Episode 127 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on February 12, 1992 and titled A Handy Trick in Funimation's dub, finally puts Goku face to face with Dr. Gero's androids. Android 20 shows within seconds how little human lives mean to him, and Goku's fury erupts into the Super Saiyan transformation promised by the Japanese title. Something is wrong, though: the Saiyan is short of breath before the fight even starts.
Summary
Sensing Yamcha's energy plummet, the others rush over and find him on the ground, close to death. Goku remembers leaving the senzu beans with Bulma, and Krillin carries their friend back to the meeting point. Piccolo remarks that the two androids do not look as fearsome as Trunks made them sound. Android 20, on the other hand, knows exactly who he is facing and wants to know how they knew where the androids would appear.
Goku asks to move the fight away from people. In reply, Android 20 sweeps the city with a beam from his eyes, flattening a huge area. Furious, Goku punches him square in the face and knocks off his hat, but the android barely notices; Android 19 points out there is nobody left to spare. Android 20 still agrees to follow Goku to a place of his choosing. Meanwhile Yamcha, revived by a senzu bean, explains how he lost his strength: the androids absorb energy through their hands. He sets off with Gohan and Krillin to warn Goku.
Mid-flight, Android 20 loses patience and demands they land in a deserted rocky wasteland. Tien notices Goku panting, though all they have done is fly. Android 20 explains that a tiny spy robot watched Goku for years, from the World Martial Arts Tournaments to the battle with Vegeta on Earth, so he knows every technique. But the surveillance stopped before Namek. Piccolo points that out, and Goku shows the androids what they missed by turning Super Saiyan. Tien is left speechless, while Piccolo sees that his friend is already sweating. Goku insists on fighting alone, since he is the target. Unfazed, Android 20 sends Android 19 forward.
Our take
This is the episode that truly introduces the villains, and it does so with one gesture: Android 20's beam wiping out a whole district just to prove Goku's request pointless. These first androids lack Frieza's charisma, but they bring a new, almost bureaucratic coldness, which the Japanese title stresses by calling Android 20 "cold-blooded."
The spy-robot explanation is one of Toriyama's neatest ideas. It ties the new saga to everything that came before, all the way back to the Red Ribbon Army that young Goku destroyed, while opening a blind spot: Gero never saw Namek, so he knows nothing about the Super Saiyan. Watching Goku exploit that gap is a treat. In the original, Piccolo also remarks that Android 20 talks as if he were Dr. Gero himself, a clue carefully planted for later episodes.
The shadow over the triumph is Goku's labored breathing. Trunks spoke of a heart disease, and the anime hints at it through sweat and panting before showing it outright in the next episode. The only notable anime addition is Master Roshi, Oolong and Chiaotzu following the disaster on TV at Kame House.
Trivia
- It adapts chapters 339 and 340. Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa and directed by Jun'ichi Fujise, with animation supervision by Tadayoshi Yamamuro, it drew a 22.1% share.
- When Goku hits Android 20, the hat looks like cloth; later, when Gohan knocks it off, it clangs like metal. Dragon Ball Z Kai fixes this by making it metal here too.
- Android 20's account comes with flashbacks to Goku's fights with Tien, King Piccolo, Piccolo, Raditz, Nappa and Vegeta.
- Funimation's dub drops the Gero hint: Piccolo instead guesses that Android 20 is one of Gero's creations.
Characters
- Goku, Piccolo and Tien
- Yamcha, Krillin, Gohan, Bulma and Yajirobe
- Androids 19 and 20
- Master Roshi, Oolong and Chiaotzu