Episode 203 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on October 20, 1993 and titled Rescue Videl in Funimation's dub, is the second filler in a row of the Great Saiyaman arc. Videl is now obsessed with the new hero's identity and is starting to suspect Gohan; meanwhile, a gang of criminals takes the mayor of Satan City hostage. For once, the hard part is not beating the bad guys. It is getting out of the classroom.
Summary
Flying to school as the Great Saiyaman, Gohan crosses paths with Videl's helicopter, and she gives chase, determined to find out who is under the helmet. When they finally land, every question she asks gets the same grandiose introduction. To shake her off, Gohan lifts the helicopter, sets it down on a rooftop and takes off again. The upshot: they both arrive late. Videl is excused because she helps the police, but the coincidence does not escape her.
During class the news breaks: the Red Shark Gang has taken the mayor hostage and is demanding a fight with Mr. Satan, convinced the champion is a fraud. The great hero, true to form, has no intention of showing up and ignores the calls. So it falls to Videl, who leaves class to face the gang.
Gohan wants to follow her, but this time the teacher is not having it: every time he asks to use the restroom, he never comes back. Stuck at his desk, he starts tapping his foot nervously, and the floor shakes until it sets off a small earthquake. In the confusion he slips out and transforms.
At the scene, Videl is already fighting the gang's burly boss. The Great Saiyaman wipes out the rest of the gang in moments and frees the mayor, then gets ready to lend her a hand. She orders him to stay out of it and floors her opponent on her own. Afterwards she thanks him, but swears that sooner or later she will unmask him. Her suspicions only grow at the end of the day, when Erasa mentions that Gohan disappeared right during the hostage crisis and came back to class just before Videl did.
Our take
Compared to Episode 202, this filler has a stronger idea: shift the tension away from the fight and onto Gohan's double life. The criminals are no threat and the audience knows it; what matters is a boy trapped in a classroom while a classmate is in danger, forced to improvise. The earthquake set off by a nervous foot is a very Toriyama-like gag, even though Toriyama did not write it, and a neat reminder that Gohan has no idea how strong he really is.
Above all, though, this is Videl's episode. She fights well, refuses to be intimidated, turns down help when she does not need it and keeps investigating methodically. By extension it is also a small portrait of Mr. Satan, hiding while his daughter does the dirty work: a detail that makes the champion look sadder and Videl look even better.
Trivia
- Entirely anime-original episode. Written by Yoshiyuki Suga and directed by Mitsuo Hashimoto, with Masayuki Uchiyama as animation director. It drew a 24.3% share.
- In Japan it aired three weeks after Episode 202.
- The gang's boss, Rock, bears a strong resemblance to Nappa.
- In the United States it premiered on Cartoon Network on September 19, 2001, in place of Episode 202, which was held back because it showed a burning skyscraper only days after 9/11.
Characters
- Gohan (Great Saiyaman) and Videl
- Erasa and the teacher
- Mr. Satan
- The mayor of Satan City
- The Red Shark Gang and its boss, Rock