Episode 71 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on December 12, 1990 and titled Goku is Ginyu and Ginyu is Goku in Funimation's dub, delivers one of the saga's most disorienting twists. While Nail sacrifices himself to keep Frieza busy, Captain Ginyu reveals his real weapon: not raw strength, but the ability to steal his opponent's body. And the body he picks is Goku's.
Summary
Outside Grand Elder Guru's home, Frieza listens as the elder explains that Nail is no ordinary Namekian: he was trained differently and possesses extraordinary strength. At the same time, Guru telepathically gives Nail his real task, to stall Frieza as long as possible so Dende can reach the Earthlings with the password. Nail suggests a place to fight and flies off with Frieza in tow.
The tyrant soon tires of the trip, blurs in front of him and declares they have gone far enough. Nail powers up and Frieza admits he underestimated him, but promises to win using only his left arm. Nail's first strike does nothing; Frieza grabs his arm and tears it off. Nail screams, then regrows it, though the effort has cost him power.
Bulma, riding her hover bike, is chased by a pterodactyl that snatches her up and drops her in front of another dinosaur. Gohan and Krillin come to the rescue. She greets them with a tirade for not having made their wishes yet, they take the radar, and Gohan tells her that Goku has arrived on Namek.
On the battlefield, Ginyu starts laughing. He tries a few attacks, including his Galaxy Dynamite, without denting Goku. So he hands his scouter to Jeice, saying he will need it later, powers up and drives his own hand through his chest. As Goku stares in disbelief, the captain uses Body Change: their souls swap, Ginyu ends up in the Saiyan's body and Goku is trapped in the enemy's battered, bleeding one. Ginyu and Jeice head back to the ship, sure of victory, while Goku painfully drags himself after them.
Our take
Body Change is a stroke of genius from Toriyama. Up to now the Namek arc has been a contest of who has the highest power level; here the strongest fighter loses without being beaten, simply because he does not know his opponent's technique. Wounding himself before the swap is a cruel and clever move: Ginyu hands Goku a body that barely works.
The Nail-Frieza fight is the counterpoint. Nail knows he cannot win and fights anyway, and the torn-off, regrown arm drives home how casually Frieza is toying with him. It is our first real taste of the tyrant's physical cruelty, after seeing him mostly order massacres.
The anime adds several scenes: Frieza mocking the three warriors he just killed, Ginyu's Galaxy Dynamite, the swap shown as souls passing between bodies (the manga only shows the beam hitting Goku) and Bulma's dinosaur chase. In the manga Bulma never left her hideout, so her tirade at Gohan and Krillin takes place there.
Trivia
- Written by Aya Matsui, directed by Tatsuya Orime, with animation direction by Yukio Ebisawa. It intercuts portions of chapters 286 and 287 out of order, with a 22.9% ratings share.
- The pterodactyl chasing Bulma is practically identical to the one that tried to eat her in the very first episode of Dragon Ball.
- The remastered dub gives Goku added grunts during the Body Change; in the original Funimation dub he stays silent at the end of the swap.
- Funimation's dub garbles the power levels here, with Frieza claiming to be five hundred thousand times stronger than Nail.
Did you know? Before swapping with Goku, Ginyu hands his scouter to Jeice for later. Proof that he had already planned the whole thing and knew he would need it in his new body.