#bacterion

That punctuation kills me. It's not, "Watch Out, Krillin!" It's "Watch Out! Krillin." If you speak it out loud, it sounds like it's saying that Krillin needs to watch out. But the way it's structured actually suggests that Krillin is the thing you need to watch out for.

Anyways. The Muten-Roshi and Bulma are supposed to encounter each other for the first time at the Tenkaichi Budokai here, as Goku and Krillin come to share the news of their qualifying. That scene got moved, but Toei still tried to hew close to it anyway, resulting in some weirdness.

They open by discussing the fact that the Muten-Roshi vanished during the qualifiers. Bulma acts like this is the first time she's seen him since then, even though he already returned at the end of the previous episode. This may be intended to be a continuation of that conversation, since he didn't really say much then; however, between episodes, the characters have teleported away from the hole in the qualifying stadium's wall and into the general crowd, where they're supposed to be in the manga.

The Muten-Roshi explains his absence by saying he went to the bathroom and got lost. That's fair enough; either Oolong or Puar speculated it might be the case last episode. Bulma and Oolong break the news that Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha have all qualified. The Muten-Roshi then reveals that he bought Bulma a shirt and a keychain, then requests another puff-puff in compensation. He gets punched straight in the face by Bulma for this, prompting Oolong to suggest that perhaps she should have entered the tournament.

When we first see the eight qualified fighters, Goku notices Jackie Chun and starts to sniff the air. However, before anything can come of it, Bacterion arrives; his foul odor drives Goku's nostrils crazy, as in the manga.

Toei changed the drawing of lots so that Bacterion drew lot 1 and Krillin drew lot 2, instead of vice versa. It's a completely inconsequential change 'cause they're both still in Match 1 against each other. But. Why?

The gag of nobody being able to read Goku's name when written out begins here. Toriyama and Toei have the announcer call for Mago Gosora; a play on the way the kanji for Son Goku's name can be interpreted in a different way. This joke, of course, makes zero sense in English; there is absolutely no way to get Mago Gosora from a spelled out Son Goku. So Funimation's tournament announcer simply misreads the name as Gah-kaea for no apparent reason.

In the manga, when the announcer explains the rules, he asserts that hitting in the vital areas isn't allowed. Goku asks what a vital area is and he explains it's your "jewels". Confused, Ranfan asks, "I thought we weren't allowed to have jewelry." Toei has the announcer say flat-out that it's your balls, to which Ranfan replies, "Um, I don't have those...."

Funimation's announcer explains it's the parts that make you a boy; Ranfan asks, "But what about my parts?" This is a valid question and some clarification on whether punching a fighter in the tits is allowed would be appreciated; that can honestly go either way, and all three explanations focus exclusively on male genitalia.

After Krillin goes down from the Smelly Finger, Bacterion picks him up off the ground and tries to choke him (for some reason, even though his tencount had started). At Goku's urging, Krillin breaks free, but gets backed up against the edge of the ring. He tries to dive between Bacterion's legs, but Bacterion sits on him and crushes him. Krillin desperately tries to lift Bacterion's ass, and it's there the manga resumes with his lethal fart.