Sub Thoughts - Dragon Ball: Episode 11: At Last the Dragon Appears!

Episode Data
Original Japanese Airdate: May 7, 1986
Major Cast: Son Goku (Masako Nozawa), Bulma (Hiromi Tsuru), Yamucha (Toru Furuya), Oolong (Naoki Tatsuta), Puar (Naoko Watanabe), Pilaf (Shigeru Chiba), Shu (Tessho Genda), Mai (Eiko Yamada)
Synopsis: After being put to sleep by sleeping gas, Goku and the others have the Four-Star Ball stolen from them! Pilaf finally has all seven Dragon Balls, and he attempts to call forth Shen Long!! In order to stop Pilaf’s scheme, Goku uses the Kamehameha to open a hole in the wall of the room that they are imprisoned in! As Puar and Oolong transform into bats and head out the hole to take back the Dragon Balls, Shen Long is finally summoned! Will the world become Pilaf’s…?!



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I guess I should say something on Shu and Mai's seiyuu performances by now too. They're fine for the characters, I find Shu's to be entertaining in particular, but they just don't stand out like Chiba's Pilaf does. It might be a bit over the top, but I do think I prefer Chris Cason's Shu over Tessho Genda.

Another of my favorite exchanges.

Pilaf: They don't look like they have any balls...
Mai: Perhaps between that man's legs.
Pilaf/Shu: ...
Pilaf: You know that I loathe crude jokes!

Apparently I enjoy them far more than Pilaf does, cuz that's just funny.

I know it turns out to be nothing like we expect, but I love how Pilaf is willing to do 'something dirty' to Bulma as punishment, and yet hates crude jokes...then again, this is the guy who hates farts and lets loose a loud one in a previous episode. If I had to pick one word for this guy, it's 'hypocrite'.

I know what a 'pafu-pafu' is, but I dunno any of the other Japanese slang for 'stuff' that Bulma's throwing around, like 'hero-hero', 'kyoi-kyoi', or 'inguri-monguri'. Quite frankly, I'm afraid to Google it too...

At long last, all seven Dragon Balls are gathered! I'll finally hear Japanese Shen Long again, it's been a while since I've heard that since he's not as prevalent in the Z stuff I've seen subbed.

Or...apparently not until next episode. I forgot about all the pinball stuff, and then Shen Long doesn't even talk until next episode!

So far though, the narrator just now was the only person to ever refer to him by the name Shen Long though. I wonder when the characters will pick it up, and how they knew it? Maybe it was mentioned in the legend, which would explain how Pilaf and Bulma know it I guess, even if they haven't used it yet.