Episode 74 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on August 12, 1987, wraps up the fight with Akkuman and brings Goku face to face with Fortuneteller Baba's last fighter. The English dub kept the literal title, The Mysterious Fifth Man. The most feared attack in the palace fizzles against a boy who simply has no wickedness in him, and as his friends celebrate, a masked man with a halo over his head steps forward, oddly familiar in a way nobody can place.
Summary
As Akkuman charges up, Master Roshi explains how the Devil Might Beam works: it swells the tiny seed of evil hidden in anyone's heart until the victim bursts, and a flashback shows what happens to those it hits. The devil fires and Goku takes the beam full on, then just stands there, puzzled and unharmed. Convinced he messed up, Akkuman tries again with more power. Same result. The truth stuns everyone: there is not a scrap of malice in Goku's heart, so the beam has nothing to work with. Bulma seizes the moment to tease Yamcha, wondering out loud how he would have fared.
Desperate, Akkuman conjures a pitchfork and goes on the attack, while the fifth fighter watches silently from a corner. One thrust sends Goku over the edge of the bridge, inches from the poisonous pool, but his tail saves him: he hangs on, climbs up on the other side and catches the devil off guard. A tremendous kick sends Akkuman flying into the ceiling, where he stays stuck. Meanwhile Baba's little ghost servant brings her a meal, and the old witch nibbles at the dishes without taking her eyes off the match.
Then it is the last challenger's turn. The masked man asks Baba to fight outdoors, in the fresh air, and she agrees. On the way out Goku notices something strange: the man's smell puts him at ease, like a distant memory. Roshi, too, keeps staring at him, sure he has seen him before. The two take their stances and the bout begins.
Our take
The beam scene sums up young Goku perfectly. Akkuman's attack measures conscience rather than strength, and the hero beats it without even understanding what happened: he is not a champion who defeats evil, he is a kid in whom evil has not yet found a place to live. It is a simple, very Toriyama idea, and it explains better than any speech why Goku can ride the Flying Nimbus.
The rest of the episode is more of a bridge. The anime pads out the pitchfork duel and adds a second beam attempt, which blunts the reveal a little, though the final kick lands with real weight. Far more effective is the slow build around the fifth fighter: the glances from afar, the request to fight outside, the familiar smell. Anyone who remembers Goku's backstory starts to suspect, and the episode plays that anticipation well.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapter 104 from page 7 and the first eleven pages of chapter 105 of Akira Toriyama's manga. It drew a 19.4% ratings share in Japan, the lowest among episodes 73 to 76.
- In the manga Akkuman fires the beam only once, and Goku knocks him out after just two attacks. Roshi's flashback, the second beam, the fall from the bridge broken by Goku's tail, the masked man watching the fight and Baba's meal served by the ghost are all anime additions.
- In the Japanese version Akkuman cracks a pun built on the word "akuma", "devil". Funimation's dub swapped it for a sing-song taunt.
- In the Funimation dub, Baba's scream when Goku is knocked toward her was voiced by Laurie Steele, Krillin's actress, who had previously played Baba in the Cell Games Saga.
Did you know? Goku's immunity to the beam runs on the same logic as the Flying Nimbus: only the pure of heart can ride it, and Goku hopped on with no trouble from the very start, while Master Roshi himself fell straight through when he tried.
Characters
- Goku
- Akkuman (Spike the Devil Man in the dub)
- The masked man
- Fortuneteller Baba and her ghost servant
- Master Roshi
- Bulma, Krillin, Yamcha, Puar and Upa