Episode 232 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on July 6, 1994 and titled Buu is Hatched in Funimation's dub, is the one where Majin Buu finally shows himself. Gohan tries to destroy him before he leaves the cocoon, but the monster is born anyway, and he looks nothing like what anyone expected.
Summary
Steam pours ever more thickly from the cocoon. Gohan thinks back to the battle against Cell and decides that this time he will not stand by: he gathers his energy and fires a Kamehameha at the shell, then a second, then a third. The shockwave is felt all the way at the tournament grounds. Suddenly the steam stops and the ball splits open.
It is empty. Babidi is devastated, while the Supreme Kai sighs with relief and laughs: after such a long imprisonment, he reasons, Buu must have weakened to nothing. The furious wizard decides to take it out on his two enemies with Dabura's help, but the Supreme Kai is calm, sure that Gohan can handle them both. Only the boy has grasped the truth: something did come out of the cocoon, and it is gathering in the sky.
The pink smoke condenses and takes shape. Out of it comes a round, rubbery creature with a cape on his shoulders and a long antenna on his head, looking around with a childlike air. There is nothing of the legendary monster about him, but the Supreme Kai, who saw him long ago, has no doubt: this is the real Majin Buu. Babidi celebrates, but Buu pays him little attention and only seems interested in playing.
At the same moment, Goku and Majin Vegeta break off their duel: they too have felt a new and frightening energy. At the stadium, Mr. Satan manages to calm a crowd panicked by the tremors, while Goten and Trunks, torn between two enormous energies, pick the direction the birds are fleeing from and press on toward Babidi's spaceship.
Our take
Buu's debut is one of Akira Toriyama's most disarming moves. After a whole saga built on the wait for a monster capable of destroying gods, the payoff is a pink doughboy who looks like he wandered in from a children's show. The episode plays that contrast well: the Supreme Kai's relieved laughter lasts only a few seconds, and his terror when he recognizes the creature is worth more than any menacing introduction. The audience understands that the harmless look is exactly the danger.
Gohan comes out of this one well too. The boy who hesitated against Cell attacks without a second thought here, which fits his arc: he has learned his lesson, it just is not enough this time. In the manga he fires a single Kamehameha; the anime triples it, and for once the addition helps sell the desperation of the attempt.
The rest is open padding. Goten and Trunks choosing a route based on birds and Mr. Satan reassuring the crowd stretch one chapter and a few pages into half an hour of television. On the plus side, the fight between Goku and Vegeta, with choreography that never appears in the manga, still holds up.
Trivia
- The full literal translation of the Japanese title is "I Won't Allow the Revival!! A Kamehameha of Resistance". The Ocean dub called it Majin Buu Appears.
- It adapts chapter 460 and the first four pages of chapter 461. Written by Hiroshi Toda and directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi, with Tadayoshi Yamamuro as animation director.
- It drew a 17.1% share in Japan.
- The flashback of Gohan defeating Cell reuses footage from the end of the Cell Games.
- The three Kamehameha waves (only one in the manga), Mr. Satan calming the crowd and the boys' choice of direction are anime additions.
Did you know? This episode's original Japanese preview was also split with the Bio-Broly ticket lottery. On the Dragon Box it was replaced with the preview made for reruns.