Episode 40 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on November 26, 1986 and known in the English dub as Horrifying Buyon, is the last obstacle before the showdown with General White. Dropped through a trapdoor, Goku and Android 8 land on the fifth floor of Muscle Tower, home of Buyon, a squishy, ravenous monster against which punches are useless. The Japanese title puts it bluntly: what now, Goku?
Summary
Goku and Hatchan land in an empty room littered with bones. From above, White offers a deal: the radar and the Dragon Ball in exchange for their lives. Goku refuses, and the general shuts the trapdoor. A wall slides open to reveal Buyon, a pink, rubbery mass with huge jaws and antennae, busy devouring the remains of his last meal.
Hatchan cowers in a corner, terrified. Goku attacks, but every blow bounces off the monster's elastic body, which soaks up punches and kicks as if they were nothing. Not even the Kamehameha leaves a scratch. Buyon shoots out his tongue, grabs Goku and swallows him; the boy struggles his way out just in time to save Hatchan from the same fate.
Back in Jingle Village, Suno finds a family of small furry animals under her bed and returns them to their parents, thinking of Goku.
In the monster's den things look hopeless, until Goku has an idea. He remembers the cold that turned him into a block of ice when he first arrived in the north. With one punch he smashes through the tower's outer wall, and a polar wind blows into the room. Goku, who cannot stand the cold, takes shelter inside Hatchan's jacket, while the android does not feel it at all. Little by little Buyon is covered in frost and stiffens. Once he is frozen solid, Goku climbs out of his shelter and shatters him with a single kick.
Then he leaps to the ceiling, bursts through the trapdoor, extends his Power Pole so Hatchan can climb up too, and returns to the control room, determined to make White hand over the mayor.
Our take
Buyon is the perfect enemy to close out the parade of guardians: after the robot, the ninja and his brothers, a monster that strength cannot dent. He forces Goku to think instead of hit, and the solution is the kind kids love because it is right there in plain sight: what nearly killed you can save you. The loop with the frozen crash of episode 34 closes neatly.
The best scene, though, is not the victory but Goku huddled inside Hatchan's jacket. It is a funny and tender image at once, cementing their friendship better than any dialogue: the giant who cannot fight protects the strongest boy in the world from an enemy he cannot face, the cold.
The anime's additions, like Buyon eating or Suno's interlude with the little animals, are harmless filler. The pace sags a bit midway, but the final trick pays it off.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapters 64 and 65 of Akira Toriyama's manga and drew a 21.7% ratings share in Japan.
- In the anime Buyon is shown eating the remains of some animals before he attacks, a detail not found in the manga.
- Kanzenshuu's episode guide notes that Hatchan is immune to the cold, which is why his coat makes such a good shelter.
Did you know? In the original broadcast, half of the next-episode preview was taken up by a contest offering tickets to the premiere of the first Dragon Ball film, Curse of the Blood Rubies, released in Japanese theaters on December 20, 1986.
Characters
- Goku
- Android 8 (Hatchan)
- Buyon
- General White
- Suno