45-2 - Dragon Ball Z [Ocean Dub] - Episode 20-21

The three-hour wait is over. Goku still isn't there. So, Piccolo makes the most important decision of the Saiyan Saga.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 20 and 21: "Time's Up!" and "The Return of Goku."

"Time's Up!" closes the three-hour window and opens on Nappa, refreshed, resuming his methodical destruction of what remains of Earth's defenders. Gohan and Krillin are running on empty. Piccolo is doing what he can.

The episode builds its entire tension on a single question: can these three survive long enough to get help from Goku? Nappa targets Gohan with a point-blank blast. Piccolo steps in front of it, giving himself for the boy he’s grown to love. Alas, with Piccolo gone, Kami goes too, and with Kami goes the Dragon Balls. Every wish. Every resurrection. Every plan that involved gathering the balls is now off the table.

Thus, when Goku lands on the battlefield, he attacks Nappa with a brutality we’ve never seen him employ, easily dominating Nappa and bouncing him around the place like a pinball, making it clear that Goku will not let his friends’ pain go unpunished.

We talk about what Piccolo's sacrifice does for both characters, Oceans’ terrible attempt at censoring this episode, and why Goku's arrival hits as hard as it does after twenty episodes of build.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z in the Ocean Dub!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 20 "Time's Up!" recap & review

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 21 "The Return of Goku" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

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