107 "Ikite ita Son Goku - Z Senshi ga Zennin Fukkatsu da!! "
(Son Goku Survived - All of the Z Warriors Resurrected)
91-9-11
92 "Goku's Alive!" 99-11-3

Vegeta suggests that Kuririn and Goku have their spirits wished back to Earth, and then back to life. After 130 days, Porunga is summoned. The dragon brings back Kuririn, but Goku refuses, saying that he will return on his own. The third wish ressurects Yamucha. Another 130 days go by and Tenshinhan and Chaozu return, with the third wish transporting the Nameks to a new planet. The Earthlings say goodbye, and the Nameks leave for home.

Buruma is really hot in this episode.

I don't know why I'm starting this comparison that way, but it's just the first thing that came to mind. Toriyama seemed to be really adamant about giving her all these different hairstyles throughout the series, and I LIKE THIS ONE. Unfortunately, it lasts for this episode and this episode only, so I guess I'm out of luck.

Anyway, this is it. The Freeza Saga comes to a close at last. There is one thing plotwise that really bugs me about it, though. How can Goku just "resist" a wish made on the Dragon Balls and tell Porunga "No, I don't want to come back." That's just... you can't do that! Toriyama could have made this much simpler and have Porunga say that he couldn't locate Goku, or everyone could have just decided to wait for him or something. But this "Goku doesn't WANT to be wished back" thing... I just don't buy it.

Dubwise, it's a fairly mixed effort, with some VERY FUNNY censored shots, and... MORE EBONICS. The final scene was actually quite well done musically (YES, I FOUND SOME OF THE DUB MUSIC PLEASING), but FUNimation desperately tried to ruin the whole thing anyway by having Gyuumaou talk. They didn't have to, of course, since his mouth was behind a newspaper and he didn't say a word in the Japanese version, but there it was: "MEATLOAF... UUUUHEEHHH... I LOOOVE MEATLOAF... DUUUUHHHEEEEHHHEUUUHHH...."

You suck, Mark Britten.


Buruma: "Hey homeboy!"

Homeboy. I don't even think anyone even SAYS that anymore. It's sort of fallen into disuse in favor of the more concise "homie." But any variation of the word is still a horrible pollutant, and everytime I hear this crap in the dub I feel pain.

Porunga: "Hey, yo people, let's move it. One more wish!"

Looks like they've got Porunga into that gangsta shiznit now, too. Is it normal to weep while watching the dub?

Now then, the main problem with this line isn't that it SUCKS and is totally out of character (which it is). It's the fact that the original dialogue conveys something important, which is that Porunga rebuilt Kuririn's body and clothing as an extra service. Why did they go out of their way to mistranslate this? It puts to rest one of those nagging fanboy questions that some nerd like me is going to end up asking the voice actors at a convention.

What's amazing about Dr. Briefs' cigarette in this episode (censored? yes) is that it's actually not in some shots!!! That's right. There are a few scenes with him where there IS NO CIGARETTE in his mouth, which has never been done before in Dragon Ball. But the animators make up for the temporary lack of ciggy with a nearly subliminal advertisement, which is as follows:

Just after we see frog Ginyu, it cuts to a wide shot of a building with "CAMEL" emblazoned on the top. And while it's fairly common to see the Japanese put random English words here and there in their anime, this isn't just the word "camel," it's unmistakably the Camel Cigarettes logo. Pretty obvious why FUNimation got rid of this, even though you have to be paying close attention to see it. AND THAT'S NOT ALL!

Just before they call Porunga for a second time, there is a similar "building" shot, but this time "Beers" and "weiser" appear. Censored as well, of course.

Animators are funny, funny people.