Episode 113 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on October 23, 1991 and titled Suicidal Course in Funimation's dub, starts the final countdown of the Garlic Jr. Saga. With Kami and Mr. Popo free at last, the heroes learn they only have until dawn to save humanity from the Black Water Mist. Meanwhile, a red star lights up the sky.
Summary
Piccolo's act is over: he only pretended to be infected so he could get close to Garlic Jr. and snatch the bottles holding Kami and Mr. Popo. All that is left is to release the Sacred Water, but Garlic Jr. bursts out laughing: when the sun rises, the transformation of humans into demons will become permanent.
Mr. Popo knows the only route fast enough. At the bottom of Kami's Lookout lies an opening where the planet's seven air currents meet; poured there, the water would reach the whole Earth before daybreak. Getting there means crossing the Shinsenkai, the forbidden realm where past guardians are laid to rest, a place Kami might never leave alive. He accepts the risk and sets off with Popo on the flying carpet.
Up on the Lookout, Gohan, Krillin and Piccolo face Garlic Jr. and the last two Spice Boys, Spice and Vinegar (Gashew and Vinegar in Japanese). Spice ties Gohan up with his hair, but the boy breaks free, drops Vinegar with a Masenko and, together with Krillin, takes Spice out too. Piccolo, meanwhile, sends Garlic Jr. crashing through the Lookout's walls. Out in space, Vegeta keeps searching for Goku and vents his frustration on a squad of former Frieza Force soldiers.
Garlic Jr., though, is still grinning. He points at a red light in the sky: the Makyo Star, home of the demons, which approaches Earth once every five thousand years and has now reached its closest point. Its energy multiplies the demons' power. Garlic Jr. swells into a hulking giant, and even his two defeated henchmen get back up. The Lookout is left in ruins. Far below, Kami and Popo open the last door of the Shinsenkai and find a dark figure waiting: one of the former guardians of Earth.
Our take
This is episode six of ten, and the saga shifts gears. The writers borrow the device behind Namek's famous "five minutes": a fixed deadline, dawn, which turns every fight into a race against the clock. The Japanese title, "It can't wait until morning!!", says so plainly.
The episode's main contribution, though, is to Dragon Ball's mythology. Kami's Lookout, little more than a terrace floating in the sky in the manga, turns out to have an underworld holding the tombs of past guardians and an opening where the planet's winds are born. These are anime inventions, but they give real weight to the role of Earth's guardian.
The life link between Kami and Piccolo, two halves of the same being, also takes center stage: when one weakens, so does the other. The idea is Toriyama's, and here it drives the next two episodes. During the Androids arc, that bond will be resolved for good when the two Namekians fuse.
Finally, Garlic Jr. is immortal thanks to the wish he made on the Dragon Balls in the movie Dead Zone, to which this saga is a direct sequel. With the Makyo Star on his side, he looks impossible to beat with fists alone, and attentive viewers can already guess the answer lies with that red star. The artwork, sadly, is weaker than usual.
Trivia
- A filler episode with no manga chapters. Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, directed and storyboarded by Yoshihiro Ueda, with animation direction by Masayuki Uchiyama; it drew a 22.3% share.
- It is the first episode of the saga without Maron.
- Toei Animation's official episode page calls the Black Water Mist "Aqua Mist."
- Garlic Jr. is the only character created for a movie to also appear in the TV series. Here he is voiced by Shigeru Chiba; in the film it was Akira Kamiya.
- It first aired on Cartoon Network on May 13, 2000, as episode 98 in Funimation's original numbering.
Did you know? The Spice Boys' Japanese names already play on condiments: Vinegar kept his name, while Gashew became Spice and his fallen comrades Tard and Zald became Mustard and Salt.
Characters
- Gohan, Krillin and Piccolo
- Kami and Mr. Popo
- Garlic Jr., Spice and Vinegar
- Vegeta
- One of the former guardians of Earth