Episode 14 of Dragon Ball Z, Such Sweet Temptation! The Snake Princess-sama's Hospitality, first aired in Japan on August 2, 1989, is the last stop in Goku's misadventures along Snake Way. A mysterious princess welcomes him into her castle with every possible attention, determined never to let him leave. On Earth, meanwhile, the warriors recruited in previous episodes finally come together.
Summary
At Kami's palace, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu and Yajirobe arrive one after another. The group is complete, and the grueling training for the Saiyans can begin.
On Snake Way, meanwhile, Goku has quickly made up the lost ground: thanks to the fruit he stole in Hell, he runs faster than ever. At one point he spots a castle beside the road and thinks he has reached King Kai. Once inside, he discovers instead that he is the guest of Princess Snake and her attendants. The princess falls for him at first sight and pampers him in every way: a lavish banquet, a hot bath, a dance performance by her handmaidens.
Goku mostly enjoys the food, but he does not forget that he is in a hurry, and he tries to leave several times. The princess tries to hold him back, even with a sleeping drug that has no effect whatsoever. In the end, when she realizes he will leave no matter what, she drops the act: the whole castle is her body, and she is in fact a gigantic serpent, the spirit of Snake Way. The monster traps Goku, but the Saiyan breaks free, ties the snake in a knot with its own body and resumes his run toward King Kai's planet.
Our take
This is the third episode in a row in which Goku is stuck on Snake Way, and like the others it has nothing to do with Akira Toriyama's manga, where Goku's journey is wrapped up in a handful of pages. The anime turns it into a kind of miniature Odyssey: after the underworld comes temptation, with a figure reminiscent of the enchantresses who detain heroes in classical epics and fairy tales.
The gag works for a simple reason: Goku is immune to every kind of seduction except food. The princess tries everything, but he sees her only as a very generous host, and the comedy comes from that misunderstanding. It is the same naive Goku of the original series, and it is nice to see him again.
That said, the episode shows the limits of the filler strategy: between the fall into Hell and the castle, Goku spends two episodes going in circles while the main plot stands still. Viewers at the time, waiting for the Saiyans, needed patience.
Trivia
- In the finale the princess reveals herself as the spirit of Snake Way, called Jadōshin in the original, the god of the serpent road.
- In Japan the episode drew a 16.0% ratings share. It was written by Hiroshi Toda and directed by Minoru Okazaki.
- The 1996 English dub titled it Princess Snake's Hospitality; the 2005 redub shortened that to Princess Snake.
- No footage was reused in Dragon Ball Kai.
Did you know? According to the official synopsis, the princess even tries to keep Goku there with sleeping pills. It is pointless: not even those can stop him.
Characters
- Goku
- Princess Snake
- Krillin
- Yamcha
- Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu
- Yajirobe