Basically, the Grand Kai Planet is like Valhalla, except the honored warriors don’t just enjoy a life of joyful battle and camraderie.   They also continue training to get even stronger than they were in life, so that they can earn the privilege of being trained by the Grand Kai himself.   As we slowly learn in this arc, nobody has ever gotten a lesson from the Grand Kai, though.  At first, this episode suggests that it takes thousands of years of trainging just to get considered, but later on, characters begin to mention how it’s just never happened before.   

I think it does say something about Goku’s character that he’s immediately disappointed about not getting to learn from the Grand Kai right away.   He never even heard of the guy until the previous episode, but now that he knows there is a revered martial arts master, he’s determined to see what he can do.    It’s funny, though, because when he came here, all he wanted was to brush elbows with other strong fighters, and now he’s met a few dozen and he’s still not satisfied.  

Then the other three King Kai’s show up.    We’ve already met the West Kai in the center.   On the left is the East Kai, the only female in the group.    The South Kai is the tall one with the problematic lips.   I’m not real keen on his Japanese voice eiither.  I was wondering if the voice acting for Mr. Popo had some sort of racist aspect to it, and South Kai sounds very similar, which makes me a little more sure than I was before.  I probably need more background on it, though.  

West Kai brought the other two here so they could rib North Kai about being dead, but since they’re all here together for the fiirst time in centuries, he also proposes a tournament to mark the occasion.    The Grand Kai is all in favor of the idea.  

He even has an idea spot for the action to take place, and leads them to a room in his mansion that contains...

... well, whatever this is.    There’s all these little planets and asteroids in it, and everyone seems pretty happy about holding the tournament here, so it’s settled.

To sweeten the pot, Grand Kai offers a private lesson to the winner, and Goku is even more determined to enter and win.    But East Kai objects to this, since Goku literally just got here.    It’s kind of brazen of him to just insert himself in the event, but North Kai vouches for his strength, and so East Kai proposes a race.   If Goku can outrun her, she’ll approve his participation.  

Basically, the East Kai is all into racing, so this is all just an excuse for her to whip out her flying motor-scooter and ride.    The Grand Kai approves, and they’re off.    Goku manages to keep up with her...

But then the Grand Kai appears at the finish line an declares himself the winner.   East Kai protests that he never said he was participating, but he replies that he never said he wasn’t participating either.  

They never exactly spell out how this outcome determines Goku’s eligibility for the tournament, but he’s in the thing, so I guess East Kai dropped her objection.   

This mushroom man hosts the thing, and I guess those vegetable men are referees?    Apparently there was a preliminary competition, which is why there’s so many brackets on the chart.    The actual tournament is only a field of eight, just like the Tenkaichi Budokai format.   The rules are basically the same too, except there’s no rules concerning killing, because everyone in the thing is already dead.    However, there is a rule that if you start to cry during a match, you lose.   Vegeta would do poorly here.  

The first match we see if Oliboo vs. Chapchai from the East Galaxy.    Chapchai is quick, due to the East Kai’s emphasis on speed...

... but he still loses.    It looked like Chapchai was moving so fast that he had an afterimage thing going, but it turns out he was doing a multi-form thing instead, and then all eight of his bodies collided in midair and they all got knocked out.   

So here’s some other shots of the prelims...

And this comedy spot where two fighters are leaping into the air dramatically, only for one of them to hit a low planetoid and knock himself out.    This isn’t exactly making the rest of the universe look very impressive.   

Finally, Goku gets a turn against Caterpie from the South Galaxy.  

Caterpie’s big move is to catch Goku in his multiple arms and tickle him until he taps out.   

Same, tbh.

Apparently the South Galaxy just doesn’t have much super-crime to fight, so all of their guys are weaker in general.   

Goku powers out of Caterpie’s hold, surprisingly easily at that, and Caterpie decides to get serious by transforming.   

I dig this dragon-looking dude in the crowd.    There’s some really great character designs in these episodes.   Some crappy ones too, but it’s fun to just look at the crowd shots.   

North Kai and West Kai are still arguing over who will win, so West Kai proposes a wager.    If Pikkon wins, he’ll give King Kai his planet, replacing the one Cell blew up.   King Kai nearly wagers his own planet in return, but then he remembers it ain’t there no more, so he agrees to be West Kai’s servant for all eternity.    Geez.   

But Goku’s hongry after the last bout, so Grand Kai has a meal prepared for him.   Goku’s all set to eat...

But King Kai thinks he should watch Pikkon’s next match.    Goku blows it off, saying that he already knows who’s going to win.    The Kai’s find this presumptuous, which is kind of hypocritical, since they were making sidebets earlier on a Goku vs. Pikkon match that hasn’t been scheduled yet.

Outside, East Kai is making her guys run laps.   Why is Chapchai still using the multi-form technique?    Is he stuck that way?  

Anyway, Goku’s right, the next match is a foregone conclusion, and Pikkon wins off-screen.   Tolbee gets beaten so badly that he has to be stretchered out.    So the running gag here seems to be that Tolbee never gets a chance to show his stuff.   His first match ended before it could start, and now this.     Well, I think you’re cool, Tolbee.    

I suppose Tolbee must have put up a decent fight, though, since Goku had time to eat quite a bit before Pikkon won.    Now it’s his turn to fight again, and King Kai has to drag him away from his food.   Look at him just grabbing onto Goku’s meat like that.    It’s shameful.

So we’re off to the races.   Goku unloads on Pikkon to start us off, but Pikkon doesn’t even bother blocking.    Goku knows he’s stronger and faster than this, but then again, he wasn’t being serious either.   

They fire energy blasts and chase each other around with them for a bit...

And then they head back down to the ring for a little test of strength.    Goku seems to have the edge, as he begins shoving Pikkon to the edge of the stage...

But Pikkon finally puts his back into it.   He thought he had Goku’s measure, but as he tries to push Goku back, he realizes he can’t.  

So Pikkon compliments Goku’s skill, and Goku says he feels the same way.    It’s because Pikkon’s such a great opponent that he’s able to fight so well here, because it puts him in such a great mood.   

So then Pikkon starts taking off his clothes and I think we all know where this is going.

Yep, Pikkon’s been wearing weighted training clothes the whole time, so this has all been a warm up until now.     But Goku’s not worried at all.  

But Goku’s got some reserves of his own, and finally...

Fuck yeah.    This was a really cool way to play this out, because the audience is well aware of Goku’s Super Saiyan form, and by now we’d all be waiting for him to whip this out and take everyone to school.  But he was saving it for Pikkon, and that was rather obvious too, given how easily Pikkon beat Cell and the others in Episode 195. 

This is what you call “Wheel-of-Fortune” booking.  I’m pretty sure I first heard the term from Internet Wrestling Commentator Scott Kieth, who used it to explain how sometimes you actually don’t want to surprise your audience, and it’s actually better if they can see exactly how things are going to play out as it happens.   Like when Wile E. Coyote notices he’s about to fall, and then he waves bye-bye to the camera.     If he landed on a soft cushion, that would be a twist, but not necessarily a desirable one.    The audience was set up to see him fall, so they want to see him fall.  

By the same token, sometimes on Wheel of Fortune, the puzzle is so close to being solved that the audience can tell what the solution is, but that’s not the point.    They want to see how long it takes the contestants to figure it out, and how much money they can rake in before they go for the win.   

Here, it’s the same thing.    We knew it would come down to Super Saiyan Goku vs. Pikkon ever since Episode 195.   The question was going to be what would happen to lead up to that point, and how would everyone react as we reached that moment.  We in the audience get to share in Goku and King Kai’s secret.   Goku’s got an ace up his sleeve, and once he busts it out, everyone’s gonna be all “Whaaaaaa-?”  and it’s gonna be great.    And so it is.   

And this is why plot twists for their own sake can be self-defeating.    There were tons of plot twists in the Cell Games Saga.    All of them were great.   But Cell still lost and the Earth was saved, and it was basically a happy ending.    Those expectations were fulfilled.   Sometimes you have to do the predictable thing because it just makes sense.     Where these hacky TV writers on “Lost” and “Game of Thrones” trip themselves up is where they feel like they have to upend everything in the name of spontaneity.   They do twist after twist after twist, until suddenly nothing makes sense and no one is surprised because they’re no longer invested in the story.