RED RIBBON ARC (#029-#068)
Episode 29 (Futatabi Bōken Samayō Mizūmi) aired on September 10th, 1986.
Script by Takao Koyama, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda.
Key animation: Sonomi Aramaki, Masayuki Aoki, Minoru Maeda.
-Lil’ Krillin holding an ice cream is the purest imagery.
–Namu’s robes working as a parachute.
–Good joke.
-Nice sketched depiction for the Kamehameha.
-Despite a few good-looking framings, Okazaki’s directional output is kinda forgettable.
-Apparently, Lunch is 19. Good to know. Still weird, though.
–Not again, Koyama.
–Goku saving Namu from the pterodactyl is totally a reference to Goku saving Bulma in the very first episode. At least, Namu doesn’t wet himself…
-Overall, this filler is pretty boring. Any solution to every problem turns out very predictable: of course the Kamehameha would hit its target (Giran’s dam) / of course the dust storm wouldn’t be that deleterious. Namu’s village even finds a “magical” lake near the end.
-Speaking of which, the land of Girans doesn’t appear in the Piccolo Daimao arc. Koyama wanted to create a background behind this character, but soon was deceived by the lack of continuity.
-Guess what, the dust storm carries Yamcha and the others right to Metro South. What a bloody coincidence.
Episode 30 (Pirafu to Nazo no Gundan) aired on September 17th, 1986.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo.
Key animation: Kazuko Hirose, Noriko Iitani, Tsuyako Yamamuro, Teruhisa Ryu.
-Really solid storyboarding and direction, especially during scenes involving Colonel Silver and his sidekicks.
–M106 fits so well their introduction.
–Nice transition.
-Okay, Silver is a badass.
–Clever use of Nyoibo.
-So everyone realizes the Dragon Radar isn’t a watch. Everyone but Vegeta…
-Too much screen time for a pathetic excuse for a villain like Pilaf.
-The juvenile delinquent subplot doesn’t go anywhere. The character is too generic and bland.
Episode 31 (Gege! Nise Gokū Shutsugen!!) aired on September 24th, 1986.
Script by Yasushi Hirano, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Tai’ichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Yasuhiro Kaneda, Naotoshi Shida.
–Pretty good storyboarding here.
-The fake Dragon Ball with cracks foreshadows the Shadow Dragon arc of DBGT…
-Chichi’s embarrassed reactions are too funny.
-I love that Gyumao keeps laughing after making fake Goku’s head come off.
-Wait… why is Gyumao disinclined to make his daughter a bride at first? Didn’t he just make this proposal to Goku in the first arc??
-Yes, Chichi has become so woman-like… she’ll never become an annoying and frustrated house-wife.
Episode 32 (Kieta!? Sora Tobu Yōsai) aired on October 1st, 1986.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi.
Key animation: Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, Takeo Ide, Masahiro Shimanuki.
-A ’60s Batman reference?
–Shuu addressing Pilaf’s stupidity.
-This frame.
-Despite not liking them that much, I quite enjoy the pathetic self awareness of Pilaf’s gang.
-So this is when the infamous “marriage is some kind of food” ordeal began.
Episode 33 (Doragon no Densetsu) aired on October 8th, 1986.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa.
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Satoru Kusuda, Mari Tominaga.
–Takenouchi‘s board is fairly good. His direction is a tad all over the place, though.
-Never expected to see Ebisawa involved in an episode about monkeys. And it works, kinda.
-So that was HIS job before becoming a poacher on 17’s island.
-Pretty boring filler.
-Silver’s boxing segment is completely random.
-A minute long flashback of Goku getting blasted off from last episode. Pretty unnecessary.
-How the frig does Muten Roshi know the legend of the Dragon Balls? He didn’t even know what a DB was in the first arc.
-So, according to Muten Roshi’s story, the seven DBs were originally ONE. Funny, since Kami-sama would never mention such a thing.
Episode 34 (Hijō no Reddo Ribon) aired on October 15th, 1986.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Tai’ichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Yasuhiro Kaneda, Naotoshi Shida.
-Pretty good Ueda direction, especially during the 1st half.
–Goku straight out ignoring Silver.
–The most relatable statement ever.
-I find quite ironic that Goku’s frozen hair looks nearly identical to current Yamamuro.
-Silver getting bitchslapped by Goku’s tail. What a badass…
-It’s implied that Silver gets executed in the manga, whereas in the anime he just walks away. That’s basically the last of Silver. We don’t know whether he escaped or was killed off.
Episode 35 (Kita no Shōjo Suno) aired on October 22nd, 1986.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Katsumi Aoshima.
Key animation: Katsumi Aoshima.
-Whilst not that great, yet a solid display from Nishio‘s output.
-… Inaba?
–HA.
-The action is pretty decent for being a solo entry.
-I swear this insert song is even more overused than Ultimate Battle.
-Did we really need a flashback montage of Shenlong’s first appearance?
Episode 36 (Massuru Tawā no Kyōfu) aired on October 29th, 1986.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda.
Key animation: Sonomi Aramaki, Masayuki Aoki, Yasuyuki Shimizu.
-Fairly solid and serviceable storyboarding.
-Is Takeo Ide here? Could it be?
–Sergeant Metallic’s design is a clear callback to Arnold’s Terminator. He’s also as stiff as he is.
-Wait, since when does Goku know what Buddhism is?
-Ninja Murasaki would never want to fight Goku. He would be a true pain in the ass.
-The fight is quite repetitive.
Episode 37 (Ninja Murasaki Sanjō) aired on November 5th, 1986.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo.
Key animation: Kazuko Hirose, Noriko Iitani, Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Teruhisa Ryu.
-Pretty competent board and direction from Takenouchi.
-Ninja Murasaki is definitely one of the most interesting Red Ribbon characters: characterful and cocky dweeb.
-Needless to say, his seiyu Takeshi Aono is just perfect for this role.
–United States are canon, apparently.
-As a whole, the main showdown is entertaining (the race/combat parts are better than the camouflage section).
-Competent background animation during the race section.
-The most painful attack from DB/DBZ/DBGT/DBS. And General White’s embarrassment makes the scene even better.
-The more light-hearted tone of this episode may be misleading regarding the real threat around the Red Ribbon Army.
-The camouflage section reuses some clips very frequently.
Episode 38 (Osorubeshi!! Bunshin no Jutsu) aired on November 12th, 1986.
Script by Miho Maruo, storyboard and direction by Yuji Endo and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Tai’ichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Yasuhiro Kaneda, Naotoshi Shida.
–Goku pointing out the obvious.
-This battle portion is pretty decent, yet not as entertaining as the last one.
-Murasaki’s strategy of running away is getting annoying. Even Goku realizes it.
-The breaking plate trope is back.
Episode 39 (Nazo no Jinzōningen Hachi-Gō) aired on November 19th, 1986.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa.
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Satoru Kusuda, Mari Tominaga.
–Hatchan’s design is an obvious callback to Frankenstein, and unlike most of the cyborgs built by Dr. Gero, he doesn’t like violence. A pacifist cyborg is quite unique.
-The 8-bit maze dashboard.
-Only the scenes involving Hatchan are well-boarded. Considering Takenouchi’s last entry was episode 37, his struggle here is warranted.
-Ebisawa’s action isn’t too great.
Episode 40 (Dō Suru Gokū!! Senritsu no Buyon) aired on November 26th, 1986.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi.
Key animation: Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki, Yoshiya Kibayashi.
–Takeuchi‘s corrections are particularly strong in this episode.
-Goku’s freezing strategy is actually ingenious.
–Epic foreshadowing.
-I expected more from Ueda’s direction. It’s below his usual standards.
-Hatchan’s lack of courage is enhanced quite a lot in this episode.
Episode 41 (Massuru Tawaa no Saigo) aired on December 3rd, 1986.
Script by Miho Maruo, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Tai’ichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Yasuhiro Kaneda, Naotoshi Shida.
–Smug.
-This is a cool shot.
–Enraged Hatchan is worth the viewing of this episode.
-He’s pretty badass when he’s pissed off. Even Goku acknowledges that.
-Okay, this is quite brilliant. How to subvert a trope the right way.
-There’s barely no tension for being a mini-arc finale.
-The music placement is a bit all over the place, especially the BGM when White holds the village elder hostage.
-Quite honestly, the bad guys encountered so far are kind of an embarrassment.
-Even as a kid, Goku has the bad habit of lowering his guard.
–Collective laughter trope in the end.
Episode 42 (Kiki Ippatsu!! Ganbare Hatchan) aired on December 10th, 1986.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo.
Key animation: Kazuko Hirose, Noriko Iitani, Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Teruhisa Ryu.
-At the very least, it’s admirable that they reanimated Murasaki threatening Hatchan of blowing him up from episode 39.
-The knapsack twist is kinda funny. Murasaki thought it contained the Dragon Balls.
-Overall, the content of this episode is extremely boring.
-Even in late 1986, Toei liked to squeeze characters until the audience gets eventually fed up with him. Murasaki is no exception. He shouldn’t have survived from the Muscle Tower destruction.
-Why eyelashes on Goku??
Episode 43 (Nishi no Miyako no Buruma n’chi) aired on December 17th, 1986.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi.
Key animation: Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki, Yoshiya Kibayashi.
-Hatchan’s got his own pajamas.
–Mashed potatoes.
–Everybody’s favorite insert song is here.
-A baby dinosaur on a leash.
-A Marilyn Monroe reference?
-“Still better drawn than episode 24“.
-So they predicted the Pokemon move Hi Jump Kick.
-Yeah, Kintoun don’t die… tell me about Tambourine, then.
-“There was a Kintoun shop managed by a cat“.
The first Dragon Ball movie (Doragon Bōru · Shenron no Densetsu or Dragon Ball – The Legend of Shenlong) was released on December 20th 1986. Script by Toshiki Inoue, direction by Daisuke Nishio, executive production by Chiaki Imada and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda.
-This movie retells the events of the first canon arc with a few differences.
-Shunsuke Kikuchi’s M2XX soundtrack is pretty decent, overall. M229 and M247 are the best tracks. M205, M214 and M260 are also quite good.
–Wonderful storyboarding. The art direction looks absolutely stunning.
-Even when the animation isn’t stellar, the choreographies feel genuinely competent.
-Toshiki Inoue’s characterization is pretty solid.
-I really like that Bulma thanks Goku for saving her. That’s a nice addition to the main series.
-Bulma whizzes sparkles here, too.
-The fight between Goku and Yamcha is way better choreographed and animated than Ebisawa’s series counterpart.
-Is this a communism reference???
-In this movie, Bulma feels actually sorry for asking Oolong to transform.
-Muten Roshi’s Kamehameha is the animation highlight.
-Basically, it’s Bulma who manages to defeat the villain of this movie. Nice change of pace.
-Oolong is still the most relatable character in the end.
-I find it really admirable that this movie doesn’t follow the infamous “DB formula”.
-The movie pacing is very inconsistent.
-The parts involving the main cast are sped up too much, to the point that even a simple gesture, like Muten Roshi giving his Kintoun to Goku (which CLEARLY made sense in the regular series), turns out to be rather contrived. In this version of the story, Goku didn’t get to help Umigame, and Muten Roshi has known him for, like, a minute.
-It’s quite ironic that Bongo and Pasta, Gourmet‘s henchmen, get more screen time than the real villain.
-In any case, neither of them stands out as villains. Bongo and Pasta are pretty generic sidekicks, while Gourmet is too forgettable.
–Pansy is basically a shameless duplicate of Suno, whom we said goodbye to only A WEEK BEFORE this movie had been released.
-For a few seconds, they reused a clip from the Makafushigi Adventure opening.
–Ebisawa’s dead eyes.
-By the way, Bulma is still sixteen, right?
Episode 44 (Gokū to Nakama to Kiken ga Ippai) aired on December 24th, 1986.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Tai’ichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Yasuhiro Kaneda, Naotoshi Shida.
-I wish I could ever ditch school like Bulma did…
[seriously, you have to go to school. It’s for your education.]
-Bulma’s father thinking Goku is the police officer.
-Bulma’s mother offering alcohol to Goku nonchalantly.
–Goku, Oolong and even Puar talking sense about Bulma’s attitude.
–The way Hiromi Tsuru says this line.
-Toriyama isn’t really good at depicting romance…
Episode 45 (Ki o Tsukero! Kūchū no Wana) aired on January 7th, 1987.
Script by Michiro Shimada, storyboard by Tetsuo Imasawa, direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa.
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Satoru Kusuda, Mari Tominaga, Emiko Uesugi.
-Bulma is quite reflective in this episode.
-The lads are having fun.
-Overall, I must acknowledge this is the funniest episode of this arc: from “Tickets” to Goku mistaking a mole for a booger.
–Husky’s facepalm.
-And thus, this gag came. It’s a balls gag, it’s not the first one on the show… but I can’t help but laugh. Be it for its use of M114, for Nozawa’s ‘Here’ or simply for Goku’s mild intentions, this never fails to make me laugh. Comedy timing is just perfect.
-The aerial chase is pretty decent. And M109 improves it.
-The message of this episode is “it sucks to be Yamcha”. They either steal your Dragon Balls, tie you, or consider you unfaithful and get your face slapped in the end. You’re still a poor and endangered Yamcha.
-Jokes aside, I really hate the romance crossed wires trope. And it hurts so much to have it on a popular anime like DB.
Episode 46 (Buruma no Dai-Shippai) aired on January 14th, 1987.
Script by Miho Maruo, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Tai’ichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Hidehiko Kadota, Naotoshi Shida.
-Third episode as a director for Takenouchi in a row. That is harsh…
–Goku’s purity hits the target, once again.
-Bulma is reasonably unenthusiastic about going to Kame House.
-From his first appearance, we already learn a lot from General Blue’s attitude. He’s so wicked he orders to execute an underling only because he caught him picking his nose.
-However, it seems like they were insecure about portraying homosexuality in the ’80s and ’90s. No wonder they tended to fall into the stereotype trap, by showing gay people acting more camp and shrieking in fear. Of course, stuff like this would be preposterous nowadays.
-Red Ribbon soldiers attempting to rape a 17-year-old girl.
Episode 47 (Kame Hausu Hakken Saru!!) aired on January 21st, 1987.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Yuji Endo and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo.
Key animation: Kazuko Hirose, Noriko Iitani, Teruhisa Ryu, Kyogo Higurashi.
–Decent storyboard.
–Blockhead.
-A Baywatch reference? I would like a spin-off of it, please.
–Wrong underwear, Krillin.
-Actually, Kami-sama is a Namekian, and Namekians don’t have genders like humans do.
-Lunch’s sneeze gag has officially become annoying.
Episode 48 (Burū Shōgun Kōgeki Kaishi!!) aired on January 28th, 1987.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi.
Key animation: Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki, Yoshiya Kibayashi.
-The glorious Red Ribbon Army insert song.
–WTF?
-Considering General Blue’s esthete attitude, it’d make sense for him to prefer slimmer soldiers… or slimmer men in general.
-The whole voyeur Muten Roshi ordeal is getting tedious. Its outcome is always the same, he never succeeds in having a good wank.
Episode 49 (Buruma no Dai-Shippai) aired on February 4th, 1987.
Script by Yasushi Hirano, storyboard by Tatsuo Higashino, direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Tai’ichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Yasuhiro Kaneda, Naotoshi Shida.
–Spit and middle finger.
-Well, I can’t disagree with Muten Roshi. After all, they’re the ones who created Android 13.
-It’s always great to let Muten Roshi fight.
–Masako Nozawa’s evil laugh.
-I think a segment of THIS would’ve improved this episode.
-Instead, we get another sneeze gag. It’s becoming a trend.
–Krillin’s got a nose. And Super Saiyan 3 eyebrows.
–How insensitive. I swear it won’t be the only bald Krillin joke.
–I’m getting Future Trunks arc vibes. And yes, I would agree with her point if it weren’t for one thing: WHO created the Dragon Radar? WHO was insisting upon finding the Dragon Balls? WHO created the Time Machine? Before she blames somebody else, she should reconsider her actions. Dumbass.
Episode 50 (Kaizoku-tachi no Wana) aired on February 11th, 1987.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda.
Key animation: Sonomi Aramaki, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, Takeo Ide, Yasuyuki Shimizu.
-A goat painting.
-This explains a lot about Commander Red’s height obsession. No wonder he asked the painter for drawing Black as short as him.
-Maybe Krillin likes strawberries.
–Nakatsuru’s bubbly reaction.
–Hmm, probably.
-Okazaki’s output falls flat, doesn’t add good quirks to the episode.
Episode 51 (Kaitei no Gādoman) aired on February 11th, 1987.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Katsumi Aoshima.
Key animation: Katsumi Aoshima.
-It’s quite unusual for Goku to finish the skeleton guardman with his former signature move, the Jan-Ken Punch.
-As a whole, the episode is quite repetitive. The action is nothing special and incredibly conservative.
-The skeleton guardman’s screech is probably the most annoying sound in the anime. On a par with Golden Oozaru’s scream… wait, nothing is more annoying than Golden Oozaru’s scream.
-How many bloody times did they reuse this shot?
-Aoshima’s infamous missing tooth.
Episode 52 (Yatta! Otakara Hakken) aired on February 25th, 1987.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Masayuki Uchiyama, Akio Katada, Hidehiko Kadota, Naotoshi Shida.
–Clever transition.
–HAHA.
-Funnily enough, Bulma used her seduction technique twice, but actually never worked in neither case (since Blue is homosexual and Zamasu hates mortals).
-The short fight between Krillin and Blue is nicely done.
–Curb Krillin’s enthusiasm.
-Overall, this episode looks quite rushed.
-Here Bulma looks terribly skinny.
-The ’80s were pretty edgy… again, such an offensive line would be considered an issue by LGBT community. “Flaming homo” sounds pretty discriminatory, to be honest.
-I mean… Toriyama never knew how to portray homosexuality SUBTLY. Let’s say they used to believe being gay and being effeminate would be the same thing.
Episode 53 (Kyōfu no Hikaru Me) aired on March 4th, 1987.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo.
Key animation: Kazuko Hirose, Noriko Iitani, Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Teruhisa Ryu.
-The battle between Goku and Blue has a nice choreography.
-First episode to use M2XX (soundtrack from the first movie). M261 fits the ending so well.
–This is wholesome. Saving a mouse is something Goku wouldn’t hesitate to do.
-Small note, but Krillin has known Goku for less time than Bulma, yet he wants to wait for him…
-… while Bulma wants to leave him there. What a friend.
–Transparent lipstick?
-I hate those repetitions so much.
Episode 54 (Nigero ya Nigero!! Dai-Dasshutsu) aired on March 11th, 1987.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Tai’ichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Yasuhiro Kaneda, Naotoshi Shida.
–Krillin looks like Jigglypuff.
-Bulma giving the diamond to Muten Roshi is kind from her, after all she’s already rich on her own.
-After many balls jokes, I had to see a pussy joke coming. But Krillin cannot smell, so…
–Krillin talking sense about Bulma’s contradiction.
-Again, Goku’s got a point: nobody asked Bulma to help him find the Four-star Dragon Ball.
-Besides, nice way to thank a friend that happened to save your life a few minutes ago.
-I have enough with Lunch and her sneeze gag. Seriously, stop it.
Episode 55 (Ncha! Otte Pengin Mura) aired on March 18th, 1987.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi.
Key animation: Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki.
-Finally, after 27 episodes, a great episode. The first one of this arc.
-Great storyboard and direction. Ueda’s quintessential elements are all here: reflections during the 1st half and colors during the psychedelic chase segment.
-Blue’s PK-Powered Ropes plan is actually ingenious.
–A fart joke? I guess I had to see that coming, too.
–Breaking the fourth wall. It’s been a while.
–No girls? What about Colonel Violet?
-God, Lunch is so stupid.
–Joining the enemy? Bulma is pathetic.
Episode 56 (Uhohōi! Arare Kumo ni Noru) aired on March 25th, 1987.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard by Yukio Ebisawa, direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa.
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Satoru Kusuda, Mari Tominaga, Emiko Uesugi.
-[If you’re not familiar with Dr. Slump and its humor, you’ll probably not enjoy these upcoming two episodes.]
-Arale is a pretty fun character. As well as the Gatchans.
–Poops look so cheerful.
-This is all kinds of W-R-O-N-G. Seriously, this character needs to fuckin’ die.
-His squealing is getting very obnoxious. Not even Kale annoyed me this much, which says A LOT.
Episode 57 (Taiketsu! Arare Tai Burū) aired on April 8th, 1987.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda.
Key animation: Sonomi Aramaki, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, Takeo Ide, Yasuyuki Shimizu.
–Ide and Nakatsuru improve Maeda’s episodes in terms of visuals.
-Nice impact frame.
–HAHA. Nice.
-Arale gives no shit about being taken hostage. She even licks Blue’s knife.
-Again, as for the other subplots, if you’re not into Dr. Slump, you’ll not like them. Personally, I don’t particularly care for them.
-Blue’s psychokinesis strategy is fuckin’ repetitive.
Episode 58 (Makyō no Seichi Karin) aired on April 15th, 1987.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Tai’ichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Yasuhiro Kaneda, Naotoshi Shida.
–Solid storyboarding, as a whole.
-First episode to use Kikuchi’s M3XX (late Red Ribbon-Uranai Baba arc soundtrack), like M312, M314, M318 and the infamous M316 (used THREE TIMES).
-Bora kicking some soldiers’ buttocks.
–Piss off.
-Hmm… the god’s protection doesn’t give you immortality, or some spear time.
-Funny, I think the same about this arc.
Episode 59 (Kita! Sekai’ichi no Koroshiya “Tao Pai-pai”) aired on April 22nd, 1987.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Katsumi Aoshima.
Key animation: Katsumi Aoshima, Shizuo Kawai.
–Tao Pai Pai‘s design in general. Hair braid and pink tunic with the ‘Kill You’ sign on the back.
-Seriously, he’s a badass. He says he will kill Blue with his tongue, and so he does.
-Besides, he’s also very generous. He gives Bora’s spear back to him directly.
-Debut of M309.
-What’s this? Hawaiian Sniper?
-I’d like to add the Hanna&Barbera running sound effect on his desperate walk.
-“Hmm, I wonder who was the only one to climb the Karin Tower to the top. Maybe someone who won a Tenkaichi Budokai?”
–Don’t worry, within a few years even mortals without any power will get to the top by plane.
-Indeed. That’s why they failed: they had to drive a plane to get there.
Episode 60 (Shōbu!! Kamehameha Tai Dodonpa) aired on April 29th, 1987.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo.
Key animation: Kazuko Hirose, Noriko Iitani, Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Teruhisa Ryu.
-As expected from Nishio, his specific field is creating solid battle choreographies. And Goku vs Tao Pai Pai is no exception.
-The Karin Tower climbing is pretty well-boarded. And shall I even mention M317?
-I totally buy this device. It’s not about the object. It’s about symbols, and nothing but THAT specific Dragon Ball could save his life.
–The drunkard is right, it actually happened.
-How many times are they going to reuse this track? EVEN MORE THAN ONCE IN AN EPISODE. Kikuchi composed better sad tracks.
Episode 61 (Karin Tō no Karin-sama) aired on May 6th, 1987.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi.
Key animation: Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki.
–Ueda’s direction is the protagonist here. He’s all over this episode. It gets even better with the thunderstorm.
-A green Dragon Ball and a pinker tower? It’s possible.
-I’m going to let this slide, since Karin is truly able to read other people’s minds. It’s not a retcon unlike some future cases.
–HAHA.
-I mean… Tao Pai Pai can even bounce projectiles back with his shoe, and make a hole in a poor guy’s forehead.
-Despite being for Goku’s sake, Karin is a bit of a jerk here.
Episode 62 (Hatashite!? Chō-Seisui no Kikime) aired on May 13th, 1987.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Tai’ichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Hidehiko Kadota, Naotoshi Shida.
-This episode is all about atmosphere. Great storyboarding and direction.
–HA.
–Cool line.
-The concept of the Super Spirit Water being ordinary water makes quite sense, since it’s all about the training Goku made (and his Zenkai boost). It isn’t a deus ex machina like an upcoming hydro-device…
-Remember when Senzu could only fill you for 10 days? No mention to its healing powers whatsoever.
Episode 63 (Son Gokū no Gyakushū) aired on May 20th, 1987.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard by Yukio Ebisawa, direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa.
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Emiko Uesugi.
–This is quite funny… I guess. Besides, it foreshadows an important event it’s going to happen later on.
-I shouldn’t be that biased, but… having Ebisawa storyboarding an action-focused episode is a recipe for disaster.
–His sense of anatomy is questionable, to say the least.
-His choreographies are copy and paste of his previous work. His kicks are so poorly executed.
-His ‘punching the camera’ device could work with better timing, but here characters look like cats scratching the screen.
-Also, did I ever mention repeating the same frames over and over doesn’t make the battle more dramatic, but more… annoying?
-Even with Tao Pai Pai holding a sword, the fight doesn’t get any better. It’s very conservative and simplistic.
-In the manga, Tao Pai Pai never climbs Karin’s Tower. It’s a neat addition in the anime, so that the rematch will undoubtedly be an improvement over this dreadful version of Goku vs Tao Pai Pai.
Episode 64 (Saigo no Tao Pai-pai) aired on May 27th, 1987.
Script by Shunichi Yukimuro, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda.
Key animation: Sonomi Aramaki, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, Takeo Ide, Yasuyuki Shimizu.
-Yeah, the rematch is much much better. Better animated, better paced and better executed.
–A dark Kintoun? Cool.
-Goku’s dream is completely random, but I appreciate that Nakatsuru reanimated THAT scene.
–This.
-Yeah, HOW can you NOT forgive anyone with THAT face?
-Tao Pai Pai is a respectable bad guy and all, but his end is a bit anticlimactic. Just Goku deflecting a bomb he threw at them.
-THREE PERVERTED GAGS from Muten Roshi. It’s a tad too much.
Episode 65 (Yuke Gokū! Totsugeki Kaishi) aired on June 10th, 1987.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Tai’ichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Hidehiko Kadota, Naotoshi Shida.
-Colonel Violet literally leaves two soldiers to be devoured by an alligator, but at the same time, she feels sorry for an injured monkey. That’s interesting…
-Am I wrong or blonde Lunch got more mellow than last time?
-About Bulma, 100% correct.
–What a bad pun.
-As for the ending insert song, I don’t really mind it. Not my favorite DB song.
Episode 66 (Reddo Ribon Gun Hisshi no Kōbō) aired on June 17th, 1987.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Katsumi Aoshima.
Key animation: Katsumi Aoshima.
-Sometimes Violet reminds me of Cheelai. Maybe it’s something with her hair…
-It’s rather fun to see Goku beat up some weak soldiers.
-Reusing that shot of Yamcha. I swear his neck will be stiff…
–Bulma and Umigame have a point: they don’t have any power, why would they be useful to take on an entire army?
-The arc is reaching its final stage… nevermind that, let’s focus on a deceptive affair between Bulma and Yamcha.
Episode 67 (Reddo Sōsui Shisu!!) aired on June 24th, 1987.
Script by Yasushi Hirano, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo.
Key animation: Kazuko Hirose, Noriko Iitani, Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Teruhisa Ryu.
–Solid storyboarding, with some neat choreographies.
-I might accuse Commander Red of yearning for a stupid request, like being taller, but apparently, it’s become a trend among villains, since Freezer also wanted to be 5 cm taller in DBS Broly. Considering the issues that involved Red’s shortness in the previous episodes, it quite makes sense.
-Shit, this is actually disturbing. It’s amazing how a death scene manages to look brutal without any energy blast. Only a mere gun on the victim’s forehead.
-By the way, Black really sucks at his job. Before killing Goku, shouldn’t he, I don’t know, BE STEALING THE DRAGON BALLS INSIDE HIS BACKPACK?
Episode 68 (Saigo no Doragon Bōru) aired on July 1st, 1987.
Script by Shunichi Yukimuro, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi.
Key animation: Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki.
-Solid and quite satisfying arc finale.
-The whole arc conclusion is focused on the 1st half. Sort of reminds me of the Tournament of Power ending during the 1st half of episode 131 of DBS.
–Shimanuki‘s early impact frames give me life.
–So lonely.
-We’ve not seen Yamcha’s sword since episode 4, perhaps.
-Again, that’s why Black sucks at his job. He should’ve stolen the Dragon Balls first.
–Yes, he is.
-Okay, I take back what I said about Lunch. She hasn’t changed.
–Oolong is a jinx.
RED RIBBON ARC – FINAL THOUGHTS: 6,5/10
-Well-structured and more elaborate story. It doesn’t start that strong, but gets on track halfway through, from the end of the General Blue portion onwards.
-The premise may not be that solid, but it managed to create a long adventure.
-As an arc, it’s quite complete, as it showcases adventure, comedy and action.
-Goku’s gradual evolution as a main character.
-Generally good use of the supporting cast (Bulma, Krillin, Muten Roshi, Lunch…).
-In spite of the considerable importance the Red Ribbon Army would receive later on, the villains get introduced as upstanding and intimidating, but usually turn out to be an embarrassment (like Silver, Murasaki, White, Blue, Black).
-Filler episodes are really boring.
-Squeezing characters until the audience gets fed up with them isn’t always a good idea. Toei letting Murasaki survive is a clear example of it.
BEST EPISODE: tie between episodes 61 and 64 (the former is very well-directed, whereas the latter displays a really good rematch between Goku and Tao Pai Pai)
WORST EPISODE: episode 63 (tedious choreography, boring animation and dull action)