PICCOLO DAIMAO ARC (#102-#132)
Episode 102 (Kuririn no Shi Osoroshiki Inbō!!) aired on February 24th, 1988.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi.
Key animation: Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki.
-Takenouchi’s best work so far. His sense of atmosphere fits the description of Piccolo Daimao‘s holocaust so so well. Nifty use of different colors, as well. He took a Ueda-esque approach.
-Small detail, but I also like he fixed Goku and Krillin’s first interaction screenshot, by making it closer to the manga rendition, unlike he did in episode 14, which he also directed.
-First episode to use Kikuchi’s M5XX (Piccolo arc soundtrack). Probably one of his best compositions. Be it released (M501, M504, M515 or M518) or unreleased (M503, M506 or M522), it’s very consistent.
-Once again, this episode changes the register of the series: the lighthearted comedy and mild villains leave in favor of a darker and more serious atmosphere, with more intimidating villains ruling the roost. Krillin’s death isn’t like Bora’s, because he’s part of the main cast, he’s a character the audience was attached to, and most of all, he’s Goku’s best friend, so for the first time, we see him really angry and acting more impulsively.
-As for the main villain, Piccolo Daimao is great. He’s nothing like the bad guys we came across so far: he’s cruel, ruthless and intimidating. His plan is evil and diabolical, as he wants to murder any single martial arts fighter, so that he doesn’t get to be sealed back in a denshi jar by someone who knows the Mafuba.
-“Espero que se recupere pronto“.
–As for his wish for eternal youth, I’d normally complain about him not getting a more useful wish, like immortality, but in this case, it makes quite sense since if he managed to get any single warrior killed, nothing or none would be able to stop him.
-How could Pilaf possibly find the denshi jar Piccolo was locked in?
Episode 103 (Pikkoro Daimaō no Kyōfu!!) aired on March 2nd, 1988.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo.
Key animation: Kazuko Hirose, Teruhisa Ryu, Koji Usui, Noriko Shibata.
–Good storyboarding.
-Ryusei Nakao as Tambourine. Enough said.
-Tambourine is a much better villain than the ENTIRE Red Ribbon army, because of one thing: the others talk, he EXECUTES.
-Krillin’s death may be lousy, but Ueda’s board improves it a little bit.
-I need to address this, but for some reason, the anime draws Piccolo’s hands with FIVE fingers, whereas they’re only FOUR in the manga.
-So, Tambourine destroys Goku’s Kintoun… can anyone remind me what the old man stated in episode 43? See why it is BS?
Episode 104 (Yomigaere Son Gokū!!) aired on March 9th, 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.
–Rather solid storyboarding.
–HAHA.
–Savage.
-The beauty of these frames. Bulma has panties instead of her pupils.
–Badass line.
-Shit got real. Manwolf’s corpse on a bloody river.
-You got to envy Piccolo Daimao: he gives birth to Piano just because he wants him to kiss his arse.
–Giving birth to a dragon-type warrior? I’m confused. I know this was way before the introduction of Namek, but in general, Namekians give birth to… other Namekians.
–Yajirobe has every reason for being mad at Goku. He ate his meal without realizing it could’ve been someone else’s.
-“Strange, I thought I only needed to scream ‘Kintoun‘”. That old man is an idiot.
Episode 105 (Kaidanji · Yajirobee Tōjō!!) aired on March 16th, 1988.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard by Satoru Kusuda, direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Taiichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Naotoshi Shida.
-I always liked Yajirobe’s character. He’s not as strong as the main cast, but he’s very practical. He’s always in the right place, at the right moment.
-“Weaker than shit…”
-Okay, maybe evil Lunch really became softer.
-Dragon Ball is the only anime where dead bodies grin.
-Dragon Ball is also the only anime where characters make fun of dead people.
-WHY would Bulma keep her capsule in her underwear drawer??
-Wait… why should she keep her underwear drawer inside Kame House???
-Since when Namekians sleep with their eyes open?
–M509 during the small bit of fighting between Goku and Yajirobe sounds so WRONG.
–Can’t Goku count? I thought Muten Roshi taught him some math before the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai.
-Also, Yajirobe is right. Goku took his fish only because it was lying in that spot. That’s a really weak excuse.
-The beginning of the Jan-ken trope. I wonder how many times it will take for it to become repetitive…
–Cymbal’s depressed look says it all.
-By the way, Cymbal is a dumbass. Yajirobe is carrying his Dragon Ball on his neck, then why can’t he see it?
Episode 106 (Majū · Tanbarin ga Yatte Kuru!!) aired on March 23rd, 1988.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard by Yukio Ebisawa, direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa.
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Mari Tominaga, Takahiro Yoshimatsu.
-The manga completely forgets Yamcha’s broken leg. Thankfully, the anime doesn’t.
–This makes a lot of sense in the Japanese version, as Mayumi Tanaka voices both Krillin and Yajirobe.
–HA.
–I find it funny.
–Giran at least manages to land a hit on Tambourine. Krillin didn’t.
–Raw >>>> well done.
-There’s something off with Ebisawa’s way to draw and animate kicks.
–Where’s Tenshinhan’s ear?
-Even Piccolo Daimao doesn’t put up with Pilaf’s excessive ass-kissing. It’s embarrassing, even for Pilaf’s low standards.
-Why does Tambourine let Yamcha live? I mean, Piccolo called him, but he doesn’t have any reason for not finishing the job.
Episode 107 (Son Gokū · Ikari Bakuhatsu!!) aired on April 6th, 1988.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Katsumi Aoshima.
Key animation: Katsumi Aoshima.
–The bear thief from episode 3 making a non-canon appearance. Decent callback.
-The idea of having Tenshinhan deal with his past evildoing is quite decent. It makes the audience realize his radical change of attitude, even if it means begging his victim for giving him his Dragon Ball.
–No wristbands.
-The race between Goku and Yajirobe gets very tiresome after a short while.
-These morons don’t realize Piccolo can actually hear their whispering.
Episode 108 (Pikkoro Daimaō Oritatsu!!) aired on April 13th, 1988.
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.
–Quite solid storyboarding.
–Hisada-esque impact frames from Takeuchi.
-So Godzilla is a thing in the DBverse?
Episode 109 (Son Gokū Tai Pikkoro Daimaō) aired on April 20th, 1988.
Script by Miho Maruo, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Taiichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Naotoshi Shida.
–Shida’s wormy fingers.
–Piccolo Daimao is so full of character. Very expressive.
–Biting his opponent.
–My thoughts about movie 4.
-Not a massive fan of Takenouchi’s direction. His output is quite inconsistent.
-We probably didn’t need a gag of Muten Roshi getting splattered by a boulder.
Episode 110 (Ganbare! Son Gokū!!) aired on May 4th, 1988.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard by Satoru Kusuda, direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo.
Key animation: Kazuko Hirose, Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Teruhisa Ryu, Noriko Shibata.
-Small detail, but in this shot Goku’s eye lines look more DBZ-esque.
–Clever bastard.
-This arc gives so much value to Muten Roshi. The perverted old man turns out to be an expert and responsible warrior, willing to sacrifice himself to eliminate the enemy.
–I call BS on this one. It’s not that Goku cannot survive Piccolo’s blast, but we clearly see and hear his heart stop, as Piccolo also confirms. Goku surviving Tao Pai Pai’s Dodonpa worked because it had the DB in his clothes, whereas this is super forced. I know the plot demands Goku’s survival, but the way it’s portrayed makes no sense. First his heart stops, then it starts beating again. WTF?
Episode 111 (Kame-Sen’nin no Saigo no Mafūba!!) aired on May 11th, 1988.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Taiichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Naotoshi Shida.
-Without a doubt the best directed episode so far. Nishio‘s contribution is so great: atmosphere, sense of depth, tension. With nice music placement, too.
-This episode also gives us one of the most memorable expressions of the entire series.
–Subarashii.
–Very good characterization. Even in a tense situation, Muten Roshi jokes about not being able to watch dirty videos while Piccolo is still alive.
-I still hate Pilaf. Like a lot.
Episode 112 (Yomigaere Son Gokū!!) aired on May 18th, 1988.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda.
Key animation: Takeo Ide, Yasuyuki Shimizu, Masaki Sato, Hisashi Eguchi.
–Sato’s Tenshinhan in general.
-The glory of Piccolo’s rejuvenating scene. Sato is such an expert at drawing Namekians, and M503 as BGM makes it even better.
-Piccolo Daimao is a great, wicked villain. He demonstrates his pure badness by killing off Shenlong after granting his wish, so that nobody would be able to use the DBs. Not even Cell is as evil as he is.
–Having a character betray an “ally” would normally be a dick move, but since said ally is Pilaf, I’m 100% okay with it.
–DB movies in a nutshell.
–M503 is used a second time while Piccolo is laughing in his ship, and sadly, doesn’t work like the first time.
-That BGM again. I definitely didn’t miss it.
–Nice job, Chaozu. Useful as always.
-Still, the Golden Globe to the most useless character ever created goes to the King. He does nothing, he’s shown sitting on his damn chair, and lets innocent people die because of his incompetence. He will also have the nerve of forgetting Goku’s existence, in favor of a weak wrestler. How could anyone be THIS useless?
–Yes. I’m glad I won’t see them again. Or will I?
Episode 113 (Kingu Kyassuru no Kōbō!!) aired on May 25th, 1988.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard and direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa.
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Mari Tominaga, Takahiro Yoshimatsu.
-Nice to see some good artwork in a pre-Kan’no Studio Live episode.
–Yajirobe has a bad attitude. I really like him.
-Decent addition of Suno from Jingle Village.
-“Unless you watch a Mafuba tutorial, you cannot learn it“.
-Goku may be injured, but he basically forces Yajirobe to climb Karin Tower. Kind of a dick move.
–He even sleeps while Yajirobe is climbing Karin Tower.
–WA WA WA. He really sucks at his job.
–What a bloody coincidence.
–Mr. Satan.
Episode 114 (Gokū no Negai!! Karin-sama mo Nayamu) aired on June 1st, 1988.
Script by Shunichi Yukimuro, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo.
Key animation: Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Teruhisa Ryu, Noriko Shibata.
–Quite great storyboarding from Ueda.
–Piccolo Daimao is a troll.
-From this episode onwards, the main effect of the Senzu is this one. No more callbacks to 10 days filling whatsoever.
-Which brings an interesting question: if here Karin is shown having a bowl full of Senzus, then why are they ALWAYS missing in DBZ? Did Yajirobe eat them all?
-Even Piccolo points out the King’s incompetence.
-The last seconds bring up a considerable plot device, which I’m going to talk about later since the anime develops it in a totally different way from the manga.
Episode 115 (Te ni Irero! Nazo no Chō-Shinsui) aired on June 8th, 1988.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard by Satoru Kusuda, direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Taiichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Naotoshi Shida.
–Suno holding a gun. That’s rough.
–Unwittingly clever detail, considering Namekians don’t need to eat to survive.
-Onto the forementioned plot device, the Super Sacred Water. The anime at least makes it more of a challenge, by having Goku and Yajirobe run on an ice labyrinth. On the other hand, the manga uses a far simpler solution, by having Karin give the water to Goku directly.
-Even though the anime makes things more complicated, the Super Sacred Water is a very cheap device in any case. It’s a power boost Goku doesn’t earn in the manga.
-Speaking of which, “power of the gods“? That’s a way too vague and prosaic description.
-Overall, the writing of this episode is pretty sloppy. WHY does Goku ignore the existence of labyrinths? Wasn’t there a similar thing in Muscle Tower?
-Yajirobe is still hungry despite eating a considerable amount of Senzus last episode. Did I miss something?
Episode 116 (Ikite Ita Kame-Sen’nin!?) aired on June 22nd, 1988.
Script by Michiru Shimada, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi.
Key animation: Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki.
-Some Takeuchi long necks here and there.
–Shimanuki is the best of this episode.
-I swear SSJ3 eyebrows Muten Roshi will be seen elsewhere.
-The Kame House illusion of the Darkness realm might be considered a temptation metaphor, as Yamcha and the others try to convince Goku to stay there having fun for the rest of their lives. In other words, yes, it functions as a challenge. That’s a decent touch over the manga.
–Blonde Lunch digging Piccolo Daimao‘s abolition of justice and peace follows a certain continuity. I don’t really like it, but it works.
–SUPER DIVINE POISON.
-“A glimpse better known as ki“.
–Yeah, sure. Beerus went inside this cave to hide some poison in order to lure a certain kind of Super Saiyan… why not?
Episode 117 (Son Gokū Tsui ni Hasshin!!) aired on June 29th, 1988.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard by Katsumi Aoshima, direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Katsumi Aoshima.
Key animation: Katsumi Aoshima.
–Badass Hatchan.
–Goku learning how to sense ki after drinking the Super Sacred Water sort of reminds me of Goku unlocking Ultra Instinct in the Tournament of Power. Ironically, in both cases, Goku didn’t master any of the two skills at first.
-That aside, though, it’s still a bit forced. This Goku is too dense to learn ki sensing.
-The awkward Hatchan slow-mo. The following Aoshima episodes will have tons of these…
-The “Don’t misunderstand me” trope is something I’d normally expect from Vegeta. Not from Tenshinhan.
-Again, the anime keeps trying, but I still don’t buy it.
Episode 118 (Tenshinhan no Ketsui!!) aired on July 6th, 1988.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Taiichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Naotoshi Shida, Hiroshi Mochizuki.
–That’s quite funny, considering Piccolo’s reincarnation is her son’s mentor and best friend.
-Yes, the anime gets bonus points for remembering Yamcha’s broken leg. That’s a solid continuity here.
–Lunch even stands up for Yamcha. That’s nice.
–Bulma’s parents’ priorities drive me insane.
-A subtle Blues Brothers reference?
-“If only I had a dark Kintoun like the one I lent to Tao Pai Pai.“
The third Dragon Ball movie (Makafushigi Dai Bōken or A Mystical Great Adventure) was released on July 9th 1988. Script by Yoshifumi Yuki, direction by Kazuhisa Takenouchi, executive production by Chiaki Imada and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda.
-This movie wraps up the events from the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai arc, Red Ribbon arc and even the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc all at once, also adding Karin and Arale.
-This is the only movie (from the original run) to have an exclusive opening sequence. It’s a clever idea because at this point of the series they couldn’t pick any of the two regular opening sequences, as the former was already cast aside in the Piccolo Daimao arc, and the latter would be way too beyond the events of this movie. Besides, having Masaki Sato and Hisashi Eguchi animate it is worth a further bonus.
–Pretty good direction from Takenouchi. He’s not my favorite director on the show, but still pulled it off.
-This movie has raw talent, be it Ide, Shida, Sato, Eguchi or Shimanuki.
-This is Chaozu’s most important role in any DB material. And his relationship with Tenshinhan is enjoyable, with its ups and downs.
-For the first time, Tsuru-sennin and Tao Pai Pai are shown collaborating, back to back.
-Tsuru-sennin using his signature move, the Dodonpa. Another cool touch.
–Tao Pai Pai grabbing Metallic’s robotic head is pretty cool, too.
–A blue Kikoho? Strange, but that’s also pretty cool.
-I do like how the movie cares so little about Bora coming back to life they decide to include it during the ending sequence.
-Unfortunately, Kikuchi’s M6XX soundtrack is one of my least favorite. Apart from a few good ones, such as M602, M634, M637 and M656, most of these BGMs is quite bland. Chaozu‘s themes are such a weak and sappy material. Personally, there’s an inconstancy in Kikuchi’s sad themes. I like only a few of them.
-This is a MESS: first it shows Pilaf’s gang, then the end of Goku and Krillin’s training, then Blue, Tao Pai Pai, Upa, Bora, Metallic, Karin, Arale… all at once.
-As a result, this movie is too self-referential, as it’s composed of lots and lots of callbacks to the original series: Tao Pai Pai’s killing tongue on Blue, Tao Pai Pai grabbing Bora’s spear, Tenshinhan kneeing Muten Roshi, Tao Pai Pai firing the Dodonpa at Goku, Goku deflecting Tao Pai Pai’s missiles (at least it’s not a bomb, it’s a change)…
-And of course, Bora dies. Impaled by a spear of a statue. How lame and unoriginal.
-Oh, and we have Arale, as well. Out of nowhere.
-The trajectory of Tao Pai Pai’s Dodonpa SOMEHOW manages to send Goku directly into Karin Tower. Again, out of nowhere. I call BS on that one.
–Yamcha getting humiliated for being distracted by Muten Roshi. Piss off.
-In the end of the day, what was all this mess for? For a doll. A STUPID DOLL. Ranran is just a PUPPET.
-All in all, even though these three movies tried to recreate the original story with some differences, the new material isn’t good enough to outweigh the recreated ones.
-And while they actually give some more spotlight to Chaozu, Tsuru-sennin or Tao Pai Pai, the result is just a MESS.
Episode 119 (Kimaru ka!? Densetsu no Mafūba) aired on July 20th, 1988.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda.
Key animation: Takeo Ide, Yasuyuki Shimizu, Masaki Sato, Hisashi Eguchi.
-To put it simply, Goku’s entrance is one of the most amazing moments of the series. Everything about it is perfect: Son Goku’s Redemption Day (such a shame this BGM is used so rarely), Goku’s smugness, Masaki Sato‘s art. He’s simply at his absolute best in this era.
-To put it even more simply, Goku disposes of Drum by blowing his brains up. This last segment manages to be even better than the manga version, for the way it’s executed.
-I’m also glad the anime decides to erase Tenshinhan’s broken denshi jar bit from the manga, by actually making something more rational, that is turning the denshi jar back to a capsule before fighting, having Tenshinhan actually TRY the Mafuba, so that it doesn’t feel 100% wasted.
-Even in a dire situation, Gyumao is still obsessed with Chichi becoming a bride.
-“Because you cannot die if your heart stops beating“.
Episode 120 (Gokū · Ikari no Furu Pawā!!) aired on July 27th, 1988.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard by Yukio Ebisawa, direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Taiichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Naotoshi Shida.
-The second half has better action than the first one.
–Smug Goku is the best Goku.
-This is maybe one of the first times we see Goku with mouth wrinkles (comedy bits aside).
–Hashimoto’s direction has its moments, but as a whole, it’s just okay.
-Ebisawa’s storyboarding is also pretty decent. His choreography is definitely saved by Ohara and Shida’s talent, and thanks to them, it manages to be a more engaging battle than the manga version…
… despite its ups and downs. Action conservation, bloody repetitions and sadly, the overuse of Zanzoken, which would become far more frequent in the following arcs.
–Misplaced nose.
–WA WA WA WA.
-Shit, blue-haired Lunch is so dense.
–Piano’s death is so lame it actually works: crushed by the guy he used to kiss up to.
–No, actually. Didn’t Mutaito lock him inside a rice container? Doesn’t it count as a humiliation, too?
Episode 121 (Son Gokū Saidai no Kiki!!) aired on August 3rd, 1988.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo.
Key animation: Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Teruhisa Ryu, Noriko Shibata.
-Pretty solid storyboarding and direction. Makes sense to expect some quirky colors during crucial moments.
–One-handed Kamehameha to attack and defend. Brilliant.
-Thank Kami they remembered Tenshinhan can fly.
–This instance is the closest to the introduction of ki in the series.
-Oh. So Goku can ACTUALLY attack while the opponent is powering up/charging an attack. Things were so easy before 1989…
–Self-awareness of being a terrible king.
-I knew I’d eventually address this… Piccolo Daimao is a Namekian and his blood is red. And yes, this was way before the introduction of Namek, Namekians and blood becoming purple. Therefore, in this case, I’m letting it slide.
–Lunch’s excessive kindness pisses me off.
Episode 122 (Saigo no Kake!!) aired on August 10th, 1988.
Script by Hajime Satsuki, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi.
Key animation: Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki.
–The arc finale provides some great storyboarding from Okazaki. Possibly his strongest output in the series.
-Even in his final episode, Piccolo Daimao demonstrates his ruthlessness by torturing Goku and Tenshinhan: blowing rocks against the former and crushing the latter’s head and making it bleed.
–Good.
-The funny thing is if Piccolo didn’t spit out the reincarnation egg, the Dragon Balls wouldn’t work anyway, since nobody would be able to revive Shenlong.
-Before Vegeta’s creation, Tenshinhan was Goku’s biggest rival. Nowadays hearing this line from him would be unthinkable, considering the huge gap between their powers.
-Goku saved the world, but Yajirobe saves him. Again, who’s the most decisive supporting character?
–HAHA. Jokes on you.
-As much as I like Yamcha’s annoyed expression, Lunch’s stupidity is out of place.
Episode 123 (Nyoi-Bō no Himitsu) aired on August 17th, 1988.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard by Osamu Kasai, direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Taiichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Naotoshi Shida.
–Kasai‘s debut as a storyboard artist is indeed a positive. Great stuff, with some pretty good direction from Ueda.
–Baby Piccolo Jr. is so cute. He‘s even voiced by Hiromi Tsuru, Bulma’s seiyuu.
–He’s getting warmer…
–Yajirobe expresses a logical and also very deep concept: DBs cannot resurrect people who died from natural causes or accidents, which actually takes the story into a coarse, yet more realistic approach. It doesn’t last too long, but it’s nice to bring this up.
-The amount of reused animation is limited and placed quite cleverly.
-I give up. Using the Nyoibo as a broomstick? That’s something Lunch would totally do. I dig it.
–Instrumental Makafushigi Adventure. Long time no hear.
–Congratulations for WHAT? He didn’t do shit.
–Karin knows ANYTHING, yet he ignores Piccolo Daimao killed Shenlong. BS.
-Let’s have a talk: Kintoun cannot reach Kami-sama’s temple, and the same goes with rockets. Really weird, since in the Cell arc, Bulma’s ship can reach that sort of destination without any snag. Did I lose a few passages?
Episode 124 (Kumo no Ue no Shinden) aired on August 24th, 1988.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard by Yutaka Sato, direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa.
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Mari Tominaga, Hiroshi Takeuchi.
–Pretty good storyboarding. Hashimoto’s direction is solid enough to give a fair build-up to Piccolo Jr. and Kami-sama.
-I guess this can be considered the first Hashimoto-esque transition.
–Everybody’s favorite character appearing for the first time.
-Mr. Popo’s ki sensing experience basically makes the last battle look like a joke: he foresees Goku’s Zanzoken, he dodges Goku’s “Penetrate” with ease and even eats his Kamehameha.
-I guess having Piccolo deal with his first evildoing is a pretty nice addition, as it gives the audience more time to learn something more about this new character. Even though it involves dropping a birthday cake or smashing an airplane toy.
-By the way, he’s IDENTICAL to Pansy’s father from the first movie, while the kid kinda looks like Suno. He even has the same hair color, but as a bowl cut.
–Piccolo without his nose.
-Wasting Oolong’s transformation skill for the umpteenth perverted gag.
–I. DO. NOT. BUY. THIS.
Episode 125 (Kami-sama Tōjō!!) aired on August 31st, 1988.
Script by Yoshiyuki Suga, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda.
Key animation: Takeo Ide, Yasuyuki Shimizu, Masaki Sato, Hisashi Eguchi.
-At the very beginning the kick stance from last episode is remade. With Ide the result is much better.
-Even though the fighting level is getting higher and higher, Mr. Popo’s teaching is related to what Muten Roshi told Goku and Krillin during the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai. Good to bring it back, even at this point of the series.
–WAKU WAKU is back.
–I will be surprised if they make an episode out of this…
–Goku’s reaction after seeing Kami-sama makes total sense.
-Remember when Tenshinhan used to be Goku’s main rival? This line is quite ironic in hindsight.
–Oolong abuse. He didn’t do anything this time. Fuck off.
-How convenient they show this part of Muten Roshi’s training JUST NOW.
Episode 126 (Yomigaeru Shenron!!) aired on September 14th, 1988.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Katsumi Aoshima.
Key animation: Katsumi Aoshima, Hideko Okimoto.
-When a direction makes the difference. Both Ueda’s storyboarding and direction are tremendously effective: colors and shades everywhere.
–This kind of pics is the least DB-like thing (and more like closer to fanarts), but I adore it.
-I assume this is for anime fetishists.
-Why would Bulma place a capsule between her panties?
–This is the first instance of Shenlong reviving several people at once with just one wish, as long as they died only once.
–Lunch slapping Krillin’s head after being resurrected.
–Bacterian being buried in a dump? I buy it.
–The upcoming arcs in a nutshell.
–Piccolo eating a fish? The only thing I can think of is that he was conceived on Earth, and thus he was never used to the real habits of native Namekians, who only drink water to live. Maybe such a distance and/or unawareness of his real origins leads him to a different sustenance.
-I can only think of this explanation, even though we see him drink water later on.
-“A whole boatload of Senzus, which will somehow be missing in the future.”
-So, Kami-sama confirms he created SEVEN Dragon Balls. SEVEN. However, back in episode 32, Muten Roshi stated the seven DBs were originally just ONE, which is pure BS for two reasons: this one and the fact he shouldn’t have known what DBs were before Bulma told him about it.
Episode 127 (Kaminari yori mo Hayaku!!) aired on September 21st, 1988.
Script by Yoshiyuki Suga, storyboard by Osamu Kasai, direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Taiichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Naotoshi Shida, Tetsuro Sano, Hiroshi Mochizuki.
–The 127-132 training mini-arc is one of the single best additions the anime included over the manga. While in the manga there is a big time skip after the resurrection of Krillin and the others, the anime decides to wait for it by showing what Popo’s training is about, step by step.
-Furthermore, this mini-arc is even better than the pre-22nd Tenkaichi Budokai training arc, because Goku’s training is much more specific and has one important goal, that is learning to sense ki.
-Not sure if it’s intentional, but nice use of butterflies instead of stars or birds to describe pain.
–Very obliged. The manga sometimes forgets stuff like this.
-Although, this looks like a contest about who is thicker. Ohara’s original genga pulls no punches.
-On a more serious note, it feel so refreshing to see Krillin, Yamcha and Tenshinhan having some friendly spar.
–Waku Wakuing in the preview.
–Kasai’s storyboard is just okay, and Ueda’s quirks only appear once in a while.
Episode 128 (Sora no yō ni Shizuka ni) aired on September 28th, 1988.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard by Satoru Kusuda, direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo.
Key animation: Kazuko Hirose, Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Teruhisa Ryu, Noriko Shibata.
-It’s a good thing to have Goku deal with simpler activities like fishing for his training.
–Popo being worried by Waku Wakuing.
–Teaching continuity.
-The rest of the episode is very boring. The action isn’t memorable, the storyboarding and direction are not that good and we deal with slice of life moments we don’t care about.
-“He laughed the most in the training episode I liked the least“.
Episode 129 (Toki o Kakeru Gokū) aired on October 12th, 1988.
Script by Toshiki Inoue, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi.
Key animation: Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki.
-Oddly enough, this is the only time travelling method that happens to be legal.
-The idea itself is great, as Goku deals with younger renditions of well-known characters, like Muten Roshi or even Mutaito, in order to learn how to use ki properly.
–Iizuka’s impact frame looks like a car logo.
-The concept of ki is officially introduced. Not by Popo, by someone who died after using the Mafuba.
-It’s been a while since we saw Goku’s innocence being compared with someone else’s perversion.
-Back then Tenshinhan didn’t take Goku’s superiority too well.
-Not sure if I like it, but the guys from the Orinji Temple are apparently Tsuru-sennin’s sidekicks here…
-… either that, or it’s just a coincidence. Those who used to bully Krillin should be much older.
–How unnecessarily impolite.
–Goku is stupid. He doesn’t recognize Tsuru-sennin, despite wearing the SAME outfit (without the kanji, but doesn’t make much difference), wearing the SAME crane hat and having the SAME hairstyle.
–Why should they care about Tsuru-sennin getting laid? Not if it would make much difference for them, since it’s only Tsuru-sennin who is into Fanfan’s beaver.
–This is poor writing. I might accept this from Mr. Satan. Not from Kame-sennin, especially considering his extremely competitive and hostile attitude towards Tsuru-sennin.
Episode 130 (Gokū no Teki wa… Gokū!?) aired on October 19th, 1988.
Script by Hajime Satsuki, storyboard by Daisuke Nishio, direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama.
Key animation: Taiichiro Ohara, Akio Katada, Naotoshi Shida.
–Atmosphere, and more atmosphere. Such a great storyboard. Nishio’s use of lighting is seamless.
–Smart transition.
-One of the first times we spot Ohara and Shida‘s drawings without particularly strong corrections from Uchiyama.
-The battle between Goku and Goku-doll is very well-choreographed and well-animated. Well-animated, most of all.
–Whispering Waku Waku.
-Goku’s still quite dense regarding ki sensing.
Episode 131 (Sorezore no Michi o Mezashite) aired on October 26th, 1988.
Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard by Yukio Ebisawa, direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa.
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Mari Tominaga, Hiroshi Takeuchi.
–A simple game like tag as part of Goku’s training? Decent idea.
–Yamcha is very supportive. That’s nice.
-Ebisawa’s storyboarding isn’t that bad and smears make his choreographies less boring…
-… but, and that’s a big but, it’s not for everyone.
–What the deuce?
-By now the anime is really abusing the word ‘god’. It seems like they’re using it everywhere: “look, that’s our kitchen sink, our household god”. “The toilet, our god”. We’re not in the Pilaf arc anymore. Kami-sama was introduced a few weeks ago, so misusing the word ‘god’ just because is pure BS.
-I’m not sure about how Japanese law works, but I doubt offering alcohol to minors can be considered legal.
Episode 132 (Maguma yori Atsuku) aired on November 2nd, 1988.
Script by Takao Koyama, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda.
Key animation: Takeo Ide, Yasuyuki Shimizu, Masaki Sato, Hisashi Eguchi.
–Yamcha is very active in this episode. Good for him.
–Even Chaozu manages to be kinda useful.
–This.
–The narrator breaking the 4th wall.
–Yamcha and Tenshinhan saving the day is a welcome addition, but what about Krillin? Why doesn’t he get to block the eruption? Krillin also knows the Kamehameha, Koyama should’ve let him do it alongside the other two. Why does he hate him so much??
-This is probably where Koyama’s Krillin humiliation trope began. For some reason he likes to expose him to random pain, humiliation or mere distress. Seriously, why does he hate the character THAT much?
-Besides, this trope would become so frequent in movies. Regrettably frequent.
-“It’s a Koyama episode, Krillin mustn’t do anything“.
-“I don’t care if I die while praying a non-existing deity, I got to look cool and deep, no matter what”.
-Even supposing that the mountain god does exist, don’t you think THIS god wants its people to die in a fiery scenario? Wow, this god really hates his people.
-With that said, the old man is an idiot. Three fighters tried their best to stop the lava flow, yet he thanks the “”mountain god”” instead of praising them. Fuck off.
-If things couldn’t get any worse, the other guy is a complete douche for not realizing the effort of Krillin and the others.
PICCOLO DAIMAO ARC – FINAL THOUGHTS: 8/10
-Piccolo Daimao is such a great villain. He’s so different from the bad guys we bumped into this far, as he’s ruthless, wicked and very pragmatic. He even kills Shenlong so that DBs won’t ever be used against him.
-Great use of Muten Roshi.
-Solid use of one of the most decisive characters of the show, Yajirobe.
-The anime develops this arc in a more convincing way than the manga, as it also managed to fix some issues, like the Super Sacred Water ordeal or Tenshinhan’s broken denshi jar.
-The series emphasizes the terror around Piccolo and his sidekicks, not only by killing everyone who stands in their way, but also making common people tremble and escape with fear.
-The final battle is also better executed in the anime.
-Mr. Popo introducing the concept of ki, through various activities like fishing, playing tag or mere fighting.
-Pilaf’s ass-kissing is super embarrassing, even for him. His moments are incredibly awkward.
BEST EPISODE: tie between episodes 102 and 122 (both very well-boarded and directed, Seigasha make the difference in either case)
WORST EPISODE: episode 128 (while not necessarily part of the Daimao arc, it’s still the weakest training episode. The main arc itself doesn’t have episodes under 6/10.)