The twentieth episode of Dragon Ball Super, broadcast in Japan on November 22, 2015, shows a Frieza unlike the one we knew: a tyrant who, for the first time, decides to train. Four months later he is ready for revenge, and the only one who notices is Jaco, an oddball Galactic Patrolman who drops in on Capsule Corporation with the news.
Summary
Sorbet greets the resurrected emperor, who vaguely remembers him and is amused to learn he took over: if Sorbet only revived him now, it must be because he could not manage on his own. Frieza asks about his father, but does not care much when he learns he was not brought back. His priority lies elsewhere: revenge on the Saiyans. When Tagoma suggests leaving them alone, the tyrant tortures him with a volley of blasts and complains about how weak his army has become.
Sorbet tells him Goku has grown incredibly strong, to the point of defeating Majin Buu. Frieza is intrigued, since his father always warned him never to tangle with Majin Buu or Beerus, but he is undeterred. He is a natural prodigy who reached his level without ever training: if he applies himself for real, four months will be enough to surpass Goku.
On Beerus' planet, Goku and Vegeta practice raising their energy inside their bodies without letting it leak out. When their fists meet, the force of the impact surprises them both, and Whis thinks it is clear why Beerus considers them special. Woken by the noise, the god sneezes and destroys a moon, which Whis oddly says there is no need to "fix". Then he discovers that the two Saiyans are there in exchange for food and that Whis has been eating without him for who knows how long.
Four months later, Jaco lands at Capsule Corporation, greeted by Goten and Trunks' teasing: they take him for a kid in tights and a mask, but the tights are his skin and the mask is his face. Bulma tells him Frieza was killed by her son from the future, and Jaco is appalled: time travel is forbidden under galactic law. When he learns that Goten and Trunks are half-Saiyan and that Bulma's husband is a Saiyan, he suddenly becomes extremely polite. Then he gets to the point: Frieza is alive and on his way with a thousand soldiers. Bulma tries in vain to summon Whis with a dessert and rushes off to warn everyone.
At the police station, Krillin gets the call. He goes home, puts on his old Turtle School gi, has Android 18 shave his head and asks her to stay with Marron. He picks up Master Roshi and meets Tien, Gohan and Piccolo in midair. Suddenly they sense a terrible energy: Frieza's ship is approaching.
Our take
This is the episode that gives the saga its theme. The Frieza of the manga was a prodigy who never had to work hard; here he learns that talent is not enough and decides to train, which for him is almost a humiliation. It is the most interesting idea in the film, and the TV series develops it at an unhurried pace.
Jaco is a successful addition: his mix of arrogance and cowardice brings a different kind of comedy from the classic characters. But the best scene belongs to Krillin shaving his head and putting the Turtle School colors back on: after years as a family man, he is ready to fight again.
Trivia
- Written by Toshio Yoshitaka and directed by Hideki Hiroshima, with Masahiro Shimanuki as animation director. It drew a 5.5% rating in Japan.
- Jaco comes from Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, the manga Akira Toriyama published in 2013, the same year as the film Battle of Gods.
- The destroyed moon that Whis decides not to fix foreshadows the power he reveals in episode 27.