"Gohan Ayaushi! Shi wo Yobu Tsuisekisha Dodoria"
(Gohan in Danger! A Pursuing Dodoria Summons Death)
90-5-16
"The Nameks Versus Frieza" and
"Escape from Dodoria"
97-10-11

Dodoria attacks the Elder and the fighter Nameks with full force, all of whom are brutally killed by the evil warrior, along with a young Namek boy trying to escape. Dodoria is about to finish off the only remaining Namek, another child, when Gohan, unable to control his anger any longer, bursts from the top of the cliff where he and Kuririn have been watching. He attacks Dodoria, Kuririn grabs the bewildered child, and they fly away, with a furious Dodoria in hot pursuit.

I can't say that the edits in this episode were entirely unjustified, there were some incredibly violent scenes. In fact, this is probably the most graphic single episode of Dragon Ball Z I have ever seen. Dodoria is just downright vicious here, and the show rarely gets to this level of sheer brutality. Of course, Dodoria's character is watered down to a great extent for the English version, which is unfortunate because it makes his death less satisfying when Vegeta fries his ass in the next episode.


English episode 35 continued

Dodoria punches the Namek warrior's back in the English version.

Ouch, that sucks.

Dodoria punches THROUGH the Namek warrior's back in the original.

Ouch, that REALLY sucks.

FUNimation accomplishes the illusion by painting over the section of the Namek's body where Dodoria's hand is actually sticking through, as well as the big pool of blood around the wound. It then cuts to Dodoria pulling his arm out of the Namek's torso. Surprisingly, this is actually kept in the English version, the hole in the Namek's robe and all. Only thing that's missing is the blood dripping from the hole in the robe. I'm surprised they didn't just cut this, since you can plainly see that Dodoria's arm is in there deep enough that it's obvious he punched through the guy's back.

Finally, it cuts back to the front view, and we can see the big, gaping hole in the Namek's chest, which is of course painted over in the English version.

Dodoria: "Time to launch someone to another dimension." (Kills Namek with mouth blast)

End English episode 35 (about 2 minutes in)

After Dodoria crashes the Namek into the side of the mountain, we see him lying dead in a pool of his own blood, which is dripping down from the impact crater. Owch, that is HARSH! This shot is retained in the English version, but the blood is gone, and we can hear the Namek breathing. I don't even know why they bothered, that guy is SO dead.

(1 sec.) When Dodoria elbows the Elder in the face, you can actually see the hit connecting. It looks really painful, actually.

The Elder wipes some blood from his face, in the English version he wipes, uh, nothing from his face. Why didn't they just cut this shot?

(10 sec.) This is one of the bigger misleading plot alterations that FUNimation accomplishes through shrewd editing. If you are watching the English version, it appears that Dodoria fires at the Elder, but misses. Bad aim, I guess. Kuririn is given a line that helps maintain the illusion: "Whew, that was close!"

Dodoria isn't really firing at the Elder at all. He intentionally aims over his shoulder because he notices that Dende and his younger brother, Kargo, are getting away. The blast hits Kargo full force, and kills him instantly. We then see Dende shrieking and shaking his brother's body frantically, trying to revive him.

This is one of those moments where I am forced to consider if even the Japanese version may be going a little too far, and if perhaps FUNimation is justified in cutting the scene. Watching heroes die who are willfully risking their lives is one thing, but it is a little disturbing to see a young child so ruthlessly and graphically killed. I mean there's literally smoke rising from his dead body. On the other hand, it does make an incredibly powerful statement about the characters of Freeza and his henchmen, and is a perfect way to represent how truly amoral and downright evil they are. But I just can't help thinking that there are times and places for that kind of scene, and I'm not so sure Dragon Ball is one of them.

(2 sec.) Dodoria's punch to the Elder's face is trimmed a bit. This one also looks like it really hurts.

(10 sec.) Dodoria grabs the old man's head and gives it a quick, sharp twist, killing him instantly. Then there are some reaction shots from the group watching the whole thing, and the Elder's body falls to the ground. In the English version, we see Dodoria grabbing the Namek, then it cuts to the reaction shots, and we can hear sounds of the two fighting. Then we see the Namek fall to the ground, but we don't know exactly why.

When the Elder's body hits the ground, a big gob of saliva comes out of his mouth. The saliva is painted over in the English version, I guess to show that he's still alive and in control of his bodily funcions.

As Dodoria stands over the Elder's body laughing at him, Kargo's body can be seen in the background. It is painted over in the English version.

Dodoria intercepts the thoroughly traumatized Dende (poor kid, geez), and says: "Your brother may have escaped, but not you!" Heh, if only Kargo was really so lucky as FUNimation makes him out to be.

English episode 36 continues...

92%