Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 19 - DB episodes 81-85

[Robo4900]

Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone between and beyond, and welcome to week 19 of the first Dragon Ball rewatch of the decade.
We're doing five episodes a week, and we'll be watching every single episode of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT. All 508 episodes. Plus the TV specials and the movies.
I encourage you all to watch in Japanese with subtitles, especially if you have never done so before, but watch along in whichever way brings you the most joy.

The second tournament! I've been looking forward to this one. Always has something of a homely feel, the tournaments. The characters are all converging together again, we see the tournament announcer guy again, it's the familiar tournament structure, the grounds, the Golden Harvest title card, certain music cues... I love it.
And of course, now we finally meet Tenshinhan and Chaozu!
But, I'm getting ahead of myself. First, we have my favourite of the pre-Z filler episodes (probably would be my favourite of the lot, if it wasn't for the driving episode). Arguably quite similar to the movie we watched last week... In fact, for that reason, maybe I should've put the movie somewhere earlier in the schedule.
Still, I've aimed to put the movies between major storylines so as to minimise interruption of flow, so... I stand by my decision.

Previous thread: Week 18 (DB movie 2)
Next thread: Week 20 (DB 86-90)

Anyway, without further ado...

Episode 81 - Goku Goes to the Demon Realm
Dub title: Goku Goes to Demon Land
Originally aired 30th of September 1987
Episode director: Daisuke Nishio
Animation supervisor: Ebisawa Yukio

In the middle of his journey, Goku happens to pass by the Village of Fiends! When night falls, fiends appear from the Demon Realm Gate located between this world and the Demon Realm, and run wild in the village! In order to rescue Princess Misa, who was kidnapped by the fiends, Goku sets out to enter the Demon Realm Gate!! After having a showdown with Shura, the martial arts master of the Demon Realm, Goku blinds the fiends’ eyes with a Kamehameha and rescues Princess Misa while they’re off guard! The Demon Realm Gate is then sealed once again by Goku!!

Anime-only/filler content: Entirely filler (Written by Michiru Shimada and Kei Shussui)

Episode 82 - The Violent Monster Inoshikachō
Dub title: The Rampage of InoShikaCho / The Violent Monster, Ino-Shika-Cho
Originally aired 7th of October 1987
Episode director: Minoru Okazaki
Animation supervisor: Minoru Maeda

Goku sees the two martial artists Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu defeat the monster Inoshikachō, whose rampages had plagued the villagers. However, in reality the pair were friends with Inoshikachō, and deceitfully took money from the villagers! Goku tries to alert the villagers of the truth but gets framed instead, and he and Inoshikachō are chased by the villagers!! However, in the end the villagers’ distrust clears, and the reformed Inoshikachō ends up living with them in peace.

Anime-only/filler content: Entirely filler (Written by Shun’ichi Yukimuro)

Episode 83 - Hurry, Goku! The Tenka’ichi Budōkai
Dub title: Which Way to Papaya Island? / Hurry To The World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku!
Originally aired 14th of October 1987
Episode director: Toshihiko Arisako
Animation supervisor: Tomekichi Takeuchi

Three years have passed since Goku set out on his training journey. One day, Goku rescues the fox boy Konkichi, who was being pursued by an evil group. In gratitude to Goku, Konkichi says he will obtain the traveling fare for going to the Tenka’ichi Budōkai grounds. However, Konkichi is arrested for being a bank robber! Konkichi protests that while he may be a thief, he’s no bank robber! For Konkichi’s sake, Goku does a splendid job of capturing the real criminals!!

Anime-only/filler content: Entirely filler (Written by Yasushi Hirano)

Episode 84 - Aim to Be the World’s Greatest Martial Artist!!
Dub title: Rivals and Arrivals / Tournament Registration Day, Where's Goku?!
Originally aired 21st of October 1987
Episode director: Minoru Okazaki
Animation supervisor: Masayuki Uchiyama

The 22nd Tenka’ichi Budōkai at last opens! When Kuririn and Yamcha arrive at the tournament grounds, Kame-Sen’nin’s rival Tsuru-Sen’nin and his disciples Chiaotzu and Tenshinhan appear before them! Tsuru-Sen’nin leaves after saying some dreadfully insulting things! Meanwhile, Goku is nowhere to be found, and the tournament registration deadline has almost come! As everyone worries, Goku appears in the nick of time!! The friends enjoy their three-year reunion!

Anime-only/filler content: Everything involving Goku before he arrives at the gates, Roshi and Crane staring at each other for twenty seconds, the Gang having dinner on Roshi's dime, everything at the hotel.

Episode 85 - Obsessed with Winning!! Survive the Preliminaries
Dub title: Preliminary Peril / The Tournament Begins
Originally aired 28th of October 1987
Episode director: Daisuke Nishio
Animation supervisor: Masayuki Uchiyama

The tournament preliminaries have begun! Kuririn and Yamcha naturally advance through their respective brackets. Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu show up there, and rile them up with their bold demeanor. Sparks fly between Kame-Sen’nin and Tsuru-Sen’nin’s disciples before the matches have even begun. Tenshinhan easily wins during his first appearance in the preliminaries, displaying a mere fraction of his bottomless ability! And then Goku’s turn has finally come! His opponent is King Chapa, well known as a master!!

Anime-only/filler content: Everything regarding Tenshinhan's previous encounter with Goku (of course), Crane bothering Bulma outside, the sumo wrestler beating up the heckler.

-

Interesting trivia:

• As stated last week, this week's first episode, #81, is the first to use music from the second DB movie. In addition to using its music, this episode reuses some of the demon designs too.
• Both King Yama and God are mentioned in this episode as people who can give you a permit to enter the demon realm. God wouldn't appear in the anime for another 44 episodes, and Yama not for another 34 after that.
• Despite the Demon Realm episode being filler, it is brought up again much later on, as the home realm of Dabra, who is stated to be the realm's king.
• Goku is 15 years old at this point in time (stated age of 12 + 3 year timeskip). This makes him one year older than the age he thought he was when he met Bulma!
• Episode 84 is the last time we see Kuririn wearing his Orin Temple outfit, and Yamucha wearing his desert bandit outfit.
• In Japanese, Blue Lunch doesn't want to go to the tournament, saying her skin doesn't like the city air. Funimation's dub changed this to the city air being bad for her sinuses. Blue Water's dub kept this change.
  • On a similar note, when the gang are on the plane, Lunch is very tense because she's trying to overpower her urge to hijack it. Presumably in light of the then-recent 9/11 attacks, Funimation censored this to instead be her being tense about the mention of Jackie Chun. Blue Water somewhat split the difference; Lunch is tense because she can't stand resisting robbing someone.
  • Furthermore, in Japanese, as well as in Blue Water's dub, Turtle shoots down Lunch's idea of entering the tournament, as weapons aren't allowed. Funimation completely changed this to Lunch finding a fight with rules boring to watch.
  • And in episode 85, the Funimation dub added a line where the portly announcer says that flash photography is not permitted inside the gymnasium. This doesn't make sense because at the 21st TB, it was established that spectators aren't allowed in the gym in the first place. The Blue Water dub rewrote the portly announcer's lines, erring closer to what was originaly said in Japanese.
  • Later in that episode, the Japanese has Kuririn say of Tenshinhan "He's the world champion for detestability!" after Chaozu and Tenshinhan insulted him and the others (in particular, Chaozu called Kuririn a shorty). Blue Water changed this to "What a jerk! That clown doesn't know who he's messing with! I just defeated a giant!" Funimation changed this line to have Kuririn, still sore about being called shorty, say his parents were both six feet tall.
• In the Funimation dub, Episode 85 is named "Preliminary Peril". This is the same named they used for Episode 20, which also depicted their time in the preliminaries of the tournament inside the gymnasium.
• The plot structure of the 22nd TB is lifted from the larger storyline of the movie Five Fingers of Death, aka King Boxer. This is the same film that the "West City street fighter" scene from Episode 43 took its inspiration from. (This trivia entry courtesy of Kunzait_83)
• Papaya Island, the exact location of the Tenkaichi Budokai, is never explicitly stated in the manga; its first appearance was in Episode 83 of the anime.
• As noted previously, Toriyama used the timeskip to lengthen Goku and Kuririn's legs so that they're the same length as in the action panels. Compare the shot of Goku putting on his gi for the first time at the 21st TB compared to when he does it again at the 22nd TB. (You can see this in both the manga and the anime)
• One of the inventions of the anime is the hotel lodgings the characters use between matches both here and the 23rd TB. Not only does this provide ample oppurtunity for filler material, it also expands the Tournament across multiple days compared to the manga, where everything happens in a single day.
• The large fighter that Krillin faces first in the preliminaries bears a striking resemblance to Andre the Giant.
• The sumo wrestler beating up the heckler should have been disqualified: as explained in this arc and with Giran, fighting outside of the sanctioned matches gets you disqualified.

Episode summaries, airdates, and titles courtesy of Kanzenshuu's episode guide. Filler breakdowns and Dragon Ball logo provided, and trivia co-written, by KBABZ. Five Fingers of Death trivia courtesy of Kunzait_83. Music-related trivia courtesy of Kenisu.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

It's interesting how this is the first time that God/Kami and Yama (Yemma.etc) are mentioned in the series as far as the anime goes, and the former doesn't actually end up appearing in person until after the conclusion of the Piccolo Daimao arc while with Yama (Daio/King) his first onscreen appearance isn't until DBZ episode 6 after Goku dies having defeated Raditz along with Piccolo and then goes onward to the Next World the first time. Also, on another note Yama is another reference to Journey to the West's Enma-Daio and had also been previously depicted in Dr. Slump albeit in a much changed look compared to Dragon Ball's version of the character, and of course the Kami/God from the former is significantly different as well given that Slump's interpretation was pretty much a prototype version of Roshi only without the shades but similar enough in nearly every other regard.

[KBABZ]

So I forgot to include a fact for my contribution to the trivia, given that I haven't watched any of the filler episodes since I originally saw them on TV in 2002.

• While God and Enma are mentioned in Goku Goes To Demon World, God wouldn't be mentioned in the manga for another five months after the episode aired, while Enma would appear in the manga for ten months afterwards. As well, Enma is a real deity in asian folklore with the same role of sorting the dead, and thus isn't an original Dragon Ball character. He even appears in Journey to the West!

[MyVisionity]

I like the Demon Realm episode for the horror style opening with Misa's kidnapping. I also appreciate the mythology injected with Gora (Gozu) and Mera (Mezu), shinigami, Yama/Enma, Asura, etc. Shura is voiced by Toshio Furukawa post-Blue and pre-Ma Junior. I like how it was all "lol no biggie" for the villains at the end as they went back home. I do wonder if the staff were a bit lazy that week and just "borrowed" pieces of Sleeping Princess for this episode.

Really not a fan of Tenshinhan and Chiao Tzu showing up before the 22nd Budoukai. I think the Inoshikacho plot is kinda dumb, and a bit silly. Although I like how they use Crane in Roshi's photo album to connect the dots. However I'm also not a fan of the Dragon Team popping up in these filler eps. It's not too bad until the next episode though. That said I still like the gags up in Bulma's room at Kame House.

Konkichi is one of my favorite filler characters. I like his story and really enjoy his design. A green fox is a nice choice. I enjoy seeing Goku involved in a crime story, and Uranai Baba was a welcome addition.

The 22nd Budoukai is probably my favorite of the three. It's also the beginning of what I consider a Second Era of Dragon Ball.

I love the opening scene on the airplane to Papaya Island.

"Stewardess!"
"Yes?"
"I really need to take a dump!"
"..." "A dump...? I'm sorry, but we'll be landing momentarily; could you hold it in for just a little longer?"
"Very well... Please land quickly!"
"Certainly!"

Just awesome stuff right from the jump. Roshi is on fire this arc.

I like the Kame Style having an evil counterpart in Tsuru Style. It's a classic "sequel" move and the writing allows it to fit perfectly.

I don't mind the tournament being padded out over three days. I think it helps the narrative. I enjoyed the scenes of the gang playing cards together, as well as Roshi sneaking into the girls' room!

Suzuoki Hirotaka has a great presence as Tenshinhan. He is good at being evil and arrogant.
- Yamcha is shown flipping the bird to Tenshinhan in the manga. Did this not happen in the anime, or am I misremembering?

I enjoyed the scenes of Crane trying to pick up Bulma/Lunch outside. I like the way he caught Lunch's bullets and delivered his message for Roshi.

The sumo wrestler was funny and I liked his fight with Tenshinhan.

I like how overdramatic King Chapa's introduction was! "Don't worry. I won't kill you." "Thank you!" lol
- I like that final image of Goku facing off against a ten-foot tall Chapa.

[Robo4900]

Episode 81: Goku Goes To The Demon Realm

I love the sinister intro to this one. Much like the Sleeping Princess movie, it's somewhat un-Dragon Ball. Really neat that way. Feels like a Halloween special or something.
The shots with the mirror remind me of Jordan Peele's Us.
I like that this whole intro sequence really lets you know "You're in for something different this week."

I like how everyone offers Goku food in this filler arc. Everyone's so kind.

Y'know, if you wanted to sell someone who's only seen Z on seeing OG DB, this would probably be a solid episode to show them... Fairly quick pace, interesting, villain-based setup, really cool world ideas that it's tied into (some of which end up tying into ideas Toriyama would return to in the "Z" era), Goku is very well-defined, everything you need to know is set up in the first ten minutes...

One point against this episode is the two scenes immediately after the eyecatch, one where Roshi serves Lunch some lunch, one where Kuririn and Yamucha wonder what Goku's up to, are pretty much pointless. (And they also kinda detract from my "This is a great sample episode" idea )

Oh hey! The sound Shura makes when he uses the weird airwav-y attack is the same effect later used for Super Saiyan transformations! That's pretty neat.

"We'll meet again someday. But not too soon, I hope..."
Still waiting on that one.

I like that... Uhh... I'm bad at names. The two guarding the gate. I like that they're not particularly with the humans or with the demons, they work for the rules everyone's supposed to be following. Goku was just a sort of means to an end of fixing the problem they're facing.
I also really like that the demons are still kinda friendly with each-other, even though they worked against each-other in this conflict. It's really neat.

Honestly, I think the second half of this episode felt a little rushed, and the first was perhaps a little too long, but that said, it's a really fun episode.
I was kinda worried that this one would be too similar to Sleeping Princess as a whole, and that pairing them up so closely in this rewatch would end up having been a bad idea, but while it borrows heavily from the Sleeping Princess aesthetic -- and I would wager it uses a lot of ideas from early drafts of the scripting/brainstorming for that movie -- it's quite a different beast, and very much stands on its own.
It's a really fun episode all in all.

[KBABZ]

Oh hey! The sound Shura makes when he uses the weird airwav-y attack is the same effect later used for Super Saiyan transformations! That's pretty neat.

It actually appeared earlier! While I can't speak for filler, the earliest I've heard it is during the Blue/Tao duel. It's when Blue steps back in shock that his paralyzation technique didn't work on Tao, and his blue aura disappears.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Oh hey! The sound Shura makes when he uses the weird airwav-y attack is the same effect later used for Super Saiyan transformations! That's pretty neat.

It actually appeared earlier! While I can't speak for filler, the earliest I've heard it is during the Blue/Tao duel. It's when Blue steps back in shock that his paralyzation technique didn't work on Tao, and his blue aura disappears.

It's interesting to hear that sound effect being used earlier, especially when it's become so synonymous with the various SSJ form's auras.

[KBABZ]

Oh hey! The sound Shura makes when he uses the weird airwav-y attack is the same effect later used for Super Saiyan transformations! That's pretty neat.

It actually appeared earlier! While I can't speak for filler, the earliest I've heard it is during the Blue/Tao duel. It's when Blue steps back in shock that his paralyzation technique didn't work on Tao, and his blue aura disappears.

It's interesting to hear that sound effect being used earlier, especially when it's become so synonymous with the various SSJ form's auras.

Yeah! There's a sound effect that I have the inverse relationship with: there's a sound effect that first was used when Krillin kicks the Orin Temple monk through the wall of the TB gymnasium: it's a sort of "du-BLONG!" sound effect that I really like. The last time it's used (in Kai at least) is when Frieza kicks Goku and his face into the ground while he's trying to summon the Spirit Bomb.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

Also note that the chorus sounding music playing before Goku starts to fight is the same one later used when Piccolo is getting pummeled by third form Freeza's (the xenemorphic Alien looking transformation) finger blasts in DBZ ep 82, only the version there doesn't have the vocals. I noticed as well that Misa looks like a taller older cross between Suno and Pansy/Penny from DB movie 1.

[KBABZ]

I noticed as well that Misa looks like a taller older cross between Suno and Pansy/Penny from DB movie 1.

Yeah, this and the Heavenly Training arc have a bunch of Little Girl Characters That Look Like Suno And Are Also About Goku's Age, who are based on the minor detail that Suno was interested in Goku and could have been a romantic interest. Pansy was the first!

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I noticed as well that Misa looks like a taller older cross between Suno and Pansy/Penny from DB movie 1.

Yeah, this and the Heavenly Training arc have a bunch of Little Girl Characters That Look Like Suno And Are Also About Goku's Age, who are based on the minor detail that Suno was interested in Goku and could have been a romantic interest. Pansy was the first!

Indeed, a lot of those younger girl characters that Goku meets along the way do resemble her more than a little. I wouldn't be surprised if they just took her character model and slightly changed it around where needed. Recycling certain character's designs is nothing new with Dragon Ball, as there are other instances of this such as the one PSA special video "Goku's Traffic Safety" which has a traffic lady that is basically the "sugary sweet" Lunch only with the blonde hair color of her bad girl form rather than the proper blue.

[KBABZ]

the "sugary sweet" Lunch only with the blonde hair color of her bad girl form rather than the proper blue.

I call them Blue Launch and Yellow Launch. I've never been much of a fan of Tsushimi or whatever those two fan-names are, haha.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

the "sugary sweet" Lunch only with the blonde hair color of her bad girl form rather than the proper blue.

I call them Blue Launch and Yellow Launch. I've never been much of a fan of Tsushimi or whatever those two fan-names are, haha.

Yeah, especially since in the series proper there is no particular special name like that designated to Lunch's blonde form which is basically a play on her sneezing which causes the shift between both halves of her personality. Names like that are fan coined, though Kushami or whatever didn't become officially adopted unlike the ones for Majin Buu's various forms like Super Buu and Kid Buu or Mystic Gohan for when he powers up after trains with Old Kai and Kaioshin in the Next World.

[Robo4900]

the "sugary sweet" Lunch only with the blonde hair color of her bad girl form rather than the proper blue.

I call them Blue Launch and Yellow Launch. I've never been much of a fan of Tsushimi or whatever those two fan-names are, haha.

Yeah, especially since in the series proper there is no particular special name like that designated to Lunch's blonde form which is basically a play on her sneezing which causes the shift between both halves of her personality. Names like that are fan coined, though Kushami or whatever didn't become officially adopted unlike the ones for Majin Buu's various forms like Super Buu and Kid Buu or Mystic Gohan for when he powers up after trains with Old Kai and Kaioshin in the Next World.

Indeed. There's also Majin Vegeta, and Frost Demons, both of which were adopted by Funimation at various points. (Majin Vegeta as far back as the '00s, I think? "Frost Demon" was used to refer to Freeza's race in Xenoverse or something)

As for the two Lunches... There's a lot of ways to distinguish them... Nice Lunch/Mean Lunch, Blue/Blonde, Blue/Yellow, etc. I've personally taken to Blue/Yellow, though I think mostly because that's what KBABZ uses, and it's easy for writing the trivia and such if he and I are using the same terminology for things.

[KBABZ]

As for the two Lunches... There's a lot of ways to distinguish them... Nice Lunch/Mean Lunch, Blue/Blonde, Blue/Yellow, etc. I've personally taken to Blue/Yellow, though I think mostly because that's what KBABZ uses, and it's easy for writing the trivia and such if he and I are using the same terminology for things.

It's pretty incredible how both of us can refer to characters with sometimes very different names like Krillin/Kuririn, Lunch/Launch, Yamcha/Yamucha, Korin/Karin, Gourmet/Gurumes, Nimbus/Kinto'un, Power Pole/Nyoi-bo. Freeza/Freeza etc, and we stick to our personal preferences and yet we both know who we're talking about without having to ever acknowledge it at all. That's the magic of Kanzenshuu to me.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I call them Blue Launch and Yellow Launch. I've never been much of a fan of Tsushimi or whatever those two fan-names are, haha.

Yeah, especially since in the series proper there is no particular special name like that designated to Lunch's blonde form which is basically a play on her sneezing which causes the shift between both halves of her personality. Names like that are fan coined, though Kushami or whatever didn't become officially adopted unlike the ones for Majin Buu's various forms like Super Buu and Kid Buu or Mystic Gohan for when he powers up after trains with Old Kai and Kaioshin in the Next World.

Indeed. There's also Majin Vegeta, and Frost Demons, both of which were adopted by Funimation at various points. (Majin Vegeta as far back as the '00s, I think? "Frost Demon" was used to refer to Freeza's race in Xenoverse or something)

As for the two Lunches... There's a lot of ways to distinguish them... Nice Lunch/Mean Lunch, Blue/Blonde, Blue/Yellow, etc. I've personally taken to Blue/Yellow, though I think mostly because that's what KBABZ uses, and it's easy for writing the trivia and such if he and I are using the same terminology for things.

The Frost Demon one is interesting, especially since Freeza's race has apparently never specifically been designated with any particular given name.

[Robo4900]

And now, episode 82.

Interestingly, Mandelin writes the beast's name as Inoshi Kacho. Does seem to match the Japanese pronunciation closer than InoShikaCho or Ino-Shika-Cho. Though really, they say it more like Inosh'Kacho.

This episode wraps up into a bit of a sugar-sweet ending a bit quick for my liking. Maybe I'm just a cynical bastard, but everyone finding out about Tenshinhan's deception happens a bit quick, and Inoshi Kacho is redeemed and turns against Tenshinhan and Chaozu a bit quick... I do wonder if a more interesting, darker ending was originally pitched, but turned down. I'm picturing Inoshi Kacho's burn being far closer to fatal, and the villagers coming far closer to killing the beast, Goku having to try much harder to stop them from killing it, and the village girl having to try much harder, for much longer, to nurse Inoshi Kacho to health.
If the idea behind this episode was to set up sooner that Tenshinhan and Chaozu are dicks, and to set up Goku and Tenshinhan's rivalry early, I'd have leaned harder into the idea that they really are utter dicks about their treatment of Inoshi Kacho, and do seriously nearly result in its death, making Goku far angrier, and driving him much further, much harder, to train for facing off against Tenshinhan again at the tournament.
Just my two cents.

Overall, an okay episode in my books.

And now, #83.

Hey, Goku correctly understood that 15,000 * 2 = 30,000.

I do like that this episode doesn't faff about on the "And now Goku and his new friend have to somehow get 30,000 Zeni!" premise, it just goes straight for it.
Also, really neat to see Baba!
I'm really glad Lunch is coming to the tournament this time. Always hated that she stayed behind for the first one. And of course, at this point, Yellow Lunch isn't quite the pure gag character she was at her first introduction. In fact, to my recollection, Lunch's presence in this arc is almost entirely in her Blonde-haired form.
Another episode that, IMO, is just okay. I don't really have anything else in particular to say about it.

The Solo Training filler arc is quite fun, but far from the strongest of Dragon Ball's filler arcs. But, conceptually at least, I do like having just five or six episodes of Goku going and training himself for a while. And a few of these episodes were quite good!... I'm glad this wouldn't be the last time they'd do this. It's a solid starting point from which to tell fun stories.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

So I have some spare binging time this weekend, time to catch up with these:

Episode 81 - Goku Goes to the Demon Realm

This episode serves as a neat companion piece to the 'Sleeping Princess In Devil's Castle' movie. There is a similar dark and ominous atmosphere with Princess Misa being disturbed in her sleep and the threatening sound of clock sounds in this environment. Goku, as naive as ever is warned not to go to the Demon Land while he is alone travelling and training. Ironically enough, Goku's hunger gets in the way, and the meal he is treated to by the villagers who are initially terrified by him. This meal serves as a bridging point for the real conflict of this episode. Goku's combat skills, which were initially seen as threatening end up standing to him as it leads to him being recruited to face Shura. The scenes at Kame House and Kuririn and Yamcha's travels feels slapped on, and didn't serve the characters much other than us seeing the rude Lunch being too smart for Roshi's antics again. Goku's fight with the first demon was another entertaining one shot, once again showing how overpowered our hero has become. The fight with Shura was enjoyable too, and Goku blinding him was quite funny. In sum a decent standalone adventure that can be fun to watch during a full rewatch of the series or as a random choice.

Episode 82 - The Violent Monster Inoshikacho

While this episode would usually be your standard side quest involving how Goku's actions get the attention of a set of villagers it introduces quite significant characters to the story - Tien and Chiaotzu for the first time. That said it's not without its issues. It is quite a serious one at that as the villagers Goku saved inform him of the existence of Inoshikacho, a vicious beast that was terrorizing their home. There were some funny moments with Goku once again feeling hungry on his travels and Bulma pointing out Muten Roshi's laziness while Kuririn and Yamcha train by sparring with one another. Unsurprisingly for their first appearance we see Tien and Chiaotzu being up to no good pretending to kill Inoshikacho for the money. Tanmen's involvement left something to be desired as she doesn't have muuch to do other than be a moral anchor for Goku. Additionally, Inoshikacho's redemption was rather predictable and doesn't feel earned. This episode probably would have benefitted from being part of a longer mini-arc that is three or even two episodes to flesh out these minor characters but it wasn't bad.

Episode 83 - Hurry, Goku! The Tenka’ichi Budokai

A fun episode containing another mini side quest. It's funny to see Goku's personal development as he travels the world and how others perceive him. This episode introduces Konkichi, a seemingly innocent character who gives Goku respect for saving him, and seems willing to repay his new friend by giving him a lift to the airport. The moment at the flight gate where Konkichi realizes Goku has no money for the flight to Papaya Island was quite entertaining. This leads us on to their quest to get some money by going to a theme park. The theme park gave Goku and Konkichi a chance to win money for the former to be able to afford a flight, and although they do get the money our expectations are subverted by the Tiger gang who expose Konkichi for being a theft. Nonetheless the fact Konkichi was alone and wanted to start anew with Goku was very endearing. The scene with Roshi and gang setting off on their journey to Papaya Island served its purpose by briefly telling us the story from their perspective, although otherwise it was mostly a throwaway scene as this was largely a Goku episode. It was an enjoyable episode overall with just the right amount of tension being built for Goku to be able to make it to the tournament in time.

Episode 84 - Aim to Be the World’s Greatest Martial Artist!!

Typical last minute tension in this episode with Goku's new challenge to make it to the Tenka’ichi Budokai on time. As Goku's desire to travel the world gaining life skills thus far has been admirable we see some humility in him as he washes up beside a ferry asking for directions to Papaya Island. The banter between Goku's friends on the plane offers some balance to this fear of our hero not making it, although that tension does not entirely subside. Goku's quest for more food lightens this tension as he still has a way to go, and as his friends arrive at the tournament gronds he is still late. The emphasis on Roshi and Tsuru-Sen’nin’s rivalry was a nice touch as backstory for our heroes is always a nice touch in this particular, and significant portion of the series. The moment when Goku runs in to see all his friends at the tournament grounds was a rewarding resolution to the aforementioned tension in the episode. Once we get to the meal we get some good moments of humour with Goku once more beating everyone out at devouring what's on his plate and causing Muten Roshi's bill to escalate. Roshi's promise to be able to pay it back emphasizes the trust he has developed in Goku's skills. So with all the seriousness throughout the episode the slice of life moment of our heroes playing cards in the hotel was a neat addition and gave a calm before the storm for the end of the episode.

Episode 85 - Obsessed with Winning!! Survive the Preliminaries

Solid set up episode for the tournament as we see the thoughts that are running through our heroes heads, and the results of the progress some, but not all of them have made. Yamcha's fear of facing Goku is a testament to how fearsome Goku has become over the course of the series, especially when he was the one in the position of power when it all began in the Pilaf arc. Interestingly Kuririn shares Goku's love for constantly fighting new powerful opponents as he expresses relief he's not fighting Goku or Yamcha yet and demonstrates a level of cockiness in his own match. Yamcha remains a force to be reckoned with as he one shots his first opponent. Tien's entrance poses a threatening presence to our heroes although Kuririn shows consciousness thinking this new opponent may be all talk. This in addition to Goku and Yamcha's awe of how far his skills in combat have come puts all our heroes time training into perspective building momentum for the upcoming episodes.

[ABED]

I wonder why the anime has only this tournament take place over the course of a few days. I like it and it gives a greater sense of "epic-ness" for lack of a better term.

[MyVisionity]

I wonder why the anime has only this tournament take place over the course of a few days. I like it and it gives a greater sense of "epic-ness" for lack of a better term.

This was around the time they began to ramp up the filler so that's probably why things are padded out. They probably thought they didn't have to for the next tournament or just decided it wouldn't work.

I prefer it spread out over days too, even though some of the filler parts don't work and mess with the characters too much.