Episode 84 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on October 21, 1987 and known in the English dub as Rivals and Arrivals, opens the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament Saga and puts the anime back on the manga's track after five original episodes. It is an episode of reunions: the Kame House gang meets up on Papaya Island after three years, Goku turns up at the very last second and, above all, the rival school makes its entrance, led by the Crane Hermit and his disciples Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu.
Summary
Lost in the middle of the ocean, Goku asks a passing boat for directions. Meanwhile, on the plane to Papaya Island, Yamcha and Krillin vow to show off three years of training, "bad" Launch struggles with the urge to hijack the flight, and Master Roshi, seized by a sudden call of nature, begs the flight attendant to land as soon as possible.
Once on the island, Goku climbs a tree for some fruit, but a pack of tigers attacks him and shreds his clothes. Outside the arena, Krillin and Yamcha register. There is no sign of Goku. Slipping away for a moment, Roshi takes off his sunglasses in front of the clerk and gets him to secretly sign up Jackie Chun.
Soon a sour-faced old man shows up: the Crane Hermit, Tsuru Sen'nin in Japanese and Master Shen in the Funimation dub, once Roshi's friend and now his rival. With him are his two disciples, the towering three-eyed Tien Shinhan and little Chiaotzu. The two masters trade nasty barbs: the Crane Hermit has heard that Roshi's students made a splash at the last tournament and has come to show them what real martial arts look like. Then he walks off, leaving Bulma and the others fuming.
With one minute left before registration closes, Yamcha is about to send Puar in disguised as Goku when the boy comes running in, wrapped in a tiger pelt. Roshi signs him up just in time. Goku has grown, barely recognizes Bulma and explains that he swam all the way from Yahhoy, on the other side of the world, because his master told him not to use the Flying Nimbus.
That evening everyone celebrates at a restaurant, but Roshi is broke and promises to settle the bill with the prize money. At the hotel they play cards, and the old master earns a punch after trying to sneak into Bulma and Launch's room. At night Krillin and Yamcha, too nervous to sleep, go for a run and find plenty of other contestants training too. The next morning, back in their orange Turtle School uniforms, the three head into the preliminaries building, where Jackie Chun is waiting.
Our take
It is a setup episode, but a careful one. The return to the manga is felt at once: the friction between the two schools, Turtle and Crane, gives this tournament stakes the 21st never had, and the Crane Hermit is a petty, memorable antagonist from his very first line.
The contrast with episode 82 is worth noting. There, Tien was a nameless con man; here he has a name, a master and a clear goal, which is humiliating Roshi's students.
The anime additions, from the restaurant dinner to the night run, are padding, but they capture the eve-of-battle mood and the pleasure of seeing the whole gang together again.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapter 113 of Akira Toriyama's manga. It drew a 20.8% ratings share in Japan.
- Goku's swim and the boat, the tiger attack, the dinner, the card game and the night training are anime-only. In the manga everything happens on a single day, while the anime spreads the World Martial Arts Tournament over several.
- The Crane Hermit is the brother of Mercenary Tao, the assassin Goku defeated at Korin Tower, a link that will weigh on the tournament.
- In the Funimation dub, Launch's hijacking urge was rewritten out of respect for the victims of 9/11: she is annoyed by the mention of Jackie Chun instead. More examples are collected on our censorship and localization page.
Did you know? In the Japanese version Launch daydreams about the prize money and considers entering herself, until Turtle reminds her that weapons are not allowed.
Characters
- Goku
- Master Roshi / Jackie Chun
- The Crane Hermit
- Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu
- Krillin, Yamcha, Bulma, Launch, Oolong, Puar, Turtle