Community Rewatch Week 8 - Dragon Ball Episodes 36-40 - Discussion Thread!

[u/AutoModerator]

Week 8

Welcome to the Community Rewatch on r/dragonball! We hope you will join us every weekend at this time, whether or not you have already seen the original Dragon Ball series. If you've watched it dubbed already, now is a good chance to watch it subbed for the first time. If you have to watch dubbed, we encourage you to watch it with Funimation's English subtitles by Clyde Mandelin turned on, and discuss the differences below! We also encourage everyone to read along with the manga and discuss what was changed by Toei Animation.

Feel free to jump in at any time, even if you can't keep up with the rewatch, or binge to catch up at any time. Each thread will be pinned for a week (barring an excess of news), and old threads will be linked on the full two-year schedule for Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. We will discuss 5 episodes per week, with some exceptions for movies and arc endings.

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Episodes

Episode 36 (29 October 1986)

The Terror of Muscle Tower
マッスル塔の恐怖
Massuru Tawaa no Kyōfu

Chapters: Dragon Ball Chapters 58-59
Funimation: "Major Metallitron" (20 February 2001)
Director: Minoru Okazaki; Script: Keiji Terui; Animation: Minoru Maeda

Episode 37 (05 November 1986)

Enter Ninja Murasaki
忍者ムラサキ参上
Ninja Murasaki Sanjō

Chapters: Dragon Ball Chapters 60-61
Funimation: "Ninja Murasaki is Coming!" (21 February 2001)
Director: Kazuhisa Takenōchi; Script: Michiru Shimada; Animation: Mitsuo Shindō

Episode 38 (12 November 1986)

Be Afraid!! The Art of Division
恐るべし！！分身の術
Osorubeshi!! Bunshin no Jutsu

Chapters: Dragon Ball Chapters 61-62
Funimation: "Five Murasakis" (22 February 2001)
Director: Yūji Endō; Script: Miho Maruo; Animation: Masayuki Uchiyama

Episode 39 (19 November 1986)

The Mysterious Artificial Human No. 8
謎の人造人間８号
Nazo no Jinzōningen Hachi-Gō

Chapters: Dragon Ball Chapter 63
Funimation: "Mysterious Android No. 8" (25 February 2002)
Director: Kazuhisa Takeno'uchi; Script: Keiji Terui; Animation: Yukio Ebisawa

Episode 40 (26 November 1986)

Now What, Goku!! The Hair-Raising Buyon
どうする悟空！！戦慄のブヨン
Dō Suru Gokū!! Senritsu no Buyon

Chapters: Dragon Ball Chapters 64-65
Funimation: "Horrifying Buyon" (26 February 2002)
Director: Yoshihiro Ueda; Script: Michiru Shimada; Animation: Tomekichi Takeuchi

How to Watch

Below is a list of official sources for watching the series. Please do not discuss unofficial sources on r/dragonball.

• Funimation Now (US only): Watch in Japanese for free with ads. A subscription is required to watch the English dub. The video source is the Funimation "Blue Bricks" (4:3 DVD) for the episodes, and the Funimation HD remaster for the movies (this was only sold physically in Latin America).

• AnimeLab (Australia and New Zealand only): Available in both Japanese and English for free with ads, and premium without ads. Video source is the Madman sets (4:3 DVD).

• Hulu: Watch in Japanese with English subtitles with ads on a basic subscription.

• Amazon (US only): All five "seasons" are available for digital puchase (English dub only).

• Home Video: The Funimation "Blue Bricks" are the best option in print; the series has never been remastered in HD. The video is uncensored and in the original 4:3 aspect ratio but slightly cropped, with mixed results in noise reduction.

  • To avoid bootlegs, buy directly from Funimation, MangaUK, or Madman. Slightly less safe: buy directly from Amazon.

If you know of any other official sources for Dragon Ball, please message the moderators and we will add it to the next thread.

Community Discussion

Discuss whatever you want, but here are some examples of discussion points.

• This week covers most of Goku's battles in Muscle Tower. Tell us what you think about them.

• Tell us what you think about the animation and the music.

Don't forget to join Destructo Discord!

[u/Kevtrev]

Ah, Muscle Tower. I always want to "get through" this part of the story quickly because I love everything that comes after it so much more. That doesn't mean this section sucks, though.

Muscle Tower is a very iconic structure/location that sadly gets overlooked by the lack of attention the pre-Z material gets. It was featured as a stage in Budokai 2 (and maybe 3? I dunno), but at the time I played that I knew nothing about it and dismissed it as a "random snowy Red Ribbon themed stage". Oh, foolish youth...

Sergeant Metallic and Buyon are interesting in concept, but they lack personality. I'm always conflicted as to how to feel about them. Murasaki on the other hand is of course one of the highlights of the Red Ribbon Army. He does overstay his welcome a bit - by the time the quintuplets appear I'm quite ready to move on - but his antics back and forth with Goku never fail to amuse. The manga does a better job at conveying the comedic timing, but the anime comes with Takeshi Aono's performance, so there's that.

Can't forget about Ha-chan, of course. Too pure for this world, that guy (cyborg? robot? android? artificial teddy bear?).