DBZ Topic #24: Top 5 Emotional Moments In Dragon Ball History
Hey, what's up DBZ fans? I'm back to bring you guys another topic for discussion. I know that these have been few and far between, but you can expect a lot more because I'm on vacation for Xmas. Anyways, with this topic, I'm going to list my top 5 emotional moments throughout the entire Dragon Ball Series.
#5: Goku's First Death
I remember watching this one when I was a kid. Right as Raditz was about to kill Gohan, Goku snuck up behind him and put him in a full nelson and held him long enough for Piccolo to charge up his ultimate attack, The Special Beam Cannon, and kill the both of them with it. I remember thinking, "Why didn't Goku just move at the last second or something"? What made this moment so emotional was the fact that we had just started the DBZ story and the main character was already dead. This moment really tugs at the heart strings because as Goku lay there dying, Krillin was holding his hand begging him to be alright and Goku was explaining to Krillin that he wasn't going to make it this time. Some powerful stuff right there. That is until Piccolo ruined the whole damn moment when he explained to a dying Raditz that Goku's friends would wish him back with the Dragon Balls. Kind of made the whole thing seem inconsequential and that's something that DBZ always has to contend with.
#4: Piccolo Sacrifices Himself
This was the last thing one would expect from someone like Piccolo at that point in time. Sure, now Piccolo is one of the most pure hearted and righteous of the good guys, but back then, he was still in sort of a transitional period between wanting to dominate the world or be good. So after Gohan kicks Nappa into a mountain like a badass; Nappa is understandably POed. Nappa fires a huge blast at Gohan to, as the Ocean dub put it, send him into the next dimension, but what happens? Piccolo jumps in front of the blast and takes it like man to save Gohan. I still say Piccolo had enough time to grab Gohan and move, but what can you do? Anyways, its after Piccolo has been blasted to hell and gone that makes this moment so emotional. As Piccolo lay there dying, he explains to Gohan that he's never cared about anyone until Gohan came along and that Gohan was the first one to treat him like a person instead of a monster and that Gohan is his only true friend. This moment is also significant because when Piccolo died, Kami died as well. Meaning that there were no Dragon Balls anymore to wish them back. At the time, this was a huge deal.
#3: Vegeta's Final Atonement
Now we're getting to the good stuff. After Vegeta has once again screwed over the entire planet with his selfishness letting Majin Buu be released just so he could fight Goku, Vegeta has a realization. He's not this cold hearted evil warrior that he thought himself to be. He actually does care about the Earth, his family, and even that fool Kakarot. So Vegeta, in an effort to stop Majin Buu, tries to take him on one on one. There's just one problem; he's no match for Buu. Every thing he throws at Buu, Buu can regenerate from. So Vegeta has another realization; he has to destroy every last bit of Buu at once so he can't regenerate. Sounds good on paper, but how is he going to accomplish this? Why blowing himself up of course. So as Vegeta prepares to sacrifice himself to stop Buu, he grabs his young son Trunks and hugs him and tells him to take care of his mother. After that, in true Vegeta fashion, he knocks out Trunks and Goten. When Piccolo approaches to take the boys to safety, Vegeta asks him if he'll be able to see Kakarot in the other world. Piccolo explains to Vegeta that because Goku spent his entire life in the service of good, he was allowed to keep his body and adventure in the Other World. This would not be the case for Vegeta. Since Vegeta had done so many horrible things in his life, he would not be given the same reward. Even knowing this, Vegeta still blew himself up in a giant explosion to try and defeat Majin Buu. This was the moment that Vegeta truly became one of the good guys. Too bad it didn't work though.
#2: Goku Finds Krillin Dead
We have to go all the way back to Dragon Ball for this one. After the 22nd World's Martial Arts Tournament, Goku and his usual friends of Roshi, Bulma, Yamacha, Puar, Oolong, Launch, and Krillin; along with new friends Tien and Chiaotzu all decide to go out and eat to celebrate another successful tournament. Goku realizes that he has left some of his belongings behind; so Krillin goes to get them. Bad move, as this is when Krillin is killed by having his neck snapped by a kick from the monster Tambourine. While waiting for Krillin to return before he starts to eat at the restaurant; Goku senses that something is very wrong. Goku runs back to the arena only to find Krillin dead and no sign of the thing that killed him. This was the first time in Dragon Ball that one of the main group died and this is arguably when the series started playing with higher stakes and showing the audience that it could be serious as well as fun. Goku's anguish at his friend's death was very visible and it really made Tambourine and King Piccolo out to be the worst villians that the series had seen thus far.
#1: Freeza Kills Vegeta
At this point in DBZ, Vegeta was still very much a villian as he was plotting to destroy the others after they helped him kill Freeza. Unfortunately for Vegeta, however, he has a big mouth. After Freeza had given him a good trouncing and was about to deliver the death blow, Goku showed up on the battle field and quickly showed Freeza that he wasn't one to be messed with. Of course, Vegeta being who he is, took the opprotunity after Goku had blocked all of Freeza's energy attacks with one hand to explain to Freeza, AGAIN, that he wasn't dealing with an ordinary Saiyan anymore. That Goku was indeed a Super Saiyan. Unfortunately, Vegeta went to the well one to many times with this one because Freeza was tired of hearing about the SSJ. So Freeza shot Vegeta through the chest with an energy blast. What makes this scene so emotional, though, is what happened after Vegeta's fate was sealed. As Vegeta lay there dying, he explained to Goku that it was Freeza that destroyed their home world. He explained that he never had the chance to be anything but evil because Freeza enslaved him and made him do whatever Freeza ordered. He was crying and everything. As he took his final breath, he begged Goku to kill Freeza. I was 11 years old when I first watched this moment and like Vegeta, I too was crying. This moment remains the only time in the entire Dragon Ball series that I got emotional and that's why it's my number one.
What do you guys think? Is my list ok? I'd love to see some of your lists. Let me know your opinions.