Episode 44 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on April 18, 1990 and titled Brood of Evil in Funimation's uncut 2005 dub (Touchdown on Namek in the original Ocean/Saban version), closes the fake Namek detour and finally puts Bulma, Krillin and Gohan on the right planet. The celebration lasts minutes. Vegeta's pod drops out of the sky, and somewhere nearby a figure in a hover-pod collects Dragon Balls from his soldiers: the first, fleeting glimpse of Frieza.
Summary
Gohan and Krillin are still caught in the tentacles of the lake creatures. Raiti and Zaacro, their Namekian disguise gone, explain everything. They are castaways on a worthless world, trapped by a spatial phenomenon that makes take-off impossible. While Bulma was unconscious they probed her mind and used what they found to stage the whole Dragon Ball hunt as an illusion. Now the fog is lifting, so they grab the Dragon Radar and race for the spaceship.
One detail ruins the plan: nobody ever translated the door command out of Namekian. Bulma watches from behind a rock as the two thieves fail to get inside. Underwater, Gohan frees one arm, propels himself with an energy blast and tangles his monster's tentacles with the ones holding Krillin. Locking hands and firing in circles, the two spin up a whirlpool that sweeps the creatures away.
Raiti and Zaacro force Bulma to open the ship. She says the password, "Piccolo", but Gohan shouts it too and the platform comes back down. One blow each from Gohan and Krillin and the impostors are finished. The trio slips out through a gap in the phenomenon.
On Earth, Goku tries yet another escape from the hospital, only to find his doctor and nurse waiting at the door. Thirty-four days after leaving home, the ship lands on a blue-green world that reminds Gohan of the wilderness where Piccolo trained him. The radar shows seven Dragon Balls, four of them already gathered in one place.
Gohan and Krillin sense powerful, unfriendly energy, but Bulma reminds them that King Kai called the Namekians peaceful. Then a round pod crashes in the distance. It is a Saiyan ship, so it must be Vegeta. The boys mask their power and decide to stay, while Bulma considers going back for Goku. A second pod streaks through the atmosphere. Elsewhere, a soldier hands a Dragon Ball to a figure in a hover-pod flanked by Dodoria and Zarbon, bringing their total to four.
Our take
The Raiti and Zaacro arc wraps up quickly, which is the right call. The idea that every oddity of the last three episodes came from illusions built out of Bulma's memories is a neat retroactive explanation, and the gag of the villains being locked out of their prize keeps the light adventure tone to the end.
The second half feels like a different show. The move from fake Namek to real Namek is handled well: the excitement, Krillin pinching Bulma's cheeks to make sure she is not another illusion, then the chill of hostile power levels and Vegeta's pod. The closing scene introduces the new villain without really showing him, and it works. Frieza is only a silhouette in a hover-pod, but the dying Namekian at his feet says enough.
From here on, the saga picks up speed and never really lets go.
Trivia
- Written by Keiji Terui and directed by Tatsuya Orime, with Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru as animation supervisor.
- Only the second half comes from the manga, adapting the first 14 pages of chapter 247. The escape from fake Namek and Goku's hospital scene are anime additions. Japanese ratings share: 21.0%.
- Dodoria and the Namekians have four fingers in the manga and five in the anime.
Did you know? The landing happens 34 days after departure: the shortcut given to the trio by the children of the mirror spaceship saved them more than two weeks of travel.
Characters
- Gohan, Krillin and Bulma
- Raiti and Zaacro
- Vegeta
- Frieza, Zarbon and Dodoria
- Goku and Chi-Chi
- Master Roshi