Episode 142 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on January 25, 1989 and known in the English dub as Kami vs. Piccolo, finally brings the two halves of a single being face to face. In the second semifinal of the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament, the clumsy Shen drops the act: he is Kami, guardian of the Earth, come down from his Lookout to stop Piccolo Jr. once and for all. His plan looks foolproof, but King Piccolo's son has learned from history.
Summary
Before the match begins, Goku finds Shen (Hero in the Funimation dub) and asks him to confirm what he has worked out: behind that bumbling stranger is Kami himself. The old guardian does not deny it. He knows Goku could never bring himself to kill Piccolo Jr., because the demon's death would take Kami with it, so he has decided to deal with the problem personally. When Goku looks worried, Kami simply tells him he has a good plan.
In the ring, Shen keeps up the beginner routine for a few seconds at most, then goes on the offensive. The crowd, and even Tien and Krillin, can hardly believe their eyes: the supposed amateur trades blows evenly with "Ma Junior" and floors him with a dropping knee strike. Piccolo, however, peers into his opponent's mind and realizes exactly who he is facing. From then on the two argue in a language nobody in the stands can understand.
Kami admits that a borrowed human body puts him at a disadvantage, but brute force was never his plan. He pulls out a small bottle and unleashes the Evil Containment Wave (Mafuba), the technique that sealed King Piccolo away centuries earlier. Piccolo Jr. saw it coming. He reflects the wave straight back, pulls Kami out of the human body he was borrowing and traps him in the bottle instead. Before he disappears, Kami shouts to Goku to defeat Piccolo no matter what, even if it costs Kami his life.
Our take
This is an episode driven by tension rather than spectacle. After weeks of hints about Shen, the reveal comes without fuss and redefines the whole tournament: it is no longer a sporting contest but a reckoning between the good and evil halves of one person.
Kami's choice is what makes him compelling. He is not after a win; he wants a way to neutralize Piccolo without dying and without forcing Goku into an impossible decision. That the plan collapses on the series' supposedly safest technique is a cruel twist, as the Mafuba, the old symbol of resistance against King Piccolo, becomes a weapon in the enemy's hands. Piccolo has clearly spent years preparing for this, and his composure here is chilling.
Then there is the strange language, a detail tossed in almost casually that would later become one of the first building blocks of Namekian lore. Kami's final cry leaves the weight of the world squarely on Goku's shoulders on the eve of the final.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapters 180 and 181 of Akira Toriyama's manga. It drew a 19.2% ratings share in Japan.
- It was written by Hajime Satsuki and directed by Kazuhisa Takenouchi, with Mitsuo Shindō as animation supervisor.
- The stretch of fighting before the exchange in the mysterious language is anime-only. Conversely, the manga has Bulma's group still struggling to accept that someone so clumsy beat Yamcha, a moment the TV series skips.
- Dragon Ball Z would later reveal that the language Kami and Piccolo speak is Namekian.
- Funimation's subtitles garbled one exchange: Kami says the gap between them is too great even accounting for his borrowed human body, but the translation made Piccolo's retort sound as if Kami were accusing him of borrowing a body. The dub sidestepped the line entirely.
Did you know? The Mafuba had already been decisive in the King Piccolo Saga: Master Roshi used it in episode 111 and paid with his life for the enormous energy it demands. This is the first time anyone sends it back at the caster.
Characters
- Goku
- Piccolo (Ma Junior)
- Kami / Shen
- Tien Shinhan
- Krillin