Episode 7 of Dragon Ball GT, first broadcast in Japan on March 20, 1996 and titled Trunks, the Bride in Funimation's dub, opens a two-part story with a fairy-tale feel. On the seemingly peaceful planet Gelbo, a giant monster named Zoonama keeps a village under his thumb by threatening earthquakes, and now he wants a wife as well. To save the girl he has chosen and win the Dragon Ball she wears in her hair, Pan comes up with a plan Trunks will not soon forget: dress him up as the bride.
Summary
As soon as they land, Goku, Trunks and Pan notice that the villages are eerily quiet. Talking to the locals, they find out why. Zoonama, a huge green creature with long whiskers, claims he can shake the ground just by wiggling them, and anyone who crosses him risks seeing everything collapse. The tremors have come on cue more than once, and nobody dares refuse him anymore.
His latest demand is a bride. No one volunteers until Leena, the village elder's daughter, already engaged to a young man named Doma, agrees to sacrifice herself. A delighted Zoonama announces he will come back for her the next day, and the moment he is gone she faints from grief. That is when Goku notices the ornament in her hair: it is the six-star Black Star Dragon Ball.
The deal is simple: the trio will free the village, and the ball will be theirs. Pan draws up the plan. A fake bride will let herself be carried off and, once the monster lets his guard down, cut off the whiskers his power seems to depend on. The first choice is Goku, the strongest of the group, but in his child's body he is far too short to pass for a bride. That leaves Trunks, who protests at length before giving in for the sake of Earth and the clock that is ticking. A white dress, a wig and some makeup take care of the rest.
The next morning Zoonama arrives right on time. Something seems off, especially his bride's voice, much deeper than he remembers, and Trunks covers with an excuse about a sore throat. The monster scoops him up and sets off for his lair, with Goku, Pan and Doma secretly trailing behind.
Our take
Anyone who has watched the original Dragon Ball will recognize the setup at once: a monster terrorizing a village and demanding its daughters is the same premise as the Oolong story, back when it was Goku who had to put on a disguise to unmask him. GT plays openly with that memory, and handing the bride role from little Goku to Trunks is the episode's best joke: the most level-headed member of the crew stuffed into a wedding dress, with Pan as a merciless director.
The trouble is that the story is thin, and stretching it over two episodes shows. Leena and Doma remain cutouts, the village has no real face, and much of the runtime goes to preparations. The monster works better. Zoonama is more goofy than menacing, and the question of what he can really do with those whiskers is a small hook that pays off next time.
It is also a good example of how GT, at least in its first saga, favors adventure comedy over combat. Goku does not fight at all here, and the episode is none the worse for it.
Trivia
- Written by Aya Matsui and directed (storyboard) by Kazuhito Kikuchi, with Masayuki Uchiyama as animation director and Tsutomu Fujita as art director.
- Its 17.4% share is the highest of any episode between 6 and 16 in Japan.
- First appearance of Zoonama, voiced by Chafurin in Japanese and Duncan Brannan in Funimation's dub.
- When Pan tries to put Goku in the dress, Funimation's dub has him say he already tried dressing as a girl once and it did not work, a nod to the Oolong episode of Dragon Ball.
- Zoonama's name comes from namazu, Japanese for catfish. In Japanese folklore a giant catfish thrashing underground causes earthquakes, which explains both the whiskers and the reputation.
Characters
- Goku, Trunks and Pan
- Giru
- Zoonama
- Leena and her fiancé Doma
- The village elder and the villagers