Episode 287 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on December 20, 1995 and titled Celebrations with Majin Buu in Funimation's dub, is the first episode after the war, and the series finally breathes. Vegeta wants to finish off the good Buu as well, Mr. Satan stands in his way, and Goku comes home to stay. Much of what follows is original to the anime.
Summary
Mr. Satan tells the whole world that Buu is gone. Dende, Kibito Kai and Elder Kai arrive on the Sacred World of the Kai, and Dende heals Goku and Vegeta. Then Bee the puppy finds the good Buu lying in the rubble. Mr. Satan begs for him to be healed, but Vegeta refuses: as long as any Buu exists, the Earth will never be safe, and if the champion does not step aside he will go down too. Goku steps in: without the good Buu and Mr. Satan, the Spirit Bomb would never have landed. Vegeta gives in through gritted teeth, and Goku suggests using the Dragon Balls to erase Buu from people's memories.
Kibito Kai brings everyone back to the Lookout. Chi-Chi, Gohan and Goten run to Goku, Bulma and Trunks to Vegeta, Videl to her father. Buu's arrival causes a panic, but Vegeta stops Trunks from attacking: Buu is a guest. Goku explains that Elder Kai gave him his own life and that this time he is staying on Earth, and Chi-Chi throws her arms around him in tears.
Six months later, Goku asks Shenron to make everyone on Earth forget Majin Buu. Buu now roams the city freely. He wants ice cream but has no money, and holds back his temper by remembering Mr. Satan's advice; then he flattens a street boxer who takes on passers-by for cash and spends the winnings on every flavor in the shop. Later he goes jewelry shopping with Bulma, and the boxer and his partner burst in to rob the store. A bullet does nothing to Buu, and the pair surrender before Gohan and Videl, in their Great Saiyaman costumes, can lift a finger.
At Goku's house on Mount Paozu, Goku, Goten and Trunks take an outdoor bath, the two boys fuse into Gotenks to get back at him for a prank, and the tub is smashed to pieces, leaving them naked in front of the guests. Chi-Chi storms out, while Vegeta watches from a distance, leaning against a tree.
Our take
In the manga this stretch is over in a flash. Chapter 517 shows the return to the Lookout in wordless panels and sums up the next six months and the memory wish in a caption before jumping ahead ten years. The anime spends a whole episode letting the characters talk, and the biggest payoff is the embrace between Goku and Chi-Chi: after seven years dead, Goku is truly home.
The argument over the good Buu is the most serious moment. Vegeta is not wrong, and nobody really answers his logic: Goku counters with a debt of gratitude, not a guarantee. This is the same Goku who once let Vegeta and Frieza live, and here too he chooses trust. The rest is pure comedy: Buu biting his tongue at the ice cream counter, a robbery that ends before it starts, a bath that gets out of hand. Not all of it is memorable, but for once Z shows us the world its heroes saved.
Trivia
- It adapts the first ten pages of chapter 517. Written by Atsushi Maekawa and directed by Mitsuo Hashimoto, with Kazuya Hisada as animation director.
- It drew a 17.2% share.
- The dialogue at the Lookout reunion, the wish to Shenron on screen, Buu's day in the city with the jewelry store robbery, and the bath at Goku's house are all anime additions.
- Vegeta's closing "What are you looking at?" to the audience exists only in the English dub; in Japanese he simply grumbles about how vulgar Goku and Gotenks are.