Ninety percent of Dub vs Sub arguments in the Dragon Ball fandom are based on how you feel about Goku's Japanese voice.
So Team Four Star is marathoning DBZ Abridged and talking about its production in honor of their 10th anniversity, if anyone's interested. https://www.twitch.tv/streamfourstar
We went with the dub for Kai for a couple of reasons: 1) In Japanese, Krillin is voiced by Luffy's VA, and that was just a bit too weird for us (have also watched a bunch of One Piece); 2) While I've gotten much more used to Goku's Japanese VA while watching Super, it's still... A Lot to deal with for 150+ episodes; 3) I'm okay with Vegeta and Piccolo's Japanese VAs but still prefer whoever it is that voices both of them in the English dub, esp. Piccolo, who should have a deeper voice (just my opinion); 4) the very mundane reason of being able to know what's being said even if we happen to not look at the screen for a bit (I know some Japanese, but certainly not enough to always know what's going on, and husband knows like... ten phrases, mostly from anime and GCCX). Ultimately? I probably prefer the English dub in some ways, but I find charm in both and have had a lot of fun watching Super in the original Japanese. Even if Goku's VA voices like... at least five separate characters, lol. I have never seen DBZ Abridged but maybe I should watch!
Ch 298 piccolo's invincible so all of this will be over super quick ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿ (Freeza vs. Gohan, Part 2) So I've been thinking about Freeza's pants and it seems like they'd be kind of a huge pain to put on. At least there's no legs, because even with only two legs pants are kind of a struggle sometimes. Or maybe they're not pants? They kind of go under his chest/torso-area plating.... Maybe this is a mystery I'm better off not thinking about too much. Anyway, this was all started because there was a full back shot on the first page of this chapter. Freeza raises his power level. At this point, it's probably safest to assume that anyone you meet has 100% control over their power level and to expect them to pull something bigger out of the closet if they're cornered (or just pissed off because you hurt them a bit). Freeza drifts upwards, towards Gohan, who seems to be too scared to move. vegeta tries to help™ But Gohan doesn't, and Freeza hits him, presumably not as hard as he could have, but hard enough to throw Gohan to the ground. Vegeta takes this opportunity to hit Freeza in the back with a particularly strong beam (not enough to be named, though), and gloats about how Freeza's overconfidence was his downfall, which is a bit ironic considering Freeza just turns and says (paraphrased), "Hey, can you wait a sec? I gotta deal with Shrimp over there first" and is basically 99.99% unharmed. i think maybe vegeta's a pessimist at heart and a lot of the bluster and arrogance and overconfidence is to hide that fact. maybe. hmm. feels like he's either "i can never lose" or "i can never win". Freeza lands near Gohan, who springs up and tries some ineffectual attacks. Freeza grabs him by the hair (poor Gohan), knees him in the side, drops him, and kicks him (ugh, those feet). Gohan avoids getting stepped on by blasting himself out of the way, but Freeza's right there behind him, and whips him with his tail (also very bad). hey. hey vegeta umm hey vegeta maybe you could DO SOMETHING? Ch 299 (The Fourth Warrior) yeah vegeta i go back and forth on this a lot. on the one hand, i have trouble accepting that he doesn't care at all, especially given that there are so few saiyans/part-saiyans left, and being prince of just yourself and goku is... kinda lame. so i feel like this has to be at least partially put-on, but on the other hand? i could just be trying to make vegeta into something more sympathetic than he actually is because i'm so invested. Goku, still monitoring the situation from inside the tank, thinks about bursting out despite the fact he's not completely healed, but instead... OH??? kienzan??? Yes it is! It's Krillin, sans hole in chest! Freeza is like "how is this happening", but doesn't have long to gawk, because Krillin throws a whole bunch of kienzan disks and Freeza has a bit of work to do to dodge them all. Krillin takes his life in his hands even more so than he already ways by making a ":P!" face at Freeza, who immediately takes off after him. Freeza corners him and is hanging around upside down in the air, which is a thing that the villains seems to enjoy doing (moreso than the heroes, anyway). Krillin, knowing his limits, uses the ever-handy taiyou-ken to momentarily blind Freeza and yells at Vegeta to take it from here. Vegeta's paying attention to Dende and Gohan instead, and sees why Krillin doesn't have a hole in his chest anymore: Dende has healing powers, and is fixing up Gohan too. they finally got a priest. it's been almost 300 chapters and they finally got a priest. congrats on your incredible improvements in party comp guys Vegeta is, as per usual, pissed that they kept this from him, but Krillin hurriedly explains that they just didn't know, and if they had, they'd have had him heal Goku, rather than leave him in the tank. Gohan's perked up considerably with Dende's care, and goes into Determined Mode. Also, due to the whole near-death-power-up thing, he's even stronger now! ALSO:
CH 300 * CELEBRATION EMOJI * (Freeza vs. Piccolo) so that's a looooot of chapters. That's a whole heck of a lot of chapters. I remember when I was impressed I got through twenty. What a different time that was. The title art for this page is a handy height guide and Vegeta is so fucking short. I think he grows a bit throughout the rest of the series, because I know he's more than a head taller than Krillin later on, and doesn't only reach Piccolo's waist. happy gohan!! Piccolo assesses the situation and Vegeta takes the chance to be snide and calls Piccolo a "good-for-nothing piece of garbage" (how dare you). I love you * how i imagine people in this thread feel if they haven't read/watched DB * Piccolo says he's gonna "clean up this cosmic trash" (piccolo i love you but sometimes you say the dorkiest shit) by himself. Gohan, Krillin, and Vegeta are startled, but Piccolo doesn't really give them any time to react or protest much. He lands near Dende and tells him (by name!) to get somewhere safer. that's what fusion does to people Piccolo doesn't even bother to toss off his coat and hat, just gets right into the thick of things with Freeza (who earlier on was thinking that although Piccolo's much more imposing than the average Namekian, he's still no match for the mighty and be-horned Freeza). They trade blows for a while and Piccolo even borrows the Saiyans' favorite headbutt move. (More damage with his hat on?) Freeza throws a bolt at him and Piccolo makes a lovely face and knocks it away. Love the teeth Piccolo counters with his own blast attack (sadly, not the makankosappo, unwieldy thing that it is). When the smoke clears, Freeza's slightly bloodied by the attack (or at the very least scuffed up by it). Ch 301 (Freeza vs. Piccolo, Part 2) Gohan, Vegeta, and Krillin are just kind of hanging out in the air, watching all of this transpire. vegeta's shocked faces are always the best Vegeta's all pent up because he can't figure out how Piccolo did it; he hasn't had much time to train or anything, because this is roughly a month and a half or so since Vegeta and Nappa attacked the Earth. Krillin and Gohan are just happy because they feel like they're not going to die now. Freeza descends and smirks at Piccolo before elbowing him in the face and using everyone's favorite double-handed axe handle to knock Piccolo down. When Piccolo evades his next attack by escaping upwards, Freeza does the exact same thing, sending Piccolo crashing right back to the ground. shoulda ditched the hat and coat :/ (although: what's in the cloak to give it those shoulders?) Because Piccolo could hold is own, Freeza reveals that he decided to reveal more of his actual power. vegeta having a moment of self-reflection Piccolo spits some blood and then does ditch the hat and coat. Gohan and Krillin get excited because they've forgotten that those things are weighted, like Goku's boots, shirt, and wristbands, and now Piccolo won't be hampered by that. (Even if I were coming to this fresh and unmarred with future knowledge, somehow I don't think I'd be quite so gung ho about this meaning that now he's assured of victory as Krillin and Gohan are.) Freeza has his own reveal. two more * collapses * Two more forms, and we're the first ones to ever get to see this one! How honored we should feel!
Ch 302 This is the worst Freeza form by a thousand yards (Freeza's Third Form) A compilation of reactions to Freeza's transformation: Stepping back a second, Freeza transforms! This transformation seems to involve: sprouting back spines shoulder enlargement nose loss head extension (very unpleasant) head spines Accompanying the transformation is a power boost and apparently healing as well; whatever damage Piccolo managed to deal him has been erased. Too bad that didn't work for Vegeta and his tail, but it seems like these transformations are of two different types: one's more... facultative?, while the other is just kind of a byproduct of biology (that happens to be useful for destroying stuff). Goku's following along with this from inside the healing tank and is uncertain, now, if he'll be able to beat the new, powered-up Freeza. (It must be nearly time for him to pop out of there, though, surely?) Freeza attacks Piccolo, who immediately takes off with Freeza in pursuit. Piccolo's pretty confident that he can outstrip Freeza, but tbh, piccolo, i've never thought of AGI as your top stat, so i'm not sure where that particularly intense confidence came from (also a good fullbody 3rd form Freeza for your inspecting pleasure) Freeza points at Piccolo with two fingers and with a "Hyah!", somehow shoots him in the leg. Not sure if it's super pressurized air or very thin laser or something else, but it leaves a wound much like a bullet would. Piccolo manages to mostly avoid the next attack, but it grazes his cheek and ear. i'm surprised you still have all of that ear (and glad, of course) Freeza's next attack is more rapid-fire "shots", leaving Piccolo riddled with bullet-like wounds (hey don't do that maybe). I suppose this is better than actual physical bullets; less risk of infection, no pesky metal bits left.... That's hardly any comfort though. Gohan rushes in and when Krillin tries to follow, Vegeta grabs him. um oooh okay
The GM looks at Vegeta's player, looks at the notes they hastily scribbled on 'Saiyan Racial Bonuses', and realizes they may have just made an incredible mistake.
Ch 303 I live for the day when Vegeta's eyebrows and hair finally meet at his temples and their epic love story can have its conclusion (Vegeta's Ploy) Piccolo's outfit is getting well and truly shredded, so now we know things are serious. Gohan throws himself into the fray with a will and must be pretty upset about Dad #2 getting hurt because he unleashes a very powerful-looking blast. just like a bug on a windshield. imagine if you were driving along and SPLAT!!, saw that hit your window. might have to stop at a gas station to wash it off. nasty freezabug. Gohan's slowly forcing Freeza back with his attack, until Freeza summons up the power to bounce it back. Piccolo uses his own quick blast to deflect it away from Gohan. Freeza's bothered by how strong Gohan is and comes to the conclusion that he must be a Saiyan, and tries to figure out who's kid he is. Doesn't seem much like Nappa or Vegeta, so he concludes that Gohan must be Raditz'. Which, I suppose, not the most misguided assumption to make! ;.; c'mon krillin get with the picture man, just blast him already! creeper vegeta strikes again. i feel like this could be an image macro. maybe you're so fucking wrong i had to change to the big font to yell about it Freeza, sensing he's losing the crowd, tries to get everyone's attention back by announcing that although he certainly could kill all of them right now, without doing the Freeza race version of breaking a sweat, he's in a mood to show off his ultimate power, and so he's going to shift to his final transformation and let them all see. For some reason, we're shown Krillin's mental image of what that form will be (larger, more spiney, longer tongue, big ol' fangs). This makes me wish we were shown what everyone was thinking about the final form, but alas. Ohhh, that's why we were shown Krillin's thoughts on the matter -- they convince him to attack Vegeta, which he does with his eyes shut. fuckin' brutal i may be mistaken but this might be the most honestly happy we've seen vegeta. Ch 304 (The Final Transformation) Gohan's wondering why the heck Krillin would suddenly up and attack Vegeta, but there's no time for wondering too much right now; instead, he carts Piccolo off to be healed by Dende. will i ever get over "piccolo-san"? i doubt it Gohan deposits Piccolo near (?) where Dende was hiding and runs to get him. Vegeta's wandering around with a hole (??) straight through the center of his chest and still manages to have a conversation with Dende. Here's a brief summary: VEGETA: Why won't you heal me?! DENDE: You're a bad person and killed a bunch of people, so I'm not going to! And Dende, upholding his principles like a badass, flies off to help the others, leaving a near-unconscious, bleeding, incapacitated Vegeta behind. Vegeta collapses and only has the energy to call Dende an idiot. Krillin explains the situation to Gohan as they're running to fetch Dende, who they see streak by overhead, trying to find them. Meanwhile, Freeza's building up the energy (?) to transform, but notices that Piccolo's getting healed by Dende, which makes me very afraid for the new priest's longevity. Everyone knows you go after the healers first. Krillin asks Dende to heal Vegeta, because they definitely need his help dealing with Freeza, but Dende continues to refuse. Practically, I'm on the 'heal Vegeta' team, but emotionally I'm 100% on Dende's side here. The heal/don't heal talk is interrupted by a huge explosion from Freeza's area, which ultimately makes everyone land on the "heal" side of things. A silhouette, suspiciously lacking in spines, appears in the smoke. Dende tends to Vegeta, who is a fucking asshole who i will never forgive for kicking my son. you ungrateful bastard. (okay, that's... patently not true, but. i'm still genuinely upset. once again, how dare you make me feel things, toriyama!) Vegeta's convinced he's become a super saiyan and is 100% ready to take on Freeza. Speaking of which, it must be time for a reveal on his final form! a) the most aesthetically pleasing Freeza form EXCEPT b) either he's completely nude now OR the "pants" were actually part of his body, and i don't know which is the worse option Krillin's kind of nonplussed by the form and its lack of spines, but Piccolo says he's the perfect example of "contents, not cover", and apologizes for probably being useless against him and for being a waste of wishes. (Piccolo, you could never be a waste of wishes - even if bringing you back didn't mean resurrecting Kami too.) The new slender, spine-free, potentially naked Freeza shoots a laser that seems to miss everyone... except Dende. My favorite son. Just as I worried, his first target was the healer, and now I have another green alien boy to mourn the loss of. RIP DENDE - CH 251 - CH 304
Ch 305 "saro listens to unfitting music while people get k̶i̶l̶l̶e̶d̶ badly hurt: redux" (Will It Be Freeza? Or Vegeta?) well that's a question alright! To what? Generally I'd probably prefer Vegeta, but if the question is something like "Who'll be the first one to die?" then I'm gonna hope for Freeza. (I wonder what the original Japanese was? I have a suspicion, but considering there's a snappier translation, maybe it was more complex than my back-translation.) colored title art that i appreciated: freeza final form color scheme, vegeta's rather unusual expression, goku has his eyes open in the tank (don't think they've ever been open before when he's been shown) maybe i'm being harsh but you guys did a shit job of protecting your healer. (i am being harsh; his fate was sealed the moment freeza noticed.) Freeza does the disappearing-reappearing superfast movement trick and suddenly is standing near the party (although not the whole party; Vegeta's at a bit of a distance). Piccolo, Krillin, and Gohan attack, completely ineffectually, as Freeza is highly evasive in this new form, which is very sleek and minimalist compared to the others. I'm kind of a fan of that progression, it's an interesting change of pace from "only gets larger and more spiky". The party's next attempt involves a series of beam attacks... none of which seem to actually hit. literally what are you doing there vegeta Freeza's next target is Gohan, because -- think I did not make this particularly clear -- he wants to get rid of all the saiyans, despite not being afraid of them or the legend about super saiyans at all. Nope, it's just a safety measure. so you don't care, huh? Apparently only Vegeta was able to see the attack. Not even the Nail-augmented Piccolo could. "... I just wanted to show off what I can do!" shut the fuck up vegeta, you could have showed off in so many other ways and at any time up until now, i'm not buying it Vegeta tells everyone to stand back and declares himself a super saiyan (* drags hands down face *). Freeza laughs at him. With a yell about Goku, Vegeta throws himself into the fight with a will... and is completely outclassed by Freeza's speed. Ch 306 (Son Goku... Resurrected!!) Vegeta has a fit about not being good enough and goes all-out with a beam attack. gohan and piccolo in particular are very good in this panel (gohan's got a bit of the ghibli hair thing going on); also, krillin and vegeta match w/ the holes in their armor Apparently it really is a going-all-out kind of attack, because Piccolo yells at Vegeta about potentially destroying the planet with his attack. Freeza seems to realize the potential for planet destruction as well, because he boots it up into the atmosphere, where maybe it just harmlessly explodes, maybe it does nothing, maybe it goes off to destroy one of the suns, who knows, we aren't shown. What we are shown, instead, is Vegeta crying. stop making me feel bad for you Vegeta completely checks out of the fight and gets beat all to hell and back. At some point, Freeza grew back the tip of his tail which Krillin chopped off earlier (probably during the... last transformation?), and so he can use the tail, which is apparently both prehensile and extremely strong, to lift Vegeta by the neck and hold him suspended in front of him. (The tail changes length fairly drastically.) jesus h christ This is a pretty rough scene. Gohan, Piccolo, and Krillin all just kind of stand around uselessly watching Freeza repeatedly punch Vegeta right in the kidneys. What the hell can they do? Nothing. After being healed, Vegeta was certainly the strongest among them, and he was next to useless too. Any attempt to try to stop Freeza would be basically suicide. Finally, finally, the oven timer goes off on Goku's healing tank. oh good maybe you can get out and someone can put vegeta in (tho maybe vegeta's the only one who knows how to work it) Goku's out and feeling great! I guess having a lot of ki or a particularly powerful ki (how does ki work? we just don't know) is enjoyable. There's no time for that though, because there's a son and a best friend and 2x former enemies (one more former than the other but oh well) to go out and save! Not to mention all of the other dead people who are waiting to be resurrected.
Ch 307 well, at least it wasn't quite as viscerally unpleasant as the anime (The Ultimate Battle Begins!) Vegeta is still getting punched. Please let him down, he must have no kidney left by this point. (The other night my husband was speculating that saiyans might have a lot of organ redundancy, which would explain some of the more impressive injured feats. Let's hope that's the case.) Freeza gets bored of punching Vegeta and flings him against a handy cliffside (Namek is particularly good for those). He's just about to put and end to Vegeta's life when Goku arrives. just wanted to share because i found this to be a cute piccolo. nice antennae The Serious Goku Face. time for shit to get real Goku strides past Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillin, telling them that he'll take it from here, and ignores their questions. He approaches Freeza and is immediately like, "Wow you're small", and Freeza responds by indirectly calls Goku trash. Freeza thinks that Goku looks familiar. (Goku's also like, "hey, could you not kill Vegeta so I can fight him later? Okay cool.") Vegeta regains awareness of the situation and, noticing Goku, calls him Kakarrot (SPEAKING OF WHICH: the original katakana is カカロット ("kakarotto"), with the doubled syllable on the "to", not the "ro", so seeing the r doubled in the romanization, while sensible to an English speaker/reader thinking about the word "carrot", is always a little weird. Have I talked about this before? Can't remember.). This jogs Freeza's memory and I guess we're supposed to assume the guy he remembers is Goku's dad? They look fairly identical but for a headband, a cheek scar, and a general aura of goofiness on Goku's part. His name seems to be Bardock, which at this point I can only think is a variation on burdock, and so the edible plant saiyan name convention continues. Freeza advises Goku to not bother fighting, and when Goku says "Nah", attacks. Goku lands what I think is the first hit on final form!Freeza, right to the face. Freeza tries his laser trick that took out Dende and almost got Gohan, but Goku deflects all of the shots with one hand. This is shocking for Freeza, and Vegeta, somewhat surprisingly, starts laughing. (i do wish you would stop declaring things super saiyans without having the slightest idea what that is) Freeza shoots Vegeta through the chest. :/ Ch 308 (The Death of Vegeta) a+ vegeta on the title page Goku's upset with Freeza in the same way he was upset with Vegeta in the past, for killing/harming people needlessly. This, in turn, pisses Vegeta off, because of course a true super saiyan has not a single merciful cell in their body. Goku's like "dude, I don't even know what one of those is". Vegeta reveals the truth about Planet Vegeta: Freeza destroyed it, not an asteroid, because of the saiyan potential for power - for potentially becoming an actual opponent. stooooop making me feel things and then he dies. RIP Vegeta, ch whatever - ch three hundred and who am i kidding we all know vegeta comes back with a vengeance and loses 95% of the character development from Namek. i'm not bitter or anything i said stop Goku takes the time to bury Vegeta (in... a super shallow grave, which would likely be dug up within a day if left alone, but it's the thought that counts). He challenges Freeza for the sake of the Saiyans and Namekians that have been killed. Piccolo, once again proving himself "Character Most Likely To Have A Modicum Of Sense", tells Gohan and Krillin that they should leave; they'll only get in the way if they stay. and with that, goku and freeza are left alone to duke it out The fight begins almost immediately and it definitely has a different feeling from the rest, possibly because Freeza's more serious after getting kicked in the face earlier. oh goddamnit i was not ready for this and i snorted mint tea up my nose. it's always eyelasers!! they get me every time! *.* There's a fair amount of striking at either afterimages or the place where someone was, but vacated very quickly. After one of these, Freeza makes a very concentrated energy ball that he lobs at Goku, who blocks it with his hands and is driven back most of the way through a rock formation before he manages to send it upwards. Freeza seems maybe slightly concerned because his only reaction is to go "ow ow ow!!", instead of, y'know, keeling over or something.
Ch 309 queue up your favorite underwater video game tracks for THIS chapter (Underwater Battle) recommended listening: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4dZLXr4qlcD3Mw0ITb03_AgXB52jPAtk Everything hurts and I'm dying, but the title art has been hot fire lately i appreciate some interstitial humor (alternate comment: "now kiss") Kaiou's still spectating, and reports that Vegeta's been killed, but that at the moment, Goku and Freeza seem to be evenly matched. (I know I've mentioned before that I like all the spectating that goes on, through various means, but Kaiou might be my favorite method and spectator all in one.) Freeza's still pretty assured of his victory and says it's a shame that despite being so powerful, Goku still can't beat him. Goku, somewhat reasonably, says that yeah, it's possible, but who knows until it's tried? Freeza sets out to prove that its impossible and explodes part of the cliff with his... mind? Eyes? Something. Goku avoids it and I guess does the same thing, forcing Freeza down, until he escapes, somehow. what exactly is that anyway? something that doesn't translate well, i'd assume, but i've never had a good idea of what it actually is supposed to be Goku gets kicked into the water, hard enough to create a whirlpool of sorts. you know the score. plus - i guess those weighted boots are pretty handy if you just wanna stand around on the bottom of some body of water speaking of spectators.... (piccolo, PLEASE get rid of the little bit of pant left on your left ankle, it just looks so silly) Goku hangs out underwater for a while and comes up with a plan based on the fact that Freeza doesn't seem to be able to sense ki/power/whatever and has to rely on sight. He makes two very small non-explosive kamehameha "charges" and leaves them in place. it'd be funny if they followed him. very friendly energy balls, wanna be near dad Freeza's very impatient, but it seems he won't have to wait too much longer for something to happen: Goku sends one of the charges rocketing up and out of the water, tricking Freeza into thinking it's him, then rinses and repeats with the second one. He uses the distractions to get a serious double-footed hit on Freeza, which finally completely destroys what's left of that one rock formation. Or maybe another one, it's hard to tell. In any case, it doesn't stop there -- Freeza travels quite a distance and causes a lot of environmental damage as he goes. Unfortunately, the Freeza damage seems to be pretty minimal; he just gets up, puts his hands on his hips, and cracks his neck. He's hardly even scuffed, either. Ch 310 (Aerial Battle) Guess it's time to put away the underwater music. I don't know if there's much in the way of "air levels"? Maybe flying stages? Oh hey Bulma on the title art! Haven't seen you for a hot minute! Hope you're doing okay! * takes a moment to try to imagine his parents * how old are you, anyway? you looked basically the same back when you destroyed Planet Vegeta, but who knows? Freeza decides that throwing rocks at Goku at high speeds is a good way to deal with him. I'm never quite clear exactly how dangerous being smacked into the ground/natural landscape features is, so I can't help but be rather skeptical at the effectiveness of this approach, and indeed, Goku either dodges or breaks the vast majority of the rocks hurled his way. PSYCH IT WAS A TRICK ON FREEZA'S PART THIS TIME He surrounds Goku with a paralytic field and then sends it and Goku full force into the ground. This creates a pretty impressive mushroom-shaped cloud, and the blast affects even Gohan, Krillin, and Piccolo, which says to me that they should uhhhh maybe move a little bit further back? or maybe get on the ship or something? Or at least have someone check on Bulma, who's still in the dark about a lot of what's been happening. Gohan wonders what's happened to his dad, and Piccolo says there's no need to worry about Goku. guess you managed to get out somehow! awww piccolo don't worry you're pretty freaky yourself Freeza's maybe starting to get a bit angry, and so next chapter things're gonna get Serious. Although I won't believe it until more cloth gets ripped and someone loses a shirt.
Ch 311 I'm sad! (Hand to Foot) There's something vaguely unpleasant about this chapter title and I can't put my finger on it. Leaving that aside, the paused fight gets taken back to the ground (god knows it won't stay there, though). They've moved away from where Vegeta was buried, which doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things (it's just a body) but it makes me feel a bit better, because knowing what happens to the environment in one of these fights, I was thinking his body would get destroyed. Goku does, in fact, lose his shirt (the orange one, not the black one), so I guess I'm forced to say that yep, things are Serious. But that's okay, because really, Freeza's a nice dude! He offers to not use his hands when the fight starts up again. Goku's fine with that, and goes through some various stretches to get limbered up. He says he'll strike first, and Freeza agrees to let him. There's a brief pause, and then Goku attacks. True to his word, Freeza doesn't use his hands -- he's got his ar ms folded as Goku attempts a series of hits, none of which connect. That tail's a dangerous weapon in and of itself, though; Freeza uses it in a whip-like fashion to send Goku flying. Perhaps the hand restriction isn't as much of a trial as it might be for someone without a tail. Cheapens the deal if so! On the other hand, having a tail might be a disadvantage too. but maybe he'll do a lizard thing and shed it? spin! Goku lets go and Freeza gets flung into another doomed rock formation, shattering it. He flies out almost immediately, arms still crossed, and they trade blows, both getting some hits. The tail comes into play once again when Freeza wraps it around Goku's neck, and looks extremely pleased with himself, until that's always the problem with getting anything close to a mouth for more than a second or two! After getting bit, Freeza abandons his "no hands" policy almost immediately and socks Goku right in the face. Ch 312 (50% Maximum Power) Freeza asks if Goku would be willing to work under him, perhaps replacing Ginyu. (Well, now I kind of want an AU where that does happen. Goku Force posing. Please have Vegeta be a member. Oh, he'd hate it so much.) Goku, predictably, refuses, and Freeza, similarly predictable, says that it's unfortunate, but now Goku has to die. And he guesses that he'll only have to use 1/2 of his full power to do it. They stand around staring at each other for a while. Krillin and Gohan wonder why and Piccolo explains: both are waiting for the right moment to attack. some effective panels with nice contrast Freeza makes the first move, with an elbow strike to Goku's face, followed by a low, tripping blow. He wraps the tail around Goku's neck again and doesn't get bitten this time; instead, there's a second elbow strike to the face (RIP Goku's nose, must be broken all to hell). ............. i shouldn't be but i'm strongly reminded of a cat. and now i'm thinking about freeza wearing a cat ear headband. thanks brain, good work tonight, real a+ stuff Freeza makes Goku's attacks look pathetic with his ability to dodge, and all of the spectators (local and remote) are starting to get worried. Tien's not too worried, though, because there's still the kaio-ken 10x in Goku's back pocket! i've been cheated of the pretty pink-red glow! Ch 313 (Kaio-ken times 20!!!) Freeza does a bunch of attacking and follows it up by cutting a trench through miles of planet. With just two fingers (and ki)! Of course, cutting through the planet isn't anything special; he destroyed Planet Vegeta by himself, after all. (And, 20ish years later, its scion son.) :( Freeza reassures Goku that he's not going to use the planet-cutting technique on him; he wants him to suffer more (I guess). Tien's shocked to hear that Goku's been using the 10x kaio-ken this whole time. people should have listened to you Goku decides his only choice is to go for some 20x kaio-ken, despite the potential for severe bodily damage. (Well, there's a certainty of that with Freeza anyway...) And so he does, and manages to hit Freeza very hard in the face, which is pretty satisfying. He then does a 20x kaio-ken kamehameha and creates an extremely impressive blast, and for a second it seems like Freeza might have been defeated. aww fuck. but, if we're going by level of scuff, this is probably the most scuffed he's been, plus that palm doesn't look so hot, and i think there's actually some bleeding going on. progress??
Ch 314 Piccolo maybe should actively try to not die because it would be real bad if Kami died now (The Great Genki-Dama) It appears that Freeza was not bluffing about only using ~50% of his power. A brief Bulma update: the battle seems to be causing some tremors, and she's worried about her safety and wondering if Goku's arrived yet or not. THIS STANCE AGAIN Goku's ki is down after that kamehameha, and the spectators can tell that Freeza's barely damaged at all. don't you look so calm about it you were one of the main proponents of Fucking Up Freeza can't fool me into forgetting that! Freeza inspects the hand he used to stop the kamehameha and gets real upset about it, because -- we learn when he lands again -- it was painful. Pain doesn't seem like it's a normal part of Freeza's experience. (Did none of the attacks up until now hurt? Did getting his tail bitten/cut off not hurt? Or is this less of a physical pain and more of a "wow that was actually kind of scary and i've never seriously feared for my safety before"?) in any case the end result is still a very angry headbutt. freeza's shiny weird head seems like it would be very hard and very painful, therefore the perfect headbutting tool Goku rolls several dozen feet and doesn't even have a chance to stand before Freeza moves to where he is and kicks him, several times. He wonders where all of that energy Goku had has gone and swipes at the ground, creating another ridiculous trench. Gohan almost takes off to join in the fight, but Piccolo stops him; somehow, he can tell Goku's going to do... something. my first thought upon seeing this panel was that it should be in one of those activity books -- a "draw what you think freeza is looking at!" kind of thing nice panel breakage here Pretending it wasn't obvious from the chapter title, it's the genki-dama creation stance! Goku's a bit concerned about it because he's not sure that the planet will survive the attack, but seeing as Freeza's a total menace to anyone he comes across and 99% of the Namekians are dead (I think everyone but Piccolo and Kami), it's a risk Goku's willing to take. Gohan's a bit worried that there won't be enough life around to create a genki-dama strong enough to take out Freeza. Goku's aiming significantly higher than just "life on Namek", however, for the creation of this genki-dama. can things refuse you, though? it's not really clear if there needs to be consent or not High up in the air, high enough for the local spectators to see it, the genki-dama forms. Ch 315 (The Last Chance) Freeza has not cottoned on to what's happening. extreme dissatisfaction: the expression This genki-dama is big. Like, real big. Way bigger than the little one they used on Vegeta on Earth, which was, what, beachball sized? Maybe a bit larger. No where near big enough to be seen from potentially miles away. he looks so personally affronted by the size of it Freeza asks how long Goku plans to continue this charade, and Goku gives a rather flippant answer that causes Freeza to attack him in anger. Goku lands hard on his side and slowly manages to get to his feet. Don't know whether the massive genki-dama still exists or not, but it probably does. heck yeah, piccolo has a plan! (and... no nipples. well, we have definitely landed on "not mammals", so that should be unsurprising, but somehow i managed to be surprised.) Goku gets into position once again, but Freeza is out of the mood of standing around; he knocks Goku back with a blast, into the nearby ocean. Meanwhile, Gohan and Krillin are transferring what ki they can to Piccolo. Goku pulls himself half out of the water, but Freeza is right there. He's impatient and doesn't mean to let this fight drag on any longer; he plans on destroying not just Goku, but the planet itself (and Gohan with it), meaning the true end of the Saiyan species. But before any of that happens.... oshit we been found out fucking ocean's a narc Freeza looks up to see the giant genki-dama in the air above, looking quite a bit like a miniature sun, complete with flares. He suddenly realizes what Goku was doing while he was standing there with his arms up and makes an incredible face.
(continued) them big ol' eyes suddenly the thought i had at the beginning of the post is seeming kind of relevant and that makes me just a little bit concerned Piccolo takes off while Goku despairs: with the element of surprise gone, Freeza will likely find a way to dodge, deflect, or otherwise not sustain damage from it. Goku rather desperately attacks Freeza, who just grabs his hand and traps him, pointing a very dangerous finger right at Goku's face. weren't expectin that huh fucker?? Piccolo tells Goku to finish his damn dama already.
Ch 316 all this and we still haven't seen a super saiyan (The Galaxy Strikes Back) Making genki-damas... seems kind of finicky. Like letting bread rise. Is it big enough yet? Is that "doubled in size"? I can't tell, leave it sit for another 15 minutes. Except you never have the leisure to let it "rise" as much as you'd like because you're usually in the middle of fighting with someone who's out for your blood. All that to say Piccolo's getting very antsy about the genki-dama situation, but it's still not ready. Which might be a problem, because Freeza seems to officially be in a Bad Mood. i will say although i appreciate that you haven't killed everyone already, this is why you don't hold back in the beginning. you don't even necessarily have to go full force but maybe, iunno, 75%! you have put yourself in this situation with the insects by underestimating them and restraining yourself! A blast explodes in Freeza's face. you twoooooooooooooo! piccolo told you to keep out of it! (piccolo doesn't seem too upset, but if something happens to gohan he's not gonna be so sanguine about it) This is the final last straw for Freeza, who's decided that now's the time to get rid of Namek wholesale; at the same moment, the genki-dama's finally "risen" enough to be used. Piccolo (unnecessarily) tells Goku to throw it, and Goku throws it. Goku and Piccolo hit the deck. Freeza tries to stop the genki-dama and keeps saying it's nothing, but pictured above: "nothing" kaiou is cute <3 The genki-dama created a huge hole in the landscape, and water is rushing into it. It also seems to have destroyed some of the little islands in the area; Krillin has to climb out of the water onto an outcropping, while Gohan seems to have avoided a soaking by flying up. :s that's a good question. hope that both dads are okay
Ch 317 I have a Foreboding that is not at all alleviated by the title of this chapter (Life or Death) is ki a natural property of living beings? Only sentient ones? Does everyone has at least some ki? Can you lose all your ki and still live? Are ki and power levels interchangeable? How much ki does it take to sense someone else's? Is that something anyone could do with the proper training? Does ki influence physical damage, i.e. if you use a big beam or blast attack, are your punches/kicks weaker afterwards? How are ki and energy (physical energy, like bodily energy) related? Are they the same or are they like... parallel? How does ki regen work? god i have so many questions Gohan sees something in the distance. yes!! hell yes!! (altho... piccolo, you grew an extra finger D: ) Relieved, they fly (slowly, due to the lack of ki) over. i know it's a "noticing" drawing shorthand, but i can't help thinking it means "look at this gorgeous ear. look at it" guys help toriyama's trying to kill me again But all of this happy-end stuff is giving me the serious heebie-jeebies, no matter how cute it is. Trying to lure me into a false sense of security with adorableness, I know your game, I ain't falling for it. Well, maybe just a little, I can't resist a happy Gohan or that headpat from Piccolo. it's too bad that piccolo can't hang out on namek for a while. it's too bad all of the namekians aside from him are dead. ... .... ... including my son Krillin yells and freaks us all out because he suddenly remembers that Bulma exists. THIS IS IN NO WAY INCREDIBLY STRESSFUL AND ANXIETY-INDUCING Piccolo mentions something about the Grand Elder being able to rest peacefully now, and Krillin wonders how he knows about him, but before the whole Nail-absorption thing can get discussed fuck fuck HEY NO WHAT DON'T DO THAT I JUST GOT HIM BACK Piccolo collapses, and so does my heart. In a figurative sense. Freeza reveals that the genki-dama did, in fact, nearly kill him, and at this point, he seems to have abandoned any pretense of holding back. It's time for dealing with shit and making people pay. Goku orders Gohan and Krillin to get the heck out -- to grab Bulma and get away from Namek in Goku's spaceship as fast as possible. Freeza, however, has no intention of letting any of them escape; he wants every single one of them dead, preferably five minutes ago. (He also has the fun'n'flirty one-eye-closed thing going on that Vegeta had back when he first attacked Earth.) And so he blows Krillin up. Just like that. No effort on his part. Just sticks his hand out, levitates Krillin, and explodes him. Poor fucking Krillin, who has been through so much shit on Namek and throughout the series in general. He almost got killed multiple times on Namek alone. He doesn't deserve this shit. * pours out the rest of my tea in his honor *
(continued) we know it's serious when there's this kind of shading. a) don't even think about laying a hand on my gohan; b) instead of talking about it you should just do it if you're going to you dumb fuck oh? oh?? OHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! betcha wish you had hair now freeza, look what goku can do to his! ETA Because chapters are usually 15 pages long, I assumed that one was over and didn't bother checking like I usually do! I'm an idiot! this would be A Lot to take in and i don't blame gohan for having trouble processing it all this is kind of genuinely a terrifying thing for goku to say, especially to his kid. poor gohan.
