Dragon Ball Episode 103: The Terror of King Piccolo!!

Dragon Ball Episode 103: drained by the tournament, Goku is beaten by Tambourine, who destroys the Flying Nimbus and starts killing the top martial artists.

Updated on October 19, 20263 min read

Episode 103 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on March 2, 1988 and known in the English dub as Tambourine Attacks!, puts Goku face to face with Krillin's killer at the worst possible moment. Running on empty after the final against Tien, he is crushed by Tambourine, who leaves him for dead and blows up the Flying Nimbus. Then King Piccolo's hunt for the world's martial artists begins.

Summary

Goku catches up with Tambourine in the sky, and the demon happily admits he killed Krillin for the Dragon Ball and the tournament roster. Enraged, Goku attacks from his cloud, but his blows never land: he left all his strength in the ring. Tambourine dodges, ties him up with his absurdly long tongue and flings him away, then fires a blast from his mouth that obliterates the Flying Nimbus.

Goku will not give up. He swings his Power Pole, which Tambourine catches and tosses aside, and when the demon comes down to check on him, Goku grabs his boot, determined to make him pay. It is a costly mistake. Tambourine beats him mercilessly, throws him into the air and slams him into the ground. Convinced he has killed the boy, he flies off, leaving Goku motionless in the forest.

Back at the tournament grounds, Master Roshi works out from the wounds how Krillin died and describes what a world ruled by King Piccolo would look like. Launch weeps over her friend, and the group, worried that Goku has not returned, decides to head back to Kame House with Krillin's body.

Aboard Emperor Pilaf's airship, Tambourine hands over the ball and the roster. King Piccolo wants the Dragon Balls to restore his youth, but above all he fears the Mafuba, so he orders his son to wipe out every renowned martial artist. Tambourine pins the fighters' photos to the wall, tears down Krillin's and Goku's, and sets off. His first victims are King Chappa, killed in his own temple along with his students, and the celebrity fighter Pamput, caught in the ring right after yet another win.

Our take

Goku had lost before, but never like this. Mercenary Tao beat him because he was simply stronger; here the defeat comes from exhaustion, and the episode leans into it, showing a boy who keeps getting back up out of sheer anger. It fits the saga well: grief over Krillin pushes Goku past common sense, and the show does not reward him for it.

The destruction of the Flying Nimbus carries real symbolic weight. It is how Goku crossed the whole first half of the series, a gift from Master Roshi tied to the character's childhood, and watching it explode in an instant is the clearest sign that the carefree adventures are over.

The anime's additions pay off. The murders of King Chappa and Pamput put familiar tournament faces next to the threat and make concrete a plan that the manga keeps more abstract at this point.

Trivia

  • The episode adapts chapter 136 of Akira Toriyama's manga. It drew a 19.7% ratings share in Japan.
  • The deaths of King Chappa and Pamput are anime-only. In the manga, the first victim is implied to be Nam, whose photo and address Tambourine checks before leaving.
  • The flashback to Krillin's murder, the tongue grab and the Power Pole attack are also anime additions: in the manga, Tambourine destroys the Nimbus almost right away.
  • The Flying Nimbus destroyed here is the original and never comes back: the one Goku rides later is a different cloud.

Did you know? Every member of the demon family is named after a musical instrument: besides Tambourine there are Piano, Cymbal and Drum, and Piccolo himself shares his name with the small flute.

Characters