Episode 25 of Dragon Ball GT, first broadcast in Japan on October 16, 1996 after a six-week break and titled Baby's Arrival in Funimation's dub, brings the show back to Earth. While Goku, Pan and Trunks grab another Black Star Dragon Ball, life at home goes on quietly: Vegeta shaves his mustache and Goten can think of nothing but his date. In the city, however, Baby has just arrived.
Summary
Out in space, the trio lands on a planet called Tigere, where the Dragon Ball belongs to a giant sleeping tiger. Woken up by accident, the beast chases them to the edge of a cliff and, tricked, tumbles over. Only two balls remain. On Earth, meanwhile, visitors from space arrive every day, and any one of them could be hiding something.
At Capsule Corp., Chi-Chi and Bulma wonder what has become of the travelers: time is running out and the one-year deadline is approaching. To ease the tension, Vegeta, egged on by Bulla, shaves off his mustache and tries to make sure everyone notices, without much luck. Goten, on the other hand, announces he has a date with Valese, a girl fresh out of a breakup, and spends the afternoon in the city taking her wherever she likes and patiently hanging on her every word.
Then the day turns sour. Brawls break out across the city, and Mr. Satan tries to step in, but his age and strength are not what they used to be. When he spots Goten, the champion tries to talk him into helping; the young man has other things on his mind. Meanwhile, one of the thugs corners Valese and demands to know where the Saiyans are.
Goten knocks out the first attacker and then two more with ease, but a fourth man catches him off guard with a blow. He is Baby's host, and once the parasite realizes he is facing a Saiyan he emerges. The journey to Earth has restored much of his strength, and he makes no secret of his plans: he wants Goten's body. The fight begins.
Our take
After twenty-four episodes spent mostly among the stars, the return to Earth feels like a reunion. We see Capsule Corp., Chi-Chi and Bulma, an aging Mr. Satan and, above all, a Vegeta who gives up the mustache he had sported since the start of GT. It is a comic beat, but also a signal: the show is gearing up to return to all-out fighting, and the prince gets back the face everyone knows.
Goten, by contrast, is the picture of an heir who has grown complacent. While his father roams the universe, he thinks about girls and takes on the thugs more to look good than out of any sense of duty. It is not a flattering portrait, but it is consistent with how GT has treated the new generation so far, and it makes his fall in the next episode all the more bitter.
Baby, meanwhile, changes tactics. No more patiently built traps: he hides among ordinary people and uses them as bait, letting the Saiyans come to him. The invasion-movie mood, with harmless-looking passersby suddenly turning hostile, foreshadows what is about to happen to the entire planet.
Trivia
- Written by Atsushi Maekawa and directed by Mitsuo Hashimoto, with Tadayoshi Yamamuro as animation director.
- It is the first GT episode to air in Japan after Funimation's Dragon Ball Z dub premiered in the United States; Funimation's GT dub of this episode followed on January 9, 2004.
- It marks the first appearance of Valese, the girl Goten is dating.
- In the Japanese version, Chi-Chi says the trio left nine months ago and Bulma says there are four months left before the Earth explodes: thirteen in total, one more than the year they were given.
- From here on, Vegeta stays clean-shaven for the rest of the series.