Episode 186 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on May 19, 1993 and titled The Unstoppable Gohan in Funimation's dub, is the first real clash between Super Saiyan 2 Gohan and Cell. The perfect monster, who was toying with everyone moments ago, finds he cannot land a hit on a child. When he decides to show his maximum power, the whole planet shakes, but the Japanese title already gives away the ending: two punches, and Cell is on his knees.
Summary
As Gohan and Cell stare each other down, Trunks flies from one fallen fighter to the next handing out senzu. Krillin and Tien wake up, are stunned by the boy's aura, and clear the area.
Gohan strikes first. Cell thinks he has hit him, but it was only an afterimage: the boy is already above him. The monster answers with the same trick and then a barrage of punches, all of which Gohan dodges without breaking a sweat. Watching from below, Piccolo finally understands why Goku insisted on fighting first: it let Gohan study Cell's style. Goku just smiles and says nothing.
Far from the action, Mr. Satan convinces himself the kid cannot last because he is not a pro like him. When the fight drifts too close to Satan's students, it is Gohan who carries them out of harm's way an instant before a shockwave hits, along with the TV announcer and his cameraman.
Goku tells Piccolo it is not just a matter of reading his opponent: Gohan has surpassed Cell in every respect. Vegeta seethes in silence at being overtaken by a second Saiyan, and only grudgingly accepts the senzu Trunks offers him.
Cell attacks again, misses again, punches through a wall of rock and then engulfs everything in an explosion. Gohan does not move an inch. So the monster announces he will reveal his true, terrifying power. He screams, and his energy rises until the entire Earth trembles, from the cities to Kame House to Goku's home in the mountains. Gohan stays unmoved and asks whether that is all he has.
With his new speed, Cell finally connects with a punch to Gohan's face. The boy takes it without flinching and answers with a punch to the stomach and an uppercut. Cell collapses onto all fours, spitting green fluid: how can just two blows have hurt him so badly?
Our take
This is the payback episode, and it works because it reverses everything we saw against Goku. Cell was the master of the ring, confident, almost graceful; now his moves hit nothing and his arrogance cracks a little more each minute. The punch Gohan absorbs without reacting, followed by the two counterblows, is staged like a martial arts movie scene, and it remains one of the most memorable beats in the series.
The subtle counterpoint is Gohan himself. He rescues Mr. Satan's crew and the reporters, so the kind boy is still in there, but his calm is that of someone who feels untouchable. Asking "is that all?" of a monster who just made the planet shake is a clear warning sign: the kid is starting to enjoy his superiority, and the next episodes will show how costly that can be.
Once again the anime stretches the manga, where Cell goes to full power as soon as Gohan steps up. Piccolo's deduction about Goku's plan and the panicked crowds around the world are additions, but at least they let breathe a fight that takes up only a few pages on paper.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 409 of the manga. Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa and directed by Daisuke Nishio, with Masayuki Uchiyama as animation supervisor, it drew a 21.8% share.
- The reactions of people around the world and of Satan's students, characters created for the anime, are not in the manga.
Did you know? The edited American versions cut a brief shot of Pizza, one of Mr. Satan's companions, most likely because of her prominent cleavage.