I think I’ve figured out what the creators of this show we’re going for with this mini-arc, assuming this wasn’t originally an Akira Toriyama idea. This is the show going back to the roots its prequel planted, to go back toward an action-adventure direction rather than the Shonen fighting series Z started out as. In many ways, this adventure on Fake Namek feels like one of the absurd misadventures you’d see in early Dragonball, where it was just Goku, Bulma and Oolong traveling together, looking for the seven magic balls and running into all kinds of insane characters along the way. It has that classic feel to it, where there’s not a direct threat coming from a much more powerful fighter, but instead the unpredictability of the characters’ environment, meeting strangers and not quite being sure if they can be trusted.
Through this lens,
I’m able to view this episode a little more favorably. I still think it’s a
pointless exercise in delaying the crew’s trip to the real Namek, but sometimes
with filler you just have to sit back and let yourself be entertained. After
all, the funniest episode of DBZ ever made—“Goku’s Ordeal”—was a filler episode
all the way. Once you accept the fact that Vegeta and the mysterious Frieza
aren’t going to be a problem for a little while, you can view this content more
objectively, I’d like to think.
The heroes make a
crash landing on what Bulma, at least, believes to be Planet Namek.
Unfortunately, even though a tree partly breaks their descent, they still fall
from a cliff and wind up knocked out, only to be awoken by a pair of apparent
Namekians! The crew is taken slightly aback by their generosity, which I appreciated,
it shows these characters have been through plenty of bullshit and aren’t going
to suspend their disbelief for just any old group of aliens. The supposed
Namekians have the crew’s ship in storage, claiming it was banged up pretty bad
and they were going to do some repairs on it. I guess they went to fucking
Space Auto Zone or something to get the parts they needed.
Doubts subside
temporarily when the dragon radar gets a signal! There are three dragon balls
in the immediate area! The (fake) Namekians volunteer to take the crew in their
airship, the Wu-Kong (almost certainly a reference to Son Wukong), to find the
dragon balls, so obviously, the crew goes along with it, having enough evidence
to support the theory that these guys are really Namekians. Honestly, it’s kind
of cheating to call our protagonists stupid for falling for the ruse these
aliens have put up, because when you have the ability to alter someone’s
immediate reality, that person is pretty much at your mercy. Shit, if I had
psychic powers, at the very VERY least I would never have to work again.
The remainder of the
episode details the crew’s struggle, with the “Namekians” in tow, to find the
three dragon balls in the immediate vicinity. The first one is easy enough, the
second one is in the skull of some creature, causing Bulma to freak the fuck
out. Then, we have the third one, which is… a little bit more of a struggle, to
say the least. Enough of a struggle that the episode ends on a cliffhanger.
See, it turns out this version of Namek features great big monsters that eat
dragon balls. Man, that sentence would be disgusting if it were applied to
literally any other series. No, really, imagine saying that about Game of
Thrones. Anyway, yeah, giant dinosaur picks up the ball and eats it, then
promptly sinks and dies in a swamp full of acid, which begs the question: how
the fuck can any living creature on this planet be alive if even the biggest
predator is too stupid to avoid the fucking acid pool? Truly a disgrace to the
evolutionary history of (fake-)Namek, if you ask me.
Anything else? I
guess we get a quick look at what Goku is up to, and it—as usual—involves being
yelled at by Chi-Chi in the hospital. Because Goku’s entire domestic life after
death number one wouldn’t be complete without nagging. Seriously, doesn’t Goku
ever get at least a little pissed off at Chi-Chi? He doesn’t, I really think he
doesn’t. Even at Gohan, Goku gets pissed off every once in a while, but I’ve
never seen him get even remotely angry with Chi-Chi, even though she can be
such a jerk. I guess he really is in love. Whatever the hell he thinks that is.
He probably thinks it’s spaghetti, or some kind of avian meat dish.
Again, since no
progress was made this episode as far as the main plot of the story goes, I
cannot conscionably give this episode a very good rating. And yes, I know
“Goku’s Ordeal” also has nothing to do with the main story of the arc it’s
featured in, shut up, it’s special. This, on the other hand, doesn’t offer
enough as a stand-alone episode or as a piece of the larger puzzle to make it
particularly noteworthy. But, at the same time, I like the spirit and the
intent of it. Every once in a while, the viewers of this show need a reminder
that it’s not always about fighting the one main-threat Big Boss individual
whose power level is just staggering compared to our heroes. Sometimes you’re
just exploring a strange new world, finding unexpected hazards and planning as
you go.
(3/5)
A Few Final Thoughts:
-- Bulma, to two recognizable Namekians: “This is Namek,
right?” Apparently even she was having doubts.
-- I really wish the two most prominent women in this
show—Chi-Chi and Bulma—weren’t portrayed as such assholes all the time.
--Krillin happens to notice some hieroglyphics that do not
look anything like Namekians during their travels to find the dragon balls this
episode. Hmmm…
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