Episode 2: Pan Mouths Off!

Episode 2: "I'm the Star! Pan Takes Off Into Space!!"

I have to say, I'm really more of a fan of the way the English version titles the episodes. The sheer wordiness of the original titles is so strange to me.

Episode 2 starts off with a brief re-cap of the previous episode - Pilaf summons Shenron, Goku gets turned into a kid, Chi-Chi is shown crying, and Kaio informs them that the Earth will be destroyed if the ultimate Dragon Balls aren't collected within a year. That's seriously it. Fair enough, I guess those ARE the main takeaways from the previous episode.

After the re-cap, we get introduced to Trunks. He's now the president of Capsule Corp, and all the employees are fawning over him and kissing up to him. Also he wears glasses now, which is an odd look for him.

Odd looks are very much a GT thing.

Trunks is clearly not entirely content with this lifestyle, and he sneaks out of his office by flying out of a window. Nothing is more subtle than opening a draft when you're 40-stories high. Amusingly, Trunks gets changed into his traditional GT outfit while mid-flight, probably exposing himself to many on-lookers below.

Meanwhile, back at the Son family house Goku, Gohan and Chi-Chi are discussing the upcoming dragon ball hunt. We've got a pretty funny moment of Pan sassing out Goten while he's trying to organize a date over the phone.

Nobody has been so badly wrecked by a 9-year old
since Cell fought Gohan

Goten tells her a child shouldn't mouth off like that, and we're introduced to Pan's personal bugbear: being treated like a child. This will underpin the rest of the episode.

Goku re-iterates that he doesn't really want to go to space, and offers the solution of using the Dragon Balls to just move everyone to a new planet. Which is... a novel solution, if incredibly callous. I'll admit I'd never thought of that idea, but the characters decide it'd be better as a back up option

I don't like how Goku's being characterized as so apathetic so far, as I'm not sure why he has such a strong aversion to this. Goku may be selfish, but this just seems like he has no drive whatsoever.

The characters decide to have Goku's plan as a back-up so that people aren't forced to move to another planet, and Gohan offers to join Goku on his search. Chi-Chi is relieved by the idea, and when Pan hears this she says that she'll go as well. Of course, because she's a child her idea gets turned down, and she gets scolded when she tries to insist on it.

At Capsule Corp, Goku and his family see Bulma's spaceship for the first time as she mentions that it only seats three people. And we are introduced to the glory of GT Vegeta's initial design.

Gaze upon its majesty.

Pan offers to help out Gohan, who tells her to check if Videl needs help. Inside the ship, Videl tells Pan to check if Gohan needs help. Ooof. I feel you, Pan. In frustration, she kicks the the side of the ship - causing a large dent with her super strength. It's a humorous touch.

The B plot of this episode is Goku getting abducted by two kidnappers who mistake him for Trunks' illegitimate child, hoping to ransom him for five million zenis (a quarter of what 18 extorted out of Mr. Satan, for reference). They first call Bulma, who doesn't really understand the situation, and next call Vegeta, who politely tells them that they can do whatever they want with Goku. Meanwhile, Goku racks up a massive bill at a restaurant and forces them to go on rollercoasters.

It's a bit of fun.

The main focus of this episode is Pan, as the title indicates. After walking out of Capsule Corp, she goes to Mr Satan's dojo and beats up all the martial artists there, venting off steam. Satan takes her out to a cafe to talk with her about her frustrations. It's a really cute scene to see grandfather and granddaughter interact like this, with Pan explaining that she hates being treated like a kid and Satan getting her fired up with his encouragements. Also cute is Pan's reaction when she forces herself to drink black coffee to appear more like an adult.

Goku is eventually ditched by his kidnappers when he shows off his flight and super-strength (trying to help them out, of course). Back at Capsule Corp, Vegeta drags Goten and Trunks to the spaceship as he has decided they should go into space in Gohan's stead, since they've been slack in their training. It also seems like he came up with this idea mostly to screw with them, as he enjoys shooting down all of their objections.

But while Goten is trying to reschedule his date, Goku and Trunks board the ship to find Pan already on-board. Having resolved to prove to the adults that she's just as capable, she launches the ship into space, leaving Goten behind and shocking everyone. The episode ends with a part falling off the ship as it departs, leaving Bulma with a nervous expression.

And that wraps up the second episode, as well as the set-up for the first story arc! All in all, I think this does a good job of setting up its major points, establishing the team that is going into space, and showing the passage of time from the original Dragon Ball - particularly in Trunks acting as Capsule Corp's president.

The episode mostly focuses on Pan, which is fairly important given that she's a relative newcomer to the cast. Of course, seeing her characterization in the first two episodes I can easily understand why she became such a divisive character - she's mostly based off the archetype of the child protagonist that wants to prove they're just as capable of the adults who try to prevent them from being involved. I'm sure that archetype appeals to children, but many other viewers dislike it for understandable reasons - children are fucking useless.

It's a bit weird seeing this pop up in Dragon Ball of all places, because unlike reality, being a child isn't much of a detriment in the dragon world. Goku started off as a child protagonist, and Gohan had been involved in the plot since he was four years old - reluctantly at first, but by the time he was as old as Pan he had killed Cell. It's a bit weird to see Pan get such a treatment, and it would probably go a long way to making her character likable by having the characters support her desire to go off in space because they trust her, rather than her going behind their backs and making complications.

However, Pan's role in the series was mostly to get into trouble so Goku could rescue her - as mentioned in the Dragon Box release of Dragon Ball GT. So of course, they couldn't make her a capable character in her own right, as that would defeat the purpose for including her. That's also the same reason for her hot-headedness - it allows the writers to use her recklessness to create problems for Goku to solve. And in future episodes, we'll see how her character is handled with these expectations in mind.

All-in-all, this episode had a lot of good character moments - Pan and Satan, Vegeta just screwing with people, a look into Trunks and Goten's adult lives. I'd recommend this episode based on that alone.

I think it was a good decision to split the set-up over two episodes to allow room for these scenes, without dragging things out over several episodes. GT was created around the premise of the space adventure, so I think this is a good set up.

With the next episode, the space adventure begins in earnest!

Dragon Ball GT Episode 1: Mysterious Dragon Balls appear! Even more mysterious creative decisions are made!

On to the first Episode of GT "Mysterious Dragon Balls Appear! Goku turns into a Child?!"

First of, before covering the episode itself, I wanted to comment on GT's opening, Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku. The opening is pretty cool, though I don't quite get why it's so popular in the fandom. It's definitely a good song, but Cha La Head Cha La and We Gotta Power have much more fitting openings - probably doesn't help that Dan Dan is a love song with no connection to the show. At the same time, it's definitely a catchy and feel-good song. I appreciate the variety and the visuals of this opening are quite nice.

The animation is solid, and there's a really nice sequence where Goku, Trunks and Pan attack a giant robot with each doing a hit that brings it toppling down.

TOO BAD PAN'S CONTRIBUTIONS COULDN'T
BE AS EQUAL IN THE ACTUAL SHOW HUH

Anyway, the first episode starts with the Pilaf Gang approaching God's lookout as Goku and Oob fight inside. I don't know if I misremembered this or the dub just wasn't as clear, but the sub makes it clear that this is THE rematch that Goku wanted when he trained Oob. What is shown of it is pretty good, but the conclusion to the fight is off-screen as Goku and Oob return to the top of the lookout and both collapse.

Interesting thing to note is that even though Goku is only shown fighting in base form, he indicates after the fight that he fought all-out. I'd previously thought that GT just made base Goku that strong, which is supported by him going on to fight Rildo who is "even stronger than Majin Boo". But this would imply that Goku went all-out in the off-screen section of the fight and the two are evenly matched, which would make much more sense with Goku's strength in Z (yay for Oob).

Not showing Goku transform on-screen may seem odd if he really did go all-out, but I think it'd be really weird if the first episode had him whip out Super Saiyan 3 so I can understand why it was left implied rather than shown. I also think Goku not using any form of Super Saiyan in the original epilogue is done for the same reason, to keep things simpler for a short fight.

Anyway, I like the detail of Dende and Popo creating a special room to contain Goku and Oob's fight and those two destroying it anyway (along with most of the lookout). That's pretty funny, although I'm not 100% sure I buy Dende's line of  'the Earth can't handle that fight' when stronger characters fought on Earth in the Boo arc. Maybe Goku/Oob are actually stronger than that by now, but that kind of deflates the significance of the original rematch if they both far surpassed that point. It could instead be that they don't want them damaging the Earth in an unnecessary battle - even Goku vs Fat Boo was pretty destructive, so I can believe that.

The kind that will gamble the remaining 90% of the world on a good fight!

Also the dub had a stupid line here about Dende getting a first aid kit for Goku/Oob which always bugged me. Didn't realize it was dub only, that's much better.

While this is happening, the Pilaf Gang find the Black Star Dragon Balls and Pilaf explains a bit about their background - they are the ultimate Dragon Balls, created before God and Piccolo Daimao split into two. As such, they're much more powerful than the regular Dragon Balls.

I don't mind the idea of the 'Ultimate Dragon Balls' and having Piccolo's fusion with God re-activating them is a pretty clever way to bring them back into the plot - but it could do with a better explanation of how Pilaf found them. He just says it took lots of hardwork and research, but where would he even find out such details? It'd work much easier if it had just been something that Piccolo Daimao had told him, and tie in nicely with continuity with Pilaf having previously worked for Daimao.

I love how Pilaf just loudly shouts this without anyone on the lookout hearing him.

Oob thanks Goku for everything and flies home, really hammering in that the original purpose of Goku training him has been completed. I'm of two minds about this. I'm glad that they do address that with Oob and gave that resolution (as I originally believed that they just ignored it) but for something important enough to end the previous series on, I feel it warranted more emphasis and build up to the conclusion. On the other hand, GT clearly wants to establish the status quo for the rest of the series by having Goku turn into a kid and the ultimate Dragon Balls used in the first episode, so it definitely makes sense to focus on that.

Ultimately, Oob's subplot isn't as important to the series as the new elements being introduced, so I can understand why it was dealt with quickly. And, frankly, Oob wasn't really that important to the previous series as he mostly represented a new (but explicitly temporary) goal for Goku and a way to close out the series.

Another direction GT could have taken would be for Oob to start off still not having realized his full potential, and to tag along on the hunt for the ultimate Dragon Balls. I'm sure that's what a lot of fans would have wanted to see, but I'm not so sure I'd agree with that. That premise would definitely give the writers a lot to work with, but it would only work if they were able to commit to building up to Oob as the protagonist and sticking to it, lest he end up a repeat of the problems surrounding Gohan. And frankly, I don't really want Oob as the protagonist, because I don't think he has the same build up and connections of other characters coupled with his late appearance in the cast.

Resolving this in the first episode is a good way to say 'this won't be the focus of the series' so that people's expectations aren't falsely raised (even if the epilogue has understanding already raised them). For me the most important thing is how Oob is handled as a supporting character going forward.

This episode also establishes that Goku has not been home in years, due to training Oob. That's an implication I really disliked about the manga's ending. The weirdest part is that Toei actually added a line in the anime that Goku would visit his family while training Oob, which makes sense now that he has the ability to teleport. But for whatever reason GT ignores that, and I am really not a fan of that. For what it's worth, Toriyama's spin-off manga Nekomajin shows Goku still living with his family while training Oob, an interpretation I much prefer.

It also has a super-strong Cat man long before these
newfangled 'Gods of Destruction'

After leaving Dende and Popo, Goku notices the Pilaf Gang's presence and interrupts them in the middle of attempting to wish for world domination. Interestingly, in the Japanese version Pilaf doesn't say anything as direct as 'I wish you were a kid again' but just rants that he could easily deal with Goku if he were a kid again, which the ultimate Shen Long interprets as his wish. It makes Pilaf's confusion more understandable at any rate.

Goku getting turned into a kid isn't an idea I liked or thought they should've done, but I think I would've been fine with it as a temporary change to be resolved with the Black Star subplot. It just feels way too on the nose for "hey look guys we're returning to our roots, remember the good ol' days?".

Kaio contacts Goku after this from Heaven (I know GT wasn't released long after Z, but it's nice to see the continuity kept with his planet destroyed) and informs Goku that the ultimate DBs are the only thing that can return him back to normal. Popo also comments that the ultimate DBs scatter throughout the Galaxy, instead of on Earth, making them more difficult to gather. I like that they've addressed the idea of just using the regular DBs to wish Goku back to normal.

Goku doesn't really care either way so he decides to fly home. He's then seen eating a restaurant into bankruptcy while some armed robbers hold up a nearby bank. Pan then appears on-screen for the first time, as she comes across the bank robbery while on a date. Roshi's also in the area, unfortunately being the creep he usually is. Pan decides that she needs to deal with the robbery so that it doesn't interfere with her date, and springs into action. Goku also arrives at the same time, and attempts to do the same - but Pan mistakes him for a literal child and removes him from the action.

I wonder if Toei's writers knew that kid Goku was 3 years older
than Pan when Pilaf first met him.

What follows next is a pretty cool action piece of Pan taking out all of the robbers while thwarting Goku's attempts to join the action. It's a good way to introduce Pan to the series, given that she'll be part of the trio going into space. Beating up the robbers intimidates her boyfriend who makes an excuse to leave, and Pan laments being dumped. I'm 90% sure this aspect of her character isn't going to come up again.

Roshi arrives, and helps Goku and Pan recognize each other. It's somewhat cute seeing Roshi lift around Goku like he's actually a young child.

Back at Goku's house, Goku and Gohan discuss the situation Goku is in. Once again, the characters reiterate that only the ultimate DBs can restore Goku to normal. Still doesn't address my favourite solution of 'use the Earth dragon balls to wish the ultimate dragon balls back to earth' which would be nice to see ruled out as a possibility.

Kaio then contacts them again to inform them that he's discovered that the Ultimate DBs need to be gathered within one year of making a wish on them, lest the planet they were used on be destroyed. Like with Pilaf I really want to know how exactly he found that out - he just says that he 'looked into it'. Who is recording this stuff? I know it was just done to save that revelation to use as the cliffhanger, but it's still pretty weird.

With that cliffhanger, the episode ends. So we've had Oob's training be resolved, Goku turned into a kid, Pan introduced and the goal/stakes of the current arc. That's a pretty good set up for episode 1, all things considered.

The next episode will see the cast blast off into space, finishing the set up for the first arc of GT.

Saiga steps into the Grand Tour

Saiga steps into the Grand Tour: A Dragon Ball GT blog review

With the announcement of GT Kid Goku's inclusion in FighterZ, I was reminded that I had been meaning to watch the subbed version of Dragon Ball GT for a while now. I'd only seen the dub previously, and while I strongly disliked the show I decided to watch it in its original version to give the fairest assessment of it. I also thought that it would be interesting to reflect on my original feelings of GT, and examine the show with the benefit of many years of hindsight, as well as the additional context provided by recent interviews about GT's production and comparisons to be made with modern Dragon Ball.

I'd previously endeavored to write a blog while reading through the original manga, but it didn't really pan out with how busy I was and trying to tackle it one volume at a time. I thought that taking GT one episode at a time would be much more practical, and a more interesting exercise because I'm not really sure how I'll react to it this time around. I will say this much though: I don't expect that I'll like GT by the end of this.

But I'm mostly just looking forward to examining GT and talking about what has gone down, getting into what aspects of it I do or don't like, what I may have liked to have seen done and what I've heard a lot of other people would have liked to see from the series. If nothing else, it will certainly be an experience.

Without further ado... let's kick things off with episode 1!