Episode 86 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on November 4, 1987 and known in the English dub as Then There Were Eight, wraps up the qualifiers of the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament. Goku introduces himself to the crowd by dismantling a former champion, King Chappa, and shows just how far three years of travel and training have taken him. It is also the episode in which Tien moves from taunts to action, and the victim is an old friend.
Summary
King Chappa invites Goku to make the first move, and the boy takes him at his word: a punch to the chin so fast nobody sees it coming, then a flurry of kicks to the chest that puts the former champion on the floor. Chappa gets up furious and unleashes his signature move, the Eight-Arm Fist, a storm of punches so quick he seems to have eight arms. Goku blocks every one without effort and sweeps his legs out from under him.
Then he leaps high, pushes off the ceiling of the hall and dives at his opponent. Jackie Chun thinks it is a mistake, since nobody can change direction in midair, and Chappa waits for the perfect moment to strike. At the last instant, though, Goku blows hard toward the ground, slows his fall, makes Chappa whiff and knocks him out with a kick. Later he admits to his friends that he did not use his full strength.
Jackie Chun is shaken: if the student has outgrown the master, what becomes of his plan? Lost in thought, he faces a bear man without moving. When the bear charges, Jackie pictures Goku in his place and drops him with three blows, apologizing at once for getting carried away. Set to the song Mezase Tenka'ichi, a montage shows the Turtle students clearing round after round, while Bulma, Oolong and Launch kill time at the fairground stalls outside.
During the lunch break, Tien grabs a waiter by the collar and Yamcha steps in; once again Jackie Chun pulls them apart. Then a familiar face shows up at the table: Nam, the fighter Goku beat in the semifinals three years earlier. His village no longer goes thirsty, and he has come back simply to test himself. Shortly afterward, someone calls for a doctor. Nam is on the ground, brutalized by Tien in the last qualifying round. Goku wants to go after him, and Jackie can barely hold him back.
Outside, Master Roshi reappears claiming he watched everything in secret. The eight finalists are summoned, and Launch clears the best seats in the stands with a few rounds from her rifle.
Our take
King Chappa is the classic measuring stick: a champion everyone respects, set up as a serious obstacle only to collapse within minutes. The breath trick is one of the best ideas of the arc. Goku cannot fly yet, so he solves the problem with his head; soon Tien and Chiaotzu will prove that flight is possible, and that gap will become a theme of the whole tournament.
Nam's return, on the other hand, is anime-only and cuts both ways: it is nice to see him at peace, but he exists here only to be beaten off-screen and make Tien more hateful. It works, and it stings because he is a friendly face.
Jackie Chun's unease matters too: for the first time Master Roshi admits to himself that Goku may have surpassed him, a thought that will weigh on the semifinal and on the tournament's ending. As for Chappa, his story is not over: in the next arc he becomes one of Tambourine's first victims, and at the 23rd tournament he will face Goku again in the qualifiers.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapter 115 of the manga. It drew a 19.6% ratings share in Japan.
- In the manga only the end of the bear man bout is shown and Jackie lands a single blow; here he hits him three times after imagining him with Goku's face.
- The montage opponents, the lunch break, Oolong and Launch at the fair and, above all, Nam are anime additions: Nam does not take part in this tournament in the manga.
- Mezase Tenka'ichi is sung by Hiroki Takahashi, the same voice as the opening theme Makafushigi Adventure!.
Did you know? Like many names in the series, King Chappa's (Chapa-ō in Japanese) comes from food: it echoes chapati, the Indian flatbread.
Characters
- Goku
- King Chappa
- Jackie Chun (Master Roshi)
- Krillin and Yamcha
- Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu
- Nam
- Bulma, Launch, Oolong and Turtle