Transformed at Last

"I won't... let you... get away with this!" — Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan after Frieza kills Krillin.

Transformed at Last
Japanese Name	ついに変へん身しん！！伝でん説せつの超スーパーサイヤ人じん・孫そん悟ご空くう
Romaji name	Tsui ni Henshin!! Densetsu no Sūpā Saiya-jin · Son Gokū
Literal Name	Transformed At Last!! The Legendary Super Saiyan, Son Goku
Series
Saga	Frieza Saga
Episode #	95
Kai counterpart:	Awaken, Legendary Warrior! Goku the Super Saiyan!
Chapter counterpart	Life or Death The Super Saiyan
Japanese airdate	June 19, 1991
English airdate	October 18, 1999
Previous episode	Power of the Spirit
Next episode	Explosion of Anger

"Transformed at Last" (ついに変へん身しん！！伝でん説せつの超スーパーサイヤ人じん・孫そん悟ご空くう, Tsui ni Henshin!! Densetsu no Sūpā Saiya-jin · Son Gokū, lit. "Transformed At Last!! The Legendary Super Saiyan, Son Goku") is the twenty first episode of the Frieza Saga and the ninety-fifth overall episode in the uncut Dragon Ball Z series. This episode first aired in Japan on June 19, 1991. Its original American airdate was October 18, 1999.

Summary

The Z-Fighters believe that Frieza has been defeated

As Gohan and Krillin are wondering if they are the only ones who survived the Spirit Bomb, Piccolo suddenly emerges from the water and climbs onto a nearby island with Goku. Gohan and Krillin fly over to their allies and they are reunited.

On King Kai's Planet, King Kai relays the news to Yamcha, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu. Recoome, Guldo, Burter and Jeice are skeptical, but the Z-Fighters continue the battle against them and ultimately force them off the planet and into Hell. Enraged, they try to escape, but only succeed in bumping their heads on the clouds above, which Goz and Mez attempted to warn them of earlier. King Kai then inadvertently reveals that he invited the Ginyu Force to his planet to give the Z-Fighters a test. Bulma also regains consciousness from the events of the Spirit Bomb blast and, after noticing Ginyu trying to sneak away and still furious with him for the trick he pulled on her earlier, grabs him and orders him to scout out the area for Goku and the others.

Meanwhile on Namek, Goku, Piccolo, Krillin and Gohan prepare to go find Bulma and head back to Earth. Krillin also humorously expresses horror upon learning they had forgotten about her, causing some tension due to their thinking that he saw Frieza survive, with Krillin admitting that he thinks Bulma's temper is scarier. Piccolo openly hopes that Guru and the rest of the Namekians can now rest in peace. As Krillin asks how Piccolo knows about Guru, he freezes in terror upon looking at a nearby cliff. The other fighters look and are also shocked: Frieza is still alive, with only a damaged tail and eye, and angrier than ever. Krillin is in complete disbelief, as he was certain that a direct hit from the Spirit Bomb would have killed him.

The iconic image of Goku's first Super Saiyan transformation in this episode

Frieza fires a Death Beam straight at Goku, but instead Piccolo pushes him aside and takes the hit. With this act, Piccolo's true loyalty is finally revealed: having risked his own life to save Goku's, he no longer considers him his enemy. Meanwhile, back on King Kai's planet, King Kai is equally shocked to learn of Frieza's survival and barely manages to inform Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu of this terrible turn of events. Back on Namek, Frieza sarcastically congratulates Goku for coming the closest anyone has to destroying him with his Spirit Bomb. Bordering on the edge of his rage, Goku orders Gohan and Krillin to take the gravely injured Piccolo, find Bulma and leave Namek in her spaceship immediately, but it was too late to escape. Gohan initially refuses, with Frieza stating that Goku's "sorely mistaken" if he thought they can escape his wrath before launching a beam at Krillin, causing him to levitate off the ground. In an act of retaliation for coming back and slicing his tail in half with a Destructo Disc, Frieza uses his telekinesis as he launches Krillin into the air and, despite Goku's desperate pleas, detonates the ki inside of him, violently blowing him to smithereens. King Kai reels back upon witnessing it, and solemnly tells the others that Krillin has been killed. Back on Namek, Frieza first evilly laughs and pushes Goku's final button by threatening to kill Gohan next (In the Funimation dub, he instead cracks a sick joke about Krillin's death while in the Ocean/Westwood and British dubs, he chooses someone next to kill after Krillin's death).

A terrified Gohan looks on as Goku prepares to make Frieza pay for his evil deeds

Angered by the senseless murder of Krillin, who now cannot be revived with the Earth Dragon Balls, Goku finally unleashes his rage and he undergoes a strange transformation, resulting in him gaining a golden aura, golden-blonde hair and bluish-green eyes. Now finally awaken as a Super Saiyan, Goku orders Gohan once again to take Piccolo, find Bulma and leave Namek as soon as possible, and this time, Gohan complies. Goku then sets his furious eyes on a now-horrified Frieza, determined to make him suffer for all the evil he's done.

Meanwhile, Ginyu the Frog returns to Bulma's location and tries to tell her of what's happening. She then notices a distant island where a huge aura is emitting, the same island where Goku's transformation has just occurred.

Major Events

• Tien, Yamcha and Chiaotzu defeat the Ginyu Force on King Kai's Planet.
• Piccolo is gravely injured by Frieza's Death Beam.
• Krillin is killed by Frieza's Death Psycho Bomb.
• Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan for the first time, becoming the first Super Saiyan in 1,000 years.

Battles

• Yamcha vs. Recoome
• Tien Shinhan vs. Burter and Jeice
• Chiaotzu vs. Guldo

Appearances

Characters Goku Gohan Krillin Piccolo Bulma Captain Ginyu (Frog) Frieza King Kai Tien Shinhan

Yamcha Chiaotzu Recoome Burter Jeice Guldo Goz Mez

Locations

• Namek
• Other World
  • King Kai's Planet
  • Hell

Objects

• Battle Armor

Transformations

• Super Saiyan

Techniques

• Ki Blast Thrust
• Death Beam
• Death Psycho Bomb

Bruce Faulconer tracks

• "Goku's Spirit Bomb" - When Goku tells Gohan and Krillin to find the Capsule Corporation Spaceship and leave Namek after Piccolo is injured by Frieza's Death Beam.
• "Ginyu Transformation" - When Frieza prepares to murder Krillin.
• "SSJ Transformation" - When Goku transforms into a Super Saiyan.

Differences from the manga

• The deceased members of the Ginyu Force and their appearance on King Kai's Planet, along with their battle against Tien, Yamcha and Chiaotzu, is exclusive to the anime.
• King Kai telling Tien, Yamcha and Chiaotzu that Frieza is still alive and has injured Piccolo and killed Krillin is exclusive to the anime.
• Bulma's reaction to the flared-up energy in the distance which resulted from Goku's transformation is exclusive to the anime.
• In the manga, after Frieza climbs out of the crater and makes his return, he intentionally fires a Death Beam at Piccolo. In the anime, however, Frieza fires at Goku and Piccolo pushes him aside, taking the attack for him.
  • Of note, the animation of Piccolo pushing Goku aside was taken from a panel after Piccolo was hit in the manga, depicting him as unintentionally nudging Goku during his fall.
• In the manga, when Goku orders Krillin and Gohan to take Piccolo, find Bulma and leave Namek in her spaceship, Krillin is the one who protests to stay and fight. In the anime, this is done by Gohan.
• In the manga, just before lifting Krillin into the air, Frieza tells him that, no matter how much Krillin struggles, he won't break Frieza's hold on him. In the anime, he either laughs (Japanese version) or indirectly references Krillin's earlier severing of his tail when mockingly assuring Krillin that he won't be able to come back from this (English dub).
• In the manga after Krillin explodes, Goku is shown watching the aftermath with dismay and horror before turning down in grief. The anime does not show his initial reaction and instead immediately cuts to him swearing vengeance on Frieza after the latter threatens Gohan with death.
• Also in the manga, Goku's transformation into a Super Saiyan is a near-instantaneous reaction to Krillin's murder. In the anime, the transformation is longer and much more dramatic, causing the sky to darken, lightning to strike around Goku and the ground to crumble around him as well.
  • On a similar note, prior to the transformation, Goku's eyes in the manga were depicted as being clouded gray, strongly implying he was already holding back the transformation until Frieza's murder of Krillin set him off. This was not apparent in the anime.

Trivia

• The Super Saiyan transformation makes its first appearance in the franchise in this episode.
• This is the second episode where Krillin dies, the first being "The Fallen".
• The unnamed Energy Punch technique used by Yamcha against Recoome was later named Ki Blast Thrust in Dragon Ball Xenoverse.

Krillin without the hole in his armor

• As Goku and company reunite and celebrate their apparent victory, right before Frieza reappears, the water is blue. This is an error, as Namekian water is green.
• After falling from King Kai's planet to the bloody pond below, Burter and Jeice are shown without their halos above their heads.
• In one scene, when the Z-Fighters are all talking, Krillin's Battle Armor does not have a hole in it.
• In the original and remastered Funimation dubs, Frieza triggers Goku's Super Saiyan transformation by cracking a sick joke about Krillin's death ("Pop Goes the Weasel!"), while in the original Japanese version, the Ocean/Westwood and British dubs of Dragon Ball Z and the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball Z Kai, he states his intention to kill Gohan next.
  • On a related note, the original and remastered dubs have Frieza, just before lifting Krillin high into the air, exclaiming, "This time, you won't come back!", implying that he chose the manner in which he killed Krillin as revenge for his slicing Frieza's tail in half. In Ocean/Westwood and British dubs Frieza says "No one is safe!". The Kai dub instead has him sarcastically "hoping" Krillin isn't afraid of heights. In the Japanese versions, he only laughs, despite not being depicted smiling.
• Krillin's last words varied between the Japanese version and the dub (original and remastered). In the former, he screamed Goku's name before exploding, while in the original and remastered dubs, he yells "Help me!". This also applies to flashbacks to Krillin's death later on. However, most video game cutscenes of Krillin's death revert back to him screaming "Goku!" in the English dubs before he explodes, as does Dragon Ball Z Kai.
• The initial English dub (both original and remastered) tones down Goku's final warning to Gohan by simply having him snap "This is the last time I'm going to tell you! Get out of here right now, Gohan!". In the Japanese version, he used far stronger wording to Gohan, specifically stating Gohan needed to get himself and Piccolo out of there while Goku still had some control over himself in his new Super Saiyan form (strongly implying that, had Gohan remained on the island, Goku would have indiscriminately attacked him as well as Frieza). This would eventually be used in Dragon Ball Z Kai ("Do as I tell you, right now! Before I lose what little sense of reason I have left!").
  • Goku's apparent fear that he might lose control of his new form and hurt Gohan is understandable given Goku is fully aware he indiscriminately killed Grandpa Gohan due to his inability to control his Great Ape form as a child.
• As Krillin and Gohan hover towards Goku and Piccolo, the upper back of Krillin's armor changes from black to white mid-scene. When he asks Goku if he's okay, the hole that Frieza put through him is gone plus his crotch guards are absent.
• Krillin, in the Japanese version, says he wants to find himself a girlfriend when they get back to Earth (ultimately foreshadowing Maron). The English dub changes this to him saying he's just homesick.
• In Japanese, King Kai was upfront to the Z-Warriors about inviting the Ginyu Force to his planet to train them, having requested King Yemma to allow the Ginyus to retain their bodies in the Other World. The English dub has him backpedal on the issue and specifically deny that he ever recruited them for the Z-Warriors' training.
• Chiaotzu says that, with Piccolo still alive, all of the dead Z-Warriors can be wished back to Earth, but that only holds true for Tien and Yamcha. Chiaotzu has been revived by the Earth's Dragon Balls once before, so he can't be restored by them again. This is reinforced later in "Approaching Destruction".
• In the remastered version, Christopher Sabat redubbed Mike McFarland as Mez, but Mark Britten's performance as Goz was left alone.
• In the Japanese version, Ryōichi Tanaka and Hirotaka Suzuoki replaced Masaharu Satō and Kōji Totani as Goz and Mez, respectively.
• As mentioned in the differences, the manga has an entirely different and shorter sequence leading up to Goku transforming into a Super Saiyan than in the anime (aside from it being near-instantaneous, it also has Goku's eyes briefly appearing clouded in his base form. It also shows Goku's bowing his head down in stunned grief in the manga, while this is not directly shown in the anime version). The sequence used in the manga was later used for Dragon Ball Super: Broly during Frieza's flashback to the transformation before he decided to repeat history with Broly.

Gallery

Gohan Krillin Goku after throwing the Spirit Bomb Gohan Piccolo Piccolo places his hand upon Gohan's head Gohan smiles Krillin remembers about Bulma Everyone laughing King Kai The Z-Fighters on King Kai's planet confront the Ginyu Force Continuous Crasher Cannon Continuous Crasher Cannon Continuous Crasher Cannon Continuous Crasher Cannon Continuous Crasher Cannon Purple Comet Attack Purple Comet Attack Purple Comet Attack Tien powers up Tien attacks Tien struggles with the Purple Comet Attack The Bloody Pond in Hell Yamcha charging his attack Yamcha punches Recoome Yamcha's punch The Ginyu Force knocked into the Bloody Pond Chiaotzu's Psychic Attack Recoome in Hell The Ginyu Force attempt to escape from Hell once again Z-Fighters Piccolo and Goku Frieza Frieza's Death Beam flying at Goku Piccolo protects Goku Piccolo wounded by Frieza's Death Beam Goku angry of Frieza's merciless attack Goku watching Frieza attack on Krillin Frieza uses his "I Won't Let You Escape with Your Life!" technique Krillin under Frieza's telekinesis Krillin moments before his death Krillin's explosive demise Frieza after killing Krillin Goku's transformation begins Goku turning Super Saiyan Goku as a Super Saiyan Super Saiyan Goku Super Saiyan Goku Goku faces Frieza Goku prepared to destroy Frieza Super Saiyan Goku