Did you enjoy that cliffhanger? I remember being weirded out by the sudden plot change. I also hope you’ve recovered from the complicated explanation of the weird way that time travel works in the Dragon Ball universe. I’ve never seen that form of time physics before, although it does solve a lot of problems that normally plague the idea of going back in time for the specific purpose of changing anything. So I have to give them props for that.
This was a fairly short season, so I don’t have as much to say about it. Like Season 2, this one serves mostly as a teaser for the epic showdown coming up in the following season. It’s the middle act of the Android story arc, introducing a new villain and a plot twist that throws everything through a loop. A lot of the action in this season is cat-and-mouse chases, but when the fights happen they are pretty epic.
One of the things I love about the Android Saga is the element of mystery, starting with the arrival of Trunks and continuing into the Cell Saga. The inclusion of time travel makes the story all the more fascinating to me.
I noticed a theme rising in this season to do with fathers and sons, particularly the contrast between the Trunks-Vegeta relationship vs. Gohan-Goku. It’s not an entirely negative reflection on Vegeta – Trunks talks about what he admires about his father, but the difficulty of getting any kind of affection from Vegeta as a father is clearly evident, and clearly contrasted by how easily it comes from Goku to Gohan.
The dramatic narrative opening to Episode 146 is pretty funny.
On a personal note, I find Cell to be the creepiest of the DBZ villains. Villains with perfectionist personalities have that effect on me, and Cell is the biggest, fictional perfectionist I can think of … – Perfictionalist. As somebody who has struggled long with a perfectionist mentality, characters like Cell act as a kind of dark reflection of the kind of person I would be if Jesus hadn’t gotten a hold of me. Cell and I also share a strong sense of purpose which, if left unchecked, can cause us to view others as mere objects for accomplishing our goals. I’ve been taking strides away from that outlook, but can easily fall into it if my ego inflates. God’s grace on me.
Disturbing elements: There are clips of unfortunate civilians getting their bio-mass drained by Cell. It happens quite a lot, and you can see people’s hands and general forms being emaciated and shrunken down and softening. They relented from showing us people’s faces as they get drained, which probably would’ve been too disturbing for kids.
Sexuality: Roshi pokes Chi-Chi in the butt. – With his finger. Don’t worry, the show never gets that graphic.
No movies for this season. I don’t see a good time to bring any of them in. There’s like three or four for the next season though. It takes that long to get quiet.
Quote of the Season
“Soon you’ll realize that the people on this planet aren’t logical.”
– Piccolo
Benjamin T. Collier's Blog 
I appreciate your authenticity here. I understand the darker side of perfectionism and the harm it can do. Praise the Lord you’re a believer!
🙂