Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
What a hilarious ride volume 3 of ‘Dragon Ball’ by Akira Toriyama is! Even though most of it is focused on Goku trying to get old man Kame-Sen’nin to train him in martial arts.
Dragon Ball’s Volume 2 had ended with Shen Long, the legendary dragon, granting Oolong’s ridiculously stupid wish, a move meant to foil a villain’s attempt to make one after stealing all the Dragon Balls from Bulma. The Dragon Balls disperse across the earth, destined to reappear only after a year. Bulma heads back to the city with her new crush, Yamcha, while Goku flies off on Kintoun to visit Kame-Sen’nin, who agrees to train him on one hilarious condition – find him a hot woman.
Titled ‘The Training of Kame-Sen’nin’ Volume 3 of ‘Dragon Ball’ introduces Kuririn, a cheeky and ambitious Shaolin monk about Goku’s age, who also seeks training under the old master, even bringing along a sleazy magazine as a “bribe.” But Kame-Sen’nin won’t settle for anything less than a real “hottie.”
Pure-hearted Goku, who can’t tell a beautiful woman from a man or even a monkey, teams up with Kuririn to find one. Their quest leads them to Lunch, a stunning woman with a split personality, sweet one moment, murderous the next, although she becomes a resident at the master’s home. It would’ve been a lot more fun if Lunch trained with Shaolin and Goku too.
Full of energy and ambition, Goku and Kuririn dive into Kame-Sen’nin’s training, only to discover it’s less about martial arts and more about manual labor, from delivering milk to doing farm work. Still, the two become friendly rivals as they gear up for the Tenka’ichi Budôkai, the grand tournament to name the world’s strongest fighter. With their master’s eccentric methods, they’re not sure how far they’ll go, but mutually agree that even qualifying would feel like a win.
Not like this even needs mentioning, but Kuririn’s character design is super cute – he is a cheeky little bald dude, and always finding ways to cheat through the chores and challenges. His personality offers an entertaining contrast to Goku.
The last few chapters in this volume of Dragon Ball follow Goku and Kuririn as they wrap up their grueling training and head to participate in Tenka’ichi Budôkai, the ‘ultimate’ martial arts tournament. Readers get comically action-packed qualifying round where the young little fighters square off against intimidatingly big warriors. In a fun twist, Goku is also re-united with old friends Bulma, Yamcha, and shapeshifting imps Oolong and Puar.
Not too surprisingly, both boys make it to the final rounds of the tournament, where eight combatants will battle for the title of earth’s greatest warrior. The volume hilariously ends with Kuririn’s match against a super stinky dude called Bacterian, whose mere breath knocks out people in matches.!
Rating: 4 on 5 stars.
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