Episode 95 of Dragon Ball, first broadcast in Japan on January 6, 1988 and known in the English dub as Goku vs. Krillin, weaves together two stories. On one side is the second semifinal, the first official bout between Goku and Krillin, training partners for three years. On the other is a private face-off between Tien Shinhan and Master Roshi, which for the first time bends the young Crane fighter's certainties.
Summary
Jackie Chun leaves the arena among disappointed fans, stopping to cheer up a little girl. Tien, on the other hand, can't settle down: he chases off reporters who want an interview, brushes off his master and Chiaotzu by saying he needs rest and vents his anger by smashing some water barrels. The old man's words have stuck with him.
Before the match, Goku and Krillin make a promise: neither will hold back just because they are friends. In the stands the group is split. Launch bets on Goku, who took down the Red Ribbon Army, while Bulma, Oolong and Puar can't decide whom to cheer for, until Bulma snaps that she can't take it anymore.
Meanwhile Roshi has shed his disguise, and Tien catches up with him to demand an explanation. Why give up a win he could have taken? The old man explains that he entered the tournaments to stop his students from winning too soon and getting big-headed, and that he quit because he realized it is no longer necessary. Then he goes further: Tien is no fool either, and above all he is no assassin, because he has a conscience. Tien reacts with fury, swears he will take Tao's place as the world's greatest killer and prove it by killing Goku. Roshi, unruffled, sneezes and leaves him holding the used tissue.
In the ring the fight is even. Krillin thinks back on three years of training alongside Goku, and it shows: he matches him blow for blow. Goku leaps high and Krillin follows, but it's a trick: the sun glints off his bald head, dazzles his friend and lets him land a kick. Goku lands on his feet and counters as Krillin comes down, but Krillin gulps in air, puffs up like a balloon and floats, throwing Goku's timing completely off.
Our take
The episode works like a seesaw. The ring scenes are light and full of gags, because Goku and Krillin fight with the joy of two kids who know each other inside out; the conversation between Roshi and Tien, on the other hand, is the most serious passage of the whole saga.
Roshi doesn't try to beat Tien with an argument. He simply tells him what he sees, and the young man, who until then had defined himself by the Crane School's teachings, has no answer. His angry reaction is already a sign of crisis. The used tissue closes the scene with Toriyama's typical comic touch, keeping the moment from turning into a sermon.
As for the semifinal, Krillin proves once again that he makes up in wit what he lacks in power: his bald head becomes a weapon, and so does his breath.
Trivia
- The episode adapts chapter 125 and the first four pages of chapter 126. It drew a 20.1% ratings share in Japan.
- Jackie's exit among the fans, Tien's rage against the barrels, the group's argument over whom to cheer for and Krillin's memories of three years of training are anime-only.
- In the manga Bulma, Launch and Puar don't see the match: they listen on the radio from the hospital with Yamcha.
- During the fight the insert song Mezase Tenka'ichi, sung by Hiroki Takahashi, plays; according to the Dragon Ball Wiki it is its last use in the series. The English dub dropped it.
Did you know? Toei's official synopsis bills the match as a clash between "training brothers": it is the only time Goku and Krillin officially face each other at a World Martial Arts Tournament.
Characters
- Goku
- Krillin
- Tien Shinhan
- Master Roshi
- Launch
- Bulma