Episode 11 of Dragon Ball Z, The Saiyans, Mightiest Warriors in the Universe, Awaken!, first aired in Japan on July 12, 1989, shows Vegeta and Nappa in action for the first time. On their way to Earth, the two Saiyans stop over on a small planet inhabited by insect-like people, and the result is a taste of what awaits humanity. On Earth, meanwhile, Gohan shows how much he has changed.
Summary
Months have passed since the training began, and Gohan is no longer the boy who cried on top of a rock. When the big carnivorous dinosaur comes after him again, he dodges it effortlessly, sends it crashing into a mountain and turns it into dinner: a piece of tail roasted over the fire on the sword Piccolo left him. His teacher watches from afar, satisfied.
In space, meanwhile, Vegeta and Nappa stop over on Planet Arlia, home to insect-like creatures ruled by a tyrant, King Moai. The Saiyans let the guards capture them and march them to the palace without putting up a fight. Before the king, they snap their chains: Nappa single-handedly flattens every soldier, then the king unleashes his secret weapon, a gigantic monster, which is disposed of just as easily.
Freed from their tyrant, the people of Arlia hail the two strangers as heroes. But Vegeta is no liberator: with the king dead, he judges the planet worthless and blows it up along with everyone on it. Then the pair set off again toward their real destination, Earth.
Our take
This is almost entirely anime-original material. All that comes from Akira Toriyama's manga is the end of chapter 209, a few pages in which the narrator announces that six months have passed and shows Gohan dealing with the dinosaur. The entire Arlia adventure, with King Moai and his monster, was invented for the TV series.
It is filler with a clear purpose, though. In the comic, Vegeta and Nappa appear in just a few panels before landing on Earth; here the anime, which had to slow down so as not to overtake the manga as it was being published, uses the extra time to build up the threat. Viewers see with their own eyes what the two can do and, above all, how they think: to Vegeta a planet is merchandise, and its inhabitants a detail.
The episode also defines the duo's roles, glimpsed only briefly in episode 5: Nappa is the muscle, loud and impatient, while Vegeta is the mind that watches and decides. It is a dynamic that pays off once they land on Earth.
The result holds up, even if the middle section, with the guards and the monster, is predictable. The scene of Gohan hunting the dinosaur, on the other hand, is a small reward for anyone who sat through the previous two episodes.
Trivia
- In Japan the episode drew a 16.0% ratings share. It was written by Toshiki Inoue and directed by Yoshihiro Ueda.
- The 1996 English dub titled it Trouble on Arlia; the 2005 redub went with Terror on Arlia.
- The Italian title, like that of episode 17, misspells the race as "Sayan".
Did you know? The dinosaur Gohan sends packing has a stubby tail: in the manga, that is exactly where the boy has already been carving off portions for his meals.