Episode 27 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on November 22, 1989 and known in Funimation's dub as Nimbus Speed, belongs to Piccolo, Krillin and Gohan, who play their last card against Nappa while Goku is still in the air. It ends with the gesture that changes the bond between the Namekian and the boy forever.
Summary
Piccolo's plan kicks off at once. Krillin charges Nappa and shoots upward at the last second to distract him; Piccolo slips behind the Saiyan and grabs his tail. Gohan is supposed to strike, but Nappa does not buckle: one elbow knocks Piccolo out. A smug Vegeta explains that he and his partner trained specifically to eliminate that weakness.
Nappa turns on Gohan. Krillin steps in, lands a few blows and throws his Destructo Disc, a razor-sharp disc of energy. Nappa thinks about catching it, but Vegeta shouts at him to dodge: the disc grazes his cheek and leaves a cut. Furious, the Saiyan flattens Krillin, but Piccolo comes to and blasts him from behind.
At that moment, the three Earthlings sense a huge energy approaching. It is Goku, and he has grown astonishingly strong. Nappa, who cannot sense energy without a scouter, refuses to believe it, but Vegeta's scouter reads 5,000. The prince realizes that number may be just the beginning and orders Nappa to kill everyone before Goku arrives, Piccolo included. Nappa objects that they need the Namekian for information about the Dragon Balls, but Vegeta already has an answer: if Piccolo comes from Namek, his home planet must have Dragon Balls of its own.
Gohan tells Piccolo to get to safety; he will hold Nappa off until his father arrives. The giant charges the boy, but Gohan beats him to it with a kick to the face that sends him crashing into the rocks. Blind with rage, Nappa charges a devastating blast and fires it at him. At the last instant, Piccolo throws himself in front of Gohan and takes the hit with his own body.
Our take
The episode is built on two reversals. The first is the failure of the tail plan: what worked against Raditz no longer works, and the Saiyans prove to be opponents who learn from their mistakes. The second comes at the end, and it is one of the most important moments in the entire series: the demon who kidnapped Gohan to turn him into a weapon dies protecting him.
There is also a plot detail that almost goes unnoticed and yet decides the future of the story. When Vegeta deduces that Namek must have its own Dragon Balls, he opens the door to the entire next saga. Toriyama plants the seed of the next adventure in a line delivered in passing during a fight.
Gohan, meanwhile, completes his turnaround. After running away in episode 25, here he offers to stay behind to cover Piccolo and hits Nappa harder than anyone else has managed. The original title, Leave It to Me!, is his.
Compared with the manga, the anime adds a scene at Kame House: Chi-Chi, armed to the teeth, wants to rush to the battlefield to bring her son home, and the others struggle to stop her.
Trivia
- This is the episode where Vegeta first deduces the existence of Namek's Dragon Balls, the engine of the following saga.
- It was written by Toshiki Inoue and directed by Mitsuo Hashimoto.
- It adapts the second half of chapter 220 plus chapters 221 and 222. In Japan it drew a 22.8% ratings share, the highest of the saga up to that point.
Did you know? Nappa cannot sense energy without a scouter. It is one of the advantages Earth's fighters, trained by Kami and King Kai, hold over the Saiyans.