Episode 224 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on April 20, 1994 and titled Battle Supreme in Funimation's dub, moves the spotlight from Babidi's ship back to the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament. Its full literal title is "A Great Miscalculation!! Satan vs. Three Super-Warriors!?". With half the finalists gone, Mr. Satan suggests settling the tournament with an all-out battle royal, only to realize too late that he has just painted a target on his own back. In the ring, though, nobody pays him any attention: Android 18 and Mighty Mask dispose of the others and get down to business.
Summary
Aboard the ship, it is Gohan's turn. The Supreme Kai suggests facing the next enemy together, but Goku refuses: he and Vegeta fought alone, so it would not be fair. Dabura, worried by how close the Saiyans are getting to Majin Buu, decides to fight them himself, but first shuts himself in the meditation room to focus his power. While they wait, Goku and Gohan lament the father-son match they never got to have at the tournament.
At the stadium the crowd has run out of patience. The officials have been waiting almost an hour for the missing fighters and do not know what to do with only five contestants left. Mr. Satan comes up with an idea the crowd greets with a roar: a battle royal, last fighter standing wins. When an official praises his courage, since in that format the other four are bound to gang up on the strongest, the champion realizes what he has got himself into. In the stands, Chi-Chi is upset for different reasons: without Goku and Gohan, there goes the prize money.
The five finalists are introduced: Mr. Satan, Android 18, Mighty Mask, Killa and Jewel. Before the bell, Killa invites Mighty Mask to team up against the champion, but Trunks replies that the only real threat is 18; Jewel, meanwhile, tries to charm her and is brushed off without a glance. When the match begins, Jewel charges 18 and Killa charges Mighty Mask: one kick, one punch, and both men sail out of the ring.
Mr. Satan rejoices, convinced only two easy opponents remain, and pictures himself flattening them. Reality has other plans: Goten and Trunks, inside the costume, decide to ignore him, and 18 does the same. The two start trading blows at a speed the champion cannot even follow. Back on the ship, the three Saiyans grow restless, and Babidi giggles at the thought of the Supreme Kai's face when Dabura finally walks in.
Our take
After two easy wins inside the ship, the tournament becomes the saga's comic release valve, and Mr. Satan is the perfect engine for it. His idea is shrewd and disastrous at once: it saves the show, earns him another chant of "Sa-tan!" and leaves him in a ring with two beings who could flick him into orbit. The Japanese title, "A Great Miscalculation", is all about him, and the question mark after "Satan vs. Three Super-Warriors" already tells you how it will end.
Longtime fans will also enjoy one detail: Trunks warns Goten that Krillin's wife used to be stronger than their dads. It ties the World Martial Arts Tournament comedy back to the Android era and explains why 18 is the one opponent to fear. The half hour is a little padded, with Dabura's meditation and Mr. Satan's daydream invented for the anime, but the comic rhythm holds up.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 452 and the start of chapter 453, which concludes in the next episode. Written by Hiroshi Toda and directed by Osamu Kasai, with Yukio Ebisawa as animation director.
- It drew a 21.7% share in Japan.
- Dabura's meditation, Mr. Satan imagining himself winning and the Saiyans' impatience, with Vegeta wanting to blast the door down, are anime additions.
- In the Funimation recap, the narrator says Vegeta used his Super Saiyan strength against Pui Pui, but he never transformed in that fight.