Episode 66 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on November 7, 1990 and titled Goku's New Power in Funimation's uncut dub, is payback time: Goku finally steps onto the battlefield on Namek and, within minutes, turns around a fight that looked lost. The Japanese title also speaks, for the first time, the words that will dominate the coming episodes: Super Saiyan.
Summary
The ship has just landed, and Recoome, Jeice and Burter wonder who has arrived, maybe more Namekians. Krillin, lying on the ground, smiles. Goku steps out, scans the planet's energies and immediately finds the two strongest, Frieza's and Captain Ginyu's. Then he notices he cannot sense Gohan and Krillin, and understands why: they are barely alive. He flies toward them, confident in his 100x gravity training.
Jeice and Burter are startled by his speed; the battered Vegeta, much less so. Goku tries to wake Gohan, who does not respond, and feeds him a Senzu Bean: the boy springs up fully healed, to the Ginyu Force's amazement. He does the same for Krillin, then reads his mind to learn everything that has happened since they arrived. That is how he discovers that the two owe their lives partly to Vegeta, so he tosses him the last bean. Recoome tries to snap it out of the air with his mouth and loses another tooth.
Now it is Recoome's turn. His scouter reads Goku at 5,000; the giant pretends to be scared, then bursts out laughing and flips him off. Goku stays calm and tells him he will not win. Meanwhile, in her hideout, Bulma gets a call from home: her father and Chi-Chi want to know what became of Goku.
Recoome charges his most devastating attack but never gets to release it: Goku drives an elbow into his stomach and knocks him out cold. Jeice and Burter call it luck, since their scouters still show 5,000. Vegeta is not fooled: he felt Goku release all his power for a split second, and he thinks back to the legend of the golden warrior. Could Kakarot have become a Super Saiyan?
Our take
This is the hero's entrance, and it works because it is built on contrast. After two episodes in which Recoome demolished everyone, Goku dispatches him with one blow, no visible effort, almost gently. The calm with which he faces the giant is the real special effect: the audience senses something has changed before anyone says it out loud.
The most meaningful gesture, though, is a different one: the Senzu Bean tossed to Vegeta. Goku knows exactly who the prince is, but he repays a debt, and he does it in front of everyone. That is the essential difference between the two Saiyans, and the next episode will make it even sharper.
The anime adds plenty of detail: King Kai watching the landing, the images of Frieza and Ginyu that Goku sees while sensing them, Krillin's memories shown on screen, Recoome's lost tooth and the call to Bulma. The flashback of a golden Great Ape while Vegeta talks about the legend is an addition too. And in the manga, Recoome stays put while charging his attack instead of lunging forward.
Trivia
- It adapts chapters 279 and 280, with a 24.4% ratings share.
- Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, directed by Tatsuya Orime, animation supervised by Yukio Ebisawa.
- In Japanese, this is Mayumi Shō's final performance as Chi-Chi; Naoko Watanabe takes over later in the series.
- Bardock's special aside, it is the first episode to use music from The Tree of Might.
- In the Funimation dub, Recoome calls his attack the "Full-Power Eraser Gun"; in some versions his rude gesture was cut.
Did you know? The original Ocean/Saban dub merged episodes 66 and 67 into a single installment, Goku... Super Saiyan?