Episode 8 of Dragon Ball Z, first aired in Japan on June 21, 1989 under the full title A Great Transformation on a Moonlit Night! The Secret of Gohan's Power, answers the question Bulma and Roshi asked back in episode 2: what happens to Gohan under a full moon? The answer comes at night, in the middle of the wasteland, and forces Piccolo into a drastic solution. First, though, a mother has to learn the truth.
Summary
Krillin returns to Kame House without having managed to talk to Chi-Chi. Bulma, meanwhile, has spent the night repairing Raditz's scouter, and it finally works: she can measure anyone's strength and locate the most powerful people on the planet, including Yamcha, Tien, and Piccolo with Gohan. The plan is to round everyone up and search for the Dragon Balls to revive Goku as soon as possible.
Yajirobe interrupts with a message from Korin: Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu must come to the tower at once, because Kami himself will train them for the Saiyans' arrival. And they must not revive Goku: according to Fortuneteller Baba, he is training in the afterlife. Yajirobe leaves, and right after, another air car lands. It is Chi-Chi and the Ox-King, come to pick up Gohan. Roshi has no choice but to tell them everything: Goku is dead and the boy has been taken by Piccolo. Chi-Chi faints.
That night, in the wasteland, Gohan wakes up and sees a full moon for the first time. His eyes change, his body swells to enormous size, and the boy becomes a giant Great Ape. He smashes everything around him and fires a mouth blast that tears across the horizon. Piccolo realizes the Earth might be destroyed before the Saiyans even arrive. Remembering what Raditz said about the full moon, he does the only thing he can: he destroys the Moon.
Gohan reverts to normal and collapses asleep. Piccolo realizes the tail is tied to the transformation and pulls it off. Then, before leaving, he gives him a sword and an outfit similar to Goku's, but bearing his own symbol.
Our take
The Japanese title promises "the secret of Gohan's power", and the episode delivers: the transformation is the most direct link between the son and the original series, when it was Goku who turned into an ape without knowing it. Anyone who watched Dragon Ball remembers what that means, and Bulma and Roshi's anxiety in episode 2 suddenly makes sense.
The episode adapts chapter 208 and the first half of chapter 209 of Akira Toriyama's manga, swapping their order: in the comic, the transformation comes before Chi-Chi's visit to Kame House. It is a sensible choice that ends the episode on its strongest image.
The detail that lingers, though, is Piccolo's final gesture. The outfit he leaves Gohan bears the Japanese character ma, "demon", in place of Master Roshi's turtle symbol: it is his way of claiming the boy as his student. Piccolo sees him as a future member of his demon clan, but the viewer already sees something else.
Trivia
- This is not the first time the Moon has been blown up: in the original series, Master Roshi destroyed it during the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament to stop a transformed Goku.
- In the manga, Bulma immediately tests the repaired scouter: Roshi reads 139, Krillin 206.
- In Japan the episode drew a 16.8% ratings share. It was written by Takao Koyama and directed by Yoshihiro Ueda.
- The uncut 2005 English redub titled it, with a pun, Gohan Goes Bananas!
Did you know? In the manga, Gohan wakes up in the middle of the night needing to pee, and that mundane detail is what makes him see the full moon for the first time.