Episode 54 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on March 11, 1987 and known in the English dub as Escape from Pirate Cave, wraps up the pirate cave adventure with a breakneck getaway. The underwater hideout is caving in, Goku is still lost somewhere in its tunnels, and the submarine meant to carry everyone to safety is running on fumes. The Japanese title, roughly "run, run! the great escape", sets the tone perfectly.
Summary
After beating General Blue, Goku stayed behind to look for the Dragon Ball, and now he is racing through a maze that is falling apart. At the underwater dock, Bulma and Krillin wait aboard the pirates' submarine: Bulma is convinced he is dead and wants to leave, while Krillin swears he will show up any second. He is right. Just as the ceiling gives way, Goku dives aboard with the Dragon Ball and with the little mouse that saved his life, carried in his mouth.
The escape is anything but smooth. Bulma has to dodge boulders raining into the channel, a cave-in blocks the exit, and only Goku spots a second passage. Then the engine dies: they are out of fuel. Goku tells everyone to take a deep breath and fires a Kamehameha backwards, propelling the sub out of the cave and all the way up to the surface.
The trio land at Blue's outpost on the island, looking for food and a ride. Goku lets the mouse go, and Bulma, who has only just learned that the Red Ribbon Army has been hunting him, tells him she wants no more crazy adventures. In the control room, where a soldier is hiding between the shelves, the radio crackles: it is Commander Red asking for an update. Goku has no idea who is talking from the box, argues with it and ends up smashing it. Goku then calls the Flying Nimbus, while Bulma and Krillin take a helicopter back to Kame House.
There Bulma reveals her surprise: she managed to grab a diamond the size of a fist, which she offers Master Roshi to make up for his wrecked submarine. The old man barely has time to daydream before Launch, in her blonde form, snatches the stone and takes off. Meanwhile Blue resurfaces, returns to his base, kills the soldier who hid, and sets off in a helicopter carrying nothing but a coil of rope. He lands on Roshi's island unseen and starts plotting his revenge.
Our take
It is a transition episode, but a well-made one. The first half is pure adventure-movie material, with the sub swerving around boulders and a solution only Goku could come up with: using the Kamehameha as an engine. It says a lot about the character, who sees his techniques as tools before he sees them as weapons.
The second half slows down and returns to Kame House comedy, with Roshi, Turtle and Launch walking off with the loot. It is an effective reminder that the Red Ribbon Army is dangerous, yet Toriyama's world never stops joking. The final shot, with Blue grinning at his rope, sets up the twist of the next episode.
The anime adds the radio call with Commander Red and the soldier's execution on its own: two scenes that make Blue crueler than in the manga and raise the stakes for the rematch.
Trivia
- The episode adapts the end of chapter 79 and the first pages of chapter 80 of Akira Toriyama's manga. It drew a 21.7% ratings share in Japan.
- In the manga Goku and the others never enter the buildings at Blue's camp: the radio chat with Red and the death of the hiding soldier are anime additions.
- In Italy this was the last episode dubbed in the first 1989 edition, aired on Junior TV; from Episode 55 onward only the later Mediaset dub exists.
Did you know? In the Japanese version Blue kills the soldier for hiding instead of facing the kids: there is no room for cowards in his unit, he says. The English dub turned it into punishment for sleeping on the job.
Characters
- Goku
- Bulma
- Krillin
- Master Roshi
- Launch and Turtle
- General Blue
- Commander Red