#it’s dangerous work since it usually requires him to steal from scavengers

[raddest-laddest]

scug cat bug cat quirrel cat doodles

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball 054

Bulma and Krillin are just about to leave without Goku when he finally shows up at the last second.  They open the hatch and let him in.   

Goku finally takes that mouse out of his mouth and assures it that they’re safe, but Bulma reminds him that they won’t be safe until they make it out of the undersea cave they’re in.    She’s only guessing that the area they’re in leads to an exit.   If she’s wrong, or if the pathway collapses before they can reach it, they’re doomed.

As it turns out, there was a whole other thing Bulma needed to be worrying about instead: the sub runs out of fuel and now they’re literally stuck dead in the water.  

So Goku uses the Kamehameha Wave to get them moving again.  This screencap doesn’t really illustrate that very well, but it’s the best I could do.  The whole thing is kind of questionable.  Sure, Goku could probably generate enough force to push a submarine forward and out of the cave, but how is he pushing back against it, instead of just shooting ahead like he normally does?   His attack instantly destroys the canopy of the sub, so all they can do is hold their breath and pray.   What would it feel like to be pushed through the water that fast with no protection at all?   Also, they shot to the surface very quickly.   Wouldn’t that give them the bends?  Oh well, it’s just a cartoon.

Meanwhile, General Blue rises from the briny deep.  We have no idea how he made it out of the cave, but it shouldn’t matter, right?   His entire unit is beaten or dead, and he has no supplies or vehicles.   Even if his superiors at Red Ribbon Headquarters knew where to find him, they would just abandon him as a failure anyway.   He’s done for... or so you would think...

The kids make their way to an island, which just happens to be the one where Blue’s base is located.   Goku checks out his Dragon Ball, and he’s bummed out to find that it’s not the Four-Star Ball that he was looking for.  It’d be funny if he threw it back, but I’m pretty sure he’s hanging on to them so he won’t get confused.   The Dragon Radar can’t tell the balls apart, so the only way to find a specific one is to keep gathering them until your number comes up.  

It is kind of interesting, though.   The Red Ribbon Army never would have found this Dragon Ball on their own.  Blue was searching the ocean floor, but the RR Dragon Radar wasn’t precise enough for him to realize that it had fallen beneath the ocean floor into that cave.   Even if his people did manage to find a way into the cave, it would have required an even more thorough and exhaustive search to find it.  I sort of wonder what would have happened if Goku hadn’t gone after this one.

Krillin wishes he could have scored some of that sweet rainbow treasure, and then Bulma reveals that she managed to grab a giant diamond on their way out.   This has been improbably stuffed in her underwear the whole time.   So it’s not like the entire trip has been a waste.

Even so, she’s had enough of this crap.   Goku reminds her that she was the one who insisted on coming along, and she reminds him that he never mentioned the Red Ribbon Army was mixed up in all of this.  She’s calling it a day and heading back for West City as soon as she can.

First, though, they try scavenging for food an drink in the abandoned buildings near the shore.   Did they just not see the Red Ribbon Army logos on the walls?   Stuff like this is how you can tell filler scenes from the original manga.  Yeah, Toriyama isn’t perfect, but when he’s the one telling the story, he usually points out details like that.   

Not that they have much to worry about, since the only guy still here tries to hide in the shelves.  He overheard the kids talking about how they defeated Blue, and realizes that he wouldn’t stand much of a chance on his own.    But right before they enter the room, he was on an open channel with HQ, so Goku ends up talking to Commander Red, though neither of them know who’s on the line. 

Goku apparently still doesn’t understand how long-distance communication works, so he wrecks the station while looking for the source of the voice. 

Back at HQ, Red just wants to know what’s going on.   Presumably, he’s been tracking the Dragon Ball as Goku moved it from the cave to Blue’s base.  But since no one is responding to his calls, he has to assume the entire Blue Unit has been wiped out.  

The kids grab a Red Ribbon aircraft and head back to Roshi’s place.  Bulma gives Krillin the diamond to pay Roshi back for his mini-sub, which was lost when the cave collapsed.  She’s rich anyway, so she doesn’t need any treasure.   Bulma’s kind of weird that way.   She only joined this caper for the sake of adventure, but now she’s bailing out because things got too dangerous.  There’s no reward in this for her, save the mere excitement, but she’s had her fill.   Anyway, Krillin snifs the diamond, because it was next to Bulma’s genitals. 

Back on the island, Roshi’s chillaxing to some tunes... No, wait, he’s listening to some sort of erotic audiobook.   Seriously, I have no idea what this is.   It’s a lady talking to the listener, saying stuff like “I’m walking on the beach.   Oh no, I fell into the water, and now my bathing suit is wet.   Well, I’ll just have to take it off.”   Actually, I kind of dig how stupid that is.   I like the idea of a sexy voice narrating really stupid things.   “Oh no, I was cleaning the house, and the vacuum machine accidentally sucked up all my clothes!”

The kids bring Roshi the diamond, and he tries to calculate how long it would take him to spend that much money on strip clubs.   I should point out that Roshi never returns that shrinking device Bulma gave him, nor is it ever mentioned again.   My point is that I don’t really see Roshi paying for strip clubs.   He’s the sort of dirtbag who’d try to find some way to get as much out of a strip club for as little money as possible, because he enjoys the public shaming aspect of it.  Like, he’d hide in the strip club restroom and try to watch the dancers use the toilet.  Master Roshi belongs in jail.

Speaking of crime, Launch sees Roshi getting a diamond and decides to steal it.   I thought she was starting to warm up to the old man, but it turns out Launch has been playing a long con this whole time, just waiting for the day when Roshi would get something valuable enough to be worth stealing.  She grabs the Red Ribbon air vehicle and vamooses.  

So here’s a question.   Launch has been living here for a while.   Why doesn’t Roshi take all of her guns when she’s in her Blue mode?    It wouldn’t completely solve the problem of Blonde Launch, but at least things would be a little safer.   I think the answer is that Blue Launch wants to have a few guns on hand when she sneezes, just in case.   So even if Roshi did try to sweep his house for weapons, Blue Launch would make sure he never found them all. 

As Launch leaves, General Blue drops in.   And I mean literally.    This mofo swam all the way back to his base, killed the last soldier under his command, and followed Goku back to Roshi’s island with only a rope and a few other supplies.   Dude didn’t even bother to change into a fresh uniform. 

This right here is what I find impressive about General Blue.   He’s gotta be the strongest guy on the Red Ribbon payroll, but more important than that is his sheer tenacity.   Every time he seems to be beaten, he just keeps coming back, and he seems to get more dangerous with every setback he’s dealt.  

I mean, look at this guy.   He started the arc with an entire unit of troops at his disposal.   Submarines, warships, whatever else he had.   Roshi made short work of most of that, and the rest were wiped out when the undersea cave collapsed.  Goku kicked his ass, and right now he has nothing to show for it.  His only chance to save himself is to take back the Dragon Balls, so he’s decided to beard the lion in his den.    He lost to Goku and Roshi when he had an entire army backing him up, and now he’s going to confront them again all by himself.   He’s finished right?   So you would think...