The Return of Raditz! ... Wait... is the first episode of Team Four Star's DragonBall Z Abridged. It was originally uploaded onto YouTube on June 6, 2008, but was eventually taken down due to a copyright infringement claim by Toei Animation. However, 5 years later, the episode got unbanned from YouTube on May 7, 2013.
Summary
"Holy s**t, it's an alien!"
On a peaceful farm area, a space pod crashes down onto Earth, and into a farmer's marijuana patch. A humanoid alien emerges from the pod and the farmer fires at him, only for his bullet to be caught and flicked back at him, killing him. The alien commands the farmer to get up and apologize only to be disappointed at how easily he killed him and realizes this is why his father would not allow him to keep Appule.
"No new comments... No Friend Requests... dammit."
After the opening, we cut to a lonely Piccolo checking his MySpace, only to find he has no new comments or friend requests. Piccolo is interrupted by the alien, who confused him for someone named "Kakarot" which leads to Piccolo pointing out his green skin, pointy ears, and turban, and sarcastically stating he looks like so many other people. The alien, who doesn't appreciate Piccolo's sarcasm, decides to use his special attack known as Keep Your Eye on the Birdy (this move was originally called Double Sunday until Vegeta3986 interrupted Lanipator and fought with him over the mic). Before he can perform his attack, his scouter alerts him of a higher power level, and he leaves.
At Kame House, Master Roshi and Krillin, along with Turtle and Oolong, wait for their friends, whom they haven't seen in years. Bulma arrives first, and explains that Yamcha will not be coming because she caught him cheating. Goku arrives shortly after, and they all confuse Goku's son, Gohan, to be some kid he ran off with in the woods until Goku explains that Gohan is his son. Krillin asks when Gohan will start training, but Goku tells him that Chi-Chi wants Gohan to be a "responsible and productive member of society", or "lame" as Goku puts it.
Krillin Owned Count: 1
Bulma asks about the Dragon Ball on Gohan's hat, questioning whether it would make him a target for potential foes. Just as Goku states that he can fight off anyone, he senses a power level "bigger than Krillin's losing streak". This huge power level is revealed to be the alien, who arrives and explains to Goku that he is actually part of an alien race called the Saiyans and that they are brothers, to the shock of everyone there and a crab . Krillin presumes that, as he is Goku's brother, the alien will be involved in a lot of future events, but is bitch-slapped through a wall for his troubles.
"We're totally going to Earth to get our wish!"
Discovering that his brother's name is Raditz, Goku asks him if he is after the Dragon Balls. He then proceeds to explain that there are seven Dragon Balls, and they can grant any wish, such as immortality, or Bulma's panties as Oolong overheard the argument. Overhearing this through their scouters, Nappa and Vegeta decide to head to Earth in order to get their wish.
Raditz offers Goku the chance to join him and destroy everyone on the planet. When Goku declines, Raditz knees Goku in the stomach, takes Gohan and flies away. Afterwards, Piccolo arrives to laugh at Goku's loss. Goku offers to friend Piccolo on MySpace if he will help him rescue Gohan. The episode ends with Piccolo and Goku heading towards Raditz.
Eyecatch: Master Roshi holds up more items that change, from a Nestlé Crunch Bar, to a gummy bear, finishing with Nappa's head.(Provoking the latter to shout in shock, "Wait, what the hell?!")
Cast
- Hbi2k – Farmer With Shotgun
- KaiserNeko – Space Pod
- Lanipator – Raditz (before the fight), Piccolo, Krillin, Vegeta
- Vegeta3986 – Raditz (after the fight), Yamcha, Oolong, Gohan
- Megami33 – Bulma, Puar
- MasakoX – Master Roshi, Goku,
- Takahata101 – Nappa
Running Gags
- Krillin Owned Count 1: Raditz bitch-slaps Krillin into Kame House with his tail.
Trivia
- In the anime, the Dragon Balls are revealed to Raditz when he dies. Here, Goku himself reveals it to Raditz.
- This is the only episode where Vegeta3986 voices Gohan. The rest of the series has MasakoX voice Gohan.
- The title of this episode is a play on "The Arrival of Raditz", the title of the first episode of the 1996-1998 "Ocean dub" of Dragon Ball Z.
- This episode was used as the "Dishonorable Mention" for the 2016 Tenkaichi Ironman Budokai Abridgithon, where it was ruthlessly berated by Team Four Star for its poor quality in comparison to their current standards. This was most likely done both due to the group's general disdain for their earlier works and to dismiss accusations of hypocrisy from critics of the judging process.
Cultural References
- The song "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper is heard playing on Bulma's radio as her ship lands.
- Master Roshi's beer starting off as orange juice (O.J.) then apple juice, (then to a Nestle Crunch bar, a gummi bear, and finally Nappa's head). Acts as a reference to the censorship many anime series (specifically those with children as the target demographic) often faced when coming to the West. Dragon Ball Z (being one of the most famous anime with incredibly notable edits during it's initial broadcasts) is a commonly cited source for such censorship.
- When Goku says he has a son, M. Night Shyamalan appears and says "What a Twist!". M. Night Shyamalan is a director (in)famous for his heavy usage of twist endings in his films, most notably in his claim to fame The Sixth Sense.
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