Episode 10 of Dragon Ball Z, first aired in Japan on July 5, 1989, is the second filler episode in a row. It continues Gohan's survival story with another friendship that ends badly, this time with a dinosaur, and meanwhile brings back an old favorite: Yamcha, tracked down by Krillin in the most unexpected place. The Japanese title says it all: "Don't cry, Gohan! His first fight".
Summary
After a rainy night spent sheltering in a cave by the fire, Gohan steps outside and finds a large plant-eating dinosaur, wounded, with a branch stuck in its leg. The boy is scared, but eventually he approaches and pulls it out. The grateful animal becomes his first friend in the wilderness.
Meanwhile, Krillin goes looking for Yamcha with Bulma. He finds him in a stadium: the former desert bandit now earns a living as a professional baseball player. The game descends into an on-field brawl, and only afterwards does Krillin manage to talk to him. He tells him about Goku's death, Raditz's arrival and the two Saiyans due within a year. Yamcha does not hesitate: he walks away from baseball and leaves with Krillin, Bulma and Puar on the Capsule Corporation plane to train under Kami.
Back in the wilderness, though, the carnivorous dinosaur that once chased Gohan returns, and this time it goes after his plant-eating friend. For the first time, Gohan does not run: he throws himself into the fight to defend it. But he is still too small and too weak, and the predator kills and devours the dinosaur before his eyes. All the boy is left with are tears and a bitter lesson about how the world he must survive in really works.
Our take
The episode was made up entirely for the anime and, like the previous one, has no counterpart in Akira Toriyama's manga. The two episodes form a small diptych: in both, Gohan finds a friend and loses him, and in both the loss pushes him to grow. Compared with the robot, though, this story is more predictable, and the dinosaur's death is pushed too hard to be truly moving.
Yamcha's thread is more interesting. In the manga, the training with Kami is summed up in a handful of panels; the anime takes the time to show the warriors being called in one by one, and Yamcha as a baseball player is a fun idea that gives the character a bit of everyday life after years of cameos.
The title marks an important step: it is the first time Gohan fights on his own initiative. He loses, but the gesture counts. The next time he meets that dinosaur, the roles will be reversed.
Trivia
- No footage from this episode was reused in Dragon Ball Kai, which drops filler.
- In Japan the episode drew a 16.5% ratings share. It was written by Keiji Terui and directed by Kazuhisa Takenouchi.
- The 1996 English dub condensed this episode and the previous one into a single installment, Gohan Makes a Friend; the 2005 redub called it A New Friend.
Did you know? The carnivorous dinosaur that kills Gohan's friend is the same one that forced him up the rock spire back in episode 7. It will be back again, and by then Gohan will be the one doing the hunting.