Dragonball Z Abridged Creator Commentary | Episode 51 

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Not gonna lie, in this episode, the Krillin Owned Counter went from being funny to being a tragic reminder of just how powerless Krillin is compared to the villains.

I love how Lani says "If we had done anything in Buu" and then describes EXACTLY what happened in Buu Bits.

Vegeta’s “Ah, my rage has blinded me” line is just so damn perfect! Absolutely killed that read.

Trunks screaming "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU" is honestly the finest performance I think ever given as Trunks.

I'm glad they acknowledged Kaiser's fierce as hell delivery of, "WHAT THE HELL IS *WRONG* WITH YOU?!!"

Trunks yelling "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!!" is right up there with his simple "No", when Krillin asks if he's ever thought of 18 as cute, because it reminds the viewers that Trunks doesn't see this timelines 18, he sees his own timelines 18 in her and *hates* her for it.

Laying actual groundwork for 18 and Krillin getting together is one of my favourite things about DBZA. If you think about her backstory and character it makes sense why she wouldn't be into any of the violence-obsessed meatheads in the cast but the responsible little guy who's constantly punching above his weight (when he knows he'll probably get destroyed) because it's the right thing to do would catch her interest, and it's great that it's made explicit in the DBZA version. 18's completely-unironic "He's so cool" line about Krillin in the Super movies honestly fits for 18 and Krillin as characterized here.

Hey Kaiser, I Know you must be having it rough with your father's passing. Thank you for bringing us this regardless, and I'm sure he' at peace with how far you've gone. Thank you for existing.

Guys Kaiser Lost his father recently, please go easy on him and give him lot’s of love in these trying times, and bare with him and the channel if there’s a slowdown on uploads. I can’t imagine what you’re going through Scott, but I’m sorry this had to happen and hope things turn up for you someday soon. ❤️

Love when they praise Masako, PLEASE get him here for the commentary on 60.

I absolutely love this episode’s “why are you still here” because of the FRUSTRATION in his voice, just something as simple as pausing really sells it; “why. Are you. *STILL HERE?!”*

Trunks' "You know what, YES!!!" to cap the final 'What are you doing?' sequence is possibly my most favorite Trunks moment in the series. The line read combined with him finally defying his bastard of a father after all the abuse that Vegeta has put him through is so satisfying.

Trunks saying “20 hours?!!” And tien screaming about Krillen selling them out for cybersex are some of my favorite moments in the whole series

Learning that they went to masakos' wedding actually put a massive grin on my face

That pride of someone else line is a personal favorite of mine. It's like he was so close to having genuine character growth, but he was so angry and prideful that he no-selled it.

I think the off screen scream for 18 being absorbed really sells the scene.

When Kaiser said “Todays the first day it hasn’t broken 100 in weeks!” I felt that

Even aside from his fighting hyperfixation (and it's interesting that Gohan exhibits similar behaviors toward research as an adult), something that's kind of worth remembering on the "is Goku a bad dad" thing is that he never had a father himself. Bardock obviously not, Grandpa Gohan died when he was little and he spent years on his own until he was 14, and then the closest thing he had was Roshi. Hell, until Vegeta has a kid, the only fathers he even knows are Ox King and Dr. Briefs. Not only does he have no idea how to be a dad, the idea that "a father should actively be present in a son's life" has probably never actually occurred to him. He's got no frame of reference to even form the concept.

21:56 Love this art. I can so see Nappa telling trunks embarrassing vegeta stories. Like the time that vegeta was a prison b*itch.

I'll be honest the scene of 18 getting absorbed is absolutely perfect. Her final words, the way it cuts away. It's horrifying and tragic. I love it

Okay Lani improvising the Majin Vegeta scene actually was so cool and makes me wanna wish we could have seen it even more. That "you know, the funny thing is" delivery was so good.

P is for "Priceless," the look upon your faces. E is for "Extinction" of all your puny races. R for "Revolution" which will be televised. F is for how "Fucked" you are, now allow me to reprise. E is for "Eccentric." Just listen to my song. C is for "Completion" that I've waited for so long! T is for the "Terror" upon you I'll bestow. My name is Perfect Cell... An I'd like to say.... Hello. I just love this song.

20:12 When Totally Not Mark's most recent video dropped just today, I was waiting so patiently to hear this line.

20:10 NICK KNEW EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS DOING HERE

I just realized that Perfect Cell's introduction setup the bookend of him singing. His first line, singing. His last line, singing. I don't know if that was intentional, but I love it.

YOU GUYS HAD ME ALMOST BELIEVE TAKA LEFT!

The perfect cell introduction is, fittingly, absolute perfection. But my absolute favorite part is how it ends. You can literally HEAR the false smile drop. It’s so fucking good.

20:11 Oh how little did we know :D Even in their commentary they do excellent foreshadowing.

Bulma's line when Cell is transforming gives me chills too

I love how Perfect Cell's song sets the tone perfectly for what we can expect from this character. He is the showman. He knows he's hot shit and the top of the food chain, and he will not rest until every single person on Earth and in the cosmos knows it. Which is also why it was perfect that his final scene was him going out on a song.

I did always wonder why Trunks didn't just destroy 18 himself at that point.

We always talk about how talented Lani is, but the fact that he can also just at any point mimic the voice he has only when he’s sick is wild:

It's honestly kinda sad listening to Trunks having that mental breakdown when he sees that Krillin smashed the remote. All this time, the image that he has of the Z Fighters (and Vegeta) has suffered through crack after crack as his stay continued. He was probably holding out for the redeemable or at least the likable qualities he KNEW were there in his childhood heroes, and he even gets to have a nice moment with Krillin making ki blast noises. And then, he sees the smashed remote from miles away and his mind just completely collapses. Krillin was in a position to just wipe out the only remaining person whose death could've destroyed Cell's plan, as well as get rid of an enemy who Trunks grew up in fear of in his time. But naw. He gets to watch the remote get rekt as Cell is making googly "I want that" sounds in the background, and all the emotions Trunks feels in that moment are released in full with a guttural cry of anger and confusion.

"Hey so, i don't sense power levels. But I can FEEL that. Does that mean anything" "we're fucked" is one of my FAVORITE set of lines in this series, both for it's applicability and how perfectly it sends off a joke in play since the start of namek Also I love the contrast between frieza's creepy take on an original song vs cell having a genuinely uplifting sounding (if not In lyrics), original song

Amber scream is the reason I have so much trouble watching this episode again, it’s just so chilling and bloodcurdling. Also, shout outs to the squad going to his wedding; love that support.

"I know you're playing me, but you're right." Probably my favorite Abridyed Vegeta quote.

You can't just sum up Vegeta in a single meme- "Well, if it isn't the consequences of my actions."

I feel bad for Trunks. He did everything in his power to try and stop things from going as wrong as they did in his timeline, only to be screwed over at nearly every turn. Usually by Vegeta.

You did such an amazing job of making Krillin and 18’s relationship feel genuine.

dude Takahata as Perfect Cell singing My Way -- is the best version I have EVER heard. Im not kidding, its the one I go to every time. He should be proud!

I sincerely appreciate how you guys sped up the Android 18 absorption scene. Between 18's screams for help, 16's futile attempt to help, and the fucking tail thing happening, watching that as a kid traumatized me. Thank you so much for omitting it.

Trunks’ “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?” Reminds me of community with Todd asking the same thing

Today I learned that 18's VA also voices Komi from Komi Can't Communicate

I love how they actually did the Majin Vegeta thing for the Buu bits

One other point about the scene where 18 gets absorbed. The scene is edited to look like she chooses to be absorbed by cell when she charges into him, sort of playing into the character work of androids and their desire to make their own choices. Not showing it makes it seem like she chose to at least go out by her own free will. It might not be the right choice, but its hers to make.

Krillin yelling at himself about all the people he loves dying being the realization that he fell for 18 just hits me so hard every time. Also, my heart goes out to you Kaiser. I hope you get all the support you need.

Man, it’s been a year since the first DBZA creator commentary… damn… time moves fast…

I have to say, the "hello." from Cell at the end gave me so much chills the first time I heard it. It's terrifying. Amazing performance from Taka.

Sorry for the loss of your Father Scott. Losing a parent is essentially losing an aspect of yourself. Knowing that certain traits, mannerisms, and sayings you have came from them can be comforting. You carry on part of them.

It's such a beautiful thing seeing Trunks becoming more and more disillusioned up to this episode. Perfection...

20:05 - "Let me give you what you want. All the power you need, to defeat... Goku." "You know, the funny thing is, I know you're playing me..." GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Lani cleaning Taka's glasses is such a loving act. They are so wholesome sometimes.

I love the Krillin/18 relationship so much, it makes me wish that there was another mini series around them.

Early in the video: "This is a parody, we're just trying to be funny, stop taking it so seriously!" Late in the video: "We didn't put a joke here because we're trying to set a sinister tone, take it more seriously!"

33:06 incidentally my favorite shot of animation. We've seen Frieza go "1 million" but Cell becoming perfect engulfs the ENTIRE HORIZON FROM ORBIT!!!! My absolute gold standard for power up sequences. Love the ground crater, love the aura, love the horizon shot, absolutely love Bulma's line here. ....Perfect!

I can't believe I just discovered this channel so many years after watching DBZ abridged.

I can't blame you guys for making the absorption scene rapey because the original scene was rapey as well and you guys were building on that like you did in everything else in this series.

Gotta love this episodes dichotomy of Cell going from an unstoppable serial killer to hapless punching bag and back.

"The funny thing is, I know you're playing me" - Goes Maijin.... IT'S LIKE HE KNEW! XD

Our friend was Ambers handler at popcon this weekend. I briefly interacted with her and had no idea she was in TFS.. Mind blown

8:07 I'm so proud of Masako for basically making his channel Intrinsically connected to the words "What if". We all know Marvel ripped him off

To me, this might be one of the best episodes of DBZA. The jokes quip nice and smoothly. The pacing is snappy. The characters are trying to do their best, especially Krillin. And it ends in the most PERFECT way imaginable!

Krillin's short speech was great, the commentary from the 4 on the lookout was funny, Trunks being the only one to actually try to prevent the end of the world is both funny and a great moment for him. Finally, Perfect Cell's perfect song was perfect.

Speaking of weddings, we played Lani's Shine as our "Just Married" sign at our wedding. Y'all make great music

Episode 51 has so many highlights that actually makes me praise this more then I originally did. A pure Character Arc for Krillin from starting as a sexual jokester and some what a coward to actually forming a love with 18/Lazuli and became brave when Cell came around. Speaking of 18 like how a couple of episodes you guys were saying Amber Lee Connors is probably be the best VA in the business, she really proves it here especially that scream when she gets absorbed always hurts my heart.

30:28 for those wondering why they didn’t tackle the reasoning of using this subliminal image for this solar flare. There’s about 34 good reasons as to why.

You know, I really do love the character work you guys did with Trunks. The way that he starts off confident since he knows what is going to happen, but is still in awe of these guys that he's only ever heard about in stories from his mom and Gohan. But extremely quickly he realises that a) he doesn't know everything that will happen, b) the timeline got changed by his arrival, and most importantly c) none of these guys are the heroes that he thought they were, especially his father. and it turns him even more cynical than growing up in an apocalyptic future did. He just can't believe that these guys who, unlike the versions from his timeline, have SO many chances to win and keep screwing up over and over and over.

Ever since I heard her say "If we make it out of this I am going to rock his 4 foot world" All I can think of is "No, they could have said I am going to Rock his Dragon" Would have been a nice reference to Rock the dragon and hey Shenron is a long dragon

Honestly Gan's read of Tien when he finds out Krillin crushed the remote is so good. All his lines there are amazing (I mean all his lines all the time are but especially here)

You're absolutely right. For 18 to have been absorbed on-screen would have been totally out of place with the way that scene was being written, built-up, portrayed, and overall acted. That scene was way too serious for a funny joke to have blown off how gravitic this entire setup was.

29:00 If I can be that guy for a second, and am allowed to say that there is ONE plotline in DBZA that is 100% better than the original, it's Krillin and Android 18. It's not inherently like it's an implication that couldn't fit in the original story, that there's mutual attraction between the two at this point, but putting real EMPHASIS on it and showing 18's thoughts about it in the moment make it play out so much nicer. Original story doesn't seed it as much and it's probably because, knowing Dragon Ball, it was only decided on LATER, but it's the kind of storyline that works much better when it's seeded earlier and built up to. It avoids the implication that it's some kind of reward for Krillin. On top of that, showing the thoughts of somebody GENUINELY developing a respect for Krillin in this way re-contextualizes his character in the entire abridged show, and outlines why he genuinely deserves a lot of respect. It's like Tien said, Krillin's a total bitch but he's ALWAYS clutch when he's needed. 18 developing respect for Krillin also shows his narrative strengths, because in Z he's this outclassed little tricky guy who needs to hold the fort with Gohan until Goku can show up. The entirety of Namek was this intense cat and mouse game until Goku showed up. It's not highlighted nearly as much in the actual show, and it really recontextualized a character that both earlier DBZA and the movies keep disrespecting as a gag. Also, am I the only guy who finds it really bizarre how many "Krillin dies" jokes there are when he only dies three times in the original Manga story? And one of them was an apocalyptic event that killed literally everybody except Goku, Vegeta, Mr Satan, and Mr Satan's dog, which is unfair to make fun of him for. Krillin spends most of his screen time narrowly avoiding death and coming in clutch. I know his two deaths were really memorable and INCREDIBLY significant in the story, but that's a testament to how much he means to Goku. And that also commands respect. And the gag is that he always dies in every encounter, when he's literally the second/third hardest Z fighter to kill? I just don't get how that came to be. Meanwhile, Yamcha gets fucking folded every time he's tried to contribute ever since Goku grew up. As much as I pity Yamcha, he earns my pity more than respect.

Cell climaxing when he finds 18 was so damn good, one of my favorite parts of the entire series

This is essentially Taka and Lani wanting to do a specific joke, but Scott is trying to stop it the whole time

Hold up! Amber's now Focalor!? Holy shit, I couldn't place it! I'm suddenly more invested into Genshin now! More so than before!

20:06 and sure enough they did that exact joke in the buu bits and it’s still funny lol

Rest in peace Mr. Frerichs, Scott’s father ❤ I wish the best to you and your family, Scott

21:46 Your performance as Trunks has a single imperfection. How could you do this to us, Scott?!

20:07 finally happened

i like to imagine at 29:55 when cells doing his little "babrrabrrbabrbabrbaa" the whole time Trunks was beatin him, he didnt have to do that from the beatdown. He was just having fun with his lips again.

Honestly, I always saw Goku (original and abridged) as an allegory for an autistic or neurodivergent guy, with fighting being his “special interest”. He’s awkward and doesn’t really get people, but he’s not a bad person. He doesn’t have certain “common sense” traits but he’s incredibly smart when it matters. He just has a laser-focus on fighting, to the point it overshadows other things in his life that the rest of us would prioritize. It give him tunnel vision, like when he let Frieza power up, let vegeta and piccolo go to fight them later, or made gohan fight cell. He’s a pleasant person that just thinks a lot differently than the rest of the cast, which is why he’s able to lead as the main character.

You guys were totally right about the way you did the #18 absorbtion. Your version always stood out to me - she goes out fighting but it's pointless, that's the theme here not "look how gross it is" - we already see that with the first absorbtion! No idea why people would use this as an opportunity to complain about female privilege lol

Out of every scene regarding krillin in this series, his monologue is a an absolute top 3 scene for me. It's so good!

I know this is a parody series, but Amber is THE definitive Android 18 for me.

This is my personal favorite episode, everything from the "Wait how can you be semi-perfect, you're either perfect or you're not me, there's no grey area." To the "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" To cell's perfect song, it's all just *cheffs kiss*

31:00 yeah that scream always hits hard no matter how many times I hear it. This is also probably the first time I ever actively thought about the fact we don't see her getting absorbed 😂

Trunks' "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU" is legitimately one of the best deliveries, period. Like, not in Abridged, just, ever.

20:20 Lani foreshadowed the Buu Bit here

I loved the Bulma "that was 20 hours of my life" Piccolo "and the rest of it if Vegeta follows suit"

I love how Tien has no concept of 18 being an actual human with robot parts, so as far as he knows, Krillin wanted to frick a computer. Also Trunks' hair looks like a Hot Wheels jet design.

26:30 one of, if not, the best moment of this arc. Trunks fed up with this alternate timeline and everyone on it, just going full on chad mode. And what a call back. So good!

31:15 - it is actually a writing choice that many people fail, while you CRUSH. You had the belief in your audience to stick to a tone you're setting for a scene and playing it out in its entirety instead of for a cheap laugh. That absorption scene is HAUNTING because of your decision and I personally LOVE IT. The whole episode is fantastic but wanted to point that out as a discussion topic being brought up.

It's kinda sad to see how much drama there's been over the "Goku's a bad dad" jokes. The best jokes are when there's a grain of truth, and there's more than a grain of truth. Goku has more priorities than just being a father, sometimes they're understandably greater, and other times lesser, but they're always in character and play into him not being human. He's a fighter and a hero at heart, and sometimes they can't always be the best dads. Goku isn't the best dad, and he might not even be a "great" dad, but he is a good father to Gohan.

aww the masako appreciation 💜 indeed he is a great singer.

You guys nail every scene. The one thing I expected or hoped to hear in this episode was Trunks saying "No wonder you all died in my timeline." Thanks for doing these retrospectives. Absolutely love them.

The opening song to this episode legitimately makes tears in my eyes no matter how many times I hear it, thank you teamfourstar

Man, I still remember after this episode hoping they'd do a "stronger than you" song for vegito...

20:10 Oh, you sneaky dog

Okay I didn’t know Masako got married his wife is so pretty congrats to him man and glad we finally reached this episode the best part to me was Perfect Cell’s introduction

I think the "Goku´s a bad dad" joke had a little bit of a sour aftertaste only because of how the cell saga ended but it was a perfect ongoing gag when it was made.