Here begins the trial of Gohan’s training under Piccolo, and the ongoing story of Piccolo’s redemption. In this episode, and I was surprised when this happened because I didn’t remember it from when I was a kid, Kami states that he has foreseen his own coming death, and by extension Piccolo’s. Noting the change in Piccolo’s heart, Kami wonders if perhaps Piccolo got the same vision, and is choosing to use his last year on Earth to take the son of his sworn enemy under his wing. Again, this is very irony-laden stuff, and I’ve come to really admire how much depth of story and characterization exists in these early episodes. Toriyama did a great job of picking up the threads of plot left behind by Dragonball and weaving them into something richer and, at least initially, more focused.
As interesting as the journey Goku’s taking down Snake Way
might be… sometimes… occasionally, the most actual characterization and depth
in these next several filler-tastic episodes comes out of Gohan’s tribulation
that takes him from being a human boy with a knack for math to a warrior whose
power ranks up with Krillin’s and Piccolo’s, before eventually soaring into its
own stratosphere. You can trace a lot of what happens to him in the Cell arc
back to these initial moments out in the wasteland, defenseless, being chased
by dinosaurs and frightened by snakes. In just six or seven short years, this
is the boy who will save the world from Perfect Cell.
What do we learn about his character from this episode?
Well, any other five-year-old, at least in the real world, might just freeze up
entirely, or wander around screaming for help until they exhaust themselves.
Gohan does do some of that stuff at first, right after Piccolo leaves. Almost
immediately, he starts scoping out somewhere to stay, and manages to once again
channel his mysterious powers to outwit a dinosaur by flying himself up to the
top of a large rock pillar. Sure, Gohan doesn’t learn how to build a home out
of rocks and sticks, he doesn’t kill his first meal, but he takes on the trait
of a survivor, which is the ability to recognize and acclimate to one’s
surroundings.
Someone who DOESN’T overcome the circumstances he finds
himself in is Krillin. Krillin has his moments in the show later on, but
between his total failure in the brief Raditz arc and this little incident, one
wouldn’t be unjustified in writing him off as a loser comic relief character.
There’s a reason why a “Krillin Owned” count existed in DBZ Abridged, and it
wasn’t because Krillin owned—he GOT owned, a lot. Now, granted, on an emotional
level his task isn’t easy, but goddamn, Krillin, you know she’s going to find
out! At least tell her now rather than make her feel like shit for ranting and
raving about Goku when she finds out later! Krillin winds up eating dinner and
staying over at Chi-Chi’s, who I am surprised is as hospitable as she is,
considering how much she resents the Z Fighters for being the bunch of karate
bums they are. But then, there aren’t many about whom you can say, “yeah, we
were both there when Goku and Piccolo blew up the arena at the last Tenkaichi
Budokai.
Other World is full of some strange-ass shit in this
episode. I’d forgotten about almost all of it. I feel like Akira Toriyama
either didn’t have any of it in his original manga, or it was there because he
was trying to figure out just exactly what he wanted out of this setting.
There’s a shot of a café where a bunch of monstrous characters based off of
things like Frankenstein and Dracula are just sitting around, enjoying some
steaming… coffee? And whatever outlandish shit this place probably serves.
There, we find Fortuneteller Baba—first appearance!—and the blue imp from one
episode ago. The only purpose of this scene is for the imp to tell Baba what
Goku told him about not wishing him back for a year. It’s wild that they built
this whole strange Monster Café setting around such an insignificant plot
point. Like, did we even need to see him relay the message to Baba, or couldn’t
they have just cut to her telling the Z Fighters?
I guess I shouldn’t complain. It was an entertaining enough
scene, complete with a mixed-up face man being completely incompetent at
counting out change. What isn’t as entertaining is Goku fucking around on Snake
Way, whining about being hungry (because apparently he, as a spirit, is still
hungry. That’s gotta suck). Goku gets the bright idea to try jumping across the
gaps in the winding Snake Way path, and as anyone could predict, he winds up
slipping and almost falling into the hellish dimension below, complete with
ghostly arms grasping at him, ready to drag him into the swirling pool of
darkness. Other than that, nothing much interesting happens with him.
But again, the stuff with Gohan is really the most interesting.
Having escaped a dinosaur using his latent powers, he winds up at the top of a
huge pillar, with nothing to eat and nothing to warm himself with. A strong
gust blows by. Suddenly, in front of Gohan, there are two apples. Even before
he eats them, Gohan ponders how they could have came to be, as no trees are
visible where he is. Gohan shrugs it off, as any hungry kid probably would, and
starts chomping down on one. Piccolo looks on from afar. This is probably the
first actual kind action he’s ever performed, purely selfless. Gohan pauses and
lifts his head from the apple, tears in the corners of his eyes:
“They’re sour! I miss my momma’s cooking!”
Even I had to get pissed a little bit at that. Like, Gohan’s
not wrong to feel how he does, for God’s sake he’s four, but Piccolo looked fucking
livid. That, he swears, is the last time he’s going to help Gohan. He has no
idea how many times he’s going to disprove that by the end of the series.
(2/5)
A Few Final Thoughts:
-Badass Piccolo line: “You’ll laugh at your fears when you
find out who you really are.”
-In the middle of the dead-ass wilderness, Gohan still finds
time to try and make new friends with every animal he comes across. That is,
unless they’re trying to eat him.
-“He’s dea—uh, delayed, yeah!” Nice save, baldy.
-At least Gohan goes ahead and eats the apples.
No comments:
Post a Comment