappa never snapped no necks or killed any children (though not for lack of trying). Yet for some reason (probably because we don't have much attachment to "random Namekian number 3") Dodoria doesn't seem as impactful or memorable, or maybe that's just me?
* It's a little jarring to suddenly switch to a goofy tune (alongside Goku's training), right after those Namekians got slaughtered. I also don't think it was the right move to pick a "heroic" tune as Gohan jumps into the fray. It sounds far too uplifting for the tragic/dangerous situation that's going on. Aside from those questionable choices of music placement, though, it's a great episode overall.

EPISODE 49
* For one of Freeza's right-hand men, Dodoria sure is short-lived. I guess massacring some innocent Namekians and revealing a secret about the fate of the Saiyans is about all we could expect to get out of that character.
* Jôji Yanami coming in at the end to remind me I'm supposed to get excited about Goku and Vegeta facing off again soon. Yeah, okay. *Cough*. Sure.

EPISODE 50
* Gah, so tense when you first witness Kuririn and Gohan hiding from Vegeta. What makes this hide-and-seek Dragon Ball hunting game so terrifying is that we know our heroes are dead, done, finished if they are found. The Taiyôken might've helped them get away once, but it's not a foolproof strategy by any means. A lucky Kienzan, maybe...
* Kuririn's been going through so much. How did it become his responsibility to look after his best friend's son on a planet full of ridiculous behemoths of enemies? And running away is not an option, unless he wants to give up on bringing his old comrades back to life. Learning that Goku is on the way was exactly what the poor guy needed.
* DAMN those smirks on Vegeta's face look evil this episode. Not sure which animator drew those, but whoever it was did a terrific job.


- Cargo's killer was changed from Freeza in the manga to Dodoria in the anime. Why do you think this detail was altered? How does this affect the portrayal of Freeza's leadership?
Really hard to say why it was changed. I'm not sure that it affects Freeza's leadership a great deal. Maybe they wanted to keep the focus on Dodoria, and direct Gohan's anger fully towards him?


Favorite character: Another tough choice yet again. Dodoria came and went, Vegeta had some more evil yet thrilling-to-watch moments, we saw Muuri's finest moment (targeting the scouters), and Freeza showed us a solid glimpse of who and what he really is. However, it is Kuririn's reluctant but reliable leadership that gives him the edge for me this week. He has my full sympathy and respect.
Previous favorites: Raditz, Gohan, the saber-toothed tiger, Kaiô, Tenshinhan, Vegeta(1), Kuririn, Bulma, Vegeta(2).

[gaberparadiso]

Episode 50

General thoughts: such a shame. I really liked the beginning and the ending, but the middle part is so boring and forgettable. This episode basically represents my problem with DBZ, namely taking their time and messing around. We talked about how DBS is incredibly fast-paced and rushed, but messing around all the time is a problem, as well. I wish the DB series found a middle way, through a well-balanced storyline by alternating slower and faster moments. None of the two seems to accomplish this task. Anyway, the ending is the best part of this episode, with Vegeta starting his maneuver against a Namekian village, even though Horikawa says 'BOOM' before firing his finger beam. Wouldn't 'BANG' make more sense? As for Krillin's depression, it's more or less in line with his personality, since he's not a natural leader. Unlike Goku, he doesn't get excited in battles, and is often afraid. Speaking of Goku, his whole sequence is pointless. I don't hate it, but it's so uninteresting and bland. Funny note, I'm glad to verify that Goku was dumb outside of battles even in the original series,
that isn't a prerogative of Super by any means. Apart from that, though, it's boring and distracts us from what's happening on Namek.

Entertainment factor: not that interesting. Hashimoto's direction is also pretty boring.

Animation: not very good storyboarding from the 'Transition Guy'. It's not bad, not just not great. Art-wise, it's not that polished, either, possibly because Shindo Pro would supervise the next episode only two weeks after. Again, nothing that bad, but still. In terms of animation, nothing does properly stand out. Noriko Shibata animates the ending part with Vegeta starting to kill some Namekians. This is probably the first instance, in which we can spot her wicked expressions on Vegeta. They actually kind work. https://twitter.com/DBanimators/status/ ... 7377038337

Music: apart from the use of M922 and M813, it's not a memorable BGM placement.

Overall: 6/10. Could've been higher without that middle part.

[JazzMazz]

#47

General Thoughts: A really captivating introduction into the terrifying Freeza. The story content is interesting, the direction is on-point, and the animation has some great highlights.


Animation: A Seigasha episode, though most of the animation was handled by Takeuchi, who I personally feels has a very unappealing style, the real stars of the episode were Shimanuki and Hisada. The snappiness to there action and poses are fantastic this episode. Ueda's board and direction also does a fantastic job of selling the drama of the episode. His board this episode was really interesting.

Entertainment: A thouroghly engaging episode through and through. The suspense and atmosphere is thick throughout this entire episode, its our first real look into Freeza, and what an introduction it is.