Ch 435 i forgot to do my shot so now i'm reading while waiting for it to warm up (The Winner!/The Boys' Division Winner is Decided!) Oh thank Christ, I cannot take too much more of this. Three chapters devoted to one fight is usually too much unless we're like fighting Cell or Frieza or something. So! No more ki attacks. That's good.There's been the one building casualty already, and the ring itself is looking a little worse for wear -- tiles have already been fractured. Luckily, no harm has come to the audience or to any civilians (e.g., staff). Even so, let's get this match wrapped up and move on to the main event, which seems more dangerous in some ways (stronger contestants), but also less dangerous in others (presumably more control and awareness of surroundings, better decision-making... well, maybe not necessarily that last one for all contestants). Trunks boasts that he can defeat Goten using only one arm. Nuh-uh, no way he can do that! Trunks insists that he can, so Goten says fine, let's just see you try, but no left arm use at all. Trunks attacks, and the lack of left arm usage fairly quickly puts him at a disadvantage; several of Goten's attacks connect. now who's the little shit??? dangit trunks, you can't just brag like that and then turn straight to cheating when it doesn't work out for you Goten flies high into the air, surveys the situation, then dives straight for Trunks, using the fall to go faster. Trunks plans to dodge at the last second, banking on the fact that Goten hasn't been flying as long as he has and so won't be able to control his movements. He's partially right. He dodges and Goten can't just quickly change course, but what he can do is push himself off of the ring and change the direction of his momentum -- still headed straight for Trunks. goddamnit trunks and after cheating with the ki attack too??? These darn kids and their inability to foresee consequences. Not only does Trunks turn super saiyan to evade Goten, he also uses yet another ki blast attack, which sends Goten flying towards the audience. He almost manages to bring himself to a stop, but his feet make contact with the bleachers... meaning he's gone out of bounds. Trunks is the winner of the kids' division tournament! Through some sort-of cheating, but, oh well. what a face Trunks says that the super saiyan thing was fine because Goten did it first, and he didn't actually hit Goten with his left arm, just used it for ki attacks. So it's all fine. vegeta is in a startlingly good mood which makes me concerned somehow Goten's not convinced by Trunks' explanation, so Trunks offers to give him three toys, whichever ones he wants, which puts Goten immediately into a much better mood. Oh, right. This tournament isn't quite over yet -- the special attraction of the kids' tournament is that the winner gets to have a match with Mr. Satan, Champion of the World. Mr. Satan, having figured out that these kids somehow are related to those guys who fought with Cell seven years ago and actually did the defeating, is very much not looking forward to this. At all. Ch 436 (Hercule's Courage!/Mr. Satan's Got Some Guts!) Mr. Announcer asks if Trunks wants to take a break before he faces Mr. Satan. No, not really; he's good to go, so Announcer calls Mr. Satan out to the ring. Mr. Satan puts on a brave face and emerges. "What kid's brash enough to challenge me, the Champion of the World?! Better get ready!" The crowd goes nuts. i feel bad for you, but at the same time you absolutely put yourself in this position to some extent, capitalizing on gohan's defeat of cell for your own gain. on the other hand, it's not really your fault that there are terrifyingly strong aliens living on earth that vastly outstrip normal human physical capabilities.... or that they have kids that do the same Trunks sizes up Mr. Satan, and doesn't think he looks particularly strong. Goten encourages Trunks from the sidelines, because he's a sweet kid (who's going to be getting three toys). NO ENCOURAGEMENT ALLOWED The watching parents and friends have lost interest, because... well, they know that there's not going to be much of a contest between the two. Videl's a bit incensed; aren't they going to stay and watch?! Gohan quickly volunteers to, while the rest leave. Mr. Satan takes off his cape and belt, then shows off for the crowd. Trunks is not only unimpressed, but actively upset by this, because he thinks Mr. Satan is trying to make him look bad by acting like an idiot. This, of course, makes him determined to prove himself by doing his best. yes and this is why i constantly worry whenever you're doing anything Mr. Satan tries to pull the ol' fake injury trick, but when threatened with an actual medical professional, he's miraculously cured. So much for that plan; time to come up with a second one. Something that'll keep his reputation intact. Something that'll look good for the crowd. Something that'll stop him being soundly beaten by a small child. ding ding ding! He sets his plan in motion by telling Trunks there's a special "greeting" for this fight: a light tap to the face with a fist before the actual fighting starts. Honestly? Not too bad for something that he had to come up with in something like five seconds. Match start is called, and Mr. Satan proffers his face for Trunks to lightly bop. Which Trunks does. Unfortunately, Trunks' "lightly" is not the average child's "lightly", and Mr. Satan is thrown out of the ring, into the wall. Second building casualty, although it's a pretty minor one. Mr. Satan gets up and puts on an act for the benefit of the crowd, then retreats to his room to recover. Trunks wonders if he actually is strong, which just goes to show... something. Maybe how incredibly far you can go if you just pretend, and have a good understanding of what people will think. bonus: cute goten
oh motherfucker this goddamn post has given me so much trouble BIG SIGH i'll go back and fix the images VH1'S BEHIND THE MUSIC POST so this is kind of a miracle post because i closed the tab twice, kintsugi didn't seem to save the post, i started a new one and closed that too, was just about to say "fuck it all" and then decided to just do very short summaries for these two chapters because hoo boy was i tired of them after all of that, and found that the majority of my post somehow was resurrected. of course most of the image attachments didn't work, but that was easier to fix than writing a whole new one for the... fourth? time.
Of course Vegeta's in a good mood. He's beating Kakarot by having a better kid. He's winning for once. Just let him have that much.
Ch 437 okay now let's actually get somewhere fun (The Mysterious Duo) Not to say that the kids' tournament, uh, dragged a bit, but it seemed to take forever. Maybe that's just because of what happened with the last part of it last night. I was pretty neutral to it before but now I have some negative feelings about it. Things I find fun: doing this! Things I do not find fun: Doing this, but with the same two chapters, four times in a row! There's a break now. Good time to get food, use the restroom, stretch, buy souvenirs, etc. A monk prevents them from entering the area for contestants before seeing if they've qualified, which, of course, they have. Piccolo is going by Demon Jr. again. I HAVE SOME PROBLEMS WITH THIS. a) piccolo called himself "piccolo" (in the most bananas way possible) earlier; b) wasn't that the name he used before when he, y'know, fucking destroyed the tournament grounds before??? and caused a panic, revealing that he was the reincarnation of piccolo sr.???? like, piccolo, i just. you're normally pretty good at this shit, but i think you've really missed the mark on this one. you should have called yourself "lord snail" or something Given that there are so many of them competing, and assuming that they're probably the most powerful people around, Krillin thinks they'll probably manage to win all of the prize money. Too bad Goku can't use it in the afterlife! goku this is so fucking threatening jesus Nah, Krillin's good. Trunks and Goten are still hanging around the contestants-only area. Somehow. Instead of going back to sit with everyone in the audience. Come on, you guys. But no! They are bound and determined to continue to cause trouble. Alright, well, that's fine. Trunks spots an Opportunity. ( ⚆ _ ⚆ ) "extremely unfortunate" is probably closer to the descriptor i would have chosen, but, well. yeah, there's just not much to be said in defense of this except it probably didn't ping as quite so terrible to a japanese kid reading this. .... ooof. suffice it to say that db has some fairly problematic shit in it and i wish it wasn't quite so... horrible in some ways, but. what can you do. i enjoy the parts that i enjoy and i don't... think it was meant to be quite so bad as it comes across. and because i'm so bad at articulating my thoughts 80% of the time, i don't want to be the one talking about this, especially when i'm sure there are many other people who have said it much better than me, and i also don't want to speak over people who have more experience than me/are better qualified Anyway. That guy must have passed the prelims, right? That means that he's a perfect target! Goten doesn't understand what Trunks is getting at. .................. i'm gonna fucking explode Trunks explains, and, yes, it's the "two kids in a trenchcoat" plan to get into the movies into the adult tournament: take him out, take his outfit, and pretend to be him in the tournament. At this point, I need to take a moment to go get some real strong black tea with creamer and sugar, which is the only way I can deal with this absolute bananas bullshit that's about to happen. ... Okay, tea acquired. Let's see how this shit goes down. honestly? bulma + vegeta is a pretty heckin' dangerous combination. especially when both are around to raise him and the world hasn't been ravaged by androids ((cyborgs)). both of them are extremely confident and headstrong in their own ways But don't you wanna fight with the adults? Sure, Goten does, but.... Trunks takes that as enough consent to go through with his batshit plan. First step: approach Unfortunate Hood Man. Second step: lure him away with the promise of a hot shy lady wanting an autograph. Third step: lay him out with a chop to the back of the neck. Fourth step: drag body to a concealed location. Fifth: strip. Sixth: * drags hands down face * aaaaaand disguise complete Back with the actual adults (such as they are).... okay real talk i think this is the first time we've seen vegeta eating something that's not an alien arm off an alien he presumably just murdered Gohan and Videl shows up; Videl seems somewhat nonplussed by the scene of food carnage before her. oh jesus christ three saiyans (well, close enough) eating together?? there ain't gonna be enough food (also lookit that vegeta..... .... ...... so focused on soup. cute) Videl is completely nonplussed after watching the three of them decimate the food, and Gohan wonders why she didn't eat anything. Well, it could be that watching you, your dad, and Vegeta eat, she just doesn't have an appetite anymore. I mean, I don't think I could deal with seeing that and also eating. It's a lot to deal with, honestly. Anyway, with sustenance acquired, the group heads off to the lottery, where presumably lots will be drawn for who's going to face who and in what order. Piccolo notices something, which seems to disconcert him. well. that must be the titular duo Is that guy floating? That guy's floating. He's sporting some epic Sixteen hair and a very spiffy outfit and earrings. I'm in love. He's also got some awesome pointy ears going on. Man, just hitting so many of my favorite notes, character-design wise. Are these guys contestants as well? Mohawk addresses Goku by name and says he hopes they can have a match during the competition; he's always wanted an opportunity to fight him. Uhhh, what? He asks to shake Goku's hand and gets the go-ahead. (He also make some crazy smug faces during all of this, which unfortunately I have no caps left to showcase and I'm so close to the end of the chapter I don't want to spill over into a second. But yeah, they are just the peak of smugness. Very.... worrying.) After shaking hands, he compliments Goku on his good soul, then walks (floats?) away with his very large friend. Piccolo asks Goku who that was, and Goku's like "Iunno, never met the guy before." But! It might not be as easy as they were thinking, to completely sweep the competition. The mystery just deepens.
Ch 438 i'm still reeling from "2 kids in trenchcoat" being an actual thing that actually happened (The Finalists are Chosen!) And here they are, for your perusal. ... the last two look like "pokemon x" and "evolved form of pokemon x" or maybe a hero in one of those mobile games that has character progression where they get cooler clothes as levels go on or whatever Piccolo says that those guys (who we now know are called "Shin" and "Kibito", or at least are using those names for the tournament, a la Demon Jr./Great Saiyaman over here) aren't from Earth, but that he doesn't know where they're from. Videl asks Gohan what the heck he means by them not being from Earth. gohan you can't just throw your second dad under the bus like that!! also i will self immolate if one more person makes the green = sick comment Time for the lottery and checking out the playing field. Goku still thinks Shin and Kibito look like the ones to keep an eye on, but he comments on how angry the two with the forehead markings look, and that Mighty Mask has a really weird shape to him. Ahuh, he sure does. Killa gets called first and pulls 14. Kibito is up next and pulls 7. Krillin follows and pulls the 1 ball, meaning he'll be in the first match. Gohan's next and gets 8, so he'll be fighting Kibito. Eighteen gets 9, Shin 3. Spopovich gets called and when no one answers, Trunks and Goten go up... and look like idiots when it turns out that they're impersonating Mighty Mask, not Spopovich! But anyway, Angry Muscle Man gets 6. Jewel gets 16. Goku gets 11. Videl is 5. Punta is 2, so that means Krillin doesn't have to fight one of the big guns in the first match, and he is pleased. Vegeta gets 12, and he is also pleased. good for you ooof. the ultimate "my dad could beat up your dad" debate But it's their turn now, and so they go up and draw 13. Next is Piccolo, who gets 4... and therefore is facing off against Shin, he of the wonderful hair and earrings. It'll be a good opportunity to learn more about him and what his whole deal is. Mr. Announcer draws for Mr. Satan, who's presumably still recovering from Trunks' gentle hit earlier, and gets 10, so he'll be up against Eighteen. Hoo boy. Yamu's the last, and obviously gets 15, since that's the only one left for him to draw. final lineup! Mr. Announcer walks them to the waiting room and explains the rules on the way. No killing allowed, you can give up, and you lose if you're knocked out (or down for a count of ten) or touch the ground/something outside of the ring. There's something new this time, though: a 30-minute time limit, because there are so many competitors. Judges will decide a winner if the fight drags on that long. Mr. Satan is told his foe is a woman, and gets excited, presumably because he thinks that he should be completely fine fighting a woman. Sigh.
Ch 439 husband has caught the castlevania bug and so i am free to read as much as i want today! (The First Two Fights/Kuririn and Piccolo's Fights) oh sweet, a two-fer. Awesome, I love quick battles that I don't have to clumsily describe in detail. First up is Krillin vs. Punta. I neglected to mention Punta has been a dick to Krillin this whole time, because he's short and apparently Punta is just kind of a shitheel. He is twice the height of Krillin, but as we've already learned, height means roughly nothing. Frieza was fairly short. Hell, for that matter, Vegeta's pretty short himself. The announcer reads off the lists of matches, their order and competitors. you bet it is (also puar and krillin/eighteen's kid. very cute <3) The announcer gives a bit of background on the contestants fighting in this round. There's Krillin, who of course has participated in the tournament many years ago. Punta's a repeater as well, but more recently, and apparently lost by out of bounds in the previous tournament. He's known for his brutality. What a nasty thing to be known for. so is he stronger than tien, or have we just decided to acknowledge that tien might not actually be a normal human? then again, krillin canonically has no nose, so maybe he's not a normal human either. hmm. new theory: cryptids Punta continues to be an ass and Krillin is done with it, but doesn't really want to waste too much energy or time fighting this guy. The beginning of the match is announced, and Punta flaunts his speed for Krillin. Isn't it a shock, at his size?? Krillin won't be able to escape! Krillin has no interest in running away, and Punta wants to show off even more: he invites Krillin to hit him. quite satisfying With a few more blows, Krillin knocks Punta out of the ring. Another OOB loss for him, poor guy. I actually have basically no sympathy for him, because he was so obnoxiously rude to Krillin, who in general is a pretty good guy that doesn't deserve most of the shit that happens to him. Well, that's that! Punta's out and Krillin's moving on. Thank you for making it a quick match, Krillin, you have no idea how much I appreciate it. Next up is Piccolo vs. the mysterious Shin. shin is the king of smirks and piccolo is still very disquieted by this whole thing Shin's here for the first time, but Piccolo ("Demon Jr.") has made an appearance before! So why even bother using the fake name?? Everyone already knows!!! Well, maybe not. It's possible a lot of people know about "Demon Jr.", but have forgotten/aren't aware of the connection. * shrugs! * The announcer asks him again not to destroy the arena, and people in the audience recognize him not as the incarnation of the "demon" king who tried to take over the world, but as someone who interfered at the fight with Cell. Well, that's probably an improvement over people being terrified. some heavy brooding going on here which apparently shin is privy to, JFC, you are getting progressively creepier Piccolo has an internal "holy shit" moment, and then forfeits. what is up with you my dude ehh, close enough * self-immolates * (but don't worry, i'm fine) Goku asks him if it was really that bad, and Piccolo says yes, he's a "different order of being". What the shit is going on. A different order of being?? He might not just be an alien, but... something... more so? If that's the case, what the fuck is he doing hanging around on Earth bothering Piccolo in a stupid martial arts competition? But there's not much time for that, because it's time for the next match to begin. This one is Videl, who's going to be fighting one of the very irate-looking men with forehead decorations: Spopovich, the one with a one-shoulder battlesuit. The flavor text tells us that Videl won the last youths' tournament, and Spopovich lost in the first round and has been preparing these past seven years for this one. uhhh, dude, are you... okay? you seem to be on the fritz and shin seems very concerned himself about spopovich. what do you know that we don't
Ch 440 god i wish more of the main cast wore earrings (Shin's Surprise/Shin's Surprising True Identity) Sweet. No need to wait forever for a reveal on Shin. Alright, let's get stuck into this. Videl is popular; the crowd is chanting her name much like they chant her father's. Spopovich is still seeming to have some issues with... something. Something that makes him hiss. Is he secretly a steampunk automaton that runs on steam? He definitely doesn't look like it, but his shoulders are horrendously large, so he could be hiding some mechanics in there. Eresa and Shapner are watching from the audience; they think this should be no problem at all for Videl. Killa and Jewel discuss Spopovich from the sidelines. why couldn't he have been the old version i vastly prefer the old version But that's... kind of odd, for him to be so different. What kind of vigorous training has he been through since the last tournament? Shaving your head and losing the beard isn't that strange, I guess, but his actions seem off. All that "fsst"ing. It's weird. In the waiting room, Shin has everyone's attention (well, Goku's, Vegeta's, and Piccolo's, anyway). Piccolo approaches him with a question. He could be wrong, but... the what now ((Okay, stop the liveblog! My choice of naming conventions from several hundred chapters ago has just now come back to bite me in the ass! Or maybe it's the fault of the English translators. In any case, this is fairly incomprehensible without some vocab lessons. So. Kaiou (which I use kind of as a name) is probably much more akin to a title, because it means "Lord of World/s". Kai = world, ou = king. (Of course, the English dub of the anime takes it in a slightly different direction, taking the "ou" out and replacing it with King as a title, hence "King Kai".) Anyway. Here, Piccolo's asking if Shin is a "Daikaiou-sama", or a Great (= dai) Lord of Worlds. Which apparently is a thing that exists.)) Shin demurs; no, he's not that. Kibito steps up and informs Piccolo (and us) that Shin's actually a Lord of Lords. ((Which leads to Part Two of the vocab lesson. Kibito calls Shin a "kaioushin", of which a literal translation is something like "God of Lord/s of World/s". Guess that may be where he got the Shin from... kind of like Kami, all those years ago, calling himself Shen, which is a version of the on'yomi (the "sound reading") of that particular kanji. Anyway, the English translation drops the "kai" part and just keeps the "God of Lord/s" part, and shifts the translation a little bit. So that's where all this "lords" nonsense comes from.)) apparently this is a big fucking deal even if he told people no one would know what the fuck he was talking about Piccolo is having a hard time dealing with this. He obviously knows about kaious from Kami, who knew about our Kaiou (the northern one), but he's only heard rumors about a kaioushin (or kaio-shin, with a macron on the o that I can't easily reproduce without work). One who stands above not only the four kaious, but also above their leader (presumably that daikaiou mentioned upthread). He didn't particularly want the rumors to be true. .... godamnit you're cute sometimes (and kinda condescending, but i guess if you're the strongest guy in most rooms you might choose to stand in... maybe you get to be condescending sometimes?) i just want to bask in the glory of all the various disgruntled piccolo faces that there have been. this one is very good Kaiou, spectating from somewhere in the afterlife, is shocked as well. Even he has never seen the kaioushin, and has no idea what the heck he might be doing on Earth, instead of... wherever... a kaioushin might hang out. One would think that that would be anywhere a kaioushin had an inkling to hang out, given that apparently they're damn big deals. Meanwhile, Videl's match with Spopovich has been happening for a while. Videl knocks him back with a kick, but Spopovich gets back on his feet and charges her. Neither seem very scuffed yet; presumably they've either just started or have only been testing the waters, as it were. He attacks with a flurry of punches and she blocks them, they lands a hit on his face which once again sends him reeling back. i'm worried about that panting though, he might just wear her down by dint of being full of stamina Because stamina seems to be a strength of his; he gets back up again, very little the worse for wear. He rushes Videl again, and Goku seems to notice something. Uh oh, that's probably not a good sign at all. Although the next page looks good: Videl connects with a flying kick, follows it up with an elbow drop, then punches Spopovich right in the gut. She finishes up with a knee to the face. have i mentioned how fucking happy it makes me to have another lady fighter Gohan's confident she's done it this time! But Videl's having very definitive stamina issues now. She's tired. That's a lot of solid meat to knock around, and the fight's been going on for a while. Plus... despite the sound beating he just took, Spopovich gets right back up. He's bleeding, but other than that, he seems perfectly ready to continue. How the hell is that happening? Goku, who must have definitely noticed something earlier, says that there's something weird about Spopovich, and Videl's better off if she forfeits. oh hey i hate this
I think I may have mentioned? But maybe not. Yeah, they're school supplies. Eta I absolutely did not! I remember thinking it but it didn't manage to get translated to the page, apparently.
Ch 441 so what's the signif behind kibito's name, i wonder. my immediate thought is "tree person" (ki + hito, replace the h with a b because of the prefix) but it's written in katakana so * shrug * (Videl... Battered) Wow, I don't like that. Could Videl maybe not get battered? It feels pretty bad if she's the sacrificial person who gets beat up by this dude who's changed a bunch as a plot point. Couldn't it be someone else? I suppose none of the main cast would make sense, and otherwise we wouldn't be invested, but. Mmm. Not good. While struggling to get up after being knocked down, Spopovich kicks Videl and for a moment it looks like she's going to go out of bounds... but at the last second she uses her new flying skills to get back in the ring. I appreciate her determination and resiliency, but... I wish she had just been disqualified by ring-out because of the title of this chapter. Gohan's proud of Videl for the flight, but Goku's still concerned about her opponent. also he keeps going "fsst, fsst, fsst". he. couldn't be an android. they wouldn't do that right after all the android business before. right? Videl throws herself back into the fight with a will, despite everything, and gets a powerful kick straight to the side of Spopovich's head, which... seems to break his neck. Holy fucking shit, that's uh. Bad. Not just in a "you lose the match" way, but in a "oh shit i just took a human life" kind of way. But. it's totally okay because spopovich is juuuuuust fine! Spopovich twists his head back to its old position and cracks it a few times to get it settled. Those are not the actions of a dead man, which is both good and very, very bad for Videl, because... there's something going on with this dude, and he gives off some serious bad vibes. Also that chapter title. That goddamn chapter title. Spopovich punches her in the face while she's arrested with shock. Videl tumbles, but gets back up, although she seems to have a broken nose or at least a badly bleeding one. Spopovich charges again, and Videl flies up to avoid him. Just stay up there, girl, and throw in the towel, this is not worth it. Gohan has a similar thought -- stay up there a bit and get some stamina back. Unfortunately, Spopovich can fly too. you can't fucking get away from this guy god i hate him He flies above Videl and uses some sort of blast to knock her out of the air, back onto the ring. Her clothes are getting awfully tattered by this point, which makes me hopeful that this fight will end soon, because unlike the dudes, she ((probably)) can't lose too much. No shirtless Videl scenes; breasts haven't made an appearance since the first 194 chapters. Krillin identifies the blast as a ki blast, but a mild one; Vegeta says he purposefully held back to avoid killing her and being disqualified. good fucking question!! although before getting an answer to that i would like videl to not be in peril anymore!! Spopovich continues attacking Videl. Not enough to kill her, but certainly more than enough to hurt her badly. no videl :( you gotta get out of there Ch 442 (Gohan Gets Mad!!) This chapter starts off with a horrible panel of Videl being held by the head and punched in the gut, very reminiscent of Frieza holding Vegeta up by the neck and punching him in the kidney. It's bad. Possibly worse than that in some ways, because at least we've been trained to expect saiyans to be able to withstand tons of damage and be at least alive afterwards, but Videl's a human, and despite her talent and skill, this is too much. Then there's the fact that her opponent seems to have been... enhanced somehow, in some way, and doesn't seem interested in stopping his onslaught. He drops her, but then punches her, sending her tumbling towards the edge of the ring. Gohan, much like me and the rest of the audience, wants Videl to get the hell out of there ASAP. The announcer hurries over and begs her to concede, but she's still sticking to her "never give up" plan. Oh Videl. :( She forces herself to her feet, holding her left shoulder, and gathers her strength for another kick to Spopovich's face. On most any other human opponent, these attacks would be having an effect, but Spopovich just laughs it off and licks the blood from his lips. I hate this. He grabs her by the hair again and this time follows up with a knee to the face. Jesus. Fuck. At this point she's absolutely got to have a broken nose, and probably other bits of skull as well. She's lost several teeth. It's real fucking bad and I feel kind of sick. Maybe it was toned down in the anime or maybe I'm just forgetting what it was like, but there's something so stark about the almost entirely B&W pen and ink drawing that makes it worse. yeah. hey you know what? i'm with gohan on this one. i don't care if she's not going to die, i'm still horrified and disgusted and i want it to stop, "not dying" isn't enough to make me feel better Spopovich is stepping on Videl's head as she lies on the ground, and Gohan snaps. Well, that's 3/5 saiyans going super saiyan so far. Maybe we can get a full set by the end of the tournament. But before Gohan can do anything.... okay i sincerely hope "end it there" means that spopovich stops beating on her and not that he just kills her It doesn't. Instead, Yamu scolds Spopovich; this isn't what they came to the tournament for. Spopovich, chastened, drags Videl to the edge and dumps her on the ground. Out of bounds at last. Gohan goes back to baseform and runs out to carefully pick up Videl. Before he carries her somewhere to get medical attention, he tells Spopovich that he'll pay for what he did. Spopovich seems unconcerned and he and Yamu leap over some wall and go... somewhere. Goku teleports off to get some senzu. Good thinking, Goku. Mr. Satan is informed that his daughter's been hurt and says that that's impossible, she's the strongest in the world... after him. He's horrified when he sees the state she's in, but apparently it's not actually as bad as it looks. Looks bad though. She's conscious, and asks Gohan to beat Spopovich for her. Can do, if he wins his first match. (Mr. Satan gets bent out of shape thinking that she might be dating Gohan, because he's obviously a wuss and not strong enough for her. Hoo boy, how wrong you are.) Goku's got some senzu from Karin. well fuck and goddamn shit HEY YOU KNOW WHAT I HAVE A BAD FEELING ABOUT? I HAVE A BAD FEELING ABOUT THAT MUSTACHE
Ch 443 maybe... maybe this chapter will be less painful (The Plot of the Lords/The Plan Goes Into Motion) Videl's injuries are "not considered serious", which I'll buy because I'm happy that that's the case, but... man. Gohan's up next, against the very large and imposing Kibito, but he asks for a slight break while he waits for Goku to get back with some magic beans for Videl. Thanks to the wonders of instant transmission, Goku isn't gone for long, and he returns with beans in hand. karin you darn cat sage, you should just keep growing them!! i know dende's around and he's like a kind of infinite senzu bean, but he's also limited in that there's only one of him and he's probably supposed to keep a low profile, so can't just pop in to a tournament to heal someone. but maybe they're really hard to grow, and in that case i understand, i am lazy too. i wonder how many hours a day karin sleeps; he is a cat, after all kibito giving gohan the stink eye as he takes off with a senzu for videl Gohan gives the senzu to Videl against the wishes of her doctor ("I didn't prescribe that!!") and her dad. She asks him if something miraculous will happen, and he says it will, so she eats it. Gohan has to run out before seeing the results, he's got a match to get to, and Mr. Satan vows revenge. Videl, however, is starting to feel those wonderful senzu effects. i'm so glad (and that tousled-hair look is really cute) Gohan's back, and apologizes for being gone. Time for the Kibito vs. Great Saiyaman fight. He's recognized by Eresa and Shapner and their companion who's another student. I may or may not have known his name at one point or another. In any case, he's got some binoculars for up-close spectating, and recognizes Gohan's hair (he lost his bandana when he went super saiyan earlier... you just can't keep that hair held down). There's som speculation as to whether Gohan is actually the Great Saiyaman or not (maybe he's just borrowing the name? But why? Is it because he's shy?) Whatever the reason, they decide to cheer for him. Hey, he's a classmate, and he looks like he needs all the encouragement he can get. welp, that cat's out of its bag Gohan rolls with it and loses the shades. It's time for the fight to start, but he's preoccupied: what should he do now? Continue to try to hide his true power because it'd make school hard? Try to win "accidentally"? That doesn't seem possible. Kibito interrupts him and his thought process. oh gee whiz, mister, sure! i'll just go right ahead and do that, mysterious stranger with way more knowledge than it seems like he should have! Gohan refuses. Not in front of all of these people, and besides, what does he mean by "help"?! What's going on? Kibito tells him he'll find out soon enough, but first, he wants to see Gohan's capabilities. On the sidelines, Yamu and Spopovich have some sort of... tracking device? Radar? Gauge? Gauge seems closest to what it is, because it seems to be showing energy readings. (motherfucking return of the goddamn scouter analogue. maybe this one won't explode.) The readings are too low; Spopovich says "it's not them". From the waiting area, Piccolo gets Gohan's attention and just nods at him, as though encouraging him to go through with what Kibito's asking. Goku asks him if he knows something and Piccolo gives a somewhat dodgy answer that doesn't really explain anything. He's saved by Shin, who apologizes, but says that they have to "make use" of Gohan. Uh, excuse me? Use him? For what? Shin also asks everyone to stay put while whatever's going to happen, happens... no matter what it might be. Dude. I love your hair and earrings and frankly incredible eyeliner, but you are not doing much to make people think you have benevolent intentions. pretty reasonable questions, actually! although i get the idea that this may be more from a place of vegeta having issues with authority figures than concern about gohan's safety or anything like that. but i've been wrong before wow that didn't take long at all to get out bet goku gets all the good insider gossip from kaiou The audience is pissed because the match has started but no one has made a move yet. They'll get to see something pretty spectacular in just a few moments, though, because Gohan is preparing to go super saiyan.
Ch 444 done fucked up my back real good and could use a senzu right now (The Stolen Energy) had a change of heart re: super saiyan? or just protective of kid Krillin asks Shin if something is going to happen when Gohan goes super saiyan. Yes, and the something is Yamu and Spopovich attacking Gohan. Still, no one is supposed to go out there and interfere. It'll be fine, because they're not going to kill him; they just want his energy. Oh, that makes me feel so much better. Except for the fact that it doesn't, at all. WHAT! what? what!!! when did this happen! is it that gohan berserker rage form or is it something else altogether? (i must apologize for not knowing the proper terminology for all the various super saiyan forms, so if i say something dumb please forgive me) Kibito's surprised by this too, but doesn't have a chance to answer because Gohan's doing it regardless. On first glance, it certainly looks similar to the form he had during the latter part of the fight with Cell: similarly spiky, with an extra-powerful aura with the electric crackling bits sparking off him. Maybe he's learned how to do it without the rage? Videl sees the transformation and makes a connection between Gohan and the mysterious golden-haired person running around taking care of crimes in Satan City. (She's gotten cleaned up and changed, and is now in leggings and cool shoes and shirt with "FIGHT" written across the front.) Spopovich's gauge is going nuts, and I just (re)noticed that it has a symbol on it much like the ones on Spopovich and Yamu's foreheads. Kind of a stylized M, I guess. In any case, the gauge indicates that Gohan's got some serious energy going on right now, which means he's the one these two M-marked musclemen have been looking for. Or... a one that they've been looking for? Maybe any energy is fine if it's powerful enough, but maybe they specifically need Gohan's energy. Gohan's gone fancy super saiyan; what now? Gonna fight? Kibito's astounded by this display of power from a mere mortal being, but Vegeta's less impressed and says he was better when he fought Cell. Slacking, plan and simple. These past seven peaceful years have made him soft; tranquil times are no good for a warrior. Shin seems to take note of this, and says that even so, it's more than they imagined, and he doesn't know if he'll be able to stop it. Why... would you need to stop it? What is going on, seriously, my dude, give us the damn details already. It's clear that something's up, what with the changed Spopovich, his and Yamu's apparent goal, their energy gauge, Karin's bad feeling, and the fucking like... god of the universe or whatever showing up here, on Earth, today. i really don't like the look of that thing at all! Yamu and Spopovich leap into action. Gohan turns to face them, but wtf is thiiiiiiiiiiiis what the hell are you doing shin He's... paralyzing Gohan. Which enables Spopovich to tackle him, and Yamu to jab the tip of that device he's holding into Gohan's side. i hate it every time something similar happens in this series. i hated it with cell and i hate it now. at least cell's tail looked more pointed; this looks... blunt. One of the pair, Spopovich or Yamu, announces that they'll kill anyone who tries to interfere, and Shin stops the people who obviously want to go help Gohan from doing so. The whole process seems to be very rapid; once Yamu says they've got enough, they let Gohan go and fly off, taking their... canister?... of Gohan's energy with them. Gohan's back to normal and looking rather the worse for wear, but Shin still holds everyone else off, insisting that Kibito will set things right with him. Shin doesn't wait for any of that; he's going after those two that just flew off, and it would be great if some of them could come with him. there he go. pschooo Krillin asks what they're going to do. To Goku, this is a very easy question: obviously he's going with him. Something's up, the king of the universe said his kid would be okay, what more could he ask for? Ch 445 (The Terrible Mystery) Yamu and Spopovich seem very pleased; quoth Yamu, the "djinn" can be revived, and "Master Bobbidi" will be happy. Well. That's certainly a thing he just said. They disappear off over the horizon. Shin follows, flying low and leaving a violent wake in the water. (This Earth seems to be mostly ocean.) Back at the tournament grounds, Videl rushes to the ring to see to Gohan. Krillin reluctantly decides to follow along with Goku, but has to let Eighteen (his wife! confirmation of marriage!) know what's up first, so Goku should leave first. Vegeta has other thoughts about this whole situation, however. ah. priorities Vegeta, predictably, doesn't care about whatever else is going on with Shin. His main concern is being able to finally fight Goku. It's the only reason he agreed to participate in any of this at all. Goku says "Fine, fine, we'll fight later, I promise!", but Vegeta reminds him about the day's time limit. Goku has the brilliant idea that Vegeta should come with, they can fight at wherever they're heading to. Vegeta's considering this when Piccolo takes off (I can only think he's sick and tired of the posturing), and Goku follows after making sure Kibito's got the whole Gohan situation under control. Vegeta has no choice but to follow. Eighteen's going to stay in the tournament (Krillin tells her not to kill anyone). She sees Krillin off and tells him to bail if things get hairy, which makes me happy. We don't get to see much of it, but it seems like they have a pretty stable and healthy relationship. Krillin takes off too. Finally, Kibito gets around to healing... or recharging?... Gohan. It seems to take a lot of energy to get him back to his normal state. what a confusing situation to be in :( Kibito finishes recharging Gohan, who springs up and seems right as rain. He orders Gohan to come with him; he'll explain everything. Videl asks to go too, and after some negotiation Gohan agrees. Mr. Satan is shocked to see his daughter up and fly away. shin and his train of ducklings Shin thanks them for coming. He and Kibito probably can't win without them. What, against those two? Shin says no; there's someone controlling them. A warlock. (A warlock? A warlock? A... warlock. Does this feel out of place to anyone else?) Shin recounts a story. Six million years ago (if humans evolved in a similar time frame in that world as in this one), an evil warlock called Bibbidi existed. Not anywhere near Earth, but somewhere far out in the universe. He created a monster, a djinn, named Boo, by accident. (By accident? Surely he must have been trying to make something somewhat similar to what he created.) A being without reason or emotion, whose only goal is to destroy. And within a few years, many hundreds of planets were destroyed. haha get wrekt vegeta Back then, there were five kaioushin, all strong enough to defeat Frieza with a single strike. I feel like we've kind of moved beyond using Frieza as a comparison point for much of anything, but it could be a testament to the kind of effects Frieza had on Vegeta's psychology (and I would imagine Shin would be aware of that kind of thing. Maybe.). Eventually, the djinn was sealed up with magic, because he was too much even for his creator to handle. Kibito continues the story to Videl and Gohan. For some reason, the warlock's next target was Earth, and he brought the sealed Boo here, only to be killed by the final kaioushin. This should have been the end of it, but... apparently, this warlock had a kid that no one knew about. Of course, named Bobbidi. Of course. * extended exhale * Because Toriyama just wants me to suffer.
Ch 446 wow. only five volumes left, including this one. that's... not very many volumes, which makes me kind of sad (Bobbidi the Warlock) I forgot to mention that Shin is a very pretty light purple with white hair. He's in color on the cover of DBZ vol. 21. The main goal is to prevent Boo from being returned from his sealed state. To do that, they need to defeat Bobbidi. a) so that's what a warlock does; b) hoooooooo boy if that's the case then you guys have got a Problem on your hands. a Problem with a penchant for battlesuits and gloves According to Kibito, resurrecting Boo will take a lot of energy, hence Spopovich and Yamu's tournament appearance: to scout out someone that they could steal the energy from. And since they didn't know Boo's location, they had to let them gather the energy, so that they'd lead them to Boo's, and Bobbidi's, location. Goku asks why the heck they let this djinn just sit around on Earth if it's so dangerous? Because they didn't know what might accidentally break the seal and let him out. Kibito wants to go faster, but Videl's reached her limit. Gohan tells her she should go back, and if she could let his mom or Goten know what's happening, that would be great. She agrees, and then asks if he's the golden-haired warrior. Yep. Was he that kid fighting with Cell? That's another yep. And it wasn't really her dad that beat Cell? Well... It's okay, Videl tells him; they don't have to lie for her dad's sake. She's glad she knows the truth. This finished, Kibito and Gohan speed off. good luck! altho i don't think you'll need it Gohan and Kibito meet up with the others, and they follow as a group until Yamu and Spopovich start heading down. Then it's time to land, mask their ki, and observe. It's great that there are so many convenient craggy rock formations for people to hang out on/hide on/use for observational purposes. Below the one they're hiding on is an open plain, the middle of which has been recently excavated. In the center of this area is a small building or entrance, which is where Yamu and Spopovich have headed. The building is, apparently, just a bit of a (space?)ship poking up out of the ground, where the rest has been buried. This is pretty bad news for them, because it means that Bobbidi must be aware of their presence. No need to hide anything otherwise. this seems reasonable but there's probably some reason they shouldn't do it mmmmmmmm i'm kinda feeling piccolo on this one, you're taking quite a risk In any case, there's not much time. A person in kind of spiky armor goes in to the ship and shortly after, two figures ascend and emerge. well hello there fellas Ch 447 (The Evil Masters/Bobbidi Knows) dabra... dabura... nope, nothing jumping out at me. aside from that, there's a demon plane?? plus i love me a good corner vegeta Goku doesn't think Dabra looks so tough (he's the large one), but he's bad news, according to Shin. Of course, since Dabra is the large one, that must make Bobbidi the small one with the goat face. Hard to believe he's such a dangerous being. Well, physically, he's not, but the magic makes him very dangerous. wow this point is being hit hard, it's almost like it might be relevant soon Vegeta's confident he can handle anything that they throw at him. Big words for someone who made such intense declarations regarding fighting and the discontinuation thereof. Goku tells Krillin he should head back, and Krillin agrees. Yamu and Spopovich present the energy-sucking device to Bobbidi, who tells them they've done a good job, and then that they're not needed anymore. And then they explode. Bobbidi makes Spopovich just kind of balloon out until he bursts, and when Yamu tries to flee, the armored soldier shoots him with a blaster. I guess that's a way to get revenge for Videl, but... not really the way that anyone wanted. shitfuck and damnit well so much for hiding ki and junk Their best bet is to lure the three with the most potential into the ship for energy stealing. Bobbidi tells Dabra to kill the "riffraff", then retreat to lure the prize specimens into the ship. Just leave the kaioushin. Bobbidi wants to deal with him personally. So apparently Shin is actually the one that killed Bibbidi. Or at least, that's how I'm reading this. Man, he's old. team earth (+ shin and kibito) were not privy to that conversation. dangit piccolo and vegeta, where did your eavesdropping powers go Dabra springs into action and heads directly for their hiding spot. Guess we'll get to see what the King of the Demons is capable of.
MOTHERFUCKER i'm so bad at this eta the motherfucker is not directed at anyone but is just an exclamation of frustration with my inability to put two and two together
"SUPER-super saiyan" is hilarious to me. It's like a kid going "no you lose TIMES INFINITY!" also Videl is really cool and I want to hang out with her. eta: omg I just noticed Goten looking through the eyeholes in the chest of the costume, ahaha. NOT SUSPICIOUS
Ch 448 hey so if you look up the lyrics to chala head chala you find out that they are bonkers (The Descent/One Must Enter the Tiger's Den...) Yet another case of "how did you get that from that?" re: chapter titles. English: straightforward, if a little unclear (who's descending where now?). Japanese: like something an old, tired, world-weary swordsman might say to a young disciple. Dabra's first target is Kibito. well fuck. i kinda expected more from the attendant of the god of the universe, tho. this took... three panels, tops Kibito out of the way, Dabra retreats slightly... and spits at them. no fuck not magic goddamn spit It's magic goddamn spit. It gets on Krillin (no) and Piccolo (no come on); Shin's warning was basically pointless by the time he made it. So. What's the status effect on this bad boy? My first guess would either be poison or paralysis, given his demonic nature... But no. it's fucking petrify, the worst status ailment ever, the bane of my goddamn rpg existence In very little time, Krillin and Piccolo are both completely turned to stone, and that fucking sucks. Krillin was just about to bail! Just let him go! piccolo... no ;.; Shin warns them not to touch; if they get broken or shattered, they'll "never turn back". I'm not sure if this means they have to be completely intact in order to be turned back to flesh, or if it means that if they break, they'll be able to turn back but they'll just... y'know, kinda be fucked up, potentially beyond repair. But! That does mean there is a way to get them back to normal! Just one, and it's not as easy as heading to your local items shop and picking up a gold needle or two: kill Dabra. you probably have better things to do than pay attention to what's been happening on earth/with goku but if you thought that goku's reaction would be anything but a "piece of cake!" equivalent you are a fool Dabra flies off enticingly, throwing a few last provoking taunts after him. Which, of course, are super effective against the saiyans. Shin tells them not to go, it's obviously a trap, why else would Dabra have done what he did and leave the three (four?) most capable fighters untouched? Gohan and Goku take off without a backward glance, despite Shin's frustrated "Hey!!!" Vegeta, at least, spares a moment to talk to him. i am contractually obligated to document every potentially actually happy vegeta face i come across And off he goes, leaving Shin to wonder what the hell is wrong with these people. I have a feeling that a) Shin doesn't interact with mortals very much and b) if he does, he's not used to them not listening to him. Then again, this is a pretty stressful situation for him: trying to prevent Boo from being resurrected, having lost Kibito, being the one to have brought these assholes into this situation. Dabra makes sure that they're following him, then disappears into the little bit of ship that's sticking up out of the ground. shin you have no idea how many times i've said the same thing to myself better hurry up shin they're going to leave you behind The three of them descend through a long cylindrical passage, lined with porthole-like openings, and end up in a circular room with large... windows? Panels?. They're completely dark, which makes it difficult to tell what they're supposed to be; the ship is buried in the earth, after all. There's a door with that M-mark on it (possibly for "madoushi", which has been translated here as "warlock"), and a closed aperture on the floor that looks as though it might open up. Shin lands shortly thereafter, saying he couldn't just "abandon [them] to [their] own idiocy!" Ouch, Shin. You have kind of a sharp tongue. He guesses they won't be able to leave without defeating Bobbidi. Vegeta offers another solution: they can just destroy the ship if need be. Good thinking, Vegeta, except for the inconvenient fact that doing so might awaken Boo. He might not be completely powered up if he doesn't get all the needed energy, but he'd still be more than enough to obliterate the planet and the people on it. Including them, and him. Bobbidi, watching the proceedings on a crystal ball (man, he's got all his bases covered), sends out the armored soldier, who's named Pocus (HEY I GET THIS ONE!! I GET IT!!!) to go snag some more energy. Pocus can and will! He steps out from behind the M-marked door into the room the saiyans and kaioushin are in. Bobbidi's down below, on the bottom floor -- but they'll never get there unless they manage to beat him! End of the line for you chumps! shin is wondering how the heck it managed to get to this point
