#mariako

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.   

First up is Tapica vs. Tolbee, but Tapica wears himself out in a display of his super-speed, so he gives up before the fight can even begin.   

Next is Mariako vs. Furog, and when Furog gets flustered by Mariako’s size and power, he uses his special technique...

Inflating himself to super-size.    Ha ha, this is nuts!

Furog’s strategy is apparently to expand to such a size that there’s literally no room for Mariako to stand in the ring, but Mariako just lifts him up and tosses him out of the arena.

Then he hits a planetoid and knocks himself out, and that’s the end of that.

So we’re just trucking along here.   Match 3 is Goku vs. Aqua.    Aqua looks pretty weak, but then he uses his special technique...

... which magically transforms the ring into a free-standing pool of water.    Because Aqua’s much more effective fighting underwater, you see.  

What I don’t understand is how Aqua made it to the quarterfinals without this trick.   When he uses it on Goku, it’s treated like a surprise, so he must have gotten past his preliminary opponents without it, but this looks like the only way he can fight effectively.   

And it works really well on Goku, who can’t fight as well underwater.    On the other hand, he devises a pretty simple solution.   First, a Solar Flare to blind Aqua to his next move...

... then Goku leaps into the air and fires a Kamehameha straight down onto the ring.   Aqua can’t dodge, because it would mean leaving the advantage of his watery territory.    

Somehow the ring is restored to nomal, and Aqua gets eliminated.  So was Aqua’s power a Stand?   It sure seems like one.    It would be kind of useless on his own homeworld, though, since I assume everyone there lives and fights underwater.   I’m gonna call it Aqualung anyway.    Sit-ting on a park-bench!   Go-ku is the win-ner!

East Kai gives Aqua shit for losing, because now her camp is out of the tournament completely.    She also tells her entire stable to start running laps aroun the planet as penance.   

But Goku’s a good sport, and he compliments Aqua on his brilliant technique.    If he had kept Goku submerged for much longer, he would have been beaten.    Aqua challenges Goku to a rematch sometime, and Goku‘s all for it.  

Next up is Oliboo vs. Pikkon, which everyone expects to be the best match on the card, since both of these guys are considered the best around, and they’ve been training here for so long.  

Most of the fight is these two guys dodging each other’s ki blasts and snap-vanishing a lot.   

It’s not really that good a fight, but the episode sells it well by having all the spectators regard it with awe, including Goku.    We already know Pikkon has the goods, and Oliboo isn’t really a factor here, since the real main event is Pikkon vs. Goku.   This is a pretty clever way to show that a great fight is taking place without actually giving up your A-material too soon.  

Though there is a really cool bit where we see them block each other’s hits in rapid succession.   Bruce Faulconer’s Pikkon Theme really enhances this match, though.  I’m digging this in Japanese, but I think the dub really too a good filler arc and made it something special.   Maybe not great, but a cut above. 

Finally, Oliboo gets knocked into the wall and out of the ring.    But he still gets back up...

And concedes defeat.    This is unnecesary, since Pikkon clearly won, but he still wants to say it, if only to congratulate Pikkon for being the better fighter.     What a class act.

And there’s the ROH handshake.    I don’t want to give Funimation too much credit here.    Stuff like this is what makes this arc so cool.   Yeah, some of these dead heroes are a little goofy, but they’re all stand-up folks who believe in sportsmanship and respect,and it’s just fun to watch them beat each other up and be so nice about it.  

Like, I know now that this was just a filer arc, but when I watched these episodes in 2001, I had absolutely no idea how DBZ would continue with the main character dead, and for a hot minute it sure looked like this was the formula.    Goku would just fight these dudes in the afterlife for as long as the show went on.  And I had absolutely no problem with that at all.    This Pikkon/Oliboo encounter was short, but it was at least as fun as some of the weaker battles from the Cell episodes.  Throw in the Faulconer score and you’ve got a nice little show.  

And Goku’s totally blown away.  The Grand Kai asks him how he feels, and he’s trembling..... from excitement!   Then the Grand Kai laughs because this is so awesome and Goku thinks it’s awesome too.   It’s a real fell-good moment, and a welcome change of pace after dozens of episodes full of Cell’s dirty tricks.