The Garlic Jr. Saga is the short arc that sits between the battle on Namek and the coming of the Androids in Dragon Ball Z: ten episodes, 108 to 117, broadcast on Fuji TV between September 18 and November 20, 1991. It was created entirely for the anime, and nothing in Akira Toriyama's manga corresponds to it. It brings back Garlic Jr., the villain of the first Dragon Ball Z movie, and leaves Earth's defense to Gohan, Krillin and Piccolo, because Goku has not yet come home from space.
Where it fits
At the end of the Frieza Saga, Namek has exploded, Porunga has revived the fallen and the Namekians have found a new home. Goku survived, but sent word that he will make his own way back. Life on Earth settles down: Gohan is back at his books under Chi-Chi's watchful eye, Krillin has a girlfriend, and Vegeta has taken a Capsule Corporation ship into space to hunt for his rival.
The reason for the arc is production, not story. By autumn 1991 the anime had all but caught up with the manga, and Toei needed to give Toriyama a few months' head start without padding out the fights yet again, as had happened in the marathon duel with Frieza. The answer was a self-contained, fully original story built around a villain moviegoers already knew.
The return of Garlic Jr.
Garlic Jr. was the antagonist of Dead Zone, the first Dragon Ball Z film, released in Japanese theaters in 1989. The son of a demon who had once competed with Kami for the role of Earth's guardian, he wished for immortality with the Dragon Balls in the movie and was beaten by four-year-old Gohan, whose burst of rage knocked him into the Dead Zone, the prison dimension he himself had opened.
The TV series picks up from there. The Makyo Star, the demon world his clan draws its strength from, swings close to Earth and lets him break free. Garlic Jr. storms Kami's Lookout with his new henchmen, the Spice Boys (Spice, Vinegar, Mustard and Salt, known in Japanese as Gashew, Vinegar, Tard and Zald), traps Kami and Mr. Popo in two small bottles and declares himself the planet's new master. He is the only villain from the Dragon Ball Z films to return in the TV series, which gives these episodes their peculiar flavor: they play almost like a television sequel to the movie.
The Black Water Mist and the Spice Boys
Garlic Jr.'s plan is simple and grim. From the Lookout he releases the Black Water Mist over the Earth, turning anyone who breathes it into a demon under his command. A party at Kame House becomes a nightmare as Chi-Chi, Bulma, Yamcha, Master Roshi and the rest turn on Gohan, Krillin and Maron, the only ones spared. The only cure is the Sacred Water kept at the Lookout, and it has to be spread before dawn, after which the effect becomes permanent.
Piccolo shows up, but Yamcha bites him and he seems to go over to the demons. Gohan and Krillin leave Maron at Korin's Tower and fly up to the Lookout, where the Spice Boys are waiting. When Krillin is hurt, Gohan wipes out Mustard and Salt with a Masenko each, only to find himself facing his own mentor, apparently turned.
Showdown at the Lookout
The twist comes in Episode 112: Piccolo, with Krillin in on it, was faking. As a Namekian he is immune to the mist, and he used the act to snatch the bottles holding Kami and Mr. Popo. Once free, the two descend into the depths of the Lookout to release the Sacred Water into the air currents that wrap around the planet, but there they face the spirits of the guardians who came before Kami, who do not tolerate trespassers.
Meanwhile the Makyo Star reaches its closest point to Earth. Garlic Jr., Spice and Vinegar grow to giant size; Piccolo answers by growing too, but falters whenever Kami, whose life is tied to his, is in danger. When the Sacred Water finally spreads and the world wakes up, Garlic Jr. reopens the Dead Zone to swallow the Lookout. It falls to Gohan to shield the others with a barrier and then strike the Makyo Star itself: robbed of his power source, the demon shrinks and is sucked into his own prison.
Krillin, Maron and Vegeta in space
Two lighter threads run alongside the main plot. The first is Krillin, finally dating Maron, a gorgeous, scatterbrained flirt. The arc's last episode belongs to them: Krillin thinks about marriage and dives to the bottom of the sea for a pearl said to bring happiness, but in the end Maron drives off with another man. The second is Vegeta, roaming space on Goku's trail. He even reaches a planet where he senses the traces of a Super Saiyan's energy, but finds no one.
Main characters in this saga
Episodes
| No. | English title (Funimation dub) | First aired (Japan) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 108 | The Heavens Tremble | September 18, 1991 | Garlic Jr. returns |
| 109 | Black Fog of Terror | September 25, 1991 | the Black Water Mist |
| 110 | Battle in Kami's Lookout | October 2, 1991 | Vegeta in space |
| 111 | Fight with Piccolo | October 9, 1991 | |
| 112 | Call for Restoration | October 16, 1991 | Piccolo's plan |
| 113 | Suicidal Course | October 23, 1991 | giant Garlic Jr. |
| 114 | Extreme Measures | October 30, 1991 | |
| 115 | The World Awakens | November 6, 1991 | |
| 116 | Brief Chance for Victory | November 13, 1991 | Makyo Star destroyed |
| 117 | Krillin's Proposal | November 20, 1991 | Krillin and Maron |
All ten episodes are filler. English titles are those of Funimation's dub, which aired the arc on Cartoon Network in 2000.
An all-original arc
The Garlic Jr. Saga was written almost entirely by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, who scripted episodes 108 through 116; Episode 117 was written by Aya Matsui and directed by series director Daisuke Nishio. Ratings held up well, between 18.1% and 22.4% according to the figures compiled by Kanzenshuu: viewers stuck around while they waited for Goku.
Because it has no basis in the manga, the arc was dropped entirely from Dragon Ball Kai, which goes straight from the end of Namek to Frieza's arrival on Earth. In Japanese, Garlic Jr. also got a new voice for the series, Shigeru Chiba, replacing Akira Kamiya, who had played him in the movie.
Our take
The Garlic Jr. Saga has a bad reputation, and part of it is earned. The Spice Boys are faceless extras, the mist plot recycles the film's ideas, and the finale repeats Dead Zone almost beat for beat: Gohan, rage, the Dead Zone. First-time viewers can skip it without missing anything essential.
Still, there is something worth defending. It is one of the few stretches where Goku is absent and everyone else has to manage alone, and Gohan, who will lead the Cell Saga, gets a spotlight as Earth's defender that the manga will not give him for a long while. His bond with Piccolo, who tests him by posing as an enemy, is the emotional core of the arc. And the sight of Chi-Chi and friends turned into snarling demons has an almost horror-movie tone the series had never tried before.
What remains is the feeling of an intermission: ten weeks of waiting, handled competently, before the manga took the lead again with the arrival of a mysterious lavender-haired youth named Trunks.
Up next: the Androids Saga, episodes 118-139 →
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