C&C - Dragon Ball Z Kai Series Talkback [2/25-TBA]

[J'onn J'onzz]

Decent transition episode. No battles this week. We get to see a lot of Toriyama outfits this time. Bulma has three new outfits and two new haircuts. Krillin and Gohan have those ridiculous blast off outfits. Krillin’s is especially funny with the garish colors and the Romanization of his name and martial arts school on his hat.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

This week’s episode on Toonami was “A Formidable New Enemy! Emperor of the Universe, Freeza". It is mostly just a transition episode showing Gohan, Krillin, Bulma, and Vegeta landing on Namek. Next week we will get to see the Namek saga get fully underway. Frieza is introduced here, as we enter one of the most popular arcs in anime.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

Tonight is "Rebellion Against Freeza! Vegeta, Burning with Ambition!” We now get to the start of the battles on planet Namek, beginning with Frieza’s henchmen Dodoria, Zarbon, and Cui.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

The first battles on Namek have begun. At this point we are just seeing losers like Cui get destroyed. Still, the episode does a good job of showing Vegeta got way stronger after the fight with Goku. Now we can look forward to battles with bigger threats like Dodoria and Zarbon. This episode also has the iconic moment of Krillin, Gohan, and Bulma hiding in the cave as the Frieza force flies by. I recall this moment was parodied in Bobobo.

 

[Yojimbo]

Yeah, was always interesting in the inner politics of Frieza's group and with Cui and later others, you see the bias everyone leveled at Vegeta over the years and he couldn't really do anything about it as he grinded all those years and most recently on Earth, leveled up. Other tidbits from this arc that I thought were nice touches was how important the sorta throw away/minor stuff you take for granted, esp. if you were a fan from the start of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Scouter and Ki sensing ability became and for the latter how much of an ace it became for Krillin and Gohan and Vegeta because none of Frieza's crew or even Frieza had it - they had to rely on tech - that we learn can be easily fooled/has its limits. And of course the notion that when a Saiyan fights to the brink of death but survives, they get a level up. It really is an arc for the underdogs and pretty much the turning point for the franchise but I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

[aegisrawks]

I am worried we have seen none of the Toonami Rewind shows score any place in the ratings. I want to think ratings dont matter and then remember what happened to Naruto.

 

[Space Cadet]

I liked this part of the saga when it first aired on Toonami back in 1998 but I found myself revisiting it less in reruns. I think because in the original DBZ, the Freeza arc is very long and I remember getting impatient, waiting for a certain group to appear. Kai does improve this with the cutting of fillers but it's still long.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

I like early Namek, but it doesn’t have the best fights. It is nice seeing some fighters the secondary cast have a chance against. By the time we get to the later villains, no one but Goku and Vegeta have a chance. Though the guys Gohan and Krillin took out are not even named to my knowledge, they did manage to take out the space ship. Cui is pretty weak sauce too. I recall Z made him seem more of a threat by adding some scenes and flashbacks of him and Vegeta interacting on Frieza’s planet. Ultimately though he’s just fodder for Vegeta, like most villains in this saga.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

Last night’s episode was "Protect the Dragon Balls! The Namekian Offensive.” This is where we start to see Namekians in action, but they are pathetic sadly. Other than chiefs and guardians, almost all of them are nameless elders and warriors who are quickly wiped out by Frieza and Vegeta.

 

[aegisrawks]

I hope this is doing okay.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

Tonight’s episode is "Dodoria in Terrifying Hot Pursuit! Vegeta Learns the Truth". Now we start to see some of Frieza’s stronger minions in action. Though Dodoria is not on Zarbon’s level.

 

[Yojimbo]

Yeah, Cui and Dodoria were the weaklings in Frieza's crew buuut we can't have a cocky Vegeta for long. The universe often corrects that and dishes humble pie at the right time, heh heh. I've wondered if Vegeta was really that ignorant that Frieza might have personally nuked Planet Vegeta, he had to have known on some level even though the irony is Vegeta was going to try to knock Frieza off anyway but Dodoria saying what he could feel in his bones does I guess did give him a more poetic reason to justify his rebellion: to avenge his race rather than trying to usurp power.

Probably intentional but nice little callbacks to the Saiyan Saga i.e. Dodoria about to let loose and murder but immediately freezes in fear when Frieza tells him to stop like when Vegeta told Nappa to stop. Even Gohan's jump kick mirrors when he got the drop on Nappa in a similar manner. And well, I've always had a soft spot for Solar Flare and grin whenever it's used on the show.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

Why doesn’t Vegeta sense the presence of Krillin and Gohan? They should have raised their power when fighting Dodoria and running from him. It would have been nice if Krillin and Gohan had actually been able to defeat Dodoria. Maybe Gohan could have if he was mad enough, but Krillin was too cowardly to let the fight play out. Probably for the best that they let their enemies kill each other. For most of Namek, they are reliant on Vegeta to kill their enemies.

 

[Yojimbo]

Why doesn’t Vegeta sense the presence of Krillin and Gohan? They should have raised their power when fighting Dodoria and running from him.

I figured he either didn't have total mastery of ki sense yet or he brushed off Krillin and Gohan raising their ki to be Namekians fleeing Frieza. I think the latter.

 

[J'onn J'onzz]

"Vegeta's Secret Maneuvering! The Tragic Attack Upon the Namekians" is airing tonight. This is Vegeta at his most villainous, so tune in to see the Prince of Saiyans on a rampage.