#dunno what they called dodonpa

[scoots-canoe]

watching db subbed and then being out of touch with fellow english speaking community regarding names of people/things is a struggle

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 178

Round II of Goku vs. Cell.   This episode’s animation was supervised by Masayuki Uchiyama, who is generally regarded as one of the weaker animation supervisors in the Dragon Ball series.    On the other hand, about one in every four episodes is his, so I tend to find his style to be roughly default for this show.    I wouldn’t say his stuff was all that terrible either.  There’s better artists (see: next episode), but the main complaint I see is that his characters aren’t as detailed, which isn’t exactly a deal-killer for me.    The two main things I notice abut Uchiyama’s style are the really detailed irises he gives everyone...

And the off-model hair.    I’ve often said Yamcha’s look in the Androids/Cell period is his best short-hair look, but it’s not because of Uchiyama, who just makes his scalp look like an unmowed lawn.   Still, the rest of this shot looks pretty detailed to me.    It’s not like the other guys were drawing in Tien’s eyelashes or anything.  

Anyway, Goku’s powering up and he’s so pumped that he repeats the thing he does in the opening credits, only he’s a Super Saiyan this time.    Awesome!

Then he turns fan-art Super Saiyan 8 or something.   I feel like the animators struggled to illustrate that Goku is serious here, because he’s been stuck in Super Saiyan mode for the last several episodes, but now he’s powering up.    Where do you go from there? 

Not to be outdone, Cell powers up and starts glowing purple, because Frieza can’t even do that as cool as Perfect Cell.  

And so they continue to have a wrestle.  

Everyone is astonished by Goku’s immense power... except Gohan, who doesn’t seem to think it’s that big a deal.   Hmmm....

Cell is like a kid on Christmas, because he’s truly enjoying fighting against an opponent of Goku’s level.   

So to enjoy the moment even more, he starts showboating by using techniques he knows from the genetic memory of the fighters he was cloned from.   First up is Tien’s multi-form technique. 

Okay, so here’s the deal.   In the manga, Cell was only patterned after five warriors: Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Frieza, and King Cold.   The Japanese version of the anime confirmed this when Cell told his origin story, and for the most part they’ve stuck with that.   When Cell used the Solar Flare, Krillin pointed out that Goku has used that technique before himself, so it’s not unthinkable that Cell learned it that way.   But now we have Cell using the Shishin no ken, which is specifically what Tien called it when he first used it against Goku back at the 23rd Budokai.   Piccolo used a similar multi-body technique against Nappa, but he only made two copies of himself instead of three like Tien and Cell.   

So the implication here is that Dr.  Gero must have used some of Tien’s DNA to make Cell, and maybe some others.   But this whole sequence is a filler scene, so it’s likely that Toei just decided to have Cell use some Tien moves because he knows some cool ones.   Later on, we’ll see a few Cell Juniors use the Ki Ko Ho, so it looks like Toei went with the idea that Cell has some Tien genes in him, although this was never officially stated.   

The Funimation dub just ran with this from the start, by having Cell claim to have DNA from Tien, Gohan, and Nappa, in addition to all the others.   I believe they only cited Gohan and Nappa because they happened to be on-screen during a flashback, but in Tien’s case there’s a legitimate argument to be made.    I mean, why wouldn’t Gero want Cell to know some Tien moves?    They’re pretty cool. 

The bigger issue I have with all of this is the idea that Cell can just know how to do all of this stuff simply by having certain character’s cells in his design.    Like, Namekian regeneration and Saiyan Zenkai are biological traits, so that makes sense, but why should Cell know how to do a Special Beam Cannon just because he has some of Piccolo’s DNA in him?    Piccolo wasn’t born knowing it, so why should Cell?  

On the other hand, I’ve read that DNA may have more to do with memory than we know, so maybe all these fantasy shows had the right idea all along.  It’s a lot like Serpentor from G.I. Joe.   They genetically engineered him from a pool of military geniuses and terrible dictators, and he bears all of their traits, but he also casually mentions memories of things that happened centuries ago, as if he had been there.     Does he remember Sgt. Slaughter’s AWA run?   Probably.

On top of the multi-form technique, Cell fires four Special Beam Cannons at Goku from all four corners of the ring.    This is a variation on when Tien did the same thing, but with Dodonpas instead.   Only this time Goku can fly, so he just nopes the hell out of there.

Then he just... beats the four Cells by... doubling back and hitting them?    He says that he was waiting for them to move far enough apart where he could attack them without getting ganged up on, but I dunno.    Tien and Yamcha seemed to think that Cell had somehow overcome the Multi-Form’s weakness of reducing your power with each copy, but if that were actually true, how could Goku possibly stand up to these four?   This is how you can tell it’s filler.    They just didn’t think it through.   Still a fun idea, though.

Then Cell uses another old move, which Krillin mistakes for his Destructo Disc.    Only Cell can steer it in midair, which Yamcha compares to his own move, the Soukidan, or Spirit Ball.   Then we cut to King Kai, who explains for the audience that it’s actually the final technique Frieza used against Goku on Namek.   Only Goku and King Kai actually witnessed that move in action, so I guess it makes sense for Krillin and Yamcha to be confused.  

Cell even knows how Goku beat that move the last time, which means he won’t fall for it.   So does Cell just remember Frieza getting cut in half?   That’s kind of messed up.

So how does Goku get out of this pinch?   Well, he just uses the afterimage technique to fool Cell a couple of times, and then...  I dunno.   Cell just seems to forget that he has those two energy discs still in play.    It’d be funny if they came back and cut him in half while he wasn’t looking, just like Frieza.

Then Cell closes out his greatest hits session with a Kamehameha, only it’s so huge that Goku’s afraid it’ll blow up the Earth if he fires it at ground level.    But Cell doesn’t care, so Goku flies up into the air to goad him into divering his shot away from the planet.   That puts Goku in a tight spot...

... or it would, if he didn’t know Instant Transmission.  Cell’s seen him do that before, but this is the first time he’s learned exactly what it is.    Goku asks Cell if he really would have destroyed the Earth if he hadn’t moved, and Cell explains that he knew Goku would have done something.   Yes, Cell doesn’t care about the Earth, but he does need it in one piece for his amusement, so there’s that, at least.   

Now, you’d think Goku’s teleportation powers would give him an edge here, since that’s one of the few moves in his arsenal that Cell doesn’t already know.  But it hasn’t helped Goku much so far.   Cell’s still incredibly fast, and Goku has’t been doing a lot of teleporting in this fight.   

And this seems to support Goku’s point in this episode.   He warned Cell that he couldn’t beat him with stolen fighting techniques, and he was right about that.   Goku’s seen all those tricks before, and he’s successfully defended himself against all of them.    But Cell can beat Goku through sheer speed and power, and that’s what we’re beginning to see here.  

Oh, wait, I never came up with a nickname for Masayuki Uchiyama.    Bad Hair Guy?    Moe Eyes Guy?   Hmmm....