Herms watches the show (update: DB 29)

[Herms]

Episode 11
Finally, the Dragon Appears!

--The Funi episode title is “The Penalty is Pinball!”. Certainly not a title that could apply to any other episode in the series.

--This episode starts off with the first honest-to-goodness recap. I guess it makes sense to start here, since up until now each episode has been relatively self-contained. There’s the ongoing quest, but setting the scene doesn’t require more than a few sentences from the narrator. This time though, it starts off with everyone already imprisoned in Pilaf’s castle, with Yamcha and Puar part of the group now, so a more thorough explanation is required. Of course, they’ll be plenty of later episodes with absurdly long recaps, for no reason other than to pad out the episode.

--You can see on one of Pilaf’s monitor screens that his castle contains one of those urinating cupid statues.

--Pilaf wonders where the group has hidden the last dragon ball, and Mai suggests they check between Goku and Yamcha’s legs. In the manga, this leads into a whole scene where Pilaf rants that even though the author’s last series was filled with stupid, crude humor, this new series is going to be more high class. All the while, Mai and Shu make Dr. Slump references. Then the scene switches to Yamcha, who makes a stupid pun about boogers. The anime leaves all of this stuff out; Pilaf just tells Mai that he hates crude jokes and things move on.

--Pilaf introduces himself to Bulma and co. with his (self-given) title dai-ou, which literally means “great king”. In Japanese, dai-ou gets used as the title for various historical figures who are typically referred to as “the Great” in English: Alexander the Great, Alfred the Great, even Kamehameha the Great of Hawaii. So it’s an appropriate title for a would-be world conqueror; in fact, King Cold’s title in Japanese is also dai-ou. The Funi subtitles keep it literal as “great king Pilaf”, while the Funi dub calls him “Emperor Pilaf” (a bit of a stretch, but obviously within the same ballpark). Despite him and Cold having the exact same title in Japanese, I don’t think their titles ever end up getting translated the same way within the same translation/adaptation. People pretty much always automatically call Cold “King Cold” because of the alliteration (though the Funi subtitles do go with “Cold the Great”).

--After Pilaf blows her a kiss, Bulma rattles off a list of disgusting, perverted things which she assumed Pilaf was going to do to her: hero-hero, pafu-pafu, kyoi-kyoi, and inguri-monguri. Pafu-pafu (puff-puff) we’ve already seen, but the others…well, I think they’re made up, but I really don’t want to try googling them. These all get left untranslated on the Funi subtitles. Some editions of the Viz manga render them as “slurp-slurp”, “puff-puff”, “pat-pat”, and “grope-grope”, while others comically (?) censor them.

--There’s an extended filler sequence after the Pilaf Gang gasses Bulma and co. and steals the last dragon ball: the idiots leave the trap room open, so when the group wakes up they walk right out. Before long they run right into the Pilaf Gang again, who are on their way outside to summon Shenlong. There’s an amazingly awkward pause, until Goku demands his grandpa back and starts chasing Pilaf and co. around.

--This leads into one of the weirdest anime-only things in the entire franchise. It turns out Pilaf’s castle is equipped with a giant pinball game security system, which he controls by playing piano. Of course. There’s a fairly long chase scene as Bulma and co. tried to evade these giant pinballs. In the end they just get locked up inside another trap room, maybe even the exact same room as before.

--The whole sequence highlights what’s best and worst about filler overall: it features some very funny moments and a lot of imagination, but in the end it doesn’t advance the story at all, and Bulma and co. wind up exactly where they started.

--Goku blasts a tiny hole in the wall of their prison room, and Puar turns into a bat to fly through it. Well, sort of a bat. Really just his regular form plus bat wings. This cracks me up because a) bat!Puar is clearly much bigger than regular Puar, due to the wings, and b) regular Puar can always just fly around anyway.

[UltimateHammerBro]

--Goku blasts a tiny hole in the wall of their prison room, and Puar turns into a bat to fly through it. Well, sort of a bat. Really just his regular form plus bat wings. This cracks me up because a) bat!Puar is clearly much bigger than regular Puar, due to the wings, and b) regular Puar can always just fly around anyway.

You just made my day with this last bit.

[Gyt Kaliba]

--After Pilaf blows her a kiss, Bulma rattles off a list of disgusting, perverted things which she assumed Pilaf was going to do to her: hero-hero, pafu-pafu, kyoi-kyoi, and inguri-monguri. Pafu-pafu (puff-puff) we’ve already seen, but the others…well, I think they’re made up, but I really don’t want to try googling them. These all get left untranslated on the Funi subtitles. Some editions of the Viz manga render them as “slurp-slurp”, “puff-puff”, “pat-pat”, and “grope-grope”, while others comically (?) censor them.

I've always been morbidly curious about those other things as well. I'm kind of afraid to Google them because there is absolutely no telling what they could be (though really, even during the time period this came out, this is Shonen Jump...they can't be THAT bad...right?), but at the same time the cryptic way they're just left there boggles the mind.

[Cold Skin]

--After Pilaf blows her a kiss, Bulma rattles off a list of disgusting, perverted things which she assumed Pilaf was going to do to her: hero-hero, pafu-pafu, kyoi-kyoi, and inguri-monguri. Pafu-pafu (puff-puff) we’ve already seen, but the others…well, I think they’re made up, but I really don’t want to try googling them. These all get left untranslated on the Funi subtitles. Some editions of the Viz manga render them as “slurp-slurp”, “puff-puff”, “pat-pat”, and “grope-grope”, while others comically (?) censor them.

I've always been morbidly curious about those other things as well. I'm kind of afraid to Google them because there is absolutely no telling what they could be (though really, even during the time period this came out, this is Shonen Jump...they can't be THAT bad...right?), but at the same time the cryptic way they're just left there boggles the mind.

Interesting translation tidbits, let's see how the French Perfect Edition translation dealt with it:
"I thought you were gonna rip off my clothes, grope me everywhere, do tickle-tickle, paf paf, and so on!!"

[Valerius Dover]

Where'd my post go? I thought I posted here.....

Isn't the Funi dub title "The Penalty Is Pinball"?

Also, the scene with Pilaf was re-worded to be a joke about short people in the dub (Mai is surrounded by shorties )

[Herms]

Isn't the Funi dub title "The Penalty Is Pinball"?

That's right. I must have had a total brain fart when I typed up my post, since I've even got "The Penalty is Pinball" written in my notes. Thanks! Fixed now.

Anyway...

Episode 12
The Wish to Shenlong

--As Pilaf prepares to make his wish, the anime adds in a little dream sequence where he imagines what it will be like ruling the world. There’s loads of adoring crowds and fanfare wherever he goes. This brings up the question of what would actually happen if Pilaf did successfully wish to rule the world. He’d just…automatically be ruler, somehow, and everyone would accept that? What’s to prevent him from getting overthrown immediately? Maybe Shenlong would brainwash everyone on Earth into going along with the whole thing.

--So, Shenlong’s name: shen is Chinese for “god” and long is Chinese for “dragon”. Literally then, he’s the “God Dragon”; a divine dragon, in other words. “Shenron” is the Japanese approximation of the Chinese pronunciation for that name, similar to how “Torankusu” is how they say “Trunks”. The Funi dub calls him either “Shenron” (though thankfully they don’t likewise call the purple-haired guy “Torankusu”), or the “Eternal Dragon”. “Eternal Dragon” seems like an attempt at a PC translation of his name, with “divine” replaced with “eternal”, which is…not entirely dissimilar, I suppose.

--I love how Shenlong doesn’t give a crap about determining who gathered the dragon balls or anything like that, and just automatically grants any wish anybody in the immediate vicinity happens to say first.

--Oolong saves the day. He won’t get another chance like that until the extended edition of Battle of Gods.

--Last episode, Goku used the Kamehameha to open up a tiny hole in the wall of the group’s prison, just big enough for Puar and Oolong to escape through. This episode, the anime adds in a sequence where Goku fires another three or four Kamehameha blasts back-to-back, and finally manages to blow open a hole big enough for the rest of the group to escape through. Even compared to what we see in Z, firing that many Kamehamehas in rapid succession may be some sort of record. It leaves Goku completely wiped for a while.

--Following the anime-only sequence where the group escapes their prison thanks to Goku, there’s another anime-only bit where Shu and Mai recapture them. It turns out that Shu commands a squad of attack dogs, which burst out of the ground (?!) and chase our heroes. Goku’s still totally worn out from all the Kamehamehas, until Yamcha convinces him that these dogs are food. Goku proceeds to attack them with much gusto. Yamcha meanwhile spends a lot of time swinging dogs around by one hind leg (that made me cringe, and I’m not even a dog person).

--Bulma tells the group that now that the dragon balls have granted a wish, they will remain as ordinary stones for a year, and nobody will be able to search for them again until they reactivate. In the manga, Oolong wonders “what’s going to happen to this manga’s title?”, while in the anime he just says “this isn’t good”.

--As Goku turns into King Kong, the closing narration for the episode is lifted right out of the manga: “not even the author knew this was going to happen!”

--At this point, Goku’s transformed state is referred to as kaibutsu-zaru, “monster monkey”. The (eventual) standard name for it, oozaru/”giant monkey” or "great ape", won’t debut until later.

[RandomGuy96]

--As Pilaf prepares to make his wish, the anime adds in a little dream sequence where he imagines what it will be like ruling the world. There’s loads of adoring crowds and fanfare wherever he goes. This brings up the question of what would actually happen if Pilaf did successfully wish to rule the world. He’d just…automatically be ruler, somehow, and everyone would accept that? What’s to prevent him from getting overthrown immediately? Maybe Shenlong would brainwash everyone on Earth into going along with the whole thing.

I imagine that he'd just be a jackass about it, like he was that other time Pilaf summoned him. "Okay, you're the ruler. You have no actual power, nothing has changed, and everyone is going on with their lives as if nothing happened... but you now have the title of "Emperor of Earth". Here, I'll even throw in a new hat. See ya."

--I love how Shenlong doesn’t give a crap about determining who gathered the dragon balls or anything like that, and just automatically grants any wish anybody in the immediate vicinity happens to say first.

The dragons always did come off as literal genies. See the victims of Vegeta's slaughter remaining dead.

[Saiga]

--As Pilaf prepares to make his wish, the anime adds in a little dream sequence where he imagines what it will be like ruling the world. There’s loads of adoring crowds and fanfare wherever he goes. This brings up the question of what would actually happen if Pilaf did successfully wish to rule the world. He’d just…automatically be ruler, somehow, and everyone would accept that? What’s to prevent him from getting overthrown immediately? Maybe Shenlong would brainwash everyone on Earth into going along with the whole thing.

Didn't this already successfully happen with someone becoming king of the world, though?

[ABED]

I imagine that he'd just be a jackass about it, like he was that other time Pilaf summoned him. "Okay, you're the ruler. You have no actual power, nothing has changed, and everyone is going on with their lives as if nothing happened... but you now have the title of "Emperor of Earth". Here, I'll even throw in a new hat. See ya."

--I love how Shenlong doesn’t give a crap about determining who gathered the dragon balls or anything like that, and just automatically grants any wish anybody in the immediate vicinity happens to say first.

The dragons always did come off as literal genies. See the victims of Vegeta's slaughter remaining dead.

He's not a trickster, he's very literal.

[Fizzer]

It seems that, with bad guys, he'll trick them if there's an opening for it. I don't think Shen Long is completely impartial.

[kenisu3000]

--As Goku turns into King Kong, the closing narration for the episode is lifted right out of the manga: “not even the author knew this was going to happen!”

The anime also adds a quick line here that wasn't in the manga. After saying "Even the author is shaken up at this!" the narrator adds "Whoops, he's wet himself!" Unfortunately, FUNi's subs don't catch this.

[Kamiccolo9]

It seems that, with bad guys, he'll trick them if there's an opening for it. I don't think Shen Long is completely impartial.

He seemed pretty willing to give Daimao his youth back. I doubt he cares.

And if you want to throw the movies and GT into this, he made Garlic Jr., immortal, just like he wanted, he freed Dr. Wheelo, just like what's-his-name wanted, he restored Slug's youth, just like Slug wanted, he opened Hirudegarn's box (can't remember who actually made that wish, so feel free to disregard that one), and made Goku into a little kid, just like Pilaf said he wanted. It's not the dragon's fault that Pilaf didn't think before making his wish.

[Gyt Kaliba]

he opened Hirudegarn's box (can't remember who actually made that wish, so feel free to disregard that one),

I can't remember 100% for sure...but I think it was Hoi that made the wish, yeah, just with all our other heroes there with him, which was different. I mainly think I remember it being him because he cringed in fear and said 'please' to Shenron too.

But yeah, as funny as it is to think of the dragon screwing with Pilaf (especially if you take the idea that maybe Pilaf later wished for age and became old, thus restoring GT back into the equation), it's pretty much just a funny thing to joke about rather than anything I'd take seriously.

[Kid Buu]

The Oozaru battle is different in the anime compared to the manga, lets see if you notice the differences.

[Herms]

Episode 13
Goku’s Great Transformation

--The episode starts with a silent recap. Kinda neat.

--The Funi title is “The Legend of Goku”. That’s probably the most interesting title they’ve had so far. I can’t say I dislike it, but I don’t quite understand the logic behind it. What’s this episode have to do with Goku’s legend? More so than any other episode, anyway. Maybe the idea is that this is where his legend truly begins? It reminds me of how some home releases and some fans refer to this entire first story arc itself as the “Saga of Goku” or something similar. It strikes me as strange, because if anything the series is less about Goku during this first story arc than it ever is again until probably the late Cell Games/early Boo arc. He’s definitely the main character, but the series doesn’t quite revolve around him yet, and he has to share the spotlight. I mean, Oolong's the one who saves the day!

--Still, Goku is technically the final enemy of this storyline, so labeling it the “Goku Saga” might make sense in the same way that all that stuff on Namek gets called the “Freeza Saga”.

--Pilaf, Shu, and Mai all sleep together in the same room. Of course. Mai has a surprisingly sexy nightie, I must say.

--In the anime when Yamcha’s too chicken to carry the injured Bulma, Oolong has to do it instead. So Oolong is strong enough to carry her in pig form, but not in motorcycle form.

--Odd anime touch: throughout the episode, Oozaru Goku’s face turns bright red when he’s attacked. I assume it’s just to show that he’s angry, but it makes him look like a video game boss who’s low on health and switching to a tougher attack pattern.

--In the manga, Pilaf and co. just crowd into their plane and make a run for it, but get shot down by Oozaru Goku. They wonder what the hell that monster guy was, and that’s the last we see of them until Goku finishes fighting at Uranai Baba’s palace, almost 100 chapters later. In the anime though, they use the plane to launch a missile at Goku, which actually manages to knock him out for quite a while. Then they land to inspect the body, and Pilaf gets cocky and starts jumping on Goku’s tail. Bad idea. Goku wakes up, Pilaf and co. run back into the plane and then try to escape but get shot down.

--A few episodes ago, the anime showed Pilaf’s castle as being filled with skeletons, and I speculated that maybe Pilaf bought the place secondhand and the skeletons were already there. However, in this episode Pilaf (in another anime-only line) whines about how it took him years to build his castle. So I guess he actually has killed loads of people and left their bodies to rot.

--Pilaf’s plane makes a surprisingly big explosion when it crashes.

--Crazy anime-only display of power from Yamcha: he smashes a huge chunk of the stone castle wall into even smaller pieces with a shockwave (?!) from his Rouga-FuFu-Ken, then uses his bare hands to carve a piece into a perfectly sculpted stone sword within seconds. Beating up Olivue looks reasonable compared to this.

--Yamcha goes after Goku’s tail with his stone sword. The stone sword breaks on the tail. Next, Puar turns into scissors (in the manga he just does this straight away, without the sword bit). Scissors!Puar successfully cuts off Goku’s tail. Puar > stone sword. Also, Puar > Yamcha.

--The anime still hasn’t finished with Pilaf and co. Once Goku reverts to normal, we see the gang hiding amidst the rubble of their castle. Pilaf talks about that “monster boy”, so apparently he now knows that the big ape was Goku (as opposed to the manga, where he doesn’t seem to ever find this out). He gives Shu and Mai a pair of guns to go finish our heroes off, then runs off in the opposite direction. Obviously he trusts his underlings far too much to actually come help them or anything. Shu and Mai decide to follow after him. We’ll see them all again in just 14 episodes or so.

--The following morning after all the madness with Goku turning into King Kong, Oolong wonders about Goku: “what is he, an alien or something?” Yes, he really says that. And just a few episodes ago, he was correctly predicting that Bulma wouldn’t have a pleasant death. This guy could put Uranai Baba out of business.

--A standard thing you hear people say about the transition from DB to DBZ is that DBZ redefined all the supernatural characters in DB as actually being aliens. Partly these people are talking about Piccolo, and they’re totally wrong of course. But they’re also talking about Goku, and even that's iffy. Throughout the first 194 manga chapters and 153 anime episodes, Goku is never really defined as being a supernatural creature or anything like that. He’s based off a supernatural creature from Journey to the West, but then so is Gyuumao, and the DB version of Gyuumao is just some big strong dude rather than an actual bull demon (so far as we know). As we’ve seen, the moment Goku’s true weirdness starts to come to light, Oolong suggests he’s an alien! For the most part though, the series offers no explanation one way or the other about what the heck’s the deal with Goku, until Raditz shows up.

--When Goku declares his desire to go train under Kame-sennin, the anime adds in a bit of dialogue where he explains that he wants to become stronger than whoever destroyed the castle. Tee hee.

--The closing narration for the episode is again lifted from the manga. The narrator acts as if this is the end of the series and thanks the audience, then says that actually the story’s going to continue. For a bit.

[DNA]

The wolf scene was the absolute worst. I remember when me and Zykar were watching it for the discussion in Shen Longs Dragon Balls, we were appalled by everything about it. The pacing, the repetitiveness, the overall ridiculessness of the situation... One of the worst pieces of filler in my opinion.

[Kid Buu]

--Crazy anime-only display of power from Yamcha: he smashes a huge chunk of the stone castle wall into even smaller pieces with a shockwave (?!) from his Rouga-FuFu-Ken, then uses his bare hands to carve a piece into a perfectly sculpted stone sword within seconds. Beating up Olivue looks reasonable compared to this.

Must have borrowed some of Pegasus Seiya's powers there.

-Still, Goku is technically the final enemy of this storyline, so labeling it the “Goku Saga” might make sense in the same way that all that stuff on Namek gets called the “Freeza Saga”.

Who would you consider the big bad of this season? Pilaf?

[B]

I love all this extemely creative filler... that only exists to stall. Pinball rooms, stone swords, overconfident Pilaf... It serves its purpose to fill time, but within the context of the story, it's just funny how something so elaborate like Yamcha carving a stone sword with his bare hands adds up to absolutely nothing.

[Lumos]

So you've now seen all of the first arc, Herms. Overall, what did you think?

[Gyt Kaliba]

The filler present here (and much more in DB) might be still serving the purpose of stalling...but I will take every bit of this over what is eventually to come in the form of Bulma and the crabs.

Actually, how far are you planning to go in your watching/documenting for this thread, Herms? Just through DB, or through Z as well, or maybe even GT? And what of the movies and specials?