Episode 246 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on November 16, 1994 and titled Buu's Mutiny in Funimation's dub, wraps up the first real clash between Goku and Majin Buu and reshapes the rest of the saga. Goku fights at Super Saiyan 3 only to buy time, and pulls out as soon as the Dragon Radar is safe. Left alone with his master, Buu decides he no longer needs Babidi giving the orders.
Summary
The duel between Goku and Majin Buu rages on. Buu swallows Goku's foot and then the rest of him into his belly, but Goku blasts his way out with an explosion of energy that leaves the demon flat as a pancake; Buu simply puffs himself back up. To keep more people from getting hurt, the Saiyan never stops moving and gradually drags the fight away from the city.
At Capsule Corporation, Trunks and his grandparents tear the house apart looking for the radar. Up on Kami's Lookout, Bulma remembers leaving it in the plane she used to hunt for the Dragon Balls. With no phone up there, Videl lends her cell, and Master Roshi earns a slap for getting handsy. Bulma reaches her son, Dr. Brief pops the plane out of its capsule, and Trunks finds the radar on the front seat before flying back as a Super Saiyan.
On the battlefield, Buu stretches his arms, snares Goku and delivers a headbutt. Goku answers with a Kamehameha that punches a hole straight through Buu's stomach, but the wound closes instantly, and Buu fires back with a pink Kamehameha of his own, copied after seeing it just once. Goku swats it away, Buu bats it on, and the beam narrowly misses Babidi. King Kai warns that Goku is burning through his remaining time on Earth. On the Supreme Kai's world, Gohan senses the fight too, and the Supreme Kai tells him the key to beating Buu is the Z Sword.
When Goku senses Trunks leaving the city, he powers down and asks Buu to wait two days for a fighter worthy of him, provided nobody is killed in the meantime. Babidi hurls insults, Goku vanishes with Instant Transmission and reappears at the Lookout, where Goten runs to hug him. Babidi orders Buu to chase him, but Buu has a better idea: he grabs the wizard by the throat so he cannot recite the spell that would seal him away, then says "bye bye" and knocks his head off with a single punch.
Our take
Babidi's death is the true turning point of the saga's first half. Until now Buu was a weapon in the hands of a petty wizard; from here on he is a force with no leash, answering only to his own whims. It is a bold move: the villain who manipulated Vegeta and wrecked the World Martial Arts Tournament exits without fighting the heroes, killed by the creature he thought he controlled.
The smartest detail is how Buu does it. He shuts Babidi's mouth first, because he knows the wizard could lock him back up with a few words. Behind the overgrown-toddler act there is an instinctive cunning, the same one that lets him copy the Kamehameha after a single look. Goku, for his part, fights with his head: he never tries to win, he stalls and takes his opponent's measure. Why he held back is spelled out in the next episode, but you can already sense he is clearing the stage for the next generation.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 475 of the manga. Written by Hiroshi Toda and directed by Kazuhito Kikuchi, with Shingo Ishikawa as animation director.
- It drew a 19.3% ratings share.
- Much of the duel (Buu swallowing Goku, Goku leading him away from the city), the radar hunt at Capsule Corporation with Bulma's phone call, and Gohan's scene with the Supreme Kai are anime additions.
Did you know? The Japanese title, "Bye Bye Babidi", gives away the very farewell Buu says to his master just before the fatal punch.