Episode 115 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on November 6, 1991 and titled The World Awakens in Funimation's dub, solves the first of the saga's two problems: the Black Water Mist. While Gohan, Krillin and Piccolo hold off a Garlic Jr. who cannot die, it is Mr. Popo who releases the Sacred Water and brings humanity back to its senses. His plans in ruins, the demon plays his last card: the Dead Zone.
Summary
Across the planet, infected people are running riot, while on Kami's Lookout Gohan throws himself at the giant Garlic Jr. and hits him so hard that his fist goes clean through the demon's stomach. It makes no difference: Garlic Jr. gained eternal life through the Dragon Balls, and the wound closes within seconds. Piccolo, who keeps fading because of what Kami is going through, is knocked down, followed by Gohan and Krillin.
In the Shinsenkai, Kami is tormented by the former guardians' lightning, but he will not give in: protecting Earth is his duty. Realizing that he is the one his predecessors want, he hands the Sacred Water to Mr. Popo so he can carry it to the opening of the seven air currents.
Back on the Lookout, it is Krillin's turn. Master Roshi's student fires a Kamehameha into the sky and bends it back down onto Garlic Jr., who ends up buried in a crater. The demon climbs out, though, and grabs both Krillin and Piccolo by the head. A shout from Gohan distracts him just long enough: the two break loose and pin him down, Piccolo holding his head and Krillin a leg, while the boy charges a Masenko. Just as he fires, Piccolo's body fades again, Garlic Jr. wriggles free and the blast misses.
At Korin's Tower, Maron, Korin and Yajirobe watch the sun begin to rise. Time is nearly up, but Popo makes it and pours the water into the opening. Carried by the currents, the rain reaches every corner of the planet, from West City to Kame House, and everyone who had turned into a demon returns to normal.
Seeing his dream of ruling a world of demons collapse, Garlic Jr. loses control. He rises into the air and reopens the Dead Zone, a black vortex that drags everything into another dimension. As the Lookout's rubble starts vanishing into it, Gohan raises an energy barrier to shield himself, Piccolo and Krillin.
Our take
The Japanese title, "The Ultra Holy Water worked!!", announces victory one episode early, and rightly so: the saga's real goal was saving humanity, not beating the villain. The credit goes to Kami and Popo, two characters usually kept on the sidelines, who complete the mission while the fighters buy time.
On the battlefield, Garlic Jr.'s immortality makes it clear that brute force will not do. Gohan's fist punching through the demon is one of the saga's most brutal images, yet it is also a display of helplessness. That leaves room for ingenuity: Krillin's curving Kamehameha is a veteran's move, in the spirit of the tactical fights of the original series.
The ending closes a loop. In the movie Dead Zone, it was the Dead Zone itself that swallowed Garlic Jr. Summoning it again out of pure spite is a gamble any viewer who saw the film will recognize at once.
Trivia
- A filler episode with no manga chapters. Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, directed and storyboarded by Mitsuo Hashimoto, with animation direction by Yukio Ebisawa; it drew a 20.6% share.
- In Japanese, the antidote is the Ultra Divine Water (Chō Shinsui), the same potion Goku drank at Korin's Tower in the original series before facing King Piccolo. Its healing power returns in Dragon Ball GT.
- The healing rain also falls on Kame House, as if the infected friends had stayed there; in the next episode, however, they wake up in different places.
- It first aired on Cartoon Network on May 27, 2000, the same day as episode 116.
Did you know? Funimation's "Sacred Water" borrows the name of the water at Korin's Tower from the original Dragon Ball, which in Japanese is a different item entirely: the Chōseisui, which turns out to be plain tap water.
Characters
- Gohan, Krillin and Piccolo
- Kami and Mr. Popo
- Garlic Jr.
- Maron, Korin and Yajirobe
- Earth's former guardians