Deep Thoughts: The Namek Saga (Episodes 36-60)

[ABED]

I'm going with FUNi's designation to a point. Because the practice of adding the name of the saga to the home video release, FUNi's saga breakdown says the "Namek Saga" ends on 67, the episode where Vegeta believes Goku might make him the legendary Super Saiyan. The episode is WELL into the fight with the Ginyu Force. It makes no sense, and I refuse to give into that silly breakdown. If there's any sense to their breakdowns, it would end the episode before the Ginyu Force arrives.

Seeing as how this saga doesn't have a proper conclusion, I doubt my thoughts will be as lengthy. The saga/arc picks up right after the last. Muten Roshi, Bulma, and the others arrive to pick up their friends as well as the bodies of their fallen comrades. It's a moment filled with emotion and one I'm glad the anime didn't skip over. After a brief sidetrack to one of the worst couple filler episodes in all of DB, we arrive on Planet Namek, a planet where the water is green but the grass is blue. It's an interesting topography, but there is a sameness that wears thin very quickly. It's a feeling that's compounded by not even having night. But on the plus side, this part of the series is the sense of tension. It's dripping with wonderful, wonderful tension. Our merry band of Bulma, Gohan, and Kuririn are so outclassed that they spend much of the arc hiding. A lot of the tension is scenarios where we wonder if one of the baddies will find them. After having several arcs where they have to gather the DBs, this arc changes it up a bit by making it a game of cat and mouse. Gohan and Kuririn may be physically outmatched but they don't need to be stronger than anyone. All they need to do is keep a single Dragon Ball out of the hands of the villains and they can at the very lease succeed in preventing their enemies from achieving their goal. I've grown to dislike overplotting, but this is relatively simple. The mission for the heroes is play keep away, and the villains' is finding the DBs.

The villains this time around are among my favorites. Vegeta is at his most cunning and we benefit from having seen what he's capable of in terms of both power and savagery. Adding to this, he has a connection to the new big bad as his betrayal is now out in the open. If his old boss gets his hands on him, Vegeta's dead. Next are Dodoria who leaves an impression. He has a cool look and his gleeful murder of innocent men and children is bone chilling. Next is Zarbon who I dig the hell out of. Great design and two great fight scenes. I like that he is absolutely loyal to Freeza, but he's also petrified of him. Vegeta's beating at the hands of Zarbon is not the last one he'll receive but those head-butts are painful to watch, especially if you've ever taken a head butt like I have. Episode 55 is one of my favorites. It's Vegeta at his most clever. "How is he gonna get out of this?" is what my prepubescent self kept asking, and he doesn't disappoint. And last but certainly not least, the emperor himself, Lord Freeza. What an awesome character. Great design and the faux politeness and gentlemanly posture belying a cruel monster make him among my favorite villains not just from DB, but anywhere. There isn't an actual end to this saga as it's not an arc. The final episodes of this saga are among the worst examples of filler in the entire series:

Filler:
I thought that Namek is where the filler gets really bad, but that's not actually the case. It comes later in the show. Most of the filler is pretty good, such as the mirror ship which comes with a foreboding of the next big bad. Then there's Goku trying to train too soon and his body giving out, and the cutaways to Goku's training, including the one where his gravity machine malfunctions forcing him to endure 100G's which results in the bones in his body shattering. The moment where he slices his hand on the cable is still painful to watch even after 20+ years. A lot of the filler is good, but the big chunks like Bulma's back to back episodes with the crab as well as Fake Namek are really boring. There's nothing more to say than it comits the cardinal sin of storytelling – they're boring. I've tried to reevaluate Fake Namek with fresh eyes, but with the exception of the acid swamp scene, I zone out.

Voice Actors:
Sabat's Zarbon is one of his better performances. It sounds close to his Ocean dub counterpart but it's not so hampered by trying to be a "voice" that he can't emote through it. Linda Young however is among the worst choices in the entire dub. She doesn't fit AT ALL. I don't feel like going over well-trodden ground as I think most are in agreement that this performance was horrendous, made that much worse by some of the worse dialog in a dub known for terrible dialog. Not only does the dialog not fit Freeza's characterization, it's bad in and of itself. I think Young attacked the role and loved it, but her decision to go all in works against it because she plays up the camp.
Ryusei Nakao, however, is the complete opposite. We've heard him voice characters on DB previously, but here he's given his moment to shine and takes full advantage of it.

Years ago, it was this part of DBZ where I recognized the differences in art styles from episode to episode. Lupin Vegeta is where it finally registered. Whoever did that episode and whatever episodes they did are my least favorite. It just looks awkward and the movement is weird. It reminds me of growing up reading Reign of the Supermen, and how each of those books had a different artist(s). I liked three out of the four, but that fourth one stuck out like a sore thumb. For the record, I'm talking about Man of Steel. That book had awful looking artwork. It's ironic that it centered on my favorite of the four Supermen, John Henry Irons.

Random Thoughts:
Wow, the range and speed of the signal on Bulma's communication equipment is impressive.
What's with the weird color triangles that are laid on top of the scene where Vegeta and Zarbon taunt each other before their first fight?
Episode 53 is the first DBZ episode I saw in Japanese. I got it from Anime FX in my local mall. I thought I was getting the part of the show where Freeza gores Kuririn on his horn. I guess I was a blood thirsty kid. Instead I got this because they didn't label their cases very well. It was three episodes and as it turns out they're the ones where Zarbon brutally beats up Vegeta until the one where Vegeta escapes. I remember hearing Nozawa's voice as Goku for the first time and being shocked. That I was not expecting. Her voice was an acquired taste for sure, but once I did, her voice was Goku for me. No one, no matter how good will ever come close to her level. She is the MVP of DB.
"Next time on…" and "Last time on…" I don't like those additions in the dub script. It plays like a TV show instead of a story from long ago.
You'd need a compass to get around because Namek looks the same.
Dr. Brief has dealt with Saiyan and Namekian technology. Capsule Corp. was already the most technologically advanced company on Earth, but now that he has studied (the dude works fast!) advanced alien tech, he's probably put a gap between himself and his competitors so vast, they won't be able to ever catch up, at least not within his lifetime.

[MasenkoHA]

I'm going with FUNi's designation to a point. Because the practice of adding the name of the saga to the home video release, FUNi's saga breakdown says the "Namek Saga" ends on 67, the episode where Vegeta believes Goku might make him the legendary Super Saiyan. The episode is WELL into the fight with the Ginyu Force. It makes no sense, and I refuse to give into that silly breakdown. If there's any sense to their breakdowns, it would end the episode before the Ginyu Force arrives.

There's really no reason for Funimation to consider episode 68 the start of a saga other than that was the first episode they had home video rights to (well technically the second half of episode 67) and they wanted to say they released a complete saga....which was an excuse in 1999. Why they still continue on their silly saga breakdown instead of calling all of "remastered" season 2 the Namek saga I have no idea.

Seeing

Filler:
I thought that Namek is where the filler gets really bad, but that's not actually the case. It comes later in the show. Most of the filler is pretty good, such as the mirror ship which comes with a foreboding of the next big bad. Then there's Goku trying to train too soon and his body giving out, and the cutaways to Goku's training, including the one where his gravity machine malfunctions forcing him to endure 100G's which results in the bones in his body shattering. The moment where he slices his hand on the cable is still painful to watch even after 20+ years. A lot of the filler is good, but the big chunks like Bulma's back to back episodes with the crab as well as Fake Namek are really boring. There's nothing more to say than it comits the cardinal sin of storytelling – they're boring. I've tried to reevaluate Fake Namek with fresh eyes, but with the exception of the acid swamp scene, I zone out.

Part of me thinks Toei should have extended the journey to Namek a bit longer. They ended up paying for it with having to resort to stuff like Bulma vs Giant Crab and stretching
out the Goku vs Freeza fight.

Voice Actors:
Sabat's Zarbon is one of his better performances. It sounds close to his Ocean dub counterpart but it's not so hampered by trying to be a "voice" that he can't emote through it. Linda Young however is among the worst choices in the entire dub. She doesn't fit AT ALL. I don't feel like going over well-trodden ground as I think most are in agreement that this performance was horrendous, made that much worse by some of the worse dialog in a dub known for terrible dialog. Not only does the dialog not fit Freeza's characterization, it's bad in and of itself. I think Young attacked the role and loved it, but her decision to go all in works against it because she plays up the camp.

At this point in the dub Young's Frieza voice might have been the worst in the cast. Once we travel back to 1999 we'll also have Moron Piccolo and Chainsmoker Gohan to contend with (and if we're including original broadcast then dime store Brian Drummond as well) but during this era she was probably the weakest link in an otherwise "meh good enough" cast.

Ryusei Nakao, however, is the complete opposite. We've heard him voice characters on DB previously, but here he's given his moment to shine and takes full advantage of it.

Ryusei Nakao and Ryo Horikawa were definitely the MVP's of this era imo.

. I remember hearing Nozawa's voice as Goku for the first time and being shocked. That I was not expecting. Her voice was an acquired taste for sure, but once I did, her voice was Goku for me. No one, no matter how good will ever come close to her level. She is the MVP of DB.

I wonder if I would have been more taken aback by Goku's Japanese voice if I didn't already know he was voiced by a woman. The first time I heard it was around 2015 watching The Dead Zone in Japanese and it was just "Ohh this is fine"
I was way more blind sighted by Furukawa's Piccolo. Oh he's a normal sounding dude.

"Next time on…" and "Last time on…" I don't like those additions in the dub script. It plays like a TV show instead of a story from long ago.

I did like it when they started adapting the "Hey it's Goku" for the NEP in season 3 even though they never committed to it.

[fleahop]

Episode 53 is the first DBZ episode I saw in Japanese. I got it from Anime FX in my local mall. I thought I was getting the part of the show where Freeza gores Kuririn on his horn. I guess I was a blood thirsty kid. Instead I got this because they didn't label their cases very well. It was three episodes and as it turns out they're the ones where Zarbon brutally beats up Vegeta until the one where Vegeta escapes. I remember hearing Nozawa's voice as Goku for the first time and being shocked. That I was not expecting. Her voice was an acquired taste for sure, but once I did, her voice was Goku for me. No one, no matter how good will ever come close to her level. She is the MVP of DB.

Interesting point. I had heard from several people it was terrible and off-putting so it was not until Battle of Gods for me. It wasn't love at first hear for me. However, I quickly found myself only watching the Japanese as Schemmel makes me cringe now. Nozawa is the best.

The villains this time around are among my favorites. Vegeta is at his most cunning and we benefit from having seen what he's capable of in terms of both power and savagery. Adding to this, he has a connection to the new big bad as his betrayal is now out in the open. If his old boss gets his hands on him, Vegeta's dead. Next are Dodoria who leaves an impression. He has a cool look and his gleeful murder of innocent men and children is bone chilling. Next is Zarbon who I dig the hell out of. Great design and two great fight scenes. I like that he is absolutely loyal to Freeza, but he's also petrified of him. Vegeta's beating at the hands of Zarbon is not the last one he'll receive but those head-butts are painful to watch, especially if you've ever taken a head butt like I have. Episode 55 is one of my favorites. It's Vegeta at his most clever. "How is he gonna get out of this?" is what my prepubescent self kept asking, and he doesn't disappoint. And last but certainly not least, the emperor himself, Lord Freeza. What an awesome character. Great design and the faux politeness and gentlemanly posture belying a cruel monster make him among my favorite villains not just from DB, but anywhere.

Yes. Maybe I was a sick kid, but I actually wanted for Vegeta and Frieza to find a way out because I liked the characters so much. You can imagine the beginning of the android saga was very disappointing for me, or it would have been if Trunks wasn't the coolest character ever. It's a shame we never see cunning on this level ever again as Vegeta became one of my favorite characters simply because of this arc. Namek has my favorite villains by far.

[Dragon Ball Ireland]

What I love about Namek (and that includes everything from these early episodes to Goku's Alive!!) is that it is the perfect Dragon Ball arc and strikes a happy medium for the vast majority of fans. While I will contend, as many do on this forum the Z split is arbitrary, and everything from Pilaf to Boo is one story, Dragon Ball Z does have story elements that don't appeal to all fans of original Dragon Ball, or the first 16 volumes of the manga.

A lot of people like Dragon Ball for the spectacle, the Saiyan lore and Toriyama's world not being confined to the Earth. The Namek arc offers all of that, as well as the elements people love about everything before Raditz, you get adventure, a search for the Dragon Balls and exploring new locations.

I get some people find Namek to be quite bland, although I would disagree. They swapped the colour of the sky and the colour of the grass, sure, and there is no night, but the soothing nature of its topography as well as the native's kindness made it feel like it would have been quite the peaceful world had Vegeta and Freeza's empire not invaded it. Dende was also so innocent not knowing what a female was, which I found to be a nice throwback to Goku's confusion when he first met Bulma.

I've made my thoughts on the Ocean cast's performances known in the other thread, so I will say here that I think the Funimation inhouse cast were fine in the season 2 redub, although a step back from Ocean. The Japanese version is the best way to watch this portion of the story for me. Ryo Horikawa delivers a wonderfully charismatic portrayal of a proud prince. Ryusei Nakao's Freeza voice is commanding and chilling in the role, a perfect casting for someone so cold hearted. Masako Nozawa, as with the rest of the Japanese cast I didn't hear until 2015 when I first watched Dragon Ball in its native language, I felt the voice was different and not what I was expecting from Goku, but it didn't take too long to get used to, it's weird, but Goku is weird and a manchild, it makes so much sense for it to compliment both facets of the character.

I still remember when Manga UK were releasing these first 2 seasons on DVD in summer 2012, there was a lot of hype surrounding the releases, despite them being heavily imported for years because we never had any home releases of Dragon Ball in the UK and Ireland other than 3 of the movies with the Big Green dub. It was of course a cheap repackage of the orange bricks, but considering it cost Manga UK £6 per minute, they needed £35,000 just to get Dragon Ball Z off the ground, so I don't blame them for taking the safe route. Sadly the company is no more as they were absorbed into Funimation and later Crunchyroll, but I was glad to see them grow as a company through the success of Dragon Ball Z, as was the case with Cartoon Network UK 12 years earlier. Unlike the Saiyan saga, Manga UK didn't release individual part DVDs for the Namek saga, which were branded as "season 1" and "season 2" respectively, but I digress, so the only two ways to own these episodes here is the aforementioned season 2 DVD, as well as the equivalent Blu-Ray set they released in late 2020, which was a repackage of Funimation's 30th anniversary discs. It was an odd choice for the Blu-Ray Manga UK used final form Freeza for season 2 and super saiyan Goku with his untorn orange gi for season 3, as neither was shown in either season. We only see Freeza's first two forms in season 2, and super saiyan Goku with his ripped gi in season 3, but if anyone doesn't own a release of Dragon Ball Z and wants to support it legally the Manga UK Blu-Rays are a serviceable release (and are region AB so will work on all US players), and the packaging is great with the art cards, posters and spine art that lines up to make Shenron.