"Genkai o Koeta Atsui Tatakai! Goku tai Vegeta"
(A Hot, Unbordered Duel! Goku vs. Vegeta)
89-12-13
"Goku Strikes Back" and
"Goku vs. Vegeta: A Saiyan Duel!"
97-4-26
97-5-3

Vegeta proves to be as powerful as he had boasted, and Goku has a difficult time fighting him. He tries the Kaiouken technique, but it has little effect on the evil Saiya-jin, who has now increased his power level fully. Goku decides that his only hope is to up the stakes the only way he knows how - with a triple Kaiouken!

Those hideous hit-to-the-face-blocking "stars" make their debut in this episode, something that I wasn't expecting, and took me completely off guard. I honestly don't understand what's being accomplished here; If we KNOW someone is getting hit in the face, what's the point in covering up the hit itself? Whatever "damage" this is supposed to cause in the minds of children is done. The message, as far as I can gather, must be: "It's OK to punch people in the face, but it's not OK to actually SEE the hit connect. So if you're going to hit someone there, for God's sake, close your eyes!"

Also, another Lunch scene is trashed, as FUNimation continues their efforts to block her out of the show completely. (Well, that won't be too much of a problem for them, since she doesn't appear again until the Boo saga, about 250 episodes from now.) The whole Lunch cover-up I can forgive, I guess, since no one who hasn't seen the original Dragon Ball (i.e. just about everyone in North America) will know who the hell she is.


English episode 22 continued

The "stars" that I just mentioned. I counted about five or six, although there might have been more. They stick out like sore thumbs, and are immediately recognizable due to how cheesy they look. Also, there were a few hits to the face where stars wouldn't do, one in particular when Goku gets Vegeta good. The whole screen flashes, and then cuts back to after the hit connects.

The blood cover-ups in this episode: Vegeta has some coming out of his mouth after fighting a little while. Also, Goku has two big red bruises, one on his right cheek, one on his right... uh... breast, (Is it called a breast when you're talking about a man? I don't know), plus there's some blood on the left side of his mouth. The bruises are odd for the reason I mentioned in the last episode, I've seen some just like this go untouched in other episodes.

End English episode 22, about 6 minutes in

(2 min. 25 sec.) Lunch is drinking in a bar, almost passed out. She is depressed about Tenshinhan's death, and demands that the bartender give her more. Just then, they both feel what seems to be an earthquake, and rush outside to see the sky clouding over and the birds going nuts. Then it cuts back to the battle.

This scene was all too convenient for FUNimation to get rid of, and has three knocks against it: First, it features Lunch, who is avoided in the English version. Second, it has no bearing on the story, and is totally expendable. Third and most importantly, it is centered around alcohol, a big, big, no no. All too easy to drop this one on the cutting room floor.

Vegeta says: "Join me, or perish!" Or WHAT?? Isn't "perish" a synonym for the "d" word? If they can indeed say this, why don't they use it more often? Sure, it might sound kind of stupid, but I'd rather hear them say that someone "perished" than someone "got sent to another dimension."

English episode 23 continues...

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