Episode 26 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on August 20, 1986 and known in the English dub as The Grand Finals, opens the final of the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament between Goku and Jackie Chun. It is built like a chess match between master and student: every technique the old man throws gets an answer, nearly always copied and improved, until Jackie brings out a weapon Goku cannot imitate.
Summary
The announcer is amazed at how happy Goku looks to be facing Jackie: the boy cannot wait to test himself against such a strong old man. At the start Jackie charges, Goku jumps to avoid him, but the old man anticipates him with a flip and a kick that sends him flying far out of the ring. Krillin and Yamcha despair: the Flying Nimbus can no longer be used. Jackie is already celebrating when the crowd points at the sky: Goku is slowly making his way back, spinning his tail like a helicopter rotor.
Annoyed, Jackie decides to show him a "real" Kamehameha, fired by someone who has practiced it for a lifetime. Goku answers with his own: the two blasts collide halfway and cancel out, pushing both fighters back. The old man cannot believe his eyes.
Jackie switches tactics and uses a double afterimage: Goku picks the wrong one and crashes into the wall. He gets up almost unhurt and responds with a triple afterimage, striking the old man from above. At that point Jackie starts staggering and hiccuping like a drunk, and from that absurd stance he hits Goku from every angle. Yamcha recognizes the technique: it is the Drunken Fist. This time Goku cannot copy it, because he has never been drunk in his life.
So Goku comes up with an answer of his own: he starts moving like a monkey, on all fours, hopping, scratching and slipping out of every grab, so unpredictably that the frustrated old man can no longer keep track of him. Jackie composes himself and announces that his next move will decide the match.
Our take
The final opens with the rhythm of an action comedy and sets the template for the great bouts the series will stage in the years to come. The heart of the episode is the dialogue between techniques: Jackie teaches by fighting, Goku learns by fighting, and every exchange is a small lesson. The tied Kamehameha is the symbolic moment, because the student matches the master with his own weapon, in front of everyone, and the master cannot even take credit for it.
The Drunken Fist is an open tribute to Jackie Chan's kung fu films, and Goku's reply, an improvised "animal" style, suits the character perfectly: where his opponent has experience, he has instinct. It is also an elegant reminder of his wild nature.
The tail-propeller, on the other hand, is pure Toriyama, a comic idea that solves a rules problem. It adds one more line to the list of things Goku's tail can do, for better and for worse.
Trivia
- The episode adapts the end of chapter 46, chapters 47 and 48 and the opening pages of chapter 49 of Akira Toriyama's manga, and drew a 20.9% ratings share in Japan.
- The blast that cancels Jackie's Kamehameha is called Kamehameha Gaeshi in the manga, a "counter Kamehameha".
- The afterimage is the Zanzōken; Goku's monkey style is the Saruken, the "monkey fist".
Did you know? Goku already knew about the Drunken Fist: in the manga he recalls that Grandpa Gohan was great at it. One more clue about Jackie's history with old Gohan, which comes out in the next episode.
Characters
- Goku
- Master Roshi / Jackie Chun
- Krillin
- Yamcha and Puar
- Bulma and Oolong