It’s time to wrap up the final story arc of the original Dragon Ball series… well, it would be if this was the manga (though that was technically just called “Dragon Ball” the whole way through) but ignoring the post story filler arc, this is the big finale as Goku and Piccolo do battle in one final epic Dragon Ball battle before the beam-fests and teleporty fights that follow in Z. How does it hold up? Why, let’s take a look, shall we?
We kick off with the first semi-final already on the way (as it started mid-way through the last episode…) as Tenshinhan battles Goku in a rematch from the previous tournament’s final. Ten starts off having the advantage in speed until Goku reveals that he was wearing 140 pounds worth of weighted clothing as part of his training, and as soon as he takes them off he has the edge in speed over Ten as well. To overcome this the three-eyed fighter shows his newest technique: the ability to split into four very real versions of himself and overwhelm Goku via numbers, able to counter his every move due to having 12 eyes to look out with. Goku is initially impressed but is quick to find two weaknesses in the move, specifically that 12 eyes or not they’re still vulnerable to Ten’s own Solar Flare technique, and more importantly by separating himself into four each Ten only has a quarter of his overall strength. Goku knocks all four Tens out of the ring for an easy victory, showing just how far he’s come in the years since their last tournament bout (and confirming Ten’s new status as extra…)
Weighted clothing! The power up method that’s pretty much dropped by the start of the next arc…
The next bout sees Kami (in the body of the human called Shen, or at least that’s the name Kami went with) facing off against his evil half’s reincarnation Piccolo Jr., later just called Piccolo because it sounds better. The two converse in a “mysterious language” (later revealed to be Namekian, but that’s not for us to know as this point!) and before long Kami reveals he has learned the Mafuba Wave technique and will seal Piccolo away again, but much to his shock and horror Piccolo uses a Mafuba reversal attack and seals Kami away instead, the God just managing to expel the innocent human body before being sealed. The crowd gives the unlikely human a round of applause as he has no idea why he was in the ring or why his son suddenly thinks he’s cool, while Goku watches Piccolo swallow the jar with Kami in it, confirming to Goku that in order to defeat him he’ll have to kill him and take out Kami as well.
Mafuba-ing a Mafuba, classic trick.
As mentioned in the previous half of the arc this adaptation wastes no time with filler as we head straight into the big final showdown as Goku and Piccolo soon start exchanging blows and the odd blast much to amazement of the crowd. Piccolo tries to wipe out the audience to get Goku to take the attack head-on but Goku unleashes a massive Kamehameha to counteract it, making Piccolo furious as he admits for a few seconds he feared for his life. The attack also got rid of his turban and cape, allowing the audience to recognise him as the Demon King, which he plays up and announces, leading to the audience to run in panic. As Goku and Piccolo resume their battle the former shows his ability to not just stretch his limbs but grow giant sized, and then when goaded by Goku, double even that size, allowing Goku to leap right into his opponent’s mouth and get swallowed whole…
This chunk is just eight episodes long but wow what a set of episodes. Obviously if you’re into intricate plots with clever twists these episodes full of wall-to-wall action won’t appeal, but I always love this arc for being a true tournament arc and giving our lead a great, well deserved moment that caps off this half of the original manga story well.
Overall Thoughts:
I’d say “I wonder why he never used this again?” but I mean it was easily defeated here, so why would he?
As I said in the first half of this arc review, the 23rd Tenkaichi Tournament arc is an oddly accurate adaptation of the manga with little-to-no filler and all action, wrapping up the original anime series with an exciting climax. It’s a shame that I have one more batch of episodes to talk about, but hey-ho, officially this is the end of the first half of the Dragon Ball manga and in that sense this anime adaptation has done the source material proud.
It turns out Goku getting swallowed was his plan all along as he starts beating Piccolo up from within, and after he’s spat out he tosses the jar containing Kami to his friends and asks them to free God so he has one less thing to worry about. Piccolo returns to normal size, embarrassed he fell for such an obvious ploy and goes on the offensive but Kami blocks a blow that was about to land. In true Goku fashion he berates God himself for getting in the way of his fight and then allows Piccolo one free punch to make things even, which his opponent gladly agrees to. Piccolo eventually unleashes a massive Demon Wave that reduces the entire island to the desert wasteland, with all of Goku’s friends (plus the tournament announcer, who is still doing his job despite the risk to his life…) surviving thanks to Ten creating a hole to jump down into, while Goku himself survived purely by putting his block up. Piccolo is weakened due to expending so much of his energy so Goku does a brutal combination including a brutal gut punch and a Kamehameha wave (you’ll know it from later DBZ games!) and gets to a 9 count before Piccolo pops his head up and fires a blasts the rips through Goku’s shoulder, leaving him rolling around in agony as blood is flying everywhere. It’s quite the disturbing scene, honestly.
Ouchie.
Goku’s friends look on helplessly as Piccolo then takes out Goku’s legs as well as the one good arm (so as to not make the same mistake as his “father”) and then knocks his foe away, declaring victory… until Goku suddenly appears on the horizon using the flying technique to pick up speed and land a charging headbutt to Piccolo’s ribs, not only knocking him unconscious but knocking him out of the vague square remnants of what used to be the ring. Goku tells the announcer to declare him the winner by ring out, which he happily does. After two losses in the finals Goku finally wins a Tenkaichi tournament! Goku is soon healed via a senzu bean and celebrates with everyone before giving a senzu to Piccolo as well, claiming he wants to keep Kami alive and that if Piccolo tries anything again he’ll be here to beat him again, the idea of which drives Piccolo into a fit of rage as he flies off into the distance. Kami offers Goku the position of God as he frankly admits he’s done a pretty crappy job of it but Goku sees the idea of sitting around in a Lookout not doing anything to be boring so sticks his tongue out at him, grabs his new wife-to-be Chi Chi and flies off into the distance as Master Roshi reminisces about how much Goku has evolved since they first met.
It’s a good ending, and in fact is the ending of this arc in the manga, but as I’ve said a few times the anime team wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to the original DB series just yet…
Hogan Reviews 