Episode 277 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on September 6, 1995 and titled End of Earth in Funimation's dub, delivers on its title in the most brutal way possible. Kid Buu, the original form of Majin Buu, has no interest in duels: he only wants to destroy, and he wipes out Earth with a single attack. Goku, Vegeta, Dende and Mr. Satan (Hercule) survive only thanks to a last-second teleport.
Summary
On a cliff, Buu's new form stares at the horizon. Mr. Satan takes him for a kid and thinks about attacking, but Dende holds him back. Goku and Vegeta cannot tell whether the change has made him weaker. Meanwhile, on the Sacred World of the Kai, Kibito Kai tells Elder Kai the monster's true story.
Millions of years ago Bibidi unleashed Buu on the Supreme Kais. The West and North Kais were killed; the South Kai was absorbed, giving Buu the hulking form just seen on Earth. The Grand Supreme Kai stepped in to defend the East Kai, today's Supreme Kai, but was absorbed in turn, and his kindness turned the monster into the chubby, innocent creature everyone knows. Now that every outside influence is gone, Buu is back to what Bibidi made: pure evil. Elder Kai sends Kibito Kai to Earth.
Kid Buu screams, tearing up the landscape, then hurls an energy sphere at the planet. The two Saiyans knock it away and Vegeta calls him a coward for trying to blow everything up without a fight. Buu answers by charging a far stronger one. Goku suggests they all escape with Instant Transmission. He flies to Dende and Mr. Satan, who is clutching his puppy Bee, but the attack hits before the Saiyans can reach Gohan, Goten, Trunks and Piccolo, still unconscious. At the last instant Kibito Kai appears, grabs Goku and Vegeta and takes everyone to the Sacred World of the Kai. A moment later Earth explodes.
King Kai and the Namekians watch in shock, and in the afterlife Chi-Chi, Bulma and Videl see their world vanish. Vegeta lashes out at Goku for saving Dende and Mr. Satan instead of their sons. Among the debris, Kid Buu is already pulling himself back together.
Our take
Earth had been threatened dozens of times; this time it actually happens. Chi-Chi, Bulma, Videl and nearly all their friends had already been killed by Super Buu, but as long as the planet existed, the Dragon Balls left room for hope. Watching from the afterlife as the place where everything began disappears, and that hope with it, is the lowest point of the whole saga.
Vegeta's reaction is the heart of the episode. The prince who scorned attachments for years gets angry like a father, because he is one: earlier in this saga he gave his life for Bulma and Trunks. In the moment, Goku's choice looks absurd. The irony is that Dende, the Namekian who can summon Porunga, and Mr. Satan, the voice humanity trusts, will turn out to be decisive in the finale.
The anime turns the few panels of Kibito Kai's story into real fights, a useful addition that shows what Kid Buu can do before Goku finds out first-hand.
Trivia
- It adapts chapter 508 from page four to the end. Written by Atsushi Maekawa and directed by Yoshihiro Ueda, with Yūji Hakamada as animation director.
- It drew a 15.3% share.
- The reactions of King Kai and the Namekians and the afterlife scene are also anime additions.
- Funimation's remastered dub adds a line where Goku says he cannot concentrate.
Did you know? Tien and Chiaotzu had survived the attack Super Buu used to wipe out humanity, but they die with the planet. From here on, Mr. Satan is one of the last Earthlings still alive.