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Why Dragon Ball Fans Should Check Out the Red Ribbon Army Arc

by Frankie Jackson,

With a successful run in Japan and the international release being so close at hand, the hype for Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is at a fever pitch. Not only are Gohan fans happy to hear that he's a focus of the film, but an old enemy organization is making their comeback: the dastardly Red Ribbon Army is causing trouble again with their new Ultraman/Kamen Rider-inspired Super Hero Androids, Gamma #1 and Gamma #2. They're a force to be reckoned with, not to mention other schemes the army is cooking up, but let's keep the spoilers to a minimum. Still, for newer fans of Dragon Ball or fans who have only watched DBZ (or DBZ Kai for cool kids who like great English dubs) and Super, the history of the Red Ribbon Army from before the Cell Arc may be a part of the story they don't know a lot about. This is unfortunate because the Red Ribbon Army Arc is easily one of the most underrated parts of the original anime and manga.

To give a short summary, the Red Ribbon Army story picks up shortly after the conclusion of the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai (World Martial Arts Tournament in the English dub), following Goku in his search for his Grandpa Gohan's 4-Star Dragon Ball. Goku has multiple run-ins with the arc's titular terrorists, who are also after the Dragon Balls so they can grant Commander Red's greatest wish…which may actually differ a bit from what they might expect. More on that later. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't take long for Goku to become a thorn in Red's side, with the struggle for the Dragon Balls spanning across a military base in the snow, an underwater pirate cave, tropical islands, and even a whole other Toriyama franchise.

First of all, this arc is uproariously funny. Toriyama's signature humor is in full force here, with great gags such as Goku looking like a doofus as he walks around Metro West with a giant wad of cash he just won in a street fight, Bulma accidentally grabbing a capsule with her dad's dirty magazine stash or one of General Blue's men reporting in, skewered by spears from a booby trap, only to report how sorry he is that he and the rest of his squad all died. I especially love the Ninja Murasaki fight during the Muscle Tower section, which is basically Toriyama's take on a Looney Tunes short with Murasaki being the Elmer Fudd to Goku's Bugs Bunny.

There's also the Dr. Slump crossover, which stands alongside Endgame and No Way Home as one of the greatest crossovers ever. Well, aside from one unfortunate filler scene in the anime... Fans who watched the Japanese version already know, though dub fans are probably still wondering who the heck Samuel is to this day. Still, this section is incredibly funny, with the residents of Penguin Village bringing their signature gags and fourth-wall breaks to the proceedings as they try to make sense of this martial arts adventure plot that somehow wandered into their neck of the woods. If you ever wanted to know how Goku and Arale came to know each other in Episode 69 of Super (another fantastic crossover), these are the episodes to watch and chapters to read. I wouldn't be surprised if meeting Arale and her wacky friends gets you raring to pick up some volumes of the Dr. Slump manga or Discotek's movie set sometime.

Other than the cast of Dr. Slump, this arc has Goku meet all sorts of great characters throughout, such as the adorable teddy bear of a Frankenstein monster Goku meets at Muscle Tower, Android 8, who Goku affectionately calls Ha-chan (Eighter in the English dub and 8-Man in the Viz Manga translation) and the Native American-inspired father and son, Upa and Bora, whose strong bond and peaceful life are interrupted by the Red Ribbon's goons. In fact, Upa and Bora drive the emotional core of the entire back half of the arc, motivating Goku to do everything in his power to help them pick up the pieces after their lives are devastated by the army.

Even Master Karin (Korin in the English dub) makes his first appearance in this arc, not only introducing the series' staple healing item, the Senzu Bean, but also giving a big reveal about how Muten Roshi grew to be so strong and teaching Goku a valuable lesson about how there aren't any shortcuts to strength.

Among these great characters are also great villains. We already touched a bit on Ninja Murasaki and his fantastic, gag-filled fight, but General Blue is also full of personality (despite having an unfortunate case of 80s-gay-man-stereotype-iosis), and Commander Red's complex about his height culminates in a joke Toriyama apparently thought was so funny that he used it again in Dragon Ball Super: Broly years later. Then there's Staff Officer Black, who takes his position and the Red Ribbon Army as a whole incredibly seriously. So seriously, in fact, that he doesn't hesitate in assassinating his boss after hearing how petty his wish is and even tries to square off one-on-one with Goku even though the kid just decimated the Army's forces. The only bad parts about him are the unfortunate name and design (just add him to the list of Toriyama being culturally insensitive), though the design was at least fixed in the Path to Power film.

The coolest of these villains is Tao Pai Pai (Mercenary Tao in the English dub), who is a character that Z-only fans may know from a few Cell Arc filler episodes but can't truly appreciate without the original series' context. Tao Pai Pai is an assassin Commander Red hires who is so cool he rides on pillars that he breaks off of buildings to travel from place to place, casually talks about how he currently has an anniversary sale on assassinations, and literally licks people to death. In the anime he has an incredibly memorable filler scene where he boils a raw egg in a bath that he heats up with his ki alone; stuff like this really drives home how this dude is so deathly serious it ends up being farcical, which is totally in line with Toriyama's sense of humor.

Tao Pai Pai is also the first villain to ever pose any real threat to Goku, tanking Goku's Kamehameha without anything more than just some ripped clothes and nearly killing Goku in a single hit with his Dodompa (Dodon Ray in the English dub). Of course, once Goku recovers, he climbs Karin Tower and receives the training that allows him to give one of the most legendary beatdowns in the series, getting payback for Upa and Bora. Tao Pai Pai even helps lay the groundwork for the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai Arc due to his connection to Tenshinhan and the Crane Hermit, the antagonists of that story. In that way, facing Tao Pai Pai is an important milestone in Goku's journey as a martial artist, which, paired with his fun personality, makes him a fantastic villain that more Dragon Ball fans should familiarize themselves with.

If you're watching the anime, the music in this arc is an absolute standout. While Shunsuke Kikuchi's iconic library of music is a delight on its own, this arc adds several insert songs into the mix. In particular, “Red Ribbon Army” and “Dragon Ball Densetsu” are so full of bombastic '80s awesome they'll blow any fan's socks off. However, fans should beware of “Son Goku's Song,” because a potential side effect is cuteness overload. Masako Nozawa is good at that. Sadly, some of these songs were either removed or narrated over in the English dub. If there ever was a reason to put on the Japanese track for this arc, retaining these insert songs is definitely a good one.

If this arc sounds interesting to some fans but watching or reading the whole thing feels like too much, the two films Path to Power and Mystical Adventure reimagine the major elements of these stories into shorter, easily digestible packages. As great as these movies are, though, their short runtimes mean condensing moments like the Dr. Slump crossover or Goku's meeting with Karin, recontextualizing how Goku meets Upa and Bora, and completely omitting scenes like the Murasaki fight. Mystical Adventure doesn't even directly reference the Red Ribbon Army, instead reimagining and combining many of its elements and characters with those from the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai to create a brand new story. Path to Power is a 100% Red Ribbon Army film, but it's missing that emotional core from the Tao Pai Pai section. It's not a total loss, though, since it does replace it with a new emotional core with Ha-chan that allows him to take center stage in the film's climax.

With that said, fans should take the time to read the original manga or watch the anime adaptation of the Red Ribbon Army Arc if they can. It's a must to experience it before Super Hero comes out so fans can familiarize themselves with Goku's history with the organization. It'll even add more context to Dr. Gero's quest for revenge in the Cell Arc, making DBZ that much more fulfilling. It's also just a really fun arc, filled with laughs, fights, and so many zany characters that fans who skipped the original Dragon Ball will kick themselves for never giving it the time of day. It's definitely worth the investment, especially for fans who have never experienced it.


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