100 "Boku wa Son Goku no Musuko da!! Gohan, Futatabi Kessenjou e"
(I am the Son of Son Goku!! Gohan Returns to the Final Battlefield)		 91-7-24
85 "Gohan Returns" 99-10-25

Freeza hits Goku with a blow that knocks him completely out of sight, and he is nowhere to be seen. Gohan feels his father's ki disappear, and tells Buruma that he must return to the battle to help. Meanwhile, Sheng Long is busy granting Mr. Popo's wish to bring all those killed by Freeza back to life, and the dead begin to rise. Gohan realizes that Freeza is too much for him, but Goku reappears just in time.

Since there's hardly a damned thing to talk about this episode in terms of alterations (good?), I thought I'd take some time to go into something else.

There are three common misunderstandings that I often see coming up relating to the wish that is granted in this episode, and I'm tired of seeing them in my mail, on newsgroups, on sites, blah blah blah. So allow me to dispel the confusion. First of all, the wish is for Sheng Long to bring back to life all those killed by Freeza. Seems simple enough. But here are the "controversies:"

1. "Why don't all the Saiya-jin who were killed by Freeza come back?"

Because he killed them twenty years ago. The Dragon Balls have a ONE YEAR LIMIT on bringing people back to life, which Kami said in the previous episode.

2. "Why doesn't Kuririn come back to life?"

Because he already died during Dragon Ball, and Sheng Long can't bring the same person back to life twice. Porunga brings him back the second time.

3. "Freeza actually DID kill Goku in this episode, but the wish brought him back to life!"

No. You're a silly person, and that didn't happen. To be fair, I can see how this mistake would be made, especially since Gohan mentions that he can't sense Goku's ki anymore, and Goku is underwater for quite some time. But we can know for a fact that he wasn't brought back, simply because Sheng Long already did so during the Saiya-jin Saga.

One other thing I'd like to mention about this episode is that it marks the first occasion where dub Gohan yells out "Masenko!" when the Japanese Gohan is yelling Masenko. Kind of strange that he says "Masenko-aaaah!!!," but that's close enough.

And finally, I'd like to celebrate the fact that this is my 100th episode comparison! That's... amazing! That really is something! I can't believe I made it this far. And I've only got about... 200 to go... Yeah... OH PLEASE GOD, END MY LIFE.

Kami refers to the Earth dragon as "Shenron!"

At this rate, we may hear "Son" Goku before the series ends! Wow, that makes me really happy. Only problem is that "Shenron" is not really a Japanese word at all, but rather their closest possible approximation of the Chinese term Sheng Long (Dragon God). The Japanese have a very limited phonetic system, and therefore they are unable to get the sounds exactly right. And English makes a distincion between "r"s and "l"s, while Japanese does not, so saying "Shenron" with a straight "r" is incorrect as well. Ultimately, what we end up with in the dub is a transliteration of a transliteration, and there are bound to be some problems in any case like this. But that's alright, because at least they're trying.

Do I have to think up a clever joke every time they censor Dr. Briefs' cigarette? To hell with that. I'm tired of these damned shots.

And can someone please tell me what in God's name Briefs says when Yajirobe falls to the ground? It's a very clear "Gomen!" (sorry) in Japanese, but it sounds like some sort of belligerent drunk-talk in English: "BLEEEUEAAHAHAHAHEEU!!!" What the hell is that?