Episode 91 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on December 9, 1987 and known in the English dub as Counting Controversy!!, wraps up Krillin vs. Chiaotzu with one of the cleverest wins in the series. Krillin fires the Kamehameha for the first time, then works out the weak spot in his opponent's powers and beats him with a simple math problem. But the day isn't over: that night someone slips into Goku's room to kill him.
Summary
Chiaotzu fires the Dodon Ray, the blast throws up a cloud of dust and Krillin seems to vanish. A moment later he reappears in midair behind his opponent and hits him square with the Kamehameha, the first time he has ever used his master's technique. Chiaotzu spins away and only saves himself thanks to his levitation, inches above the ground outside the ring.
Back on the stage, the little Crane student takes off his hat and launches himself head first at Krillin, spinning like a drill. Krillin takes a couple of hits, clumsily tries to copy the move and finally stops him by holding his head in place. So Chiaotzu switches weapons: he holds out his hands and uses his psychic powers to freeze Krillin, causing him searing pain in the stomach. The Crane Hermit wants the boy killed slowly, and for a while Krillin is pounded without being able to move.
Then it clicks: the power comes from Chiaotzu's palms. Krillin starts firing off arithmetic questions, and Chiaotzu, who can't do sums in his head, starts counting on his fingers. The hold breaks instantly and one punch sends him out of the ring. Krillin is in the semifinals.
The group heads to Papaya Hospital to tell Yamcha everything, and Krillin brags about being a math genius until Bulma hands him an impossible sum. At the Crane School's hotel, meanwhile, the master gives Chiaotzu arithmetic lessons and smacks him every time he uses his fingers.
That night a figure dressed in black creeps into Goku's room, and Goku wakes up just in time. With Krillin he chases the intruder and discovers it is the Crane Hermit, bent on avenging his brother Tao. A fight is about to break out when Tien Shinhan steps in: Goku will be punished in the ring, in front of Roshi and the crowd, not in some dark alley.
Our take
Krillin's win is the heart of the episode and pure Krillin: he isn't the strongest fighter in the tournament, but he is the sharpest. Beating an opponent who can paralyze you by asking him to do a subtraction is a comedy solution, yet it holds up logically too, because it comes from observation rather than brute force.
The anime adds a lot of material, and not all of it is padding. The Crane Hermit's evening math lesson, with the smacks on Chiaotzu's hands, shows in seconds what kind of teacher he is, and the silent flashback to Tao's training gives his thirst for revenge a little weight. The night ambush, finally, sets up Tien's role: for the first time the three-eyed fighter steps between his master and Goku, even if out of pride rather than decency.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapter 121 of the manga, with several original scenes. It drew an 18.7% ratings share in Japan.
- In the manga the whole tournament takes place in a single day. The anime spreads it over four, and the Crane Hermit's night attack, the hospital visit and the math lesson are all additions.
- Chiaotzu's drill attack doesn't exist in the manga, where his hat is simply knocked off by the Kamehameha.
- Yamcha has a nightmare in which Krillin dies fighting Chiaotzu, an anime-only scene that, in hindsight, foreshadows how the saga ends.
- While Krillin is quizzing him, Chiaotzu's vest turns black for a few shots instead of green.
Did you know? The flashback to Tao's training is silent in the Japanese version. Funimation's English dub added an invented backstory about the two brothers falling out.
Characters
- Krillin
- Chiaotzu
- Goku
- Tien Shinhan
- The Crane Hermit
- Yamcha
- Bulma