Dragon Ball Z Frieza Saga: Episodes 36-107

The Frieza Saga is the second major arc of Dragon Ball Z: seventy-two episodes broadcast on Fuji TV between February 14, 1990 and September 11, 1991, adapted from chapters 241 to 329 of the manga. It takes the heroes far from Earth, to planet Namek, and pits them against the most feared being in the universe, the emperor Frieza. It ends with the moment that defined the series forever: Goku's first transformation into a Super Saiyan.

How the saga is split

In Japan these episodes form two arcs: the Namek arc (episodes 36-74) and the Frieza arc proper (75-107). Funimation's American release splits them into three blocks instead: the Namek Saga (36-67), the Captain Ginyu Saga (68-74) and the Frieza Saga (75-107). We cover them on a single page because they tell one story, from the departure for Namek to the return to Earth.

The journey to Namek

The saga picks up where the Saiyan Saga left off: Vegeta has fled, Piccolo is dead and Kami died with him, so Earth's Dragon Balls are gone. But Krillin overheard Vegeta mention another set, on planet Namek, the homeworld of Piccolo and Kami. After accidentally blowing up Nappa's pod, Bulma revives, with Mr. Popo's help, the ship that brought Kami to Earth as a child, and sets off with Krillin and Gohan. Goku, still in the hospital, follows later in a ship built by Dr. Brief, training on the way under up to a hundred times Earth's gravity.

Before they arrive, the anime adds a long detour: a ship full of orphaned children, who speak Frieza's name for the first time, and a fake Namek where two impostors, Raiti and Zaacro, trick the trio with illusions.

Vegeta against Frieza's men

On Namek things are worse than expected. Frieza got there first with his two lieutenants, Zarbon and Dodoria, and is wiping out villages to collect the Dragon Balls and wish for immortality. That is exactly what Vegeta wants too: healed and stronger than ever, he has betrayed his master and is playing his own game.

For a long stretch the saga is a three-way contest, with the Earthlings trying to stay hidden while Vegeta picks off Frieza's men one by one: first Cui, then Dodoria, who reveals before dying that Frieza destroyed planet Vegeta, and finally Zarbon, who beats him with his monstrous form but dies in the rematch. Meanwhile Krillin and Gohan rescue young Dende and reach Grand Elder Guru, the patriarch of the Namekians, who unlocks their hidden potential.

The Ginyu Force

When Vegeta steals his Dragon Balls, Frieza calls in his elite squad: the Ginyu Force. Captain Ginyu, Recoome, Burter, Jeice and Guldo are fearsome warriors who strike poses inspired by Japanese superhero teams, and they are the funniest and scariest part of the saga at the same time. Guldo freezes time, Recoome flattens Vegeta, Krillin and Gohan, and only Goku's arrival turns the fight around: his training in space has made him almost unrecognizable.

Ginyu, however, has a secret weapon: he swaps bodies with Goku. The plan fails because the captain cannot handle the power of his new body, and he ends up trapped in a frog. Meanwhile Dende, Krillin and Gohan summon Porunga, Namek's dragon, who grants three wishes: Piccolo is revived and brought to Namek, but Guru dies before the third, immortality for Vegeta, can be granted.

Frieza and his transformations

And so the final battle begins. Frieza reveals that he can change form to unleash his power: his second form passes a battle power of one million, the third turns him into a long-headed monster, and the fourth, final form is surprisingly small and sleek. Piccolo, fused with the warrior Nail, holds him off for a while; Dende is killed; Vegeta lets himself be nearly killed to grow stronger, but dies at the tyrant's hands, in tears, after asking Goku to avenge the Saiyans.

The duel between Goku and Frieza fills almost twenty episodes. Goku pushes the Kaio-ken to twenty times and throws the biggest Spirit Bomb ever seen, but Frieza survives.

The first Super Saiyan

In Episode 95 Frieza kills Krillin in front of Goku. The rage triggers the legendary transformation: golden hair, an icy stare, a blazing aura. Goku becomes the Super Saiyan that Vegeta and Frieza had spoken of with dread throughout the saga, and from that moment the fight is his. For the forms that come later, see our page on Super Saiyan transformations.

The finale is a race against time: Frieza has struck Namek's core, and the planet is about to explode. With Shenron and Porunga, all of Frieza's victims are revived and sent to Earth, except Goku, who stays to finish the fight. Frieza, beaten and spared, attacks from behind one last time and is blasted back. Namek explodes, and for an episode everyone believes Goku is dead; in fact he survived and will return later. Vegeta heads into space to find him, and a year later the Namekians move to a new planet.

Main characters in this saga

Episodes

No.	English title (Funimation dub)	First aired (Japan)	Notes
36	Picking Up the Pieces	February 14, 1990
37	Plans for Departure	February 21, 1990
38	Nursing Wounds	February 28, 1990
39	Friends or Foes?	March 7, 1990	filler
40	Held Captive	March 14, 1990	filler
41	Look Out Below	March 21, 1990	filler
42	The Search Continues	April 4, 1990	filler
43	A Friendly Surprise	April 11, 1990	filler
44	Brood of Evil	April 18, 1990	partly filler; arrival on Namek
45	Frieza Strikes!	April 25, 1990
46	Defying Orders	May 2, 1990
47	Namek's Defense	May 9, 1990
48	The Hunted	May 16, 1990
49	The Prince Fights Back	May 23, 1990
50	Unexpected Problem	May 30, 1990
51	Vegeta Has a Ball	June 6, 1990
52	The Past and Future	June 20, 1990
53	Zarbon's Surprise	June 27, 1990
54	Guru's Gift	July 4, 1990
55	Piccolo vs. Everyone	July 18, 1990
56	Zarbon's Mission	August 1, 1990
57	Gohan, the Hunted	August 8, 1990
58	Unknown Enemies	August 22, 1990
59	Destination: Guru	August 29, 1990	partly filler
60	Bulma's Big Day	September 5, 1990	partly filler
61	Hidden Power	September 12, 1990	the Ginyu Force arrives
62	New Ally, New Problem	September 19, 1990
63	Guldo's Mind Binds	September 26, 1990
64	Recoome Unleashed	October 24, 1990
65	Let the Battle Begin	October 31, 1990
66	Goku's New Power	November 7, 1990
67	A Legend Revealed	November 14, 1990
68	Ginyu Assault	November 21, 1990
69	Incredible Force!	November 28, 1990
70	Frieza Approaches	December 5, 1990
71	Goku is Ginyu and Ginyu is Goku	December 12, 1990
72	Calling the Eternal Dragon	December 19, 1990
73	Gohan, Defeat Your Dad!	January 9, 1991
74	Captain Ginyu... The Frog	January 16, 1991	Ginyu becomes a frog
75	Password is Porunga	January 23, 1991	Porunga appears
76	Piccolo's Return	January 30, 1991
77	The Fusion	February 6, 1991
78	Fighting Power: One Million?	February 13, 1991	Frieza's second form
79	Gohan Attacks	February 20, 1991
80	Piccolo the Super-Namek	February 27, 1991
81	Deja Vu	March 6, 1991
82	Frieza's Second Transformation	March 13, 1991
83	Another Transformation?	March 20, 1991	Frieza's final form
84	Dende's Demise	March 27, 1991
85	The Renewed Goku	April 3, 1991
86	The End of Vegeta	April 10, 1991	Vegeta's death
87	The Ultimate Battle	April 17, 1991
88	Clash of the Super Powers	April 24, 1991
89	Frieza's Boast	May 1, 1991
90	Bold and Fearless	May 8, 1991
91	Embodiment of Fire	May 15, 1991
92	Trump Card	May 22, 1991
93	Keep the Chance Alive!!	May 29, 1991
94	Power of the Spirit	June 5, 1991
95	Transformed at Last	June 12, 1991	first Super Saiyan
96	Explosion of Anger	June 19, 1991
97	Namek's Destruction?	June 26, 1991
98	A Final Attack	July 10, 1991
99	Approaching Destruction	July 17, 1991
100	Gohan Returns	July 24, 1991
101	The Last Wish	July 31, 1991
102	Duel on a Vanishing Planet	August 7, 1991	filler
103	Pathos of Frieza	August 14, 1991
104	Frieza Defeated!!	August 21, 1991
105	Mighty Blast of Rage	August 28, 1991
106	Namek's Explosion... Goku's End?	September 4, 1991	Namek explodes
107	Goku's Alive!!	September 11, 1991

English titles are those of Funimation's dub: the 2005 uncut re-dub for episodes 36-67 and the 1999 dub for 68-107. The Ocean/Saban version that aired in 1997-1998 merged several episodes and used different titles.

Filler and differences from the manga

The manga was only a few months ahead, and Toei had to stretch the story. The most obvious block is episodes 39-43, almost entirely original: the children's mirror ship and Raiti and Zaacro's fake Namek, wrapped up in the first part of 44. Episode 102 is the only other one with no chapter behind it. Plenty of original material is scattered elsewhere: Bulma and the giant crab in 59-60, the dead fighters training on King Kai's planet, Goku's troubles aboard his ship, Vegeta's flashback to his days serving Frieza.

Watch out for a common mix-up: the Garlic Jr. arc, which starts with Episode 108, is not part of this story. It is an anime-only arc set on Earth after the return from Namek.

Our take

The Frieza Saga is the heart of Dragon Ball Z, and it is hard to overstate its importance. Toriyama takes the series into space, creates a villain unlike any before him, icy and polite even while torturing, and spends dozens of chapters building up a transformation known only by name. When it finally arrives in Episode 95, the payoff is worth every minute.

It is also the saga that changes Vegeta. The prince stays cruel, but his tearful death, his account of his people's end and that last request to Goku turn him from a plain antagonist into a tragic figure. Without Namek there would be no Vegeta as we know him.

The flaws are well known: the early filler, the drawn-out episodes where a fight advances by a few seconds, a final duel stretched far beyond the manga. Viewers who want the lean version can turn to Dragon Ball Kai. But the atmosphere of Namek, the tension of the Dragon Ball hunt and the clash with Frieza remain, more than thirty years later, the anime's finest hour.

Up next: the Garlic Jr. Saga, episodes 108-117 →