Episode 198 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on August 25, 1993 and titled Final Round in Funimation's dub, brings the Other World Tournament to the match everyone was waiting for: Goku against Pikkon (Paikuhan in Japanese). First there is a semifinal to win and a banquet to clear, then the two rivals size each other up, realize they have both been holding back and finally get serious.
Summary
In the semifinals Goku faces Maraikoh, a dinosaur-like West Galaxy fighter who is faster than he looks. Maraikoh hits him hard enough to send him straight through one of the small moons orbiting the arena and lines up a finishing blow, but Goku bounces off another moon and comes roaring back. His opponent hurls an entire moon at him, Goku blasts it to dust and, in the chaos, Maraikoh turns invisible. Goku finds him anyway, lands a kick and tosses him out of the ring by the tail. Watching from the sidelines, Pikkon notes that the Saiyan is already stronger than when they first met.
Meanwhile King Kai and West Kai make a bet: if Pikkon loses, West Kai will hand over his planet to his colleague, who lost his own because of Cell; if Goku loses, King Kai becomes West Kai's servant. Goku, for his part, just wants food. The Grand Kai has a banquet laid out, and Goku skips the other semifinal, since he already knows who will win. Sure enough, Torbie leaves the arena on a stretcher while Goku is still eating.
To start the final, King Kai has to drag Goku away from the table. The Saiyan opens with a flurry of blows that Pikkon absorbs without even dodging; both realize they are not trying and admit it. The fight flares up in the air, all energy blasts, then returns to the ground, where Goku pushes Pikkon step by step toward the edge. Just when it seems over, his opponent smiles, reveals he has been holding back and drives him away, though with more effort than he expected.
Then Pikkon removes his belt, turban and overshirt and tosses them to Goku: they hit the ground with a thud, weighted all along. Goku laughs, because it reminds him so much of Piccolo. He throws the weighted clothes out of the ring, says he will get serious too and, with a scream, turns Super Saiyan.
Our take
Up to now the tournament has been a comedy, and this episode shifts gears without losing its smile. The Kais' bet and Goku's feast are classic gags, but the final builds tension patiently: first the skirmish, then the push toward the edge, and finally the reveal of the weights. It is the blueprint of Toriyama's great duels, and the anime staff respect it.
The Piccolo comparison is no accident. Pikkon was conceived as a Piccolo-type character: quiet, serious, with weighted clothes that echo the cape and turban Piccolo shed against Raditz. The closing shot of Goku transforming is the moment the anime had been holding back since episode 195, when it chose to keep the Super Saiyan form hidden, and it lands in exactly the right place.
Trivia
- It is a fully anime-original episode, written by Aya Matsui and directed by Osamu Kasai, with Yukio Ebisawa as animation director. It drew a 20.3% share.
- A 2003 Japanese guidebook to the anime notes that the production materials told animators to use Piccolo as the reference for Pikkon's facial expressions.
- In Japan it aired on the same day the second part of the OVA Dragon Ball Z Gaiden: Saiyan Zetsumetsu Keikaku came out on VHS.
- Funimation's dub premiered on Cartoon Network on September 13, 2001.
Characters
- Goku and Pikkon
- Maraikoh and Torbie
- King Kai, West Kai and East Kai
- Arqua, Chapuchai and the other East Galaxy fighters
- The Grand Kai and the announcer