Episode 99 of Dragon Ball Z, first broadcast in Japan on July 17, 1991 and titled Approaching Destruction in Funimation's dub, shifts the story's center away from Namek. While Goku and Frieza battle on a collapsing planet, a plan to save everyone takes shape on Earth and in the afterlife. King Kai came up with it, and it runs through Earth's Dragon Balls and Shenron.
Summary
As Namek starts to break apart, Frieza pays his opponent a poisonous compliment: if he himself did not exist, Goku would be the most powerful being in the universe. On Earth, meanwhile, Mr. Popo has finally gathered all seven Dragon Balls, and Kami contacts King Kai to offer to revive Yamcha and Tien.
King Kai has a better idea. If they ask Shenron to bring back everyone Frieza and his men killed on Namek, Grand Elder Guru will return too, since he actually died of grief over the slaughter of his children. With Guru alive again, Namek's Dragon Balls and Porunga will reappear, and Porunga still has one wish left: it can be used to send every inhabitant of the planet to Earth, except Frieza. The price is that Yamcha and Tien will have to wait another year on King Kai's planet, but both gladly accept.
On Namek, Goku and Frieza dodge columns of fire shooting up from a volcano. The tyrant headbutts him, Goku grabs him and spins him around to hurl him at the planet, but Frieza stops his fall with an energy blast.
At the spaceship, Bulma is frightened by the sight of Piccolo, even though he is unconscious, and suggests leaving him behind. Terrified of the coming explosion, she wants to take off at once, but Gohan refuses to abandon his father, and in the end she agrees to wait.
Goku slowly starts to prevail, and Frieza, beside himself, charges at him at top speed. Goku answers with a massive Kamehameha. Back on Earth, Mr. Popo summons Shenron and asks him to revive every victim of Frieza and his men. The dragon hesitates: the wish will take time.
Our take
This is one of the most important episodes for the plot and one of the least remembered, because its key moment is not a punch but an idea. King Kai's plan is a small gem of narrative engineering: Toriyama takes the Dragon Ball rules built up over years of stories and combines them to save everyone except the villain. It is also a rare moment of glory for King Kai, who usually just narrates battles from the afterlife.
The revelation about Guru adds a touch of melancholy: the Grand Elder did not die of old age, but from the pain of feeling his children killed one after another. He is yet another of Frieza's victims, which makes King Kai's wish all the more fitting.
As for pacing, we are now halfway through the famous five minutes, announced in episode 97 and set to last until the explosion in episode 106. The anime fills the time with the episode's one confirmed addition to the manga: the argument between Bulma and Gohan at the spaceship. In the comic, the two are transported to Earth before they even reach it; here the scene at least gives Gohan a chance to show how much he believes in his father, and Bulma a chance to be, for once, understandably cowardly.
Trivia
- It adapts part of chapter 321 and chapter 322, with a few pages rearranged. Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi, with animation direction by Yukio Ebisawa; 19.5% ratings share in Japan.
- As with the two previous episodes, the original next-episode preview was split with a ticket lottery for Cooler's Revenge.
- The literal Japanese title asks Shenron to "run through space", a nod to the wish that reaches all the way to Namek.
Did you know? Chiaotzu cannot be revived by Earth's Dragon Balls: Shenron had already brought him back once, which is why King Kai's plan only mentions Yamcha and Tien.
Characters
- Goku and Frieza
- Gohan, Bulma and Piccolo
- King Kai, Yamcha, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu
- Kami, Mr. Popo and Shenron
- Grand Elder Guru (mentioned)