Commander Red Saga

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The Commander Red Saga, is the fifth saga from Dragon Ball. It occurs after the General Blue Saga and precedes the Fortuneteller Baba Saga. It shows us the epic battle between Goku and Mercenary Tao, Goku's quest for finding the "Sacred Water", and his final battle with Tao. The character of Upa is also introduced.

[edit] Plot

[edit] Korin's Tower

Captain Yellow is ordered to obtain the Dragon Ball from Bora at all costs, even if it means kidnapping Bora's son Upa.

The saga begins with the end of the General Blue Saga. We start off with a scene of some Red Ribbon soldiers searching for a Dragon Ball that is currently inside a volcano in the Land of Korin. The volcano explodes and sends the Dragon Ball (the four-star ball) into the camp of the land's protectors. Living here is Upa and his father Bora.

The Red Ribbon team follows the ball into the camp and demands it be handed over. Upa's father proceeds to eliminate them and the last remaining soldier (Captain Yellow) radios back to Head Quarters. Commander Red hollers at him and he comes back. In desperation, he abducts Upa to get ransom for the ball, but he doesn't count on Goku showing up. Goku beats him and rescues Upa. As a token of thanks, Goku is given the Four- Star ball, his Grandpa Gohan's ball.

General Blue returns to Red Ribbon Army headquarters only to be executed by the notorious Mercenary Tao.

At the same time, General Blue is returning to the Red Ribbon Headquarters, while Commander Red is in the process of hiring Mercenary Tao. General Blue walks in on them and seeing him Dragon Ball-less, Red makes him fight Mercenary Tao to redeem himself (and see if it is really Mercenary Tao, not some imposter). The fight is quick, with none of Blue's attacks having any effect. It ends with Tao using his tongue to strike Blue's temple and kill him. Satisfied, Commander Red hires him to kill Goku and retrieve the Dragon Balls. Mercenary Tao then cuts out a piece of a column and uses it as a ride to the Land of Korin.

Mercenary Tao is handed an image of his target: Goku.

When Mercenary Tao arrives, Upa's father jumps in to protect Goku but is killed by Mercenary Tao with his own spear. Angry, Goku challenges Mercenary Tao and gets slapped around for a while. He tries his Kamehameha, but all it does is destroy Mercenary Tao's clothes. Mercenary Tao retaliates with his Dodon Ray, which knocks Goku out, yet Mercenary Tao thinks he killed him (the four-star ball Goku got earlier was in his shirt and absorbed most of the blast). Mercenary Tao takes the other balls and leaves to get a new robe.

Bora is executed with his own spear by a relentless Mercenary Tao.

When Mercenary Tao arrives at a tailor, he gives the man three days to make a new one or Mercenary Tao will kill him. He then checks into a hotel and calls the Red Ribbon Head Quarters. Red informs him of the missing ball and Mercenary Tao tells him he will get it back in three days (when his new robe is done).

Back in the Land of Korin, Goku awakes before Upa buries him. During their talk, Goku learns of the legend of Korin's Tower. The legend is that anyone who can climb to the top will be given sacred water that will greatly increase their power. This is perfect for Goku, who needs the strength to defeat Mercenary Tao. Goku vows to use the Dragon Balls to bring Upa's father back to life and begins his ascent up the Tower.

Goku faces the deadly Mercenary Tao.

He reaches the top after a very long climb and meets Korin, who turns out to be a short, fat, talking cat. Before Goku can explain his situation, Korin reads his mind and understands why Goku is after the water. He'll give Goku the water on one condition: that Goku get it from Korin! Goku tries to retrieve the water, but Korin is too fast for him and dodges him easily. Feeling defeated, Goku is told that Master Roshi was the last one to get the water from Korin, over three hundred years ago. Not only that, but it took Master Roshi three years to do it!

The two of them retire for the night and we see a Senzu Bean for the first time when Korin gives one to Goku to restore his energy. He then throws Goku's four-star ball out of the tower and Goku jumps out after it. He gets to the bottom and retrieves the ball, then climbs all the way back up the tower again, in much quicker time.

Korin's training enables Goku to become stronger.

The next day, Goku once again fails in retrieving the water, even after getting Korin's advice. It is on the third day that Goku gets the water, only when it fell off of Korin's staff and nearly to the ground. Goku dove out and caught it, using his tail to keep from falling. He drinks the water and finds out that it's just tap water and the power comes from the training. Satisfied, Goku thanks Korin and leaves.

Tao finally gets his new robe and comes back to finish off the job, only this time it's Goku who is beating Mercenary Tao! He tries his trump card, the Dodon Ray, but Goku is able to block it. Boasting, Goku tells Mercenary Tao of his strength from Korin's Tower and Mercenary Tao immediately rushes up the tower to get the power for himself. He reaches the top and gets the water. Korin manages to fool him with some magic and Mercenary Tao returns to finish the fight, thinking himself stronger now.

Goku is able to overcome Mercenary Tao, whose tricks backfire on him.

When he gets back, he is giving Goku all he is got and appears to be winning. That is, until Goku shows him that he was not being serious. Goku then proceeds to beat up Mercenary Tao, who fakes a surrender to trick Goku. During this fake surrender, he tosses a grenade at Goku and hops up to avoid the blast. Goku is not fooled and he kicks the grenade up to Mercenary Tao, where it explodes and presumably kills him (however he is later shown to be alive). Gathering up the rest of the Dragon Balls, Goku now heads to Red Ribbon Head Quarters to get the other two balls.

[edit] Goku versus the Red Ribbon Army

Goku approaches the Red Ribbon Army compound headquarters.

We then see a short segment with Colonel Violet, the only female high-ranking officer in the Red Ribbon Army. She retrieves a ball for a reward and that's about it. During this, Bulma builds a flying camera to follow Goku, when she learns that he's going straight after the Red Ribbon Army. Worried about him, Bulma makes a phone (from Turtle's advice) and calls Yamcha, Puar, and Oolong. Yamcha arrives by plane and takes the rest of the crew to save Goku. However, Bulma is still mad at Yamcha for what happened with his episode from Hasky.

Goku takes down the entire Red Ribbon Army.

Goku meanwhile is passing right by the Red Ribbon Army's security system, because they think he's Mercenary Tao coming back. By the time they figure out it's him, it's too late. Goku hops off his Flying Nimbus and rips the Red Ribbon Army apart with ease. He fights his way to Commander Red, who leaves his assistant to fight Goku. During their fight however, Commander Red drops the ceiling on both of them. Thinking them dead, Commander Red reveals his ultimate wish for the Dragon Balls: to become taller! Staff Officer Black (who wasn't killed by the ceiling) comes back and kills Commander Red, angry over being fooled. The still-alive Goku also appears and defeats Staff Officer Black, who even after using a special robot suit couldn't win.

Commander Red is executed by Adjutant Black after revealing his true intention for gathering the Dragon Balls.

Goku collects the two Dragon Balls and starts to leave when Bulma and crew show up. They're amazed at his ability and happy he's safe. The problem though is that the Dragon Radar isn't picking up the last Dragon Ball. They return back to Kame House where Bulma would hopefully fix it.

Adjutant Black in the mechanized Red Ribbon Army battle suit.

[edit] DVDs

• Commander Red - Danger For Hire (58-60)
• Commander Red - Korin's Tower (61-64)
• Commander Red - The Battle Is Won (65-67)
• Commander Red Saga (4) (58-67)
• Dragon Ball - Season Two (Episodes 32-61) (November 10, 2009)
• Dragon Ball - Season Three (Episodes 62-92) (February 2, 2010)

[edit] Characters

[edit] Major characters

• Goku
• Mercenary Tao
• Staff Officer Black
• Commander Red
• General Blue
• Bora
• Upa
• Korin
• Captain Yellow

[edit] Supporting characters

• Master Roshi
• Bulma
• Yamcha
• Krillin
• Colonel Violet

[edit] Battles Featured

• Bora vs. Captain Yellow
• Mercenary Tao vs. Bora
• Goku vs. Mercenary Tao
• Goku vs. Mercenary Tao
• Goku vs. Mercenary Tao
• Goku vs. Assistant Black
• Goku vs. Assistant Black

[edit] Episode list

• 58. The Land of Korin
• 59. The Notorious Mercenary
• 60. Tao Attacks!
• 61. Korin Tower
• 62. Sacred Water
• 63. The Return of Goku
• 64. The Last of Mercenary Tao
• 65. Confront the Red Ribbon Army
• 66. A Real Bind
• 67. The End of Commander Red