(AfroGamers.com) Let’s look at seven things that makes the Namek Saga the best saga in Dragon Ball Z. This was a saga where it seemed like it would never be completed because of broadcasting issues.
7. The Satisfaction of Vegeta vs. Zarbon II
In their first encounter on Planet Namek, Zarbon spanks Vegeta so badly that he had to play dead and hope Zarbon knackered off back to Frieza’s ship…which he did. No one said Zarbon wasn’t sloppy, folks.
When a Saiyan experiences near death, they receive a kind of survival power-up or something. So, when Zarbon runs into Vegeta again and the Prince of ALL Saiyans has recovered, he gets soundly spanked in the rubber match.
This was Vegeta when he was an aggressive yute, so of course he killed Zarbon.
6. Krillin and Gohan Receive Power-Ups
Honestly, without Guru unlocking Krillin and Gohan’s latent powers, Dragon Ball Z would’ve ended sooner. You might think they didn’t play that significant a role in the fights against the Ginyu Force or Frieza but they were clutch throughout the crisis on Planet Namek.
So, when their powers were unlocked it was a big deal. While they were powerful on Earth, they were in the same league as the rank-and-file jobbers in Frieza’s Army.
It was particularly satisfying when Krillin’s powers were unlocked. It begs the question: Kami couldn’t have done this on Earth? I mean, while he doesn’t have the combat power of “Earth’s Special Forces”, Kami was an omnipotent figure.
Surely, he could’ve unlocked everyone’s powers or mentioned the conditions to do so. That’s just another box of questions to ponder.
5. Piccolo Is Revived with the Namekian Dragon Balls
I’m a huge Piccolo fan and I always felt he was wasted by the end of Dragon Ball Z and into Dragon Ball Super. You’d figure that he had been training intensely for another fight with Goku.
That was his thing for years, after all. One day, he would challenge Goku and defeat him. The whole “enemies become allies” thing happened when Piccolo became a step-father to Gohan following Goku first death.
Once the wish went through to revive Piccolo so that Kami would return as would Earth’s dragon balls, it was showtime for Piccolo Daimaou’s best son.
Sure, it didn’t last too long and soon he was tanking Frieza as Goku prepared the Spirit Bomb but he was the hot tag the team needed when Frieza was only gaining power.
- Goku’s Second Big Arrival Was His Best
Remember the dramatic arrival of Goku following Piccolo’s death? Yeah, when Earth was 1-3 against Nappa and Vegeta. I count the Saibamen as one, folks. Then Piccolo saves Gohan but is killed in process.
It’s basically why the above reason was necessary. After Piccolo dies, Kami—Earth’s main guardian and creator of Earth’s dragon balls—died as well. With Krillin and Gohan left, Earth was doomed—which is why entry number six is so satisfying.
When Goku arrives on Namek, it was much of the same situation only Vegeta is on Krillin and Gohan’s side this time. Again: “enemies become allies”.
The difference this time is that Frieza’s upper elite and the Ginyu Force had dealt several losses to Team Gohan-Krillin-Vegeta. Just when they were about to receive the worst spanking of all, Goku shows up and cleans house like Steve Austin on an old episode of Monday Night RAW!
It was rewarding because most Goku’s parts prior to this was filler with his high gravity training. In the manga, it’s not so pronounced but in the anime this moment was amplified because of all the episodes featuring Goku traveling to Namek and training.
3. Vegeta’s Face Turn
This moment—along with the top moment—were the two biggest moments of the Namek Saga. By this time, we would’ve watched 86 episodes when Vegeta is killed by Frieza on Namek.
As he dies, he tells Goku the truth about what happened to their home planet of Planet Vegeta and how Frieza has basically enslaved the surviving Saiyans.
Vegeta’s motivation was the myth of the Super Saiyan and if he had gained enough power, he might have been able to defeat Frieza. There were several moments when Vegeta experienced boosts of power that he believed was Super Saiyan only to be disappointed.
After running through Dragon Ball Z as a large jerk, he finally meets his end but not before passing the task of killing Frieza to Goku. What an amazing moment that was and it explained so much that wasn’t explained up until this point.
Not only that but it cleared up some jankiness with King Kai explaining the fate of Planet Vegeta some episodes earlier. Such an event doesn’t seem like something that a super god would mess up.
2. The Build Up to Goku Turning Super Saiyan Was Amazing
This goes without saying but when Krillin—Goku’s childhood friend starting in the original Dragon Ball—dies at the hands of Frieza, that was the biggest turning point in the series as a whole.
Vegeta’s death and his final words lit a fire but killing either Krillin or Gohan would’ve been seeking death. Once Goku flipped and when Super Saiyan as Planet Namek was fissuring apart, it was epic.
See, Dragon Ball Z first aired in 1996 and in 1999 it reached this moment which was episode 95. It shouldn’t have taken three years to get through 95 episodes of a show that was originally shown every Saturday.
That aside, once it happened it was a big moment around my freshman class. It was one of those moments where you had to have cable and get home early to see it because we’d seen clips and images of Super Saiyan Goku online since 1996-1997.
At the time, it seemed like a moment we would never see when you consider that in middle school and high school, we weren’t too concerned with dubbing companies and broadcasting rights.
1. The Namek Saga Brought Dragon Ball Z Back to Its Adventure Roots
If you remember parts of Dragon Ball involved the quest to find seven dragon balls. Once you collect all seven, you get one wish. Along the way, Goku, Bulma, Yamcha, and company ran into a number of villains, future allies, and weirdos.
The trio of Gohan, Krillin, and Bulma—who was a teenager when she met Gohan’s father—leave Earth to travel on an alien spaceship to an alien planet. I always felt that this part of the story was where Dragon Ball and DBZ came full circle.
While it wasn’t wacky, weirdo-of-the-week antics it was cool to see the dragon balls back as a focus of the series named after them. Plus, the modernized—for 1990 standards—version of the franchise’s starting story spiraled into probably the most important saga in DBZ.
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.