Episode 87 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on November 11, 1987 and known in the English dub as Yamcha vs. Tien, finally takes the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament into its main event. First, though, comes the quarterfinal draw, which the Crane School is not about to leave to chance. The opening bout pits Yamcha against Tien Shinhan, and for once the desert bandit holds his own against an opponent who looked out of his league.
Summary
In the waiting room the eight finalists size each other up. Tien greets Roshi's students with his usual jabs, and Krillin is surprised to see that Chiaotzu made it too. In the stands, meanwhile, Oolong and Puar search high and low for Master Roshi, with Oolong blundering into the women's restroom, while the Crane Hermit sits down next to Bulma to mock his rival.
The announcer recognizes Goku and begs him not to wreck the arena again, then calls the finalists one by one to draw their numbers. Tien has a plan: Chiaotzu uses his psychic powers to shuffle the slips inside the box and set the matchups. Jackie Chun gets Man-Wolf, a fighter who keeps glaring and growling at him for reasons nobody understands; Tien picks Yamcha for himself; Krillin draws Chiaotzu, and Goku, the last one left, gets Pamput. Man-Wolf also corrects the announcer, who called him a wolf man: he does not turn into a wolf at the full moon, he turns into a man. When a pleased Chiaotzu sends all the slips floating around the room, Tien scolds him.
Goku gets to grab a bite before the start. To needle his absent rival, the Crane Hermit has the loudspeakers broadcast a notice about a "lost old man" described in very unflattering terms. Everyone thinks of Roshi, and Jackie Chun protests indignantly in the waiting room.
The announcer formally opens the tournament and repeats the rules: you lose if you fall out of the ring, give up or stay down for a ten count. He introduces Yamcha as one of three Roshi students in the finals, and Tien as a pupil of the Crane Hermit; both old masters bristle at being compared. Then the match begins, and for minutes on end neither fighter can get the upper hand: punches, kicks, dodges, exchanges in midair. Goku remembers his brief clash with Tien three years earlier and warns Krillin this will be no cakewalk. Finally Yamcha steps back, surprised by his opponent's toughness, and announces a new technique: the Neo Wolf Fang Fist. The shapes of three wolves appear around him.
Our take
In Japan this was the most-watched episode of the whole 22nd tournament arc, and it is easy to see why. The rigged draw is a small masterclass in villain building: Tien does not just win with strength, he arranges the tournament to suit himself, and Chiaotzu's careless slip-juggling adds just the right comic touch.
The heart of the episode, though, is Yamcha. For the entire series he has been the sidekick who loses when it counts; here we see him trade blows as an equal with one of the strongest fighters in the tournament, with a song of his own playing in the background. It is his finest hour, and a cruel one, because anyone who knows the story knows what is coming.
Less successful are the Oolong and Crane Hermit skits in the crowd: they stretch a chapter and a half into a full episode, and the pacing suffers.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapter 116 and the first eight pages of chapter 117 of Akira Toriyama's manga. It drew a 23.1% ratings share in Japan, the highest of episodes 84-101.
- The search for Roshi in the crowd, the Crane Hermit mocking his rival in front of Bulma, the lost-old-man announcement, Jackie musing on how the Crane Hermit corrupted his students and Tien scolding Chiaotzu over the floating slips are all anime-only.
- The exchange between the announcer and Man-Wolf is a Japanese pun: he is not an ōkami otoko, a man who becomes a wolf, but an otoko ōkami, a wolf who becomes a man.
- The Funimation dub cut the insert song that plays over the fight, leaving the first part of the bout almost silent.
Did you know? The insert song Wolf Hurricane, heard here for the first time, is sung by Tōru Furuya, Yamcha's Japanese voice actor.
Characters
- Yamcha
- Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu
- Goku and Krillin
- Jackie Chun (Master Roshi)
- Master Shen, the Crane Hermit
- Man-Wolf and Pamput
- Bulma, Oolong, Puar and Launch