Episode 115 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on June 8, 1988 and known in the English dub as Awaken Darkness, opens the most original stretch of the King Piccolo Saga. In the manga, Korin keeps the Ultra Divine Water at the top of his tower; in the anime, Goku has to fetch it from an ice labyrinth in the far north, with Yajirobe tagging along by accident. It is the first half of a trial that wraps up in the next episode.
Summary
At King Castle, Piano bullies the cooks and servants, demanding a royal feast in almost no time and wrecking their work when it fails to please him. At the top of the tower, Korin explains to Goku that the Ultra Divine Water holds a godly power that can draw out the hidden strength of whoever drinks it. It lies in an ice labyrinth at the northern end of the world, and many who went looking for it never came back. Goku agrees without a second thought.
Korin sends him off with a warning, to beware of the darkness, and points him to one of his jars, which works as a passage to the labyrinth. To get back, Goku must return to the same spot so that Korin can pull him up. Yajirobe wants no part of it, but while rummaging through the jars for food he ends up in the same place. Goku soon runs into him, and the two press on together through the frozen corridors.
After shattering a slab of ice, they awaken an ice monster that shrugs off every blow. Not even the Kamehameha leaves a mark, so Goku and Yajirobe flee down an endless, winding ice slide. In the capital, Suno is tending to an injured old woman when Piccolo walks past with Piano. A rifle lies on the ground: she is sorely tempted to shoot, but realizes it would be pointless. Far from everyone, Tien keeps practicing the Mafuba (the Evil Containment Wave in the dub).
At the bottom of the slide, Goku and Yajirobe find themselves in a pitch-dark cave and carry on. Someone is waiting for them, though: out of the shadows steps a figure Goku never expected to see again, Master Roshi.
Our take
A two-episode detour just as the story races toward its final showdown could have felt like a brake, but this episode has its own identity. The change of scenery is stark: after the ruins of the capital come the frozen corridors of the labyrinth, a fairy-tale setting that takes the series back to its adventurous roots. Yajirobe, greedy and cowardly, is the right companion to lighten the mood without killing the tension.
The invulnerable monster also makes narrative sense. If even the Kamehameha fails, this trial is not about muscle: Korin spoke of darkness, not of enemies to defeat, and the episode hints that Goku will be asked for something other than strength. Suno's scene, with a rifle within reach and the choice not to use it, mirrors the same idea on a small scale: against this enemy, courage alone is not enough.
The closing cliffhanger hits where it hurts, confronting Goku with the very master he has just mourned.
Trivia
- According to Kanzenshuu, the episode adapts only pages 9-11 of chapter 151 of Akira Toriyama's manga; the rest is original material. It drew a 15.7% ratings share in Japan.
- In the manga, Korin already has the water on hand: the labyrinth journey, the ice monster and Darkness exist only in the anime.
- In the original Japanese, the labyrinth's guardian is simply called 「闇」 (Yami), "the darkness", which is exactly what Korin warns Goku about.
- The show then took a week off: no episode aired on June 15, 1988, and episode 116 followed on June 22.
- Written by Michiru Shimada and directed by Daisuke Nishio, the same pair behind episode 116; the storyboard is by Satoru Kusuda.
Did you know? The feast Piano demands sits oddly with what Dragon Ball Z later reveals: Namekians do not need to eat, and water is all they require.
Characters
- Goku
- Yajirobe
- Korin
- Darkness
- Piano
- King Piccolo
- Suno
- Tien Shinhan