Episode 145 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on February 15, 1989 and known in the English dub as Junior No More, is the moment Piccolo Jr. stops hiding. The Super Kamehameha burns away his clothes and turban, the crowd at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament recognizes King Piccolo's features, and the demon confirms it all, sending the whole arena running. Then he pulls out a new technique and grows into a giant.
Summary
When the smoke from the Super Kamehameha clears, not much is left of the ring, and for a moment Piccolo Jr. is nowhere to be seen. Then his silhouette appears hovering in the air: alive, but with his robe in tatters and his turban gone. Launch is the first to notice how strikingly his face resembles King Piccolo. The demon seizes the moment and tells everyone that he is King Piccolo reincarnated, and that once Goku is dead he will take the world back.
Panic sweeps the stands and within minutes the stadium is empty. The news spreads fast; even the King of Earth is informed that the demon has returned. Only Goku, his friends and the announcer, who refuses to leave his post, remain in the arena. For Goku it is almost a relief: he no longer has to worry about protecting the spectators.
Piccolo focuses his energy and swells to giant size. Launch asks the announcer whether that is even allowed, and he replies that nothing in the rules forbids it. At first Goku struggles. He gets swatted into the ground and nearly crushed underfoot until Tien distracts the colossus by offering to help, but Goku turns him down: as far as he is concerned this is still a tournament match and it will be fought by the rules. The fight goes on, with Goku striking the giant in the eye and Piccolo hitting Goku in the leg with a beam, until Goku grabs the demon's fingers and flips him over. Then he lets slip that if Piccolo got any bigger, he would be in real trouble. Piccolo smiles and grows again, until he towers over the mountains. Goku's friends and the announcer back away. Goku stands his ground.
Our take
The public reveal is the real twist of the tournament. Until now Piccolo Jr. was a mysterious entrant feared only by those who knew the truth; now the whole world knows King Piccolo is back, and the mass reaction, from the stampede out of the stadium to the news reaching the King, finally gives the threat a public dimension.
The giant form is a very Toriyama idea: spectacular, a little absurd, and already carrying its own weakness. Goku spots it immediately and says it out loud, yet nobody picks up on it, viewers included on a first watch. That seemingly naive remark is the bait that sets up the next episode.
There is also a touch of comedy in the announcer's loyalty to his job and in Launch's question about the rules, which lighten what is otherwise a very dark episode.
Trivia
- The episode adapts the last page of chapter 185, chapter 186 and the first ten pages of chapter 187 of Akira Toriyama's manga. It drew an 18.7% ratings share in Japan.
- It was written by Keiji Terui and directed by Yoshihiro Ueda, with Yukio Ebisawa as animation supervisor.
- The King of Earth (King Furry) being informed by a guard, the panic outside the tournament island and Launch's question about the rules are anime-only.
- In the manga Piccolo grows larger right after Goku flips him; the anime adds a long stretch of fighting in between, including the eye strike and Piccolo stomping on Goku.
- In the English dub, the TV newscaster says King Piccolo has been resurrected, when strictly speaking he has been reincarnated.
Did you know? Striking an opponent's eyes is against the tournament rules, yet Goku does it here without being disqualified. The scene does not exist in the manga, though: it was added for the TV adaptation.
Characters
- Goku
- Piccolo (Ma Junior)
- Tien Shinhan
- Yamcha
- Launch, Krillin, Master Roshi
- The tournament announcer
- The King of Earth