Episode 16 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on June 11, 1986 and known in the English dub as Find That Stone!, is the first day of school at Kame House. Master Roshi moves to a bigger island and puts Goku and Krillin through two tests: a 100-meter dash and a search for a rock thrown into the woods. The loser goes to bed without dinner, but the nastiest surprise is waiting at the table.
Summary
Roshi packs Kame House into a capsule and moves it, students and Launch included, to a volcanic island with more than three hundred residents: the old islet was too small for training. Krillin mentions that he studied at Orin Temple for eight years, and the master decides to measure their leg strength right away.
In the 100-meter dash Krillin, in an Olympic sprinter's stance, clocks 10.4 seconds. Goku comes in at just over 11, then notices his shoes are falling apart. He swaps them, runs again and finishes in 8.5 seconds, leaving Krillin speechless. Roshi explains that these are still "human" times, and a true martial artist must go beyond that level. He takes off his shell, hurls it at a rock so he will not have to walk back for it, and covers the distance in 5.6 seconds. Later Krillin, sent inside for a beer, makes Launch sneeze and flees from her knife-wielding blonde self: Roshi, hiding in the bushes, times him at 8.8 seconds.
At sunset comes the second test. Roshi writes the character 亀, "turtle", on a rock with a marker and throws it over a cliff into the forest. They have half an hour: whoever brings it back eats, the other goes hungry. Goku jumps straight off the cliff, while Krillin picks up a random rock and writes the character on it with a pen borrowed from a local woman. Roshi immediately sees it is not his handwriting and throws it at his head.
Goku finds the real rock by following the old man's scent. Krillin talks him into handing it over for a closer look, runs off, cuts the ropes of a suspension bridge and, once caught, agrees to fight. He loses, pretends to give up and throws a fake rock into the woods: Goku chases it and Krillin delivers the real one. At dinner, though, Launch serves pufferfish without knowing it is poisonous. Roshi, Krillin and Launch herself end up sick, and the next day's training is postponed.
Our take
The episode is built on two very simple tests, and that is exactly why it works. The race sums up the balance of power in a minute: Krillin is a trained athlete, Goku is raw talent held back by a pair of broken shoes, and Roshi is on another planet. The shell casually tossed at the rock says more than any explanation could.
The rock hunt, on the other hand, defines Krillin. He cheats, forges, steals and tricks his way to victory. The story never really punishes him, or rather fate does, with the pufferfish, and that keeps him likable rather than hateful. Goku never even considers cheating: he just sniffs.
There is also a theme that will run through the whole saga: Roshi does not teach techniques, he teaches how to use body and mind. His remark that Goku needs "knowledge", since the boy does not even know what beer is, is played for laughs but foreshadows the study hours to come.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapters 28 and 29 of Akira Toriyama's manga and drew a 22.4% ratings share in Japan.
- The rock bears the kanji 亀 (kame, turtle), the same symbol Goku and Krillin will wear on their uniforms at the tournament.
- Pufferfish, or fugu, is a real Japanese delicacy: it must be prepared by trained chefs because parts of it are poisonous.
Did you know? Goku wins the contest fairly but is the only one who skips dinner. That is also why he is the only one who does not get sick: going hungry spares him the pufferfish.
Characters
- Goku
- Krillin
- Master Roshi
- Launch