Commander Red Saga

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dragon Ball Sagas Commander Red Saga
Episodes (uncut) 58-67
<<<Prev.	Next>>>

The Commander Red Saga, is the fifth saga from fictional anime Dragon Ball. It occurs after the General Blue Saga and precedes the Fortuneteller Baba Saga. It shows us the epic battle between Goku and Tao Pai Pai, Goku's quest for finding the "Sacred Water", and his final battle with Tao. The character of Upa is also introduced.

[edit] Outline

The saga begins with the end of the General Blue Saga. We start off with a scene of some Red Ribbon soldiers searching for a dragonball that is currently inside a volcano in the Land of Karin. The volcano explodes and sends the dragonball (the four-star ball) into the camp of the land's protectors. Living here is Upa and his father Bora.

The Red Ribbon team follows the ball into the camp and demands it be handed over. Upa's father proceeds to eliminate them and the last remaining soldier (Captain Yellow) radios back to HQ. Commander Red hollers at him and he comes back. In desperation, he abducts Upa to get ransom for the ball, but he doesn't count on Goku showing up. Goku beats him and rescues Upa. As a token of thanks, Goku is given the 4 star ball, his grandpa's ball.

At the same time, General Blue is returning to the Red Ribbon Headquarters, while Commander Red is in the process of hiring Tao Pai-Pai. Blue walks in on them and seeing him dragonball-less, Red makes him fight Tao to redeem himself (and see if it's really Tao, not some imposter). The fight is quick, with none of Blue's attacks having any effect. It ends with Tao using his tongue to strike Blue's temple and kill him. Satisfied, Red hires him to kill Goku and retrieve the dragonballs. Tao then cuts out a piece of a column and uses it as a ride to the Land of Korin.

When Tao arrives, Upa's father jumps in to protect Goku but is killed by Tao with his own spear. Angry, Goku challenges Tao and gets slapped around for a while. He tries his Kamehameha, but all it does is destroy Tao's clothes. Tao retaliates with his Dodon Wave, which knocks Goku out, yet Tao thinks he killed him (the four-star ball Goku got earlier was in his shirt and absorbed most of the blast). Tao takes the other balls and leaves to get a new robe.

When Tao arrives at a tailor, he gives the man three days to make a new one or Tao will kill him. He then checks into a hotel and calls the Red Ribbon HQ. Red informs him of the missing ball and Tao tells him he'll get it back in three days (when his new robe is done).

Back in the Land of Korin, Goku awakes before Upa buries him. During their talk, Goku learns of the legend of Korin's Tower. The legend is that anyone who can climb to the top will be given sacred water that will greatly increase their power. This is perfect for Goku, who needs the strength to defeat Tao. Goku vows to use the dragonballs to bring Upa's father back to life and begins his ascent up the Tower.

He reaches the top after a very long climb and meets Korin, who turns out to be a short, fat, talking cat. Before Goku can explain his situation, Korin reads his mind and understands why Goku is after the water. He'll give Goku the water on one condition: that Goku get it from Korin! Goku tries to retrieve the water, but Korin is too fast for him and dodges him easily. Feeling defeated, Goku is told that Master Roshi was the last one to get the water from Korin, over three hundred years ago. Not only that, but it took Roshi three years to do it!

The two of them retire for the night and we see a senzu bean for the first time when Korin gives one to Goku to restore his energy. He then throws Goku's four-star ball out of the tower and Goku jumps out after it. He gets to the bottom and retrieves the ball, then climbs all the way back up the tower again, in much quicker time.

The next day, Goku once again fails in retrieving the water, even after getting Korin's advice. It's on the third day that Goku gets the water, only when it fell off of Korin's staff and nearly to the ground. Goku dove out and caught it, using his tail to keep from falling. He drinks the water and finds out that it's just tap water and the power comes from the training. Satisfied, Goku thanks Korin and leaves.

Tao finally gets his new robe and comes back to finish off the job, only this time it's Goku who's beating Tao! He tries his trump card, the Dodon Wave, but Goku is able to block it. Boasting, Goku tells Tao of his strength from Korin's Tower and Tao immediately rushes up the tower to get the power for himself. He reaches the top and gets the water. Korin manages to fool him with some magic and Tao returns to finish the fight, thinking himself stronger now.

When he gets back, he is giving Goku all he's got and appears to be winning. That is, until Goku shows him that he wasn't being serious. Goku then proceeds to beat up Tao, who fakes a surrender to trick Goku. During this fake surrender, he tosses a grenade at Goku and hops up to avoid the blast. Goku isn't fooled and he kicks the grenade up to Tao, where it explodes and kills him. Gathering up the rest of the dragonballs, Goku now heads to Red Ribbon HQ to get the other two balls.

We then see a short segment with Colonel Violet, the only female high-ranking officer in the Red Ribbon Army. She retrieves a ball for a reward and that's about it. During this, Bulma builds a flying camera to follow Goku, when she learns that he's going straight after the Red Ribbon Army. Worried about him, Bulma and the rest of the crew head out to save him.

Goku meanwhile is passing right by the Red Ribbon Army's security system, because they think he's Tao coming back. By the time they figure out it's him, it's too late. Goku hops off his Nimbus cloud and rips the Red Ribbon Army apart with ease. He fights his way to Commander Red, who leaves his assistant to fight Goku. During their fight however, Red drops the ceiling on both of them. Thinking them dead, Red reveals his ultimate wish for the dragonballs: to become taller! Assistant Black (who wasn't killed by the ceiling) comes back and kills Red, angry over being fooled. The still-alive Goku also appears and defeats Black, who even after using a special robot suit couldn't win.

Goku collects the two Dragonballs and starts to leave when Bulma and crew show up. They're amazed at his ability and happy he's safe. The problem though is that the dragon radar isn't picking up the last dragonball. They return back to Roshi's Island where Bulma would hopefully fix it.

[edit] Episode list

• 58. The Land of Korin
• 59. The Notorious Mercenary
• 60. Tao Attacks!
• 61. Korin Tower
• 62. Sacred Water
• 63. The Return of Goku
• 64. The Last of Mercenary Tao
• 65. Confront the Red Ribbon Army
• 66. A Real Bind
• 67. The End of Commander Red