Episode 28 of Dragon Ball GT, first broadcast in Japan on November 13, 1996 and titled A Worldwide Problem in Funimation's dub, is the most unsettling homecoming in the series. Goku, Pan and Trunks land on Earth with all seven Black Star Dragon Balls, convinced their job is done, and find a planet where almost everyone obeys Baby, starting with their own families and friends.
Summary
Their first stop is the Lookout, where the trio hands the Dragon Balls over to Dende and Mr. Popo. Pan takes all the credit, but their hosts are sure Goku did most of the work. They decide not to use the balls to make him an adult again: they would have to be gathered across the galaxy all over again, and Goku would rather stay a kid and grow up a second time. Pan is disappointed. As soon as the three leave, Dende's expression turns menacing: he too is in Baby's grip.
Mr. Satan, meanwhile, is one of the very few Earthlings still free. He saved himself by hiding inside the stomach of Majin Buu, whom the parasite cannot take over. When a mob of possessed people surrounds the mansion, Buu blows them away with a single breath; Mr. Satan steps out to put on a show, but his opponents get back up, and the pair fly off to Goku's house to warn him.
Goku and Pan get home to a frosty welcome. Goku thinks Chi-Chi is upset because he is still a child, and Pan assumes Videl is angry about her running off to space. When Goku reaches for the food, his wife smacks his hand with a spatula: she has cooked for four ordinary people, not for a Saiyan. At Capsule Corp., meanwhile, Trunks finds no one waiting for him, and Giru sounds the alarm. Vegeta welcomes him, Bulma tells him he has been a bad boy, and then his father reveals Baby's face: during the first possession the parasite left an egg inside Trunks, who can no longer resist. Giru is knocked out of action.
At Goku's house, Gohan and Goten burst in, attack at once, turn Super Saiyan and level the family's homes. Gohan knocks Pan out and even threatens to kill her. Furious, Goku keeps both of them at bay without transforming, but before he can fire his Kamehameha, Mr. Satan and Majin Buu arrive with the truth: Baby has infected nearly the whole planet. Right then Baby himself appears in Vegeta's body, determined to finish Goku off.
Our take
The Japanese title says it all: "Is the whole Earth my enemy?" The episode turns the very idea of home upside down. Familiar scenes, a wife at the stove, sons walking through the door, become threats, and the direction makes good use of how slowly Goku realizes what is going on. It is almost a 1950s sci-fi premise, and it works because it targets characters we have known for decades.
The clash with Gohan and Goten is short but telling: Goku, in a child's body and without transforming, dominates two sons in Super Saiyan form. The show reminds us how wide the gap is and sets the stage for what will happen when Baby himself steps in. The choice to stay small matters too: only Super Saiyan 4 will give him back an adult look, at least while the transformation lasts.
Finally, Mr. Satan and Majin Buu earn a real role. The friendship born at the end of Dragon Ball Z becomes humanity's last line of defense, and it is one of the best ideas in this stretch of GT.
Trivia
- Written by Daisuke Yajima and directed by Kazuhito Kikuchi, with Akira Inagami as animation director.
- Funimation's dub premiered in the United States on January 30, 2004.
- When Gohan and Goten power up, both Goku's house and Gohan's are destroyed.
- Trunks falls under Baby's control because of the egg left in him at the Pital hospital in episode 24.