Episode 205 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on November 3, 1993 and titled I'll Fight Too! in Funimation's dub, is where the saga shifts gears. Pushed by Videl, Gohan signs up for the World Martial Arts Tournament and the news spreads fast: Vegeta wants in, Krillin and Android 18 have their eyes on the prize money, Piccolo agrees to compete. Then comes the biggest surprise of all, a voice from the afterlife: Goku is coming too.
Summary
An airliner is about to crash into Satan City when the Great Saiyaman catches it in midair and brings it safely down. When reporters ask him to introduce himself, the hero climbs onto the fuselage and launches into his routine of poses, leaving everyone watching baffled.
At Capsule Corporation, Gohan tells Bulma that Videl has found him out and that, to keep his secret, he has to fight in the tournament. There is a snag: helmets are not allowed, so Bulma solves it with a bandana and a pair of sunglasses. Trunks offers a sarcastic compliment. Vegeta, on the other hand, turns serious: if Gohan enters, so will he, curious to see how rusty the boy has become after seven peaceful years. That is when, out of nowhere, Goku's voice rings out. Speaking from the afterlife through King Kai, he announces that Fortuneteller Baba has granted him his one day back on Earth on the day of the tournament, and asks Gohan to let Chi-Chi know.
Thrilled, Gohan flies off to spread the word. On the way he crashes a film shoot for a Great Saiyaman movie, mistaking an action scene for a real crime; since the lead actor is afraid of heights, the crew asks him to do the scene instead, and only when he flies off do they realize they had the real hero in front of them. At Kame House he finds Krillin, who has stopped fighting and grown his hair out, married to Android 18 and the father of a little girl. At the mention of prize money, the couple decides to enter. At the Lookout, Piccolo also agrees, not without a few jabs at Gohan's outfit.
At home, Chi-Chi is overjoyed that her husband is coming back, so much so that she worries she looks older. She is against Gohan competing, though, until he mentions the prize money: at that point she even lets him skip school to train. The next morning Gohan and Goten get up at dawn, and the older brother turns Super Saiyan to begin.
Our take
After three standalone episodes, Episode 205 gets the story moving again, and it does so with a simple device: a round of visits. Gohan goes from one old friend to the next, and each stop catches us up on seven years of life, from Krillin's marriage to a Saiyan prince who has never stopped training. It is the most natural way to reassemble the cast before the World Martial Arts Tournament, and Goku's announcement gives everything an urgency that had been missing.
The anime additions, the plane and the film set, pad the running time but stay in tune with the humor of the Great Saiyaman arc. The best moment, though, comes straight from the manga: Chi-Chi switching in an instant from tears of joy to counting the prize money. It is pure Chi-Chi, and it never stops being funny.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 426 of the manga. Written by Aya Matsui and directed by Yoshihiro Ueda, with Masahiro Shimanuki as animation director. Its 26.1% share is the highest of Episodes 200-205.
- The plane rescue and the crew shooting a Great Saiyaman movie are anime additions.
- As in the manga, Gohan breaks the fourth wall to explain Krillin's hair to the audience.
- From here on, the Great Saiyaman trades the helmet for a bandana and sunglasses, the look he keeps for the rest of the series.
- The Funimation dub premiered on Cartoon Network on September 21, 2001.
Characters
- Gohan (Great Saiyaman), Goten and Chi-Chi
- Goku, from the afterlife
- Bulma, Trunks and Vegeta
- Krillin, Android 18 and their daughter
- Piccolo, Dende and Mr. Popo
- The crew of the Great Saiyaman movie