The 142nd episode of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on June 3, 1992 and titled Borrowed Powers in Funimation's dub, pits the Super Namekian against the creature of Gingertown. Piccolo seems to have things under control, but the monster knows his techniques, carries a ki that feels like several people at once and, in the final moments, strikes Goku's most famous pose: the Kamehameha.
Summary
The man the creature has been dragging around turns out to be the richest in Gingertown, and he offers Piccolo a reward to save him. Piccolo orders the monster to let him go, and it surprisingly obeys. A moment later it stabs the man with the tip of its tail and drains him until only his clothes are left. It then calls Piccolo by name and hints that the two are something like brothers, without explaining further.
When the monster powers up, the shockwave reaches Kame House. Gohan and Krillin sense energy that feels like Piccolo's, then like Frieza's and King Cold's, even though Trunks killed them both. Yamcha swears he can feel Goku too, but Gohan rushes upstairs and finds his father asleep. Krillin flies off to join Trunks, who is already heading to Gingertown, while in the Androids' van Android 16 detects a power on par with theirs and Android 17 refuses to believe it.
Piccolo answers with a power-up that tears up the pavement, then hurls a massive energy sphere that levels the town. His enemy emerges almost unscathed. In close combat the Namekian keeps the upper hand until his opponent surprises him with a Special Beam Cannon, Piccolo's own signature move, which he barely deflects. Asked who sent it back in time, the creature smirks and says it came entirely of its own accord.
Then it cups its hands at its side. Far away in the wastelands, Vegeta turns sharply and mutters "Kakarot?"; at Kame House, Gohan stares in disbelief at his father lying motionless in bed. The blast fires and fills the screen.
Our take
What makes this episode work is how the mystery unfolds: not through exposition, but through ki. Every time the monster powers up, someone miles away recognizes a familiar energy, first Piccolo, then Frieza and King Cold, finally Goku. It is a simple, very effective way to introduce an enemy assembled from pieces of everyone else, and it sets up the next episode's reveal perfectly.
The anime adds its own touches. Cell's Special Beam Cannon is not in the manga, and neither are the shots of Vegeta and Gohan sensing Goku just as the Kamehameha is charged. Trunks, who is at Kame House with the others in the manga, is already flying alone here, with Krillin catching up as backup. On the other hand, a manga scene of Tien and Chiaotzu sensing the strange energies is dropped, and Yamcha's line about Frieza and King Cold goes to Master Roshi.
The fight itself is well choreographed, but Piccolo's swagger, flattening a town to flush out one opponent and then stopping to ask questions, lays the groundwork for the mistake that gives episode 144 its title.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 361 from page 3 onward and chapter 362. Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa and directed by Jun'ichi Fujise, with animation supervision by Minoru Maeda, it drew a 20.1% share.
- Funimation's title has a double meaning: the "borrowed powers" are both Kami's strength inside Piccolo and the abilities Cell has taken from other fighters' cells.
- In the Japanese version, Android 16 compares the new power to both 17 and 18; the English dub has him mention only 17.
Did you know? Both the aired Funimation dub and the Westwood dub trimmed the rich man's absorption, cutting two shots of his withering face.