Episode 43 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on April 11, 1990 and titled A Friendly Surprise in Funimation's 2005 uncut dub (Who's Who?! in the Ocean/Saban version), is where the illusion falls apart. The Japanese title cheers for the completed set and for Piccolo's coming revival, but it is a cruel joke: one step from the last ball, Raiti and Zaacro show their true faces. And on a distant base Vegeta gets the news that reshapes the saga: Frieza is already on Namek.
Summary
In an ice cave, Krillin and Gohan use energy from their palms to melt the block trapping the sixth Dragon Ball. Bulma complains about the cold and notices that Zaacro has vanished. Their cheering triggers a cave-in: the trio slides down a tunnel on a slab of ice, Krillin steering as best he can with a Kamehameha, while a giant snowball rolls after them, swallowing even the stalactites they knock down to stop it. The cave opens onto a chasm, and only their flying technique saves them.
On Planet Frieza No. 79, meanwhile, the doctor examines Vegeta's shattered armor and tells him that Frieza has left the base, but Cui wants a word. On Earth, out among the rocks, Goku lifts a boulder with his mind and shatters it with a leap, hurting himself so badly he cannot get up; Chi-Chi and Master Roshi find him and take him back to the hospital.
Heading for the last Dragon Ball, Krillin senses that something is off: they are on the same trail the dinosaur took. The radar leads them to a lake. Gohan runs ahead, thrilled at the thought of seeing Piccolo again, when an invisible force seizes him; Raiti and Zaacro reappear and grab Bulma by the arms.
Meanwhile Cui blocks Vegeta's way. He mocks him for his defeat and for losing Nappa and Raditz, then reveals that Frieza, annoyed by the unauthorized attack on Earth, has let it slide because it led him to the Dragon Balls. He is now on Namek to wish for immortality, and afterwards he will wipe out the Namekians. That was Vegeta's own wish: the prince grabs his scouter and blasts off at once.
At the lake, Raiti and Zaacro turn into two red monsters identical to the figures painted in the tomb. The landscape shifts, the ball in Krillin's hand turns into a rock, and the two fighters find themselves wrapped in the tentacles of sea creatures: the whole hunt was an illusion.
Our take
This episode gives meaning to the entire fake Namek detour. The clues planted over the previous installments, from the wall paintings to the shape-shifting castle, are explained here, and the twist works precisely because viewers saw it coming before the heroes did.
But the scene that really matters is Cui's. In the manga he is the one who tells Vegeta about Frieza's plan, and the anime keeps it faithfully: in a few exchanges we learn that Vegeta was an underling, that his dream of immortality was his master's dream too, and that the race to Namek will have three contenders. From here on, the saga changes pace.
Trivia
- Written by Aya Matsui and Takao Koyama and directed by Yoshihiro Ueda, with Mitsuo Shindō as animation supervisor.
- It adapts the final pages of chapter 246, the Vegeta and Cui scene; the ice cave and Raiti and Zaacro's reveal are original. Ratings share: 19.9%.
- Goku uses telekinesis here, a technique he never shows in the manga.
- In the Funimation dub, Chris Cason takes over as the voice of Planet Frieza No. 79's doctor, the voice most fans associate with the character.
Did you know? Cui is the same soldier Bun remembered killing his parents back in Episode 40: the anime uses him to tie the mirror-ship filler to the manga's storyline.
Characters
- Gohan, Krillin and Bulma
- Raiti and Zaacro
- Vegeta and Cui
- Goku, Chi-Chi and Master Roshi