Episode 169 of Dragon Ball Z, first aired in Japan on December 16, 1992 and titled No Worries Here in Funimation's dub, is the one where Goku chooses to do nothing, or so it seems. After asking Korin for his opinion on Cell's strength, the Saiyan heads home with Gohan for fishing, swims in the lake and long naps, while his friends wonder whether he has lost his mind. The full Japanese title spells it out: "Goku's Composure!? Let's Rest and Wait for the Cell Games."
Summary
On Kami's Lookout, Piccolo cannot understand why Goku is giving up on the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and Vegeta even less so. Goku and Gohan say goodbye and drop down to Korin Tower, where Yajirobe makes it clear right away that he is not entering the tournament. Goku asks Korin to judge the gap between him and Cell, then transforms and unleashes his energy so violently that the whole tower shakes. That was only half his strength, he explains, but the old master is convinced Cell is still stronger. Goku just laughs it off.
Up above, Vegeta, Piccolo, Tien and Trunks have felt that power and discuss the pair's new look. Vegeta's conclusion is sharp: Goku and his son stay Super Saiyan in everyday life, so the transformation no longer drains them and becomes their natural state. The prince is left fuming, because every time he catches up to Kakarot the other pulls ahead again, and he sends Piccolo into the Chamber without wasting another minute.
Goku and Gohan teleport to Kame House, where the family is reunited after a long time. Not without a hitch: Chi-Chi sees her son's golden hair, decides he has dyed it like a delinquent and bursts into tears. Out in space, Cell warms up by smashing a huge meteor, and the shower of fragments lights up Earth's sky. Later, near home, father and son go fishing at the lake with real rods, and Krillin joins them. Between jokes and dives into the water fully clothed, Krillin tries to find out whether Goku is secretly training. He throws a rock at him while he naps, and instead of dodging, the Saiyan takes it right on the head. He is not training at all.
Our take
After the urgency of the previous episodes, Goku's choice is almost provocative, and that is exactly why it works. Toriyama plays his friends' anxiety against the hero's calm to build tension without a single fight: viewers, like Krillin, cannot tell whether Goku has a plan or is underestimating the enemy. Vegeta's explanation of the permanent Super Saiyan state is the only rational anchor, and it is one of the arc's most elegant ideas, turning a power you unleash into a condition you live in.
The backbone comes from the manga: Korin Tower, Goku's "half" power, the master's verdict and Vegeta's deduction. The anime adds the trimmings: Kame House reacting to a taller, blond Gohan, Cell toying with meteors, the fishing trip and the rock prank. They are pleasant filler that gives the Son family room to breathe before the storm. The result is a light episode but not an empty one, and Japanese audiences of the time liked it: its 23.2% share was the highest of the Cell arc up to that point.
There is a bittersweet side too. Goku wants Gohan to have a few normal days with his mother and father. What we learn at the Cell Games will give these fishing scenes a different flavor.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 391 of the manga. Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa and directed by Mitsuo Hashimoto, with Masayuki Uchiyama as animation director.
- Cell's meteor shower, the fishing trip and Krillin's rock are anime additions. In the manga, Chi-Chi's reaction to Gohan is only glimpsed outside Kame House.
- It is the first time Goku and Gohan fish with rods like normal people instead of with their bare hands.
- Funimation's dub premiered on Cartoon Network on November 15, 2000.
Characters
- Goku, Gohan and Cell
- Korin and Yajirobe
- Vegeta, Piccolo, Tien and Trunks
- Chi-Chi, Krillin, Master Roshi and Yamcha