Episode 104 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on March 9, 1988 and known in the English dub as Mark of the Demon, answers the question left hanging by the previous one: Goku is alive. His comeback takes the form of hunger, hostile wildlife and a roasted fish. Meanwhile King Piccolo spawns a new son, Tambourine keeps up his killing spree and, in the final minutes, a stranger with a sword shows up.
Summary
Tambourine continues his round of murders, killing the fighter Bacterian in an alley full of homeless people and leaving the demon's mark behind. Aboard Emperor Pilaf's airship, King Piccolo wants the remaining Dragon Balls found faster, so he spits an egg out of his mouth: out hatches Cymbal, tasked with tracking them down. Piano reminds him that every new offspring makes him age, but his father does not care, since the Dragon Balls will make him young again. Pilaf tries to claim his reward and gets nothing but a growl.
In the forest, Goku wakes up with a frog licking his nose. He is bruised and, above all, starving. He calls the Flying Nimbus and only remembers it was destroyed when it fails to come. His hunt for food goes badly: a fruit tries to eat him and a mother kangaroo punches him around.
At Kame House, Master Roshi and the others explain the Dragon Balls to Tien and Chiaotzu. Yamcha suggests asking Shenron to defeat King Piccolo and postponing Krillin's revival, and Bulma thinks of a freezing capsule to preserve their friend's body for the year the balls need to recharge. A news report on the murdered fighters makes the demon's plan clear, so Roshi asks Bulma to build a new Dragon Radar and considers moving elsewhere. Far away, Man-Wolf's body drifts down a river, run through by a pole bearing the demon's symbol.
Just as he is about to give up, Goku catches the smell of cooking and finds a huge fish roasting over an unattended fire. He devours it, gets his strength back and renews his vow to avenge Krillin. The radar shows a Dragon Ball very close by. Thinking of Tambourine, Goku looks around, dodges a boulder hurled at him and finds himself facing a chubby young man with a sword at his hip, who accuses him of stealing his lunch.
Our take
After two very dark episodes, this one plays like a breather. Goku's half is close to slapstick, a reminder that the hero is still a kid ruled by his stomach. The editing never lets the audience fully relax, though: every light scene is followed by a corpse, and the contrast makes the threat feel heavier.
Cymbal's birth says a lot about King Piccolo. Creating children ages him, yet to him they are tools, just as their names suggest: all that matters is the youth the Dragon Balls have promised him.
And then there is Yajirobe. His entrance, with a boulder and an argument over a fish, could not be less heroic: just a boy as hungry as Goku. It promises a character unlike anyone the series has shown so far.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapter 137 and the first six pages of chapter 138 of Akira Toriyama's manga. It drew a 19.6% ratings share in Japan.
- Bacterian's murder, Man-Wolf's body in the river and Goku's run-ins with the frog, the fruit and the kangaroo are anime-only. The news report shows the portraits of four victims, while the manga only shows Nam's.
- Yajirobe's arrival is scored with background cues heard for the first time in this episode.
- The scene of the corpse in the river was cut from the Toonami broadcast of the Funimation dub.
Did you know? Yamcha's plan would never have worked: the series later reveals that Shenron cannot exceed the power of his creator, Kami, who is only as strong as King Piccolo.
Characters
- Goku
- Bulma
- Master Roshi
- Yajirobe
- King Piccolo, Tambourine, Cymbal and Piano
- Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Oolong and Launch
- Emperor Pilaf, Bacterian and Man-Wolf