DBGT Special 1

Dragonball GT TV Special #1 (Aired 03/26/97)

Character list:

Little Son Gokuu: 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. (Toei Studios refers to him as Gokuu, Jr.)

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 year 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: 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.

Paozi Yama: Home of many monsters, and the place where little Gokuu expects to find one of the Dragon Balls. (I don't know exactly how to spell this name, but it sounds like "Paozi".)

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 nameless partners, that she dislikes having to share with: A tall shape-changing blue rooster, and a big frog monster that eats its prey whole. All three live in the forest that lies between Satan City and Paozi Yama.

Yomaoh: A giant (20+ foot-tall) purple wild boar. Yomaoh 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 Paozi Yama and has never been defeated.

(On the Toei Studios home page, they list a couple of other names, but I don't know who they are yet: Rakkaru and Gettou.)

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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. Pan refuses to believe that a Son would back down from a fight, then suffers an apparent heart attack and collapses.

She is taken to the Satan City Hospital. Gokuu pleads with her to get well, so that she can protect him from Pakku. 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 "Paozi Yama". They rag him, saying that Paozi 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 Paozi 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 to go to Paozi Yama with Gokuu. 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 Paozi 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. The boy is 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 the sausage. 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, and a blue frog monster oozes from the wooden floor. They tease the witch for not inviting them to share in her dinner.

In bed, Gokuu asks Pakku if they should trust the woman. She 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. The witch appears on the caldron, commenting on how good her meal looks. Pakku and Gokuu are frozen in fear.

[Commercials:

Eyecatch: The woman 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.]

The witch 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 -- the witch 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 the witch creates a cleaver to use on her next meal. Gokuu goes limp, and the witch tries to cut him open. But, the boy recovers, his hand begins sparking, and he blows the witch against the far wall before collapsing to the floor. Pakku dumps the boiling contents of the caldron at the witch, 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. The witch 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. The frog monster jumps out, announcing that he'll eat the cub now. The cub looks at Gokuu with big helpless eyes. Gokuu looks at the monster, 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. Gokuu attacks, the branch shatters, and Gokuu is batted to the ground. The frog wraps his mouth around the boy's head. In response, Gokuu screams, powers up a little, and launches the frog into the air like a rocket. The frog disappears in the distance.

Gokuu bandages the cub's foreleg, talking outloud 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, and the rooster compliments her for looking pretty when she's evil. The witch gets embarrassed again, and the frog 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. The rooster 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 Paozi Yama's "Inoshishi Yomaoh" (Demon Boar King Yo.) Yomaoh orders the three minor villains to leave the boy to him, and they immediately prostrate themselves and apologize. They're interrupts by the sound of the massive cannonball rolling away, as Gokuu complains of the pain.

Yomaoh 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. Yomaoh 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. Yomaoh turns his other hand to a sword. The cub sees that it's 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 roughs up the boar a little. Yomaoh 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, 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.]

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Notes and comments:

Many of the new character and place names are not written down anywhere, and it's really hard to hear them sometimes. So, I will use the names as given above until I get proof of the correct spelling.

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.

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