Dragonball GT TV Special #1
(Aired 03/26/97)
Character list:
Son Gokuu, Jr.: Named after the original Son Gokuu, this little boy
attends Satan City Jr. High, and lives with his
grandmother. Although he looks much like Gokuu did, he is
a very weak-willed crybaby.
Pan: Grandmother Pan looks like normal, only wrinkled and gray.
She lives at home with little Gokuu, and seems to have
nothing to do with running the City. She is well over 100
years old now, and is still physically active.
Pakku: A big, chunky, strong, brown-skinned boy with
reddish-brown hair. Pakku is the school bully who picks
on Gokuu. He has two nameless partners: (In the credits,
they are listed as "Member A" and "Member B" (Kobun A and
B). I call them Megane and Weasel.) Megane (glasses) is
a tall, thin geek with glasses. Weasel is a little weasel
of a boy, with buckteeth and a baseball cap worn
backwards.
Paozu Yama: Gokuu, Sr. used to live up in this mountain, in a small
white shack. It is the home of many monsters, and the
place where little Gokuu expects to find one of the Dragon
Balls.
Manba: A blue skinned witch that likes eating humans. Long red
hair and pointy ears. Is actually rather pretty, and
susceptible to compliments. Manba has two partners that
she dislikes having to share with -- Rakkaru and Gettou.
All three live in the forest that lies between Satan City
and Paozu Yama.
Rakkaru: A tall, blue shape-changing rooster.
Gettou: A big frog monster that eats its prey whole.
Yohmaoh: A giant (20+ foot-tall), purple wild boar. Yohmaoh is a
warrior demon king with shape-changing abilities (he can
turn his arm into a cannon and fire 4-foot diameter iron
cannonballs.) Controls Paozu Yama and has never been
defeated.
-----------------------------
Gokuu killed Baby. Peace returned to Earth. 100 years passed, and
everyone that had been alive at that time is now dead -- with one
exception. Pan is now an old woman, out in a field praying at Son
Gokuu's grave. A small boy is running around nearby, failing to catch
butterflies. He joins his grandmother in praying. Then, Pan gets up
and says that it's time for the boy's training.
[The title card appears:]
Gokuu Gaiden! Yuuki no Agashi wa Suushinchuu
Gokuu's Biography! The 4-Star Dragon Ball is the Proof of Courage
Little Son Gokuu is a failure at everything he tries, to Pan's
disgust. He leaps into cliff walls, falls off the large log he is
supposed to ride for balance training, and can't even play catchball
successfully (he gets an imprint of the ball in his forehead.) The boy
complains, and Pan reminds him of the great feats that his namesake had
accomplished (accompanied by flashbacks from previous DBGT episodes.)
The boy states that he's starving, which seems to be his only similarity
to the original Gokuu (little Gokuu adds that he loves Pan's hamburgers.)
At Satan City Jr. High, some teacher is prattling on from a textbook,
while Pakku tries to throw his paper airplane, and gets reprimanded for
it. Gokuu is playing with his favorite toy -- a Capsule Corp. pen
filled with water, and little floating bits in the shape of stars, a
ship, and an astronaut. The class ends, and Pakku trips Gokuu down the
stairs. Pakku tries to start a fight, and is joined by his two
partners. They want to see if Gokuu is as strong as Pan (Pan is famous
as the granddaughter of Satan), but the boy just smiles weakly and acts
spineless. Pakku takes the Capsule Corp. pen and the three bullies
leave.
At the Son home, Pan berates Gokuu for not fighting back, and he
replies that it's pointless, because the bullies are so strong and he
doesn't have a chance against all three of them. Pan refuses to believe
that a Son would back down from a fight, then suffers an apparent heart
attack and collapses.
Pan is taken to the Satan City Hospital. Gokuu pleads with her to
get well, so that she can protect him from everything. Pan answers that
his only problem is a lack of courage; adding that he's a very special
kid, being so similar to the Old Man. The boy doesn't believe that he
has any strength at all, although Pan says that she's seen it in him
when he tries hard. Then, she suffers a relapse. Gokuu is ushered out
of the room. He tries to get the nurse to promise that they'll keep Pan
from dying, and the girl can only look at him sadly. Gokuu runs crying
from the hospital (yelling "I don't like this") into the rain.
(The mailbox at the Son home has a very cute sketch of Gokuu and Pan
on it.) At home, Gokuu is crying into his pillow (it has his name, some
ships and a planet sewn on it.) He notices a photo of Pan when she was
a child, holding the #4 Dragon Ball, with Gill perched on her shoulder.
(The Ball is dark red, with yellow stars on it.) He recognizes the
Dragon Ball, and remembers when Pan had tried to tell him about it.
She'd stated that LONG ago, she'd gone into space to get the Balls; but
little Gokuu had been more interested in playing with his Nintendo game.
He thinks that maybe the Dragon Ball can save Gramma Pan.
The next day, Gokuu sets out, carrying a heavy pack stuffed with
food, maps, and things. He encounters Pakku and the other two on the
street. Megane asks where he's going, and Gokuu answers "Paozu Yama".
They rag him, saying that Paozu Yama is legendary for all of the scary
monsters there. The weasely bully bumps Gokuu aside, which angers the
smaller boy; instead of weakly backing down again, he powers up a bit.
A little gold lightning appears, and the two minor bullies are knocked
back a step. They act surprised as Gokuu marches forward. Pakku tries
to block his way, and Gokuu walks around him. Pakku is also surprised
at this new behavior. Gokuu disappears down the road.
[Commercials:
Eyecatch: Gokuu crying into the pillow, noticing Pan's photo.
Eyecatch: Gokuu lying on the grass in the shade of a tree.]
Gokuu reaches the freeway, hot and tired. Things go downhill from
here. Eventually, a big fat trucker (wearing a cap that says "Bull")
stops to give the boy a ride to Paozu Yama. Bull's rig is filled with
garbage (on the outside, the truck has "Moc Mas", and "Mac Mos" burgers
painted on it.) Bull himself is a sloppy stupid pig of a man with long
brown hair and a mustache. He offers Gokuu a bite of his hamburger,
and the boy answers that he has his own food. Bull finishes the burger,
and starts eyeing Gokuu's pack. He tricks Gokuu into leaving the rig to
take a piss, then empties Gokuu's pack and drives away.
Left with only the empty pack, Gokuu trudges to a truck stop, where
he gets hit in the head by a pebble thrown by Pakku. Pakku, wearing a
miner's helmet, berates the boy for allowing the driver to steal his
stuff. Gokuu asks the bully what he is doing here. Pakku answers that
school is boring, so he's decided that it'll be more interesting to
watch Gokuu trying to cope in Paozu Yama. He's not sure what Gokuu will
do at the scary place, though. When Gokuu claims to still want to
continue to the mountain despite not having any food, Pakku looks at the
nearby convenience store ("Heaven Thank").
The store clerk yells for someone to stop, and Pakku rushes out the
door, his pushcart filled with food. Gokuu gets thrown into the cart,
and they roll down onto the freeway. It is an exhilarating ride through
traffic. They leave the freeway, and slide down a hill. Pakku asks
what the boy thinks of the adventure, and Gokuu answers "It's great!"
As Gokuu relaxes below a tree, Pakku drops a caterpillar on his face (he
panics). They take a piss from atop a rusted car near a river. Pakku
gets urine on his hands, and chases Gokuu to try to wipe his hands off.
They run for a while, until Gokuu stops abruptly. He points ahead of
him. From a cliff, across a dark and misty valley, they can see the
green towering spire of Paozu Yama. The two boys suddenly become more
serious.
Some time later, they make camp for the night out in the woods.
Pakku eagerly eats roasted wieners, and asks why Gokuu isn't hungry.
The boy asks if Pakku has heard about the mysterious Dragon Balls that
can grant you any wish. Pakku hasn't, and he thinks that it's a boring
thing, adding "is that what's supposed to be at the mountain?" Gokuu
hopes so, and he says that he wants to use the wish to save Gramma Pan.
Pakku is surprised that there's something bad happening to Pan. He
remembers when he'd tried to start a rumble against three rival bullies,
and had been stopped when Pan grabbed his baseball bat. He says that
Pan is a good person. Then, he decides to give the Capsule Corp. pen
back to the smaller boy. Pakku brushes off Gokuu's thanks, notices
that they're now surrounded by starving wolves, and yells for Gokuu to
escape.
The wolves attack, Pakku uses a burning stick to hold some of the
them off, and Gokuu gets chased by another wolf. Gokuu gets trapped
next to a big tree by at least 20 wolves. He tries to protect himself
with the sausage, and a wolf lunges forward to destroy it. The other
wolves leap in, and Gokuu panics. He is surrounded by a brief yellow
flash as he jumps up. The wolves smash into the tree. Pakku falls to
the ground, with two wolves on his back. A pretty young woman with long
brown hair appears and shoots a rifle. The wolves are scared away (this
is a funny scene, with most wolves leaping over a big log, and one
trying to go under it.) The woman walks forward, trying to assure Pakku
that everything is all right now. Pakku yells out to find Gokuu. He's
nowhere near the tree now. But, they hear the boy yelling for someone
to save him, crying in blind panic, at the top of the 200+ foot-tall
tree. Pakku has trouble understanding how the boy had gotten all the
way up there.
Later, in the woman's forest lodge, Pakku thanks her for not only
saving them, but for providing lots of good food. She very politely
says that there's plenty for seconds. As she leaves the room and steps
out into the hallway, she changes into a blue-skinned, red-haired young
witch with pointy ears. She expects the two boys to make a good meal
for her, and is irritated when the wall lamp turns into a big blue
shape-changing rooster (Rakkaru), and a blue frog monster (Gettou) oozes
from the wooden floor. They tease the witch (Manba) for not inviting
them to share in her dinner.
In bed, Gokuu asks Pakku if they should trust the woman. Manba comes
up the stairs, asking herself which one she should eat first. She
enters the bedroom, and jams a big butcher's knife into Gokuu's blankets.
Outside the window, Pakku congratulates the boy on his good call. They
are interrupted when the witch finds them. They re-enter the house,
fall through a trapdoor, and land in the basement next to a giant
caldron hanging over a bonfire. Manba appears on the caldron,
commenting on how good her meal looks. Pakku and Gokuu are frozen in
fear.
[Commercials:
Eyecatch: Manba in the hallway, turning into a witch.
Eyecatch: Gokuu on a road in a forest, running away, stopping,
and turning back to run towards the camera.]
Manba evilly anticipates cooking them, and floats down to the
ground. Gokuu tells her that this kind of evil grin detracts from her
beautiful face, and she immediately turns human, stares into a mirror,
and talks to herself about how pretty she is. Gokuu tries to inch to
the door, but is seen in the mirror -- Manba throws the knife, and
cuts off some of Gokuu's hair. Gokuu wets his pants. The witch reaches
out with her own hair and starts choking the boy to death. Pakku
decides to save his friend, picks up a barrel, and goes wide-eyed as
human bones fall out. He grabs a fry pan, and Manba creates a cleaver
to use on her next meal. Gokuu goes limp, and Manba tries to cut
him open. But, the boy recovers, his hand begins sparking, and he blows
Manba against the far wall before collapsing to the floor. Pakku
dumps the boiling contents of the caldron at Manba, sending her rapidly
up to the ceiling in pain. Pakku uses the cleaver to cut Gokuu free,
and they escape through a window out to the woods. Manba vows that
she WILL cook them.
The boys race to a rickety wooden bridge spanning a deep chasm, and
stop for breath. Pakku comments that the "old woman" is a monster, and
tries to get Gokuu to keep moving. Gokuu is afraid of the bridge because
it looks dangerous. So, Pakku goes first. His foot breaks through a
plank, but he makes it to the other side. Gokuu slowly follows, looks
over the side, and almost freezes up. Repeating "I'm not scared", he
keeps crawling forward. Then, the wind picks up and throws the bridge
about.
A few of the ropes break, and Gokuu falls off. He holds on to one
rope, yelling for help. The wind stops. Pakku returns to the bridge
to save Gokuu, telling the boy to grab his hand. Gokuu can't, and yells
back that he's going to fall. Pakku asks him how the boy will save
Gramma Pan if he falls, then the other ropes break. The bridge collapses,
dropping Pakku into the chasm, and slamming Gokuu into the cliff wall
above a ledge.
Gokuu crawls out of the chasm some time later, in the daylight. He'd
landed on the correct side of the chasm. He makes a campfire, bandages
his scrapes, and imagines Pakku eating with him. In self-rage, he
gulps his food. He keeps moving, reaching a tree that had fallen across
another gap. On the other side, Pakku yells for him to hurry on over.
Gokuu thinks that his friend is still alive, but it's just his
imagination. With tears in his eyes, and a runny nose, Gokuu crosses
over the tree.
Later, in a sunlit clearing, Gokuu stops, playing with his pen. He
thinks that if he'd grabbed Pakku's hand, the other boy would be alive
now. He sobs out to a vision of Pan that it's obvious that he has no
courage. Then, he's startled as a bear cub breaks out of the bushes and
hides behind him. Gettou jumps out, announcing that he'll eat the cub
now. The cub looks at Gokuu with big helpless eyes. Gokuu looks at
Gettou, then at the cub, and runs away yelling "I'm scared." But, he
envisions the cub's face again, stops, and tries to feel courageous.
Then, he turns around and runs back.
The frog monster is about to swallow the cub whole, when he gets
bopped on the back of the head with a tree branch. He recognizes Gokuu
as one of the boys from Manba's house. He asks if Gokuu thinks that the
branch will defend him, and anticipates that the boy will make a better
meal than the cub would. Gokuu attacks, the branch shatters, and Gokuu
is batted to the ground. Gettou wraps his mouth around the boy's
head. In response, Gokuu screams, powers up a little, and launches
Gettou into the air like a rocket. The frog disappears in the distance.
Gokuu bandages the cub's foreleg, talking out loud about trying to
find the Dragon Ball, and how his friend has fallen into the chasm. The
bear licks his tears away, and he thanks it. Then, papa bear shows up
to rip him to shreds. The cub growls out an explanation; papa calms
down and grins his thanks. The cub growls some more, and papa bear
throws the startled Gokuu up onto his huge back. Gokuu guesses that
they know where the Dragon Ball is, and the cub grins, squeaking in
agreement.
[Commercials:
Eyecatch: Gokuu bandaging the cub's foreleg.
Eyecatch: Gokuu holding the Dragon Ball and boarding a helicopter.]
Eventually, the three reach the high ground, and Gokuu sees a small
Chinese-style plaster hut that he recognizes from Gramma Pan's
description as Old Man Gokuu's old house. He runs forward, and is
blocked by Manba and the other two villains. The witch snarls at Gokuu,
for the damage to her hair, and Rakkaru compliments her for looking
pretty with a shorter hair style. The witch gets embarrassed again, and
Gettou yells at his companions that their supper is escaping.
Gokuu and the bears disappear from sight, falling over a short cliff.
The villains think that their prey has used magic, and the frog adds
that the kid is obviously not a normal human. When the villains find
him, Gokuu has his pants down and is slapping his butt at them.
Rakkaru gets angry and flies after him -- a trick that Gokuu wasn't
expecting. Suddenly, a huge cannon ball is fired from down the valley
-- it smashes into Gokuu and plows the boy into the ground.
A giant, shape-changing boar turns his cannon arm back to normal, and
announces that he is Paozu Yama's Emperor, "Yohmaoh" (Demon King Yoh.)
Yohmaoh orders the three minor villains to leave the boy to him,
and they immediately prostrate themselves and apologize. They're
interrupted by the sound of the massive cannonball rolling away, and
Gokuu's complaints of the pain.
Yohmaoh is surprised that the boy is still alive, blows fireballs from
his nostrils, and tries to stomp the boy to death. Papa bear attacks
the demon king, and gets bashed away. Gokuu and the cub run, until the
cub trips. Then, papa bear attacks again. It gets bashed off a cliff,
and Gokuu and the cub rush to it. The boar jumps down, boasting that
he'll eat them all. Papa recovers somewhat and lumbers forward,
growling at Gokuu to stay back. It stands up and threatens the demon,
only to get smashed around more. Yohmaoh grabs papa by the neck and
turns his hand into a solid piece of wood to choke the bear. The bear
tries to get Gokuu to run away. The boy says "Kuma-san, I'm scared",
gets a little lightning around his fist, then grabs the cub and runs
off. Papa goes limp. Yohmaoh turns his other hand to a sword. The cub
sees that its father is about to die, wriggles free, and dashes back.
Gokuu turns around, yells "stop!", and goes Super Saiya-jin.
Saying that he won't put up with this anymore, SSJ Gokuu, Jr. roughs up
the boar a little. Yohmaoh can't believe Gokuu's power, and then gets
punched deep into the cliff face. The demon asks what kind of creature
Gokuu is, then passes out. The other three villains panic and run away.
Gokuu powers down and falls unconscious. He wakes up with the two bears
beside him. He sees the monster buried under the rubble, and thinks that
the bears had saved him. He thanks papa, and papa looks confused.
At the little house, the place is a dusty shambles. Gokuu searches
around. Eventually he sees an orange glow on the wall as sunlight hits
the Ball from under some broken boards. He finds the 4-Star Dragon
Ball, takes it outside, and prays to it. He asks Kami-sama (God) to
save his much-beloved Gramma Pan. Then he tries to pray to have Pakku
saved. Nothing happens, and he gets angry trying to figure out why
Shenlon isn't showing up. Finally, in a tear-filled rage, he throws the
Ball away. It lands at the feet of the adult Gokuu (looking just as he
did before being turned into a child.)
Adult Gokuu says that this is not the way the Ball works. Little
Gokuu asks who the stranger is, and is told "I'm your great, great,
great..." Adult Gokuu loses count. "Anyway, I'm your Old Man." Adult
Gokuu praises the boy for becoming so strong. Little Gokuu disagrees,
thinking that he's still weak. Adult Gokuu corrects him, tries to figure
out how many generations are involved here, and gives up. "Anyway, you
are SON GOKUU!"
The boy is please with this, then thinks about his fallen friend.
Suddenly, a Police helicopter arrives, with Pan and Pakku aboard.
Little Gokuu thinks that the Ball has granted his wish after all, and
turns to thank adult Gokuu. But, no one is there. (Pan claims that no
one should think that she'd be overcome so easily.) The adult Gokuu's
voice tells the boy that it wasn't the Dragon Ball that saved everyone
-- it was "Courage". He adds "Keep trying hard", and the boy promises
to.
The narrator tells us that this is the end of this story. Little
Gokuu says that because he's going to try hard, he wants the Old Man to
keep watching him. The narrator continues, saying that the 4-Star Ball
is the one that the original Gokuu had thought had the spirit of Old
Gohan in it, and that little Gokuu is now ready to carry on the family
name.
The helicopter flies into the sunset, and we get to see the image of
adult Gokuu smiling down at us.
[Normal DBGT closing credits and theme song.]
----------------------------
Notes and comments:
This was a really good episode. There's some great animation, some
funny scenes, and great acting. The voice for papa bear wasn't so hot,
though. Otherwise, I recommend that you watch this episode several
times to catch all of the good stuff.
The ending was a little cliche'd, and it seems to be following a new
trend that's showing up in manga now. Basically, many of the young boys
and men living in Japan now have suffered from over-bearing mothers.
This has turned them into weak-willed "momma's boys". That is, it's a
recognized fact that many of the male children in Japan are spoiled
little spineless worms.
So, these boys and teenagers are becoming the focus of anime and
manga stories now (another example is the rich boy in Urasawa's
"Happy".) The cliche comes in where someone shows the spineless worm
how to develop self-esteem, and a sense of self-worth.
Regarding the Jump Anime Comic version of the TV Special, I have
mixed feelings. The book itself is well-made, and it's nice having the
stickers, and being able to see the character names written out. But, a
lot of the dialog diverges from the movie, there's some dialog that had
been cut completely, and certain scenes have been drastically shortened.
I suggest that you get a copy of the TV special on video tape first,
and then buy the book later on.
----------------------------
This summary is the copyright of Curtis H. Hoffmann, March 1997.
Permission is granted to copy this file as-is. Permission is NOT
granted to reprint this summary in a for-profit magazine or publication.
If you want to print this summary, in part or whole, in a fan magazine,
please contact me first.
(
geocities.com/televisioncity/cable) (
geocities.com/televisioncity)