Episode 19 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on July 2, 1986 and known in the English dub as The Tournament Begins, wraps up eight months of training and brings Goku and Krillin to the gates of the World Martial Arts Tournament. It is a transitional episode, but full of small rewards: the boulder finally moving, the shells coming off, Goku's first plane ride and a reunion with Bulma, Yamcha and the others.
Summary
Days and months go by between milk runs, fields, construction sites and dinosaurs, until the hardship becomes routine. At dinner Roshi tries once more to get handsy with Launch, but the table collapses on him. With less than a month to go before the tournament, Goku drags him to the big boulder: first Goku, then Krillin manage to move it. The master, who never really expected them to, admits he has no techniques to teach. The foundation of his school is the work they have done for seven months: fighting is just a way of expressing the strength they have built, and each of them must create his own style. For the final month their shells double in weight to 40 kilograms.
Meanwhile Yamcha, who has spent a month training alone in the mountains, returns to the city just in time to save Bulma from a truck. Not recognizing him with his long, scruffy hair, she first scolds him for leaving her without news, then lets him know that long hair is out of fashion.
The day before the tournament, Goku and Krillin finally take off their shells: they feel weightless, and a single jump sends them soaring. Launch gives them smart suits with hats, and the trio leaves by plane. Goku stares out the window and, at night, mistakes the city lights for glowing ground, while Krillin is embarrassed by him. At registration the clerk cannot believe two kids really want to fight. There Goku runs into Yamcha, now with short hair, and then Bulma, Oolong and Puar. Roshi immediately tries his luck with Bulma, who flattens him with a giant wooden mallet.
The next morning, before the preliminaries, the master hands the boys their school uniforms. The preliminaries take place indoors with no audience, while the eight finalists will fight outside in front of the spectators.
Our take
The key scene is the conversation at the boulder. Caught off guard, Roshi has to tell the truth: there is no secret technique, the Turtle School is the work done so far. It is a statement of principle that runs through all of Dragon Ball, where strength always comes from hard work and style is personal. That the master says it almost to save face makes it funny, too.
The anime adds the Yamcha and Bulma subplot, with the truck rescue and the haircut. It is light material, but it gives Yamcha's new look a small story and keeps the couple alive. The rest, with the plane, the city lights and registration, is a good example of how the series uses Goku's eyes to make a familiar world feel new.
The jump after the shells come off is a simple, perfect image: eight months of toil summed up in a moment of lightness.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapter 32 and the opening pages of chapter 33 of Akira Toriyama's manga and drew a 19.7% ratings share in Japan.
- According to Toei Animation's official synopsis, the tournament is held on Papaya Island.
- The uniform Roshi gives the boys, with the turtle kanji on the back, will become Goku's most recognizable outfit.
Did you know? Goku does not recognize Yamcha with short hair at first: he only gets it when his friend strikes the pose of his Wolf Fang Fist.
Characters
- Goku
- Krillin
- Master Roshi
- Launch
- Bulma
- Yamcha and Puar
- Oolong