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Last we saw, things weren’t looking good for the Z fighters. Despite the medicine, Goku is struggling against the heart virus while his family is trying to keep away from the androids who easily beat Vegeta at Super Saiyan. Piccolo, seeing no other option goes to merge with Kami, making him stronger than a Super Saiyan but leaving Earth without Dragonballs. It’s a discovery that raises a whole new series of questions when another time machine is found, same model as Trunks’s but in the brush they find a broken exoskeleton. Entire towns are seeming to vanish, leaving clothes behind. Piccolo mistakes what he feels are the powers of his friends only to discover the monstrosity at work: enter Cell. Dr Gero’s ultimate creation, an living machine made from the cells of all the Z fighters and Frieza, Cell has come from the future to absorb Android 17 and 18 to become perfect. The only real hope they have is finding a level beyond Super Saiyan, but can Goku, Vegeta, Gohan and Trunks find this power before Cell becomes unstoppable?

The Android Saga continues to get better with who I’d say is the best villain of the series. Cell in his earlier forms is creepy as hell but always intimidating; I love seeing the other characters abilities and attacks biting them in ass. What’s great is this is one of the last times the other characters besides the Saiyans are relevant; Krillin and Tien have great moments but I love Piccolo’s fight against 17 which is one of my favorites of all DBZ. Vegeta vs Cell was pretty badass too but Cell’s turnaround makes you fear for the Z fighters. This is DBZ at it’s best and I highly recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

So we come to what many consider to be the best saga Dragonball Z has to offer: the Android Saga. It all begins with the conclusion to Dragonball Z:The Frieza Saga with the reveal that despite being cut in half and the destruction of a planet, Frieza is not dead. His remains were found in the vastness of space by his father, King Cold; Frieza is restored with a host of mechanical pieces and is pissed, taking Cold and his soldiers to Earth for revenge. The Z fighters sense him coming, but without Goku there chances of survival as well as Earth’s are slim. Frieza and Cold land, to be greeted by a young man they’d never seen. Easily he slays the soldiers and faces Frieza and his father, demonstrating his true power- he’s a Super Saiyan. He destroys Frieza and Cold once and for all and continues to wait for Goku to return. The young man is Trunks, Vegeta and Bulma’s  son from the future. In the future, Goku dies of a yet undiscovered heart virus. Years later, 2 androids emerge created by Dr Gero of the fallen Red Ribbon Army and systematically kill the Z fighters one by one. Trunks brings Goku the medicine he’ll need to survive the virus and delivers the date the androids will arrive, years from then. Three years later, they arrive as Trunks predicted but when Trunks arrives to help, he finds the terrible fact that the androids he warned about aren’t the same. History has changed but can the Z fighters survive?

This is where I truly began to love DBZ. Trunks’s debut is one of DBZ’s most epic moments and he is one of my favorite characters. Also, I love that Vegeta becomes a Super Saiyan. Android 19 and 20 were cool but 17, 18, and 16 are a great, likable trio as well as badasses; watching 18 fight Vegeta was brutal. The season ends with an awesome cliffhanger of the horrors to come. There are some filler episodes but I don’t mind them, especially when Goku and Piccolo compete learning how to drive. Definitely worth a watch and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

So Dragonball Z:The Frieza Saga left us with a cliff hanger, what became of Goku after Namek finally exploded? Well, you ain’t finding that answer here. Months after getting back from Namek, the gang goes on with there normal lives. Gohan is studying, Goku’s friends are partying and Krillin has a new girlfriend. Life goes on, until the Black Water Mist is unleashed, turning nearly everyone evil. Garlic Jr ( from Dragonball Z: The Dead Zone ) has found himself freed from the Dead Zone, and has come back with a new scheme. It’s up to Gohan, Krillin and Piccolo to stop him before its too late..

If this review seems unenthusiastic, it’s because this tiny saga is strictly filler. There is no real weight to the rest of the series, except to add something else to a point made later in the series. Garlic Jr is a pretty weak villain compared to Vegeta, the Ginyu Force, or Frieza. If you decide to watch this arc, it is short but if you chose to skip feel free and skip to Trunks. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

*spoiler alert: due to a posting error, my Cell Games review came out ahead of schedule. The first part will come out July 3rd, and the second part on the 4th.

We come to the finale of the Android Saga and one of the greatest climaxes in anime. Cell, confident he is all powerful, issues a challenge to the world; face him in the Cell Games for the fate of the world. Goku and Gohan emerge from the hyperbolic time chamber, far stronger than before. Unlike the others who are dreadfully training, Goku urges Gohan to relax and enjoy life. The young Super Saiyan agrees, wearing Piccolo’s colors during the games to come. The Z fighters arrive with a famous fighter named Hercule Satan who Cell bitch slaps away like a fly. Goku is first up. Cell and Goku clash but Goku isn’t able to put Cell down as hard as he tries. Instead, Goku promises there is someone far stronger than him among them that can beat Cell. Gohan, the youngest Super Saiyan. It becomes apparent though Gohan doesn’t have the same urge to fight as the other Saiyans but he understands why he will kill Cell; all his life, Gohan has shown explosive leaps of power when enraged, leaps of power he couldn’t control. Cell finds this intriguing and tortures Gohan trying to make him snap; when that doesn’t work, he spawns his twisted Cell Jrs. that attack the others, each as powerful as Cell. Gohan still doesn’t snap. When Android 16 is destroyed, he tells Gohan he understands his fear but to protect life, sometimes you have to fight. When Cell crushes 16’s head, Gohan explodes and becomes stronger than any of them ever imagined but can this new power finish Cell once and for all…

I love this ending. Throughout the series and especially this saga, Gohan has always been more of a background character but during this saga we get a very well done look at his character. Super Saiyan 2 is amazing and the fight between him and Cell is beyond epic. There’s a goodbye that may bring some to tears (Violet) but its well done. This finale is equal parts action and epicness and I feel its the best way the show could have ended. In fact I’m pretty upset it isn’t. I highly recommend the Android Saga as some of the best anime I’ve seen and may the gaming gods bring you glory.