Episode 196 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on August 11, 1993, two weeks after the previous one, and titled Tournament Begins in Funimation's dub, gets the Other World Tournament underway: a contest between the greatest dead fighters of the four galaxies, with a prize everyone wants, training under the Grand Kai himself. For Goku, the newest arrival, just getting into the bracket is a challenge.
Summary
Goku tells King Kai how strong Pikkon is, and his master answers by summoning the warriors of his North Galaxy. The standout is Olibu, a blond giant dressed like a hero out of Greek myth, who has been training on the Grand Kai's planet for ages in the hope of becoming his student.
Suddenly a chant rings out: "North Kai is dead!" It is the other three Kais, from the South, East and West, come to rib their colleague. While Olibu explains to Goku how the universe is stacked, from Hell to Snake Way to the Kais' planets, West Kai suggests celebrating the "occasion" with a tournament to decide who is strongest in Other World.
The Grand Kai loves the idea and offers his own training as the prize. He then leads everyone through his palace to a door that opens onto a cosmic void full of asteroids. Goku announces he will enter and win, but East Kai, the only woman among them, objects: a newcomer cannot jump ahead of fighters who have waited for centuries. She challenges him to a race. She zips along on a flying scooter, he flies on his own, both dodge asteroids and reach the finish neck and neck, only for the Grand Kai to cross it first and hand himself the trophy. Goku gets in anyway.
The announcer, a little man with a mushroom-shaped head, lays out the rules: four fighters per galaxy, no time limit, and you lose by falling out of the ring, crying, giving up or fighting dirty. In the opening bout, Olibu takes on Chapuchai of the East Galaxy, who can split into copies, and beats him by making the copies crash into each other. Pikkon dispatches his opponent with a single kick. Then Goku faces Caterpy, a giant caterpillar from the South who pins him with his many arms and attacks with tickling. Goku breaks free and lands a hit, and Caterpy bursts into tears and wraps himself in a cocoon to reach his ultimate form. How long will it take? Twelve hundred years. Goku wins.
Our take
This is where the arc reveals what it really is: a sports comedy. Kais throwing a party for a colleague's death, a race won by the referee, a caterpillar whose weapon is tickling: nothing here is serious, and that is exactly why it works. After the weight of the Cell Games, Goku is back to being the curious kid of the early tournaments, happy just to find someone strong.
The tournament itself follows the template of the World Martial Arts Tournament, with a fun twist: each galaxy has its own fighting style, and the Kais act like coaches on the sidelines. Olibu is the most intriguing presence, since King Kai presents him as an Earth hero from long ago whose deeds passed into legend. The Caterpy fight, on the other hand, is pure comic relief: it lasts two minutes and exists only to make us laugh.
Trivia
- It is a fully anime-original episode, written by Aya Matsui and directed by Kazuhito Kikuchi, with Yūji Hakamada as animation director. It drew a 19% share.
- The event's full Japanese name translates roughly as "Commemorating North Kai's Death Other World Tournament".
- The announcer talks about sixteen entrants while standing in front of a bracket with 136 slots.
- According to West Kai, the four had not all been together for 300 years.
- Olibu's name comes from "olive", which suits his Greek-hero look.
- Funimation's dub of the episode premiered on Cartoon Network on September 11, 2001.
Characters
- Goku, Pikkon and Olibu
- King Kai, South Kai, East Kai and West Kai
- The Grand Kai and the tournament announcer
- Caterpy, Chapuchai and other Other World fighters