The fifth episode of Dragon Ball, first aired in Japan on March 26, 1986, introduces Yamcha and his inseparable partner Puar. The Japanese title translates as "Yamcha, The Strong Yet Cruel Desert Bandit"; Funimation's dub shortened it to "Yamcha the Desert Bandit". It also features the series' first proper fight.
Recap
Goku, Bulma and Oolong are travelling upriver by boat. Bulma has decided that the pig's powers will be extremely useful on the quest. But when Oolong learns that one of their stops is Fire Mountain, home of the dreaded Ox-King, he turns into a fish and jumps overboard. Bulma reels him back in with bait he cannot resist and makes him swallow a so-called vitamin. It is actually a pill: whenever she calls him with a little piggy noise, Oolong has to run to the bathroom.
The boat runs out of fuel, and on the shore Bulma discovers she has lost her capsules. She has Oolong turn into a motorcycle, but transforming does not make him any stronger and she ends up on the ground. There is nothing for it but to cross the desert on foot. Bulma, used to her comforts, throws a tantrum and faints from the heat.
Someone is watching them through a telescope: a small, blue flying cat named Puar, who alerts his master. The two arrive on a flying motorbike, and the young man introduces himself as Yamcha, the desert bandit, demanding money and capsules as a toll. Oolong and Puar recognize each other at once: they went to the same shapeshifting school, and Puar remembers all too well how Oolong used to bully him.
Yamcha challenges Goku: his sword against the boy's staff. When he recognizes the Power Pole, he realizes Goku is the grandson of the legendary Son Gohan. Then he unleashes his best technique, the Wolf Fang Fist, which slams Goku into the rocks. A terrified Oolong tries to escape as a fly, but Puar turns into a flyswatter and stops him. Goku, however, climbs out of the rubble, furious.
Yamcha is about to strike again when Bulma wakes up. The moment he sees her, the bandit freezes, stammers and flees, promising to return. She catches a glimpse of him and falls head over heels. Back at his hideout, Yamcha admits his weakness to Puar: he is terrified of girls.
Our review
Yamcha is one of the saga's funniest ideas: the most dangerous fighter so far, capable of flooring Goku, is a guy who short-circuits the moment a girl looks at him. Toriyama takes the mysterious bandit of adventure films and dismantles him with a single weakness. In Journey to the West his model is Sha Wujing, the sand monk, which is why Yamcha lives in the desert.
The duel, directed by Daisuke Nishio, is the show's first real action scene, with tighter pacing and blows that land. It was written by Takao Koyama, a name worth remembering: years later he was one of the people brought in to reshape the tone of the series with Dragon Ball Z.
The comedy belongs to Oolong and Bulma, with the bathroom pill becoming a running gag. Puar is a small surprise: sweet and shy, yet the first character in the story who can fly. The manga differs in small details. In the comic Bulma calls Oolong back before Goku dives in, and the gag where Goku knocks Yamcha into the border of a manga panel, impossible to animate, is replaced by a crash into a rock formation.
Trivia
- The episode drew a 27.6% share in Japan.
- Yamcha's outfit bears the kanji 楽, meaning "ease": according to Toriyama, because the character likes taking it easy.
- In the Japanese version, this is the first episode in which Goku's grandfather is called by name, Son Gohan.
Did you know? This was the last episode Harmony Gold dubbed for its early English version of the series, which never made it to a wide broadcast.