DBZ Rewatch

[Captain Cadaver]

Episodes 131 and 132 - Piccolo has an interesting response to Vegeta saying maybe he should kill #20 with him saying that he's not as soft as Goku due to being the evil Kami cast out. It shows that, despite all he's been through, Piccolo still holds strongly onto this reminder of his origin that ties in well to the existential woes he would've gone through prior to and during the Saiyan Arc.
Trunks' revelation that the Artificial Humans are different due to changes in the timeline ties into the biggest problem of the arc in how time travel became used as a cheap excuse to have any new twist Toriyama wanted to happen even if there wasn't a coherent through line for it. Goku's heart virus occurring later was fine when Trunks actively interfered with Goku's history, but there was nothing he did that would impact Gero having a change in plans. This change wasn't too bad at the time as the mystery surrounding the arc left room to explain it, though the one element that could've tied things together conveniently (Cell) just ended up making this problem inexcusably bad, but more on that when we get to it..
The search for Gero shows us a lot of things. We see that despite Vegeta's lack of care for those not on his level such as his wife and child, he still stuck around long enough to bother remembering his son's name. Perhaps this shows he indeed had expectations and some unconscious care for his son, something that would manifest in a single instinctual reaction that changed everything for him at the end of the arc. All this further ties into the narcissistic traits he displays that I outlined in my character analysis of him, with him also perhaps having some care for Trunks out of him being an extension of himself, something that ties into Vegeta's view of family by the Boo Arc and perhaps his later disappointment in 2nd form Cell. His interactions such as saying his elite skills should make his Super Saiyan state superior to Kakarrot by default also further highlight his mindset.
We also have Bulma demonstrating that characters could still have their use even if incapable of battle despite how battle heavy the series had become.
There's also one thing interesting to note in that Yajirobe doesn't emerge from the rubble until after Vegeta leaves, possibly intentionally. It's interesting how the last time the two ever met face to face that we know of was their battle in the Saiyan Arc. Gohan being the one to go back makes sense and it's pretty ironic that the one to be kept away from the conflict throughout most of the arc would play such a pivotal role later on. Some may say this damages the writing in the Cell Game being a conflict Gohan doesn't really belong in as far as narrative progression goes, though I'll share my thoughts on that when the time comes.

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Episode 133 - We learn that Namekians aren't affected by the cold, at least not as much as Earthlings. This is kind of surprising when considering Namek seemed like somewhere that would have a more tropical climate, though it could just be the natural superiority Namekians and Saiyans seemed to have over Earthling biology by this point. On the subject of climate, Kuririn is less tolerant to the cold than Tenshinhan, which is a good detail as someone who trains mainly in the tropical islands of the southern hemisphere around Kame House will obviously be less adept at handling the cold than someone known for training within the mountainous regions.
The filler involving Gero had some decent ideas but bad execution. Gero firing off large Ki blasts is a pretty bad strategy since even if factoring in the trap he laid, what was to say the whole group wouldn't be searching for him together? Worst case scenario would've led to him catching someone like Kuririn only for Piccolo to swoop in and kill him, so a pretty bad tactic for someone so intelligent. It would've served better for him to just kill the hunter with his eye beam or a stabbing and have Kuririn find the corpse. Then you have Gero finding Kuririn's energy not worth taking when he found Yamucha a good source and it being a situation where he can't be picky. It doesn't help that there seems little reason Kuririn wouldn't have a Senzu in this situation and, considering that was set up at the start of the episode, it would've been a far better case of cause and affect to have the number of Senzu changed to 7 and have Kuririn need one here. The most baffling thing about the filler though is how the canon material then occurs as normal with Kuririn finding it surprising he found Gero and his lab despite everything before. It makes it seem as though the filler material was done by an entirely different director and the kind of thing prime for removing in the Kai edit.
It's interesting to note that #17 says Dr. Gero was the one to create him. Whilst this isn't strictly true with what we learned later on, it isn't really a retcon when there is truth to it when being reprogrammed on a cellular level would certainly make you a different order of being. There is a really bad mistake when #17 steals the remote though as Gero is briefly shown with both hands intact, despite the panel from the manga where it happens clearly showing his right hand as torn off rather than magically regrown.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Episodes 134 and 135 - Gero's declaration that activating #16 would "end the world as we know it" is one that puzzles many. The easiest answer is that it was a bluff with him not wanting #16 to be misused or activated until he could be reprogrammed but, if wanting to add a more coherent through line, I guess you could also say that the world "as we know it" may have the secondary meaning of Gero's designs for the world and the Red Ribbon's rise, something #16 likely wouldn't go along with. A more questionable aspect is #17's power radar gauging #16 as weaker than himself. It's easy to write this off as another point on the "Gero's radar is " list, but there is some consistency to be found when considering it may have appeared less accurate due to #17's lack of knowledge on #16 being fully mechanical.
Speaking of #16 not having a human base, the moment of #17 questioning why Gero went back to making human base models is a surprisingly seamless retroactive foreshadowing for Cell's perfect form. It shows that despite writing on the fly and causing a few plot holes along the way, Toriyama did a fine job in tying together early mysteries with coherent answers. It's even more impressive when some mangaka that apparently have a "master plan" for their main story outline end up suffering with bigger retcon problems than Toriyama did (like one who's surname rhymes with "Coda" who apparently plans everything...).
Vegeta commenting that #17 killing who he wants including their parents or children is very much like a Saiyan helps to reiterate the Saiyan's savage nature and Vegeta's lack of care for his family beyond some subconscious aspects. It makes sense as a reminder that Saiyans are a completely different species despite their humanoid appearance and is surprisingly consistent with how several ape species such as Chimpanzees act such as their high rates of infanticide. We of course get more of showing the ego boost SSJ has given Vegeta and the traits evident of his psychology in how infuriated he gets by not being noticed and his desire to fight alone even at the risk of death shows this conflict is nowhere near as personal as the battle with Freeza was to him.
#17 motioning for Kuririn to come forward and then doing nothing seems like an odd filler moment. Not really sure what the point of it was.
Vegeta VS #18 is a good fight despite being one of the shortest ones of this arc. The filler additions have little to contribute though such as Vegeta and #18 standing on a truck. It feels a little inconsistent with #18 not caring about doing pointless things to just stand coolly on a truck like that, which seems more up #17's alley. For the parts of the fight present in the manga, it does a good job at showing Vegeta getting worn down with each step. Also, his line about not holding back on a woman and then saying #18 barely counts as a woman is a pretty good burn. Too bad for Vegeta it was the most damage he landed the whole fight. There is one seemingly noticeable inconsistency during the fight though. #17 is aware Vegeta is the Saiyan Prince despite Gero only having Saiyan Arc data where neither Nappa nor Vegeta referred to Vegeta by such a title and Vegeta never being referred as such when in their presence before. I guess you could use this to support Toriyama's reveal in Super of #17 having even greater hearing than Namekians and assume he heard Vegeta's rant when he was flying to catch up to the trio.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Episodes 136 and 137 - The manner in which #17 and #18 act after beating the Dragon Team and treating killing Goku as a game shows they could've made unique villains had Toriyama made them the central focus. Even if not, there was still enough here to show them as mainly being rebellious teenagers looking for an outlet after being manipulated by an old man's experiments that help make their mindless goals more understandable. #18 kissing Kuririn is a significant scene. Perhaps she found his nature in trying to talk them out of it endearing.
The exchange between Piccolo and Kuririn says a lot. Kuririn considers Piccolo a friend at this point, which makes sense when they've been through a lot at this point. Piccolo's outburst that he's no friend of theirs and still a Mazoku with knowledge of what he's going to do does a lot in reminding the audience that Piccolo's arc isn't just one of a villain becoming a hero, but also one of self identity. We'd soon come to see that reuniting with Kami would make him a fundamentally different person and ties into the majority of his character moments in Z since the Saiyan Arc and what's implied from the timeskip between the 23rd TB and that that a defining point of it is what or who Piccolo is when you strip away his father's long since irrelevant desires and his demonic ties from him. Beyond caring for Gohan and wanting to improve his strength, there isn't anything left and Piccolo knows this, the question he was searching for in what his purpose was after he'd succeeded in killing Goku being one he couldn't find an answer for.
We also get Trunks stating that this timeline's #17 and #18 were stronger than his and he could at least hold his own against their alternate selves. Among with the other time travel events, these are given the flimsy excuse of changes occurring in time from Trunks' interfering despite there being no real through line that would have Trunks' actions impact on Gero's decisions. I guess you could say the difference in personality comes from Future #17 and #18 lacking any real goal with Goku already dead, but even that seems fairly weak when we see how the present ones acted with no direct goal after the Cell Game. This could have all been fixed by some minor changes made in Cell's introduction, but more on that later...Weirdly, Kuririn says the new Artificial Humans don't seem to have a power radar despite being there when #17 scanned #16. He was right in that #17's radar had the least range and accuracy out of those shown, but it was still quite a big assumption to make. Tenshinhan saying he'll go train with Chaozu makes you wonder if it was only after doing so that he was able to add the final touch needed to use the Shin Kikoho. It'd help make sense of why he didn't use it against #17, though it would've definitely needed to be explained.
Despite being at 0.001 in the Saiyan Arc, Umigame manages to beat up two guys who ought to have battle powers of at least 5. Seems he made a 500+x increase from training on that island. Yet more evidence of Roshi's Manly GAINZ having always been a thing. Maron leaves with a group of boyfriends who she can't decide between and all of which seem to have no problem not being her only one. Damn, DBZ was ahead of its time when it came to predicting cucks becoming a major thing.
More seriously, Maron's exit from the series offers a good opportunity on how to handle intentionally annoying characters and why Maron completely fails at being well written. Some key aspects are to have the character's annoying nature called out in-series, make them believable to exist in the world and, most of all, have them serve a purpose. As an example, we'll take Jar Jar Binks from the Star Wars prequels. He's often cited as annoying by fans but this is intentional when many characters in the films call are irritated by him, his clumsiness is believable in the setting and his incompetence is what allows Palpatine to use him to start the Clone Wars. Whether you like him or not, Jar Jar is an intentionally annoying comic relief who's well written and serves his purpose. Meanwhile, Maron had some purpose in calling out the absurdity of many parts of DBZ, but that was short lived and surface level. Her lack of intelligence or general consistency is unrealistic even by DBZ's standards, so the only category she succeeds at is many characters in series being unable to stand her. That said, she's how you don't handle annoying characters and definitely one of the worst in the franchise.
I find it quite funny that Bulma says Gohan won't do well with girls in the future the way he's acting, considering how the Boo Arc has him as popular with the girls (especially in the anime) yet unsure of how to handle the situation.
The scene of Yamucha helping Chichi with the medicine is nice in showing Yamucha as being able to help out in his own way and being very competent when it comes to more normal activities. Surprisingly, Yamucha's more limited contributions in this arc were very important and well utilised with him being the one to find #19 and #20 as well as being the one to save Goku by bringing him away from the battle.
The flashback of Kami and Piccolo's history is some pretty obvious padding when most of the details had been went over by Kuririn in this episode and Kami in the next.

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Episodes 138 and 139 - The additional chase scene between #17's truck and the biker gang does a good job showing #17's love of driving and #18's concerns with her appearance. The scene of #16's cuffs breaking could also be a little callback to how the anime had #8 break his cuffs when released by Murasaki, which is fitting when the two share similar personalities. It's a shame that despite the ties to the Red Ribbon Army Arc, #8 wasn't utilised at all in the arc even in filler and we had to wait until DBZ Kakarot for there to be any sort of tie-in.
Kami stating that Piccolo left Kami as irrelevant through his constant power ups against new foes seems strange when Kami was already no match for Piccolo at the 23rd TB. Surprisingly, the Garlic Jr. Arc actually made this more consistent with Kami putting up a fight against Base Garlic Jr.
Chaozu being presented as a good cook is a nice addition with it offering more to him rather than just being Ten's best friend. It does raise the question of where were he and Oolong during the Maron filler? Were they out getting ingredients? We also learn from this that Kuririn isn't a good cook.
The dream of Goku seeing #17 and #18 is weird when they've already been shown as more merciful than their future selves. Sure, dreams don't usually have a bearing on reality, but considering that, it raises the question of why even have this filler scene if it's so pointless?
The scene on the plane has a lot to unpack. It's fairly weird a time traveller would have to be educated on time travel by a child, though it does show Gohan's academic mind and you can excuse Trunks' hypothetical as being in the heat of the moment. During the flashback of his future, it's worth noting you can see one background character with a hairstyle similar to Ultimate Gohan's and a sword of similar design to the Z-Sword. I wonder if Toriyama drew from this when drawing that part of the Boo Arc. One detail that really helped the scene is how Trunks spaces out when reflecting on the past which shows the trauma that's come from it. It's the kind of good character detail Toriyama doesn't really focus on, so Toei get some good points from having added something like this. I also like how the ring tone when waiting on the line at Capsule Corporation is an instrumental the opening theme of Dr. Slump's anime.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Episode 140 - Trunks and Gohan flying off to investigate the other time machine is a reminder of something that was a missed opportunity in the arc, being more interactions between Gohan and Trunks. Considering the bond he had with his Gohan, it would be interesting to see Future Trunks taking a mentor/big brother role with the present Gohan or learning more from his perspective as he did with the reminder of time travel in the previous episodes. It's a shame their interactions in this arc were so limited. One interaction the anime does expand on from the manga is Bulma asking Trunks what it's like to see his younger, beautiful mother and his embarrassment at it. These kind of interactions will continue to be expanded on in the anime and makes you wonder if Toei were trying to imply the strange situation was providing Trunks somehwta of an Oedipus complex, which is...weird to say the least when it plays no part in his character or the plot, or maybe this foreshadowed his later taste in mature women with rejuvenated youth. 2 We also learn that the system used commonly in keeping track of dates is "Age". We also learn from these events that the human population in Trunks' timeline is only less than 100,000, which explains of course why Babidi never bothered with Earth until far later in Trunks' timeline.
It's kind of interesting how the scene at Kame House transitions to one of the Artificial Humans (specifically #18) after Oolong jokingly asks if Roshi plans to defeat them using lechery, considering #18 would later live at Kame House and the anime shows Roshi as trying to make the most of that opportunity at certain points. Oolong being unintentionally omniscient yet again.

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Episode 141 - The scene at the start with #18 destroying the police cars is improved by the anime with it showing more than one set of passengers survived the wreckage. Combined with the previous filler involving the bikers and the police and this does a good job establishing the difference between the future and present #17 and #18 as well as validating #16's assessment that they never killed anyone. It's pretty good that the filler a few episodes ago maintained that, considering Toei had high chances of screwing that up.
The scene at Kame House marks the only time we see Roshi smoking that I can recall. Pretty strange that it'd only be shown now when there have been many casual scenes at Kame House throughout the series thus far.
Piccolo merging with Kami is a very important scene. As mentioned before, what had come to define Piccolo at first had gradually been stripped away as time went on to leave him as noticeably different from his initial self to the point the Chekhov's Gun set up in the Namek Arc of reuniting with Kami was the logical conclusion for his character arc of self identity. It's also accurate to say that this is where Piccolo is erased from the series as a character rather than being rewritten as he displays an obvious balance between Kami and Piccolo's personalities, so it'd be more accurate to refer to him as Kamiccolo or the Nameless Namekian when referring to his characterisation at this point, maybe even Super Namekian Piccolo if you want to make the distinction.
The initial introduction of Cell is a very good scene with how it builds tension and mystery with him hiding in the shadows and takes place in the kind of urban setting Toriyama is notorious for hating to use out of laziness. Speaking of doing things against his simplistic norm, 1st form Cell is one of the most interesting and detailed designs Toriyama ever created with how his insectoid and monstrous attributes combine perfectly for a menacing design with great attention to detail in his spots. Considering what we learn later on though, it does raise the question of how would this be what you get when combining 2 Saiyans, 2 of Freeza's race and 1 Namekian.

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Episode 142 - We get the first real moment of characterisation of the new "Kamiccolo". Him telling Cell to let the man go whilst also insulting the man by saying "even his life is a life" shows a good balance between both Kami and Piccolo's views on human life. Cell drinking the man's life essence is also one of the most unique visuals in the series as it was one of the few times in which Dragon Ball would ever dabble in body horror or horror elements in general, which offer the section of the arc with 1st form Cell a unique tone. A lot of praise also has to be given to Norio Wakamoto's performance as Cell here as being one of the most iconic of the series. Anyone who's familiar with his performances in other anime will be able to note how distinctive his menacing portrayal of Cell here is despite how recognisable Wakamoto's voice is.
The translation of the scene in the anime of #16 reading the powers is that one of them (Piccolo) rivals both of them (#17 and #18) with #17 saying nobody rivals him. I guess we can draw #17 > #18 ~ Weighted Kamiccolo from that. It's also worth noting how a previous model like #16 has a better power radar than #17, perhaps hinting that such a component is difficult to install to the best of its functionality in a human base model without going the brain in the jar route Gero went with himself (and even his seems less accurate than #16's).
The addition of Cell firing the Makankosappo is good in showing more to his techniques and furthering the mystery of how he has so many different Kis within him. Even though the Kamehameha at the end of the episode did its job in this, it doesn't really do the most thorough job on its own when so many people having been able to replicate this simplistic Ki attack makes Piccolo's shock fairly redundant.

 

[Future Warrior]

Despite being the nameless Namekian spiritually, he's basically now a far more advanced version of what his previous self was with him being a warrior-type now and one of the fusees is a version of Piccolo Daimao that has far more latent power.

Shame what he was reduced to in the next arc.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Shame what he was reduced to in the next arc.

I'd say some of the waste of his character already presents itself during the third act of this arc. Despite him being a warrior Namekian at his base and how much his merging was hyped up as both a power and character progression, he gets sidelined once Cell became perfect and even had Goku say to his face he wouldn't be of much use at this point.
Pity the Mafuba wasn't brought back to give the new Piccolo more relevancy after his fight with #17.

 

[Future Warrior]

At least in the anime he had a pretty good showing against the Cell Jr.'s and helping out Gohan during the beam struggle against Cell. He's a powerful warrior worthy of respect, yet the most he amounted to in the Boo arc was teaching the fusion dance to Goten and Trunks.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

To be fair, he at least got some shine in cutting Babidi in half, complimented in the anime by him completely resisting Babidi's magic that Shin was wary of (Piccolo > Shin confirmed? ).

The fight against the Cell Juniors would have been more impressive if the Earthlings also didn't do surprisingly well in the anime (even with the Juniors toying with them) for no real reason. His exclamation about not just sitting about and helping Gohan out in the anime against SPC was good, though it does raise the question of why do so with a Makankosappo when it'd make more sense to transfer his Ki to Gohan like Goku transferred the Genki-Dama to Kuririn.

 

[Future Warrior]

Powerscaling isn't a constant factor in my viewing and enjoyment of the series, so your criticism regarding the Cell Jr. fight doesn't do much for me.

You could already tell the plans Toriyama had for his usefulness in the Boo arc when he decided to turn him to stone along with Kuririn before entering Babidi's spaceship in favor of the Saiyans. Hell, the amount of screen time Super Boo with Piccolo absorbed had speaks for itself. I think the most respect he's gotten was him being absorbed for his intelligence . I can't even remember if he was in any of the movies after M9, so Toei had the right idea what his relevancy was.

The only thing that would salvage his reputation is if we got a TV special regarding the origins of the nameless Namekian.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Episode 143 - Cell's revelation of the mysteries surrounding him damages the arc on so many levels. Getting the least damaging aspect out of the way, this quick revelation ruins the mystery surrounding him that could have been evenly placed with its revelations throughout the arc. As for what it damages the most, that would be the inconsistencies revolving around time travel which are ruined beyond repair. Not only does Cell's involvement not offer a thorough explanation on how seemingly unconnected events were changed, but brings into question how did he know of Trunks' appearance during Freeza and Cold's arrival and spoke of it as though it happened in his timeline? Moreover, why did Piccolo assume the other Future Trunks would travel back 1 year earlier to tell them about the defeat of the Artificial Humans when Goku would be absent at the time if this was during the events of Namek and going before then would make the likelihood of history not being altered in a massive way even worse? Cell even says that it takes him 3 years to grow back to normal size after shrinking to his larval state, suggesting Toriyama even forgot about the 4 years part in such a short amount of time. You can't assume Cell merely sensed Trunks' Ki in this timeline either and put 2 and 2 together, considering he was later surprised Vegeta was still alive.
It doesn't help that all of this could have been resolved with just a few quick fixes. The obvious one would be for Cell not to mention the part about Trunks' cells, but the major one would be to have Cell interact with Gero. Have Cell meet Gero at the time of him kidnapping Lapis and Lazuli, have his information make Gero decide to make #19 as well as turn himself into an Artificial Human and have the information that #17 and #18 were somehow destroyed in the future convince Gero to put more focus into not limiting their strength as much and mitigating adjustments to their good nature as a result before Cell goes into hibernation. With such a small change, all of the time travel problems of the arc are fixed (bar the #19/#20 retcon in the manga, but you could just say that the numbering was different in Trunks' timeline due to Gero doing more experiments rather than fine tuning) and the way Cell connects to all other parts of the arc flows seamlessly. Instead, the plot holes and questions caused by it makes the time travel aspects that most damaging part of the arc. It's easy to view this in retrospect at the time and I have respect for what Toriyama could accomplish from improvising, but that doesn't change that he was able to create for more consistent plot lines on the fly before this. Trying to deepen the plot with time travel and mystery really wasn't something that played to his strengths as a writer.
Beyond that, there's also Cell telling Piccolo all this despite that he should be fully aware of Piccolo's regeneration, and it's not as though Cell would discount it with the knowledge that this wasn't Piccolo when it's still a part of Namekian biology. Piccolo even points out how stupid Cell was, which is uncharacteristic of how he acts in the rest of the arc prior to getting beat down by Gohan.
Now, despite the absolute lowest points of the arc's writing being contained into this single episode, I will say it had one positive in Cell mentioning how the cells of all those in his being are likely what makes him seek to become the strongest. This allows Cell conceptually to work well as a villain by fitting with the arc's overarching theme of the Dragon Team's strengths and character flaws being used against them, with Cell being the physical embodiment of this concept.

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Episode 144 - Kuririn specifically citing Cell's Kamehame-Ha as Goku's seems a bit off. Sure, Goku's Ki could be sensed when he performed it, but the Kamehame-Ha is such a common technique it seems weird he'd specify it to be Goku's when he can use it and they learnt the technique from its inventor Roshi. Not sure if this was an addition the anime had as the Viz manga has Kuririn just surprised it can use the technique. You then have Cell saying he could probably do a Genki Dama. It makes sense why this wasn't used later on as it'd be pretty weak without people willingly lending their Genki, though it does seem like an obvious build up to later events that was never utilised. Perhaps Toriyama could have written it so that the Genki Dama was what Cell used to injure Gohan so badly and that Gohan's enraged state as a SS2 was what prevented him from knocking it back. Kuririn also makes note that the Taiyo-ken isn't difficult to copy and Goku can use it as an explanation for why Cell knows it. The anime will later muddle this when it comes to another certain technique associated specifically with Tenshinhan, though more on that when the time comes..
The filler addition of Chichi ranting to everyone about not wanting Goku to go back into the fight immediately is a mixed bag. It's nice to see how caring Chichi is towards her husband's well being, though it comes off as weird she wouldn't expect him to do just that once he's recovered when she knows his personality and goals well.
I like Vegeta's reaction at how little Piccolo really needed to do in order to gain such power. It points out not just how cheap some power ups were getting in the series, but also a realistic take on how it'd make the characters that put in so much effort only to be easily surpassed would be made to feel.

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Episode 145 - The filler scene of Gohan saying he wants to be a fighter more than a scholar and to help people out with his powers is of course far different to what we see in canon when Gohan is given the chance to act independently. I guess you could argue that his state of mind during the situation wouldn't be one that gave him much time to reflect on anything but battle and danger though.
Cell suppressing his Ki in order to draw the Dragon Team off their search is a good move that ties back into the chase aspects of the Gero fight as well as shows the idea of the warriors' strengths being used against them well. You could also say that the scene of Cell absorbing the people of Nickytown immediately following one in which Gohan is given a snack as not just quite coincidental as that is a "snack" to Cell, but that sort of tie unintentionally helps provide a link between Gohan and Cell despite their lack of interaction until the Cell Game.
Trunks and Kuririn choosing to do the practical act of destroying the developing Cell when they can is one used as a common source of criticism for the Dragon Team previously ignoring the most productive route as inconsistent, though I'd say it's a criticism that ignores a lot to do with the context surrounding it. At this point, Goku is asleep, Vegeta is too preoccupied with his current inadequacy and surpassing the Super Saiyan wall to care, Tenshinhan has been shown how thoroughly useless testing his skills out will be and Piccolo has merged with the less gung-ho Kami, not to mention the previous discussion wasn't one Trunks was part of. You also have the main reason Kuririn tried to talk Bulma down in that discussion being due to wanting to not make Vegeta angry, with it being more arguable what his answer would have been if Vegeta wasn't part of the discussion. What actually needs to be called into question is Kuririn's decision in gladly killing the unborn Cell who had done nothing yet despite later arguing the case for sparing the Artificial Humans that hadn't done anything bad like those of Trunks' timeline. It is in line with Kuririn's character though when considering it was a creature that carried the cells of the one who killed him and Cell had presented himself as having no redeeming qualities, plus it shows a level of underlying selfishness that whilst not strong in Kuririn at this point, would still fit with his later decisions. I guess he'd have more moral quandaries about killing foetus Cell if Cell were a hot blonde woman rather than a bug man.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Episode 146 - Rewatching it, I don't really have a problem with the Kuririn VS Cell filler. Kuririn only lands a hit through an off-guard attack like Piccolo did on 50% Freeza and it makes sense for Cell to not oneshot him with a punch when Kuririn would be a good source of energy. The scene of Trunks recounting the time travel events thus far does raise a question when watching that's never addressed in the series. If there were two alternate timeline where Bulma created a time machine, wouldn't it be possible for more to exist and interact with this one? You'd expect it to happen if both connected to this timeline, further showing the kind of messy things that come from a time travel plot when you don't plan it out fully.
The filler scene of #18 blasting away a good part of the East District forest seems a bit inconsistent with how #16 would later say his reason for helping the twins is that they never killed innocent people or animals. I guess #18 must have conveniently calculated where to shoot as to avoid the animals, though #16 does seem to have a disappointed look at her action.

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Episode 147 - So, the Room of Spirit and Time acts as a pretty big plot hole and deus ex machina when it was never brought up before. Why did the Earthlings never use it against the Saiyans? More importantly, why did nobody use it during the 3 year training? I can understand Goku thinking it may not bring him much further when it was only after knowing he was no match for the Artificial Humans that he viewed going beyond Super Saiyan as a possibility, but being as prepared as possible for a major threat is pretty common sense. What's more is how the laws of the room are never explained, such as why can't more than two people enter the room at once (until the Boo Arc) when it's supposedly a planetary diameter in size? Goku learning what happened through his sleep is also pretty unnecessary when he'd shown the ability to read minds with a touch on Namek and could've just used that. You could say that this is an evolution of that telepathy, but trusting what may very well have been a fever dream seems like a bit of a gamble.
Despite that major problem, there is a lot to like about the episode. The scene with Goku and Chichi further shows compromise and the ability to function as a couple between the two. The sound effect at the part just before Goku leaves and Roshi's reaction heavily implies he kissed Chichi, so have that, Super. 2
Kuririn's reaction to seeing Goku again is nice in showing how much his best friend means to him. The Kamiccolo part shows that Piccolo still considers himself mostly Piccolo, though this may be more for convenience to others when considering his words after merging. Goku's reaction as both being scared and happy at the thought of fighting those stronger than Freeza does show some layers to his character rather than being the one dimensional battle lover he is in more recent material.
#18 being suggested to have gotten her new outfit from Chichi seems strange when it certainly doesn't fit with Chichi's general attire. In the manga, it could be assumed she stopped somewhere else along the way, but there isn't much opportunity for that in the anime. #16 also mentions that the Son family residence is 2,700km from Kame House. This provides some kind of scale when looking at the map in the Daizenshuu as well as cross-referencing it with Kuririn's statement that Kame House is around 10,000km from the Central Continent where Goku arrived after Yardrat.

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Episodes 148 and 149 - Piccolo VS #17 is perhaps the best fight in the Cell Arc. Along with some good moves such as Piccolo's Makuhoidan being a good tactic that helps combat the criticism I have for the majority of the arc featuring techniques from the main cast that function the exact same way (too bad he never used this again until Super), an extra layer of tension is added to the battle with Cell approaching. It also shows some good consistency even with the anime's padding as Piccolo is presented as having more power whereas #17 is fast enough to dodge more blows, with the battle gradually becoming more even as it goes on in reference to Piccolo's stamina being cut away bit by bit. It's one fight Toriyama and Toei both put a lot of consistency into that deserves the praise it gets. Also, I probably made [mention]Pocket-God[/mention]'s day with how much I'm praising #17's stand out moment of the arc. The part about #17 lecturing Piccolo on needing to be more careful about preserving nature after his Makuhoidan destroys the island they were fighting on ties in very well to #17's later profession. Perhaps Toriyama planned Park Ranger #17 to be a thing long before his Boo Arc cameo or the interview.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Episode 150 - So, one strange addition to this episode and the next is that Cell is seen with fangs during a few scenes. Pretty odd Toei would add this, considering he has no need for teeth prior to his perfect form when he feeds purely through life essence drained using his tail.
Chichi's idea of having Kuririn go get the remote and lecturing the warriors for their narrow minded focus is a good use of her character that shows her desire for education being used in a constructive way, something rarely done with her character.
The fight with Cell does raise some questions when it comes to how did he get such power from draining a couple of cities of their population, making it even more apparent something that a lot of fans treat as so important as numerical power level consistency is something Toriyama considers of the least importance. Also, after Piccolo gets his neck broken and side blasted by Cell, Gohan screams "Piccolo-sama!" This title compared to his more usual Piccolo-san is quite a nice detail, with him likely giving a more formal address due to Piccolo having fused with Kami-sama.

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Episode 151 - Goku being stern with Gohan and even striking him in his attempt to fly off shows him being very mindful and rational of Gohan's current chances, far different from how he currently acts in Super. Cell regenerating his tail makes him not realising he was being played by Piccolo in Gingertown even stupider, though I guess you could make the case that it makes sense for what is technically a 5-6 year old with little actual experience to have made such a blunder initially. Also, Cell tells #16 that he can regenerate "at least this much", which suggests his regeneration in his 1st form is far less than what he later displayed when perfect. This would make sense as his regeneration in the latter case was far more than any Namekian has been shown to be capable of.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Episodes 152 and 153 - Out of all the transformation methods of the 3 main DBZ villains (not counting Vegeta as he reformed and didn't really have his own unique method unless counting the Power Ball), I'd say Cell's was the best utilised as it required him getting close enough to either #17 or #18 before absorbing them through his tail. It takes a lot more effort than Freeza just revealing this isn't even his final form whenever he wants or Boo being able to absorb someone with a piece of his flesh(?) from whatever distance he pleases. 2nd form Cell does deserve its reputation as the least good of Cell's form designs though. Not for something like his lips which make sense when being the mid stage between his beak and his more refined humanoid face, but more for why it makes no sense that his wings just disappear and then reappear in his perfect form. His blast against #16 is made less of an impressive feat in the anime with the additional charge time it took, whereas the manga presented it as a casual blast that needed no charging at all. The exchange between #18 and Cell is a good, tense scene and confirms what could already be deduced of #17 and #18's hatred for Gero stemming from him reconstructing them.
We then get the Shin Kikoho scene, which obviously raises the question of why he never used it against #17. Sure, he never had a real opportunity to use it without everyone getting in the way, but he could've given his allies notice for the strategy if he had a technique on hand that can push back an opponent even #16 couldn't and even cause Cell to suffer some light burn marks in the manga. No matter what way you scratch it, the technique is heavily contrived and causes a plot hole with previous events. Despite that, it does at least serve as a defining character moment for Tenshinhan with him showing that even if the Earthlings are being left in the dust, he won't just sit back and accept his limits. Toriyama's heart was in the right place with wanting to give an Earthling a technique that could prove even more useful than the Super Saiyans in the right situation and should have gone this route for the Earthling trio in general, though the execution of it definitely needed more work.
On the subject of Tenshinhan, discussing his character is warranted. At this point, his only real defining feature is accepting human limits but not wanting to just sit back like Yamucha and still try and improve himself for his own sake. This is an admirable point to reach, though won't be one exclusive to him when Piccolo will be put in a similar situation once the Saiyans start leaving him in the dust and Ten still didn't bother with the RoSaT despite it being better than nothing. It is worth noting that each of the 3 main Earthlings have an important role in the plot for this arc yet, despite it being treat as a hype moment, Tenshinhan's Shin Kikoho had the least impact on the plot overall. Yamucha bringing Goku away from the battlefield helped the Dragon Team have any sort of chance later on and isn't a role you could easily have someone else fill without changing the whole arc. Kuririn's failing to shut down #18 allowed the arc to progress in its natural course and him saving #16 is what eventually allowed Gohan to kill Cell, not to mention he was the only one of the 3 to get some kind of permanent change to his character with him winning #18's heart by the end. Tenshinhan didn't really do anything that would change the plot completely as Cell gained his perfect form and beat both Vegeta and Trunks regardless. A sad position for a character who was the first true rival to Goku.

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Episode 154 - The scene of #16 looking fondly at the birds is nice as this further presentation of his fondness with nature suggests more to his character than just him being kind and liking animals with hoe #18 questions him about his thoughts. Perhaps his fondness stemmed from how different natural beings were from a fully artificial being such as he. It would have been nice to have something like this expanded later on.
Cell's outburst works quite well as you'd expect the bodies of people who can cancel out planet busting attacks with a shout such as a kiai ought to have some incredible lung capacity. Also, we see on one of the islands a man wearing a shirt that says "The Super Saiyan". It works well as an Easter Egg, though doesn't really make much sense in-series when the self-aware gag phase has long been a thing of the past.
Bulma getting to the Heavenly Realm in so little time despite it taking her at least 20 minutes to get from Metro West to Kame House doesn't work as well as it did in the manga due to the addition of Tenshinhan commenting on the effect of the Senzu suggesting he and Piccolo had just been healed, suggesting only about a minute or so passed between Goku saving them from Cell (unless Karin was really slow at dealing out the Senzu). I don't have a problem with her being able to fly to such a place as even rockets being unable to get there makes it apparent Kami would have prevented them from flying towards his place if necessary, plus the numbering of Bulma's jet as Capsule 991 suggests it's one of the most recent models. We then get Vegeta saying a pure Saiyan's hair doesn't change in any strange way from the day of their birth. This lines up well with Goku's hair never changing, though does raise questions for the anime when it comes to Nappa in the Bardock Special. Perhaps Vegeta wasn't taking baldness into account. I've talked before about how much I like the silent exchange between Vegeta and Goku after Goku says it would be best if Vegeta deals with Cell, with it seeming to suggest both acknowledge that their rematch will come after it, though another silent Vegeta moment I like that the anime added is his smirk when Tenshinhan says he'd rather die than wear the same attire as Vegeta, as though Vegeta is accepting it as an open invitation.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Episodes 155 and 156 - Goku stating the Rosat's gravity is 10x that of Earth makes it even more apparent it was brought into the series without much thought when considering how surprised he was at Kaio's planet having that much gravity. The scene of him telling Gohan that he most of all wants Gohan to surpass him is good for two reasons; helping set-up the later reveal that Gohan is Goku's trump card for defeating Cell and also shown Goku's fatherly attitude in putting his son's growth before his own despite his desire to be the strongest. The Super Saiyan training in the latter episode presents some of the core differences as to why Future Gohan's power growth was so limited, particularly when remembering he didn't learn any real constructive skills from Piccolo and just had to pick things up as he went along. The recap footage used for Gohan picturing Freeza killing his friends was pretty bad when not only was Dende the only casualty within it, but it even skipped over Kuririn's death. Also, Goku says the temperature can reach up to 50 degrees whereas the Viz manga has him state 120. Pretty sure this is due to Viz changing the dialogue to fit the Fahrenheit scale more common in America rather than the Celsius scale used by the Japanese much like how they changed the metric measurement of Goku's weighted clothing from kg to the Imperial pound, though it'd be nice to have some confirmation on that.
Vegeta stating he can't believe something with his cells could produce such an ugly monster is a significant piece of dialogue. Not only does it show Vegeta's high opinion of himself, but it further informs his later decision of considering Cell pathetic and wanting him to achieve perfection when he may consider such a low peak as an insult to himself. This is quite consistent when taking into account what we'd later learn of Vegeta treating his family's accomplishments and failures as his own and considering them an extension of himself. During his transformation scene, there is a filler addition of #18 stating she didn't imagine his Ki to be so vast, seemingly confirming the inferior power radars in her and #17 can still read Ki. This is consistent with #17 knowing Vegeta is stronger than the data suggested despite not being skilled enough in martial arts that he should be able to judge someone on movements alone as well as later material such as the Tarble OVA. The battle in the following episode does suffer from some inconsistency when it comes to Vegeta's muscle mass though. Bar the last scene, most of the shots present him as just a regular SSJ.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Episode 157 - Seeing the alternating climate of the Rosat in more detail is good. Goku also says this and the ten times gravity would be too much for someone as young as Gohan to bear consistently, making it apparent that gravity resistance and one's level of Ki aren't entirely linear, something that lines up well with what's shown in the Boo Arc.
The additions to Vegeta VS Cell work well such as Cell using the Gyalic Ho being a reminder of Cell being the embodiment of the Dragon Team's strengths being used against them. Some fans obsessed with battle powers may have gripes with this scene, though I find no problem when things such as gaps and Ki attack amplification has been pretty arbitrary and inconsistent throughout the series and battle powers have long since been irrelevant in dictating plot events. I also like the addition of the underwater battle in showing the tropical aspects of it as well as Vegeta showing a decent underground tactic. With Cell's outburst at the end, it's worth noting how similar his pose is to when Vegeta ranted about being the strongest in the universe after being hit by the Kaio-ken x4 Kamehameha, further driving in the point of Cell reflecting the main cast's strengths and flaws.

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Episode 158 - Continuing from that last part, Cell appealing to Vegeta's desire to prove himself against a strong opponent and satiate his lust for battle further shows how the flaws of the main cast can be used against them in a pretty important character moment, with Cell being one of the people who would best understand Vegeta when Vegeta makes up 1/5 of his being.
Kuririn's decision here is enhanced in the anime with him taking more time to make it as well as showing more images of him thinking of #18. Her smile in some of them seems warmer than when she actually kissed him, which may be a good way of showing a bias from Kuririn when it comes to his interpretation of events. There's also him taking into account that #18 didn't choose to be an Artificial Human which shows his decision wasn't entirely selfish, even if not the most pragmatic. Maron's addition to the anime does damage it somewhat when considering she'd at least kissed Kuririn on the cheek and this is what the anime mainly drives in as the decisive factor. I mean, it makes sense for Kuririn to be simping this much when a kiss on the cheek is suggested to be the best he's had at age 30 despite his strong desire to have a woman and get married, but you'd expect him to latch onto a mere kiss slightly less if he'd almost gotten engaged before. Another reason why Maron shouldn't have existed in the anime. Still, his mistake here out of a good reason is a defining character moment that further shows this arc being one in which the character traits of the Dragon Team are used to their detriment.
Kuririn's choice: Save the world or possibly get a hot waifu with infinite energy at the cost of putting the world at risk...

Spoiler

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Episode 159 - The additional battle scenes don't really work in the plot's favour. The initial fight between Trunks beating up Cell is fine, but him later being right next to #18 and not taking the opportunity to kill her seems out of character for him when he has a strong hatred for #18 and isn't as optimistic as Kuririn towards the differences in personalities between timelines. The filler of #16, Kuririn and #18 attacking Cell also doesn't really work when you'd think #18 would use this as an opportunity to kill herself or at least threaten Cell with it if Kuririn and #16 could prove a momentary distraction. The manga's fast pacing leaving no room for that made the scene make sense in the manga, whereas not so much in the anime.
Despite that, Trunks VS Vegeta works well as despite being too short to be called a battle, this scene does well in defining how different the father and son are as characters and how they work as foils to each other at this point in the series with Vegeta being arrogant and obsessed with his self-worth whereas Trunks is pragmatic and thinking of the greater good beyond all else. This does well in setting establishing a theme of family within the arc's second and third acts that will become even more apparent with Goku and Gohan's interactions and differences, as well as reminding the audience that despite Trunks' initial role as a prophetic character of sorts, he's also a fish out of water attempting to form bonds and get to know people he's only ever known of second-hand. His shock that his father would get persuaded to do such a reckless thing by Cell further shows there are sides to his father he has yet to explore and Vegeta being assured Trunks wouldn't attack his father shows Vegeta has gotten to know Trunks' personality at least somewhat well during their training, considering he was also aware Trunks was pragmatic enough to kill Freeza on the best opportunity as well as attempt to destroy the Artificial Humans along with Gero's lab and later kill the unborn Cell. It does well in showing Trunks has come to truly see Vegeta as his father and that has become his weakness, something that will soon be made more apparent and makes it gives more of an impact to Trunks following through in showing his desire for a better future trumps his love for his father.
The anime also establishes initial Perfect Cell's Ki can be sensed from as far as New Namek. Not much to comment on that when it's consistent as far as events in Z go, though it's certainly something Super didn't take into account.

 

[Future Warrior]

You know, I've never noticed the similarities in family dynamics between Vegeta and Trunks, and Goku and Gohan in this arc. Most likely just a coincidence, but even then it shows the raw talent that Toriyama had back in the day.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

I'd be inclined to agree it may have been coincidental if not for how much the theme of familial ties gets brought to the forefront during the later portions of the arc, the SPC events in specific. With the two father and son pairs being the characters that are given the most attention from this point on, it does seem as though Toriyama's comparison between both families was something intentional.

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Episode 160 - The filler of Kame House being flooded does raise the question of how it's gone so long without flooding on such low ground, unless assuming the tides have always been extremely low in that region for some reason. Piccolo knowing that Kuririn destroyed the controller makes it apparent that he indeed inherited Kami's ability to see events below from the Heavenly Realm and wasn't just sensing them. This brings into question Piccolo saying before the merge Kami would have no opportunities to look down at the world after this due to likely losing that ability, though I guess Piccolo simply didn't think he'd retain it.
The filler involving Gohan achieving Super Saiyan is a good character moment with him realising he needs to stop depending on others if he's to not be helpless and handle things on his own. This is a good direction for his character, considering despite his change in motivations when fighting Cell, he was ultimately the only one aside from Cell with the most control over the situation. The moment following it from the manga with Goku offering to cut Gohan's hair as well as the job he did with it being surprisingly good for someone not skilled in such regular tasks. It's far from the worst case of a protagonist styling the hair of the kid who'd surpass them, at least.
Kuririn charging forward to attack Cell despite the futility is a good scene with him realising the damage his decision has done and doing the only thing he can believe can redeem himself in any way. The addition of Trunks helping Kuririn, however, damages the scene with how Cell tanks both of them when remembering it's been made apparent Trunks is near Vegeta's level and Vegeta still believed Cell was no challenge to him. Even assuming Trunks was using regular SSJ, him not using the grade form is just as bad. As for Cell tanking the Kienzan, it's something I'm fine with considering it makes sense for it to have a limit of how much damage it can do when considering its only use after the Freeza Arc was by the far stronger #18 against the kids, though Kuririn being shocked that a technique that worked on Freeza would be useless against Cell seems a bit dumb.

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Episodes 161 and 162 - Vegeta referring to #17 and #18 as "flea market Artificial Humans" despite #18 wrecking him days ago (or 1 year from Vegeta's perspective) does a good job showing how Vegeta views his opponents compared to someone like Goku who viewed someone being able to oneshot Freeza as shocking long after he'd reached such a plateau himself in the Boo Arc. Whereas Goku views his opponents as individuals and important parts in his life as a fighter, Vegeta views them as obstacles or stepping stones only deserving to be defeated by him, being in line with his psychology and the difference in their upbringing. The only opponent I could see Vegeta having a different view on would perhaps be Freeza, considering how personal Vegeta's stake in such a battle would be.
Kuririn being able to realise what Vegeta couldn't about Trunks because Vegeta was too prideful seems like a bit of a stretch. Even though Vegeta isn't the most rational when it comes to his place in the power scale, his Ki sensing is still great enough he surpassed Earthlings that had experience in the art for far longer than him in only 1 year. Then again, we get later implications that Vegeta was aware of the Grade 3 form or even achieved it, but more on that later. Trunks holding back for knowing how important his father's pride is and how this defining part of his father's character as well as what has drawn Trunks to him does a good job further showing the bond that's formed between them despite not much screen time being given to their time in the Rosat in the anime and virtually none beyond their entrance in the manga. It also does a decent job informing us on the rationale behind Vegeta's changes towards the end of the arc.
The filler of Gohan failing to cook some meat for Goku with a Ki blast ties in surprisingly well to what would happen at the Cell Game as Goku tells Gohan he'll need to control his power more. Considering Goku's death later on would be primarily down to Gohan not being able to control himself with his new power, it ties in fairly well despite Toei having no way of knowing about this.
Vegeta's Final Flash links back to what I said before about techniques with it being a pretty linear Ki attack. It shows a definite switch from more technically impressive techniques that could have good versatility to more visually impressive explosions that don't really do much beyond large damage and, considering the later battles, definitely shows there was far less variety in how characters fought compared to prior arcs bar some decent strategies like the Shunkan Ido Kamehameha. It's a shame when considering how varied the Artificial Humans were in what they could fall back on such as energy absorption, barriers, rocket punch and Cell's entire moveset, with the main characters with more diverse techniques such as Piccolo or Kuririn being slowly thrown to the sideline.

 

[Future Warrior]

I mostly base my assumption on the fact that I vaguely remember an interview that had Toriyama say he never wrote the series with specific themes in mind and just wanted to tell an engaging story for kids to read.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Still, it seems a bit difficult to take Toriyama's word on that fully when there were clear concepts that remained constant throughout the series' run such as the idea of limits always being something to be surpassed or the idea of being self-reliant as shown with Goku's strong desire to fight one-on-one unless there was no other option. It could be that Toriyama was mainly just talking about ones that permeate the series' entirety considering each arc had some idea or focus that ran throughout it beyond the broader plot, as well perhaps him not wanting to go in-depth as he's notorious for trying to be as polite and quick in his responses as he can be.

Alternatively, it could be seen in much the same manner as Hideaki Anno views the religious imagery in Neon Genesis Evangelion. It's not existing purely for thematic relevance or symbolism, but that doesn't mean such can't be drawn from it when some choices when it comes to plot and characters do seem quite intentional.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Episode 163 - Kuririn believing Trunks may go wild like an Oozaru is a good way of reminding the audience of the primal link to it that Super Saiyan has with its heightened battle frenzy and aggression, further complimented later on by Toriyama's initial plans for SS3 to have a tail as well as Toei combining both forms in GT with Golden Oozaru and SS4. His statement about the Saiyans always getting stronger without a definite limit does ring true to what's been established since the Freeza Arc, though is a reminder of the damage such power creep did to the series as what role the Earthlings or even Piccolo could have in the plot was severely limited.
The additional filler to Trunks VS Cell really damages the fight. Not only does the way Trunks is drawn in this episode compared to the next 2 make it seem as though he's using 2nd Grade throughout most of it, but this even performance between him and Cell spits in the face of the whole point of the fight being to show the flaw of 3rd Grade. If it can draw out such great power initially prior to extra Ki pumping, it raises the question of why not use this variant in later fights and really damages this part of the story's narrative worth in the anime.

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Episode 164 - It's strange how different Toei's depiction of Trunks' past and Gohan's death were not only compared to the Trunks The Story chapter already out by this point, but also the TV Special they'd make a few months later. It's probably the worst of the 3 with how little it really adds beyond showing Future Gohan's character design for the first time in the anime. Also, Gohan sounds far more like his child self when he uses the Masenko.
Cell's past really adds nothing that we didn't already know or shed any new light on his perspective.

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Episode 165 - This is where the main narrative picks up speed again with the reveal of the flaws of the grade forms in stamina and speed and why it's better to hone the more ideal Super Saiyan form, a good lesson when it comes to practical martial arts skills of honing the basics. The implication that Vegeta may have the 3rd Grade form and choose not to use it has its problems though. It does explain why he made no note of Trunks seemingly surpassing him, but raises the question of why he didn't use it during his Final Flash? Is the technique's power simply the equivalent of him releasing all his Grade 3 power?
Cell's motivation for hosting the Cell Game shows some aspects of his personality. Whilst wanting to validate his own strength, he also says it may be a way of having his power progress. This did hold true with his Zenkai, but perhaps it also goes some way in explaining how his full power self was so strong despite saying Trunks' power had far surpassed him. Maybe the 10 days and the battle with Goku provided more of a boost than it seems on first glance and maybe his injuries from the battle led to a Zenkai. His line about wanting to see the terror on humans' faces does show that beyond his good concept as an opposing villain, however, Cell isn't really that interesting on his own as a character, being very much a one-dimensional villain who creates terror for terror's sake, unlike Freeza who had more practical motivations as well as some layers to his characterisation.