Episode 245 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on November 9, 1994 under the full title "An Astounding Great Transformation!! Super Saiyan 3" and called Super Saiyan 3?! in Funimation's dub, marks the debut of Super Saiyan 3. To buy time while Trunks hunts for the radar, Goku turns his standoff with Majin Buu into a lesson: he shows every Super Saiyan level in turn, then reaches a brand-new form that shakes the planet.
Summary
Babidi does not believe a word Goku says and orders Majin Buu to finish him quickly. At Kami's Lookout, everyone follows the fight through the images the wizard is broadcasting. Trunks, on his way to West City, stops in mid-air when he senses Goku's power; Goku scolds him telepathically and sends him on his way.
Goku drops back to his base form and begins his demonstration. First he becomes a Super Saiyan, then moves up to the level beyond it and gives it a name for the first time: Super Saiyan 2. Babidi scoffs that all he did was change his hairstyle. So Goku starts screaming and gathering energy. From the Grand Kai's planet, King Kai begs him to stop: a transformation like this will burn through what little time he has left on Earth.
The ground shakes, the wind howls, office windows shatter and TV sets blow out. In the mountains, Tien and Chiaotzu fear the worst. In a flash of light Goku completes the transformation: hair down to his waist, eyebrows gone, an enormous aura. This new level is Super Saiyan 3. On the Kais' sacred world, Gohan, the Supreme Kai and Kibito feel the energy, even though nothing from the world of the living is supposed to reach them.
Buu is not scared at all: he finds the hair hilarious, Babidi piles on, and Goku happily accepts the challenge. Meanwhile, Trunks reaches Capsule Corporation, where his grandmother offers him a snack and Dr. Brief cannot remember where the radar is. On the battlefield, Goku hurls Buu through an office building and swats away his blasts; Buu hits him with a stretched-out arm without doing any damage, and the two grin at each other. Buu is having fun, and when Babidi threatens to seal him away, he tells his master to be quiet. Goku keeps pounding him while Trunks turns the house upside down.
Our take
The smartest choice in this episode is how Goku presents Super Saiyan 3: not as a weapon, but as a lesson. He shows the forms one at a time and names them, almost as if he were explaining Fusion to the boys. It fits his plan: he does not intend to beat Buu, only to stall him and leave the job to the next generation.
The transformation is very long, and the anime stretches it further with shattering glass and exploding televisions, but the moment holds up. The waist-length hair and missing eyebrows make the form instantly recognizable, and it remains one of the most beloved Super Saiyan transformations.
There is a price, though, and King Kai spells it out: every minute in this form shortens Goku's stay on Earth, which also means less time to teach Goten and Trunks the Fusion Dance.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 474 of the manga. Written by Hiroshi Toda and directed by Mitsuo Hashimoto, with Ichio Hayashi as animation director.
- It drew a 21.7% ratings share in Japan.
- It marks the first appearance of Super Saiyan 3 and the first time Super Saiyan 2 is called by that name.
- The shots of shattering glass and exploding appliances, and Trunks's frantic search for the radar, are anime additions.
- Tien and Chiaotzu make their first appearance of the Majin Buu Saga here.
Did you know? A popular urban legend in Brazil claims that this transformation was cut off on TV by breaking news coverage of September 11, 2001. Network executives have debunked it: the series did not air at all that day.