Dragonball Z Episode 44 Review – “Brood of Evil”

 Dragonball Z Episode 44 Review – “Brood of Evil”

  When I rewatched this episode, I was pleasantly surprised to find that we start the episode with the continuation of one of the most boring filler arcs in the show’s history and manage to end it with the introduction of Frieza on Actual, No-Bullshit Namek. I couldn’t remember if there was any filler after this, but I was sure there would be just based on the precedent the Saiyan saga’s seemingly endless filler set. Yet, I sat there happy when the episode ended, ready to get back into the R E A L S H I T.

  I’ll give a brief summation of the end of the bug-man arc. The guys are able to successfully subdue Krillin, Gohan and Bulma long enough to attempt to use the ship, only, hurr-durr, they can’t actually open the ship because they don’t know the password. They steal Bulma’s radar and Bulma gives chase, only to find herself captured by the monsters, at which point Krillin and Gohan—having escaped the octo-monsters, show up and just one-shot both bug-men. The bug-men lament their fate of being stuck on this abandoned hell-planet forever while Bulma and the boys have a fun trip through a vortex, resulting in them ultimately getting to… Planet Namek.

  The planet is somewhat like ours, only greener. Fitting, considering the inhabitants’ collective skin color. The skies are green, the water is green, the people are green—this is basically Space Ireland, and I am stunned that TFS didn’t make that connection when the Namek saga came around. Or, maybe they did, and decided not to go with it. Besides, that would probably get very tiresome, very fast. Ironically, the grass and other vegetation seems to be blue, or more of a greenish blue at least. You know what? It reminds me of the Futurama episode where they go to the weird dimension where everything is almost the same except for the colors of stuff. I think they even had a green sky there, too.

  Even though the planet is so Earth-like, Bulma still wants to make sure the oxygen on the planet—or lack thereof—won’t kill them or be otherwise debilitating. I, personally, think this is a very reasonable thing to do, but what I also have to acknowledge is the same thing Krillin and Gohan quickly discover: every fucking planet in the universe has perfectly good oxygen and we can live there no problem. Naturally. The only other defining characteristic I can say about the planet itself, without getting into the inhabitants or their idea of architecture, is the Takoyaki trees. Or, for the layperson, trees that are basically a tall, thin trunk with a blue-green ball on the top, like a meatball having been speared on a toothpick, dyed green and stuck in the dirt.

  Our heroes get about two minutes to celebrate having landed on Namek before I get to celebrate the best thing about the Namek saga: Vegeta showing up in his space pod and proceeding to, slowly and methodically, unravel everything about Frieza’s machinations. Right now, all he’s doing is showing up, but it’s fucking hype like hearing Stone Cold Steve Austin’s entrance music, with the sound of glass shattering immediately triggering a “FUCK YEAH” Pavlovian response inside one’s mind. God damn, Vegeta is really at his most devious and fun in this saga, and I can’t wait to get into the parts where he just owns bones all up and down the Namekian wilderness.

  With Vegeta showing up—they can sense his specific power level coming off the space pod—and another one following right after it with another strong power inside, the crew is understandably shit-pants terrified. Krillin and Gohan, in particular, must be petrified of the idea that they may face Vegeta again, only he hasn’t been thoroughly tenderized by Goku beforehand. Bulma, of course, is scared because she’s in way over her head, a sensation she should be plenty familiar with. Let’s be honest, if it wasn’t for the fact that Gohan and Krillin know fuck-all about piloting a spaceship, Bulma would be the worst escort mission in the history of anime. Actually, I shouldn’t say that, having not watched that much anime.

  We might as well talk a little about what’s happening on Earth. Well, Goku’s back in the hospital, having been found collapsed in the middle of nowhere, trying to train when his body still hasn’t recovered, thanks to a lack of access to senzu beans, Mystic Water, a healing tank, Dende, or one of fifty thousand other cheat-healers that exist in the Dragonball canon. It’s amazing that a show like this can justify having this much filler, when all the characters can have as many mulligans as they want. Chi-Chi is keeping a watchful eye on her zealous husband, making sure he doesn’t advance the plot too much until he’s out of his assless gown. I kid about the gown, of course; no clothes Goku occupies is assless, because he is an ass, and within the clothes at the same time.

  Roshi, meanwhile, gets a call from a recently frightened Bulma, who reveals to Roshi that Vegeta has already made it to Planet Namek and they are in a world of shit and fuck as a result. She doesn’t word it that way, but if I were here, that’s the way I would have put the point across. Roshi is told NOT to reveal any of this information to Chi-Chi, on account of her being a barely-stable lunatic. The plan now is for Bulma to go back to Earth, pick up Goku, and come back to Namek with him in tow. Because, of course, they have two months to wait around for her to do that, and yes, the show explicitly says that’s how long it’s going to take. Any long-suffering DBZ fan knows how long five minutes is in this universe, now imagine how long two fucking months is going to take.

  I kid, of course. Krillin and Gohan will be dead at Frieza’s hand long before Goku and Bulma make it back to the empty space where Namek used to be.

  Speaking of Frieza, it is here that we get to see him on-screen for the first time, and I’d imagine if there’s anyone left in existence who hasn’t seen DBZ, is interested in seeing DBZ, and sees this character for the first time here, they’re disappointed. Well, let me just say two things: first, if you don’t like villains with pink skin, you are going to be a frustrated motherfucker when we get to the last main arc of Z. Second: the old adage, “never judge a book by its cover,” comes up again and again in this series, with Frieza being a very noteworthy example. I won’t say he’s the BIGGEST example, again thinking ahead to the final arc of Z, but he most certainly defies the expectations we have of what a badass monster man is supposed to be. One thing I can guarantee, by the time you get to see Frieza in action, it’ll no longer be a wonder to you that this guy is the most feared, most infamous villain in the history of this show.

(4/5)

A Few Final Thoughts:

--“Welcome to the armpit of the universe!”

-- For two guys on a completely abandoned shithole planet, they sure are resourceful, able to create a makeshift laboratory and a mind-reading machine. I guess them being shapeshifters is also a stroke of good luck.

--Krillin gets so mad about Vegeta showing up, why by God he just throws his hat on the ground, which amazingly does not burst into flames like when an Aqua Teen Hunger Force character spikes something to the ground.