Dragon Ball Rewatch, Week 79 - DBZ 188-192

[Robo4900]

Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and everyone between and beyond, and welcome to week 79 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.

Posted an hour late to be a Monday update, but good news -- KBABZ is back!
Now, go read all the trivia they scrounged up, and then hang onto your butts for their mammoth "missed trivia" post, covering all the weeks they were away!
And if that doesn't blow your mind, then there's one more thing to get excited about: Next week is Z movie 9!... Not one of the best, but certainly one of the good ones. And then the week after that, we have the Afterlife Tournament in its entirety before finally we reach the home stretch of Toriyama's run on Dragon Ball.

Previous thread: Week 78 (DBZ 183-187)
Next thread: Week 80 (DBZ 193-194, movie 9)

Anyway, without further ado...

Episode 341 - Bye-Bye Everyone!! Goku’s Last Instant Movement (DBZ episode 188)
Dub title: A Hero's Farewell
Originally aired 2nd of June 1993
Kai equivalent: Episode 94 - The Perfect Form Breaks Down! The Super Iron Fists of Rage Explode and Episode 95 - Bye-Bye Everyone! This is the Only Way to Save the Earth
Written by: Hiroshi Toda
Episode director: Masahiro Hosoda
Animation supervisor: Yūji Hakamada

Squirming in pain, Cell returns to the stage before his perfect form. Even then he still comes at Gohan, but knowing he is no match, he swells up his body, attempting to self-destruct and take the Earth with him! As everyone is at their wits end and with only 10 seconds remaining, Goku firms his resolve! He gives his parting words to Gohan, and then teleports with Cell to Planet Kaiō, dying in the explosion with Kaiō and the rest!! The Earth has been saved, but Gohan and the others are gripped with sorrow. And then before their eyes, Cell appears once again!

Anime-only/filler content: More scenes of the Mr. Satan gang, the brief scene on Kaio's planet before Cell blows up, some of the aftermath of Goku's death.

Episode 342 - The Nightmare is Reborn!! An Absolute and Perfect Terror (DBZ episode 189)
Dub title: Cell Returns!
Originally aired 16th of June 1993
Kai equivalent: Episode 95 - Bye-Bye Everyone! This is the Only Way to Save the Earth
Written by: Aya Matsui
Episode director: Hiroki Shibata
Animation supervisor: Yukio Ebisawa

As Gohan and the others are dumbfounded after Cell kills Trunks, Cell explains that the reason he was able to revive was due to his nucleus remaining. What’s more, Cell has powered up and reached his perfect form again! Vegeta attacks him, trying to avenge Trunks, but Cell isn’t hurt by his rapid-fire attack, and easily beats Vegeta. Shielding Vegeta from Cell’s finishing blow, Gohan’s left arm is seriously injured!! Cell takes this opportunity to raise his ki, and is about to fire at Gohan.

Anime-only/filler content: More scenes of the Mr. Satan gang, a short scene with Dende and Mr. Popo.

Episode 343 - From Goku to Gohan… A Father’s Spirit is Passed Down (DBZ episode 190)
Dub title: The Horror Won't End
Originally aired 23rd of June 1993
Kai equivalent: Episode 96 - Combine Our Power! The Mightiest, Final Kamehameha
Written by: Hiroshi Toda
Episode director: Shigeyasu Yamauchi
Animation supervisor: Masayuki Uchiyama

Presently surprised at his own power, which surpasses his perfect form, Cell recalls the events that led from his creation by Doctor Gero’s computer up to the present. The ki Cell gathers is high enough to blow away the solar system, and people tremble in fear as the Earth shakes! As Gohan is overwhelmed by this power and resigns himself, through Kaio, Goku’s voices reaches him from the afterlife. Encouraged by Goku, Gohan assumes the stance with just his right arm, and shoots a gigantic Kamehameha.

Anime-only/filler content: More scenes of the Mr. Satan gang, various Namekians feeling Cell's power, Cell's flashback, Baba bringing her crystal ball to Chichi and Gyuumao on Mt. Paozu.

Episode 344 - The Fight is Over… Thank You, Son Goku (DBZ episode 191)
Dub title: Save the World
Originally aired 30th of June 1993
Kai equivalent: Episode 96 - Combine Our Power! The Mightiest, Final Kamehameha
Written by: Katsuyuki Sumisawa
Episode director: Kazuhito Kikuchi
Animation supervisor: Keisuke Masunaga

The gigantic Kamehameha that Gohan and Cell fire clash between them! This violent wind blows Kuririn, Satan, and the others all away, and the two Kamehameha struggle against each other in the wasteland! As Gohan is pushed back, Goku encourages him all the more. Piccolo backs Gohan up, despite being little help, and seeing this Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Kuririn join in, and then finally Vegeta does as well. Scolded by Goku, Gohan releases all of his power. Cell is wiped out.

Anime-only/filler content: More scenes of the Mr. Satan gang and cutaways to people watching the fight, everyone who isn't Vegeta helping Gohan fight Cell (instead of just Vegeta).

Episode 345 - I Will Carry On in the Afterlife!! Farewell with a Smile (DBZ episode 192)
Dub title: Goku's Decision
Originally aired 7th of July 1993
Kai equivalent: Episode 97 - Farewell With a Smile! Heading for New Days…
Written by: Katsuyuki Sumisawa
Episode director: Daisuke Nishio
Animation supervisor: Yūji Hakamada

Gohan collapses, having used up all of his power, and a satisfied look spreads over his face. Yamcha and the others carry him to Dende’s. Having lost his rival Goku, Vegeta flies off alone. Left in the desert, Satan announces to the television staff that he defeated Cell. Trunks and No. 18 are carried to the Heavenly Realm, and Shenlong is summoned. Shenlong restores all those killed by Cell to life, but from the afterlife Goku tells everyone that he’s fine being dead.

Anime-only/filler content: More scenes of the Mr. Satan gang and cutaways to people watching and reacting to the fight and its aftermath, an extra scene between Goku and Kaio (including him trying to eat some clouds after feeling hungry), extra scenes of people being healed, the massive celebrations of Mr. Satan allegedly defeating Cell.

-

Interesting trivia:

• At this point of time in the manga, Gohan leaves for school for the first time and the reader is introduced to Goten, Gohan tries to help Videl with a bank robbery before Videl tricks him into revealing who he is, Videl blackmails him into entering the Tenkaichi Budokai, Gohan trains with Goten while teaching Videl how to fly, Videl cuts her hair, and Vegeta learns that both Trunks and Goten and go Super Saiyan.
• Super Saiyan 2 Gohan's added aggression is very similar to how Goku acted when he first achieved Super Saiyan (which is also alluded to when Gohan is first able to do it in the Room of Spirit and Time). This is probably another reason why Goku decided to master the original form: the level of aggression when reaching Super Saiyan 2 while already being aggro from Super Saiyan 1 would have made a tiny Oozaru!
• Given that Goku begs Gohan to finish Cell off, it seems that Cell is one of the few villains that Goku would have outright killed were he able to.
• In the manga, Gohan's kick to Cell's face is enough to get him to vomit up Android 18. In the anime he follows it up with a second flying, piercing kick to the gut, possibly to justify the feeling of vomiting more strongly.
• In the manga there's a panel of Piccolo with the Earth behind him as if viewed from space. While of course meant to evoke that the Earth is about to disappear, it's also rather fitting since Piccolo may feel slightly responsible considering he's partially the former God of Earth.
• The title page of Chapter 413 shows two photos of Goku, one as an adult and another during the 21st TB Arc while training with Roshi. This keeps up the tradition of showing photos of dead characters on a dark background.
• Recurring death tallies:
  • That river fish Goku and Gohan keep killing: 6
  • Son Goku: 2
  • Piccolo: 2
  • Chaozu: 2
  • The moon: 2
  • Yamucha: 1
  • Tenshinhan: 1
  • Roshi: 1
  • Kuririn: 1
• After Goku vanishes with Cell and Gohan cries out in anguish, he reverts back to Super Saiyan 1. Similar to Goku on Namek, the villain forces him to go back up, which they do with no effort as they're still in the heat of the moment.
• Similar to Freeza, Cell introduces his highest power form, as well as the fact he's not dead, by shooting a finger beam that kills a major character (Trunks, in this case). Trunks is pierced through his pectoral (the one closest to the camera), very similar to how Frieza killed Vegeta.
  • Funimation's initial dub had Cell specify that he fully intended to kill Trunks with this beam, "My aim is as good as ever!" he says. However the "Remastered" dub fixed this to hew closer to the Japanese, where he wasn't aiming for anyone in particular, and is just glad to have killed someone.
  • Another Funimation dub change exclusive to Z episode 189 is that they slightly changed the end of Cell's monologue bragging about his survival; however, in a later episode when this scene is flashed back to, different (more accurate) dialogue is used.
  • Funimation also decided to shield any children from the freightening idea that getting shot through the chest would kill you by having Yamucha say "He might not make it!" in the Z dub.
• The 96th episode of Kai, where Gohan defeats Cell with a Kamehameha, was delayed a week due to news coverage of the Fukushima earthquake. This had a knock-on effect on Episodes 97 (the aftermath of Cell's defeat) and 98 (the denouement and Trunks returning to his future), and because Toei had already scheduled the airing of new series Toriko, Episode 98 was skipped entirely and would not be viewable in Japan until Kai released on home media. To this day, Japanese airings of Kai still skip Episode 98 and go straight to Episode 99, where Gohan attends high school for the first time.
  • With episode 98 removed, the preview intended to go on the end of that episode (previewing Toriko) was instead tacked onto the end of episode 97.
• Cell mentioning a cluster of cells in his head that allows him to regenerate from any injury introduces a curious and major plot hole, since not 13 chapters earlier Goku had decimated the entire top half of Cell's body. It's possible that the core is kept in Cell's head but subconsciously moves through the body, but if such a facet exists it certainly isn't mentioned.
• Cell's newest form is colloquially known as "Super Perfect Cell", and is often distinguished by the sparks of lightning around it, similar to Super Saiyan 2.
• Cell returning stronger than ever allows both the catharsis of the hero easily beating the villain to a pulp, followed by a more challenging and dramatic showdown. This is similar to how when Goku first achieved Super Saiyan, he wiped the floor with Frieza until the latter decided to power up to 100%.
• Funimation's dub of DBZ episode 190 features an editing mistake, of Gohan saying "Ka me ha me me ha!"
  • The "Remastered" dub specifically has its own problem in this episode, of Laurie Steele's dialogue as Baba being kept instead of being redubbed by Linda Young as had been standard in the "Remastered" dub up to that point. The same is true of the Gyuumao having his original Mark Britten dialogue kept instead of being redubbed by Kyle Hebert.
• The utterly famous and iconic shot of Gohan using a one-handed Kamehameha with his father using the move behind him has often been mis-interpreted as Goku literally contributing to the fight. In actuality, this is an entirely symbolic visual, Goku's contribution being purely motivational.
  • This shot is slightly different in the anime compared to the manga; in the anime, Goku is shown to be Super Saiyan, in the manga he isn't (since he isn't Super Saiyan in Other World, after all). Similarly, when Vegeta blasts Cell in the back, he goes Super Saiyan in the anime, whereas he stayed in his base form in the manga.
• In the manga, the scene of Gohan and Cell's last stand lasts a single Chapter. The anime stretches it out to an entire episode, including having Goku convince Gohan to unleash his full power twice instead of just once.
  • While Vegeta does in fact distract Cell to give Gohan the chance to decimate him in the manga, the anime adds Yamcha, Tien, Piccolo and Krillin throwing their hat in as well, a scene retained in Kai.
  • The panels of Cell being decimated by Gohan's Kamehameha have one of them being cut off almost entirely off the page, as if Cell has been blasted off of it.
  • In the anime, we are treated to another shot of the Kamehameha going straight up into space. This is odd because that's not the direction it was being fired relative to the Earth (it should be more like Vegeta's Final Flash, going across the Earth's surface). On top of that, Gohan is shown way up in the air before falling to the ground, when he was shown standing on the ground not a few seconds earlier.
  • Gohan throwing a thumbs up into the air is an addition of the anime.
• There are 32 redrawn shots in Kai episode 94, 28 in episode 95, 40 in episode 96, and 15 in episode 97. A lot of these were done to remove bright flashing effects.
• The title page of Chapter 417 shows Goku flying away with angel's wings, in a pose extremely similar to the cover art of Tankobon #42. Kaio meanwhile is shown with insect wings, since his antennae makes him resemble one (KBABZ always felt he looked like a catfish).
• Gohan being held up by Yamcha is very symbolic: of all the Dragon Team present, Yamcha was the first one Goku had met.
• Vegeta stating that he'll never fight again may seem out of character, but it's very well personally justified: with his main motivational rival dead, Vegeta has little reason to be a warrior anymore. Despite this, he continues to train in the 10 year time skip between the Cell and Buu Arcs. Presumably, even though he has nothing to fight for anymore, he doesn't really know what to do with himself without fighting.
• The reporter announcing that Mr. Satan has destroyed Cell is followed up by a city cheering his name. This doesn't make sense, as the cameraman said his camera stopped working around the time Gohan went Super Saiyan 2. The anime added a scene of some functional equipment in the news truck being found to explain this, which was retained in Kai.
• When Piccolo suggests they use the Dragon Balls to revive everybody, Mr. Popo is seen carrying them all in a large cup. This is the only time all seven Dragon Balls have been shown to have a dedicated method of keeping them all together; in the past they've just been strewn on the ground.
• The people killed by Androids 19 and 20 were presumably never revived, since only those killed by Cell were revived.
• The wish to revive everyone killed by Cell gets interesting when it comes to Androids 16 and 17:
  • 17 was still contained within Cell and was killed for good when Semi-Perfect Cell blew up on Kaio's world. However the audience doesn't learn that 17 is alive until Goku pleads with Earth to help with the Genki-Dama, and no allusion to his survival or if he and 18 ever reunited is ever made (possibly because Toriyama swapped him in for Lunch at the last minute).
  • 16 meanwhile was also killed by Cell, but to this day the only evidence either way on whether he was or wasn't revived by Shen Long is his total absence after the Cell Games. If he was indeed left dead, this paints an interesting picture regarding whether Shen Long considered fully robotic life forms alive or not.

Trivia primarily written by KBABZ. Episode summaries, airdates, and titles courtesy of Kanzenshuu's episode guide.

[MasenkoHA]

And so the Cell saga more or less comes to a close here and for many fans (Gohan fans in particular) this is where Dragon Ball Z should have ended. I don’t agree of course and the Boo saga has a much better ending for the story as a whole but if you’re viewing the series through the lens of “Dragon Ball is Goku’s story and Dragon Ball Z is Gohan’s story” or to be more accurate; Dragon Ball is Goku’s story until he has a son than it is his son’s story, then yeah I can see how it’s a fitting ending. Goku says his goodbyes! Gohan is now earth’s protector and realized his potential as the strongest person on earth!

Regardless, I think Toriyama was running out of things to do with Goku. He won the Strongest under the heavens tournament! He learned the truth of his past and fulfilled an ancestral legend and avenged his extinct race! So not surprising Toriyama decided to try to switch focus to Gohan. Also not surprising once Toriyama found Gohan not sufficient for a martial arts series protagonist he quickly ended the series after.


One thing the anime did that I just didn’t care for was the anime adding Piccolo, Yamucha, Kuririn, and Tenshinhan trying to help Gohan by distracting Cell and ended up being completely useless and then Vegeta shows up and does the job on his own. Way to bring down the other warriors to make Vegeta look good. It would have been just as effective and better imho if Vegeta had joined them at the last second giving enough push to distract Cell long enough for Gohan to finish the job.

[KBABZ]

oh, crap, I dropped this

The Rest of Tankobon #32

Spoiler:

• The aircraft used to transport Goku and Chi-Chi is essentially a large cargo version of the "bug jumper" craft used by the Red Ribbon Army.
• Logically, Trunks shouldn't have to worry about the time it takes to recharge the Time Machine, so long as he keeps it and himself safe. This is more of a concern in his Future Timeline simply because of how much more dangerous Earth is then.
• Vegeta is baffled with the idea that the Super Saiyan form isn't invincible, something Goku probably could have told him based on how he used it against Frieza and was still challenged, albiet briefly.
  • This deconstruction of their assumptions about Super Saiyan dovetails with Krillin pointing out that Vegeta shouldn't have been able to achieve the form based on the "pure of heart" criteria way back at the beginning of this arc. This means that the only part of the legend that's actually true is the form itself: it's not invincible, you don't need a pure heart, it doesn't happen once every 1,000 years, and as Trunks proved you aren't always a bloodthirsty warrior with it either.
• In the ViZ translation, Vegeta wonders if this is the best he can do. In the Funi dub of Kai, he says "Am I limited by more biology?", a decidedly different angle on the problem.
• Chi-Chi getting Gohan to do homework on the aircraft is an invention of the anime.
• Trunks' little zone-out flashback to the state of his Future Timeline is an addition of the anime. At this time in the franchise's history, the Future Timeline had yet to be depicted, so it was a valuable addition when it was first shown on air.
• In the manga, Bulma asks if the transport Trunks and Krillin are flying in has a fax on it, something she doesn't do in Kai. This is possibly because in 2009, nobody in the target audience would even know what a fax machine is!
  • In the manga the picture is in black and white, while in the anime it's in colour. In general faxes were almost always sent in black and white, so in the anime it was proably a printer instead. But as any printer user will tell you, the chances of a capsule aircraft just happening to be full on all four inks is EXCEEDINGLY unlikely!
• In the manga, Bulma knows the location the aged Time Machine is by checking the back of the parcel she got the photo in. This is an obvious indicator that this story was written in 1992, since the internet and smartphones weren't a thing yet to hasten the delivery of the photo.
• The excursion where Trunks flies off with Gohan to investigate the second time machine is one of the clearest indicators that Trunks: The Story hadn't been written yet as part of Trunks' backstory. If it was, then Trunks' behaviour around Gohan would have been different, considering he's the younger version of his close friend and mentor who was killed. The Mecha Frieza aftermath is another: Trunks puts all his attention towards Vegeta and none to the also-present Gohan.
• Chapter 358 marks the first time Bulma's mom has been shown in the manga since Chapter 251, where Goku visited Capsule Corp. to check on the spacecraft that would take him to Namek, published two years prior.
• In the Funi dub of Kai, the device to defeat the Androids is phrased as a "Shutdown Switch". In the ViZ manga translation it's simply called an "Off Switch", which is a bit softer since it implies that they can be turned back on again.
• It's worth pointing out that 17 had taken and destroyed the Shutdown Switch in Gero's Lab before Vegeta blew down the door. This is why Trunks is unsure that a Shutdown Switch even exists: he never saw the one Gero had before 18 crushed it.
• Interestingly, Trunks' GPS watch seems to be working. This implies that the Time Machine is not capable of spacial teleportation; while I can't speak for Super, in the manga and Z, we never see the Time Machine disappear from one time and then re-appear in another for the same time jump.
• In the ViZ manga, the "Hope!" script on the Time Machine is attributed to Trunks. It's the only translation to actually get this right: both the dub script and the subtitles incorrectly attribute it to Bulma.
• The fact that the second Time Machine still works shows that its core systems source of power can last for at least four years or so (although as Trunks notes, they were almost out of power).
• The core Time Machine part of the time machine runs on a separate power supply than the core systems. This is similar to the DeLorean Time Machine from Back to the Future, where the time machine ran on Plutonium / Mr. Fusion while the car engine still ran on gasoline.
• Kami mentioning his unease for the past four years right when Trunks, Gohan and Bulma are on the trail of Cell is something of a retcon considering this was never brought up by anybody, a factor born from Toriyama having to quickly introduce a new villain for the second time.
• When Bulma quickly departs the scene after they discover Cell's shell, she suggests Trunks should visit Capsule Corp. since it'd make her parents very happy. In the Funi Kai dub this is changed to the more humorous "I'm sure they'd get a kick out of it...".
• In the manga, 18 is only pursued by one police car for shoplifting the western dress, and takes it out with a single punch. In the anime she's chased by three, taking the extra two out by letting them drive through her arms, cutting them in half (and raising questions regarding the sheer durability of the dress).
• Ginger Town marks the start of a new series of themed names, in this case using spices as the names for towns on Earth.
• In the manga, all the panels of the TV news reports have rounded corners, like those on a bubble-shaped CRT display.
• One of the news stations covering Ginger Town is ZTV, an acknowledgement of the anime's name. They later appear in the Great Saiyaman Arc, the Jump Special, and Plan to Eradicate the Super Saiyans, as well as the Trunks Special and Bojack Unbound. ZTV is the name of a real cable television operator in Japan, which may also be where Toriyama got it from.
• Unless a Z line was cut in Kai, the manga is the only time the population of Ginger Town is ever mentioned: 15,000 people.
• The manga also has Kami explain that for Piccolo to be the dominant being of the merge, he must place his hand on Kami's chest. This logistical detail isn't mentioned in the dubs of Z and Kai.
• The richest man in Ginger Town uses the same design as the last TV reporter before Piccolo arrives there. It's unclear if they're meant to be the same person, but I figure not: the reporter's suit is black while the richest man has a lighter colour.
• The manga panel of Piccolo demanding Cell to explain how he knows his name is drawn sideways in order to fit it onto the page.
• The various changes that led to the replacement of 19 and 20, then 17 and 18, happened so fast that they fit inside the entirity of Tankobon #30. By comparison, it takes Cell two volumes to reach his Perfect Form.

Tankobon #31

Spoiler:

• Tankobon 31 is the final one to depict Gohan and Krillin in their Saiyan Armor on the Main Characters page.
• Trunks expresses unfamiliarity with Piccolo's ki after he merges. This possibly reflects that Piccolo died before he was born, but this would be strange considering Piccolo fought alongside Trunks when they battled #17 and #18 on the mountain road.
• For having merged with the Guardian of Earth, Piccolo shows little concern for destroying a town currently being investigated by news reporters.
• #16 clarifies that Ginger Town is a suburb of West City. It's likely some distance away given the Japanese would be familiar with how distant Tokyo's suburbs can be from the city center, but regardless this does place the battle very close to Capsule Corp.
• Cell's backstory would be reflected again in the "Android Chart" that serves as the cover for Chapter 367. It's unknown if Toriyama was inspired by the backstory to Super Android 13, or if Toei learned of Cell's backstory and adapted it for their movie's villains. Regardless, it's possible that Dr. Gero had samples of all the Dragon Team as a result of his spying on them with his drones, thus creating another avenue for surpassing them.
• The panel showing Goku, Vegeta, Gohan and Piccolo are all taken directly from the Saiyan Arc fight. Interestingly, the drones must have been able to recover Piccolo's cells before he died. Nothing is mentioned of Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu.
• The reverse shot of the drone is the only time it's actually depicted in the manga. In the anime it has a slightly different design, looking more like a ladybug.
• And here we get to the slightly confusing revalation that Cell took Trunks' time machine from the future. This is easily the most confusing part of the time travel situation, especially since it isn't explained or justified at all compared to all the other uses of time travel. KBABZ's opinion is that Cell comes from a "Future Timeline A", where Trunks has returned after de-activating the Androids using the plans from Dr. Gero's lab, then does the same in his future. He then sets the Time Machine for the past, where it's taken by Cell, now completed by Dr. Gero's computer.
  • The part that doesn't quite make sense is why Trunks would set the Time Machine to three years earlier, since that would place it right after he defeated Frieza and warned the Dragon Team about the Androids, and before he re-appears to help them defeat them (something which he's already done).
• Piccolo demonstrating that he can regrow limbs would prove to be a VERY costly error in the long-run: Cell uses the technique to survive multiple grievous injuries, including Vegeta's Final Flash, Goku's "Warp" Kamehameha, and his own self-destruction at King Kai's world. Cell also uses it to regrow his own tail after #16 rips it off, which would have otherwise greatly trivialized beating him.
• Cell correctly deduces that the Dragon Balls are now gone since Kami merged with Piccolo. Considering how pivotal the Dragon Balls often are to saving the day, it's odd that Kami never mentioned it to Piccolo before merging.
• This is the earliest point in time that the ViZ manga translation has characters refer to Cell as "it". The is different from Funimation's dub, which uses "he". Both have justifications: Cell is an artificial creation whose identity is stolen from others, but he is also constructed entirely from the genetic code of males.
• Cell claims that he could do a Genki-Dama if he really wanted to. Somebody, either Cell or Toriyama, has forgotten that you need a pure heart to use it (it was instrumental in allowing Gohan to rebound it in the Saiyan Arc, an arc Toriyama just took drawings from in the previous Chapter).
• Cell's dialogue suggests that the Android Shutdown Switch doesn't remove the Android's actual power, it just makes it a cinch to defeat them since they're immobilized. This isn't reflected when Krillin is debating on whether to shut down Android 18, where he's instead under the impression that it'll kill her outright.
• KBABZ actually has a unique alternative take on Cell's terminology. It never made sense to them that Cell would consider himself perfect given all his extraneous body parts like his head crests, receded tail and his huge wings. Instead KBABZ prefers to use "Complete" rather than "Perfect", which fits much better in their opinion, and this is in fact the terminology Cell uses in the manga after absorbing both the Androids.
• Piccolo suggests that Trunks and Krillin retreat the Kame House if they can't find Cell, in the hopes of catching him on the news. This is actually a terrible idea considering how isolated Kame House is from the mainland: it would make more sense to stay at Capsule Corp in West City, or the capital, which by now has been rebuilt (which we know thanks to King Furry's cameo in the Cell Games).
• Goku standing at the Kame House window is one of the few instances where he's drawn as an adult and not in his full gi.
• Goku hearing everything in his dreams is another example of Toriyama hand-waving a way for him to already know what's going on. Here it makes a bit of sense as he just got done doing that with Piccolo telling everybody about Cell.
• Chi-Chi wanting Goku to get a job is actually reflected at the start of Dragon Ball Super, where Goku works as a farmer after being brought back to life in the Buu Arc. He doesn't seem to be under the same constraints in GT while training with Uub.
• The scene of Krillin glomping Goku so hard that they break through the ship's hull is an addition of the anime. The story is no lesser for it!
• Piccolo states that Goku spent about a month (maybe less) in the Room of Spirit and Time when he was younger, suggesting that Goku attempted to use it while training for Majunior. This introduces a slight plot-hole in that Kami never suggests it for Krillin, Tien, Yamcha and Chiaotzu while they're training for the Saiyans, who may have been able to last at least a bit longer and get more out of it.
• In the time it takes for the Androids to get to Goku's House, #18 has discarded the western dress she'd shoplifted, possibly due to the much warmer climate.
• Interestingly, #16 doesn't seem to be aware that Kami's Lookout exists as a potential spot for Goku to hang out.
• #16 also states that Kame House is 2,700 kilometers from Goku's House. Assuming that his new residence is not too far from Gohan's Hut, this means that Goku and Bulma traveled 2,700 kilometers AND BACK AGAIN when helping out Turtle in the original arc (not accounting for how far they traveled on the first day, or how far away Kame House was from the beach). Considering they did that, met Oolong AND THEN YAMCHA all within a single day, they would have had to have been travelling upwards of 1,400 km/h, which Bulma accomplished on a Yamaha and Goku ON FOOT WHILE CARRYING A TURTLE.
• Once again Piccolo makes a crucial mistake by choosing to fight the Androids: Cell can detect ki. He doesn't think ahead very well, does he?
• When Goku first looks towards the Room of Spirit and Time, there's a clock on the awning above it to help keep track of time. In Kai at least, this clock is never focused on.
• #17 at least seems to take pride in that he's the strongest being on Earth. While he certainly enjoyed his superior power before, this is the first time he's taken pride in it.
• It never occurs to anyone to have Goku go to Capsule Corp., since his Instant Transmission would greatly benefit shutting down the Androids before Cell gets there.
• As noted in the original thread, in the manga Goku never punches out Gohan when he tries to leave and help Piccolo. Such a scene is an invention of the anime: Gohan remains rooted in place in the original manga.
• In Chapter 371's title page of everyone flipping the bird to Cell, only Trunks, Krillin, Yamcha and Tien are doing it. Oddly, Vegeta isn't, possibly because he has no personal stakes in the matter.
• ViZ's "preview title" for Chapter 372 at the end of 371 is "The Gloves Are Off!", possibly making a pun on the fact that 16 just fired his fist like a missile for the first time on the last page.
• The design of 16's arm cannons is very similar to that of Cyborg Tao. This could suggest that it was Dr. Gero who restored Tao's body, however this is speculation at best.
• It never occurs to #16 to cut off Cell's tail again to prevent #17 from reaching his body.

Tankobon #32

Spoiler:

• Tankobon #32 is the final one to depict Bulma in the space suit on the Main Characters page. Starting with #33 she's reduced to a headshot window, meaning she is the third-longest running character to be depicted as a full-body character. Second place goes to Krillin, who disappears from the Main Characters page starting with Tankobon #30.
• Goku's depiction meanwhile is so old that he's still sporting the Kame symbol and belt from the Saiyan Arc, despite numerous full-body depictions with more modern designs since then. This would be changed to his modern look for Tankobon #33.
• Semi-Perfect Cell brings us to the final instance of editorial meddling. This time, Toriyama's actual editor, Yū Kondō, suggested that he hurry up and have Cell transform again because his Semi-Perfect form is so ugly. To his credit, Toriyama made this a little more integrated: it's clear from the outset that Vegeta is vastly stronger than Cell, giving him reason to let him transform quickly.
• The anime has the addition of Chiaotzu being at Kame House. While Kai removed his appearance, a shot remains of him emerging from around the corner of the house reacting to Tien using the Shin Kikoho to stall Cell.
• The Room of Spirit and Time must have come with spare clothes, considering Trunks emerges much taller than before and has no awkward clothing situations like Sora at the start of Kingdom Hearts II.
• In the manga, Bulma never takes baby Trunks with her to the Lookout, presumably leaving him at Capsule Corp. under the care of her parents.
• Bulma questioning Trunks' hair growth is where we learn that only pure-blooded Saiyans have hair that don't grow. This is a slight contradiction, since Goku had his hair sliced while fighting Tao Pai-Pai and it grew back within a few panels. Possibly as a reflection of this, Funi's Kai dub re-words Vegeta's explaination slightly so that he says it retains the same shape instead. Regardless, this ignores the anime's addition of Nappa losing his hair as he gets older, which was shown much earlier in Bardock Special.
• The anime adds an amusing moment where the above information is a revalation for Goku, having always wondered why he never needed a haircut a day of his life. The Android Arc has done a lot to expand the lore of Saiyan hair, since Vegeta cites Trunks' hair colour as a reason against why he's a true Saiyan (typically Saiyan hair is always black).
• The primary design difference with Bulma's Saiyan Armor is that the front "abs" are now a rectangular shape that align with the pecs, likely to make them easier to draw. The back has been simplified too, lacking the shoulder blades visible on Frieza's Saiyan Armor.
• Goku at first doesn't mind wearing Saiyan armor, saying to Piccolo that they're "just clothes". This is contradicted somewhat when he emerges after a year, now wanting to fight in the Cell Games as an Earthling.
• Vegeta's Saiyan Armor look here is what Dragon Ball Super would give him post Resurrection of 'F', as it's his most iconic design unique to him. It's a slight contradiction, given that he wore a more futuristic version of it in RoF.
• In Funimation's dub of Kai, they regularly cycled through voice actors singing Dragon Soul. However starting with Episode 77 they use two unique mixes, having three of the six sing at once. The effect doesn't quite work: each voice actor sung the song individually rather than in unison, so when all three are singing, they often start and end words at very different times.
• When Goku and Gohan enter the Room of Spirit and Time, Goku points out that you can't feel anyone else's ki outside the room. Him saying so actually makes a bit of sense: Goku would have entered the Chamber while training with Mr. Popo, and in the anime this is when he learned how to sense ki for the first time.
• It never occurs to 16 and 18 that they could stealthily move underwater, although 16's exposed head may be a reason why they don't attempt it. Cell does in fact say it's pointless to try, but never actually mentions why that wouldn't work for them.
• It appears that Cell doesn't know that Trunks is Vegeta's son, as he calls Trunks one of his friends rather than his offspring.
• There's a clock visible on the inside of the Room of Spirit and Time in the main living area. This clock is probably used to help the occupants know what the time is back outside the chamber. The anime adds a second clock to the left of it.
• Goku mentions that the temperatures in the Room of Spirit and Time can swing between -40 and 120C (or 248F). The anime adds the embellishment that this can happen in an instant and covers the entire area in ice, something that doesn't happen in the manga.
• The Room of Spirit and Time is the first time we've seen Goku act as a father figure to Gohan in the entire story, since before there simply wasn't the time. Presumably he also acted this way pre-Raditz and in the three year Android training, but these weren't depicted in the manga and aren't a focus in the anime.
• Goku has to adjust his suggestion for who Gohan should imagine killing him from Cell to Frieza, since Gohan points out he doesn't know what Cell looks like. This is curious because Toriyama forgets this type of detail when #16 makes his final plea to Gohan: #16 has barely met any of the Dragon Team by that point and Gohan had never seen him at all before the Cell Games.
• The scene where Gohan is first able to tap into the Super Saiyan form is the longest his hair has ever been drawn. In the anime, this scene is expanded have Gohan demand Goku attack him without holding back, feeling he's going far too soft on him compared to Piccolo. Gohan achieving Super Saiyan is tied to him realizing he's always been to weak to actually help, giving him a scene of emotional catharsis like Goku and Vegeta that is absent in the manga.
• Perhaps as a reference to his editor finding Semi-Perfect Cell ugly, on his last title page Cell says he's going to miss his "cute" looks.
• Perfect Cell marks the time Toriyama got his third editor, Fuyuto Takeda. Toriyama felt that Takeda was more lenient compared to his first two, which would explain the experimental writing style of the Buu Arc.
• When Cell attains Perfect Form his spots are no longer coloured in black in the manga. Toriyama later says in an interview that he got very tired of having to colour them all in, which would explain the change. When Cell briefly returns to being Semi-Perfect in the Cell Games however, his spots are still coloured in. What a champ!
• After Cell attains Perfect Form, the anime adds a scene where Dende and the other Namekians are able to sense Cell's ki from New Namek. This scene was likely introduced to remind the audience that the Namekians exist, laying up Goku retrieving Dende as the Earth's God later on (which had already happened in the manga).
• Cell attaining his Perfect form is the first time the manga uses the word "exponential" to describe a character's power growth, at least in the ViZ translation. The Funimation dubs are rather infamous for overusing the word.
  • For the record, exponential refers to a growth rate that "accelerates". For example, 5-10-15-20-25 is a steady growth, while 5-10-20-40-80 would be exponential growth.
• The anime also adds additional scenes of Krillin trying to fight Cell and helping 18 lift 16 so they can try to escape. An infamous moment is where Krillin throws a Kienzan right at Cell's neck, only for it to shatter. This makes Cell the ONLY person able to withstand the attack, since Krillin never attempts the move again.
• Vegeta's being a hypocrite for criticizing Cell's unimproved sense of honour considering some of his past actions, such as destroying the crippled Nappa or many of his kills on Namek.
• During their fight, Cell pushes Vegeta away with the only foot-based Kiai in the story.
• Trunks being able to attain a power higher than Vegeta sounds impossible considering he should have noticed it while in the Room of Spirit and Time. However, Goku mentions that the space is about the size of the entire Earth, which would give ample distance for Trunks to achieve it without Vegeta noticing.
• Vegeta's Final Flash is only the second attack to be depicted from space in the manga: the first was Goku's Genki-Dama back on Namek. The Cell Games would feature several more of these.

Tankobon #33 - Part 1

Spoiler:

• Toriama's comment in the front of Tankobon #33 mentions that he's been doing a weekly serial for 13 years (thanks to Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump), and it's beginning to wear him down "physically and mentally". This could be seen as a premonition to his rather loose writing style in the Buu Arc and his sudden conclusion of the manga.
• The first panel of Chapter 387 is the same as the last panel of 386. Interestingly however, 386 was an inked issue, while 387 wasn't!
• Both the anime and the manga intercut between Trunks fighting Cell and Goku achieving Ascended Super Saiyan. This is an artistic trick: in reality several days or even weeks would have passed inside the chamber in the brief time we see Trunks continue to fight.
• The term Ascended Super Saiyan is actually somewhat vague; KBABZ and Robo prefer the term "Super Saiyan Overdrive"; while it sounds very kooky, "Overdrive" gets to the heart of what they're doing far more than "Ascended" does.
• As Vegeta notes, Goku is actually very clever by perfecting the Super Saiyan form, as it means you expend no energy retaining it and your mind is at its sharpest. More than that however, it renders the jump to Super Saiyan 2 similar to going from base form to Super Saiyan 1, a significantly easier thing to do.
• Further, as Goku finds out himself in Other World, each Super Saiyan form requires a much higher energy draw than the one before it, to the point that he can barely get to Super Saiyan 3 even with the unlimited energy granted by being dead. This is alluded to when he decides that Super Saiyan 1 is the best back in the Room of Spirit and Time, and Dragon Ball Super has the Super Saiyan Blue form use the original Super Saiyan rather than SS2 or SS3.
• How Cell was able to tell the quality of the rock in the spot he settled on is never explained.
• The city that Cell visits features pyramid-shaped buildings rather than spherical ones! This means some bear a strong resemblance to the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. This is possibly Central City, as Cell mentions it as being where the Cell Games arena is close to, and he just flew over from there.
• The wall of the news room on the TV has blood splatters on it, painting a grisly picture of what Cell did to the news anchor.
• The front of Roshi's TV has VCR spelt as "VTR", which stands for Videotape Recorder and is used in Britain (KBABZ can confirm it is not used in New Zealand). In the ViZ translation, Mr. Satan says he's set his VCR to record himself at the Cell Games.
• The back of Roshi's TV also has three cables hooked up to it, suggesting that it's capable of stereo sound.
• In the ViZ translation, the Cell Games are called the "Cell Game", no plural. Why exactly I can't figure out.
• Amusingly, Piccolo and Mr. Popo have a portable TV and a sattelite dish hooked up to a generator, suggesting that the Lookout has no electricity.
• The wide shot of Bulma's workshop reveals that Android 16's green jacket is a vest of armour and not integrated into his body.
• This shot is also the first time the entire Briefs family is gathered in a single room together!
• Cell makes a point to symbolically aim his energy blast at the globe on the wall as he fires a ki blast out of the news room.
• The final panel of Chapter 389 has Gohan strike Goku in the arm with a flying leg blow. This setup will be re-used for Goku facing Vegeta in artwork that would make its way onto the "Rock the Dragon" DVD set.
• According to conventional wisdom in the western fandom, The Return of Cooler, Super Android 13, Broly and Plan to Eradicate the (Super) Saiyans all take place in the 10 days leading up to the Cell Games, despite the implausibility of five incredibly strong individuals showing up within that space of time.
• In the opening city panel of Chapter 390, one of the aircraft is identical to the one Bulma and Yamcha fly away in at the end of the opening arc. Another has a very similar design to the "Flying Wing" from Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was based on the Ho 299 prototype fighter designed by the Nazis for WWII (but never put into production). The ship also has a striking resemblance to the J-type diplomatic barge, the chrome ship seen at the very start of Star Wars: Episode II, which released 10 years after Chapter 390 was published.
• Cell's "decorations" for the Cell Games arena amounted to raising the tiles up and four spikes at each corner. Not very creative, is he?
• Goku passing on using the Room of Spirit and Time again is the earliest inkling that he plans to have Gohan's rage help him get to Super Saiyan 2 and defeat Cell, with nothing else being cut for the task. Of course, that's not at all apparent at this point in time, and Piccolo later chews him out for not even discussing it with Gohan.
• This is the first time Goku has actually set foot in Korin's Tower since Yajirobe took him there in the aftermath of his fight with Piccolo Daimao.
• As you can imagine, the anime padded out Goku's demonstration of his power to Korin significantly. In the manga, he just shoots straight to half power for a few seconds before stopping.
• The break before the Cell Games is the first time Goku has been depicted in casual clothes, something normally reserved for title pages and Tankobon covers.

Broly, The Legendary Super Saiyan

Spoiler:

• The opening of the movie having the Narrator being followed up by Kaio possibly alludes to them sharing the same voice actor and having similar roles.
• Chi-Chi acts rather hypocritical when she criticizes Goku's vocabulary in that same vocabulary!
• This movie is the first time we get some sort of depiction of Goku travelling when using Instant Transmission. This is actually inaccurate since it functions like teleportation, meaning he "pops" there rather than moving very quickly. Sort of the teleportation version of the Back to the Future time machine.
• Paragus is a name pun on Asparagus, while Broly is named after broccoli. Both adhere to Saiyans being named after vegetables. The script makes a reference to this when Roshi mistakenly refers to Broly as Broccoli.
• Paragus seems to be aware that it was Frieza who destroyed Planet Vegeta, a fact that only Frieza, Zarbon and Dodoria knew about.
• Paragus is the first, and possibly only, character to let Goku know the name of his father.
• It's unknown how exactly Paragus knows that Broly and Goku were born right after each other, and that Goku is that same baby (possibly the haircut?).
• I'm honestly getting sick and TIRED of Oolong and Roshi being inserted into every movie's storyline. It's annoying and adds NOTHING to the stories.
• The portrayal of Goku's pod next to Paragus contradicts the Bardock Special, where Goku is kept in a different facility. He would have to be moved after Broly passes by him to the "Broly" facility, which is where King Vegeta attempts to kill Broly with a dagger.
• It's never made explicitly clear whether the Legendary Super Saiyan is the same person who originally inspired the legend, at least in the original Japanese script.
• The audio mix of the Broly movie seems to have the same mixing errors as Cooler's Revenge, frequently having sound effects mixed incredibly quietly or be missing altogether.
• This is the first time Roshi has used his muscular form since blowing up Fire Mountain way back in the opening arc.
• When Roshi does his "use a mask to quickly swap faces" routine, one of the faces he adopts is literally Arale's face. It appears for a single frame. Another gives him a Super Saiyan beard.
• The reveal of Piccolo in the movie once again uses the Daimao theme.
• As would be revealed later in the movie, Piccolo uses Goku's old Capsule Corp. spaceship in order to reach New Vegeta.
• If I had a dollar for every time Gohan says "Piccolo-san" every time he showed up to save him in a movie I'd never have to work for the rest of my life.
• Piccolo's more friendly nature implies that he's merged with Kami by the time the movie takes place. Vegeta wearing Bulma's Saiyan Armor is another hint as to when it takes place.
• Trunks knows how to use the Masenko, possible because Gohan taught him how in the Original Timeline.
• Broly's words are correct: he's survived the explosion of a planet before, as an infant!
• Broly is the first time the act of giving ki to another person is depicted as anything other than blue balls of light. Here it's transparent, wispy green streams of ki.
• Goku's final punch against Broly is one of the rare instances of the punch visibly ripping through the body of the opponent.
• The end card previewing the story that happens back on the regular show has a major error: it depicted Gohan in Goku's Cell Games gi rather than in Piccolo's outfit like what actually happens.

Tankobon #33 - Part 2

Spoiler:

• The uniforms used by the Royal Army are consistent with the Palace Guards at King Furry's Palace at the end of the Daimao Arc.
• Piccolo confirms that nobody knows which star system New Namek is in. Unless they asked for seclusion in the wake of Frieza, this is rather odd, considering they live on their new home thanks to wishes made on Earth.
• The shot of King Furry's palace confirms that Central City, the capital, has been rebuilt after it was flattened at the end of the Piccolo Daimao Arc.
• The wide shot when Goku first arrives on New Namek is the first time we see a Namekian plant that ISN'T an Ajisa tree!
• As is quite famous by now, the original Funimation dub censored Mr. Satan's name to Hercule, and is one of the easiest ways to tell if another dub has been using Funimation's script or not. The ViZ manga translation also uses Hercule, but in his introduction the announcer slyly references that he was formerly known as Mr. Satan.
• Dende remaking the Dragon Balls results in a significant inconsistency: he states that in order to wish many people to bring back to life, the number of wishes will be reduced to two. This would be contradicted in the Buu Arc when the count is magically back up to three wishes.
  • KBABZ offers this interpretation as a workaround: the number of wishes is reduced to two for that wish session, thus solving the inconsistency.
• In the anime, Dende speaks Namekian clearly and audibly to the audience. In the manga he only says "*mumble mumble*", possibly because Toriyama didn't want to draw the Namekian text in the speech bubble.
• In the manga, the date of the Cell Games is "M____ the 17th"; this can't be accurate as the Androids first appeared on May 12th. Even assuming the entire Android and Cell situation occured in a single day (which they do not, three days are spent searching for Cell), the Cell Games take place 10 days after Cell attains perfection. The anime uses the more accurate date of the 26th of May, which the Kanzenban and Full Colour editions adopted.
• The start of DBZ episode 171, the one about Gohan's birthday, has the river fish ONCE AGAIN killed by Goku!!
• At some point in time during the wait for the Cell Games, Goku concieves Goten with Chi-Chi. Maybe that's what Goku meant about three days of going all-out!
• Goku's hunt for the Dragon Balls is the shortest on record thanks to his Instant Transmission ability, being able to find all of them in an afternoon. This is also the first time the Namekian Dragon Radar has been used to track down the Earth Dragon Balls, and they will a second time in the Buu Arc.
• The reveal of the new Dragon Balls not being able to bring back those who have already died was likely inserted to put in risk and stakes for the Dragon Team, as aside from Trunks and Gohan all of them have died before.
• The broadcast of Mr. Satan on the building-sized TV is the first time we've seen them since before Namek. It has "ZTV" on top, implying that each TV building is owned by a specific network.
• Mr. Satan's top students, Piroshki and Caroni, as well as his top agent Miss Piiza, are inventions of the anime. Caroni is named after Macaroni, Piiza after Pizza, and Pirozhki after a Russian fried bun. All three of them are retained in Kai due to how present they are, and they also appear in the opening God of Destruction Arc of Super.
• In the Funimation dub, Pirozhki was Kyle Herbert's first role in the anime before taking over as the narrator.
• When Android 16 arrives, Vegeta is surprised that he's been repaired and figures only Bulma is capable of doing so. This is odd of him to say considering he was in Bulma's workshop during the original Cell Games announcement, with 16 visible on the table!
• The panel of Cell striking Mr. Satan away is the smallest panel on the page it's on.

Trunks: The Story and The History of Trunks
Trunks: The Story

Spoiler:

• The original placement of Trunks: The Story was during Trunks' "Ascended" fight with Cell, somewhat appropriate as it's the final time Trunks will be a featured character until he returns to the future. In the Tankobon release, it's placed at the end of Tankobon #33, right after Cell swats Mr. Satan away like a bug. The History of Trunks aired after the episode everyone arrives at the Cell Games; had it waited a week earlier, it would have aligned perfectly with the Tankobon placement!
• One of the biggest differences between Trunks: The Story and History of Trunks is that the title character is able to go Super Saiyan right off the bat in the manga; in the anime special he cannot initially do it.
• The title page and first two pages of Trunks: The Story are coloured, but the rest of the manga is in black and white.
• Trunks: The Story also clarifies where Senzu Beans come from: they grow from the Senzu Plant. In the original future it died via unknown means; a possible explaination is that Korin was killed and thus was unable to care for it.
• It also reveals that Senzu Beans are capable of regrowing entire limbs, a feat that has yet to be depicted. This is greatly dramatized in amusement park scene in The History of Trunks, but the dialogue itself is left completely out.
• Curiously, Gohan keeps the left sleeve of his undershirt despite missing his left arm. The loose sleeve is much longer than the other in the manga, while in The History of Trunks they both almost reach his elbows.
• 17 complaining that his clothes aren't as durable as their bodies is somewhat amusing considering the amount of abuse the often take without any damage whatsoever.
• Piecing things together through dialogue, it appears that Gohan lost his arm a year prior and has avoided fighting the Androids since then in order to train. This detail is left completely out of the anime version.
• In the manga, we don't see Gohan fight the Androids in the city at all: 17 reveals he was only fighting at half power, something the anime doesn't include.
• Trunks' solo fight against the Androids isn't shown in the manga, but by the same token, Trunks flying through the air and equipping his sword isn't shown in the anime.
• Trunks: The Story also confirms the amount of time it takes for the time machine to charge up for a round trip: eight months. Bulma notes that she can't even do a test run if it takes that long, but given it's a time machine, that's less of an obstacle than it appears to be.
• Bulma also notes that her lab was destroyed, meaning that the building she and Trunks are in at the end isn't Capsule Corp. The anime shows her in Capsule Corp. in the first half of the story, but after the three year timeskip, is in the second building as in the manga.
• In the manga, the radio says the Androids are attacking 300km South of West City. In the anime, it's 900 meters South, and in a named town called Bridgetown.

The History of Trunks

Spoiler:

• The wide shot of the island off the coast of South City is not accurate to its depiction in the manga or anime: it is far larger and the city lacks the mountains from which the Dragon Team keep an eye out in the Familiar Timeline.
• As well, the narrator says that the Androids appear six months after he dies, meaning that in the Familiar Timeline, Goku contracts it six months later than he did in the Original one.
• Further, the special depicts them fighting only Androids 17 and 18 despite it being well-known by now that 19 and 20 originally attacked the island. The special appears to take the path of saying that 19 and 20 NEVER attacked the island in the Original Timeline.
• Vegeta is depicted as a Super Saiyan when dying to 17 and 18. Considering Goku was his primary motivator, and they weren't warned of the Androids in advance, it's not unreasonable to assume that Vegeta may not have ever achieved it in the Original Timeline.
• In the close-up of 18's hand, a point is made to have her hooped earring glint, possibly an allusion to Trunks calling them out as a distinguishing feature of her and 17.
• The people of Peppertown seem to have gone to the Prometheus School of Running Away From Things!
• The table at Kame House has a Formula 1 car on it and a baseball on the floor, alluding to two of Toriyama's favourite sports.
• When 18 wears the cyan business suit, she has red eyes, possibly wearing contact lenses.
• 17 trying to run everybody over was alluded to in dialogue in the manga, where 18 suggests they do that to stave off his boredom. This line is then used later on in the special.
• The car that Bulma drives early in the special is the same car Trunks would use to deliver her food at the end of the manga chapter, and isn't seen at the end of the special when Trunks arrives with food.
• The shot of 17 and 18 leaving through the fire of the gas station is extremely similar to the shot of the T-1000 walking out of the fire in Terminator 2.
• The symbol on Gohan's back is "Han", the second symbol in the word "Gohan", the word for rice that means "venerable food" (it's used more often in China). This is therefore similar to when Goku wore the symbol for "Go" on the front of his gi in the Namek Arc. In the manga, the symbol is almost entirely off-panel.
  • Speaking of which, Goku having the Go symbol is very appropriate because it's an honourable prefix, befitting of the story's protagonist.
• The Trunks Special is the first time Masako Nozawa voices a grown-up Gohan, seven months before she'd voice high school Gohan in the Great Saiyaman Arc.
• Bulma's remark that Gohan looks just like his father is something only mentioned after the fact in the manga. In both instances Gohan states he made it in the hopes of being strong like him.
• Apparently Trunks can't swim very well.
• Trunks mentions that Vegeta died soon after he was born. This means that Trunks must have only just been born when Goku dies of the Heart Virus, and even then it's a bit of a stretch considering the Androids show up half a year later.
• Apparently you can just phone up the entire military in the Original Timeline.
• The pose where 18 has her arm across her chest in a fighting pose is taken directly from the scene where she fights Vegeta on the mountain road.
• While fighting Gohan, 18 uses an upside-down pose to fire a ki blast. This would later be used as part of her moveset in Dragon Ball FighterZ despite only appearing for about a second. The move where 17 and 18 stand back-to-back to fire a combined beam is also used as a move in the game.
• History of Trunks has Gohan lose his arm AND gain his scar in the same event.
• Gohan has the exact same cheek pad an head bandages that Trunks later will when he wakes up from losing a fight to the Androids.
• History of Trunks also shows Bulma working on the time machine around when Gohan dies, where the outer body has been finished. The manga version makes no indication of when she started, but the implication is that she didn't start it until after Gohan died.
• It takes The History of Trunks 25 minutes and 35 seconds to adapt a scene from Trunks: The Story.
• In the manga, Gohan uses a "Look over there!" ruse to distract Trunks so he can knock him out. In the anime, he's able to do it covertly without any ruses.
• Two of the shots in the scene before Trunks fights 17 and 18 on his own use the same background painting, making for an odd experience considering they're intended to be reverse angles of each other.
• 17 is able to catch Trunks' sword, much like Goku will do when Trunks spars with him.
• In the shot where 17 raises his hand to finish Trunks off, his mouth is open, then fades to his mouth being closed.
• In the manga, Bulma says that Trunks will go 17 years into the past to give Goku the Heart Virus medicine. In the anime she says 20 years, possibly an attempt to acknowledge the three year timeskip after Gohan's death (which wasn't actually causing any continuity issues).
• The two shots of Goku while Bulma is talking about him are taken from the 23rd TB, the first of Goku rejecting Kami's offer of Godhood, and the second when he meets with Bulma before the tournament, after unwrapping his turban.
• The anime makes a point of showing the "Hope!" text on the hull of the time machine, something not shown in the manga version of the story.
• The vial of heart medicine that Bulma gives Trunks doesn't have a label on it like it does when he gives it to Goku.

Tankobon #34

Spoiler:

• The art on the front of Tankobon #34 of Goku on the Capsule Corp. bike would be re-used in the new Dragon Ball Z intro of Gohan cycling to school.
• Tankobon #34's Contents header art is of Krillin peeing the word in the snow.
• The reporter claims that Mr. Satan will fight again after he's taken a short break. However by the rules he isn't allowed to compete again since he lost his fight.
• When Cell strikes Goku's Kamehameha away, the ball "head" of the attack is all that flies away. This suggests that the ball at the front is propelled by the beam coming from the hands.
• The opening panel of Chapter 398 shows the full length of one edge of the Cell Games arena, which is made up of 35 tiles, each about a meter in length. It's worth noting that Cell explicitly states that he made the arena larger than the Tenkaichi Budokai arena while making his. It's unknown if he's referring to the old arena, but my money is that he was.
• The moment where Vegeta educates Trunks on why Goku would never accept a Senzu Bean is arguably the first time he talks to his son as a father.
• In the panel where Goku looks up to where Piccolo and Gohan are standing, the action lines are centered on Piccolo, briefly tricking the reader into thinking Goku will call upon Piccolo rather than the kid standing next to him.
• When Goku announced Gohan as the next challenger, the cameraman says to the reporter that he said "rice" (which is what Gohan's name means), and the reporter thinks they're calling for a lunch break. In the anime the reporter then assumes that Gohan is a bento vendor, while in Funi's Kai dub he thinks he's a waterboy, since Dragon Ball is clearly not Japanese so why confuse the audience.
• In the panel where Goku jumps up to meet Gohan, two Ms can be seen overlaid on top of him. This is likely the "Vmm" sound effect, only Toriyama forgot to erase it when moving it to a sound effect bubble.
• In the ViZ manga translation, Goku says that Gohan wants to become a scientist. In his introduction Gohan says he wants to be a scholar, which is reflected in the EoZ portion at the end of the story. Curiously, in The History of Trunks Chi-Chi also says he would have been a scientist.
• The title page of Chapter 404 is an iconic one, showing Cell Games Gohan with his Raditz, Saiyan and Namek appearances behind him. The logo from this title page would later be used for the Dragon Box Z DVD collection.
• In the panel where Cell pushes Gohan away with a Kiai, his right wing is much stubbier and less pointy than it should be.
• The panel where Chi-Chi faints after seeing Gohan Kiai's through some mountains is the first time Ox-King has been depicted since they stormed Kame House demanding to know where Goku and Gohan were in the Raditz section.
• Goku not realizing that #16 doesn't have sense-able ki is a plot hole, since this was very much a factor when #19 and #20 originally showed up at the start of all this.
• The title page of Chapter 406 shows Goku, Chi-Chi and young Gohan in a hovercar. While not the same model by any means, it bears a striking similarity to the hovercar used for Chapter 171's title page showing Goku and Chi-Chi after getting marries.
• The Cell Jr.s notably lack Cell's tail, meaning they themselves are unable to reproduce in the same way Cell can.
• Android 16's passionate speech to Gohan is undermined significantly when you remember that Gohan and 16 had never met prior to the Cell Games. Regardless they both have similar perspectives, being nature-loving individuals who must call upon their power to protect it.
• Unlike Super Saiyan 3, the difference between Super Saiyan 1 and 2 is more subtle. Almost all hair tends to be pushed completely vertically into spikes rather than just "lifted", the hair's spikes are much more defined, and it's almost always accompanied by lightning (at least in the manga; it's much less present in the anime). The aura also tends to be much spikier and aggressive-looking.
  • Between his already vertiacl hairstyle and the anime often not showing the lightning due to it being a visual effect, it can be difficult to tell when Vegeta is Super Saiyan 2.
  • It would take a while for Super Saiyan 2 to be given a proper name: at the time it was simply referred to as "beyond Super Saiyan". It would gain it's name when Goku demonstrates all three to Buu, to compare to Super Saiyan 3 and the original form.
  • As noted in the May 2013 V-Jump interview, Toriyama completely forgot about Super Saiyan 2, and by the production of Battle of Gods he assumed that Super Saiyan 3 was actually 2.
  • The shots of Gohan eviscerating the Cell Jr's was actually censored in the anime (rather than being more gory as is usually the case). In the manga you can see visible entrails as Gohan's attacks rip them to pieces, while in the anime they're split with little gore before exploding in a grey cloud.

Tankobon #35

Spoiler:

• The cover of Tankobon #35 is of Goku saluting the reader and saying "Good Bye!". This is similar to the cover for the last Tankobon, #42, only with his hand further away from his head.
• In interior title art of Tankobon #35 is artwork of Goku as a kid, on Namek and as a Super Saiyan. Very appropriate considering that, at the time it was originally published, Goku was dead for good.
• The contents banner for Tankobon #35 is of Kid Goku saying "Contents!". He's in a setting very similar to the area where he first met Yajirobe.
• The Main Characters page of Tankobon #35 feature a small panel showing Kaio, likely because he hasn't been seen very much since the Namek Arc ended.
• After Cell finally shows his full power, Goku says that he "can feel the whole planet trembling". This factor has been the source of many rebuttals over the Buu Arc and GT being non-canon, since they'd by physically impossible without destroying the Earth (that they happen to stories they don't like at all is of course purely secondary). This ignores the fact that Vegeta was able to do something similar way back in the Saiyan Arc.
• Gohan's returning Kamehameha is shown, perhaps rather intentionally, from similar angles and Goku's Kamehameha when fighting against Vegeta. Notably, Gohan doesn't spend a lot of time charging his, he practically whispers the words and doesn't take the time to charge his hands with ki.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

And so the Cell saga more or less comes to a close here and for many fans (Gohan fans in particular) this is where Dragon Ball Z should have ended. I don’t agree of course and the Boo saga has a much better ending for the story as a whole but if you’re viewing the series through the lens of “Dragon Ball is Goku’s story and Dragon Ball Z is Gohan’s story” or to be more accurate; Dragon Ball is Goku’s story until he has a son than it is his son’s story, then yeah I can see how it’s a fitting ending. Goku says his goodbyes! Gohan is now earth’s protector and realized his potential as the strongest person on earth!

Regardless, I think Toriyama was running out of things to do with Goku. He won the Strongest under the heavens tournament! He learned the truth of his past and fulfilled an ancestral legend and avenged his extinct race! So not surprising Toriyama decided to try to switch focus to Gohan. Also not surprising once Toriyama found Gohan not sufficient for a martial arts series protagonist he quickly ended the series after.


One thing the anime did that I just didn’t care for was the anime adding Piccolo, Yamucha, Kuririn, and Tenshinhan trying to help Gohan by distracting Cell and ended up being completely useless and then Vegeta shows up and does the job on his own. Way to bring down the other warriors to make Vegeta look good. It would have been just as effective and better imho if Vegeta had joined them at the last second giving enough push to distract Cell long enough for Gohan to finish the job.

Yes, i think this was the point in which Toriyama was really trying to push Gohan into taking over the starring role from here onward. Though of course partway into the Buu arc soon after realized he wasn't going to cut it and had no choice but bring Goku back to life once again and go back to being main character again as the series was in the home stretch. Even with all the establishment he'd tried to do it just ultimately didn't work out.

[KBABZ]

once Toriyama found Gohan not sufficient for a martial arts series protagonist he quickly ended the series

You call two years "quickly"?!

[MasenkoHA]

once Toriyama found Gohan not sufficient for a martial arts series protagonist he quickly ended the series

You call two years "quickly"?!

The entire Boo arc was 2 years. (And half a year was breaks so really a year and half) He didn’t immediately change his mind and go “Actually no Goku should be the main protagonist” as soon as he started writing the Boo arc. Once Goku officially takes his spot back as the main protagonists (so after Gohan fucks up and Gotenks and Piccolo gets absorbed and Goku has to come back to life to intervene) the story ends soon after. There aren’t any further arcs after Boo.

[MyVisionity]

One thing the anime did that I just didn’t care for was the anime adding Piccolo, Yamucha, Kuririn, and Tenshinhan trying to help Gohan by distracting Cell and ended up being completely useless and then Vegeta shows up and does the job on his own. Way to bring down the other warriors to make Vegeta look good. It would have been just as effective and better imho if Vegeta had joined them at the last second giving enough push to distract Cell long enough for Gohan to finish the job.

I didn't see it as them being brought down, I thought the anime was showing them some respect by including them instead of just Vegeta. They weren't completely useless as they distracted Cell and allowed Gohan to hold on. It makes sense that Vegeta would get a better shot in as he's more powerful than the rest of them. Plus it looks more dramatic him coming in at the last second.

What I appreciated about that episode was how it represents that the Z-Senshi are martial artists above all else. They couldn't just stand back because their spirits were being drawn into the heat of battle. Vegeta's as well. It's what binds them all together and what drives them in spite of anything else. As martial artists they had no choice but to keep fighting until their last breaths.

17 was still contained within Cell and was killed for good when Semi-Perfect Cell blew up on Kaio's world. However the audience doesn't learn that 17 is alive until Goku pleads with Earth to help with the Genki-Dama, and no allusion to his survival or if he and 18 ever reunited is ever made (possibly because Toriyama swapped him in for Lunch at the last minute).

I know the episode is for next week, but in 193 Kuririn asks Shenlong to have the bombs inside of 17 and 18 removed. It's mentioned that after the wish to revive Cell's victims, 17 is probably alive.

[KBABZ]

once Toriyama found Gohan not sufficient for a martial arts series protagonist he quickly ended the series

You call two years "quickly"?!

The entire Boo arc was 2 years. (And half a year was breaks so really a year and half) He didn’t immediately change his mind and go “Actually no Goku should be the main protagonist” as soon as he started writing the Boo arc. Once Goku officially takes his spot back as the main protagonists (so after Gohan fucks up and Gotenks and Piccolo gets absorbed and Goku has to come back to life to intervene) the story ends soon after. There aren’t any further arcs after Boo.

I linked to the Buu Arc as a rebuttal to your claim that Toriyama made Goku the protagonist and then wrapped the story up quickly. He didn't. Goku IMO is back as the protagonist once they leave the 25th TB. Certainly by that point he had discarded the original Gohan High School storyline and fell back to doing another Villain Arc.

[jjgp1112]

You call two years "quickly"?!

The entire Boo arc was 2 years. (And half a year was breaks so really a year and half) He didn’t immediately change his mind and go “Actually no Goku should be the main protagonist” as soon as he started writing the Boo arc. Once Goku officially takes his spot back as the main protagonists (so after Gohan fucks up and Gotenks and Piccolo gets absorbed and Goku has to come back to life to intervene) the story ends soon after. There aren’t any further arcs after Boo.

I linked to the Buu Arc as a rebuttal to your claim that Toriyama made Goku the protagonist and then wrapped the story up quickly. He didn't. Goku IMO is back as the protagonist once they leave the 25th TB. Certainly by that point he had discarded the original Gohan High School storyline and fell back to doing another Villain Arc.

But Gohan was still given the primary role - for instance, the manga treats Goku and Vegeta's fight as merely a B-plot to Gohan and Supreme Kai's adventures, and then afterwards Gohan is given the function Goku had in the previous three arcs, getting sidelined with his absence serving as a source of tension until he finally shows up and saves the day. It's the final part of that equation where Toriyama finally abandons him. Even when Gohan wasn't in the spotlight, the saga was still building up to him ultimately saving the day. And then when it got there, it threw it away.

I've said in other threads, but my personal theory is that Toriyama changed his mind probably a chapter or two after giving Gohan his father's outfit. He probably definitively realized he was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, and thus went back to the round peg.

[MasenkoHA]

What jjgp said.


Even if Toriyama had decided on Goku being the main character again once the Boo arc officially starts (which I doubt) Gohan is still serving as the lead with the narrative taking him out of the conflict (as has been done with Goku since Daimao!) and building up his eventual comeback to save the day.

[Robo4900]

I've never understood Toriyama's view that Gohan couldn't be the new main protagonist. Gohan seemed to be a good lead to me, Videl a good foil to his shenanigans. Dragon Ball led by Gohan has a very different feel from Dragon Ball led by Goku, but I think it worked.

I do think the approach Toriyama had for the Boo arc's Gohan-led conclusion was a bit wrong-headed in terms of Gohan being given crazy power with which to fight Super Boo, and he was right to junk that conclusion, but his way of doing that was sudden and jarring, and at this point, the arc completely runs out of steam until Super Boo becomes Kid Boo.
To me, the Boo arc overall is much like the Cell arc in that they're both a series of hard swerves into different stories by an indecisive Toriyama at the end of his rope in terms of ideas for how to move forward with Dragon Ball. I do still enjoy the Boo arc a lot, and these days I consider it better than Cell as a whole, but both clearly suffer from Toriyama changing his mind every five minutes. Cell was affected worse in many ways, because we kept getting introduced to the real villain of the story, which is a pretty tiring twist when you do it three times.

[MasenkoHA]

I've never understood Toriyama's view that Gohan couldn't be the new main protagonist. Gohan seemed to be a good lead to me, Videl a good foil to his shenanigans. Dragon Ball led by Gohan has a very different feel from Dragon Ball led by Goku, but I think it worked.

Perhaps he just didn’t think a character more interested in academics wasn’t fit to lead a martial arts story. But it’s odd for him to have to come to the conclusion when Toriyama said he created Gohan to be like that to contrast Goku.

I do think the approach Toriyama had for the Boo arc's Gohan-led conclusion was a bit wrong-headed in terms of Gohan being given crazy power with which to fight Super Boo, and he was right to junk that conclusion, but his way of doing that was sudden and jarring, and at this point, the arc completely runs out of steam until Super Boo becomes Kid Boo.

To me it was no different than Toriyama handing Goku his victory against Piccolo Daimao via Super God Water. Something even Toei identified as kind of a lame solution and tried to rectify by at least turning it into a quest and have Goku tested by the illusions so it’s not a literal deus ex machina.

If Toriyama realized at the last second “Oh yeah just giving Gohan the power up he needed to defeat Majin Boo is pretty unsatisfying “ he could have fixed it by still having Boo absorb Gotenks and Piccolo to give Super Boo the edge and work from there.

[KBABZ]

To me it was no different than Toriyama handing Goku his victory against Piccolo Daimao via Super God Water. Something even Toei identified as kind of a lame solution and tried to rectify by at least turning it into a quest and have Goku tested by the illusions so it’s not a literal deus ex machina.

If Toriyama realized at the last second “Oh yeah just giving Gohan the power up he needed to defeat Majin Boo is pretty unsatisfying “ he could have fixed it by still having Boo absorb Gotenks and Piccolo to give Super Boo the edge and work from there.

I think Toriyama could have made it work... were he not writing a manga and under the pressure of delivering SOMETHING every week.

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

To me it was no different than Toriyama handing Goku his victory against Piccolo Daimao via Super God Water. Something even Toei identified as kind of a lame solution and tried to rectify by at least turning it into a quest and have Goku tested by the illusions so it’s not a literal deus ex machina.

If Toriyama realized at the last second “Oh yeah just giving Gohan the power up he needed to defeat Majin Boo is pretty unsatisfying “ he could have fixed it by still having Boo absorb Gotenks and Piccolo to give Super Boo the edge and work from there.

I think Toriyama could have made it work... were he not writing a manga and under the pressure of delivering SOMETHING every week.

There's also that in the last year and a half of the manga's serialization he was getting burnt out, and given Toriyama had been grinding away for almost ten years clearly wanted to wrap it up soon.

[KBABZ]

To me it was no different than Toriyama handing Goku his victory against Piccolo Daimao via Super God Water. Something even Toei identified as kind of a lame solution and tried to rectify by at least turning it into a quest and have Goku tested by the illusions so it’s not a literal deus ex machina.

If Toriyama realized at the last second “Oh yeah just giving Gohan the power up he needed to defeat Majin Boo is pretty unsatisfying “ he could have fixed it by still having Boo absorb Gotenks and Piccolo to give Super Boo the edge and work from there.

I think Toriyama could have made it work... were he not writing a manga and under the pressure of delivering SOMETHING every week.

There's also that in the last year and a half of the manga's serialization he was getting burnt out, and given Toriyama had been grinding away for almost ten years clearly wanted to wrap it up soon.

Thirteen. C'mon man, read my trivia, PLEASE!

[MasenkoHA]

According to conventional wisdom in the western fandom, The Return of Cooler, Super Android 13, Broly and Plan to Eradicate the (Super) Saiyans all take place in the 10 days leading up to the Cell Games, despite the implausibility of five incredibly strong individuals showing up within that space of time.

The fandom is also just plain wrong

Return of Cooler doesn’t fit anywhere even if fans wanted to. Trunks is nowhere to be seen but Dende is God now. If not for Dende being Kami-sama it could be squeezed into before the Androids arrive (since I think only Goku sees Vegeta as a Super Saiyan in Return of Cooler and it was everyone else who was surprised he could do it in the tv series)

Likewise Super Android 13 mentions Gohan’s summer vacation placing it somewhere in July or August plus Gohan cannot become a Super Saiyan yet.

And Broly sets itself in March with the characters going to see the cherry blossoms and Chi Chi mentioning Gohan’s springbreak being over at the end of the movie.
Plus the whole lack of Goku and Gohan rocking the Saiyan blonde look.

No real comment on Plan to Eradicate Saiyans other than it includes villains of questionable canonicity

[*]I'm honestly getting sick and TIRED of Oolong and Roshi being inserted into every movie's storyline. It's annoying and adds NOTHING to the stories.

I’m at a total loss at why Koyama seemed to like Oolong so much he finds ways to insert him into the movie.

Especially in World’s Strongest when he and Gohan are looking for the dragon balls together when the two have never even formerly met yet in the main story!

[*]This is the first time Roshi has used his muscular form since blowing up Fire Mountain way back in the opening arc.

He used it when he blew up the moon at the 21st Tenkaichi Tournament

[*]Piccolo's more friendly nature implies that he's merged with Kami by the time the movie takes place. Vegeta wearing Bulma's Saiyan Armor is another hint as to when it takes place.

And Gohan’s ability to become a Super Saiyan.

[*]In the manga, the date of the Cell Games is "M____ the 17th"; this can't be accurate as the Androids first appeared on May 12th. Even assuming the entire Android and Cell situation occured in a single day (which they do not, three days are spent searching for Cell), the Cell Games take place 10 days after Cell attains perfection. The anime uses the more accurate date of the 26th of May, which the Kanzenban and Full Colour editions adopted.

The anime, at least Simmons subtitles, mentions M the 17th as well. At the end of the Cyborg Tao filler.

[*]It also reveals that Senzu Beans are capable of regrowing entire limbs, a feat that has yet to be depicted. This is greatly dramatized in amusement park scene in The History of Trunks, but the dialogue itself is left completely out.

Saban/Funi/Ocean Tien: I told you my arm would grow back!!!!!!

[*]Further, the special depicts them fighting only Androids 17 and 18 despite it being well-known by now that 19 and 20 originally attacked the island. The special appears to take the path of saying that 19 and 20 NEVER attacked the island in the Original Timeline.

This was stated as much by Trunks when he came back to the present. He never met 19 or 20. The Cyborgs he was referring to that would attack the island on May 12th were 17 and 18. His going back changed the timeline so 19 and 20 go instead. The special isn’t changing what we don’t already know.

[*]When Goku announced Gohan as the next challenger, the cameraman says to the reporter that he said "rice" (which is what Gohan's name means), and the reporter thinks they're calling for a lunch break. In the anime the reporter then assumes that Gohan is a bento vendor, while in Funi's Kai dub he thinks he's a waterboy, since Dragon Ball is clearly not Japanese so why confuse the audience.

That is interesting because Funi’s dub of Z goes with delivery boy which is a much better equivalent to bento salesboy than “water boy”

[Robo4900]

[*]Further, the special depicts them fighting only Androids 17 and 18 despite it being well-known by now that 19 and 20 originally attacked the island. The special appears to take the path of saying that 19 and 20 NEVER attacked the island in the Original Timeline.

This was stated as much by Trunks when he came back to the present. He never met 19 or 20. The Cyborgs he was referring to that would attack the island on May 12th were 17 and 18. His going back changed the timeline so 19 and 20 go instead. The special isn’t changing what we don’t already know.

Ah, but if you read the manga, he tells Goku, specifically, that the two evil cyborgs are "Android 19 and 20".

[SuperSaiyaManZ94]

I think Toriyama could have made it work... were he not writing a manga and under the pressure of delivering SOMETHING every week.

There's also that in the last year and a half of the manga's serialization he was getting burnt out, and given Toriyama had been grinding away for almost ten years clearly wanted to wrap it up soon.

Thirteen. C'mon man, read my trivia, PLEASE!

Thirteen??? The manga ran in Jump just under 11 years, i meant at the time he was still in the middle of the Buu arc since the manga's tenth anniversary was in November/December 1994.

[KBABZ]

There's also that in the last year and a half of the manga's serialization he was getting burnt out, and given Toriyama had been grinding away for almost ten years clearly wanted to wrap it up soon.

Thirteen. C'mon man, read my trivia, PLEASE!

Thirteen??? The manga ran in Jump just under 11 years, i meant at the time he was still in the middle of the Buu arc since the manga's tenth anniversary was in November/December 1994.

Don't forget that he was ALSO doing Dr. Slump for several years before that under a similar schedule. When you tot it all up he'd been putting out a new manga chapter for SOMETHING once a week for 15 years straight. No wonder he ditched it and ran!

[MasenkoHA]

[*]Further, the special depicts them fighting only Androids 17 and 18 despite it being well-known by now that 19 and 20 originally attacked the island. The special appears to take the path of saying that 19 and 20 NEVER attacked the island in the Original Timeline.

This was stated as much by Trunks when he came back to the present. He never met 19 or 20. The Cyborgs he was referring to that would attack the island on May 12th were 17 and 18. His going back changed the timeline so 19 and 20 go instead. The special isn’t changing what we don’t already know.

Ah, but if you read the manga, he tells Goku, specifically, that the two evil cyborgs are "Android 19 and 20".

Right, because at the time 19 and 20 were always intended to be the cyborgs Trunks was warning about. Once Toriyama changed his mind because of his former editor’s teasing for making the villains a fatso and an old geezer he retconned it so Trunks never heard of 19 and 20 and he was always talking about 17 and 18. (he clearly does not recognize 19 or 20 when he comes back to the present) The reader is just suppose to pretend Trunks never specified 19 and 20. To the point the anime changes it to him not specifying the cyborgs numerical designations at all.

So the Trunks Special did not change anything that hadn’t already been established

In-universe= It was always 17 and 18 who had attacked the island on May 12 and killed everyone in Trunks original timeline

Out of universe= Toriyama intended for 19 and 20 to the machines Trunk warned about then changed his mind after his former editor roasted him for his design choices and then he retconned that Trunks never heard of them or knew they existed