There's probably going to be a lot of Kaiou caps because... he is Very Good. look at those tiny hands. * laughing at Goku's pun *
The Snake Way journey takes place over like 10 episodes or some shit in the anime and has such treasures as "Goku battling wrestlers in Hell" and "Snake woman really wants to eat/fuck Goku."
DBZ filler varies from some of my favorite for its weird horseshit to some of my least favorite for LITERALLY BEING US STANDING THERE AND YELLING.
Ah, yes. The curse of manga-to-anime filler. I hear One Piece is getting hit pretty hard by it these days, but I don't know if any other shows are famous for it like Dragon Ball Z was.
I think a lot of DBZ filler was a slightly different type of filler than what you get in most shows. Most shows make up new arcs or at least stand-alone episodes when they ran out of material, but while big-picture pacing dropped precipitously, within-episode pacing usually doesn't. DBZis famous for taking the material they had and just padding time within episodes without anything happening; Goku would stand around screaming while powering up for half an episode, and then Vegeta would stand around screaming while powering up for half an episode, and then Piccolo, and Gohan, and then Frieza, and then Krillin would die, and that would be the end of the plot development as they'd start the cycle of screaming again.
That's a good chunk of it, yes. The rest of it was the stand-alone episode variety or turning things that weren't giant affairs into the manga into giant affairs. Like the Snake Way thing became a sort of mini-arc in the show, whole in the comic it was like a chapter or two at best. However some of Z's most fun episodes were these standalone episodes. They're also where some of the best character interactions occur. The sort of stuff that Super would begin to really, really capitalize on.
"Filler" is kind of an interesting phenomenon. Classifying anything that's not in the original as "filler" makes some sense, but the stigma associated with it isn't always warranted, I don't think. It depends on how well it's done, and if the character interactions are there or if it builds on something (a relationship, a theme, whatever), it can be good! However, I think there's a lot of just insipid writing (sometimes combined with a drop in animation quality, at least in my experience; probably not a universal thing, but definitely another negative to be associated) that makes the whole concept of "filler" a complete negative for most people, even if it's not all that way and some things probably could benefit from it (e.g., fix pacing issues in the original, expand on an idea or concept that wasn't fully explored, etc.). I would definitely like to watch some of the standalone bits.
Ch 211 I am very distressed about Something That Happens in the future so I'm gonna go back in time and read where it hasn't happened yet and pretend it might not happen! (The Hardest Time of His Death) (eyeroll) I love Kaiou's tiny planet with the one straight road that just goes all the way around it. Very nice for a leisurely drive on a Sunday morning. (Though, question: how does he get gas for his car. Is there a station along Snake Way somewhere? Or maybe it runs on something else. Like magic.) Kaiou can use his antennae to track things! He estimates the Saiyan arrival time at 158 days, which is... what... not six months, if I can do math (unlikely)? He's confident that 158 days of Kaiou training is equal to thousands of years of training on earth! Wow! Also wow is that the Saiyans are stronger than Kaiou. So Goku has to be at least that strong to have anything like a chance! It's nice to have something concrete to aspire to. First step in training: catch Bubbles the monkey. Which is tough, even after Goku ditches the crazy shirt/shoes/wristbands. is hunger... a metaphysical as well as a physiological state, then? The very idea of "being hungry" transcends even death. Also, is that his actual body? If so, it must not be doing the metabolism thing the same way as on earth... I wonder if there's some kind of direct-to-ATP thing going on that gives you energy but doesn't necessarily provide that satiated feeling. Putting all that aside, watch out, Kaiou! He'll drain your food supplies if you're not careful. Maybe even if you are careful. I don't know if Peapod will deliver to otherworld. Goku gets to eat and Kaiou shows off his car. Then he makes Goku put the weighted stuff back on before returning to the Bubbles chase. Switching gears, Gohan and Piccolo seem to be resting after a day of training and Gohan is just hideously swollen from getting hit in the face. There's no way that Piccolo has any but someone give that kid some icepacks and, I dunno, ibuprofen or something. dare I say.... there seems to be some pride going on here Gohan talks about how Goku told him new Piccolo isn't as bad as old Piccolo, and now Gohan thinks so too (;.; you're too nice for this world, Gohan). piccolo can't deal and reacts the only way he knows how it's always hard to start breaking those barriers down A minor timeskip of 40 days, just enough for Goku to be able to catch Bubbles. oho? Somehow I missed this the first time around, but apparently not even Kaiou can do the kaiou-ken (which, okay, is it or is it not NAMED after him?? Did he come up with the concept or something?) He gets Goku all psyched up for the most intense training of his life and then spoils all the tension by declaring it teatime first. Kami finishes training Krillin/Tien/Yamcha/Chiaotzu/Yajirobe and sends them off into the world to keep practicing, I guess. Uranai-baba can't tell what's gonna happen, and Bulma has grown her hair out a bit so we no longer have the same haircut. At the end of the chapter, we get a little bit of a montage kind of page, so it seems like things are moving briskly along and we probably won't spend too much time on the minutiae of training. Ch 212 (Closer... Closer...) Saiyans are still in space, they haven't stopped off at a rest stop or anything. Goku's doing... something. Something that gives his hand a weird aura. like that. Kaiou chucks a huge stone block for Goku to track. He does and hits it with a "genki-dama", which without seeing any of the kanji or anything I immediately translate to "doing good!-ball" because people say "Genki desu ka?" to ask if you're doing alright/are healthy/energetic. Which is probably not an accurate translation. Kaiou does a good bit of infodumping about the technique, which basically takes a little bit of energy from living things around you and then makes a destructive explode-y ball out of it which you can throw at things. I guess it also takes energy from nonliving things like the sun, apparently, and if you take too much, that's no good. Goku's also mastered the kaiou-ken! Good to know! And apparently it's already time for the Saiyans to be arriving! Good lord, a lot can happen in a timeskip. Including making a terrible mistake! Kaiou forgot to send Goku back early enough for him to run back along Snake Way to a place where Kami can send him where he needs to be. WHOOPS Well, they have to work with what they have. Goku uses Kaiou to communicate with Roshi (first instance of Kaiou Telephone) to tell them to wish him back. Kaiou gives Goku new clothes that say "Kame" on the front and "Kaiou" on the back (in a very stylized way, but I'm pretty sure it's 界王). you're kind of a jerk sometimes. good to know. Goku is wished back to life, and the wishing alerts Gohan and Piccolo that, hey, you know those six months you thought you had? actually there were only five and the Saiyans are getting here early! Apparently at 11:33 in the morning and with some urban destruction.
Ch 213 soundtrack for these chapters: youtube videos that come up for "depressing instrumental music" (The Day of the Saiyans) dude your fucking design certainly has some evolution. the only thing that never changes is how fucking ABSURD your hair is and I guess the angry eyebrows. The Saiyans arrival is like dropping food pellets into a koi pond: everyone notices immediately that they're there. these fucking assholes The large one "says hello" by destroying the city that they landed in. It's just a slagheap now. (His name is revealed and he's a c̶a̶b̶b̶a̶g̶e̶ Nappa.) It's a pretty quick and dirty way of saying "hey these guys just Don't Care and can't be reasoned with and are also, oh yeah, huge threats to everything". They find the largest power levels on the planet and head off to take care of them. (It's Piccolo and Gohan, of course.) yeah!! positive thinking!! (does piccolo get the namekian equivalent of hat hair after wearing that thing for a while?) (oh and gohan's mini-Piccolo outfit is cute) Krillin shows up (having startled Piccolo and Gohan because they were expecting a Saiyan to pop up). It's kind of a weird scene for me because I'm used to everyone knowing each other and of course at this point... they don't. Piccolo's all standoffish (well, moreso than usual) and asks if Krillin's "come to get in [their] way!?" and I love Krillin's "Give me a break..." response. Like, last time you interacted with this person he was threatening to kill you if you didn't let him take your friend's kid to train and now you're super casual about everything. It's great. Gohan remembers Krillin from his brief time at the Kame House ~11 months ago. sometimes this manga fucking kills me (look. I know "not nearly as bad as everyone [thinks/says]" is not particularly high praise, but. i'm Here for that surrogate son/father Gohan/Piccolo relationship.) Luckily for Piccolo, Gohan can't reveal that he's actually not a completely terrible person because some actually very truly terrible people show up: the Saiyans, having finally got to where Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillin are. Ch 214 (Let the Games Begin!) goddddd we really need a reveal on Saiyan #2 so I can just use his name already (don't know why I decided not to but I guess I did so it feels weird to just not wait now). Anyway, That One recognizes Piccolo as the one who finished off Raditz by his voice. phew, alright, one mystery solved for the Piccolo/Kami team. The Saiyans ditch their scouters (at least we got a reveal on that at some point so now I can just use it). a) FUCKING THANK YOU NAPPA NOW I CAN JUST SAY "VEGETA" b) fuck the saibamen Sooooo yeah. Saiyans are named after vegetables, which sometimes I just can't deal with. Like, fuck you Toriyama for making me have feelings about people named after vegetables. It's this kind of stuff that makes me feel especially like a sucker! Like, you think you can just name people after vegetables and I'll still get super invested and care about what happens? I mean, you CAN, and I guess that's what bothers me! I don't even know why! /rant I guess the distance from the actual English words helps (and I sincerely like the sound of the name Vegeta, tbh). Maybe I'm too attached to not being cringey or something and I should just get over it and have fun where I can before everything goes to shit. Getting back to the plot at hand: Nappa plants some seeds and some terrible (plant?) henchlings come out. I sincerely loathe everything about them: the design, the nasty little smiles, the veiny heads, the hands and feet. There are also 6 of them, so now it's 8 against 3, which are not great numbers. Luckily, Tien, Chiaotzu, and Yamcha show up at this point, so we have 6 and 6 (+2). this is the best explanation for anything ever: "a lot happened and now [x]" Vegeta suggests a game of earthlings v. saibamen, which Piccolo is extremely offended by, but it'll be useful for stalling for time, and so Tien steps up as first contender. god i hate them even though the liquid from its head is a ground-dissolving acid, Tien manages to dispatch it, and Vegeta thinks that this might be slightly entertaining after all. (Goku's probably still on his way.)
Ch 215 Tien still has three eyes and I was just thinking about how weird it would be if the third one had an eyebrow (One Down...) Tien defeated one of the terrible little plantcreatures. Thank god. One of them gone, only 5 of the horrors left to wrangle. man you gotta update your hypotheses when the data change. Oh whoops, it's still alive until Vegeta makes it crumble into pieces just by pointing at it. There are guts and eyeballs and weird brains and stuff. It's pretty gruesome. According to Vegeta, it deserved it because it didn't go all-out with Tien and got itself pummeled. Krillin offers to go next but Yamcha steps up instead (it's fine if he dies because he still has an extra life, so to speak, whereas Krillin's been resurrected before). <:/ yes it's a stressful situation but there's no need to snap at Gohan like that Yamcha fights one of the saibamen (.... I keep thinking they're noodles because of that "men" suffix) and thinks he has it on the ropes after blasting it, but it grabs onto him and returns the favor. :/ Well, it's a good thing it wasn't Krillin, although if his body's all exploded.... Oh, it's not. It's still in one piece, mostly, and the saibamen (man?) has self-destructed, so at least there's that. Poor Puar, though. :( Floating cat loves Yamcha so much. It's probably not much of a consolation in the meantime that he can be resurrected at all. Nappa's upset because it wasn't the right kind of entertainment, but they did tell the saibamen to go all-out, so really he's got no one but himself to blame. Krillin is upset because one of his good friends just got murdered. He tells everyone to get back and then does a DOUBLE-PALMED BEAM ATTACK! very cool. Ch 216 (Heroes in Terror) Even the Saiyans seems a bit surprised by the blast. The saibamen scatter in all directions and Piccolo criticizes Krillin for it being a slow attack that can't land, but it's not a problem because Krillin does some deft beam manipulation and splits into six separate blasts! Three of the remainin 4 saibamen get fried, one jumps out of the way, and the Saiyans just endure them. The one that Krillin missed leaps at Gohan, but piccolo has this under control, and when I say he has it under control I mean he just socks the thing, throws it into the sky and then does a mouthlaser (it's been a while!) Vaporizes the flesh from its bones and everything. There's just ash left. Shouldn't have tried to pick on Gohan. oh come on don't ruin the nice moment Remember the Saiyans? Yep, they're still alive and well, if a little scuffy from Krillin's attack. At least the henchmen are gone, though in terms of delay, I don't think they really used the saibamen to their full potential... I mean, Krillin took out three with one blow and then Piccolo just let the last one have it. Like, that probably wasn't even an hour, and Goku is still god knows how far away. Nappa wants to kill all five of them at once and Vegeta says okay (can't be fucked to waste the time or energy). He starts... I guess charging? The ground shakes and everyone flips out because HOLY SHIT THIS IS WHAT THEY'RE LIKE?? (There's a good shot of Piccolo's antennae get blown around, which I love because, I don't know, sometimes things like that just kind of get treated as static additions to a face or whatever and there's not much consideration given to them as physical things in space that are affected by wind/ki/etc.) Ch 217 (Hope Runs Out) Nappa's got some static electricity going on which he channels into enough strength to PUNCH OFF TIEN'S ARM. Just clean off. No bladed weapon involved at all. dude dude have you noticed how fucking easily your tails come off? shut the fuck up vegeta. (an oft-repeated phrase while watching the anime, i imagine it will come in handy here too.) (and yes I realize the tail thing might be more "it's-a-feature-not-a-bug" but still! still!) Tien's still hanging in pretty well for a guy who just lost most of a forearm, but Nappa has the upper hand. Krillin wants to help Tien, but Nappa warns him off by making a deep-ass crater with nothing but ki. In the check to make sure no one got killed or maimed in the blast, Krillin notices that Chiaotzu's gone missing. I like how non-angry Vegeta looks in this panel. It's just the angle, but it's such an unusual state because it's physically impossible to draw Vegeta without the Angry Eyebrows. and so Chiaotzu reappears and grabs on to Nappa's back like a tiny telepathic limpet. He's like that center-back itch that you can never quite get because arms and shoulders just don't articulate that way. Score one for the small people! :'( he does it. and for fucking nothing becuase nappa is just a fucking VIT-based musclebound tank who can absorb huge amounts of damage. He's barely even more scuffed than he was before. It's so frustrating. What can you even do?? Feels like nothing has any effect, even if you sacrifice everything. RIP Yamcha and Chiaotzu (and the saibamen I guess).
Yeah, definitely. I had basically 0 feelings about it either way when I watched for the first time (didn't help that I kept getting Yamcha and Tien mixed up). Packed a lot more of an emotional punch this time around. Oof.
I was pretty horrified as a kid, but that's because it was the first time I had seen characters who were part of the hero group die like that on kids tv outside of like...movies.
Ch 218 these fucking "snapshots" are killing me. i am dead. i have expired. (The Last Blast) show me the rest of the picture!! what a good expression! uhhh anyway, enough thirsting about piccolo for one chapter Oh hey, a Goku update! It's been a while, man! What's up? Still walkin' that ol' winding road, I see. must proceed at a rapid pace Back on Earth... :((( oh jeez. I forgot. That sucks, man. I'm sorry. Piccolo has a plan for fighting Nappa: attack when he does, because his guard'll be down. guess them big ol' ears aren't just for show after all Vegeta and Piccolo have a minor verbal sparring match, but Nappa goes to attack Tien so it gets interrupted. Piccolo and Krillin spring into action, but not Gohan, which could be an issue.... Piccolo gets to Nappa first and seems to just kind of... slap him? It doesn't look like a traditional punch... Maybe it's an elbow? The art is a bit hard for me to interpret. Anyway. Krillin does kind of a downward double-handed strike (I wish I had more accurate terms for some of this, I'm sure there are appropriate names for some of these things that I just don't know.) And now it's Gohan's turn. So I was a bit like "c'mon Gohan just do it" the first time around but you know what? Shut the fuck up Saro, he's a grand total of 5 YEARS OLD (roughly)! He shouldn't be expected to do any of this and being scared is like... the absolutely normal reaction to have in this kind of situation! Yeah, it kind of defeats the purpose of Piccolo training him for ~5 months, but fuck it. (On a different note: I want to know if he put the headband on himself or if Piccolo helped. Whatever the case was, aaaaauuuugh, that bang hair underneath it puts me on edge.... I wish it was pulled free and resting over the headband....) Since Gohan doesn't blast Nappa, Krillin and Piccolo do. (Piccolo's beam still has its helical outer bit, which is kinda neat.) But because Gohan didn't attack when he should have, Nappa's had time to be prepared to dodge the attacks, which he does. Nappa threatens to kill them all at once and is not paying any attention to Tien, who vows to avenge Chiaotzu and has blood running down his face, right across his third eye, which doesn't even close or anything. He uses the kikouhou one-handed (!!), which a) wow, didn't know that was possible and b) actually does leave Nappa a little bloody. (Apropos of nothing, hadn't mentioned this before now I don't think, but Nappa is also apparently one of the ever-increasing number of people who don't like to wear pants and who I wish would wear pants.) (;﹏;) not tien too, and after feeling like he failed Chiaotzu? god. That's a sucky end to that chapter. Very bleak-feeling. Ch 219 (Goku, Hurry!) (AS IF HE WASN'T ALREADY) Has Vegeta done much of anything so far besides stand around with his arms crossed? I guess he's been doing some thinking. And eavesdropping. Nappa's saving Piccolo for last to kill, because they want him to tell them about the dragon balls. Krillin comments to Piccolo, wryly, "Lucky you!" And then asks if Piccolo thinks he can win, to which Piccolo says "Shit no." (I paraphrased). Krillin often has some of the best reactions. Cut to Kami and Mr. Popo, who are anxiously awaiting Goku for multiple reasons, not the least of which is that Kami thinks Piccolo's gonna hop off the mortal coil at any moment now, meaning that Kami doesn't have much time left either. If you forgot about that bit, helpful Kami's here to remind you now! (I... forgot about that bit. Thanks for the reminder, Kami.) Back to the fight on Earth, Nappa's in the middle of diving to attack the three remaining members of the Earth Defense Force when Vegeta yells at him to stop (Nappa does the midair halt thing with the braking sound effect). jesus christ vegeta, those proportions Vegeta wonders if someone who couldn't even stand up to Raditz on his own is anything to worry about, and Krillin (of course) springs to his defense. Piccolo puts in a good word for him and even Gohan gets in on the action. Vegeta decides, I guess, that he's interested in seeing what exactly they're talking about. whoops, that's not vegeta's armor! His is light-colored. Nappa continues to try to attack them and Vegeta has to yell at him again. Then there's some awkward standing around where Gohan tries to apologize and Piccolo is not having any of it. ;.; Gah, I'm gonna have to put some caps in a separate post. These two chapters were just a rich vein, I guess.
Vegeta tells Nappa he's waiting for Goku to show up because he wants to punish him for being a traitor. Oh yeah, Vegeta put his scouter back on.
Ch 220 "Saro listens to unfitting music while people get killed" (Back From the Other Side) Maybe Goku will get to Earth this chapter! :D Of course, it might be in the last panel on the last page, so I'm not gonna get my hopes up too high. Vegeta takes off his scouter again. Probably only put it on to keep an eye out for Goku. Piccolo, our resident tactician, has another plan for dealing with Nappa, which involves tail-grabbing, and once again it's got me concerned about the whole tail-as-weakness thing, because yeah it worked with Raditz, but then it turned out that Raditz was just kind of a chump and these dudes are something else. The other issue with the plan is that it depends on Gohan, who so far doesn't have the greatest record with following through on Piccolo's plans. supportive piccolo makes a sudden appearance (When did Nappa lose his shirt?? This is an unwelcome development D: I Do Not Appreciate His Nipples) Up at the Sanctuary (is it called that?) Kami suddenly senses Goku, who has indeed made it back to the head end of Snake Way! Kami grabs him (well, actually Goku grabs Kami's arm) and they teleport to the Sanctuary, from which Goku can fly off to Earth. well On the way down Karin tosses Goku his last two senzus. Too bad he couldn't have grown a couple more, huh, especially since Goku eats one right then and there (first real Earth food in almost a year!). Then he flies off towards the action on kinto'un, which we have not seen for a good long time! So he's on Earth and on his way, and it's not even the last panel of the last page! Krillin distracts Nappa with an unexpected downward beam attack, Piccolo grabs Nappa's tail, and Gohan rushes in. Krillin celebrates, and once again I'm forced to reiterate that you shouldn't celebrate before you actually know you've won!! because fuck, dude (altho i have to say: that's kinda what you deserve for grabbing someone's tail without their permission. maybe not quite so drastic, but.) Ch 221 (The Time Draws Near) well shit. Nappa drops Piccolo in a single blow and then kicks Gohan, which, once again, illegal, go directly to jail. Gohan gets slammed into one of those convenient rock formations but gets up again. Nappa's about to go after him again but Krillin fucking steps it up and shows off some pretty great moves, both in attacking and dodging. For a weird tiny bald guy with no nose, Krillin can be kinda awesome sometimes. is this a... new attack? I don't remember seeing it in the series before now. It's a super sharp disc! Vegeta had to tell Nappa to dodge it. Too bad he did. Nappa gets super angry because he got scratched and in being so, forgets about Piccolo, who's come to. man you're such an asshole but i'm kind of loving how carefree you are right now. Suddenly, Piccolo and Gohan perk up because they're finally able to sense Goku's ki! ;.; I legitimately got a little bit teary-eyed thinking about Gohan being real happy to see his dad again. HELL YES Ch 222 (The Death of a God!!) I knew it was coming, but heck :/ the numbers change on this every single time I see it (also if you're not careful, Vegeta, your sideburns and eyebrows will connect and form a single unified coalition and maybe stage a coup) Vegeta tells Nappa to just wreck shop on Gohan and Piccolo, no worries about offing him now because Vegeta thinks that planet Namek might have even better dragon balls than the ones here on Earth. my sweet boy. "Piccolo-san." god. YES. GET HIM GOHAN. Piccolo has to dodge Nappa, who gets sent flying. Unfortunately, although Nappa definitely seems quite a bit more bloody now, he's still more than capable of trying to finish off Gohan with a single, powerful attack. (shit i'm bad at image pacing today, continued in a second post)
so i spent my commute this morning thinking way too much about classpecting and I am convinced that Vegeta is a Prince (poofy asshole pants and everything) of Life, maybe? And Gohan should be an Heir. Kinda thinking Hope but * shrug emoji * Anyway that's all I got because I'm terrible at classpecting.
Ch 223 T_T (Piccolo's Last Stand) Like I know death's hardly a permanent state most of the time in db but this bunch of chapters has made me sad. (How dare you make me feel things, etc., etc.) </3 i'm not crying okay yes i am ;_; FUCK. Kami disappears, so... I guess that's that, then. The second father (figure) that Gohan's lost in less than a year. Gohan puts his all into a beam attack, but it's not enough (although it does make Vegeta perk up and take notice). this chapter is going to destroy me Nappa continues to be my least favorite person and tries to crush Gohan by stomping on him. Terrible and mostly naked, which I hate. Please keep your clothes on in battle if you can. But instead of obliterating Gohan's head, he stoms on nothing and only manages to fracture the ground. kinto'un to the rescue! one of the first good things that's happened this chapter. finally. thank god. shows these chucklefucks what's up and avenge Piccolo. Ch 224 (The Quiet Wrath of Son Goku) (please for the love of god stop translating things like this) Gohan is very happy to see his dad (dad #1, if you will). Krillin's happy too. Goku is a fucking BAMF and just completely ignores Nappa and Vegeta. He checks on Piccolo, sees that Tien and Yamcha and Chiaotzu are also dead, easily evades Nappa, and gives Gohan and Krillin a senzu to split. (If you split it, is it less effective?) Goku plans to go it alone. Gohan wants to help, but Krillin restrains him and thinks that he's never seen Goku quite so angry. Angry enough that his aura is enough to fracture the ground and send a bunch of rock fragments up into the air. oh no, I was wrong before, here's that famous bit. (some poor tech henchalien would probably have a fit if they new Vegeta was just running around breaking scouters.) Nappa attacks with some very big words about how Goku can't withstand his incredible strength (paraphrased). Goku dodges easily and sends him flying with a kick to the back of the head. Please finish off Nappa quickly so we can then deal with Vegeta and get on to Namek fun!
