Episode 191 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on June 30, 1993 and titled Save the World in Funimation's dub, brings the Cell Games to a close. Gohan's and Cell's Kamehamehas push against each other as the Earth shakes, the boy's friends throw themselves into a desperate attack, and in the end a blast from Vegeta opens the decisive gap. Cell is wiped out down to his last cell.
Summary
The two beams meet in the middle of the ruined arena and create a dome of energy that swells outward, swallowing everything. Krillin, Tien and Yamcha flee carrying the unconscious Android 18 and Trunks's body; Piccolo and Vegeta follow, while Mr. Satan and his entourage are blown away clinging to a boulder. Around the world, earthquakes level cities.
Cell gains ground. From the afterlife, one hand on King Kai's back, Goku realizes his son is holding back because he is afraid of destroying the planet, and reminds him that the Dragon Balls can repair any damage. Gohan pushes harder and the beams even out, but Cell, convinced his new form cannot be beaten, drives the struggle back toward the boy.
Piccolo returns to the field and hits Cell with a Masenko, to no effect. Tien, Yamcha and Krillin, who silently says goodbye to Android 18 before leaving, join him one after another. Their blasts bounce off Cell's aura, and he knocks them down without moving, but they get up and attack again: Piccolo for the first friend he ever had, the others for Goku and his son. Vegeta, watching from a distance, thinks it is all pointless.
Gohan starts to falter, and Goku shouts at him to stop holding back. Just as Cell tastes victory, a blast from above distracts him: Vegeta has rejoined the fight. That instant is enough. Gohan unleashes everything and walks forward step by step until the beam reaches Cell and disintegrates him, nucleus and all. Exhausted, the boy drops out of his transformation and collapses. Piccolo can no longer sense the enemy: it is over.
Our take
If episode 190 builds the image, 191 carries it all the way. The father-son Kamehameha works because it completes a whole arc: Goku stepped aside to give Gohan the stage, sacrificed himself to save everyone, and now returns as a voice and a presence to push his son past the final limit. The Japanese title, "The battle is over... thank you, Son Goku," thanks the father on the day the son wins.
The anime expands the scene considerably. In the manga only Vegeta intervenes; here Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha and Krillin go first, each with a reason of his own, and their courage is what finally moves the prince. It costs some pacing, but it gives the other fighters one last moment of dignity in a saga that had reduced them to spectators. Cell's death changes too: the manga shows a grotesque close-up as he is torn apart, while the anime goes for a fast disintegration, then adds the destruction of his nucleus and the beam vanishing into space.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 416. Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa and directed by Kazuhito Kikuchi, with Keisuke Masunaga as animation director, it drew a 22.5% share.
- In the anime, the Goku who appears behind Gohan is a Super Saiyan; in the manga he is in his base form. Vegeta, too, fires his blast as a Super Saiyan only in the anime.
- Kanzenshuu counts 51 episode appearances for Cell before his death, against 57 for Frieza before his apparent end on Namek.
- After more than twenty episodes spent as a Super Saiyan, including the days of waiting before the Cell Games, Gohan finally returns to his black hair at the end of this episode.
Characters
- Gohan, Cell and Vegeta
- Goku and King Kai
- Piccolo, Krillin, Tien and Yamcha
- An unconscious Android 18 and the body of Future Trunks
- Mr. Satan and his entourage
- Dende
- Chi-Chi, the Ox-King and Fortuneteller Baba