Episode 129 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on October 12, 1988 and known in the English dub as The Time Room, is one of the quirkiest anime-original episodes of the Piccolo Jr. Saga. Mr. Popo sends Goku back in time, to an age when Master Roshi and the Crane Hermit were two young rivals and their teacher, the legendary Mutaito, was still alive. It is a chance to show a slice of history the manga had only hinted at.
Summary
At the temple, Goku loses yet another bout against Mr. Popo, who decides to send him into the past through the Time Room. Down on Earth, meanwhile, Krillin, Tien, Yamcha and Chiaotzu train by hauling huge boulders. Tien is haunted by the thought that he may never beat Goku again and considers climbing Korin Tower himself; in the end the group splits up to train around the world.
In the past, Goku runs into a young Roshi and his lifelong rival, the future Crane Hermit, called Master Shen in the Funimation dub. He asks to fight their teacher, Mutaito, who does not even bother to stand up and sends him flying with a single push. Mutaito explains the importance of controlling one's ki and gives an astonishing demonstration: with focused energy, he slices a waterfall in two. Goku tries again and again, without success.
Nearby lives Fanfan, a girl both rivals are sweet on. Roshi peeps on her while she bathes, Goku returns a scarf she lost, and the young Roshi immediately tries to take the credit. The Crane Hermit, rejected, loses it: he strikes Fanfan, ties her to a tree and lures Goku and Roshi into a trap. He is no match for Goku, but his cronies hold a knife to the girl, so Goku takes the blows without fighting back. The Crane Hermit then throws a torch and sets the field ablaze. Enraged, Goku focuses his ki and cuts a path through the flames. Mutaito arrives to set things right, but when Goku tries to repeat the feat, it no longer works: he still has a long way to go.
Our take
Time travel is a device to take lightly here, and the episode knows it. The real pleasure lies in seeing two characters we know as old men in their youth: Roshi already helpless around a pretty girl, the Crane Hermit already a bully with a grudge. Their paths, one toward wisdom and the other toward resentment, are already laid out.
Mutaito, whom the manga only showed in the story of King Piccolo's first defeat, becomes a flesh-and-blood figure here, calm and untouchable. Watching him swat Goku away without getting up shows just how great he was, and makes the fate fans already know even more tragic.
The ki lesson is a sensible step in the journey: after learning to feel and to stay calm, Goku starts focusing his energy. That he pulls it off only once, fueled by anger, is an honest touch.
Trivia
- This is an anime-original episode with no counterpart in Akira Toriyama's manga. It drew a 16.1% ratings share in Japan.
- In the Japanese version, after Goku hits him, the Crane Hermit complains that not even his own father ever struck him: it is Amuro's famous line from Mobile Suit Gundam, a series narrated by his voice actor, Ichirō Nagai.
- The Crane Hermit's cronies share the design of the Orin Temple bullies, already recycled for the two drunks in Episode 60. Fanfan, for her part, looks a lot like Colonel Violet.
- In the Japanese ending, Roshi vows to train seriously to surpass Goku, and Fanfan promises to support him. The dub has him try to take credit for Goku's trick instead.
Did you know? Later, in Dragon Ball Z, Mr. Popo implies that the people met through rooms like this one are not real but illusions, which neatly explains how Goku could cross paths with Mutaito without changing history.
Characters
- Goku
- Mr. Popo
- Mutaito
- Master Roshi (young)
- Crane Hermit (young)
- Fanfan
- Krillin
- Tien Shinhan
- Yamcha
- Chiaotzu