Episode 106 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on March 23, 1988 and known in the English dub as Terrible Tambourine, shows King Piccolo hurt where it matters for the first time: Cymbal is dead, and the demon king cannot let it go. Meanwhile Tambourine keeps crossing names off his list of fighters, while Master Roshi, Tien and Chiaotzu press on with their hunt for the Dragon Balls before Piccolo can claim them.
Summary
Still hungry, and still sore that Goku ate his fish, Yajirobe lights a fire and cooks Cymbal. Goku advises against it; Yajirobe polishes off every bite. Aboard the airship that once belonged to Pilaf, King Piccolo tries to reach his son telepathically and gets nothing back. When Pilaf and his crew put on a show of sympathy, he furiously shuts them up.
In a peaceful animal village, Giran, the winged dinosaur from the World Martial Arts Tournament, steals a fish from a bear and his cub. Then Tambourine arrives. Giran's blows don't leave a mark, his sticky gum holds the demon for barely a moment, and Tambourine kills him by driving a hand straight through his body. When the father bear steps up to thank him, Tambourine slashes his chest, leaves the demon mark behind and flies off. Next on the list: Yamcha.
Tambourine, by sheer chance, spots the new Kame House tucked away on a wooded mountainside, where Yamcha is training on a leg that is still bandaged. Bulma gives the game away and the demon recognizes his target. Yamcha takes the fight, but his leg buckles, and Launch's gunfire only tickles the monster. Just before the killing blow, King Piccolo makes contact: Cymbal has been killed, and Tambourine must drop everything and find the culprit.
At the South Pole, Tien blasts the Two-Star Ball free from a slab of ice. Goku, meanwhile, explains to Yajirobe what the Dragon Balls can do and asks for his so he can bring Krillin back to life. Then both of them look up at the sky, uneasy.
Our take
This is a bridging episode, but a carefully built one. The village sequence, far longer than in the manga, tells us exactly who Tambourine is: not a professional killer like Mercenary Tao, but a creature that kills for fun and enjoys letting his victims believe he is their savior. The cub who takes him for an avenger and gets mocked for it makes for a cruel, effective scene.
The raid on Yamcha's hideout is entirely anime-original, and it works as a reminder. That bandaged leg is a souvenir of the tournament, where the man who broke it was Tien himself. While the former student of the Crane School tours the world trying to save it, one of his old victims nearly dies because he hasn't healed yet. The next episode picks up that thread.
Yajirobe, finally, brings levity to a grim arc: the lazy kid roasting a demon like game meat is pure Toriyama, and his indifference plays nicely against Goku's resolve.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapter 139 from page 13 to the end and the first thirteen pages of chapter 140 of Akira Toriyama's manga. It drew a 16.8% ratings share in Japan, the lowest of the saga so far.
- Piccolo's failed attempt to contact Cymbal, the ball recovered from the ice and Tambourine's entire visit to Yamcha's hideout are anime-only. In the manga, the order to hunt down Cymbal's killer arrives right after Giran's death.
- In the manga Giran's death is over in a flash and the only animals watching are pandas; the anime builds a whole village and adds the bear family.
- In the Japanese version the cub believes Tambourine was sent by Kami to punish Giran: a quiet irony, given what the series will later reveal about Kami and King Piccolo.
Did you know? In the anime King Piccolo and his offspring have five fingers on each hand, while in Toriyama's manga they have four.
Characters
- Goku
- Yajirobe
- King Piccolo
- Tambourine
- Giran
- Yamcha
- Bulma, Launch
- Master Roshi, Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu
- Emperor Pilaf, Mai, Shu