43-2 - Dragon Ball Z [Ocean Dub] - Episode 16-17

Nappa plants six Saibamen in the ground. Tien dominates his immediately. Yamcha decides he wants a go and prepares to fight. This is a mistake.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 16 and 17: "The Battle Begins... Goku Where Are You?" and "The Saibamen Strike,” the moment the Saiyan Saga decides that we need less characters.

In "The Battle Begins" Piccolo, Gohan, Yamcha, Krillin, and Tien finally come face-to-face with the Saiyans. However, problems quickly arise as Nappa decides to have some fun destroying helicopters while Ocean furiously adds lines to suggest the pilots parachuted to safety (they clearly did not). However, just when you think the battle is about to start, Nappa pulls out six Saibamen pods and plants them group, offering the Z Fighters the little green men as a warm-up round.

Then "The Saibamen Strike" delivers one of the franchise’s most iconic shots, Krillin wants to fight but Yamcha cuts in. Yamcha fights a Saibaman, appears to win, turns to challenge the remaining four simultaneously, only for the fallen Saibaman to grab him and blow itself up, leading to the most iconic pose in Dragon Ball Z (and likely anime) history.

We talk about what makes the Saibamen arc so effective as a structural device, the Ocean dub's increasingly creative attempts to paper over mass death with reassurances that everyone had a parachute, and what Yamcha's death means for the stakes of everything that follows.

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

📌 Topics covered:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 16 "The Battle Begins... Goku Where Are You?" recap & review

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 17 "The Saibamen Strike" 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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