#but that does not mean i will plug and chug the numbers correctly

[hua-fei-hua]

“teacher, when will we ever use calculus in our daily lives??”

well i, personally, use them to analyze my fanfiction trends,, ,

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball 062

Gradually, Goku comes to realize that Korin is more than just a weird old cat living at the top of Korin Tower, and that he’s not just playing keep-away with the Sacred Water just to be a dick.   Once Korin explains that Master Roshi was the only person to capture and drink the Sacred Water, Goku appreciates that Korin is someone to be respected. 

But he still needs that water, so he does everything he can to try to get it.   None of it works.

For example, the Afterimage technique is useless on Korin, although he later thinks to himself that it’s quite impressive.  Korin keeps telling Goku that his problem is that he isn’t reading Korin’s movements, which means Goku is wasting movements of his own, which gives Korin the time to dodge. 

Goku gets hungry, which reminds Korin that he hasn’t eaten in five years, so he decides to treat himself to a meal before taking a nap.   Goku wants some of Korin’s fish, but instead Korin gives him a bean.

Goku’s pretty bitter about getting a single bean to eat, but Korin explains that they’re Senzu beans, which will keep a person full for ten days.  It does satisfy Goku’s hunger, though I’m not so sure about the ten days part.   We’ll be seeing Goku eat again in a couple of episodes.

I wondered where Korin even got a fish all the way up here, but he has a waterfall running in one of his cabinets, so I guess he plucked it out of there?   Doesn’t matter.  While Goku stares at this, Korin takes his Dragon Ball and tosses it over the side of the tower.   Furious, Goku runs back down the tower to retrieve it, because if Tao comes back and finds it with Upa below, he might kill Upa.   When he returns to the tower, he finds Korin seemingly asleep, but in fact the old cat is awake, and he’s impressed that it only took Goku three hours to climb back up, where before it took him almost an entire day.

Later, Goku catches Korin napping, and tries to sneak up on him to take the Sacred Water, but he decides not to use any cheap tricks to get it.   He hasn’t quite pieced it together yet, but he seems to understand that this is a test, and cheating won’t get him anywhere.   Besides, Korin was actually awake at this moment, and he thinks to himself how Goku is much more honest than Roshi was.

Korin again tells Goku that he has to learn to read his opponent’s movements in order to win.   Goku doesn’t understand how to do that, and Korin tells him to figure it out for himself.

But Goku keeps trying, and he keeps failing.   His only chance is to figure out what Korin is trying to tell him.

He gets some inspiration from taking another look at Bulma and the others in that pot that shows visions of the present day.   For some reason, Bulma’s trying to teach Launch, Krillin and Roshi how to do aerobics.  I would think Roshi already knows plenty about aerobics from watching it on TV all the time.   Anyway, none of them can move correctly until they stop and imitate her. 

Once again, this is a good use of filler to expand on the original story.    In the manga, Goku just kept plugging away at his training, and if he made any breakthroughs, they happened off panel.   The bit with the water showing Goku visions was filler as well, but by establishing them in the previous episode, they set up a way for Goku to get some ideas in this one.   That night, he watches Korin sleep, and imitates his movements as he attempts to anticipate what Korin will do next.

The next day, Goku declares that he’ll definitely pull it off this time. 

Goku uses the unorthodox tactic of tickling Korin.    This is key, because Korin’s pretty close to the edge of the tower, and he would have been expecting Goku to grab the water, not his person, so he’s off-guard.    Korin drops the water over the side, and Goku goes after it.  Korin thinks he’ll be killed...

But Goku’s fine, since he used his tail to grab hold of the ledge on his way down.   It’s a pretty awesome solution to Korin’s challenge.   Goku learned to read Korin’s movements, and figured out a way to make Korin release the water in a way he wouldn’t expect Goku to try.  

Victory for Goku!   I like how he asks Korin if it’s okay for him to drink it now, like he can’t quite believe he’s finally made it.   After all, it took Master Roshi three years to pull this off, and Goku’s done it in only three days.

So Goku chugs and... nothing happens.  At first he’s upset, and then Korin explains that the water has nothing special about it at all.   It was the work Goku did to get the water that made him stronger.   Climbing the tower was a feat in itself, and Korin made him do it twice.  Then he had to learn to cope with the thin air, plus he had to figure out how to take the water away from Korin.   Goku thanks Korin--addressing him as “Master” now--and heads back down to settle things with Tao.   As Goku leaves, Korin wonders if Goku hasn’t already surpassed Master Roshi.  

Meanwhile, Tao’s suit is finally ready.   He compliments the tailor for replicating his old outfit perfectly.   Then the tailor makes the mistake of asking for payment.   Tao is astonished at his temerity, but he offers to give the tailor a free assassination in exchange for his services.   It’s a bargain, since Tao charges millions to kill someone, but the tailor doesn’t want anyone assassinated, so Tao kills him instead.

As I recall, the Funimation dub took a different tack on this exchange, with Tao simply explaining that he has a reputation to uphold, and he can’t allow the tailor to live now that he’s dared to ask the great Mercenary Tao to pay his bill.   I kind of like that version better, honestly, because it comes straight to the point, and it ties in with how Tao was treated by the hotel staff and the drunken villagers from previous episodes.   Tao’s all about keeping up appearances.    He’s powerful, and he wants everyone to know it.   He’s a professional assassin because it allows him to kill lots of people in a way that lets his fearsome reputation spread.   Ironically, he charges exorbitant fees for each killing, but he never pays for anything, so he clearly doesn’t need the money.   It’s all about maintaining his status.   The fee is just a way to limit the number of jobs he has to do, and to ensure that his killings are high profile.   All so that when he walks into a hotel lobby, the staff recognize him on sight and give him the royal treatment, free of charge. 

This is all in stark contrast to Master Roshi and Korin, who live in seclusion, unconcerned with what anyone else thinks of them, or even if anyone knows that they exist.  I guess this is why Roshi lives as a hermit.   If he wanted to be rich and famous, he’d just about have to go into the killing business like Tao, and he’d have to take all these steps to make sure everyone knows not to cross him.   The moral counter to that path is to just lie low and stay out of worldly affairs.  

Anyway, Tao’s got his classic costume back, so now he feels comfortable taking care of Goku, collecting that Dragon Ball, and returning to Red Ribbon HQ to pick up his fee.