And here we go.
Dragonball had its
share of fights where Goku was clearly on the losing side. It didn’t happen
very often, and when it did, Goku at least was able to put in some kind of an
effort. Even when he was outmatched, he didn’t feel hopelessly outmatched. It
was just a matter of getting some rest (Tambourine) or climbing a tower to
retrieve the Sacred Water (Mercenary Tao) or looking for some actual magical
water that would make his power level rise (King Piccolo). Goku was always
strong enough to win fights and resourceful enough to come back stronger after
losing them. It’s what made him the undisputed hero of the first series.
So for Raditz to
take him out of commission with one good knee to the gut is shocking, and it’s
just one shock among many others this episode has to offer, provided you’re
coming in blind from the original show. Raditz touches down on Roshi’s Island
with, as Team Four Star put it, an “expositional onslaught:” Goku is a space
alien, he was sent to earth to destroy it as a baby, he lost his memories when
he hit his head as a child (Roshi was the one to supply this nugget of info),
and Raditz is his brother from the very same alien species called the Saiyans,
who now number only four in total after their planet was destroyed by a
“comet.”
The whole “brother”
angle is never really explored in the show. Raditz could just as easily have
been a random Saiyan and the events of the show wouldn’t have changed much. It
just adds a little more drama to the whole situation, and it also serves to
illustrate the sheer ruthlessness of Saiyans. Raditz, brother of Goku and uncle
of Gohan, is willing to beat the former and kidnap the latter to get what he
wants, which is the destruction of Earth and the forced loyalty of “Kakarot.” Raditz
manages to come across as simultaneously alien and yet similar to Goku, in both
his looks and his thirst for battle.
Let’s back up a bit.
In this episode we are (re-)introduced to Krillin, Roshi, and Bulma, and we get
to see what they’ve been up to these last five years. Roshi is still his pervy
self, Krillin’s still dweeby as hell, and Bulma’s still struggling with her
on-again, off-again thing with Yamcha. Not much else to talk about there.
Krillin is the one who will be put through a wall by Raditz’s tail (yet another
shocker—it’s just like Goku used to have!) later in the episode, and that’s a
decent snapshot of his character: willing to try and stand up to the towering
monsters this show has to offer, but likely to wind up with his head through a wall
(or airplane, or mountain…). Krillin tried his damndest to keep up the pace
with Goku during DB and was never able to, like many of the other characters in
this show and the last.
So, of course, the
trio (and Roshi’s turtle, can’t forget him) get introduced to Gohan, they’re
amazed that Goku has a son, they see he also has a tail, big freak out about
that too, yada yada. They’re caught up soon enough, at least before Raditz
makes his appearance. Gohan’s hat, complete with four-star dragon ball, is noted.
Goku tells the gang he’s been collecting the dragon balls for shits and giggles
as he and Krillin toss stones across the ocean. Roshi sees that Goku’s powers
have not diminished in the five-year peace period he’s enjoyed with Chi-Chi and
his newborn son (who Chi-Chi won’t even allow to train). Good for him his
powers haven’t decreased, because he senses the terrible power of Raditz a
moment before he touches down.
Through all of the
new information Raditz has to offer Goku, all the latter wants is to be left
alone, to continue living in peace on the world he saved multiple times. One
wonders if this isn’t something Goku was thinking of when he made the decision
not to return to Earth at the end of the Cell saga. Raditz decides Goku needs a
little more persuasion, and Gohan—helplessly nested in the equally helpless
Bulma’s arms—is just perfect for the job. Goku charges Raditz, and this is
probably the point a lot of fans of the original series thought, “here we
go—Goku’s gonna show Raditz how much he underestimated him, just like legions
of villains did before him.” But the fight is over in seconds; Raditz is like
nothing else Goku has ever faced before, the smirk doesn’t even leave his face
as he cripples Goku with a single strike to the gut.
So there’s the hook,
and boy is it a fucking urgent one, for an episode that was so slow up to this
point. Almost every other time Goku’s been defeated, his opponent assumed he
was finished for good, which is why he was able to come back stronger than
before. But Goku’s on a timetable now. Raditz has given him one day to kill 100
humans and stack them like cordwood right on Roshi’s island, or he will…
“dispatch” his own nephew. The planet’s going to be conquered (like Goku was
supposed to do) one way or another, so Goku can either join or die, and from
everything we’ve seen so far, that’s not a bluff in the least. Humans are but
roaches to Raditz, and his own brother an afterthought.
Yes, one of the many
things Raditz reveals to “Kakarot:” he hadn’t even thought about Goku until he,
Nappa, and Vegeta found themselves a planet that turned out to be a four-person
job. Raditz is a warrior, but also a “planet-broker,” and so are his allies.
They go from planet to planet, killing the inhabitants and selling the emptied
worlds to the highest bidders. Roshi points out (or maybe it was Krillin, I
forget) that if what he says is true, that makes him a pirate, and Raditz
easily shrugs that off. I’m sure people who were in the same exact situation as
the poor farmer was last episode have called him way, way worse before he
killed them.
(3/5)
Stray
Observations:
--One of my notes as I was watching the episode: “Krillin
and Roshi are useless pieces of shit.” I stand by that. Roshi does nothing
whatsoever, and Krillin tries to shoo Raditz away like the bug, despite it
being established that Raditz’s power is way high at this point in the series.
Dumb bald fucker pretty much deserved being put through Roshi’s house.
--I don’t know why Raditz is so surprised Goku didn’t get the
job done. Sending babies to foreign planets, even Saiyan babies, seems like a
good way to get them killed by the local wildlife, or have their “programming”
undone. Seems like it would happen pretty often. Meh, whatever.
--Gohan totally wants to be an orthopedist when he grows up.
That’s totally not just Chi-Chi talking. Then again, I wanted to be a stand-up
comedian, a game show host, a lawyer or a judge when I was little.
--Raditz is voiced by the same guy who does Super Buu, which
just throws me for a loop every time. Like, why isn’t Raditz turning people
into chocolate right now?
--“Why did I think he could ever change?!” –Bulma, referring
to Yamcha. Maybe if Yamcha was a little more, erm, space alien and homicidal,
you’d be into him?
--“Breaking up is hard to do.” –Roshi. “I wouldn’t know.”
–Krillin. Oh, give it time, man. Give it time.
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