#tapica

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.