Episode 24 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on October 25, 1989 and known in Funimation's dub as The Power of Nappa, is where Nappa stops watching and starts fighting. Within minutes it is clear that Earth's fighters are hopelessly outmatched: Tien loses an arm and Chiaotzu sacrifices himself in a suicide attack that barely scratches the Saiyan.
Summary
At Kame House, the television has just shown Yamcha's death: Bulma is in tears, Puar faints from the shock and Master Roshi comforts her by reminding her the Dragon Balls can bring him back. On the battlefield, Krillin vents his rage with a barrage of energy that obliterates three Saibamen. The last one lunges at Gohan, but Piccolo takes it out in midair.
Vegeta and Nappa, however, are unharmed. Nappa asks for, and gets, permission to take on all five opponents by himself. He goes for Krillin, but Piccolo gets in his way and is sent crashing into a rock. Then the Saiyan powers up, and the aura he unleashes makes his opponents tremble. He picks Tien as his next victim and, with a single blow, severs one of his arms. Tien tries to fight back but is pummeled; when Krillin tries to help, Nappa blasts a crater in the ground to stop him and knocks Chiaotzu aside too.
Chiaotzu, though, is still alive. He catches Nappa by surprise and latches onto his back, where the Saiyan cannot reach him. Nappa slams him into the rocks again and again, but the little fighter will not let go. He says a final telepathic goodbye to Tien and self-destructs. When the smoke clears, Nappa is still standing, barely scratched: he raised his guard at the last moment. The sacrifice was for nothing. On Snake Way, meanwhile, Goku has just passed Princess Snake's palace, halfway along the road.
Our take
After Yamcha's death, this episode raises the stakes again. Nappa is not just strong: he is cruel for fun, and the direction lingers on his enjoyment as he beats a maimed Tien. The arm torn off in one blow is one of the most violent images of the saga, and it makes the gulf between the Saiyans and Earth's best fighters painfully clear.
Chiaotzu's sacrifice is the emotional core. He has always stood a step behind, bound to Tien by a friendship dating back to their days at the Crane School, and here he does the only thing he can. That it accomplishes nothing makes the scene even more bitter, because Chiaotzu had already been revived with the Dragon Balls after King Piccolo killed him: this time he cannot come back.
The anime adds quite a bit. The Kame House scene is its own, as are the rock-smashing attempts Nappa makes to shake Chiaotzu off; in the manga the explosion comes almost immediately. In the comic, Chiaotzu also tries to freeze Nappa with telekinesis, while in the anime he is simply blasted aside. Tien's grief is longer too, with a memory of their time together.
Trivia
- In Tien's flashback, Chiaotzu carries a baby InoShikaCho, the creature from their first animated appearance that does not exist in the manga.
- This is Chiaotzu's second death in the series, after the one at King Piccolo's hands.
- The scene of Roshi groping Bulma after comforting her was cut from the Saban/Ocean edit.
- The episode adapts chapters 216 and 217 and drew a 20.3% ratings share in Japan.
Did you know? In the Ocean Group dub, Tien reacts to losing his arm by telling Nappa to just wait until it grows back, a line that is nowhere in the original.
Characters
- Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu
- Krillin, Piccolo and Gohan
- Nappa and Vegeta
- Saibamen
- Bulma, Puar and Master Roshi
- Goku