Episode 217 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on February 16, 1994 and titled Videl is Crushed in Funimation's dub, is one of the hardest episodes in the series to sit through. Its Japanese title translates in full as "A Tragic Videl!! Are You Coming Out, Angry Super Gohan?". Spopovich stops soaking up punishment and starts beating Videl with a savagery that has nothing to do with sport, and Gohan holds back for as long as he can before his anger turns him Super Saiyan in front of the whole arena.
Summary
The fight moves into the air. Videl still lands the odd punch, but Spopovich drives her back with a purple energy wave that slams her into the ring. Among the fighters, Killa points out that at the last tournament this man could neither fly nor use energy attacks: someone or something has changed him. From then on the match is a beating. Videl keeps getting up, and keeps getting hit harder.
Backstage, Mr. Satan poses in front of a mirror and still refuses to believe that his daughter is losing. In the ring, Spopovich kicks her out of bounds but grabs her leg before she touches the ground and drags her back for more. He drives a knee into her face, pounds her with punches and finally crushes her head under his foot.
Gohan watches with his hands shaking. Goku tells him to keep calm and not interfere, but Videl's screams are too much. Gohan transforms into a Super Saiyan, and the bandana and cape of his Great Saiyaman costume fly off. Nearby, Shin allows himself a satisfied little smile. Before Gohan can leap in, Yamu, Spopovich's partner, orders him to stop playing around and finish the match. Spopovich obeys and tosses Videl out of the ring.
Gohan catches her, makes sure she is breathing and shouts at Spopovich that he will pay for this. The two mysterious fighters leave without looking back. Goku uses Instant Transmission to reach Korin's tower and fetch some senzu beans. In the infirmary, Videl weakly asks Gohan to beat Spopovich for her, while Mr. Satan realizes that this scrawny kid is supposedly his daughter's boyfriend, and he does not like it one bit.
Our take
This is where the Majin Buu saga bares its teeth. Akira Toriyama had made his characters suffer before, but rarely in such a drawn-out, gratuitous way, and never against a girl who stands no chance. The point is to make us share Gohan's helplessness, forced to stay put by the rules and by his own father.
Gohan's transformation is the key moment, and the direction knows it. There is no enemy to defeat and no fight to win: this Super Saiyan is born of pure outrage and changes nothing, because Yamu reins in his partner before Gohan can move. Shin's smile, meanwhile, is a clue for sharp-eyed viewers: Gohan's power is exactly what he was waiting to see.
For once the anime additions fit. Spopovich catching Videl in midair so she cannot fall out of the ring shows he is toying with her; Mr. Satan preening at the mirror is a bitter contrast.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 441 from page nine and chapter 442. Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa and directed by Kazuhito Kikuchi, with Yukio Ebisawa as animation director.
- It drew a 23.4% ratings share in Japan.
- In the manga, Spopovich's knee knocks out some of Videl's teeth; in the anime it does not. The purple energy wave and the leg grab, on the other hand, are anime additions.
- From this episode on, Naoki Tatsuta temporarily replaces Ichirō Nagai as Korin's Japanese voice.
- Because of its violence and blood, the episode was heavily edited on several networks, especially Cartoon Network.
Did you know? In Dragon Ball Kai, Videl's beating, the senzu beans, the unmasking of Gohan and the theft of his energy all fit into a single episode, number 106 in Japan, aired on May 25, 2014.