Dragon Ball Z - Season Five (Perfect and
Imperfect Cell Sagas)
Dragon Ball Z DVDs
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The artificial humans 17 and 18 who terrorized Earth in Season #4
of Dragon Ball Z were only a preliminary threat: Dr. Gero's
ultimate creation, Cell, strikes in Season #5. A bio-entity created
from genetic material taken from Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta, and Frieza,
Cell arrives via the time capsule Bulma built for Trunks. (There are
now two of them, somehow.) Although he defeats the merged Piccolo
and Kami, Cell remains imprisoned in his "imperfect form," a sort of
larval stage. Until he absorbs androids 17 and 18, he can't attain
his ultimate power. Vegeta and Trunks train in the Hyperbolic Time
Chamber at Kami's palace, which enables them to undergo the
equivalent of a year's heavy workouts at high gravity in one day.
Transcending his powers as a Super Saiyan, Vegeta clobbers Cell.
When Cell challenges Vegeta to fight his perfect form. Vegeta takes
the bait and allows Cell to evolve. The perfect Cell proves so
powerful, Trunks has to draw on untapped reserves of power to save
Vegeta. Goku plays only a small role in Season #5: he spends the
first episodes recovering from the heart virus, then waiting with
Gohan for the Hyperbolic Chamber or training in it. One of
best-loved stories in the Dragon Ball Z continuity the "Cell
Saga" offers plenty of action, with characters punching each other
through rock walls and destroying entire islands as they fight. But
it ends on a weak note when, instead of killing Trunks, Cell
challenges the Z Fighters to a martial arts tournament--the focus of
Season #6. The paradoxes of the time travel story, including adult
Trunks encountering himself as a baby, don't seem to bother the
fans--or the writers. These 26 episodes could have easily fit on
five discs or even four, and spreading them over six feels
chintzy.(Rated TV PG. suitable for ages 8 and older: violence,
tobacco use, ethnic stereotypes) --Charles Solomon
