Dragon Ball Z Episode 219: Slithering Conspiracy!! Gohan's Power Is Stolen

Dragon Ball Z Episode 219: Gohan goes Super Saiyan 2, Spopovich and Yamu drain his energy, and the Supreme Kai tells the story of Majin Buu for the first time.

Updated on October 19, 20264 min read

Episode 219 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on March 2, 1994 and titled Energy Drain in Funimation's dub, is where the saga finally finds its name. Its Japanese title translates in full as "A Slithering Conspiracy!! Gohan's Power is Stolen". Gohan goes Super Saiyan 2 in front of the arena, Spopovich and Yamu suck out his energy with a strange device, and the tournament falls apart. As the heroes give chase, the Supreme Kai speaks a name that will change everything: Majin Buu.

Summary

Kibito insists that Gohan transform, and Gohan agrees. Among the fighters, Shin warns the others: the moment Gohan releases his power, Spopovich and Yamu will attack him, and no one is to lift a finger. He turns Super Saiyan, then tells Kibito there is a level beyond and shows it to him: Super Saiyan 2. In the stands, his classmates realize that the mysterious Gold Fighter and the Great Saiyaman were one and the same.

Spopovich and Yamu charge into the ring. Gohan is about to react, but suddenly he cannot move: Shin is holding him in place with his powers. Spopovich pins him from behind while Yamu drives a strange pointed device into his stomach and drains his energy until he drops out of his transformation and collapses. Videl tries to run to him, but Goku holds her back. Then the pair fly off.

Shin sets off in pursuit at once, and Goku decides to follow along with Piccolo and Krillin, who first has to let his wife know he is leaving. Vegeta is livid: he entered the tournament only to fight Goku, and Goku has just twenty-four hours on Earth. In the end he agrees to come too. Back at the arena, Kibito restores Gohan's strength and the two take off with Videl, to the astonishment of Mr. Satan, who has never seen Videl fly.

In midair Goku offers to help, and the Supreme Kai finally explains. Long ago an evil wizard named Bibidi created a terrifying being, Majin Buu, who could wipe out entire planets and who killed four of the five Supreme Kais of the time. Unable to control him, Bibidi sealed him inside a ball and brought it to Earth, his next target. Shin killed the wizard but left the ball alone, convinced that only Bibidi could break the seal. What he did not know was that Bibidi had a son, Babidi, who is now on Earth to awaken the monster.

Our take

This is the hinge episode of the saga. In twenty minutes the tournament is abandoned and the story switches genre, from martial arts contest to the hunt for a hidden enemy. Having the Supreme Kai himself freeze Gohan is a bold choice: here is a god willing to sacrifice the boy to reach the wizard.

The Majin Buu story works because it stays vague. We never see the monster; we only hear that he killed four gods and that even his creator was afraid of him. It is the same trick Toriyama used with Frieza and the Androids: let the threat grow before showing it.

The anime additions are few and restrained, such as Chi-Chi urging the crowd to cheer for her son. The argument between Vegeta and Goku comes straight from the manga, and it is a small seed: the prince still has a score to settle, and he will not forget it for long.

Trivia

  • It adapts chapters 444 and 445. Written by Takao Koyama and directed by Takahiro Imamura, with Masahiro Shimanuki as animation director.
  • It drew a 26.8% ratings share in Japan.
  • It is the first episode in which Majin Buu is mentioned.
  • In the manga Videl watches the energy theft in shock but does not try to intervene; in the anime Goku has to hold her back.

Did you know? In Dragon Ball Kai, Japanese episode 106 ends with a drained Gohan lying in the ring, while the story of Bibidi and Majin Buu opens episode 107.

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