Episode 79 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on February 20, 1991 and titled Gohan Attacks in Funimation's dub, is one of the most violent chapters of the Namek arc. Freshly transformed, Frieza turns his cruelty on Krillin and then Gohan, and the boy's fury gives the series a first, brief taste of the hidden potential that will define him.
Summary
With Krillin still skewered on his horn, Frieza toys with him, jerking him around until he passes out. Gohan tries to help, but the tyrant swats him away with his tail. On King Kai's planet, Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu ask to follow the fight and can only watch helplessly. Finally Frieza hurls Krillin into the water and leaves him to die.
Gohan dives after him, but Frieza blocks his path. That is the last straw. The boy screams at him to move and, when Frieza refuses, he snaps. A kick catches the tyrant off guard, a storm of punches drives him into the ground, and a barrage of energy blasts capped by a massive Masendan finishes the assault. A huge explosion buries Frieza under the rubble, and even Vegeta is stunned by the kid's power.
Meanwhile Dende manages to drag Krillin back to shore, barely alive. When the dust settles, though, Frieza is standing and practically unscathed. Annoyed at being knocked down by a child, he strikes back and slams Gohan into the ground. Vegeta seizes the moment to hit him from behind with a Galick Gun and then another volley, but the tyrant does not even flinch; he simply promises to deal with Vegeta once he is done with the boy.
Gohan tries to defend himself, but a kick to the stomach sends him back down. Frieza decides the game has gone on long enough and starts grinding the boy's head under his foot. Far away, Piccolo feels his pupil's energy fading and flies as fast as he can. Vegeta, meanwhile, stays where he is, unsure what to do.
Our take
Gohan's outburst is the heart of the episode and one of the defining moments for the character. Since the Saiyan Saga the series has told us that the boy hides enormous power that surfaces when he gets angry; here we see him rattle, if only for a few seconds, the most fearsome enemy anyone has faced. It is not enough to win, but it is enough to show Frieza, and us, that this kid is different.
The other silent protagonist is Vegeta. The prince who just proclaimed himself a Super Saiyan is reduced to a spectator, unable to make a real difference: his sneak attack feels almost like an act of desperation. It is the first crack in his confidence, and the show stages it without mercy.
The anime stretches out Krillin's suffering, since in the manga he is simply thrown into the water, and adds Gohan's attempt to save him while he is still impaled. Also anime-only are the King Kai group asking to see the fight, Bulma starting to see Krillin's face in the rocks, and Vegeta's second volley.
Trivia
- Written by Aya Matsui and directed by Tatsuya Orime, with Masayuki Uchiyama as animation supervisor.
- It adapts chapters 297 and 298, with a 23.5% ratings share.
- For Funimation's 1999 TV dub, this episode and the next were edited together into a single episode (numbered 65), partly because of the graphic impaling scene.
- In Japan, half of the next-episode preview was devoted to a ticket lottery for the movie Lord Slug, released on March 9, 1991.
Did you know? From episode 73 to 80, the series was shot on 35mm film stock instead of the usual 16mm.