Tankōbon Title Page
Kanzenban Title Page
Full Color Title Page

Chapter Information

Chapter Synopsis

Goku says he doesn’t know him at all, but Bulma says he knew the time and place he’d come. Goku thinks that’s odd, and says Freeza found his ship and seemed to know when he’d reach Earth. Speaking of which, Goku asks who defeated Freeza. Was it Piccolo, or maybe Vegeta? Piccolo says it was the kid, he can also become a Super Saiyan. Goku is surprised, and then says that’s awesome, he’s so young, and he didn’t know there were any other Saiyans. Vegeta says there aren’t. Goku says it doesn’t matter, he’s a Super Saiyan, and Bulma thinks Goku’s as nonchalant as always. Then the kid tells Son he wants to speak with him, and they walk a distance away from everyone else.

First Goku thanks him for defeating Freeza, and thinks he was naive on Planet Namek. The kid says he was supposed to have defeated Freeza, but there was a time discrepancy, so he stepped in. Goku says Freeza’s spaceship was way ahead of him, and he would’ve beaten Freeza if not for the kid appearing. The kid says he couldn’t have, he was three hours away, but Goku says he has a new technique: Teleportation. He learned it from the people on a planet called Yardrat. The kid realizes he’s changed history for nothing, and ended up meeting everyone. Goku asks what he means, and then the kid asks if he can freely become a Super Saiyan. Goku says he couldn’t at first, but he can control it now. The kid asks him to do it now, and so Goku obliges and transforms.

The others wonder what happened, and Gohan says he’s become a Super Saiyan. Now the kid turns Super Saiyan too, and Goku says they really are the same. The kid apologizes, and then pulls out his sword and heads towards Goku. But he stops just before his sword comes down on Goku, and Goku hasn’t flinched at all. The kid asks why, and Goku says he knew he didn’t intend to kill and he’d stop. The kid says he won’t stop this time, and then attacks Goku again. Goku uses his finger to counter the sword for a while, until the kid stops, puts his sword away, and de-transforms. He says Goku was great, better than the rumors. This sword had killed Freeza, but Goku knows the kid wasn’t fighting seriously. Now the kid will tell him everything, and asks to please keep it to himself, and Goku says he will. The kid says he’s come here from about twenty years in the future using a time machine. His name is Trunks. And the reason he has Saiyan blood… is because he’s the son of Vegeta. “Eh?! Vegeta’s?!”

Chapter Notes

Title Page

• Bulma appears behind the wheel of a Fiat Abarth 850/1000TC while wearing a Capsule Corporation baseball cap.

Errata

• In the first panel on page 13, Trunks’s hair appears to have been first drawn in its normal state, then altered with an extra outline to give it the spikes characteristic of Super Saiyan. It only appears this way for a single panel, suggesting that Toriyama accidentally started drawing Trunks in his normal state two panels too early, then hastily fixed his mistake while trying to avoid having to redraw anything. (Knowing how close to his deadlines he typically worked, there may simply not have been time to redraw the panel in whole or in part.)

Character Notes

• In this chapter, Trunks finally reveals his name for the first time. The name “Trunks” (トランクス; torankusu) refers to men’s loose-fitting shorts (as in boxer shorts or swimming trunks). This is in keeping with the name pun series of Bulma’s family (Bulma referring to bloomers in the Japanese sense, and Dr. Brief referencing, well, briefs), although he does not reveal who his mother is until the following chapter. Astute readers would perhaps have noted this (along with his awkward interactions with Bulma in the previous chapter) and guessed at his true parentage before it was revealed outright.

Technique Notes

• Goku first reveals in this chapter that he has learned how to perform teleportation (瞬間移動; shunkan-idō), although he does not demonstrate this ability until Chapter 336. The name in Japanese literally translates as “instantaneous movement”, although this is in fact the usual Japanese gloss for the English term “teleportation” in science fiction.

Author’s Comment

• Each issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump features short comments from the various series’ authors, giving fans a brief insight into their current thoughts, ranging from series-related announcements to trivial happenings in their personal lives. Akira Toriyama’s comments from this issue were:
  僕の大好きな夏も，ついに本番！今年はもう少し陽やけして健康そうな漫画家になろうかな ＜明＞

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  At last, my beloved summer is finally here! Maybe this year, I’ll get a bit more of a tan, and become a healthier-looking cartoonist. <Akira>

Page Breakdown

The majority of the Dragon Ball series was drawn in black and white, but chapters were occasionally published with color pages. This breakdown notes how many full-color, limited-color, and black-and-white pages appeared in this chapter. As the tankōbon volumes were not released with these colors intact, any color pages shown are taken from the kanzenban release.