Dragonball GT Episode 3 (Aired 2/21/96)
Chou Gametsui!! Shounin no Wakusei Imegga The Ultimate Moneygrubbers!! Imegga, Planet of Merchants
Life in the ship is pretty rough for Trunks, who wants to get the main control key from Pan so that they can return to Earth. Pan counters by dropping the key down her shirt. Trunks gives up. On Earth, Chichi is hoping that Gokuu and company are doing ok, after having spent one week in space already. Bulma is studying with her computers, but she can't figure out what the loose component was. Pan is also bossing the other two around, assigning housekeeping chores to them. Trunks isn't so upset about this, as he is about Pan calling him "Trunks", instead of "Trunks-san".
Suddenly, the ship lurches, and one of the engines floats off. Trunks goes into shock. Bulma's computers match up the loose part as a stabilizer component -- her glee turns to horror. She hopes that the trio will be ok. The ship is suffering from severe backfire, and Trunks tells the two kids to strap in. Pan doesn't want to die until she can at least have her first real date (and hell with the Dragon Balls.) They reach a planet, and Trunks takes them down for a rough landing.
The heroes reach a nearby market town, and are quickly overwhelmed by merchants that tell them how good they look in various silly costumes. Trunks says that they are only interested in space ship parts, and merchants whip out loose ship components. All of the bills are presented, and the trio has tomorrow to pay them off.
[Commercial Break.]
The trio cautiously enter a hotel, fearful of finding more merchants. They get a room, while complaining of the prices of their trinkets. The concierge assures them that he is not as money grubbing. A robot bellboy treats Gokuu as luggage, and takes them to their room. It is a really impressive room, with lots of comfortable furniture and food. All of which is really expensive and is being added to their tab (the bellrobot won't release Gokuu until getting a tip.) Trunks watches TV (charged to the room) -- the news broadcast introduces the leader of Planet Imegga -- Don Kia (a blank-faced dweeb with lots of make-up).
The trio escape the room (Trunks has to break the chain holding him to the bed) and find themselves out in the rain a night. Pan complains about this horrible planet, and she wants to return to Earth. She falls through a paper-thin wall, into the apartment of a poor Imeggan family. The family is what is known in Japan as "the honest poor" -- moneyless, but still happy in having their own integrity. The Imeggans explain that people here are so money hungry because of Don Kia.
Then, the rent police arrive. This Imeggan family is behind on their rent to Don Kia, so the robots of the rent police dismantle the apartment and take the last of the furniture. Gokuu volunteers to fight the robots, but the Imeggans dismiss him as being just a child; they are afraid of the might of Don Kia's soldiers. With no reason to fight the robots, the trio wait until morning and return to the village. They are willing to let the poor Imeggan family suffer under the rules set by other Imeggans.
Pan wonders if this planet has a Dragon Ball. Trunks pulls out the Dragon Radar, and is so surprised at hearing a strange voice that he drops it. The Radar lands next to a small robot (the one appearing in the eye catches) that keeps saying "energy". The robot eats the Radar, and becomes more lively. It calls out "the energy has returned", and refuses to return the Radar because it is getting energy from the device. Nearby, a salvage team starts towing away the Earth spaceship, which acts as a distraction that allows the robot to escape. Gokuu catches the robot, but their spaceship disappears on the horizon.
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NOTES: "Gametsui" is a slang term that was made popular in a movie a few years ago. It was applied to the people of Osaka, as being very greedy (but also diligent and hardworking in their greed.) The monetary unit on this planet is the Gametsu, and the symbol for it is kind of a backwards "F".
Right after W.W.II, most Japanese were poor and devastated. With lots of hard work, they made their country rich again. However, there is still a reverence towards people that can survive with little to no money. This is called "honest poverty", which is the opposite of "artificial/ shallow rich people." The Imeggans embrace both qualities, which makes them "very Japanese".
The names for the new characters are still tentative, since they have not appeared in print in romaji yet. Their status is: Hokiro -- The robot calls out "Hokiro sanjou", which I first took to mean "Hokiro is here." But, on further inspection, it just seems to be the robot's way of saying that it has an energy supplement again. Don Kia -- This is what it sounds like. I'm not sure where the compilers of the other set of summaries came up with spelling Donquia. Rejjik -- This is how it is spelled in the title for episode 5 (in katakana), and also how it is pronounced. I'm not sure why my rivals have chosen "Reddick".
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This summary is the copyright of Curtis H. Hoffmann, May 1996.
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.