Episode 258 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on March 1, 1995, is fully titled I'm Going Like I Mean It!! A Wide-Open Super Gotenks and became Super Moves of Gotenks in Funimation's dub. It is the most playful episode of the saga. Inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Gotenks takes on Super Buu with a parade of ridiculously named techniques that all fail, until he decides to get serious, turns Super Saiyan and prepares his secret weapon.
Summary
Piccolo watches the fight with growing dread. Still in his base form, Gotenks throws himself at Buu with a string of moves he seems to be inventing on the spot, each more theatrical than the last, and none of them has the slightest effect. At one point he forgets what comes next and pulls out a cheat sheet. When he aims for Buu's stomach, Buu himself points to his face as a better target.
Meanwhile the Chamber's surroundings turn to ice, and Buu uses it to freeze Gotenks's feet in place. The kid finally notices the look on Piccolo's face and pulls him aside. In the Japanese version he explains that he is fighting this way on purpose, to put on a better show; then he agrees to use his full strength.
Up on the Lookout, Master Roshi, Krillin, Bulma and Dende snack while wondering whether Goten and Trunks trained enough. Back inside, Buu taunts Gotenks by telling him he is not strong at all. That is the spark he needed: Gotenks breaks free of the ice and turns Super Saiyan. Piccolo is stunned, having never imagined that a fused warrior could transform, and for the first time he starts to believe.
Gotenks then traps Buu inside a ring of energy that tightens around him, but the monster snaps it with brute strength. From there the fight gets rough, and Buu starts beating him in earnest. In one frantic exchange, Gotenks and Piccolo even end up in the bathtub of the Chamber's living quarters. To turn things around, Gotenks focuses and spits a tiny ghost with his own face out of his mouth: the first step of the Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack.
Our take
This episode has split fans for decades, and it is easy to see why. In the manga, base Gotenks's fight with Buu lasts a mere two pages; the anime stretches it across most of an episode, filling it with gags, absurd technique names and over-the-top poses. If you want tension, it drags. If you love Akira Toriyama's comedic side, this is Gotenks exactly as he should be.
Because that is who the character is: a kid with the power of a god and the attention span of a kid. The useless moves, the cheat sheet and the need to show off are not a writing mistake but his defining trait, and they will carry heavy consequences in the episodes to come. The contrast with Piccolo, who sees the fate of the planet hanging on every punch, is what really drives the half hour.
The Super Saiyan transformation lands at the right moment, and Piccolo's astonishment reminds viewers how new and unpredictable fusion still is.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 490. Written by Atsushi Maekawa and directed by Takahiro Imamura, with Yūji Hakamada as animation director.
- Its 22.9% ratings share is the highest of any episode between 241 and 265.
- The ice trapping Gotenks's feet, his talk with Piccolo, the conversation on the Lookout and the bathtub tumble are all anime additions.
- Funimation's dub gave Gotenks's improvised attacks even sillier names, such as the "Screaming Angry Wombat".
Characters
- Gotenks, Super Buu and Piccolo
- Master Roshi, Krillin, Bulma and Dende