Episode 50 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on February 11, 1987 and known in the English dub as The Trap Is Sprung, is the Red Ribbon Army Saga at its most tomb-raiding. Every corridor of the pirates' underground lair hides a trap, and Goku, Bulma and Krillin have to get through all of them with General Blue on their heels. Whoever built the place did not want visitors, and it proves that right up to the final scene.
Summary
The three make their way down a dark tunnel, each with one thing on their mind: Krillin dreams of getting rich, Bulma only wants the Dragon Ball, Goku is hungry. Behind them, Blue and a handful of soldiers follow the trail, certain the cave will make a perfect grave for those kids.
At headquarters, meanwhile, Commander Red is sitting for a portrait. When the painter is done, the canvas shows a towering Red in his armchair next to a tiny Staff Officer Black. The real Black can barely keep a straight face, and Red accuses him of laughing at him.
In the cave, the trio enters a hall with a floor dotted with buttons and walls full of holes. Krillin steps on one and a spear whizzes over his head: every button fires a shot. Goku leaps across with no trouble, Krillin follows and bangs his head on the ceiling, while Bulma cannot make the jump and crosses hanging from the Power Pole, which Goku extends to the other side. She complains first that it is too fast, then that it is too shaky.
Blue's soldiers, sent ahead at full speed, are not so lucky: the trap wipes them all out. The general, now alone, thinks like a pirate and finds a secret passage around the hall. A little further on, Goku and the others enter a room lit through a row of skulls, and the floor gives way beneath them. Goku grabs the ledge, Bulma grabs Goku, Krillin grabs Bulma's shorts, which end up around her ankles. Below them flows a river of lava, and only the Power Pole, planted at the last second, saves them.
Blue, meanwhile, tangles with a giant electric eel in an underground pool and kills it. In the end everyone emerges at the same spot: an underground dock with a large ship. Blue hides behind some crates and decides to let the kids lead him to the treasure. Goku, however, senses something moving. Two lights switch on, two claws open, and a gigantic guardian robot steps out of the shadows.
Our take
The inspiration is no secret: the spear hall closely recalls the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the whole episode plays with the charm of 1980s adventure films. It works because each trap reveals something about the characters: Goku's agility, Krillin's slightly clumsy enthusiasm, Bulma's complete unsuitability for fieldwork.
Blue, for his part, gains depth. He loses all his men without batting an eye and gets by on his own through cunning and strength, a sign that he will not be beaten in a single blow. His decision to let the kids guide him makes him a calculating villain, more dangerous than the usual grunts.
The portrait scene is the hidden gem. It looks like a simple gag about Red's vanity, but it hints, many episodes in advance, at the real reason the commander wants the Dragon Balls.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapter 74 from page 6 and the first three pages of chapter 75 of Akira Toriyama's manga. It drew a 26.2% ratings share in Japan.
- Red's portrait, the plunge toward the lava and Blue's fight with the electric eel are anime additions.
- Throughout the episode, Blue's armband reads "BULE" instead of "BLUE".
- Funimation's edited dub cut the shots of Blue's soldiers killed by the spears, leaving only the general's reaction.
Did you know? In the portrait Red has white hair, as in the manga, even though the anime gives the character red hair.