Episode 22 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on October 11, 1989 and titled The Darkest Day in Funimation's dub, is where the Saiyans truly introduce themselves. Nappa erases a city with a flick of his hand, Vegeta leads him toward the strongest power levels on the planet, and Piccolo learns from his enemies that he is not an Earthling. Then the Saibamen sprout from the ground.
Summary
While Goku races down Snake Way, Nappa greets Earth in his own style: one energy blast and nothing is left of East City. Vegeta scolds him, but not out of pity: that kind of destruction could have wiped out one of the Dragon Balls they came for. Using their scouters, the two find the highest power levels and fly off toward them.
Yajirobe turns up in the ruins and insists to the police and reporters that he did not do it. Once he realizes the culprits come from space, he seizes the moment and passes himself off as a member of a secret squad charged with saving the world, free meal included.
Piccolo and Gohan sense the enemies coming. A third energy approaches: it is Krillin, the first to join them. Moments later Vegeta and Nappa land. Recognizing Piccolo's voice, they realize he is the one who killed Raditz; then, taking a closer look, they tell him he belongs to the Namekian people: he was not born on Earth, he comes from another planet. At the Lookout, Kami reflects with Mr. Popo on a discovery that concerns him too.
Nappa measures his three opponents with his scouter and laughs, but Vegeta tells him to take it off: Earthlings can raise and lower their power at will, so the readings are unreliable. Krillin wonders how they can win without Goku, but there is no choice. At Vegeta's suggestion, Nappa pulls a container from his armor and plants some seeds in the ground: within seconds, six Saibamen, small green warriors, burst out ready to fight.
Our take
It takes only a few minutes to see that Vegeta and Nappa are not Raditz. The destruction of East City is sudden and total, and Vegeta's reaction says everything: no morality, just calculation. The Saiyan prince introduces himself as the colder of the two, the one who thinks while the other has fun.
The revelation about Piccolo is a huge moment that almost slips by. It is the first time the series mentions Namek, the planet that becomes the setting of the next saga. For Piccolo and for Kami, their very identity changes: Earth's demon and Earth's god are both aliens.
The anime adds quite a lot here, and not only as padding. The TV crew that arrives to film the fight, and whose aircraft Nappa destroys, is not in the manga: it is a Toei invention that lets the friends at Kame House follow the battle live. Yajirobe playing hero for the reporters is also anime-only, and it lightens an otherwise grim episode.
Trivia
- In the Japanese version, this is the first time the word "scouter" is spoken, by Vegeta; the English dubs had used it from the very first episode.
- From this episode, the Japanese Cha-La Head-Cha-La opening switches to its second version, the one Funimation used for its first 117 episodes.
- A sign reading "Last House", the studio that animated the episode, can be spotted in the ruins of East City.
- Airing two weeks after the previous episode, it adapts parts of chapters 213 and 214 and drew a 19.5% ratings share.
Did you know? Raditz had met Piccolo without remarking on his origins at all. Vegeta and Nappa, here, are the first to recognize a Namekian.