The second episode of Dragon Ball, first aired in Japan on March 5, 1986, covers Goku and Bulma's first night on the road. It is a transitional episode built entirely on the clash between a boy raised in the woods and a girl who carries a house in her pocket. The episode is known in English by its Funimation dub title, "The Emperor's Quest"; the original Japanese title hides a pun that only pays off in the final scene.
Recap
Night falls and Goku expects to sleep outdoors. Instead, Bulma throws a capsule and a little house appears, complete with electric lights, a TV and a bathtub. Goku mistakes the house for a monster, then sits spellbound in front of the television. Bulma, appalled by how he smells, forces him into a bath and discovers his tail is real: he even uses it to scrub his back. Later Goku barges in on her bath, convinced she needs help since she has no tail, and gets pelted with shampoo bottles.
Meanwhile, at his castle, Emperor Pilaf eats a lavish dinner and torments Shu. Mai reports a mysterious glow in a nearby valley at night, possibly a Dragon Ball, and Pilaf sends both henchmen to investigate.
Goku does not like Bulma's food, so he goes hunting. In the valley he sees Mai and Shu's plane fly past, takes it for a bird and brings it down. The glow turns out to be dozens of wolves' eyes: Goku fights them for dinner and, without realizing it, saves Pilaf's henchmen. He comes back with a wolf and a centipede, and Bulma sends him outside to eat.
Before bed, Bulma asks about his parents. Goku never knew them: his grandpa found him as a baby and took him home. Then he falls asleep while she is still talking.
In the morning Goku wakes first and rests his head on Bulma's lap. Feeling nothing there, he pulls off her panties and announces, puzzled, that she has no balls. Half asleep, Bulma assumes someone has stolen the Dragon Balls. While she gets ready, Goku meets a sea turtle who has lost his way and is looking for his master by the beach. The sea is far away, but Goku hoists the turtle onto his back and starts running. Bulma, terrified of being left alone with the dinosaurs, follows on her motorcycle.
Our review
Directed by Daisuke Nishio, the episode stretches very little manga material and fills it with original scenes. The wolf sequence, for instance, grows out of a single panel in chapter 2. It works because the pacing is pure domestic comedy: the capsule house becomes a small stage where Goku discovers running water, bread, coffee and television, and Bulma loses her temper with every discovery.
There is more going on under the gags. The question about his parents, and Goku's breezy answer, is the first hint about his origins, a mystery the series would only resolve years later. And his generosity toward the turtle, a huge detour for a stranger, sets up the reward in the next episode.
All the Pilaf, Mai and Shu scenes are anime-only. They give the villain time to establish himself, between lavish dinners and absurd punishments, and they stage the only real face-to-face meeting between Goku and the henchmen before the castle. The title gag, on the other hand, is pure Toriyama: crude enough to raise eyebrows and built on a misunderstanding that ties the bathroom humor back to the Dragon Ball plot.
Trivia
- The episode drew a 27.1% ratings share in Japan.
- A poster of Arale, the heroine of Dr. Slump, Akira Toriyama's previous series, hangs on a wall of Bulma's capsule house.
- The turtle says he has been lost for a whole year.
Did you know? Tama means "ball" in Japanese, but it is also slang for testicles. The title plays on exactly that confusion between anatomy and the Dragon Balls.