When Dragon ball fans think GokuKing Kai’s training scene, King Kai’s planet, or the Hyperbolic Time Chamber will likely stand out in their minds. Or, if they were limited to the original series, they’d tie it in with Master Roshi’s job list for Goku and Krillin. In fact, the best moment was in chapters 87 to 90 of the original Dragon Ball manga after Goku lost to the assassin Taopaipai, who mistakenly thought he had killed the Saiyan boy and left.
Upon realizing that he left behind one of the Dragon Balls that the Red Ribbon Army hired him to get from Goku, Taopaipai decides to take it after getting a new outfit that suits him, since Goku seems Like it’s not going anywhere. Meanwhile, Goku takes advantage of Taopaipai’s absence by trying to drink Korin’s Holy Water to get stronger, but discovers that the Holy Water is nothing special. Instead, Korin powers Goku up by making him climb his tower to try to get Holy Water from him.
Korin’s training was not a hoax
This situation is effective for two reasons. Goku was lucky to have the opportunity to train – if Taopaipai hadn’t wasted time adjusting his outfit, the assassin would have realized he hadn’t defeated Goku, leaving Goku unable to recover. Additionally, Goku’s training with Korin is a more engaging variation than Master Roshi’s training sessions with Goku and Krillin. Roshi’s training requires Goku and Krillin to engage in more extreme versions of mundane, everyday tasks, reminiscent of Mr. Miyagi’s “wax on, wax off” technique in Karate Kid. Korin’s regime is seen as a challenge to be overcome instead of seemingly worthless work.
Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super copy these points but don’t improve on them. DBZ replaces the way Goku has to exert more effort because of the thin air at the top of Korin Tower. Likewise, King Kai’s missions with Bubbles the Monkey and Gregory the Cricket are just sillier versions of Master Roshi’s missions. King Kai also never distracted Goku like Korin. The Hyperbolic Time Chamber just eliminates the compelling nature of misdirection and relies entirely on time differences to justify massive power increases.
Moro has nothing on Taopaipai
There are even fewer examples of villains doing what Taopaipai does for Goku. The best example is in Dragon Ball Super’s Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga, when Moro allows Goku and Vegeta to train, resulting in them generating more energy for him to absorb later. Both Taopaipai and Moro suffered from their own arrogance. The difference is that the stakes in Dragon Ball Super are much lower because Moro refuses to interfere with their training – even if it’s to his own detriment. It wasn’t until Moro attacked Earth that the situation changed, but even then, readers still wanted Goku and Vegeta to stay away, to give Earth’s other heroes a fighting chance.
IN Dragon ball, Taopaipai had no idea that Goku was training and would have definitely stopped him if he had known. And instead of being doubly careful, he decided to adhere to his own ridiculous standards, which also limited the amount of suspense during the day. Meanwhile, every other villain in the series is inaccessible Goku while exercising or not knowing you are exercising but not due to personal shortcomings. Like what happened with the birth of Super Saiyan and Kaio-ken, DBZ and Dragon Ball Super feels lazy in comparison.
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