DB Episode 1

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"Bulma and Son Goku" (ブルマ と そん ごくう, Buruma to Son Gokū; FUNimation "The Secret of the Dragon Balls") is the first episode of the Emperor Pilaf Saga and the first episode of Dragon Ball.

Synopsis

Goku doing his morning chores.
Giant Fish going after Goku's tail.
Goku and Bulma first meeting.
Pilaf finding his first Dragon Ball.
Bulma explaining the Dragon Balls to Goku.
Goku must save Bulma from a Pteranodon.

The story began thousands of miles from civilization on Mount Paozu with a young boy that had a monkey tail, Son Goku. Years earlier, he had been found by a martial artist named Son Gohan, and adopted by him as a grandson, who trained Goku to be a powerful fighter. Goku was now on his own after his grandfather's death and guarded his Dragon Ball that was given to him by Gohan before he died. One day, after being finished with chopping up wood, he thought he saw the Dragon Ball glowing but then thought he had just seen things. On his way to find something to eat, he ended up angering a Saber Cat and had to outrun it. He tricked it into falling off a cliff and into a river, but Goku also later fell in. While at the river, Goku took his clothes off in order to put his tail into the water as bait to catch fish for a meal. Soon enough, a Giant Fish tried to eat his tail. Having no fear of the Giant Fish, Goku dodged it and then killed it with one kick.

On his way home dragging the fish, he was run over by a teenage girl, Bulma Brief, in her car. Goku had never seen a car before and attacked it thinking that it was a monster. He picked up the car and threw it into the distance. In defense, Bulma took out a gun and shot Goku, but due to being powerful the bullets only stung him. Goku, thinking she was a witch, charged at her only stopping when she pleaded that she was a Human; a girl at that.

Goku had always been told by his grandfather to be nice to girls, and so he escorted Bulma to his home for dinner. Entering the house, Bulma saw an item that she had been desperately seeking earlier in her car – a Dragon Ball. The Dragon Ball was glowing and Goku thought his grandfather was trying to talk to him. Bulma grabbed it, but Goku yanked it away from her saying it was the only memento his Grandfather had left him. Bulma then showed Goku two Dragon Balls she had and told him that there were seven Dragon Balls in total, spread all around the world. She explained, when they were all collected, they allowed the owner to get one wish. In Bulma's case, her wish was to have a perfect boyfriend, but Goku stubbornly refused to give up all that is left of his grandfather, or in reality the Four-Star Ball.

Elsewhere, two strange figures named Shuu and Mai, who were headed by a small blue entity named Pilaf, found a Dragon Ball in a dungeon. Pilaf was enraged when Mai told him that he needed to collect all seven of them to summon the Dragon to make his wish.

Back at Goku's house, he agreed to accompany Bulma on her journey to collect the Dragon Balls. She explained to Goku that she could detect them using her Dragon Radar. She used one of her Hoi Poi Capsules, Capsule 9, to spawn a motorcycle. Goku thought she was a witch using black magic at first. The two of them then left for the closest Dragon Ball which was located 1200 kilometers to the west. Along the way, Bulma stopped for a bathroom break. Goku heard her scream and went to investigate only to find a fearsome Pteranodon. The Pteranodon tied up Goku and flew away with Bulma captured. Goku thinks the creature is her friend until she yells at him to rescue her. He took the motorcycle and drove off a ramp into the air. He then took out his Nyoibou, that he carried on his back, and ordered it to extend. It smashed the top of the Pteranodon head and sent it falling into a valley below.

Goku fell safely to the ground and used his Nyoibou to pin Bulma to a cliff. All this is too much for her, making Bulma pee her pants. The two then head out back to their adventure.

Battles

Voice cast

Character Japanese dub Ocean Group dub Blue Water dub FUNimation dub
Bulma Brief Hiromi Tsuru Lalainia Lindbjerg Leda Davies Tiffany Vollmer
Giant Fish  ?? N/A N/A N/A
Grandpa Son Gohan N/A Michael Donovan N/A N/A
Mai Eiko Yamada Teryl Rothery Debbie Munro Julie Franklin
Narrator Jōji Yanami Jim Conrad Steve Olsen Brice Armstrong
Pilaf Shigeru Chiba Don Brown Dean Galloway Chuck Huber
Pteranodon Hiroshi Ōtake Ian James Corlett  ?? Brad Jackson
Saber Tiger Masaharu Satō  ??  ?? Jackie Cabe
Shuu Tesshō Genda Doug Parker Jonathan Love Chris Cason
Son Goku Masako Nozawa Saffron Henderson Zoe Slusar Stephanie Nadolny

Differences from manga

Goku running away from a Saber-toothed Cat.
  • When Goku punches the tree stump, all of the wood falls neatly into a stack. In the manga, they all scatter on the floor and Goku is shown picking the pieces up.
  • When Goku is looking for something to eat, he finds an apple and takes a bite of it. He then throws it on a Saber-toothed Cat's head. The Saber-toothed Cat chases Goku down a cliff, where he then gets the idea of catching Fish for dinner. In the manga, Goku does not encounter the Saber-toothed Cat and peacefully walks by a cliff and voluntarily jumps off it to go catch Fish.
  • Bulma's panties in this episode are white with pink polka dots, but in the manga version they are plain white.
  • When Goku defeats the Pteranodon, it falls down a cliff. In the manga, it just falls on flat ground.

Filler

  • Pilaf and his minions make an early debut when Pilaf finds a Dragon Ball and Mai explains to him the legend of the Dragon. Pilaf and his minions do not debut in the manga until Goku reaches Castle Pilaf, which is not until "The Dragon Balls are Stolen" in the anime.

Edits

Visual edits

Uncut (left) and Edited (right)
  • In the Ocean Group dub, footage from "The Nimbus Cloud of Roshi", "The Ox-King on Fire Mountain", and Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies is seen in a brief daydream segment when Bulma is explaining to Goku what the journey will be like. Chichi's hair can be seen just as the Dinosaur is zoomed out. Strangely, the fight between Goku and King Gurumes from Curse of the Blood Rubies is used even though it does not occur in the television series.
  • In the Ocean Group dub, Goku is wearing underwear in the scene where he skinny dips to catch Fish. Also, the part where he pees in the water just as he gets in is completely removed.
  • The part where Goku lifts Bulma's skirt up to see if she has a tail is still present in the Ocean Group dub, but her panties are oddly repainted pink to match her skirt.
  • In the Ocean Group dub, scenes from "A Wish to the Eternal Dragon" are seen while Mai is explaining the legend of the Dragon.

Scenes removed

A scene of Bulma shooting Goku with a gun that was removed from the Ocean Group dub.
  • The part where Bulma shoots Goku with a gun is completely removed in the Ocean Group dub.
  • The scene where Bulma lifts up her skirt and offers to let Goku touch her butt if he gives her the Dragon Ball is completely removed in the Ocean Group dub.

Dialogue changes

  • In the Ocean Group dub, in the scene at the beginning showing the landscape, Grandpa Son Gohan's voice is heard saying the last things he had said before he died. This is the only time Grandpa Son Gohan is heard in the Ocean Group dub because it was canceled before they got to the episode he appeared in.
  • When Goku is talking to himself on his way to the lake, he originally talks about what he wants to eat. In the Ocean Group dub, he already knows that he wants Fish (he told the Four-Star Ball) and asks himself where the "River Trail" is at.
  • The Giant Fish Goku catches speaks in the Japanese dub, but does not speak in the English dubs.
  • Certain suggestive dialogue between Goku and Bulma is replaced with other bickering in the Ocean Group dub.
  • In the Ocean Group dub, Goku tells Bulma that his name means "Saber of Light".
  • Bulma apparently already knows Pilaf is after the seven Dragon Balls in the Ocean Group dub because she says she needs to get them before the crazy emperor does. This is also a bad plothole created due to the fact that he had just gotten his Dragon Ball while Goku and Bulma were still talking.
  • Goku originally assumes that Bulma's two Dragon Balls are two more "grandpas", while in the Ocean dub he says that they she must have have gotten them from his grandfather.

Inconsistencies

The Four-Star Ball with a crooked pattern
  • One shot of the Four-Star Ball has a star misplaced and put in the middle. Oddly, this same mistake is also in the manga.
  • When Bulma opens her capsule case to get a bike, her case is full when one capsule should be missing due to Goku breaking her car earlier.
  • When Goku throws his Nyoibou at Bulma, it is shown flying towards her from below as she falls from high up in the air nowhere near a cliff, but later she is shown pinned by the Nyoibou to the cliff by her sleeves.

Trivia

  • Goku never eats the Giant Fish as the subject is changed to his grandfather's Dragon Ball the moment they enter his house.
  • This episode is technically the debut of Shen Long since his image is shown, but he does not physically debut until "The Penalty is Pinball".
  • This entire episode takes place on September 1, 749 Age.
  • The scene of Goku doing martial arts stances while the Narrator speaks is shown playing on the television in Bulma's capsule house in a scene from the 1990 live action Korean Dragon Ball film.
  • Bulma's clothes have 'BULMA' and '24' written on it.
  • Bulma's car has 'TURBO' written on it and the license plate number is 'PF 8801'.
  • Bulma's motorcycle's license plate number is 'AF4029'.
  • This is the first episode in the series to have a character die. Two were killed in this episode, the Giant Fish and the Pteranodon.

Gallery


Emperor Pilaf Saga
Bulma and Son GokuWhat the...?! No Balls!The Turtle Hermit's Kinto UnOolong, the Kidnapping MonsterYamucha, the Strong Yet Cruel Desert BanditMidnight CallersMt. Frypan's GyumaoThe Turtle Hermit's KamehamehaThe Rabbit Boss's Special TechniqueThe Dragon Balls are Stolen!!At Last The Dragon Appears!The Wish to Shen LongGoku's Great Transformation

"Bulma's search for six more Dragon Balls leads her to a remote valley and to Son Goku, who is in possession of one of the balls. Their relationship gets off to a rocky start, but after Son Goku saves Bulma's life, the two join forces in search of the remaining five Dragon Balls. They had better take care, for an evil force - Emperor Pilaf - also seeks the Dragon Balls." cannot be used as a page name in this wiki.

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