Episode 78 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on September 9, 1987 and known in the English dub as The Eternal Dragon Rises, closes the Baba arc as the manga tells it and keeps a promise made many episodes earlier. With all seven Dragon Balls in hand, Goku returns to Upa to revive Bora, killed by Mercenary Tao. Then, having saved his grandfather's ball, he says goodbye to his friends and sets off alone, on foot, for three years of training.
Summary
Goku flies back to Baba's palace with the One-Star Ball, puts Upa on the Flying Nimbus and heads with him to the Sacred Land of Korin. Meanwhile Yamcha asks Master Roshi to take him on as a student; the old man is not keen, but Bulma finds the right argument to change his mind. The two boys turn the trip into a joyride over lily pads, under waterfalls and through the clouds.
At Bora's grave, at the foot of the tower, Goku lays out the balls and summons Shenron. Upa freezes in front of the enormous dragon, and Goku is about to make the wish for him when the little boy finds his courage and asks for his father back. The dragon grants it: Bora rises from the grave and Upa runs into his arms. Shenron vanishes and the balls fly off to scatter, but Goku leaps up and snatches the Four-Star Ball, already turned to stone. It is his keepsake of Grandpa Gohan, and this time he is not letting it go. Father and son thank him and wave goodbye.
Back at Baba's palace, Goku reports that the wish worked and that his Dragon Ball hunting days are over: now he wants to train for the next World Martial Arts Tournament alongside Krillin and Yamcha. Roshi has other ideas. He has nothing left to teach him, he says, and Goku would do better to see the world and figure out on his own how to get stronger. They will meet again at the tournament. When Goku calls the Nimbus, his master asks him to travel on foot instead. The boy runs off, while Krillin and Yamcha return to Kame House with Roshi to train, Bulma trailing behind and grumbling.
Our take
This is an episode of endings. It settles Goku's debt to Upa, whom he promised to bring his father back after losing to Tao, and above all it closes the reason Goku left home in the first episode: his grandfather's Four-Star Ball. The Dragon Balls no longer interest him as wish-granting tools; that stone matters as a memory.
The key scene, though, belongs to Roshi. Taking away the Flying Nimbus, which has carried Goku since the start, removes his shortcut and sends him into the world like any other kid. It is the moment the series stops being a treasure hunt and becomes the story of a martial artist growing up. Roshi understands that his student needs the road more than lessons.
The anime additions work. The trip with Upa is padding, but breezy padding, and the boy's hesitation in front of the dragon makes the final embrace land harder. From here the manga jumps ahead three years, while the anime chooses to tell the journey through five original episodes.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapters 111 and 112 of Akira Toriyama's manga. It drew a 22.1% ratings share in Japan.
- Anime-only: the conversation between Yamcha and Roshi (in the manga Yamcha simply tells Goku about it), the trip to the tower, and Upa's hesitation before Shenron, which in the manga is brief.
- The insert song "The Blue Travelers" plays during the flight to the tower, its first use in the series.
- In chapter 112 Goku explains that the balls stay stone for a year, and Roshi adds that the tournament will now be held every three years because of the growing number of entrants.
- In the Japanese version Bora calls Goku a "child of the gods"; the English dub turns it into a "gift from the stars".
Did you know? Dragon Ball GT reveals that this very wish gave birth to one of the Shadow Dragons: Haze Shenron, the dragon of the Two-Star Ball.
Characters
- Goku
- Upa and Bora
- Shenron
- Fortuneteller Baba
- Master Roshi, Yamcha, Krillin, Bulma and Puar