Dragonball Z Episode 42 Review – “The Search Continues”

Dragonball Z Episode 42 Review – “The Search Continues”

  This is where the whole Fake Namek mini-arc really starts to take it up the ass, slowly, un-lubricated. The crew, along with the so-called Namekians who are helping them, get into all kinds of nonsense trying to get the remaining fake dragon balls, and it’s so goddamned frustrating to watch, because there are no stakes. We know these aren’t the real Namekians, we know these aren’t real dragon balls, we know the crew is just wasting their time and putting themselves in danger for nothing.

  Like, it reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode, “I Shot an Arrow Into the Air,” where these astronauts think they’ve landed on an alien planet and are hopelessly lost without food or water, and at the end the last remaining survivor climbs up some hill only to find a billboard stating they’ve been in Reno, Nevada the whole fucking time, the ship didn’t even get off the planet. That’s what this feels like, except while that was tragic in its ultimate meaningless, this is just a tiresome slog, because we already know the crew is actually in Reno, Nevada the whole fucking time.

  And yet, what saves this episode from being a waste of time is all the stuff that doesn’t involve Krillin, Gohan and Bulma. The most interesting stuff is happening with Goku and Vegeta. And you guys might as well get used to Goku and Vegeta running the whole show, because spoiler alert, it isn’t going to get old any time soon. Goku is trying to get back into training, even though his body is still broken from his last battle with Vegeta. He can’t really fly, he has some power but when he uses it he’s immediately exhausted, and now he’s actually got Chi-Chi worried as shit. As “tsundere” as Chi-Chi has been with Goku thus far, she really does want him to stay in the hospital until he’s well, and I think what makes her sympathetic in that regard in spite of her piss-poor attitude is that her attitude doesn’t matter to Goku one bit. Like, even if she were the most supportive, loving, caring woman in the world, nothing is going to stop Goku from trying to get stronger and get trained because he knows more battles are coming his way.

  He remembers Vegeta’s words from right before he left the planet, he knows Vegeta is ruthless and capable enough to come right back after he heals and murder everyone he cares about. Chi-Chi doesn’t know this, at least not to the same extent, and her only concern is making sure Goku gets better, especially now that Gohan’s in space. Goku’s all she has now (save for Ox-King), and she has to protect and preserve that. These two characters who love each other are also on extremely divergent paths with polar opposite goals, so we can already see that they’re going to see little of each other in the near future, and that’s pretty sad.

  Speaking of Vegeta, we find him finally waking up from his slumber in the healing tank. When he emerges from that tank at the end of the episode, you can practically hear the Imperial Death March playing in your head. You know that bad news is back and worse than ever, because the Vegeta that has emerged from the tank is far from the same one who emerged from the space pod back on Earth. This is a Vegeta with a renewed sense of purpose, who has seen what it is like to be confronted and defeated by a force that isn’t Frieza, and is willing to channel that humiliation through his rage to make sure he is never beaten so soundly again. Or, in layman’s terms, he’s pissy, and needs to take it out on a few of Frieza’s mooks. He will get his wish soon.

  As much as the Fake Namek arc sucks, it just makes it even more satisfying when they get another dragon ball, and they get about two this episode, which is as grindingly slow as it sounds. They fight a giant ogre and a bunch of strange grass birds this episode, which kidnap them and take them to the castle of said giant ogre. All the while, you’re just having nostalgic thoughts of when there were things happening in the show that weren’t as stupid. I know I made a big thing in the last review of making the Fake Namek arc sound like a harkening back to the days of old Dragonball, and I did, and to be honest, that’s also kind of why I don’t like it. For one thing, without someone like Kid Goku, it just feels empty. Gohan isn’t a good enough replacement, as he doesn’t have his father’s charisma at that age. For another thing, in DB, this wasn’t filler—this WAS the adventure. So it was okay, because we knew it was building to something. This is just a distraction while we wait with bated breath for Vegeta and Frieza to come into play. We’ve been teased with this Frieza guy for a few episodes now, we know Vegeta’s about to make some moves again, and yet here we are, watching this pointless-ass filler. This episode is saved entirely from being a 2 or even a 1 by the sheer fact that Goku and Vegeta are having way more fascinating arcs at the same time, otherwise, fuck this slog.

(3/5)

A Few Final Thoughts:

--“This thing wouldn’t wake up if we screamed in its ear!” You want to wager your life on that, Bulma?

--“We should be able to go home much sooner than I anticipated!” Don’t fucking count on it, Bulma. I can see into your future, and it is full of more filler.

--“ARE YOU READY TO GO HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH A TORNADO?!”