22nd TENKAICHI BUDOKAI ARC (#084-#101)
Episode 84 (Mezase Budō Tenka’ichi!!) aired on October 21st, 1987.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Akio Katada, Hidehiko Kadota, Naotoshi Shida.
–The gang is shown playing cards. Doing friends stuff? That’s something you don’t get to see everyday on the show.
–HAHA. Love their expressions.
-So Lunch did actually mellow out. Only a punch at Muten Roshi’s voyeurism. Not even a mere gun.
–Krillin and Yamcha wearing their old clothes for the last time. Nice touch.
–HAHA. Krillin’s annoyed face makes it even better.
–If he said this line on DBS, they’d talk about ‘wrong power scaling’. Wait a sec…
-The manga uses the same framing and pose for Goku wearing his Kame gi, as a reference to the previous tournament arc. For some reason, Okazaki decides to upset that framing, by turning it into a frontal view, thus ruining Toriyama’s result. Not good.
–WA WA WA. I still cannot blame him.
Episode 85 (Kachinokoru zo!! Yosen Sabaibaru) aired on October 28th, 1987.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard by Satoru Kusuda, direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Akio Katada, Hidehiko Kadota, Naotoshi Shida.
-Probably one of the very few times the series draws on a filler episode. Good idea.
–HA.
-Still Chaozu’s first and only win in the series.
-Second Last House episode in a row. Must’ve been a true nightmare for Uchiyama and the others…
-Tsuru-sennin is a pervert like Muten Roshi, who at least deflects Lunch’s bullets.
-The useless build-up for characters who are obviously going to be defeated by the main cast.
Episode 86 (Kettei!! Hachinin no Yūsha-tachi) aired on November 4th, 1987.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa.
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Mari Tominaga, Takahiro Yoshimatsu, Toshiyuki Fujisawa.
–Debut of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai jingle, which would be reused 20 years later for the tournament mode of Budokai Tenkaichi 3.
–Mezase Tenkaichi IS BACK.
–Clever use of blonde Lunch, but Krillin and Yamcha’s discouraged reactions are priceless.
–This.
-The beginning of the “You can’t dodge in midair” trope.
-That’s a fairly good question. Maybe for the “Look at me, I’m a savage” kind of gags.
-As much as I like Namu coming back in this arc, he gets brutally defeated by Tenshinhan. Too bad.
–Chaozu’s pink hand.
Episode 87 (Taiketsu!! Yamucha Tai Tenshinhan) aired on November 11th, 1987.
Script by Shunichi Yukimuro, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Akio Katada, Hidehiko Kadota, Naotoshi Shida.
-Yamcha gets his own insert song, Wolf Hurricane, during his fight against Tenshinhan. Sung by Toru Furuya, his voice actor. Wonderful.
–Chaozu calling Krillin baldy. Krillin’s got a point, though.
-I love that Tenshinhan is embarrassed by Chaozu’s mockery.
–The announcer replying politely after Goku pointing out the obvious.
–I also like him being used to Goku’s habits.
–HAHA. Love it.
-If nothing else, Tsuru-sennin has a fairly decent humor.
–Eating on a toilet.
-And now Lunch has blue hair. Convenient.
-Unnecessary flashbacks.
-Not his fault, but Uchiyama’s corrections are dominant, and sadly, not that polished.
Episode 88 (Yuke Yamucha! Osoru Beshi Tenshinhan) aired on November 18th, 1987.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo.
Key animation: Teruhisa Ryu, Koji Usui.
-Clever idea to have Nishio board and choreograph the first major battle of the tournament. His imagery is so so interesting: from the bloody silhouettes to Yamcha literally turning into a wolf in front of the sun.
–Nifty harmony cels during the development of Yamcha’s Kamehameha.
-Shit. That’s actually painful. Tenshinhan pulls no punches (or knees, in this case).
–He has a point. Crane Hermit’s school is more complete than the Turtle Hermit school, since it does teach students more useful skills, such as using the Dodonpa or deflecting energy attacks. Students even learn to fly there.
-However, I don’t know whether it teaches them how to sense ki or not, since it might be a mere sensation in this case.
-More childish Kame-sennin/Tsuru-sennin moments, including farting and spitting on food.
-Shindo’s corrections are rough around the edges, and overall, don’t feel that appealing.
-On second thought, the ‘evil eye type’ attribute about Shindo is kinda inaccurate. More like “bored/half-closed eye type“.
–Oh yeah? Tell me about Nappa, then.
-And thus this episode launches one of the worst recurring gags of the show: OOLONG ABUSE.
I hate it. I do fuckin’ hate it. Everytime I see it, it pisses me off.
Episode 89 (Kyōfu!! Mangetsu no Urami) aired on November 25th, 1987.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda.
Key animation: Sonomi Aramaki, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, Takeo Ide, Yasuyuki Shimizu, Masaki Sato, Hisashi Eguchi (uncredited).
-The first Maeda episode to feature the Fantastic Four in full force (Nakatsuru, Ide, Sato and Eguchi, albeit uncredited).
-Okay, I take it back. This is Chaozu’s second win.
-Oh no, even Tenshinhan is going Waku Waku.
-Even without a context, this line makes sense. He may be a manwolf, but his mind is ningenly human.
–Jackie Chun is a bit of a jerk here, but I guess treating Manwolf like a dog makes sense, as well.
-Both Jackie Chun and Krillin thinking what the audience is thinking about Manwolf’s human form.
-Speaking of which, what if it was a subtle reference to Beauty and the Beast? Both Manwolf and the Beast have animal forms that look better than their human forms. The Disney movie was released in 1991, much later than this episode. Could it be just a coincidence?
-It’s a good thing Ide reanimated the flashback images of Goku vs Jackie Chun…
-… but did we really need a further recap? We know what happened. We don’t need flashback montages.
-I’ll never get enough of Ide’s expressions, but she’s such a bitch. That’s cruel, even for Bulma’s (low) standards.
–Tenshinhan’s missing third eye.
–Krillin as a full moon. Get it? Because he’s bald. HAHA.
Episode 90 (Nanana!! Nanto Dodonpa) aired on December 2nd, 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.
–She’s not wrong, actually.
-I’m torn: blue-haired evil Lunch from the NEP is either the weirdest or the sexiest thing of the day.
-This first part of Krillin vs Chaozu is a disappointment. Not very well choreographed and animated, and sadly, Ueda’s output isn’t very compelling, either.
-We already know Goku killed Tao Pai Pai. We don’t need an entire flashback of it.
-Chaozu may have unique skills, but he has a big flaw: he’s an idiot.
-In reality, Bukujutsu isn’t EXCLUSIVE to Crane Hermit school.
–THAT gag.
–What a dumbass. If Chaozu did kill Krillin, they’d disqualify him from the tournament. However, to his credit, I doubt Tsuru-sennin would care about the continuation of the tournament.
–Remember, FIFTY YEARS. He’s not a Saiyan, yet he masters the Kamehameha quickly.
This is not DBS, so it’s okay.
Episode 91 (Gyakuten!! Kuririn no Pāden ne Dai-Sakusen) aired on December 9th, 1987.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Tai’ichiro Ohara, Tetsuro Sano, Hiroshi Mochikuzi, Naoki Mishiba.
-Slightly better second half of the main fight.
–Lunch’s hair color fixed from the NEP.
-Not sure if it’s intentional, but Yamcha’s nightmare seems to foreshadow an event of the very next arc.
-Further proof of Crane Hermit school being generally more thorough in terms of learning new moves than Turtle Hermit School. In fact, Muten Roshi never taught Goku or Krillin how to use the Kamehameha…
-… whereas Tsuru-sennin never taught Chaozu math. This was actually part of Muten Roshi’s training.
-Probably the first instance of Ohara’s angry as F expressions.
–Chaozu’s got a teddy.
-The night filler functions as settling the growing rivalry between Goku and Tenshinhan…
-… but as far as the tournament rules go, it’s a really dumb move. Again, it’s implied Tsuru-sennin doesn’t seem to care about the competition anymore, but I’m surprised Tenshinhan lacks of good sense for not telling him killing the opponent is forbidden. Although, if both of them want to avenge Tao Pai Pai, they’re rightfully inflexible for that matter.
-Once again, Chaozu is officially an idiot.
Episode 92 (Omatase! Son Gokū Sanjō!) aired on December 16th, 1987.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa.
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Satoru Kusuda, Mari Tominaga, Takahiro Yoshimatsu.
-I appreciate the effort of trying to give a backstory to a useless character like Pamputto.
-I also appreciate Lunch going to rescue Goku only to give him an ice cream. She even tries to be nice for once. That’s a decent way to give more usefulness to her character.
–A lightsaber.
-As a whole, this episode adds more content to the manga version, even by showing some more training with Goku and Muten Roshi…
-… although, in the end of the day, both the anime and the manga couldn’t avoid a plain waste of time. Again, I appreciate the effort, but this filler content is super bland.
-Furthermore, the fact they take excessive advantage of Goku’s gullibility doesn’t make it any better.
-On the other hand, the fact they take excessive advantage of Bulma’s shallowness actually manages to make it worse.
-“Who could’ve predicted that it would turn out this way?” I don’t know… spending 20 minutes building up the whole episode might be a clue.
–Why am I having Mr. Satan vibes? Maybe it’s something with the hair.
-Sure, let’s also have some more perversion, thanks.
Episode 93 (Jitsuryoku Hakuchū!! Tenshinhan Tai Jakkī) aired on December 23rd, 1987.
Script by Takao Koyama and Naruhisa Arakawa, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Akio Katada, Hidehiko Kadota, Naotoshi Shida.
–Quite solid storyboarding.
-The beginning of the battle between Jackie Chun and Tenshinhan is pretty solid, as well.
–Jackie Chun going Waku Waku in the NEP.
–Oolong abuse again.
Episode 94 (Gegege!! Shin Tsuru-senryū · Taiyō-Ken) aired on December 30th, 1987.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi.
Key animation: Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki.
-Not the best storyboarding from Ueda, but still quite nice.
–Cute.
–This quote works out of its context, too. Tenshinhan had so much potential both as a character and as a fighter. He knows the Dodonpa, the Taiyoken, the Kikoho and can also mimic other people’s techniques after seeing it once. Not to mention his third eye. However, it seems like Tenshinhan got lost at some point. His quirkiness was like gone forever.
-This framing can easily be viewed as Muten Roshi’s handover to the new generation of fighters. It works very well.
-“And by relaxation I mean getting kidnapped by an evil doctor and fighting in a tournament for the survival of 8 universes.
–Waku Waku in the NEP.
–Turtle abuse.
Episode 95 (Faito!! Gokū Tai Kuririn) aired on January 6th, 1988.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo.
Key animation: Teruhisa Ryu, Koji Usui.
–Good atmosphere and direction.
-Good to see part of Krillin’s second training.
–It’s kind of admirable for Lunch to make some reasoning about who’s going to win.
-The dialogue between Muten Roshi and Tenshinhan gives important elements to the latter’s development. Even if he refuses Muten Roshi’s advice at first, he cannot stop thinking about it.
-Remember when Krillin forbade Goku from holding back? How things have changed these years.
–Waku Wakuing…
-How can you have a crucial Tenkaichi Budokai battle without Mezase Tenkaichi??
-This is the last of Muten Roshi’s alter ego, Jackie Chun. I always wondered why nobody recalls him. Even those who constantly idolize Mr. Satan, don’t they have some tiny memory of him?
Episode 96 (Masa ka Gokū!? Kuririn no Dai-Sakusen) aired on January 13th, 1988.
Script by Shunichi Yukimuro, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Akio Katada, Hidehiko Kadota, Naotoshi Shida.
-Great friendly fight. Well-animated, well-choreographed. What else?
–Goku blocking Krillin’s Kamehameha with ease. That’s cool.
-This episode is mostly known for Shida’s cut, in which we can spot his main quirks, such as his timing, hand poses and slow-mo momentum. It’s one of the best animated cuts of the original DB…
-… but for some reason, it brought people to think the battles from the original series were ALWAYS THAT good. That’s not how the animation industry works IRL. Especially for Toei.
-So, Goku (not the most intelligent lad in the world) realized he had to train his tail for, like, 3 years. Which makes Raditz a super idiot for not realizing it in over 20 years.
-By the way, his tail wasn’t even Goku’s biggest weakness in the first place. That honor goes to LOWERING HIS DAMN GUARD. Something that STILL happens nowadays.
–Don’t panic. You’ll be needed for random perverted jokes (after the following arc, Muten Roshi’s character would get quite mistreated. That until the Universe Survival arc).
Episode 97 (Kesshō!! Hatashite Budō Tenka’ichi wa!?) aired on January 20th, 1988.
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, Masaki Sato, Hisashi Eguchi (uncredited).
–Okazaki‘s finest output so far.
–Nakatsuru‘s art is a blessing in this era. His cut is easily the best part of this episode.
–Telepathic insults.
–Goku’s good faith towards Muten Roshi is admirable.
–Maeda‘s corrections look a bit wonky.
–Bulma’s expression sums up my thoughts about Lunch’s recurring gag.
Episode 98 (Higi · Haikyū-Ken Tai Sentō Pawā) aired on January 27th, 1988.
Script by Yoshifumi Yuki, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Taiichiro Ohara.
Key animation: Taiichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Naotoshi Shida, Tetsuro Sano, Hiroshi Mochizuki.
-The Taiyoken doesn’t turn everything green. Ueda doesn’t think so.
–Nicely choreographed fight.
–Hirotaka Suzuoki is amazing.
-Even though the Haiyouken is not as popular as the Kikoho, it’s still memorable because of this face.
-Overall, Tenshinhan makes a lot of hilarious expressions here. It’s not about the expressions themselves, but rather about who makes them.
–Goku infected Waku Wakuitis.
–HAHA.
–Shut up, Fred.
–Krillin stating the obvious.
-For some reason, the last episode recap shows a knocked out Goku without his wounds, which did appear in that episode.
-Unlike the manga, the anime at least moves up Lunch’s crush on Tenshinhan, so that it doesn’t look particularly out of nowhere. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have enough solid reasons for having a crush on him, because she only saw him a very few times, and NEVER interacted with him.
-Consider that this poor attempt of a relationship would be portrayed in a very lame and shallow way, probably because Toriyama isn’t very good at writing romance, and also due to the lack of things the two have in common.
-In other words, the so called relationship between Lunch and Tenshinhan is the most contrived relationship of the whole series. Even Caulifla-Kale sounds more genuine in comparison.
Episode 99 (Tenshinhan no Kunō!!) aired on February 3rd, 1988.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard by Satoru Kusuda, direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa.
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Mari Tominaga, Takahiro Yoshimatsu.
–Kusuda’s board is the highlight of this episode. So great, so full of colors. With good direction, too.
-For being a Studio Live entry, the art looks delightful at some point. It kinda reminds me of early Kan’no.
–Fuckin’ deserved it. I wish that killed him, though.
–FINALLY Tenshinhan says it. That’s why that revenge plan couldn’t work in a tournament where killing the opponent is against the rules.
–So it’s not something exclusive to the Saiyans.
–The anatomy of Ebisawa’s kicks is still questionable.
–And I thought ONLY Super Saiyan Blue Evolution could damage your eyesight…
Episode 100 (Sei ka Shi ka!? Saigo no Shudan) aired on February 10th, 1988.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard by Katsumi Aoshima, direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Katsumi Aoshima.
Key animation: Katsumi Aoshima.
-The announcer’s spontaneity caused by Aoshima’s movements: adding simple gestures like raising four fingers or combing his hair gives more depth to his moves.
-AW. Aoshima’s puppy eyes.
-There he is. Stealin… borrowing other fighters’ techniques.
–Fuck off.
-About the Kikoho, Tenshinhan died only once because he used all his power to defeat Nappa. He uses it so many times he should be a corpse right now. And yes, I know this episode aired before ki had been introduced, but an average Kikoho does NOT shorten his life span. It only drops his ki.
Episode 101 (Budō Taikai Shūryō! Soshite…!!) aired on February 17th, 1988.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Taiichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Naotoshi Shida.
-Excellent arc finale. Nishio‘s storyboarding and direction manage to be even more powerful and intense than his own 21st T.B. arc finale.
-The action may be scarse quantity-wise, but it’s all worth it.
-It’s pretty funny to see Muten Roshi fanboying this much.
-In a different occasion, I’d complain about Tenshinhan apologizing to Yamcha ONLY NOW… but Yamcha is a good boi. What could’ve been a forced moment is actually a nice one.
–This framing over here does kinda spoil the ending.
-During our rewatch, I tend to take the piss out of some moments, just for playing them down. In this case, I cannot. THIS is the moment that changed the franchise. THIS is the moment that took the “comedy prequel” into a darker and more serious territory. THIS is the moment that brought us the FIRST great villain in chronological order (Tenshinhan had a change of heart, so he doesn’t count). THIS is the first impactful death in the series (Upa’s father isn’t a character the audience grew fond of, whereas Krillin is part of the main cast).
-THIS moment, however, eventually led to repetitive jokes about Krillin dying too often.
-As much as I appreciate the execution of this episode, I have to admit the quirky framing, the awkward silence, Goku’s bad premonitions and the music placement make THIS moment more taken for granted. Again, it still remains powerful, but it’s like we might’ve seen that coming.
-Besides, staring at Krillin’s corpse isn’t as unsettling as staring at Krillin with Super Saiyan 3 eyebrows. Creepy.
-I explained it before: I do not buy it. It’s forced, they never interacted before, her blonde side wants him, but her blue side doesn’t care, and so does he.
22nd TENKAICHI BUDOKAI ARC – FINAL THOUGHTS: 8/10
-The story is less simple than the first tournament arc.
-Much better action than the first tournament arc.
-Tenshinhan’s progression and development as a character is great: from an assassin wannabe to a proud warrior who “saw the light”.
-The contrast between the ideologies of the two martial arts schools stands out a lot. Tsuru-sennin is keen on teaching deadly techniques, whereas Kame-sennin wants his pupils to acquire education and maturity.
-Better animated and choreographed fights.
-Goku vs Tenshinhan is a really good final battle.
-The tournament gives us two new characters to join the main cast, Tenshinhan and Chaozu. Manwolf is there for the previous tournament arc callback, whereas Pamputto is pointless.
-The birth of one of the most annoying running gags, Oolong abuse. It’s unfunny and humiliating.
BEST EPISODE: episode 101 (excellent finale, very well-directed and with an impactful ending)
WORST EPISODE: episode 92 (not as bad as I remembered, but it feels rather pointless and the fight is predictably dull)