Episode 167 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on December 2, 1992 and titled The Doomsday Broadcast in Funimation's dub, is where Cell's tournament stops being a matter between fighters and becomes a problem for all of humanity. The monster hijacks a TV station and announces the Cell Games live, with stakes that leave no way out. Meanwhile, in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Goku and Gohan keep training, unaware of it all.
Summary
At Capsule Corp, Dr. Brief tries to figure out what is wrong with Android 16 but decides to wait for Bulma, who knows the androids better; the family cat, meanwhile, takes an instant liking to the giant. The others flip through channels waiting for Cell to show up, Yamcha and Krillin spar to stay sharp, and Vegeta swears he will be the one to finish the monster off. Then Bulma returns from Kami's Lookout and rushes to check on Trunks.
Meanwhile Cell flies over a big city looking for a TV studio. He finds one, walks into the newsroom and takes over the broadcast in front of terrified reporters and technicians. Programming is interrupted everywhere, including the fitness show Master Roshi was watching. Cell lays out the rules of his Cell Games: fights are one on one, anyone who leaves the ring or gives up loses, and challengers put their lives on the line. If no one can beat him, he will kill every human being. To show he means it, he fires a blast that devastates part of the city before leaving.
After what they have seen, Vegeta and Trunks decide to go back into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber as soon as they can. Inside the Chamber, Gohan wakes from a nightmare in which Cell killed his mother and Piccolo. Goku calms him down and promises they will stop the monster together.
Our take
The Japanese title has a nice touch of self-irony: "100% Ratings," for an episode about a monster who hijacks television to put on a show. On Fuji TV the episode itself pulled a 21.6% share, still the highest since episode 155. Toriyama's idea, which the anime keeps, is a smart one: Cell does not announce the end of the world with an explosion but with a live statement, like an event promoter with a taste for the macabre.
Otherwise, Toei pads things out with a certain grace. In the manga the announcement is watched by separate groups, at Kame House and in the Capsule Corp lab; the anime gathers everyone at Capsule Corp and adds Yamcha and Krillin's sparring and Dr. Brief's examination of Android 16. In the next episode, oddly enough, the group is back at Kame House as in the manga.
Gohan's nightmare is another anime invention. It works because it foreshadows the weight the Cell Games will place on the boy's shoulders, and because the way the dream Cell strikes his victims recalls what will actually happen to Android 16.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 389 from page 6 to the end. Written by Aya Matsui and directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi, with animation direction by Yukio Ebisawa, it drew a 21.6% share.
- In Japanese the event is called "Cell Game," singular; the English dub made it the Cell Games.
- Gohan dreams of Cell in his perfect form even though he has never seen him.
- Funimation's dub first aired on Cartoon Network on November 13, 2000.
Characters
- Cell
- Vegeta, Trunks, Bulma and Dr. Brief
- Krillin, Yamcha, Master Roshi and the others
- Android 16
- Goku and Gohan in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber
- In Gohan's dream: Chi-Chi and Piccolo