You know, this show has a reputation for slowness, and it is not undeserved. Very rarely do you come across any show where they remade it years later, but with the primary purpose of shortening it because it’s just too goddamned bogged down with filler. Any hater of DBZ will cite either the absurd power creep or the crushing length of some arcs as the reason why this is, in fact, an inferior anime. As much as I love DBZ, I can’t defend the horrible length of it, at least not today. Sure, back when it was being made, it was basically being made at the same time the manga was being released, so the two of them were in something of a horse-race, but honestly, that’s kind of a piss-poor excuse, isn’t it? Maybe not for back then, but nowadays, there’s just no reason, at least not for some people.
I write that preface
so I can just express how shocked I am that Goku and Vegeta’s battle is settled
so quickly. It’s a little ridiculous how Vegeta deals with having his attack
repelled by Goku near the end of this episode, because from where I’m standing,
Goku is deeply, deeply fucked. Goku has burned so much of his energy, he can’t
even take a friendly back-slap from Yajirobe without screaming in complete
agony. Meanwhile, Vegeta comes back down from being blasted into the atmosphere
by Goku’s Kamehameha + Kaioken x4, and the only thing he has to show for it is
some singed hair and broken armor. The dude is practically in the same shape he
was when he started the fight, Goku is standing there unable to even move, and
yet Vegeta acts like he needs to make a desperation move.
But that’s not a
flaw in the show, that’s a flaw in Vegeta’s character. Vegeta is the kind of
person who will not ever accept that somebody overcame him, even just
temporarily. You’ll see this in later parts of the show, his utter humiliation
and pride-damage at being bested by an opponent. As much as both Goku and
Vegeta have that Saiyan love for a challenge, it’s only Goku that can deal with
losing the challenge, provided life isn’t on the line. But for Vegeta, his life
and his pride are the same damn thing, and he will not tolerate an attempt on
his life/pride. I think that’s what Trunks and his mother saw in him, and it’s
what I see too.
Hell, even before
Vegeta went ballistic and decided to turn into a giant ape to kill Goku, he
went ballistic and decided he was going to BLOW UP THE ENTIRE PLANET. This is
while his space pod is still on the planet, and he has absolutely no other
methods of escape, and as far as he knows the Earthlings do not have any kind
of space-travel technology. So, put two-and-two together, and you realize that
Vegeta is a fucking psychotic madman. It’s incredibly endemic of how Akira
Toriyama did not at all intend for this character to make it very much farther
in the series. He had no idea just how popular Vegeta would be, and it’s hard
to blame him when you see early Vegeta basically acting as the most cruel
villain yet in the series. I guess people saw that star quality in him.
The beam war that
happens in the second half of this episode is one of the most iconic moments in
this entire franchise, and I don’t think that’s an exaggeration. As far as I
can remember, nothing like this happened in the original DB. Goku struggles to
get his Kamehameha to push back Vegeta’s powerful Galick Gun until he is forced
to use Kaioken x4, something King Kai again protests loudly and insistently. It’s
such a crazy-powerful beam struggle, Baba’s crystal ball emits enough energy to
destroy pieces of Kame House, much to the chagrin of Roshi.
But what led us to
this beam struggle, anyway? Well, when we last left off, Goku had just activated
Kaioken x3—again, to the protestations of King Kai, who fears Goku destroying
his own body during the attack—and launched after Vegeta. It looks as if Goku’s
body is going to melt as he powers up his mighty attack, but instead the rock
pillar beneath Vegeta’s feet gives way as Goku rockets toward him fist-first
and just punches the ever-living shit out of the Saiyan prince. Vegeta is
batted around like a cat toy for a little while until Goku’s power wears off,
and Vegeta looks like he’s about to vomit at a certain point as he rolls around
on the ground and clutches his stomach for dear life, eyes bloodshot with pain
and rage.
So you can see why
Vegeta, the Saiyan who values pride above all else, might feel like he lost the
fight right then and there, even though he definitely outlasted Goku in this
confrontation. Vegeta is not used to the idea of losing. Other than Frieza,
nothing at this point in his life has been even a threat to him, as far as we viewers
are aware. It’s more than just anger that Goku just will not die quietly, it’s
fear that Vegeta is still nowhere near where he needs to be to free himself
from the living hell he’s been in ever since the death of his father. I’ve been
weird about spoilers in this review series thus far, but I’m just going to come
out and say it: Vegeta likely thinks that if he can’t beat “Kakarot,” then he
most certainly is no chance against Frieza, nor will he be for a long, long
time. Not without his wish from the dragon balls, a wish that is looking less
and less likely the more he struggles against this low-class wretch.
In a weird way, it
reminds me of Yugi and Kaiba’s second duel in the original Yu-Gi-Oh series.
Goku doesn’t realize the stakes at which Vegeta is playing, trying to extricate
himself from the shadow of this monster who has held him in bondage his entire
life. Beneath all of Vegeta’s arrogance and bloodlust is a terrified survivor, one
of the very last of his species, on a journey of vengeance against a monster he
has been in servitude to for all of his adult life. Similarly, Yugi doesn’t realize
just how bad Kaiba’s situation is until he’s already entered the Duelist Kingdom
castle after the fact and seen that Pegasus has stolen Mokuba’s soul and placed
it in a Duel Monsters card. It’s the same frustrating situation where the
antagonist is harboring a good reason to fight for what they’re fighting for,
but because of pride and anger they will not make themselves vulnerable enough
to reveal the extent of their situation.
Key difference, of course,
is that Vegeta is still an evil little motherfucker here, whereas Kaiba was
more of a neutral anti-hero at that point in the series. Vegeta would
absolutely do some terrible things after killing Frieza if he were allowed to
have eternal life.
I mentioned Yajirobe
earlier in this review, so I guess I’d better get to him now. Giving you a
little sneak preview into my thought process during the writing of these
reviews. Yajirobe just shows up next to Goku in an attempt to form some
camaraderie with him, even though Goku is just wondering what the fuck he’s
even doing at the battlefield. A question that is not unwarranted, considering
Yajirobe was useless from almost the moment he showed up in the original series.
Yet… you should also take into account the fact that Yajirobe is even there. He
doesn’t have to be on the battlefield. At this point, those journalists and
cops he had fooled into thinking he was some special ops warrior there to battle
the Saiyans have long since abandoned him, seeing him as the fame-seeking
fail-boy that he is. Yet, instead of easily finding a place where he won’t be
missed at all, he stands with Goku on the battlefield, Vegeta still being
incapacitated from Goku’s full-power blast. Of course, once Goku informs him
that Vegeta is definitely not dead, nor even close to it, Yajirobe high-tails
it to the nearest good hiding spot and leaves his friend in the shit, but
again, he doesn’t even need to be there. So, one wonders what this pudgy,
gravelly-voiced fighter might be capable of when the chips are down.
But, overall, I’d
say what makes this episode the most compelling is the last five minutes, where
it is revealed that Vegeta has the ability to become the Great Oozaru whenever
he wants with the use of a fake moon. In the Ocean Dub, Vegeta feeds Goku this
line of bullshit about how his father wasn’t a very good fighter (Goku’s
father, that is), but was a brilliant scientist, teaching other Saiyans how to
create their very own moons with which they could transform on command. And if
you think that’s crazy, just wait until you see how Vegeta’s Great Ape form
operates on the next exciting episode!
(5/5)
A Few Final Thoughts:
--Even Goku finds himself impressed at Vegeta’s stamina.
--But Vegeta also wonders how Goku could be so strong.
--Yajirobe to Goku: “You should pace yourself!” You dumb fuck.
--Goku is already prepared to start charging up a Spirit
Bomb at the end of the episode.
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