Episode 222 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on March 23, 1994 and titled Vegeta Attacks in Funimation's dub, is a Vegeta solo. The full literal title reads "Don't Toy With Me!! Vegeta's Breakthrough First Strike of Fury". The Saiyan prince disposes of Pui Pui without even transforming, even after Babidi rewrites the rules with magic. Meanwhile Goten and Trunks come within a whisker of being exposed, and the ship's second opponent, the monster Yakon, makes his entrance.
Summary
Pui Pui charges in convinced his opponent is bluffing, but Vegeta blocks the kick with one arm, slips the punches and puts him on the floor again and again. Babidi is livid, because no injuries means no energy for Majin Buu. He asks Dabura where his warrior fights best and, with a spell, turns the room into Zun, Pui Pui's home planet, where gravity is ten times that of Earth.
Pui Pui thinks the tables have turned, but Vegeta, used to training under far heavier gravity, tells him he cannot feel any difference. He drives a fist into his gut, hurls him into the rocks and, while Pui Pui looks around in confusion, appears right behind him. Then he presses both hands to his chest and vaporizes him with a point-blank energy blast. A hole opens in the center of the room leading to the next level, and Goku is the first to jump in.
At the stadium the matches are still on hold. Goten is thirsty, so Trunks takes him to the fighters' lounge, where the two climb out of the Mighty Mask costume. The announcer saw them go in and follows, briefly held up by a cleaning lady; when he opens the door he finds two kids and a costume on the floor. Trunks dashes to the bathroom, turns on the shower and, pinching his nose, pretends to be Mighty Mask washing up. The announcer begs him not to leave the stadium and walks out none the wiser.
On the second stage Vegeta grumbles about the wait and admits Dabura did not impress him; Goku puts the demon king on a par with Cell seven years earlier, leaving the Supreme Kai speechless. Babidi sends two minions to release Yakon, but the monster devours them the moment his cell opens and lumbers out to face Goku.
Our take
Pui Pui is built to lose, and the episode never pretends otherwise. The interest lies in how he loses: Vegeta does not need Super Saiyan, and Zun's gravity, a nightmare for anyone else, is a stroll for him. It is a smart nod to his sessions in the Capsule Corporation gravity room, and a reminder of how far the prince has come since Namek.
The closing exchange is subtler. Vegeta brushes Dabura off and Goku ranks him alongside Cell: for the first time the saga measures its new villains against the old ones, and the verdict suggests the Saiyans have already outgrown Babidi's plans. Behind Vegeta's swagger, though, there is an impatience the wizard will exploit very soon.
The long tournament detour is pure anime invention, but it earns its place: it reminds us that two kids who can turn Super Saiyan are playing at being grown-ups a few yards from thousands of spectators.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 449 from page six and the first five pages of chapter 450. Written by Hiroshi Toda and directed by Mitsuo Hashimoto, with Shingo Ishikawa as animation director.
- It drew a 25.1% share in Japan.
- All the tournament scenes, and Yakon eating the two minions who free him, are anime additions.
- Pui Pui's planet is called Zun in Japanese; the English dub renders it as Zoon.
- Funimation's dub repeatedly says there are three stages to clear, while the diagram shown before the title card has four, the number given in the Japanese version.
Did you know? In Dragon Ball Kai, Pui Pui's defeat and Yakon's share a single episode: without the invented tournament scenes, both fights fit comfortably in one sitting.