NAMEK ARC REWATCH

Episode 36 (Tabidase Uchū e! Kibō no Hoshi wa Pikkoro no Furusato) aired on February 14th 1990. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Tatsuya Orime and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi and Seigasha. Animation by Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masahiro Shimanuki, Masako Misumi, Kazuya Hisada, Tomoya Iida (uncredited), Hideko Okimoto (uncredited), Hisashi Eguchi (uncredited), Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru (uncredited) and Takeo Ide (uncredited).

• Orime's use of holograms and imagery comes quite in handy during mourning moments and narration. Pretty neat job.
  
• Kamesennin feeling powerless and guilty for not being able to avoid his former pupils' death.
• I really like how Yajirobe defends Goku from Chichi not caring about his health. He's basically the most relatable and sensible character of this episode.
• He also has a fairly good point, since without his help, Goku and the others would be easily killed by Vegeta.
• In fact, no matter how woeful she is, her telling Yajirobe why he didn't die in Piccolo's place is very mean-spirited. He actually gave his contribution.
• Chichi doesn't simply stick to ignore Goku, but also blames him for putting Gohan into danger. That's only the start of her flanderization in the anime.
• Karin saying he ran out of senzus sounds a bit jarring, since he was shown having a jar filled with senzus back in Dragon Ball.

Episode 37 (Nazo no Yunzabitto! Kami-sama no Uchūsen o Sagase) aired on February 21st 1990. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Johei Matsuura and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo and Shindo Pro. Animation by Teruhisa Ryu, Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Noriko Shibata and Miki Ugai.

• Krillin imitating Yajirobe is funnier in the Japanese version, since both of them are voiced by Mayumi Tanaka.
• The voice control device on Kami-sama's spaceship.
• 'Gohan's crying theme' when Goku's being bendaged sounds completely off.
• By and large, this scene drags out too long.
• Bulma blaming Krillin for pushing the self-destruction bottom of Nappa's pod. It was her who pushed it in the first place.
• There is a subtle, yet significant line between being overprotective and thoroughly obsessed. Apparently, Chichi doesn't know it.
• During his tale, Kami-sama talks about 'parents'. His evil counterpart, Piccolo Daimao, was mostly aware of breeding through eggs. Why does Kami-sama believe he had parents like common humans?
• All in all, it's indeed a pretty boring entry.

Episode 38 (Namekku-sei Iki Hasshin! Gohan-tachi o Matsu Kyōfu) aired on February 28th 1990. Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama and Last House. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida and Tetsuya Saeki.

• Ueda's storyboard is pretty solid.
• Gohan's huge respect towards Piccolo.
• A small premise: when a child wants to go to a far away place, it makes perfect sense his mother hesitates to let him go without her presence. Especially considering his son is 4-5 years old, she has every right of this world to stop his overeagerness for his sake.
• That said, on one hand Chichi has a fairly good point, since she'd not seen him for over a year, thus she doesn't want to let him go anymore.
• All things considered, Gohan telling her to shut up is still a really satisfying moment for the audience. Not only it shows how Gohan wants to take active part to this journey...
• ... but especially manages to make Chichi shut up for once. No matter how right she may be, she is thoroughly annoying, either way. Her attitude isn't definitely on her side.
• Bulma is really bad-tempered.
• Why does her spaceship take off on an island? She's got enough money to build a launch pad.

Episode 39 (Teki ka Mikata ka? Nazo no Kyodai Uchūsen no Kodomo-tachi) aired on March 7th 1990. Script by Takao Koyama, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa and Studio Live. Animation by Yukio Ebisawa, Tomoya Iida, Takenori Kudo and Toshiyuki Kan'no (uncredited).

• Kamesennin not caring about Goku doing sit-ups despite his injuries.
• The only probable reason why this filler is recalled is Bulma in her undergarments.
• Nishio's board has a few nice-looking details.
• Ebisawa's triangular and messy traits are bizarrely and surprisingly fitting during "gags".
• I believe they wanted to recreate some stuff from the Red Ribbon arc, like the booby traps, involving the same group, with Gohan replacing Goku.
• Unfortunately, it turns out to be a mediocre idea. It's a pretty boring filler.
• While I like the concept of the mental training at the beginning, it's poorly executed. Ebisawa isn't a terrible animator, but his choreographies look dull and stock.

The second Dragon Ball Z movie (Kono Yo de Ichiban Tsuyoi Yatsu or The World's Strongest Guy) was released on March 10th 1990. Script by Takao Koyama, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio, executive production by Chiaki Imada and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda.

• Much like in the previous movie, Nishio's board is really great, with some strong and intense battle choreographies.
• And much like in the previous movie with Chichi, they spotlight Kamesennin's return to fighting, which is a really nice detail.
• In hindsight, I wouldn't call this movie a 100% "Goku time", as Gohan and Piccolo take an active part to the action, too.
• It's the first movie which features the 'Piccolo saving Gohan' cliché, which I can buy here since Piccolo was nearby the ice mountains where Gohan and Oolong were.
• Kikuchi's M9XX compilation are composed of a few nice tracks, like the unreleased M909 and M922. M920 is an alternate version of Piccolo's theme, and is one of the longest tracks composed by Kikuchi: it starts strongly with the electric guitar, but gets slightly tiresome in the long run. The remaining tracks more or less display the same leitmotiv, including M912 and M919 (commonly known as Freezer's themes), M923 (Saichoro's theme) and the unreleased M913-M917-M921-M925, which sound mostly okay, yet a bit repetitive. As a whole, decent soundtrack, despite being a backward step over M8XX.
• This movie presents lots of callbacks to the regular series: Chichi's "Gohan-chan, Gohan-yo" line from the first episode, Bio-men basically being robotic Saibamen, Piccolo disposing of Bio-men with his mouth blast like he did with the Saibaman, the beam struggle between Goku's Kaioken Kamehameha and Dr. Willow's energy wave being a callback to the Kamehameha-Galick Gun clash, the same earthlings from ep. 34 on the background during the Genkidama... it's up to you choose whether it's a positive or a negative.
• While I praised the intoxicated Gohan montage from the first film, despite being random filler, I totally find Gohan's memories of Piccolo montage completely pointless and nonsensical. It's a proto-"big lipped crocodile moment" like the other one, but at least it was included in a precise portion of the film, while Nicky was chasing him around Garlic Jr.'s castle. On the other had, this one doesn't. It just happens: it lasts over two minutes and is pretty distracting.
• It also raises an important question: they show a footage of Piccolo's sacrifice against Nappa, who killed him, Kami-sama and the Dragon Balls along with them. However, Piccolo is still alive in this movie, the Dragon Balls fully work (weird, since Kamesennin used them to revive Goku in the Saiyan arc) and there's no evidence of the Namek journey. Goku is even wearing his gi with Kaio-sama's symbol, while Bulma her outfit from the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai arc. Definitely a considerable continuity complaint.
• Dr. Willow and Dr. Kochin are both uninteresting and generic villains: despite being a robot, Willow's design isn't that unique and their plan looks quite clichéd and prosaic: it's the same plan of revenge against mankind we saw over and over.
• Chichi is annoying in the anime and is annoying in theatrical films, as well.
• This movie apparently starts the trend of Krillin getting severe beating from the villain. I never understood why this bit was good enough to become a trope.
• Krillin fearing Dr. Kochin's machine gun arm makes little sense, especially if Kamesennin, who is weaker than Krillin, crushes it with ease in the very next scene.
• The clichéd collective laughter in the end feels extremely forced: Bulma's joke is pretty unfunny and disrespectful towards Kamesennin, but it's a happy ending, so let's laugh at him.

Episode 40 (Honto ni Honto? Are ga Kibō no Namekku-sei) aired on March 14th 1990. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi. Animation by Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki, Kazuya Hisada and Takeo Ide (uncredited).

• Considerable improvement over the last episode, visual-wise.
• Hashimoto's board is quite nice, with a few well-executed transitions.
• Despite being an uninteresting filler, it provides an alternative way to introduce Freezer and his army.
• The first half has better action than the second.
• The hospital cutscene is obnoxious. Chichi's attitude is horrible and Goku's fear of needles gag is really unfunny and forced.
• Again, another filler involving orphans, like in episode 16. They're not that interesting as one-hit characters, either.

Episode 41 (Shinsetsu na Uchū-jin　Ikinari Atta yo Ūshinchū) aired on March 21st 1990. Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda. Animation by Masaki Satou, Takeo Ide, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru and Hisashi Eguchi.

• Zaacro using telekinesis to smoke a cigar.
• That's pretty much it: it's one of the dullest fillers of the franchise.
• Zaacro and Raiti are pretty uninteresting and generic characters.
• Why does Bulma's Dragon Radar work anyway on Fake Namek? I used to believe it could only work with real Dragon Balls.
• The hospital cutscene is unbearable. Chichi is a horrible character.
• Okazaki's storyboard is quite bad and tame.
• Maeda's square jaw looks slightly off on Bulma.

Episode 42 (Wakusei Furīza Nanbā Sebunti Nain　Fukkatsu no Bejīta!!) aired on April 4th 1990. Script by Aya Matsui and Takao Koyama, storyboard and direction by Johei Matsuura and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida, Tetsuya Saeki and Akio Katada.

• Goku's training cutscenes are more engaging than the entire Fake Namek plot, despite being not that great.
• The Fake Namek filler keeps being incredibly boring and uninteresting.
• Written by two people. Odd.
• Bulma is such an irritable and irritating character.
• Bringing back the DBesque concept of adventure isn't a bad idea on paper, but there is a right way and a wrong way to make it. This is all but right.

Episode 43 (Sorotta zo Doragon Bōru! Pikkoro-san mo Ikikaeru) aired on April 11th 1990. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Teruhisa Ryu, Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Noriko Shibata and Miki Ugai.

• The ice cave sequence is quite entertaining, at the very least.
• Goku and Vegeta's subplots turn out to be much more interesting than the Fake Namek stuff.
• Why do Krillin and Gohan forget they can actually fly in the ice cave?
• Vegeta's eye lines are open like Goku's in one shot.

Episode 44 (Arata na Kyōteki! Uchū no Teiō Furīza) aired on April 18th 1990. Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Tatsuya Orime and animation supervision by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru. Animation by Takeo Ide, Hisashi Eguchi, Naoki Miyahara, Hideko Okimoto and Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru (uncredited).

• Art-wise, this episode represents a sort of transition of the series: the rounder and softer design is gradually being replaced by a more angular and sharper approach.
• Nakatsuru's corrections are solid and pretty strong.
• Gohan and Krillin's reaction after seeing Vegeta's space pod the second time.
• Freezer's introduction is great: nothing better than introducing the villain of this arc with Namekian corpses scattered around. Ryusei Nakao's laugh is really likeable, though not as over-the-top as his current output.
• The Fake Namek filler ends at last, but wasting an entire first half for it is a bit too much.
• Zaacro and Raiti are really dumb: they read their minds, but they didn't look up the password for their spaceship.

Episode 45 (Yabō no Bejīta! Uchūichi no Senshi wa Ore da!!) aired on April 25th 1990. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Shigeyasu Yamauchi and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida, Tetsuya Saeki, Takeo Ide (uncredited) and Hisashi Eguchi (uncredited).

• Yamauchi's board is quite good, with a fairly smart use of colors and reflections.
• Gohan and Krillin defeating Freezer's soldiers with ease and class.
• Kyui's death is brutal and painful, with Vegeta punching him and turning him into fireworks. Great stuff.
• It's quite an irony here M802 is used at the beginning, since it's usually used as the ending track of almost every episode.
• Definitely not the best supervision from Uchiyama.
• Why does Krillin suggest Gohan to leave Namek? Does he forget the potential consequences of such a decision?

Episode 46 (Gokū Pawā Zenkai!! Ginga no Hate made Rokkakan) aired on May 2nd 1990. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. Animation by Yukio Ebisawa, Tomoya Iida and Toshiyuki Kan'no.

• Maybe the episode with the lowest amount of BGM used so far.
• Ebisawa's corrections quite dominate over Iida and Kan'no's scenes. 

Episode 47 (Ihyō o Tsuita Kōgeki!! Chōrō no Nerai wa Sukautā) aired on May 9th 1990. Script by Aya Matsui, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi. Animation by Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki and Kazuya Hisada.

• Well-boarded and well-directed, it's one of the first Ueda episodes to display his leitmotiv, his use of colors.
• This episode is also pretty well-structured: we get exposition and the continuation of the plot, but also some considerable amount of noteworthy action.
• Freezer's characterization is top-notch: he doesn't even need to act to be intimidating. He simply is.
• Zarbon and Dodoria are also interesting sidekicks with opposite features: Zarbon is more elegant and beauty-maniac, whereas Dodoria is more ruthless and uncouth.
• The Namekian warriors provide a great fighting sequence against Freezer's soldiers.
• Takeuchi's animation output is pretty twitchy and robotic.

Episode 48 (Gohan Ayaushi! Shi o Yobu Tsuisekisha Dodoria) aired on May 16th 1990. Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda. Animation by Masaki Satou, Takeo Ide, Hisashi Eguchi, Naoki Miyahara, Hideko Okimoto, Yoko Iizuka (uncredited) and Kazuya Hisada (uncredited).

• Dodoria slaughtering Namekians is a brutal and great sequence.
• In Toriyama's manga, Freezer kills Cargo, whereas in the anime, it's Dodoria who kills him. I don't understand the reason for this change, but it makes sense, since it sounds like dirty work for Freezer.
• The chasing sequence is a tad long, but it's enjoyable enough.
• Okazaki's storyboard is a bit bland.

Episode 49 (Bakushi Dodoria! Bejīta no Osoru Beki Shōgekiha) aired on May 23rd 1990. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Shigeyasu Yamauchi and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida and Tetsuya Saeki.

• Yamauchi's board is great. Noteworthy mention to his sense of scale and compelling use of colors.
• Although, his directional picks don't feel as effective, through some looped and/or wrongly placed BGM and usage of flashbacks from episode 45.
• Not the best-looking Last House entry, as Uchiyama's corrections are nearly everywhere.
• Dodoria tells Vegeta that it was Freezer who destroyed his home planet. Both here and in the manga, Vegeta is unaware of the true cause of planet Vegeta destruction. However, in a future filler flashback, it turns out Vegeta already knew it. What's the point of adding something which would eventually clash with the canon material?

Episode 50 (Moeru Wakusei kara no Dasshutsu!! Inochigake no Kamehameha) aired on May 30th 1990. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Noriko Shibata, Teruhisa Ryu and Miki Ugai.

• Vegeta starting his Namekian slaughter.
• Horikawa saying 'BOOM'.
• The filler of Goku's spaceship getting damage is pretty bland and forgettable.
• Hashimoto's board falls flat most of the time.
• Shindo's corrections are not known for looking particularly appealing, either.

Episode 51 (Yūki Hyakubai! Kaiō no Moto ni Shūketsu Suru Senshi-tachi) aired on June 6th 1990. Script by Aya Matsui, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. Animation by Yukio Ebisawa, Toshiyuki Kan'no and Tomoya Iida.

• Despite having pretty short and weak action, Ueda's storyboard enhances its visuals quite a lot. Further mention to his skillful use of colors throughout the entire episode.
• Unfortunately, it's not a very consistent and engaging episode. Ebisawa's corrections look pretty bad, especially on Vegeta and Bulma.
• It sort of has a bad reputation for this shot in particular. Ebisawa's proportions are pretty much questionable.

Episode 52 (Kike Gokū yo! Furīza ni wa Te o Dasu na) aired on June 20th 1990. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Noriko Shibata, Teruhisa Ryu and Miki Ugai.

• Kaio-sama's bad pun test sounds a bit cheesy, but it's quite funny.
• Tenshinhan taking this test seriously.
• Kaio-sama laughing at Piccolo's totally unfunny line.
• The fight between Vegeta and Zarbon has a few good moves.
• Despite this, it's not that well-animated.
• Hashimoto's board is slightly inconsistent, too.

Episode 53 (Hotondo Torihada! Bisenshi Zābon no Akuma no Henshin) aired on June 27th 1990. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Shigeyasu Yamauchi and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara and Naotoshi Shida.

• This portion of the fight between Vegeta and Zarbon is well-animated and well-choreographed, despite some reused animation.
• Goku's training sequence is one of the best animated bits of the series. If you slow it down, you can spot every different movement from a frame to another.
• This.
• Yamauchi's board is competently executed, with a few nice color picks.
• His direction, though, isn't that great, as there is not a common thread between the several cutscenes. It gets a bit distracting eventually.
• The anime overlooks the moment Zarbon tells Vegeta Freezer, too, can transform. Minor detail, but still.

Episode 54 (Kibō no Hoshi o Mamore!! Kuririn Kyōi no Pawā Appu) aired on July 4th 1990. Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi. Animation by Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki, Kazuya Hisada, Naoki Miyahara (uncredited) and Takeo Ide (uncredited).

• Freezer showing his first glimpses of fear of the Super Saiyan.
• His plan of healing Vegeta is incredibly dumb: even though he knows he also wants to gather the Dragon Balls, he still helps him fully recover from his wounds.

The third Dragon Ball Z movie (Chikyū Marugoto Chōkessen or A Super Decisive Battle for Earth) was released on July 7th 1990. Script by Takao Koyama, direction by Daisuke Nishio, executive production by Chiaki Imada and Tamio Kojima, animation supervision by Minoru Maeda, with assistant animation supervisors Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru and Masaki Satou.

• Using a montage of the Z-fighters gathering the Dragon Balls with the Cha-La-Head-Cha-La theme instead of the usual opening montage is a really clever device.
• The more action-packed 2nd half feels stronger than the 1st one.
• Kikuchi's M10XX compilation feature some great tracks, such as M1002, M1010, M1023 (these latter two with a chorus) and of course, the memorable M1020, A Sign of Hope, also known as the Genkidama theme (dun dun dun). Overall, pretty decent soundtrack, maybe a step up over M9XX.
• Tullece proposing Gohan to drink wine is kinda amusing, considering he's only 5.
• This.
• Shimanuki and Shida do definitely know how to deal with Oozarus.
• Yamamuro provides the best choreographed fight of the movie.
• Tullece is the first villain to beat back Goku's first Genkidama.
• Tullece is also the only villain with open eye lines, much like Goku. Cool touch.
• As for the villain himself, he represents what Goku would've been if he hadn't hit his head. All in all, he's an okay villain: even though he almost manages to win, his premise is still non-existent. It's never established why he's interested in planting the Tree of Might on Earth, precisely. Does he want to take it over? Or does he seek for revenge? It's never explained.
• Fortunately, the concept of an evil Goku would be portrayed much better with Goku Black, who is a far more interesting and three-dimensional character.
• At the very least, backgrounds share some variety of chromatic contrasts, despite looking dark most of the time.
• Its storyboarding looks mostly nice, but Nishio's direction is hit and miss.
• Maeda's corrections nearly dominate all over the movie, which looks somewhat rushed at some points. By now, his traits are becoming some sort of hybrid, with rounded off eye lines and more square jaws. Probably not a well-balanced mix, especially if you compare it with Satou's more complete approach.
• Tullece's henchmen display quite interesting designs, but are still pretty bland and generic sidekicks.
• Why is Oolong scared by Shenron? It's not even the first time he sees the dragon. He should be used to it by now.
• Here Chichi manages to be even more unbearable than in the previous film. By now I believe she represents the inflexible and rigid mother stereotype. Not even a good stereotype.
• Yamcha gets brutally scolded and mocked because of his spaceship being destroyed by Amond's attack. It's a pretty unfunny and mean-spirited moment, as if he suddenly became the recurring butt-monkey.
• It may not be a full 100% "Goku time" (still 90%), but they actually give very little fighting time to Krillin, Yamcha, Tenshinhan and Piccolo. I praise their presence, but it's a missed opportunity. Especially to see human characters in action.
• The "Piccolo saving Gohan" cliché kinda worked in the last movie, but here sounds a bit forced.
• Goku's "I'm not a Saiyan. I'm an Earthling" clichéd line makes its first appearance. It sounds jarring if we consider Goku being proud of his origins back in episode 19.
• Oozaru Gohan doesn't recognize his own father, even if he calls his name all the time... but for some reason, he can recognize Haiya Dragon. This is easily the dumbest thing of the whole franchise. And the fact Oozaru Gohan actually recognized Goku's voice in episode 35, does make this bit even dumber.

Episode 55 (Shi no Fuchi kara Yomigaetta　Kiseki no Otoko · Bejīta) aired on July 18th 1990. Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Tatsuya Orime and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida and Tetsuya Saeki.

• This.
• Yamcha, Tenshinhan and Chaozu keeping up with Piccolo kinda recalls the results of Goku and Krillin's training with Kamesennin during the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai.
• The whole training at Kaio-sama's planet is fine, but it brings nothing valuable to the follow-up, as none of the fighters learns a new technique, unlike Goku.
• Vegeta recovering from his injuries confirms how Freezer's plan was incredibly stupid and out of character.

Episode 56 (Shi no Fuchi kara Yomigaetta　Kiseki no Otoko · Bejīta) aired on August 1st 1990. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. Animation by Yukio Ebisawa, Tomoya Iida and Toshiyuki Kan'no.

• Pretty solid board from Ueda.
• Vegeta's escape plan is really ingenious, as he takes advantage of Freezer and Zarbon's inability to sense ki, thus stealing the Dragon Balls from them.
• Small detail, but I quite like Freezer doesn't kill Zarbon like he did with a minion in episode 54. As though he wanted to give him another chance.
• Since it's an Ebisawa entry, its art inconsistency is rather evident. Moreover, his corrections might work on distorted-looking expressions, but they are usually really jarring, mainly on Vegeta.

Episode 57 (Genki ga Modotta zo!! Hyakubai Chō-Jūryoku no Naka no Gokū) aired on August 8th 1990. Script by Takao Koyama, storyboard and direction by Shigeyasu Yamauchi and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Noriko Shibata, Teruhisa Ryu, Tadayoshi Yamamuro and Miki Ugai.

• The Goku subplot is slightly more engaging than the actual fight.
• Yamauchi's board has a few competent layouts...
• ...but his direction is pretty mediocre. His music placement isn't always accurate, like M740, a generic battle track, during Zarbon's execution.
• Even if we take out the recycled animation, the rematch between Vegeta and Zarbon is pretty poor: its choreography is inconsistent and it's not even that well-animated.
• Shindo's corrections dominate all over the episode, as they look way too angular and not that polished for my taste.
• Bulma is way too shallow and gullible. She doesn't consider Zarbon a villain at first, only because he's handsome?

Episode 58 (Furīza no Himitsu Heiki! Akuma no Ginyū Tokusentai) aired on August 22nd 1990. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi. Animation by Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki and Kazuya Hisada.

• Freezer killing off a minion for being a chicken.
• Vegeta trying to act friendly towards Gohan before hitting him with his knee. With a creepy expression, too.
• Vegeta's measured reaction after realizing Gohan stole his Dragon Ball.
• Kaio-sama's overreaction to the Ginyu Force arrival.
• Hashimoto's output is a considerable downside: his board is pretty bland and his music placement is quite bad. Like M645 being used twice (one during Kaio-sama's cutscene and the other one before Vegeta jumps into a lake), or M626 when Gohan reaches Krillin's place.

Episode 59 (Buruma ga Abunai!! Sūshinchū wa Furīza no Te ni) aired on August 29th 1990. Script by Aya Matsui, storyboard and direction by Johei Matsuura and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida, Akio Katada and Tetsuya Saeki.

• Matsuura's board and direction are really good. Perhaps too good for this episode.
• It's also one of the most polished Uchiyama entries. His corrections are not even that strong.
• Any subplot is better than the main plot. Be it Freezer's rage, Vegeta's scheme or Goku's training.
• The main plot, that is Bulma trying to catch the Dragon Ball from the bottom of a lake, is really boring and a pretty terrible filler.
• This filler shows why Bulma should've gone back to Earth, because she has been almost completely useless in this arc. I know she created the Dragon Radar, but her role is just complaining about everything.
• This filler also manages to distract from the real purpose of this arc, that is Freezer's threat.
• This is a flat out tedious filler.

Episode 60 (Gekitotsu da!! Fukutsu no Toushi no Kaiō-Ken to Kamehameha) aired on September 5th 1990. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Noriko Shibata, Teruhisa Ryu, Tadayoshi Yamamuro and Miki Ugai.

• I love how the title ditches Bulma's filler by referring to Goku's training.
• The ending part featuring Ginyu turning his head in a clichéd way.
• Sometimes I wish they had killed off Bulma in this arc. She would've been resurrected with the Dragon Balls anyway.
• This filler section manages to be even more tedious than the previous one.

Episode 61 (Semaru Chō-Kessen! Ginyū Tokusentai Tadaima Sanjō!!) aired on September 12th 1990. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Tatsuya Orime and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. Animation by Yukio Ebisawa, Tomoya Iida and Toshiyuki Kan'no.

• Solid directional output from Orime.
• Flowers here, flowers there.
• Vegeta flipping Krillin off.
• Even though they're not good characters singularly, the Ginyu Force introduction is marvelous. Their poses are unique and M814 fits the moment so well.
• Freezer's embarrassed reaction.
• Ebisawa.

Episode 62 (Gokū ga Daisekkin! Furīza Hōimō o Buchiyabure) aired on September 19th 1990. Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard by Shigeyasu Yamauchi, direction by Junichi Fujise and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida and Tetsuya Saeki.

• Yamauchi's board makes nice use of colors, in a well-directed episode.
• Freezer's speechless reaction after the Ginyu Force's departure. He's even more shocked in Ohara's uncorrected genga.
• Vegeta having a normal conversation with Krillin near the end.
• On second thought, why is Burter considered the fastest in the universe? Ginyu and Freezer are stronger than him (and presumably faster, too), while Guldo can freeze time. Isn't it an overstatement?
• During Guldo's flashback, Vegeta is shown without his tail. This fact obviously happened prior to his arrival on Namek, and maybe prior to his arrival on Earth, as well. Shouldn't he still have it?

Episode 63 (Chō-Majutsu ka Torikku ka!? Misutā Gurudo ga Okotta!) aired on September 26th 1990. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Tomekichi Takeuchi. Animation by Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki and Kazuya Hisada.

• Guldo pulling Krillin's ears.
• Such strong animation individualities from Shimanuki and Hisada...
• ... in a terribly dull and boring fight. Its leitmotiv is rather repetitive, with Guldo freezing time, holding his breath and then exhaling, exhausted, and Gohan and Krillin using instantaneous movements. EVERY SINGLE TIME.
• I don't understand the point of Recoome and the others threatening Guldo to expel him from their squad. If they already knew Guldo wasn't that strong, why would they even call him in?
• Moreover, Guldo's psychic powers are not that original, either.
• While I may get Toda's reason for changing Guldo's death, it's still a major downgrade over the manga, where Vegeta beheads him. Such a brutal and powerful scene, which gets butchered in the anime, with a simple ki blast beheading Guldo. The result manages to be funnier than brutal. His expression looks more like mildly shocked than horrified.
• Kikuchi's first time as a director is pretty bad. His battle choreography is almost non-existent, his board falls flat and his music placement is awful: M637 when Piccolo feels Gohan is in danger, or M614 during Guldo's beheading are simply uncorrect choices.
• Bulma's cutscene.

The TV special (Tatta Hitori no Saishū Kessen ~Furīza ni Idonda Zetto-senshi Kakarotto no Chichi or A Final, Solitary Battle: The Father of Z-Warrior Kakarrot, Who Challenged Freeza) aired on October 17th 1990. Script by Takao Koyama and Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto, animation supervision by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, with assistant animation supervisor Masaki Satou.

• Hashimoto's storyboarding and direction are pretty good. His layouts are really competent.
• This TV special is different, as it talks about the tragedy of planet Vegeta and its main character, Bardock, is only a protagonist, but not a hero (like Goku), since he's a Saiyan mercenary who works for Freezer.
• Bardock isn't portrayed as a good character, as he destroys planets as a living and even disowns his son at the beginning, because he doesn't care about him.
• I really like the first thing he does after seeing his newborn son is reading his power level. It fits his Saiyan nature.
• Kid Vegeta's training outfit looks almost identical to his Buu arc clothes.
• Nappa with hair.
• The progression of Freezer's betrayal makes also sense, as they might be able to join forces against him one day.
• Bardock's reaction to Toma's death is incredibly mature. He doesn't yell 'NO' dramatically. He simply cleans up Toma's bloody face with his bloody armband, which proceeds to use as a headband.
• This TV special uses Kikuchi's M10XX for the first time (even though episode 66 would introduce them in the regular series).
• Solid State Scouter is a great piece of music. It's played twice, and is basically Bardock's theme.
• Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru created Bardock and the other characters' design, and also supervises the whole TV special. As a result, it's pretty consistent-looking, due to his hefty corrections.
• Perhaps too hefty corrections, as his characters don't seem to share different expressions. They look a bit stock.
• An healthy Bardock struggles with Dodoria's two henchmen, but a heavily injured Bardock can take on hundreds of Freezer's soldiers. How?
• In the end, Bardock indeed dies. That's it. Nothing else should happen after that...

Episode 64 (Mōi Rikuumu! Warukute Tsuyokute Tondemonai Yatsu) aired on October 24th 1990. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Masaki Satou. Animation by Takeo Ide, Hisashi Eguchi, Naoki Miyahara, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, Hideko Okimoto and Kazuo Takigawa.

• First and only time as a supervisor for Satou. One of the solidest-looking, if not the solidest, episodes of this arc. His corrections are everywhere.
• The fight between Vegeta and Recoome is a lot better animated and choreographed than the previous one.
• No matter how much damage Recoome takes, he never loses his cool. He seems to have fun most of the time.
• Recoome pulling out Vegeta from the ground like a vegetable.
• Vegeta insulting Gohan for saving him. I know he's not a good guy, yet, but his attitude is displeasing, anyway.

Episode 65 (Shinu na Gohan! Gokū · Tsui ni Kessenjō ni Tōchaku da) aired on October 31st 1990. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Noriko Shibata, Teruhisa Ryu, Tadayoshi Yamamuro and Miki Ugai.

• Freezer's scream while trying to summon the dragon.
• His reaction to Ginyu's dance of joy.
• The bit with Recoome breaking Gohan's neck works pretty well. I quite appreciate this scene is totally silent.
• Ueda's board is indeed pretty good...
• ... but his direction could be better. His cutaways timing is mostly uncorrect and his music placement isn't perfect, either. For example, M719 sounds way too cheerful for a fight.
• The battle between Gohan and Recoome is mediocre. It's not that well-animated and the conflict is one-sided.
• Chichi's cutscene makes no sense. For instance, why should she hang up her laundry at Bulma's house? Of course, her will to go to Namek neither brings nothing relevant to the story.
• Vegeta niggling at Gohan for not being able to withstand Recoome. Kinda hypocritical, considering he was also humiliated by him.

Episode 66 (Ketahazure no Tsuyosa!! Densetsu no Sūpā Saiya-jin Son Gokū) aired on November 7th 1990. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Tatsuya Orime and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. Animation by Yukio Ebisawa, Tomoya Iida and Toshiyuki Kan'no.

• Excluding the TV special, this episode introduces Kikuchi's M10XX for the first time. Special mention to M1020 (the Genkidama theme), playing during Goku's arrival.
• Orime's board is great, with tons of impactful imagery.
• Goku's smugness.
• Ebisawa's terrible corrections.
• This episode feels like a Saiyan arc deja vu, with Goku arriving in a critical moment, Recoome taking Nappa's place and Jeece and Burter instead of Vegeta.
• Goku reading minds out of nowhere. He'll never use such a skill again.
• Chichi's shrill voice acting.
• Bulma's cutaway.

Episode 67 (Aka to Ao no Raitoningu Bōru! Jiisu to Baata ga Gokū o Osō) aired on November 14th 1990. Script by Aya Matsui, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida, Tetsuya Saeki and Naoki Mishiba.

• Solid, but not great board from Nishio.
• Goku vs Jeece and Burter features glimpses of great animation.
• Goku punching Jeece in the face.
• Ohara drawing perfect teeth on Ginyu. With canines in one shot.
• Goku sneaking behind Burter, with his crossed arms.
• Ginyu's cutaway is a bit pointless.

Episode 68 (Tsui ni Chokusetsu Taiketsu!! Ginyū Taichō no Odemashi da) aired on November 21st 1990. Script by Keiji Terui, storyboard and direction by Junichi Fujise and animation supervision by Masahiro Shimanuki. Animation by Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Kazuya Hisada and Naoki Tate.

• Shimanuki's debut as a supervisor. His corrections are pretty strong.
• Great storyboarding from Fujise. His use of imagery sort of recalls Orime's output.
• Tate's first episode as an animator. Also with cool impact frames.
• Ginyu is more concerned about ineffective fighting poses rather than about losing his men.
• Ginyu discrediting the usefulness of power levels.
• Burter has never really been the fastest in the universe.

Episode 69 (Susamajī Hakuryoku!! Mita ka, Gokū no Furu Pawā) aired on November 28th 1990. Script by Aya Matsui, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Teruhisa Ryu, Noriko Shibata, Tadayoshi Yamamuro and Miki Ugai.

• The battle between Goku and Ginyu is conservative, but quite enjoyable.
• Whilst not being great, Okazaki's board is fairly well-executed. His layouts look nice.
• The Kaioken ending sequence.
• Goku's massive ears.
• Bulma.

Episode 70 (Tatakai no Yukue!? Saichōrō ni Semaru Furīza no Ma no Te) aired on December 5th 1990. Script by Aya Matsui, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda. Animation by Takeo Ide, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, Masaki Satou, Hideko Okimoto, Chikako Uesugi, Kuniko Iwagami, Noriko Ichibashi and Eisaku Inoue.

• I think Nakatsuru corrected a few shots in this episode.
• The fiery aura of Goku's Kaioken.
• Freezer defeating Namekians with just one blow. Literally.
• Why did Ginyu think throwing rocks would work?
• Starting from this, Maeda's episodes suffered a slow and relentless decline.

Episode 71 (Bikkuri!! Gokū ga Ginyū de Ginyū ga Gokū) aired on December 12th 1990. Script by Aya Matsui, storyboard and direction by Tatsuya Orime and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. Animation by Yukio Ebisawa, Tomoya Iida and Toshiyuki Kan'no.

• Good board from Orime.
• Ebisawa's art doesn't look that appealing, but his bizarre expressions actually work in this case. For example, on Namekians' corpses, on Ginyu and during/after his Body Change technique.
• Kan'no gradually emerging as an artist.
• Freezer laughing after Nail karate chops his neck.
• Bulma talking nonsense.
• Ginyu's apparently clever plan turns out to be pretty stupid eventually.

Episode 72 (Ide yo Sūpā Shenron!! Boku no Negai o Kanaetamae) aired on December 19th 1990. Script by Aya Matsui, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida and Masayuki Uchiyama (uncredited).

• Krillin trying to summon the dragon with class.
• Ohara drawing canines again.
• What does Jeece's gesture mean, exactly?
• Hashimoto's board is quite solid, with a few reflections...
• ... but his direction is very inconsistent. It loses its focus by dragging sequences longer, like Vegeta dealing with Freezer's weak soldiers, which takes a good piece of the first half.
• Possibly the worst use of M1020.
• Krillin is really stupid and dense here: he sees Goku with his scouter on, alongside Jeece, and STILL, he doesn't understand he's not Goku. Even Gohan gets it. It's not like he can't sense his ki to find out the truth...
• Speaking of which, Vegeta lowers his own ki to hide from Gohan and Krillin. Which is probably a pointless thing to do, since they might've sensed him before, while he was killing off Freezer's soldiers.

Episode 73 (Yatsu wa Ora ja Nē! Gohan Bibiru na Chichi o Ute!!) aired on January 9th 1991. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Teruhisa Ryu, Tadayoshi Yamamuro and Noriko Shibata.

• Yamamuro escaping Shindo's corrections in a few shots. With some nice martial arts.
• Nishio's board is pretty competent and dynamic.
• His direction is mostly okay. There's barely no connection between the two main fights.
• Lots and lots of reused animations, to the point that it gets pretty annoying.
• They even used Ohara's clip right from the following episode. First and only time.
• Ginyu is probably the stupidest fighter of the franchise. Why doesn't he know the side effects of his own Body Change? Krillin isn't a genius, but even he knows how Ginyu is a dumbass. Even though he still requires time to get used to his new body, he's so dumb to use it, anyway.
• Besides, even if he did know its side effects, why would he act so smugly, if he was actually aware of this evident weakness? There's no plausible excuse to justify a stupid character like Ginyu.
• His fighting poses are getting tedious and repetitive, too.
• This...
• The uselessness of Kaio-sama's cutscene.

Episode 74 (Dai-Gosan!! Ginyū ga Kaeru ni Natchatta) aired on January 16th 1991. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida and Masayuki Uchiyama (uncredited).

• Solid storyboarding, with a focus on colors and Dragon Ball reflections.
• The first half is inevitably stronger than the second, since it's more action-packed.
• Vegeta beating Ginyu with class.
• Vegeta's opportunism is bigger than his thirst of revenge, as he decides to heal Goku's wounds.
• The needle gag is still pretty unfunny.

Episode 75 (Nanatsu no Tama o Soroeshi Mono yo... Sā Aikotoba o Ie!) aired on January 23rd 1991. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. Animation by Yukio Ebisawa, Tomoya Iida and Toshiyuki Kan'no.

• Gohan foreshadowing the Great Saiyaman.
• Hashimoto's board looks pretty solid...
• ... but his music placement is inconsistent. He guesses M402 and M1023 right, but misplaces M637 and M724. He also cuts off some tracks, which is a pretty bad habit.
• Why didn't Freezer finish off Nail? He doesn't have any reason for sparing his life, due to procrastinating.
• And why does it take him so long to reach the place where Gohan and Krillin are?
• The Frog Ginyu segment.

Episode 76 (Kami-sama mo Ikikaetta! Sūpā Shenron de Pikkoro ga Fukkatsu) aired on January 30th 1991. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Tatsuya Orime and animation supervision by Masahiro Shimanuki. Animation by Masahiro Shimanuki (uncredited), Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Kazuya Hisada and Naoki Tate.

• The turning heads episode.
• Shimanuki's corrections are exceptionally strong.
• Yamcha, Tenshinhan and Chaozu fighting.
• Popo chasing a butterfly.

Episode 77 (Saikyō Senshi no Tanjō ka!? Neiru to Pikkoro ga Gattai) aired on February 6th 1991. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Minoru Okazaki and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda. Animation by Takeo Ide, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, Masaki Satou, Hideko Okimoto, Chikako Uesugi, Kuniko Iwagami and Noriko Ichibashi, with assistant animation supervisor Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru.

• Freezer's fake composure before his outrage at the beginning.
• Vegeta acknowledging Krillin and Gohan's potential. I also like that he talks about joining forces against Freezer.
• First signs of the visual decline of Maeda's episodes. It's pretty rushed-looking at several points.
• Okazaki's storyboarding is pretty tame and stock. His direction is also quite inconsistent.

Episode 78 (Akumu no Chō-Henshin!! Sentō-ryoku Hyaku-Man no Furīza) aired on February 13th 1991. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Teruhisa Ryu, Tadayoshi Yamamuro and Noriko Shibata.

• The highlight is Ueda's directional output. Definitely his strongest board so far. His use of colors ranges from the blue framing of the Saiyans to a black and white when Freezer uses his Death Storm.
• The very last shot looks so like a postcard. Great stuff.
• His music placement is on-point, too. M302 before Freezer pierces through Krillin sounds so tense.
• Nakao's voice is oddly and occasionally low-pitched in Freezer's 2nd form.
• Using the TV special clip of Freezer destroying planet Vegeta is pretty risky, since it may turn out to be sidetracking. In reality, I'm letting it pass because it's somehow related to king Vegeta's death. I kind of appreciate they used a sepia filter to make it less distracting.
• Wrong armor in one shot.
• King Vegeta is portrayed as an uninteresting and bland character. Not only he is a terrible father, but also an incapable king.
• He gets killed by just one uppercut by Freezer, in his weakest form. Pretty anticlimactic.
• Bulma is completely useless in this arc.

Episode 79 (Koko made ka!? Kyōaku Chōzetsu Pawā ga Gohan o Osō) aired on February 20th 1991. Script by Aya Matsui, storyboard and direction by Tatsuya Orime and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida and Masayuki Uchiyama.

• Pretty solid storyboarding from Orime. His music placement is also appropriate. The instrumental M424B during Krillin's torture works.
• Krillin's torture is a painful and impactful sequence.
• Ohara's Freezer looks so intimidating.
• Gohan's rampage on Freezer.
• Vegeta being a doomster.
• Kaio-sama being a paranoid.

Episode 80 (Ikki ni Keisei Gyakuten!! Okurete Kita Senshi · Pikkoro) aired on February 27th 1991. Script by Aya Matsui, storyboard and direction by Junichi Fujise and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. Animation by Yukio Ebisawa, Tomoya Iida and Toshiyuki Kan'no.

• Krillin bugging Freezer.
• Vegeta being proud of Gohan's plot devi... zenkai boost.
• Fujise's output is hit and miss. The first half may display a nice reflection and a pretty cool transition, but the sequence with Krillin escaping from Freezer is so distractingly long that gets pretty bothersome immediately.
• Not to mention a totally unnecessary flashback montage of Piccolo's memories of Gohan. It made sense in episode 28 due to its mourning context, but here it feels pointless.
• Speaking of the former sequence, Krillin could've simply used his Taiyoken to temporarily blind Freezer, and end of the story.
• Ebisawa's traits are inarguably worse-looking than usual. His expressions might work on "comical" moments, but they are so out of place most of the time. His facial and muscle proportions are also pretty inaccurate.
• Piccolo's arrival is completely ruined by his unappealing approach. M503 sounds undeniably great, but the execution isn't very good as a whole.

Episode 81 (Pikkoro no Jishin! Furīza o Taosu no wa Ore da) aired on March 6th 1991. Script by Takao Koyama, storyboard by Daisuke Nishio, direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Masahiro Shimanuki. Animation by Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Naoki Tate, Chikako Uesugi, Kuniko Iwagami and Noriko Ichibashi.

• Shimanuki's supervision is on-point, at least.
• M810 being played for the first time in the regular series, despite M8XX being introduced 60 episodes ago.
• A strong staff list not managing to make this episode acceptable.
• This portion of the fight between Piccolo and Freezer turns out to be incredibly boring, with lackluster choreography and animation.
• It's definitely not a good sign Takeuchi is the most recognizable animator. Sadly, not for positive reasons. His twitchy movements and questionable art are left uncorrected most of the time. Weak output like everyone else.
• Nishio's board is incredibly stock and flat, and Ueda's direction doesn't even make it any better.
• Even though his use of colors pops up near the end, his output feels really unimpressive.
• Especially if you waste more than two minutes by showing footages from previous episodes. Flashbacks get in the way and detract our attention from new content. Was it really necessary?
• Vegeta escaping from Freezer is utterly out of character, and it's another pointless scene, since a similar thing happens in an upcoming episode. Definitely not a sign of good writing.
• Piccolo refusing Gohan and Krillin's help. He's not like Vegeta.

The fourth Dragon Ball Z movie (Sūpā Saiya-jin da Son Gokū or Super Saiyan Son Goku) was released on March 9th 1991. Script by Takao Koyama, direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto, executive production by Chiaki Imada and Rikizo Kayano, animation supervision by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru and Masaki Satou, with assistant animation supervisor Minoru Maeda.

• M1101 KUCHIBUE NO KIMOCHI (the whistle song) is a pretty catchy insert song.
  
• It also gives a pretty unique weakness to Namekians, who can't stand the sound of human whistles. Piccolo even tears off his own ears to accomplish this plan.
• Chichi even gets a fighting moment. Nice.
• This is kinda funny.
• Arale's poster in Gohan's room.
• Eye lasers.
• The design of the False Super Saiyan. Red hair with the yellow aura is a nice-looking combo.
• Blow da whistle and black human beings.
• Hashimoto's direction is really strong in the first 20 minutes. It becomes less effective later on, but overall, his output is good.
• Nakatsuru's supervision is heavily solid, and his corrections dominate all over the movie...
• ... but his expressions are all pretty stock and boring. They never withstand changes.
• Maeda's corrections can be spotted here and there. His hybrid approach doesn't feel that well-balanced.
• Slug is a pretty dull and generic villain. His motivations are even weaker than Tullece's, as he wants to take over Earth for not a very specific reason.
• Apart from M1105, M1115 and M1120B (a.k.a. the organ theme), Kikuchi's M11XX soundtracks are middle-of-the-road at most: M1119 is a pretty generic battle theme, M1112 is the weakest Piccolo-themed BGM, M1108 and M1121 present repetitive leitmotivs and M1113 is one of the worst pieces ever composed by Kikuchi.
• Why doesn't Piccolo intervene to help Goku and Krillin at the beginning? Probably not to sort out his deus ex machina role to save Gohan from a dire situation.
• Bulma is so gullible she gives Slug every info about the Dragon Balls. So dumb.
• This film has the laziest and lamest gathering Dragon Balls montage.
• After becoming young again, Slug says he has no fear of growing old and dying. It would've made sense if he'd actually asked Shenron eternal life, like Garlic Jr. The end of this film proves how Slug's wish was pointless.
• Why does Gohan take Oolong with him? He's not a fighter. How can he possibly help him?
• First Gohan can take on Slug's soldiers, then he gets hurt by their weak blasts.
• Dorodabo and Angira are blatant callbacks to Zarbon and Dodoria, not only physically, but also personality-wise.
• Gohan's stance is another evident callback to this.
• Goku ignoring Angira and Medamatcha is another subtle reference to him ignoring Jeece and Burter in the regular series.
• Piccolo kills Dorodabo without breaking a sweat, but is injured by Medamatcha's ki blast.
• 100% Goku time trope, with every warrior being k.o'd by Slug, as he comes to save the day.
• Krillin getting humiliated trope is neither funny or creative. It's plain dumb.
• Goku's "I'm not a Saiyan. I'm an Earthling" trope, in response to Slug's question.
  
• I don't understand Goku's shock after finding out Slug is a Namekian.
• Why would Slug need to use arms with gloves, instead of his usual Namekian limbs? Just to give a predictably shocking reveal?
• I totally don't buy Super Namekian Slug being stronger than Freezer, and most of all, than a Super Saiyan.
• Does Piccolo always forget he can stretch his arms?
• Third movie villain in a row being defeated by Goku's Genkidama. Pretty unoriginal.
• His Genkidama manages to thin clouds out.

Episode 82 (Shutsugeki da Gokū!! Gekido no Furīza ga Dai-Ni no Henshin) aired on March 13th 1991. Script by Takao Koyama, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Teruhisa Ryu, Tadayoshi Yamamuro and Noriko Shibata.

• This portion of the fight between Piccolo and Freezer is more entertaining.
• I also like the anime added an exclusive piece of action with Piccolo without his weighted clothes, unlike in the manga, where Freezer simply decides to transform.
• Kikuchi's output is good. His board makes interesting use of color contrasts.
• Shindo's angular traits look quite fitting on both Piccolo and Freezer.
• Freezer's third form is monstrous and hideous. In a positive way.
• Freezer's cries while he's torturing Piccolo in the end.
• M424B sounds way too overdramatic during this very scene.

Episode 83 (Kyōfu Shiro!! Furīza wa Sando no Henshin de Shōbu Suru) aired on March 20th 1991. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida and Masayuki Uchiyama.

• I like Freezer assumes Gohan is Raditz's son.
• Freezer's surging fear of the Super Saiyan.
• Ohara's Freezer looks so wicked.
• This.
• Ueda's contribution is better than his output in 81...
• ... but the whole sequence of Gohan blasting Freezer is unbearably long.
• Uchiyama's output isn't particularly polished.
• Why has nobody ever thought of killing Bulma for good? Her cutscenes are so useless.

Episode 84 (Dende no Shi... Dete Koi! Tobikiri Zenkai Pawā) aired on March 27th 1991. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Tatsuya Orime and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. Animation by Yukio Ebisawa, Tomoya Iida, Toshiyuki Kan'no, Takeo Ide and Hideko Okimoto.

• Nice glimpses in Orime's storyboarding.
• Vegeta's power up is a subtle callback to his power up in episode 30, also storyboarded by Orime.
• M424B sounds too overdramatic after Dende's death, as well.
• Ebisawa's choreographies are dull and repetitive. His punching the camera device is so contrived.
• Once again, the scene where Freezer launches a Death Beam at Gohan feels needlessly and unbearably dragged out.

Episode 85 (Machi ni Matta ze, Kono Shunkan!!! Son Gokū ga Fukkatsu da) aired on April 3rd 1991. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida and Masayuki Uchiyama.

• Really strong and impactful directional output from Kikuchi. His imagery feels powerful, with Freezer becoming Vegeta's nightmare literally and metaphorically.
• Having Kaio-sama narrate Vegeta's psychological breakdown is a brilliant pick, since both him and the narrator are voiced by Yoji Yanami.
• Ohara's Freezer. His unstrained expressions look extremely effective.
• M1020 during Goku's comeback.
• Vegeta's torture sequence doesn't hold up with the rest of the episode.
• Pretty poor pacing.

Episode 86 (Munen...!! Hokori Takaki Saiya-jin · Bejīta Shisu) aired on April 10th 1991. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Teruhisa Ryu, Tadayoshi Yamamuro and Noriko Shibata.

• Freezer licking Vegeta's blood is kinda funny.
• Freezer's scream before Goku's arrival.
• Horikawa's performance as dying Vegeta is great.
• Goku stating 'I'm a Saiyan raised on Earth', and not 'I'm not a Saiyan, I'm an Earthling' like in the movies. Totally needed change.
• Shibata's Goku looks quite nice...
• ... unfortunately, I can't say the same thing about Ryu's Goku. His angular approach sort of downplays his arrival.
• Ueda's direction isn't very good, either. Did we really need a full-length flashback montage of Bardock's death from the TV special? Not a mere clip, but the exact full montage. Without a single cut.
• Also, Goku conveniently arriving at the right moment.

Episode 87 (Chō-Kessen no Makuake da!! Omē dake wa Ora ga Taosu) aired on April 17th 1991. Script by Aya Matsui, storyboard by Harumi Kosaka, direction by Akihiko Yamaguchi and animation supervision by Masahiro Shimanuki. Animation by Masahiro Shimanuki (uncredited), Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Kazuya Hisada and Naoki Tate.

• Kosaka's only storyboard on the series is indeed great: such strong sense of scale, with some pretty nifty layouts. It totally gives the idea of the actual importance of the main fight.
• Hisada and Shimanuki provide some great animation. The former is into more exaggerated and looser movements, while the latter's timing is snappier, makes use of fewer in-betweens and relies on his effects work, such as his debris.
• Piccolo willing to fight Goku after the battle. A promise he'll never keep...
• Takeuchi's presence is quite recurring, and his art is usually intact. His output is probably the weakest among Seigasha animators.
• Bulma's cutscene eventually leading to something very ugly...
• A phallic explosion...?

Episode 88 (Gekitotsu no Ni Dai-Sūpā Pawā! Honki Dōshi no Nikudansen!!!) aired on April 24th 1991. Script by Aya Matsui, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida and Tetsuya Saeki.

• The three artists draw Freezer so well.
• This portion of the battle involves strategy and distinctive power more than actual martial arts. In this case, I let it slide thanks to the animators' talent.
• Goku and Freezer using their eyes to attack.
• Goku's Kamehameha strategy is indeed pretty ingenious.
• Seeing Gyumao and Bulma's mother getting angry isn't something usual. She looks cute, too.
• Kikuchi's board is decent, but not sufficiently great to enhance this episode.
• Chichi's paranoia is obnoxious.
• In general, the battle between Goku and Freezer has a pretty poor pacing in the anime. In these two episodes, this flaw isn't felt too much thanks to the artists' pure talent.

Episode 89 (Furīza Kyōfu no Sengen! Te o Tsukawazu Omae o Taosu) aired on May 1st 1991. Script by Aya Matsui, storyboard by Kazuhisa Takenouchi, direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. Animation by Yukio Ebisawa, Tomoya Iida and Toshiyuki Kan'no.

• I guess the staring contest at the beginning is fine. M816 sounds fitting...
• Freezer deciding to fight without his hands is in line with his arrogant personality. Sounds fitting, actually.
• Goku biting Freezer's tail.
• Takenouchi's board is terribly flat and dull. His angles are stock and his choreography is really bad and way too simplistic.
• Ebisawa's output is just dreadful: his movements are thoroughly predictable and so sloppily executed. Even if his pacing isn't that terrible, his cuts lack of in-betweens and look utterly boring, as a whole. His art looks dreary, as well. His proportions are plain uncorrect.
• Kan'no is undoubtedly a better artist than Ebisawa, but his bulkier and more detailed art doesn't always guarantee loose movements. His pacing feels pretty slowed down, too.
• If this portion of the main battle is mostly awful, the cutaways manage to be even worse.
• Not only Chichi is obnoxious, but her will to go save Gohan subplot isn't that relevant. It brings nothing really important to the story. It only manages to annoy the audience.
• And if it wasn't enough, Bulma's cutaway is easily the most useless filler ever made. She's already pointless on her own in this arc, so they decided to pick Frog Ginyu, and have him swap bodies with her. This bit drags out for over five minutes: it's boring, nonsensical, stupid and terribly sidetracking from the main event.
• If it is for the sake of character moments, there's a time and place for everything. Interrupting a battle isn't the case, quite honestly.
• Normally, I prefer keeping swear words out from this website, since I want to be professional. However, this episode is simply painful to get through, not only due to its bad content, but also due to its underwhelming execution. Nearly every single choice has been wrong. This is one of the worst episodes of the entire franchise.
• In other words... FUCK THIS EPISODE.

Episode 91 (Ketchaku da!! Honō no Keshin Nijū-Bai Kaiō-Ken no Kamehameha) aired on May 15th 1991. Script by Aya Matsui, storyboard by Daisuke Nishio, direction by Junichi Fujise and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Teruhisa Ryu, Tadayoshi Yamamuro and Noriko Shibata.

• It's weird to hear M920 during a fight which doesn't involve Piccolo.
• Fujise's direction is pretty good, especially during Goku's hallucination. Interesting use of shades and holograms emerging from flames.
• The entire Kaioken X20 segment. Strong use of M1020 and great artwork from Yamamuro.
• Goku's hallucination sequence is sort of downplayed by Ryu's extremely angular art.
• The first minutes are terrible, as they range from reused clips from the previous episode to the subplot of Ginyu and Bulma. It finally meets its conclusion, but what a waste of time it was.
• Forasmuch as Matsui wrote both this and episode 88, why can't Goku breathe underwater all of a sudden, whereas he could stay there for a while in ep. 88? Plot convenience? Or maybe because the underwater bit is anime-exclusive material, since he immediately goes Kaioken X20 in the manga.

Episode 92 (Chō-Tokudai no Genki-Dama　Kore ga Saigo no Kirifuda da!!) aired on May 22nd 1991. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida and Tetsuya Saeki.

• During the recap, Shida reanimates Goku's reaction shot from the ending of the previous episode.
• The way Nakao screams the 'That hurt' line.
• The cameo of the most boring planet of the universe.
• M1012 is a pretty underrated BGM. It's played while Goku is charging his Genkidama.
• Saeki's impact frame looks pretty unique.
• Such a pity Uchiyama overcorrects his Freezer. Quite rushed-looking episode, as a whole.
• Incredibly slow-paced entry.
• Since the Ginyu subplot ended, we certainly needed another one involving the other members of the team.
• Given that Goku's hallucination of Vegeta is another anime-exclusive moment, why does Goku recant his Saiyan origins, while he thoroughly stated "I'm a Saiyan raised on Earth" in episode 86? Maybe Toei wanted to make the 'I'm not a Saiyan, I'm an Earthling' trope something non-exclusive to films. Still, it's pretty confusing and inconsistent.

Episode 93 (Chansu o Ikase!! Pikkoro Sutemi no Engo Shageki) aired on May 29th 1991. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Masahiro Shimanuki. Animation by Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Kazuya Hisada and Naoki Tate.

• Having the Ginyu Force again may not be good news, but Hisada does know how to make them look stylish.
• Kikuchi's inclined layouts kinda resemble Masanori Sato's output on Dragon Ball Super.
• His direction is quite mediocre, though. With the umpteenth flashback montage being reused. Speaking of which, how does Bulma know about Goku's training with Kamesennin or that he defeated Burter?
• Krillin's arms are miscolored in one shot.
• Takeuchi's output feels pretty weak. His animation looks choppy and robotic. His expressions look a bit twisted, too.
• How does Piccolo lose a lot of his power after kicking Freezer? Doesn't make much sense.

Episode 94 (Genki-Dama no Chō-Hakairyoku!! Ikinokotta no wa Dare da!?) aired on June 5th 1991. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. Animation by Yukio Ebisawa, Tomoya Iida, Toshiyuki Kan'no, Takeo Ide and Hideko Okimoto.

• Ueda's output feels like a considerable improvement over his last two entries. Especially during the Genkidama scene.
• Ebisawa's expressions work surprisingly well, too.
• Nakao is awesome. Period.
• Piccolo losing a lot of his power after kicking Freezer still doesn't make much sense.
• Gohan and Krillin are actually able to bother Freezer, despite giving their energy to Piccolo.
• The battle against the Ginyu Force is even more nonsensical: given that Vegeta initially was no match against Recoome, and presumably against Jeece and Burter, Yamcha and Tenshinhan can take them on without much effort. Tenshinhan even fights against Jeece and Burter simultaneously, and uses his Shishin No Ken, too, which splits his power in half in this case. Regardless, he can still take them on.
• Yamcha and Tenshinhan didn't learn any of Kaio-sama's techniques, like the Kaioken at least, but for some reason, they're stronger than Vegeta before the Zenkai boost. Really contrived device.

Episode 95 (Tsui ni Henshin!! Densetsu no Sūpā Saiya-jin · Son Gokū) aired on June 12th 1991. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Shigeyasu Yamauchi and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda. Animation by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, Masaki Satou, Chikako Uesugi, Kuniko Iwagami, Noriko Ichibashi, Yukio Ebisawa (uncredited), Tomoya Iida (uncredited) and Toshiyuki Kan'no (uncredited).

• Piccolo laughing alongside the others. Nice.
• The Super Saiyan transformation remains something unforgettable. Satou is an ideal choice for the sake of on-modelness. Well-directed and well-drawn sequence.
• Unfortunately, Yamauchi doesn't seem to deliver his best directional output. Cutting off a quite fitting M201 for M514 (first used in the fight between Goku and Mutaito) isn't a very good idea.
• Yamcha and Tenshinhan defeat the Ginyu Force too easily, considering how Vegeta was actually humiliated by Recoome. Again, it feels pretty forced.
• Super Saiyan aside, it's an all but memorable episode.

Episode 96 (Ikari Bakuhatsu!! Gokū yo, Min'na no Kataki o Utte Kure) aired on June 19th 1991. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Junichi Fujise and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida, Tetsuya Saeki and an uncredited key animator.

• Fujise's output is mostly decent. It has some nifty vibes.
• This.
• Goku crushing Freezer's hand.
• This portion of the fight is quite well-animated.
• Even though M1020 sounds apt during Super Saiyan Goku's speech, it rather feels out of character. For instance, Goku doesn't seem to be a character who talks like a superhero. Then, he apparently knows too much about how he obtained the new Super Saiyan transformation, since he talks about anger with a pure heart being the keys to unlock this new state. How does he know that? Vegeta actually told him to be cruel and ruthless. I guess it's a sort of irony, but how does Goku grasp it? He's not known for being that bright.
• Furthermore, I should probably mention the stamina factor, as in the last episode he couldn't even move his limbs, whereas now he's like nothing actually happened. I may let it slide because of his new Super Saiyan power, but still.
• Likewise, Gohan had barely no strength to fly in the last episode, whereas now he can fly while also carrying Piccolo on his back.
• Comparing Uchiyama's take on the Super Saiyan with Satou's version would be pretty harsh.

Episode 97 (Namekku-sei Shōmetsu ka!? Daichi o Tsuranuku Ma no Senkō) aired on June 26th 1991. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Teruhisa Ryu, Tadayoshi Yamamuro and Noriko Shibata.

• Kikuchi's board is pretty good. I quite like the aura clash in the first half.
• Goku's 'Owari da, Freeza' line.
• Freezer's hysterical laugh after throwing his Death Ball.
• What's the point of the Kyui lookalike cutscene?
• This marks the beginning of the infamous 'Namek is going to explode in 5 minutes'. bit To Freezer's defense, I suppose he took a wild guess, since in reality he didn't seem to know when the planet would explode.
• However, if he didn't, that would easily be plot convenience.
• Ryu drawing a giant bang on Super Saiyan Goku.
• Goku preventing Freezer from reaching his full power. Let's see how long it's going to last...

Episode 98 (Katsu no wa Ore da... Ikinokori o Kaketa Saishū Kōgeki) aired on July 10th 1991. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Kazuya Hisada. Animation by Kazuya Hisada (uncredited), Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki and Naoki Tate.

• Ueda's storyboard and direction are pretty great. The pink and purple segment looks really fascinating.
• As expected from Seigasha, this portion of the fight is really strong, with noteworthy cuts from the likes of Shimanuki, Hisada and Tate.
• The use of Krillin's death flashback does and doesn't work at the same time: on one hand, it emphasizes the reason why Goku wants to defeat Freezer, but on the other, it doesn't feel that necessary, since we already know Krillin died.
• I can totally buy the Saiyans' habit of allowing their opponents to power up without any concern, since it's possibly part of their nature. However, the thing is Goku didn't want Freezer to reach his full power near the end of the previous episode, whereas now he allows it. Sumisawa wrote both episodes. Pretty inconsistent change.
• Why does Freezer keep repeating his power percentages? And how is he so sure about it?
• Why does the Super Saiyan aura have the Kamehameha sound effect?
• As per usual, Takeuchi's output is pretty weak. For some reason, near the end his auras move only while characters are talking, otherwise they stand still. No animation.

Episode 99 (Shenron yo Uchū o Hashire!! Semaru Namekku-sei Shōmetsu no Toki) aired on July 17th 1991. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard and direction by Shigeyasu Yamauchi and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. Animation by Yukio Ebisawa, Tomoya Iida, Toshiyuki Kan'no and an uncredited key animator.

• Yamauchi's board is pretty solid. Appreciate how he makes use of background effects to give some more depth to the actual content.
• Nonetheless, this portion of the fight is pretty dully-animated. Not even Kan'no's output is particularly good, due to his bulkier drawings and excessive use of Zanzoken.
• Ebisawa's traits look dreadful, to say the least. They look rougher than usual.
• Bulma suggesting to leave Piccolo on a dying planet. What a bitch.
• It's also an incredibly stupid move, since if Piccolo perishes, Kami-sama also dies and as a result Dragon Balls can no longer be utilized.
• The dialogue between Kaio-sama and Kami-sama is pretty contorted, and apparently, Saichoro can actually be revived with the Dragon Balls, despite not being killed by Freezer. I guess his death might be considered a psychological death, because he kept suffering due to Freezer taking away a lot of Namekian lives. However, he didn't technically lay a finger on Saichoro, which makes this plot device slightly forced and convenient.

The fifth Dragon Ball Z movie (Tobikkiri no Saikyō tai Saikyō or The Incredible Strongest vs Strongest) was released on July 20th 1991. Script by Takao Koyama, direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto, executive production by Chiaki Imada and Rikizo Kayano, animation supervision by Minoru Maeda.

• Freezer's redubbed yell during the TV special flashback.
• Naoko Watanabe as Chichi sounds way less shrill than Mayumi Sho.
• Rather solid direction from Hashimoto. Not fantastic, but does its task.
• Not a very important detail, but I like that this movie takes place in different parts of the daytime. Ranging from sunset, night to morning.
• Kikuchi's M12XX tracks are pretty good overall: M1206, M1211, M1212, M1213 and M1218 are strong BGMs, while M1216 (battle music) and M1220 (oddly used very few times in the series) are the best tracks of this compilation. Remarkable improvement over M11XX.
• Animation legend Yutaka Nakamura animating part of the fight between Piccolo and Sauzer.
• Goku stating 'I'm a Saiyan raised on Earth' in a movie. At long last.
• Cooler being able to fly through Goku's Kaioken-powered Kamehameha.
• Piccolo killing Neise and Sauzer in pretty cool ways: electrocuting the former and Makankosappo-ing the latter.
• I really like the Genkidama isn't used to finish off Cooler. A well-awaited change.
• It seems like in this movie Goku hasn't mastered Super Saiyan yet, as he transforms only when he's in a precisely strong emotional state. It's not even a wonder this Super Saiyan transformation is an obvious reference to his very first time against Freezer. Both share that stance and glare in common. And both are animated by Masaki Satou, too.
• Likewise, this reaction shot of Goku after Cooler blasts off Piccolo is another reference to his reaction to Freezer destroying Krillin in the regular series.
• While Ryusei Nakao is the best voice for Freezer, choosing him also as Cooler's voice isn't a very good idea. Unlike his brother, Cooler is less egocentic and considering Nakao's usual arrogant tone on Freezer, I don't think it fits him that much.
• As a result, despite being also able to transform once more, Cooler isn't as cool as his brother (no pun intended). He's a pretty generic villain with fairly solid motivations, since they're kinda related with Freezer's, but his personality doesn't feel that interesting, because he's indeed arrogant, but not as self-centered and daring as Freezer.
• Likewise, his armored squad are like a mix between the Ginyu Force and Freezer's henchmen. Once again, neither of them stands out personality-wise. Sauzer can use ki blades, but that's pretty much it.
• What's the benefit of Gohan growing his tail back? Just to show the old-fashioned Saiyans' weakness?
• Why would Karin demand Gohan should climb the whole tower in an emergency situation? Isn't he the one who is supposed to know anything?
• One thing has always bothered me: why doesn't Gohan ever fight seriously, like he did in the previous films?
• Piccolo saving Gohan trope.
• Krillin getting humiliated trope.
• Goku time trope.
• Cooler telling Goku 'So you were that kid from back then'. Just look at his hair...
• Why is the fight between Super Saiyan Goku and Cooler so rushed?
• I know it's part of the irony, but in the end Cooler turned out to be as soft as his brother.

Episode 100 (Boku wa Son Gokū no Musuko da!! Gohan, Futatabi Kessenjō e) aired on July 24th 1991. Script by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, storyboard by Mitsuo Hashimoto, direction by Junichi Fujise and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida and Tetsuya Saeki.

• Solid board from Hashimoto, with some great directional picks from Fujise.
• Auras looking pretty crisp in this episode.
• Gohan carrying the responsiblity of stalling against Freezer.
• While it isn't a big problem itself, back in episode 95 Gohan could barely even fly, whereas not only he flies without any issue, but also manages to land a hit on Freezer. Has stamina always been a relative concept?
• How come does Bulma know the "exact" amount of minutes before the explosion of Namek? Is she making assumptions like Freezer or what?

Episode 101 (Ore wa Kono Hoshi ni Nokoru!! Shōri e no Saigo no Negai) aired on July 31st 1991. Script by Takao Koyama, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Teruhisa Ryu, Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Noriko Shibata and Miki Ugai, with assistant animation supervisor Tadayoshi Yamamuro.

• Great storyboarding and direction from Kikuchi. It totally gives the idea of a race against time.
• Goku wants to end his battle against Freezer so badly he even threatens Kaio-sama to never forgive him if he interrupts him.
• Tadayoshi Yamamuro is undeniably the star of this episode. Not only he provides solid martial arts (Freezer also strikes a battle pose), but also corrects a considerable number of cuts. His traits definitely look far more pleasing than Shindo's. Just compare an uncorrected genga with the finished product.
• On the other hand, Shindo's corrections look more rushed than usual.
• Since when can Goku use telepathy? Much like his mind reading skill in episode 66, out of nowhere.
• Freezer still talking nonsense about how many minutes it takes for Namek to explode.

Episode 102 (Tokoton Yarō ze!! Kieyuku Hoshi ni Nokotta Futari) aired on August 7th 1991. Script by Takao Koyama, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Takeo Ide, Chikako Uesugi, Kuniko Iwagami, Noriko Ichibashi and Kenji Yokoyama.

• The fast-paced ending is the only good part of this episode...
• ... because the rest is so insultingly bad. Nishio's direction is awful. It ranges from wasting two minutes and a half in pointless flashback montages (looping M1118 more than once, too) to cutting off BGMs, such as M1120B being replaced by M1119.
• Again, I despise long flashback montages, because they constantly distract the audience and waste screen time. TWO MINUTES AND A HALF of it. To the point that it gets rather offensive.
• The main battle gets repeatedly interrupted by pointless cutaways, involving Gohan's whining and Vegeta's giant ego.
• Uchiyama's corrections don't even look that appealing. Take a look at his aquiline nose on Freezer and general lack of details.
• I think Freezer is only pretending to know when Namek is actually going to burst. He's not even trying anymore.
• This is the only Uchiyama entry of the series not to feature Tai'ichiro Ohara in the animation department. Without a doubt, a huge miss.

Episode 103 (Aware Furīza! Furuedashitara Tomaranai!!) aired on August 14th 1991. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Kazuya Hisada. Animation by Kazuya Hisada (uncredited), Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masako Misumi, Masahiro Shimanuki, Naoki Tate, Naoki Miyahara (uncredited), Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru (uncredited) and an uncredited key animator.

• This portion of the battle is a clear upgrade over the previous mess. Strong output from Seigasha powerhouses.
• Freezer's crisis is portrayed terrifically, with his power decreasing drastically and his growing fear of Super Saiyan Goku. M816 as BGM is indeed fitting.
• Ueda's directional output is good as a whole...
• ... but showing the umpteenth flashback montage is not necessary.
• In Takeuchi's original genga, Tenshinhan is wearing an undershirt, like in Toriyama's manga. It was removed in the finished product.
• Hisada also changed a few of Misumi's expressions. In one shot Goku was actually smirking originally.

Episode 104 (Gokū no Shōri Sengen da!! Furīza ga Jimetsu Suru Toki...) aired on August 21st 1991. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Shigeyasu Yamauchi and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. Animation by Yukio Ebisawa, Tomoya Iida and Toshiyuki Kan'no.

• Pretty solid board from Yamauchi. His music placement is also accurate.
• No matter how cheesy this moment is, having Ebisawa animate Goku slapping Freezer is a quite logical choice.
• On one hand, it's a great touch to see Vegeta, Nappa and Raditz sharing some screen time...
• ... but on the other, Vegeta's flashback is pretty dumb, as it gives controversial info. In episode 49, Vegeta was surprised to find out Freezer had destroyed their home planet, whereas here it seems like he was already aware of it. Then, in episode 2 Raditz simply talks about a meteor collision, while here it's Nappa who tells him the truth about who caused the destruction of planet Vegeta. It feels so confusing.
• Vegeta's hysterical laugh is indeed annoying.
• Ebisawa draws disproportionate foreheads, most of all on Vegeta.
• For a battle conclusion, the animation leaves to be desired.
• Why would Goku tell Freezer to dodge his Kienzan? Did they forget Goku's revenge in the first place?
• Even though Dragon Ball Super would give more meaning to this scene through a simple role reversal, Goku giving some of his energy to Freezer remains inexplicable. What's his excuse? Freezer killed his best friend and Goku is in his Super Saiyan state, so he should still feel resentment, not sympathy. 

Episode 105 (Furīza Yabureru!! Subete no Ikari o Kometa Ichigeki) aired on August 28th 1991. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. Animation by Tai'ichiro Ohara, Naotoshi Shida and Tetsuya Saeki.

• As usual, Freezer gets the best evil laughs...
• ... in what is possibly the most insulting finale of a Dragon Ball arc.
• SEVEN TOTAL MINUTES OF FLASHBACK MONTAGES, outclassing the two minutes and a half of episode 102. This is insultingly dreadful. Why did we need a dragged out recap so much? And Goku's line about giving up is repeated TWICE, as well.
• Hashimoto's direction is plain awful, not only due to the excessive amount of flashbacks, but also due to cutting off and misplacing music. The organs of M1120B sound so perfect during Freezer's speech of killing Goku with his hands, but sadly, they get replaced by a really generic M740 as soon as Goku blasts Freezer. Why not keeping it silent for once? This bothers me so much.
• Ohara's final expression on Goku is fairly well-executed, but lacks of that enigmatic vibe of Toriyama's manga. 

Episode 106 (Namekku-sei Dai-Bakuhatsu!! Uchū ni Kieta Gokū) aired on September 4th 1991. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Mitsuo Shindo. Animation by Teruhisa Ryu, Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Noriko Shibata and Miki Ugai, with assistant animation supervisor Tadayoshi Yamamuro.

• The first half is clearly stronger than the second, with a bigger concentration of Kikuchi's direction. Pretty strong output, with interesting use of fire-darkness contrasts.
• Pretty good music choices, too. Among these, M14, M109, M909 and M816.
• Nozawa's voice acting is superb, as per usual.
• Much like in episode 101, Yamamuro's corrections balance Shindo Pro visuals considerably. He's gradually becoming an important figure on the franchise.
• I really like that Yamcha is particularly distraught by Goku's "death".
• But I also like that Bulma treats death as though it didn't have any consequence at all.
• When was it ever established that Dragon Balls resurrect people on the exact same place they were during their death? Kinda random concept.
• In these fillers, Vegeta turns out to be quite scatterbrained: in episode 102 he asks Gohan to join him, whereas here he wants to subjugate him.
• The fight between Gohan and Vegeta is anime-exclusive, as Vegeta is shown in their place in the very next episode. However, after beating Gohan, Vegeta flies away. What happened? Why screwing things up?
• Toda wrote both this and the very next episode. Why would he make Vegeta fulfill an action now, to showcase him like nothing ever happened afterwards? It's really confusing.

Episode 107 (Ikite Ita Son Gokū　Zetto Senshi Zen'in Fukkatsu da!!) aired on September 11th 1991. Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Daisuke Nishio and animation supervision by Minoru Maeda. Animation by Takeo Ide, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru, Masaki Satou, Hideko Okimoto, Naoki Miyahara, Chikako Uesugi, Kuniko Iwagami and Noriko Ichibashi.

• Bulma's father asking Chichi and the others if they want to take off in any case.
• Bulma's mother embarrassing Vegeta.
• Moori playing golf.
• This.
• Nice use of the "whistle song" M1101.
• What happened to Piccolo's turban?
• The way this episode starts automatically makes the fight between Gohan and Vegeta utterly pointless, since Vegeta is still there and Gohan isn't injured.
• Vegeta's suggestion basically makes the previous rule about resurrecting people in dead planets totally pointless. Easily avoidable.
• Why would they be so upset about not finding Yamcha at first? They could've easily sensed his ki.

NAMEK ARC FINAL THOUGHTS

• Much like the previous arc, each new villain gets a proper introduction.
• Freezer is one of the absolute best villains of the franchise. He feels so complete as a character: he's well-mannered, yet ruthless. He's cruel, yet polite. Ryusei Nakao sounds terrific for the character. He also has pretty cool forms, ranging from the uncouth 2nd form to the hideous 3rd form, leading up to a smaller, but dangerous 4th form.
• Zarbon and Dodoria being polar opposites: the former represents elegance, while the latter sheer violence. However, Zarbon becomes a lot more violent after transforming.
• The small and gradual change of Vegeta's character, by also choosing to join forces with Krillin and Gohan against Freezer.
• The Super Saiyan introduction is still a memorable moment.
• If the Saiyan arc was quite slow-paced, this arc manages to be even slower, to the point that it gets constantly padded with fillers in the anime version. Whereas it flows more naturally in the manga.
• Speaking of fillers, if in the Saiyan arc some of them were kinda useful to verify Gohan's change as a character, 100% of the Namek arc fillers is completely pointless. From the Fake Namek arc to any single ordeal involving Bulma.
• Bulma is a nearly pointless character: her presence only interrupts battles. Watching her repetitive and obnoxious whining is a complete waste of time.
• Chichi's subplot isn't very good, either, as she's only there to repeat the same things over and over.
• The whole Ginyu Force. Apart from their great introduction and dairy-related names, they are pretty dumb characters. Ginyu is their leader and is probably the single dumbest fighter of the series, for not knowing the side effects of his own Body Change. It's not a matter of taking a risk, but of being unprepared.
• The excessive reuse of footage from previous episodes. I get it's for the sake of their production, but it's way too sidetracking, and becomes even quite offensive at times.
• The Goku vs Freezer showdown is so poorly handled in the anime, not only due to an incredibly slow pacing and inconsistent visuals, but also due to useless cutaways getting in the way really often.
• The Bulma-Ginyu subplot is something unforgivable.
• Unlike in the Saiyan arc, where fighters were showing the scars of the battle (like limping, not being able to stand or even move), in this arc Goku and Freezer are indeed injured, but only on the surface. They may look worn out, but they are physically fine. They can move freely.
• The stamina issue: first Gohan can barely fly, then he can land a hit on Freezer. First Goku cannot move his limbs, then he presumably goes full health in his Super Saiyan state.
• The whole "Namek is going to explode in 5 minutes". If on one hand, Freezer might have lost track of time, on the other the anime doesn't handle this material very well, due to its constantly poky pacing and exaggerated padding.
• Yamcha, Chaozu and Tenshinhan trained on Kaio-sama's planet, but unlike Goku, they never got to learn any new technique.