Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 2 - DB Episodes 6-10

[Robo4900]

Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone between and beyond, and welcome to week 2 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 (more on that later, when we actually get there).
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.

Apologies for today's thread being so late, I wasn't able to get to my computer until the evening, which I guess means we're a full day late for some of you on later timezones. >_>

Previous thread: Week 1 (DB 1-5)
Next thread: Week 3 (DB 11-15)

Anyway, without further ado...

Episode 6 - The Midnight Visitors
Dub title: Keep An Eye On The Dragon Balls
Originally aired 2nd of April 1986

Yamcha attacks at night in an attempt to steal Oolong’s capsules! As Yamcha looks into the condition of their opponents, he learns about the Dragon Balls. Yamcha and Pu’er try to steal Goku and the others’ Dragon Balls through any means necessary, but fail!! At this point, they come up with the plan of waiting for Goku and the others to gather all seven Dragon Balls, and then steal them. Unaware of this, Goku and the others aim for Mt. Frypan in search of the sixth Dragon Ball.

Anime-only/filler content: The entire Mai and Shu subplot.

Episode 7 - Gyūmaō of Mount Frypan
Dub title: The Ox-King On Fire Mountain
Originally aired 9th of April 1986

After arriving at Mt. Frypan, Goku and the others land in a pinch when they are spotted by Gyūmaō, who stands guard over his castle!! However, Gyūmaō’s attitude quickly changes when he learns that Goku and the others know Muten Rōshi! In order to extinguish Mt. Frypan’s fire, Gyūmaō requests Goku go with his daughter Chi-Chi and borrow Muten Rōshi’s Bashō Fan. Goku finds Chi-Chi, who can ride on Kinto-Un, but he powers down when she grabs his tail! Seeing this, Yamcha discovers Goku’s weakness!!

Anime-only/filler content: Mai and Shu report back to Pilaf.

Episode 8 - Kame-Sen’nin’s Kamehameha
Dub title: The Kamehameha Wave
Originally aired 16th of April 1986

Having thrown away the Bashō Fan, Muten Rōshi heads to Mt. Frypan to extinguish its flames himself!! Muten Rōshi’s grand attack, the Kamehameha, puts out the blazing flames! Goku and the others safely obtain the Dragon Ball, and are about to head off in search of the final one. But Bulma is detained by Muten Rōshi, since she promised to let him fondle her breasts if he put out the flames. Bulma gets out of this pinch by asking Oolong to transform into her.

No significant anime-only/filler content.

Episode 9 - The Boss Rabbit’s Special Skill
Dub title: Boss Rabbit's Magic Touch / Grand Master Rabbit's Magic Touch
Originally aired 23rd of April 1986

Goku and the others visit a stand in order to fill up on gasoline. The townspeople are all frightened of Bulma, who is wearing rabbit ears. They don’t understand why, but then some scoundrels calling themselves the Rabbit Gang show up! Their boss, the Carrotizor, has the power to turn anyone who touches his hand into a carrot!! Bulma is turned into a carrot by him. Unable to merely watch, Yamcha rescues Bulma. Goku and the others defeat the Rabbit Gang, and once again set out to search for the Dragon Balls!!

Anime-only/filler content: The chase scene with Bulma as a carrot.

Episode 10 - The Dragon Balls Are Stolen!!
Dub title: The Dragon Balls Are Stolen
Originally aired 30th of April 1986

Goku and the others aim for the final Dragon Ball! However, their Dragon Balls are stolen by Pilaf and his underlings, who are plotting to use the Dragon Balls to take over the world!! Wanting to have his wish granted by Shenlong, Yamcha once again ends up helping Bulma and the others in order to obtain the Dragon Balls. In order to get the Dragon Balls back, Goku and the others invade Pilaf’s secret base. But they are all caught by the ingenious trap set by Pilaf. Goku’s Four-Star Ball is in danger!!

Anime-only/filler content: The Pilaf Gang and their Dragon Radar, various hallway events like the bats, spider security cameras and crusher pillars.

-

Interesting trivia:

• While there would be several individual episodes that would beat all of these, this arc as a whole had the highest average audience share of the entire original 1986-1997 run of Dragon Ball (though the Great Saiyaman arc comes VERY close to beating it).
• This arc covered 23 chapters of manga material in 13 episodes, making for an average pace of about 1.8 chapters per episode. Episode 8 in particular adapted 3 whole chapters, and ended up pretty much entirely devoid of any filler/anime-only material.
• Episode 8 marks the debut of the next episode preview jingle that would be used for every episode of the original series from here onwards.
• Episodes 7 & 8 are based off a story from Journey To The West, in which the local deity informs the protagonists that the fire on Fire Mountain must be put out by the Iron Fan (AKA the Bashofan aka the Banana Fan aka the Bashosen... I think there's some pun here that doesn't translate), which is held by Princess Iron Fan, the wife of Gyuumao, the Ox Demon King. She holds the Iron Fan in a cave, and uses it to get rid of Sun Wukong when he shows up to fetch it. I believe, by this point, Princess Iron Fan had already met Sun Wukong, and they weren't exactly on great terms; I think she's actually known as a main villain (I looked most of this up several months ago; sorry to say, but I've never read Journey To The West myself). A friendly diety gives Sun Wukong an orb that prevents the Iron Fan from blowing him away, and he leaps back into the fray. He fights her and some underlings of hers, and eventually she gives in and hands over the fan.
• Even though we don't actually see the Bashofan/Bashosen/Iron Fan in this story, Toei would later return to this concept, and along the way adapt a lot of the material from the original Journey To The West Fire Mountain story that wasn't used in episodes 7 & 8, while also incorporating several other bits and bobs from Journey To The West, as we'll see when we get to that anime-only storyline sometime in July/August.
• Even though Roshi does destroy it, Gyuumao does rebuild his castle later on, as we'll see in about four weeks... Only for it to be destroyed again, as we'll see in about 7 months.
• Boss Rabbit getting trapped on the moon is a reference to Japanese folklore; they say there's the face of a rabbit on the moon, who makes treats for children.
• Toriyama would later explain that despite the moon being destroyed twice after Boss Rabbit was sent there, he imagines he and his minions simply floated away peacefully, and continue to live, drifting through space... Which is kind of horrifying when you think about it.
• Episode 10 is the first appearance of the Pilaf Gang's stacking mech suits. Mech suits of this kind would continue to show up for the next little while, particularly in the Red Ribbon arc.

Episode summaries, airdates, and titles courtesy of Kanzenshuu's episode guide. Filler breakdowns and Dragon Ball logo courtesy of KBABZ.

[KBABZ]

So, uh... Chi-Chi's wearing a thong and bra in these episodes... and she's twelve.

[Robo4900]

So, uh... Chi-Chi's wearing a thong and bra in these episodes... and she's twelve.

There's a great meme for this occasion that I cannot be bothered to google, which goes something like this: "Not sure if clever deconstruction of shitty tropes, or just indefensible shit"

[ABED]

Don't have much to say beyond Oolong trying to grope Bulma in her sleep isn't funny after roofying, just creepy, but Yamcha going near catatonic is hilarious. Though the funniest part was Oolong and Puar's transformations into Goku and Bulma.

I've always liked Gyumao even though he carries with him Chichi whom I've never liked.

Was it episode 10 where Pilaf gasses Goku and company? Comic gold.

Love the trivia.

[KBABZ]

So, uh... Chi-Chi's wearing a thong and bra in these episodes... and she's twelve.

There's a great meme for this occasion that I cannot be bothered to google, which goes something like this: "Not sure if clever deconstruction of shitty tropes, or just indefensible shit"

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I particularly like the parts where Yamcha's weakness/nervousness around girls shows up once again, especially accidentally stumbling upon Bulma showering and discovering her asleep while searching for the Dragon Balls later that evening. Also there's the one bit where Yamcha thinks she's going to kiss him when asked close his eyes when she actually checks the Dragon Radar, and then does the "cheek rub" thing which causes him to scream in terror. Those scenes are always comedy gold especially in the Japanese version though the dub's dialogue is ok too.

Goku commenting that Bulma is a "weird person" after the part above always gets me.

[MyVisionity]

So, uh... Chi-Chi's wearing a thong and bra in these episodes... and she's twelve.

It's not underwear, though, it's armor. If that makes a difference. I like it, but I can see how it might be problematic.

The humor in these episodes continues to be top notch. Particularly Oolong and Puerh's transformations and the Pilaf Gang. Oolong's predatory action towards Bulma is troubling, but I still find it humorous. Partly because of Toriyama's earnestness with it.

Toriyama apparently wanted Gyuuma and Chichi to sound like stereotypical countryfolk, judging by their Tohoku speech patterns. Was it to subvert the image of the powerful and dreaded Demon King of Fire Mountain? Or was it just something Toriyama thought would be funny?

[KBABZ]

So, uh... Chi-Chi's wearing a thong and bra in these episodes... and she's twelve.

It's not underwear, though, it's armor. If that makes a difference. I like it, but I can see how it might be problematic.

It's armour??

[MyVisionity]

If not armor, then certainly some kind of metallic wear of sorts. She's obviously battle-ready with the destructive head gear. And there's that clang when Goku taps her crotch with his foot.

Being a princess and daughter of the fearsome Gyuumao, it makes sense.

[KBABZ]

If not armor, then certainly some kind of metallic outerwear of sorts

But like... 90% of her is exposed when she's wearing that...

[Robo4900]

If not armor, then certainly some kind of metallic outerwear of sorts

But like... 90% of her is exposed when she's wearing that...

Maybe she and her dad are under the impression that nudity makes you stronger on this planet.

[MyVisionity]

If not armor, then certainly some kind of metallic outerwear of sorts

But like... 90% of her is exposed when she's wearing that...

Whoops... Guess "outerwear" was the wrong term. I meant "not underwear".

[KBABZ]

Got another fun fact! The shot/drawing of Goku firing the Kamehameha at the car would be used for the manga's 30th anniversary.

[Soppa Saia People]

had a lot of trouble these past few days but let's get too this

episode 6, this scenario is just perfect, i love everything with yamucha and puerh in this episode, all the characters work so well with each other, and the ending with yamucha is so great. the oolong drug stuff is kinda uncomfortable though. also holy cow, a dragon ball episode that takes place primarily at night, i love that so much, especially with how, well, non existent night scenes became, i treasure this early stuff lol.

[KBABZ]

episode 6, this scenario is just perfect, i love everything with yamucha and puerh in this episode, all the characters work so well with each other, and the ending with yamucha is so great. the oolong drug stuff is kinda uncomfortable though. also holy cow, a dragon ball episode that takes place primarily at night, i love that so much, especially with how, well, non existent night scenes became, i treasure this early stuff lol.

Same! This and episode 2 are great because night-time is sort of downtime for the characters, meaning it becomes closer to slice of life where you get a bit more introspect on the characters.

[Robo4900]

Episode 6 - The Midnight Visitors

Y'know, I just realised I probably should've suggested we do something like rate each episode out of 10 as we go along.
Oh well.

Much as the Oolong stuff is really uncomfortable and I wish it wasn't there, the beginning of this episode does a great job at establishing the two main antagonistic forces of this episode.

Hey. Y'know what, I think I remember watching a tiny bit of this episode on TV way back. The Pilaf gang messing around with the bomb.

Hey, Bulma's humming Romantic Ageru Yo while she's in the shower.

Pu'er has been hanging around with Yamucha for "Two years next month" at this point. That's interesting. I'd assumed they'd hung around each-other longer.

I love that Pu'er's imitation of Goku is a bit iffy, and Oolong's imitation of Bulma is utterly terrible.

Poor Yamucha. Traumatised twice in one night, then having his tooth knocked out the next.
Not that he didn't bring it on himself, but... Still, poor Yamucha.

"So he was a good guy after all."
Heh. Not quite yet, Goku.

Oh hey, this one's next-episode preview is spoken by Oolong. That's interesting.

Fun episode. I wish there wasn't the Oolong stuff (though I guess I could've watched the BLT dub if I wanted to avoid that), but it's a fun episode other than that.
I agree about the nighttime setting being cool.

[ABED]

Y'know, I just realised I probably should've suggested we do something like rate each episode out of 10 as we go along

Here's why I don't like giving rating systems numbers, how do you qualify something that may not be of the best quality but something you enjoy a lot, or conversely, how do you quantify something that's of good quality but not one's taste?

[Robo4900]

Y'know, I just realised I probably should've suggested we do something like rate each episode out of 10 as we go along

Here's why I don't like giving rating systems numbers, how do you qualify something that may not be of the best quality but something you enjoy a lot, or conversely, how do you quantify something that's of good quality but not one's taste?

Interesting point.

Personally, I would solve that problem by calling it less an objective rating, more a sort of "Personal enjoyment index". You just call it how you feel it. I'd make that clear from the get-go for any kind of rating system.

[ABED]

Y'know, I just realised I probably should've suggested we do something like rate each episode out of 10 as we go along

Here's why I don't like giving rating systems numbers, how do you qualify something that may not be of the best quality but something you enjoy a lot, or conversely, how do you quantify something that's of good quality but not one's taste?

Interesting point.

Personally, I would solve that problem by calling it less an objective rating, more a sort of "Personal enjoyment index". You just call it how you feel it. I'd make that clear from the get-go for any kind of rating system.

That's fine, but I think people might be inclined to look over the review and its nuance and just focus on the number.

[Xell]

I often find number ratings to be misleading, as a rating out of 10 can boil down to interpretation and tends to be pretty subjective.

A 7/10 for me is a pretty good score. A fair bit better than average - however some people may view a 7 as mediocre and not worthwhile.

There’s my 2 cents on it.. Probably a pointless input but either way I figured I’d pipe up haha.