Followers and lovers of the Dragon Ball Wiki animation series were excited to see Goku and their favorite hero go super Saiyan eventually. The episode that Goku went Super Saiyan first aired in Japan on 19th June 1991. It was one of the fascinating episodes of the animation series. The literal name for this episode is “Transformed, at last, the legendary super Saiyan, so Goku.”
In What Episode Does Goku Become A Super Saiyan?
Goku turned to a super Saiyan in the twenty-first episode of Frieza Saga season, the ninety-fifth episode overall.
The Super Saiyan Review
1. Shadowing the Legendary Saiyan Form
For many, it was hard to imagine the time Goku was unable to transform into a Super Saiyan or some higher forms like Super Saiyan 4 or Super Saiyan god. Many people gave up on him, thinking he would never be able to do it. He wasn’t born with that transformation ability, though, and he was able to complete the transformation when fighting Frieza on Namek in the 95th episode. Many people believed that Goku might not have transformed into a Super Saiyan if he had not seen his best friend Krillin killed by Frieza.
Frieza had decided to destroy the planet -Vegeta alongside most of the Saiyan race because he had the rumors that the Saiyan people were extremely powerful. Prince Vegeta had also grown up trying to be the first person to become a Super Saiyan in history. Unknown to Goku, he was fulfilling the prophecies that were released hundreds of years before his birth.
2. How Does a Person Become a Super Saiyan?
Before Goku appeared in the scene, nobody really knew how the status of the Super Saiyan was achieved. The most important requirement to become a Super Saiyan is to have Saiyan DNA. Though we have seen the half human-half Saiyans become super Saiyans, we have not witnessed a quarter Saiyan achieve this though they should be able to achieve it when they get stronger.
Another requirement you must meet to transform into a Super Saiyan is that you must be trained in martial arts. Though Golan and Trunks, two powerful heroes, had proven that you don’t need to be super strong to become a Super Saiyan, but you still need to be way stronger than any human to achieve it.
The final requirement to becoming a super Saiyan is that you need a catalyst. A catalyst is simply an external event that will aid the transformation. For most Saiyans, an extreme anger buildup within is the main catalyst they need for the transformation. For other Saiyans, giving them some tingly back sensations can ignite their transformation into super Saiyans.
Either way, there is always an element of learning and rage involved as well as having the Saiyan DNA in the process of becoming a Super Saiyan.
3. Goku Turns to a Super Saiyan
Goku had a great motivation to become a Super Saiyan. He traveled millions of light-years into a remote planet to get the dragon balls that could revive his dead friends. He arrived only to learn that his son and friends have involved in a fight for survival all their lives. What made the situation worse was that Goku’s friend and son didn’t get help from the person who murdered some of Goku’s friends earlier.
Goku was enraged, and for the first time, he turned into a super Saiyan, but this wouldn’t certainly be his last. He eventually went super Saiyan 1, 2, 3, 4, god, and Blue. It was interesting to see Goku turned to all the versions of super Saiyans, and who knows what he will become in the future. Will he go super-ultra with his instincts or abandon all the superpowers altogether?
Transformed At Last- A Summary Of The Episode
The 95th episode, titled; Transformed, at Last, was filled with intrigues and emotions. It is summarized as follow, below;
1. Production
The episode was first released on-air on 19th June 1991 in Japan, and it was later released in English on 18th October 1999. The previous episode was “Power of the Spirit,” while the episode that follows was titled “Explosion of anger.”
2. The Spirit Bomb- Aftermath
Two Saiyans- Krillin and Gohan stood beside each other, wondering if they were the only Saiyans that survived the spirit bomb. Piccolo suddenly comes out of the water before climbing onto a nearby Island with Goku. Gohan and Krillin decided to fly over Piccolo and Goku to reunite with them.
On King Kai’s planet, the Z-fighters continued the battle against the King and the rest and succeeded in forcing them to hell. The King and his men were enraged and tried to escape but only succeeded in bumping into the clouds. King Kai revealed that he had invited the Ginyu force to put the Z-fighters to test.
On Namek, Goku, Gohan, Krillin, and Piccolo prepared to find Bulma and return to the Earth. Piccolo had hoped that Guru and the rest of Namekians could now find peace. Krillin questions Piccolo on how he knew about Guru before Piccolo became terrorized while gazing at a nearby cliff. Other fighters were also shocked that Piccolo knew about Guru but eventually discovered that Frieza was alive, only that he had a damaged tail and eye. Frieza had also become much angrier than usual. Krillin didn’t believe that Frieza survived the spirit bomb because of its direct impact on him.
3. The Fight Within
Frieza fires a death bomb at Goku upon his partial recovery, but Piccolo pushes Goku out of danger and takes the hit. With this act, Goku was convinced of Piccolo’s loyalty. Now that Goku doesn’t consider Piccolo an enemy, he wants the team to become stronger and fight the common enemy.
Back on King Kai’s planet, King Kai was quite shocked that Frieza survived the spirit bomb, and he informed Yamcha and the rest of the team about the development. Back to Namek, Frieza had sarcastically congratulated Goku for being too close to destroying him with the spirit bomb.
Goku also orders Krillin and Gohan to take the injured Piccolo to a safer place and also find Bulma before leaving with the spaceship immediately.
In retaliation for damaging his tail, Frieza launches Krillin into the air, despite please from Goku. Frieza then detonates the “Ki” inside Krillin to blow him into the “Smithereens.” King Kai witnessed the killing of Krillin and relayed the news to the rest of his team.
Back in Namek, Frieza had pushed Goku’s final button and by threatening to kill Gohan. The killing of Krillin angered Goku, and he knew Krillin could not be brought back to life by the Earth dragon balls. Goku finally erupts and transforms into a Super Saiyan, and gaining a golden aura with bluish-green eyes and blonde hair.
Goku once again asks Gohan to take Piccolo and find Bulma before leaving Namek in a spaceship, and this time, Gohan complies. Goku decided to shift attention to the now-horrified Frieza, knowing well that Goku wanted him to pay for the evil he had done.
In another development, Ginyu the frog had moved to Bulma’s location and tried to inform her about the things happening on the planets. She noticed an aura forming in the distance, which happens to be the same place where Goku transformed into a Super Saiyan.
Notable Happenings In Episode Ninety-Five
Aside from the transformation of Goku into a Super Saiyan, there are several other events that took place in this episode. In this episode, Tien, Yamcha, and Chiaotzu managed to defeat the Ginyu Force on King Tai’s planet. Piccolo was gravely injured from the effect of Frieza’s death beam that was meant for Goku. Frieza’s bomb also killed Krillin. It is also worth mentioning that Goku was the first person to transform into a Super Saiyan in the last 1000 years.
Notable battles include; Yamcha vs. Recoome, Chiaotzu vs. Guldo, and Tien Shinhan vs. Burter and Jeice. Some of the notable techniques used at different times in the episode are; Ki Blast Trust, Death Beam, and Death Psycho Bomb.
There seem to be some differences between the main episode and the Manga. In the Manga, for instance, Goku’s transformation is the near-instantaneous reaction to Krillin’s murder, but in the animation series, it was a much longer and more dramatic transformation. The transformation in the animation series was accosted with the darkening of the sky and lightning strike around Goku. The ground around Goku also crumbled while the transformation took place.
As Goku and company reunited and celebrated their victory right before Frieza appeared, the Green Namekian water turned to blue. This development could be one of the unnoticed errors in the episode, but there has been no official statement regarding that. In the Funimation dub, it was Frieza that triggered Goku’s transformation by cracking a joke.
