Episode 102 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on February 24, 1988 and known in the English dub as Enter King Piccolo, opens the King Piccolo Saga and changes the show's mood overnight. The tournament is over, Krillin has been murdered, and next to his body lies a symbol Master Roshi hoped never to see again. For the first time, Goku does not leave on an adventure: he leaves to avenge a friend.
Summary
Goku and the others find Krillin lifeless in the room where he had gone back for Goku's forgotten Dragon Ball and Power Pole. A monster came in through the window, killed him and flew off with the Four-Star Ball and the list of tournament entrants. Ignoring his master's orders, he takes the Dragon Radar from Bulma and runs off, remembering the years of training he shared with Krillin.
A sheet of paper left at the scene bears the character 魔, "demon". Roshi recognizes it at once: it is the mark of King Piccolo. Long ago, that demon and the creatures he spawned plunged the world into terror. Master Mutaito's students were wiped out, and only young Roshi and Master Shen, the Crane Hermit, survived. Mutaito left them, then came back with a secret technique, the Mafuba, and sealed Piccolo inside an electric rice cooker, paying for it with his life.
The story hits Tien hard, as he learns that his old teacher turned to evil after that defeat. Chiaotzu even wonders whether Shen could have opened the seal. The viewer quickly learns the truth: aboard his airship, Emperor Pilaf found the container and freed the demon, hoping to be rewarded with a slice of the world, and he and his henchmen Mai and Shu have told Piccolo all about the Dragon Balls.
Old and weakened, King Piccolo has a clear plan. He will use the Dragon Balls to regain his youth and, in the meantime, kill every notable martial artist so that nobody can ever use the Mafuba on him again. That is why he needed the tournament roster. Meanwhile, guided by the radar, Goku catches up in mid-air with the killer: Tambourine, a winged demon holding the Four-Star Ball.
Our take
After eighteen episodes of tournament action, the series switches genre without warning. Goku's enemies had been bullies, faintly ridiculous armies or rivals worth respecting; King Piccolo is the first truly evil villain, and introducing him through the death of a beloved character makes it clear that the stakes have changed. That was the point: after a run of antagonists who were likeable at heart, the author wanted a real bad guy.
The irony lies in who is to blame. Pilaf, the bumbling emperor of the very first episodes, is the one who unleashes the worst threat yet, and the scene where he thinks he can bargain with the demon as an equal is both funny and unsettling.
The direction shines in the flashback. The anime greatly expands Roshi's story and shows Piccolo's offspring slaughtering Mutaito's students: only a few shots, but enough to build the demon's legend before he even makes a move.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapter 135 of Akira Toriyama's manga. It drew a 20.1% ratings share in Japan.
- The flashback is far longer than in the manga: the massacre of the students and Mutaito's departure are anime additions. In the anime, Master Shen is not present for his master's death, while in the manga he is.
- Several new background cues by Shunsuke Kikuchi are heard for the first time here, including the one that accompanies Roshi's account of Piccolo's reign of terror.
- In the anime, Piccolo and his offspring have five fingers on each hand; in the manga they have four.
Did you know? Two of the demons in Roshi's flashback look a lot like Tambourine and Cymbal, the son Piccolo will only create later.