Episode 153 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on August 19, 1992 and titled Sacrifice in Funimation's dub, belongs to Tien. A human with no hope of winning keeps Semi-Perfect Cell pinned to the ground blast after blast, until Android 16 and Android 18 manage to slip away. Then Goku steps in, not to fight but to issue a challenge, and at the very end the door of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber opens.
Summary
Tien keeps firing his Tri-Beam down at Cell, and every volley drives the monster deeper into a widening crater. Cell can't even get up, but each shot costs Tien a piece of his life force. Noticing that the two androids are still nearby, he yells at them to go, and this time the wounded 16 and Android 18 listen. At Kami's Lookout, Goku and Gohan follow their friend's fading energy.
With one last blast Tien collapses, completely drained. Cell climbs out of the hole practically unharmed and furious: such a weak opponent has just cost him his prey. He walks over to the fallen fighter and prepares to finish him. At that moment Goku, who has been watching with mounting anger, jumps to his feet and vanishes with Instant Transmission, reappearing between the monster and his friend.
He isn't there to fight, and he says so openly: right now he isn't strong enough. He asks Cell to wait one day, promising that then they'll fight for real. Cell mocks him, but Goku has other priorities. He senses a very faint energy and finds Piccolo, unconscious but alive. He grabs both fighters and flashes back to the Lookout, where they can be patched up. Left alone, Cell resumes his hunt for Android 18.
The situation is clear: for now, none of them can match Semi-Perfect Cell. Just then the door of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber opens. Out step Trunks, his hair a year longer, and Vegeta, with a new look in his eyes.
Our take
Tien is the fighter Dragon Ball Z benched most often, which is exactly why episodes like this land. His Tri-Beam doesn't hurt Cell; it only holds him down, and he knows it. He isn't fighting to win, he's fighting to buy seconds. It's the same gesture he made against Nappa, and the echo is hard to miss. Funimation made it explicit by giving both episodes the same title.
The other half of the episode belongs to Goku, and it shows him in an unusual light. No bravado: he admits he isn't ready, saves whoever he can and leaves. The Japanese title, "Tomorrow I'll pulverize you!", sounds like a taunt, but there's logic behind it. One day outside the Chamber equals a year of training inside, and that is exactly the time he needs. Instant Transmission, learned on Yardrat, becomes a rescue tool rather than a weapon here, and it's one of its smartest uses.
The ending, with the door swinging open, is a textbook cliffhanger. Viewers know Vegeta and Trunks have changed, just not how much.
Trivia
- It adapts all of chapter 374. Written by Hiroshi Toda and directed by Daisuke Nishio, it drew a 19.6% share.
- It opens Funimation's "Perfect Cell Saga," which runs through episode 165. The dub premiered on Cartoon Network on October 23, 2000; in Funimation's original edited numbering it was episode 138.
- Funimation also titled episode 25 Sacrifice: there, too, Tien burned himself out with the Tri-Beam, against Nappa.
- The "one day" Goku asks for matches the time Vegeta and Trunks just spent in the Chamber: twenty-four hours outside, a year inside.
Characters
- Tien and Cell
- Android 16 and Android 18
- Goku, Gohan and Mr. Popo
- Piccolo
- Vegeta and Trunks