Episode 239 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on September 7, 1994 and titled Find the Dragon Balls in Funimation's dub, is almost entirely an anime invention. Its full Japanese title, "The Struggle of Videl and the Others! Find the Dragon Balls", already tells you where the heart of the episode lies: Bulma's group and their hunt for the Dragon Balls. Meanwhile Majin Buu spreads destruction, Piccolo and Krillin bring Goten and Trunks to safety, and Goku finally wakes up.
Summary
The Capsule Corporation plane is back in the air with Yamcha at the controls, Bulma following the radar, Chi-Chi, Videl, Android 18 holding Marron, Master Roshi, Oolong, Puar and the Ox-King. The landing goes badly, with the plane nose-first in the dirt: nobody is hurt except Master Roshi, who uses the chaos to grope Android 18 and very nearly pays for it with his life.
The search continues from one mishap to the next. The last ball, the Four-Star Ball, sits on a small island in the middle of a lake, but before the group can grab it, it ends up in a dinosaur's stomach. Yamcha, Videl, Chi-Chi and Roshi try to deal with the beast, and in the end it is the old master who saves the day: he farts in the animal's face and it coughs the ball back up. With that, all seven Dragon Balls are in hand.
Elsewhere, Majin Buu smashes through buildings and derails a train. Piccolo and Krillin fly toward the Lookout with the two boys still unconscious and, in the anime, stop at Korin's tower for a quick word with Korin and Yajirobe. Once at the top, together with Dende and Mr. Popo, they try to work out how to face an enemy that not even Vegeta's sacrifice could stop.
In the meantime, Goku opens his eyes in the middle of nowhere. His senzu bag is empty: Vegeta took the last one before knocking him out. Goku can sense Buu's energy, but not Vegeta's or Gohan's; he can, however, sense Piccolo and Krillin, which means they are no longer stone. With Instant Transmission he joins them at the Lookout, where Krillin greets him with delight and Dende heals his wounds before they tell him what has happened.
Our take
After two crushing episodes, the anime takes a breather, and it does so in the most natural way: by going back to its roots. Bulma with the radar in hand, a mismatched group on the road and one setback after another are exactly the ingredients of the original Dragon Ball. In the manga the search takes place off-panel; here it becomes a small adventure with its own dinosaur and its own gags, some of them questionable, but the lighter pace balances out Buu's rampage.
It is also a useful episode for Videl. The Japanese title puts her front and center, and she genuinely finds her place among Goku's old crew, playing an active part rather than watching from the sidelines. Meanwhile Goku is back on stage with the clock running: the single day on Earth that Fortuneteller Baba granted him is ticking away, and the news of Vegeta's and Gohan's deaths is waiting for him.
Trivia
- It adapts the first four pages of chapter 469 and adds a great deal of original material. Written by Takao Koyama and directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi, with Keisuke Masunaga as animation director.
- Its 21.4% share was the best since episode 231.
- The stop at Korin's tower, the destruction of the city and the train, and the entire hunt for the Four-Star Ball are anime additions.
- In the Funimation dub, Piccolo says he will never give up hope after seeing Goku become a Super Saiyan, a line absent from the Japanese version.
- A close-up of Marron sleeping on Android 18's lap gives 18 a right hand with six fingers.