Dragon Ball Kai - Episode 71

Episode 71, "Attack the Elusive Cell! Son Goku is Finally Revived!", or "The Reviewer Attempts Not One, But Two Jokes"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Vegeta angrily dismisses Piccolo's desire to stop Cell before he absorbs 17 and 18, insisting he can surpass even his current Super Saiyan level, and flies off. Kuririn suggests that they go destroy the developing Cell from the current timeline, still in the lab. He and Trunks go off to do so while Piccolo and Tenshinhan look for the active Cell. At the cite of Dr. Gero's lab, Trunks and Kuririn uncover the underground area where the Cell project is developing. They find 17's blueprints there and take them, in hopes of finding a weak point. The two destroy the basement lab. Trunks gives Kuririn the blueprints and flies off to train with Vegeta. In Nickytown, Cell eludes Piccolo and Tenshinhan while victimizing the citizens. At Capsule Corp, Bulma and her father examine the plans. Cell absorbs more people, chasing down a girl and her young brother at a small airport, but Kuririn saves them. Piccolo and Tenshinhan arrive and Cell flies off. A few days later at Kame House, Goku's allies watch the news broadcast reporting more victims of Cell. They all take a plane to find him. When Chi-Chi goes to check on Goku, he's recovered. Goku expresses his desire to surpass his current level.



Comments:

Kuririn must be excited to actually be of use in this episode. He and Trunks make short work out of the opponents that are unmoving machines and the fetal Cell of the present. Well, okay, to be fair to Kuririn, he also saved a young woman and her little brother from Cell. Well, sorta. I guess really Piccolo and Tenshinhan saved those two. But hey, Kuririn got to blow up some computers!

At this point Cell is still somewhat of a horror movie-type villain. Scenes of empty towns, with Cell chasing down the few remaining people left, with ominous music playing, it's very fun. And at this point, he really is a monster, and none of them really can do much, except for Piccolo. It's unfortunate for Piccolo that his reign as most powerful character isn't very long.

Goku finally recovers from his heart sickness in this episode. That's about eleven episodes of it, and that's just here in Kai. Is it just me, or does Goku spend an inordinate amount of time in the show either training for or recovering from something? Then he shows up when the big bad is around and takes him out. The problem with his heart illness was that he was unconscious and thus unable to react to anything. It's frustrating as a fan of the character. At least when he was laid up in the hospital after his fight with Vegeta, he was awake to comment about how bored he was.

The scene with Goku and Chi-Chi was really sweet and one of the few scenes like that where you really get the feeling that Goku indeed loves his wife and they do have a romantic relationship, even though it's probably a bizarre one. I like the use of the instrumental "Dragon Soul".

Overall Score:

4 out of 5