Episode 5 of Dragon Ball GT, broadcast in Japan on March 6, 1996 and titled Goku vs. Ledgic in Funimation's dub, wraps up the Imecka adventure with the series' first real fight. Goku, Trunks and Pan get themselves arrested on purpose to reach Don Kee, and the pint-sized Saiyan takes on the tyrant's bodyguard, Ledgic, eventually turning Super Saiyan. When they leave, the team has one extra member: Giru, the little robot that now doubles as their radar.
Summary
On the run from the guards, the trio leaps from roof to roof until one gives way and they crash into the home of an elderly couple. Frightened at first, the two soon realize these kids are not the criminals from the posters and offer them a bowl of hot soup. They also explain how Imecka works: everyone must hand huge sums to Don Kee, and owning a spaceship is banned, so nobody can ever leave the planet. It is an outraged Pan who convinces the others they cannot just fly off and leave things as they are.
The plan is simple: surrender to the soldiers and let them escort the group to the palace. Once inside, the three snap their cuffs, shrug off the king's guns and dispose of his two aides. Just when it seems over, Ledgic steps out of the shadows. Trunks goes at him and is dropped with a single blow, so Goku asks him to look after a dazed Pan and faces the bodyguard alone.
The fight is close, and for a while Ledgic even has the upper hand. Then Goku, child's body and all, transforms into a Super Saiyan and ends it in moments. Rather than finish him off, he encourages Ledgic to keep training and get stronger, just as he plans to do himself. Ledgic walks away from Don Kee, admitting he has never met a kid like this one; Goku replies that he is not really a kid at all, leaving the bodyguard thoroughly puzzled.
With no one left to protect him, Don Kee caves completely: he hands back the contracts and the money he squeezed out of his people, and promises free rent and the return of every confiscated spaceship. Trunks finally gets the part he needs. As they prepare to leave, though, they discover that the robot has built the radar into its own system and is already pointing at the first Black Star Dragon Ball. There is nothing for it but to take it along.
Our take
After four episodes of gags and light adventure, GT finally serves up a fight, and handles it smartly. Ledgic is not a memorable villain, but he has a clear job: measuring how strong Goku still is after Pilaf's wish. The answer, that Super Saiyan is still there even in a child's body, reassures the audience while making it clear that the hero's handicap lies in stamina and control rather than raw power.
The way the duel ends is pure Goku. Sparing his opponent and urging him to train is the same thing he did as a boy in his first tournaments, and the "I'm not really a kid" exchange makes good use of the paradox the series is built on. Don Kee's downfall is less convincing: he folds far too quickly, and a satire of greed built up carefully over three episodes ends with a hasty promise.
The episode's real legacy is Giru. The robot that ate the radar becomes the fourth travel companion, and with him GT's crew is finally complete.
Trivia
- Written by Masashi Kubota and directed by Hiroyuki Kakudō, with Shingo Ishikawa as animation director.
- It drew a 17.5% rating share in Japan.
- It is the first on-screen transformation in Dragon Ball GT.
- Ledgic never returns except for a brief cameo in episode 17, when General Rilldo and the Sigma Force dig through Goku's memories.
- The literal translation of the Japanese title is a playful "Check It Out, a Tough Guy!!", which Funimation swapped for the plainer Goku vs. Ledgic.
Characters
- Goku, Trunks and Pan
- Giru
- Don Kee, Sheela and Gale
- Ledgic
- The elderly couple and Imecka's soldiers