Now I haven't watched GT in probably 15 years and I kind of remember it not being that bad; of course I was a kid at the time and my mind wasn't at critical as it is now. After a recent conversation with a friend about whether GT was really that bad, it brought up quite a few moments from the series that kind of made me feel infuriated. So I decided given the large gap in time since I originally watched the series, I decided to begin watching it again and see how I feel about it now.
So for the next four months, I will be rewatching and analyzing each saga from GT. This month, we begin the series with the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga. Now, I'll only be going through what I feel are the important parts so it might seem like I'm rushing through it. Also, since I will be going through the entire series, there will definitely be spoilers, so there's your last warning before we jump in.
At the conclusion of Dragon Ball Z, Goku had met Uub, the ten year old reincarnation of Kid Buu. Realizing his potential and wanting to help him hone his power, Goku and Uub went off who knows where to train. GT picks up seven years later, as we see Goku and Uub finishing up their training on the Lookout. Uub heads back to his village and Goku is about to head back home himself until he comes across some uninvited guests. The Pilaf gang from the original Dragon Ball series, who hadn't been seen at all during Z and are now elderly, have snuck into the lookout to retrieve the Black Star Dragon Balls, which her hidden deep in the mausoleum. According to Pilaf, they were created before Kami and Piccolo separated and are twice as strong. They summon the dragon, and it's a gigantic red version of Shenron, who is so huge, he looks like he could eat the lookout.
After a brief skirmish with Goku, an irate Pilaf speaks out loud that he wishes Goku was a little kid again so he could teach him some manners. But uh oh, Shenron heard him, and turns Goku back into his 12 year old self (I assume that age because that old he was when Dragon Ball began). I guess Pilaf should have high tailed it from the Lookout and made his wish later.
Behind the scenes, the reason for turning Goku back into a kid was that they wanted GT to recreate the spirit of the original Dragon Ball since DBZ was so heavy in action by comparison. As we see as the show goes on though, it appears that Goku's intelligence has reverted back to his younger self as well, which can get annoying considering he didn't seem as dumb during DBZ.
As we find out, Goku can only be returned to normal by gathering up the Black Star Dragon Balls again. The problem though is that these Balls spread out across the galaxy, meaning it could be impossible to find them. Since he seems stuck as a kid, Goku takes it well and heads off home to break the news to everyone. Chi-Chi seems to take it the hardest, given that she is now married to a child...now physically as well as mentally. They are then contacted by King Kai who, after doing some research, discovers that if a wish is made with the Black Star Dragon Balls, they create a negative effect on the planet they're used on, and if they aren't returned to that planet within a year of the wish, the planet will explode.
Let's talk about the Black Star Dragon Balls for a second. I'll admit I don't know much about what goes into making Dragon Balls, but I can only assume that a Namekian has to be pure of heart for the process to be perfect, and any hint of evil can taint them. I can only assume that Kami attempted to create the balls before and ended up with the black star one, realized something wasn't right and hid them away. After separating from Piccolo, the black ones were inert and Kami created the proper balls. But since Piccolo and Kami refused during the Cell saga, the Black Star balls reenergized and just waiting for a wish to be made. It just seems odd that the shred of evil in Kami could taint the balls to essentially a cosmic scale.
Also, how exactly did Pilaf know about the balls or that they were from before Kami and Piccolo separated? He says he did research, but I don't how much there could be on the Black Star balls since clearly no one made a wish with them before. King Kai says he did research too, but I find that more believable. He could have at least contacted Piccolo, who probably knew about them before and would have Kami's knowledge of them as well.
With a year to gather the balls, a ship is made for Goku and two others to travel through space to find them. Gohan offers to go and so does Pan, Goku's granddaughter and Gohan's daughter, but everyone says she's too young and treats her like a child. I guess in the time since Buu, common sense affected everyone, considering how young Goku, Gohan, Goten, and Trunks were during their battles. Hell, they were even younger than Pan, who is 11 at this point and Gohan was 4 when he began his training.
In the end though, a newly mustachioed Vegeta drafts Goten and Trunks to accompany Goku as he feels they have gotten soft after nearly 20 years of peace.
Whether you hate or love the moustache, you have to admit, it's funny to see Vegeta have one.
Anyway, Goten and Trunks don't really want to go. Goten has a date with his girlfriend Valese (who we meet in the next saga but she's not really an important character). Trunks' excuse is that he has to run Capsule Corp. as he is the CEO, but as we see earlier, he flies out of his office to escape the job any chance he gets; in short, his excuse is bullcrap. Seriously though, what's wrong with these kids? Didn't they have dreams of going to space? Vegeta was right, they do need to get out more.
As they're about to take off, Goten gets a call from Elise. Goku and Trunks board the ship and find Pan, who hits the button and the ship blasts off, taking the three into space and leaving Goten behind. Unfortunately, the ship was fully prepared to take off and one of its stabilizers was loose, which causes the ship to crash land on the planet Imecka. During the crash, Pan, who was talking a big game before, starts crying for her mommy. Like I said before, it's been awhile since I've watched GT, so I may have forgotten how annoying Pan can be in the series. There are many instances where I find myself saying "Shut up, Pan."
The ship needs to be repaired, but Trunks suggests they find a hotel to stay in and find parts in the morning. However, the hotel they're staying it has money meters on everything, from the bathroom to the bed and everything else. Needless to say, they skip out on the bill. Though truth be told, did anyone of them actually bring money with them? Hell, I don't expect them to have any kind of alien currency obviously. While walking through the rain, the three meets a family who take them in, only to have their home repossessed (literally piece by piece). It's here we learn that the planet is ruled by Don Kee, who is obsessed with money and wants as much as he can get, and doesn't care if his people live in squalor. Hmm, a money obsessed leader named Don who only thinks of himself...can't imagine how that would be relevant today.
When the GT gang (that's what I'm going to refer to them now) head back to their ship, Trunks drops the Dragon Radar, when it's eaten by a little robot. For some time, they keep the robot in Trunks' backpack until they figure out what to do with him. They then see their ship being carried off and follow it to Don Kee's palace. The GT gang take it back with a fight, which leads to them being plastered on wanted posters and hunted by police. Eventually, the GT gang surrender themselves, but it's all a ploy so they can take down Don Kee and free the people of Imecka. But before then, they have to face Don Kee's most powerful warrior, Ledgic, who scares even his master. It must be the voice; it's pretty cool.
This leads to our first real fight of the series between Ledgic and Goku. Unfortunately, it's short lived after Goku goes Super Saiyan defeats him. However, it appears there is some honor among fighters as Ledgic lets them do with Don Kee as they please, and Goku hopes they can fight again someday (spoiler alert: they never meet again). I really felt like there was a lot of potential in Ledgic and wish his fight with Goku had gone longer. I would have liked to know his history as well; he knew right away that the three were Saiyans, so maybe he's the last of his kind from a planet that the Saiyans destroyed long ago.
In the end, they threaten Don Kee to change his ways and be a man of the people. The results are everyone is given free housing and ships are returned to everyone who had theirs taken. After the GT gang repair their ship and are about to take off, they realize the robot, who they later name Giru, has assimilated the Dragon Radar into his being, and essentially becomes part of the team. And so the search for the Black Star Dragon Balls finally begins.
They find the first ball, the four star one, on a planet where everything is giant. Before they can get the ball, Goku and Trunks have to save Pan when she is kidnapped by giant bees.
(Sorry, I had to.) Eventually, the find a giant who took a bite of an apple that had the Dragon Ball stuck in it. The ball becomes stuck in the giant's tooth, causing him pain. Goku is able to remove the tooth and retrieve the ball. One down, six to go.
They track the six star ball on another planet to a village that's being threatened by a monster called Sunama, who can apparently create earthquakes with his whiskers. He'll leave the village alone, if they give him one of the women of the village, Lane, as his wife. The village will give the Dragon Ball to the GT gang if they help them stop Sunama. Pan comes up with a plan to disguise Goku as Lane to infiltrate Sunama's lair and defeat him there away from the village. But since Goku is too small for Lane's wedding dress, that means Trunks has to be the one to go undercover. Why Pan wasn't willing to do the deed is anyone's guess.
You know, before we go any further, I think we need a moment to remember how badass Future Trunks was and think about what could have been.
Anyway, the rest of the plan is that once Sunama takes Trunks to his lair, Goku, Pan, and Lane's fiancé Doma follow them, and after Trunks gets Sunama drunk and pass out, they cut off his whiskers and take away his power. The plan almost goes awry when Trunks' wig falls off. While Sunama realizes he's not Lane, he still thinks he's a girl and still wants "Trunksette". I'm assuming it's the purple hair that can give someone the idea Trunks is a girl. So everything goes as planned at first, but they're only able to cut off one whisker before Sunama awakens to find he's been played. He appears to still have power even with one whisker as one quake happens, but since he's still drunk, he thinks he's causing quakes even when he's not. They realize that Sunama's whiskers don't create quakes, but predict them, and he's been fooling the villagers the whole time. Shortly after, a huge quake occurs that causes a volcanic reaction. They all escape Sunama's lair, but the village is still under threat until Goku destroys the whole volcano with a Kamehameha.
With the village saved, the GT gang is given the Dragon Ball, and even Sunama lives among the village now after feeling regret for his actions. However, the ball is then stolen by another alien who takes off in his own ship. Of course, the GT gang chase after in their own ship.
We find out that the other ship is piloted by the Para Para Brothers, who are a pretty annoying bunch, and as we see later, they get worse. The Paras lead the GT gang into an asteroid maze filled with giant worm monsters and make their escape while the GT gang try to navigate and fight their way out. The Paras make their way to a planet where a cult resides and present the Dragon Ball to Cardinal Muchi Muchi, who sends them back out to get the other ball the GT gang has under threat of sacrifice to Lord Luud. The Paras go back to the asteroid and confront the GT gang after they defeat some of the worms. The Paras apparently have the power to compel others to dance through their own little hip hop musical number, which they use on the GT gang and beat them up at intervals.
This is probably one of the strangest moments in all of Dragon Ball. It's annoying, but the more it goes on, it gets catchy damn it. Besides that, considering GT aired in Japan during the 90's and it didn't air in the U.S. until the early 00's, their little routine seems a bit dated to me.
Eventually, more worms show up, which distracts the Paras and causes them to stop dancing (thank Gamikai for that) which allows Pan to break free and knock them all out. When Pan and Giru search the Paras' ship for the Dragon Ball they took, the autopilot takes the ship back to Cardinal Muchi Muchi with the two on board. Goku and Trunks chase after once the Paras tell them where their ship went.
Pan finds the cult's lair and goes inside, but Giru is too scared to follow. Pan listens on while Cardinal Muchi Muchi talking to his congregation about how they'll use the Dragon Balls to revive Lord Luud to take over the universe, until she's discovered and turned into a doll. Goku, Trunks, and the Paras arrive once Giru leads them in. Enraged at the Paras's failure, Muchi Muchi turns them into dolls as well and sacrifices them to Luud. Goku and Trunks battle Muchi Muchi who transforms into his true form, but he's eventually defeated after the two go Super Saiyan.
Elsewhere, Master Daltaki, the true leader of the cult, meets with his followers and tells them to sacrifice themselves to Lord Luud. However, when they notice Daltaki's mechanical device, they realize he's a fraud and that Luud is just a machine. This doesn't stop Daltaki though from turning them all into dolls and sacrificing them to fuel Luud. As it turns out though, Daltaki does keep some of the dolls for himself, including Pan, and I'm not gonna lie, I sense some creepy shades of pedophilia during these parts.
Soon enough, Daltaki activates Luud (bottom left) to battle Goku and Trunks, and he kind of looks like a mechanical baby version of Janemba from the Fusion Reborn movie.
As they battle, Daltaki is contacted by his true master, Dr. Myuu (above right), who wants a progress report on Luud. Myuu watches the battle, but since it appears Luud isn't strong enough to defeat Goku and Trunks, he orders Daltaki to sacrifice Pan. When Daltaki refuses, Myuu turns him into a doll as well sacrifices both of them to Luud, who turns red from the power boost...either that or he's just overheating. Probably both.
As it turns out though, the inside of Luud is a bit of a pocket dimension where everyone sacrificed to him is floating around, including Pan, Daltaki, and the Paras. The Paras use their dance powers again to force Daltaki to reveal Luud's weakness. He reveals that Luud was a bionic mutation created by Myuu from one of his cells, which hangs above everyone in the dimension. If someone hits the cell simultaneously from the inside and outside of Luud, he'll be destroyed and everyone is free. The Paras telepathically contact Goku to inform him of this and he and Pan succeed in the task. Once everyone's free, Daltaki escapes in his own ship.
With that, the GT gang are now in possession of two Dragon Balls. But with the threat of Myuu, who is also after the balls, Trunks considers taking Pan back to Earth to keep her safe. While this of course doesn't happen, I really disagree with Trunks on that idea alone. They still have less than a year to find all seven balls, and considering all the unintended detours they've been taking, it really wouldn't be smart to backtrack so they should just soldier on with what they have and face whatever comes their way head on.
The GT gang then arrives on a desert planet and retrieves the five star ball, leaving four remaining. Elsewhere though, Daltaki tries to meet up with Myuu and get back in his good graces, only to be confronted by General Rildo, who kills him.
Myuu then contacts Rildo and tells him to bring him the GT gang alive, wanting to use their power for his experiments.
While flying through space, the GT gang pass over Giru's home planet, M2. When Pan notices Giru appearing homesick, she suggests that they pay a quick visit. Trunks objects at first but relents to staying there one day. When they touch down, they find a seemingly abandoned city until they're attacked by the Sigma Force, who reveal that Giru has been acting as a spy for Dr. Myuu since the GT gang picked him up on Imecka. The Sigmas capture Goku and Trunks, but leave Pan after Giru tells them to spare her and that the other two were more important. The Sigmas fly off to bring Goku and Trunks to Rildo and Myuu, leaving Pan alone and feeling betrayed as the saga ends.
Let's talk about Dr. Myuu's plan. After somehow finding out about the Black Star Dragon Balls, he sends Giru to Imecka, where he apparently knew the GT gang would crash land and make sure Giru becomes part of their team, gang their trust, and eventually lead them to M2. I have to say that at the moment, Myuu's plan seemed to depend on highly specific circumstances to occur, although maybe it's elaborated more in the next saga.
For the beginning of the series, it's a bit of a mixed bag for me. I've always enjoyed the more action based Dragon Ball Z over the comedic adventures of the original Dragon Ball. So when it comes to GT and the Black Star Dragon Ball Saga, I enjoyed some of the action parts, what little there was anyway. As for the comedy, half of the time it hit the mark and I did find it funny, but the other half of the time it was just cringey. Besides that though, I did find some of the plotlines to run a little too long, especially the Don Kee and Luud stories. Overall nothing great, but I do see where the creators' heart was and their intentions during this point in the series, and the latter half of the saga showed some potential for the next one.
Next month, we'll continue Dragon Ball GT as we carry on the search for the Black Star Dragon Balls, discover Myuu's master plan, meet our first main villain of the series, and witness the next evolution of Super Saiyan in the Baby Saga. And if you think this post is long, the next saga is the longest of the series. Until then, here's an ominous image of what's to come.
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