Jaco the Galactic Patrolman Ch. 6-11
Lets see if we can wrap this up.
Chapter 6. So last time, Jaco and Omori were shopping in East City, when Jaco rescued a girl from some hooligans. In the process, he ended up assaulting a couple of cops, which created a big enough commotion that he couldn’t just go back to acting inconspicuous. Fortunately, the girl, Tights, leads them away from the police. Unfortunately, Jaco does a bunch of dramatic poses while introducing himself, which gives away his position. So he grabs Omori and Tights and flies them back to the pier. They ask why he didn’t just do that in the first place, and he explains that he can only do it “once”. Like, once a week, or once ever?
Chapter 7: So Tights returns with them to Omori’s island, and she offers to head back to East City to fetch the groceries they missed out on in the incident. The East City authorities know Jaco and Omori’s faces, and they’ve even distributed a police sketch, which Jaco finds deeply offensive. So Tights heads out by herself, as she already knows how to pilot Omori’s boat.
Five hours later she finally returns, along with all her stuff, because she’s decided to move in. Omori informs her that she can’t live on the island, because even he can’t live on the island anymore. The government is kicking him out in a few days. Nonetheless, she crashes with him for a while.
As a token of her gratitude, Tights also gifts a bit of Sky Gold to Jaco, since he told her that he needs it to power his spaceship. They need 19 million yen worth of the stuff, and her gift is only 3 million, but she figures it’s still enough to power the communications equipment. Oh, okay, I thought the radio was damaged in the crash, but it turns out it just uses the same power source as the engines.
And it works. Jaco can’t fly all the way home, but he can still fly the ship, and he can use the radio. Unfortunately, he’s so excited to fly the thing that he wrecks the carport it’s parked under, and that damages the antenna, so he can’t send or receive transmissions. And unlike the power supply, Omori has no idea how to repair it.
Chapter 8: Tights makes plans to take the boat to Kiwi Island, and Omori thinks she’s going to watch the launch of Twinkle 8, the publicity stunt arranged for pop idol An Azuki. But no, Tights plans to board the rocket, because An’s people hired Tights to be An’s double. This way, if something happens to Twinkle 8 (RIP Twinkles 1, 2, and 5), the real An Azuki will still be alive, and they can just make up some gonzo story about her miraculous survival.
But Tights would be dead, which troubles Omori a great deal. And now we finally see the payoff to this Twinkle 8 business. All day, I’ve been looking forward to coming home and reading the second half of this story, and finding out how all this stuff ties together. I mean, Tights is one-third of the main cast, and Toriyama didn’t even introduce her to the others until halfway in. This manga has progressed a rather leisurely pace. It’s been good, but you’d expect things to get moving by chapter 5 of a ten-part series.
And the thought occurred to me: What if it doesn’t all tie in together at the end? What if Twinkle 8 has nothing to do with anything, and the whole story falls flat? What if Jaco the Galactic Patrolman sucks?
But here in Chapter 8, my fears are laid to rest. Omori cared very little about the Twinkle 8 launch, because he had no stake in the matter. He despised humanity, and decided to live in seclusion to avoid other people and their problems. But now he’s connected. He helped Jaco, who helped Tights, and now he’s finding out that it’s not just some stranger who’s risking her neck on a dangerous spaceflight.
And that’s why she spent all her money on that bit of Sky Gold. That was her payment for posing as An Azuki, and Tights knew it wouldn’t be of any use if she died before she could spend it, so she used it to help Jaco and Omori instead. Omori tries to talk her out of going, but her mind is made up. Tights dreams of being a science fiction author, and a chance to fly in outer space was too good to pass up.
So she leaves the island, and soon after, the same guy from Chapter 2 shows up. This is Tamagoro Katayude, the Chief of the Government Sea Police. He noticed Jaco on the island the first time he visited, and then he saw the reports of “Mask Man” in East Ctiy, and realized they were the same guy. So he organizes a squad to track down Jaco and arrest him. There four other guys on this team, and they got character profiles in the collected edition of this manga, but I see now that they were never important. They just got used because they wanted to have a character profile at the end of each chapter, and there were four extra slots.
Chapter 9: Omori tries to play dumb while Jaco stays out of sight, but Katayude calls out for “Mask Man” to show himself, and Jaco’s ego is too big to let that slide. He responds, giving away his presence on the island just to make sure everyone knows that his name isn’t “Mask Man”, and that he looks nothing like that ugly police sketch. Katayude says that he must be arrested, while Jaco demands that the police revise their sketch of him.
Then Jaco notices that the Twinkle 8 launch has failed, and the rocket has begun to fall. Omori calculates that it will crash in just two minutes. Jaco gets in his spaceship to save her, but he needs Omori’s assistance for that. And yet, Katayude doesn’t believe any of this, and he refuses to simply allow them to leave.
So Jaco defeats Katayude’s entire team in one panel. Unfortunately, that still took too long, so they won’t have enough time to rescue Tights. Then Jaco remembers Omori’s time machine.
Omori has been trying to build a working time machine ever since his wife’s tragic death, but the best he could manage after all these years was to simply slow time down to a virtual standstill. And even that effect only lasts for fifty seconds, but that should still be just enough time for them to get to Tights before Twinkle 8 crashes.
Chapter 10: From there, Jaco’s plan is pretty straightforward. He flies the ship alongside Twinkle 8... wait, how did they operate the ship while time was frozen? Well... never mind. Anyway, he has Omori take the controls and keep the ship flying parallel to Twinkle 8 while he goes inside to evacuate the crew.
Omori isn’t eager to take the wheel, but Jaco reassures him that he’s already shown him how to operate the controls of his ship. Wait, maybe that’s what they did with those fifty seconds.
The point is that it gives Omori a hefty share of the credit for this rescue. Jaco has the powers and technology to pull this off, but without Omori’s time machine and his willingness to pilot the ship, this never would have worked.
But even after getting the crew to safety, there’s still the matter of Twinkle 8 crashing into East City. Jaco doesn’t see the problem, since the city isn’t that impressive anyway, but Omori says “You’re Super Elite, aren’t you?!” So he jumps out of his own ship, bounces off a building, dropkicks the rocket to knock it away from the city, then destroys it with his sidearm. Not bad at all.
When they return to the island, they find Katayude and his crew saluting them. Katayude congratulates Omori and Jaco for their heroism and apologizes for trying to interfere. He also promises to arrange with the government to let Omori stay on the island. Oh, and Katayude also promises never to reveal the truth about Jaco being a robot. Yes, if such an amazing technology ever fell into the wrong hands, it could lead to disaster. Jaco is outraged, but Omori and Tights keep him quiet.
Also, Katayude asks to come visit the island some time, because I guess he likes the place too.
So all’s well that ends well, but all Jaco cares about is Katayude’s promise to have the police sketch corrected. He watches the news with great eagerness, but when they show the new sketch, he isn’t pleased.
Chapter 11: So that’s all, right? Wrong! Jaco still has a mission to complete, even if he can’t return home or call for help with his spaceship. He came to Earth to intercept a dangerously powerful alien invader. As he watches the skies, Tights asks about the alien, and Jaco admits that he can only hope to defeat it if it’s a juvenile. If it’s an adult, the Earth is doomed. Z stands for the end. Wait.
While they talk, Tights compliments Jaco’s bodysuit, but he reveals that he isn’t wearing a bodysuit. That’s his skin, and he’s been strutting around nude this whole time. Well, I guess the gloves, boots, and those ear things are clothes. And that vest he wears. Tights asks how he pees, since his crotch is smooth like a Ken doll, and Jaco squirts urine out of two holes in his forehead. Tights then shoves him off the cliff they’ve been standing on, and in all the commotion, Jaco misses the alien spacecraft as it passes through the atmosphere.
Anyway, Tights asks for a lift to Kiwi Island to pick up the rest of her stuff, and on the way, Jaco tells them more about the alien he was sent to stop. Some whackamaroo species of warriors that you’ve probably never heard of. Get this, they’re called... Saiyans, and they’re from the Planet Vegeta.
DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNH!
Fortunately, the Saiyan who slipped past Jaco was a child after all, and the guy who found him just happened to be a martial arts expert, so he managed to tame the Saiyan boy with the power of karate. I love how banged up both of these guys are. Toei usually animates their first encounter with Son Gohan holding up a cute, cuddly baby, but Toriyama knows what’s up. Baby Kakarot came out of that ship ready to throw hands, and Gohan was like “Oh, you wanna go? You wanna go? Come on you adorable little jerk, let’s dance!” And then they became family.
Gohan names the boy “Goku” because “ku” sounds like the Japanese word for “sky”. Awwww.
Meanwhile, Tights finally decides that the best way to help Jaco is to put Omori in touch with Dr. Briefs the famous head of the Capsule Corporation. He could reverse-engineer the anti-gravity technology from Jaco’s ship, and pay well enough to afford the Sky Gold Jaco needs, and Dr. Briefs can be trusted not to reveal where the technology came from. Omori points out that no one can be trusted absolutely, to which Tights reveals that Dr. Briefs is her father.
So why did she take the job to ride Twinkle 8, and stay on the island with Omori, and so on? Because she needs experience to become a sci-fi novelist, and she’d never get it just living at home in luxury.
See, this was what I was talking about when I was complaining about the plot holes and general sloppiness of Dragon Ball GT. It’s not just the fact that GT often refused to explain a lot of its twists and turns. The bigger issue is that a major key to Toriyama’s talent as a storyteller is his ability to use the characters to ask questions and answer them. He uses it to provide information to the reader, but he also uses it to develop characters and advance the plot.
So when a series like GT tries to emulate Toriyama’s style, but without bothering to ask and answer questions, it leaves a lot of awkward gaps in the story. I’m not just talking about GT failing to explain stuff to the audience. I mean GT never adequately explored how Goku felt about being stuck in a child body, or how Gero and Mu built a replica of 17 in Hell. You can skip stuff like that, sure, but that’s kind of the meat of your story. If you skip that, what have you got left?
But Toriyama gets it, and I’m pretty sure that’s why Dragon Ball Super was over twice the length of GT, and why the last four Dragon Ball movies were bigger successes than Dragon Ball Evolution. It’s not enough to just say Tights wants to be a science fiction novelist. She chooses to go out into the world and experience different things to broaden her horizons. That’s how she plans to become a sci-fi novelist, and it also informs all the decisions she’s made in this story. At first glance, she seems to act on impulse, but there’s a purpose behind it all. In GT, Pan expresses a desire to be taken more seriously, but we never see her do anything to achieve that goal. In DBE, Bulma says she wants to become famous, but we never learn why that version of Bulma wants fame, or how she expects to get it.
Anyway, the Brief family comes to visit, and while they’re here, Jaco turns on the evening news. While Tights was moving her stuff from Kiwi Island, Jaco went to the news station and posed for them just so they would put it on TV, so everyone would know what he actually looks like. Because Jaco is one petty dude.
Meanwhile, Tights’ little sister Bulma has already repaired the antenna on Jaco’s ship. She noticed that the wrecked carport and deduced that Jaco’s ship had crashed into it, so she found the missing pieces of the antenna there, and managed to reassemble it.
Bulma also points out that the ship never actually needed Sky Gold at all. The component Omori found in the ship was made of Sky Gold, sure, but it wasn’t the power source. Bulma believes it was simply a containment device for storing the energy. A different metal with similar physical properties would work just as well, such as copper.
Okay, that’s a satisfying way to pay that off. I’m something of a scientist myself, and I was kind of irritated at the idea of “Sky Gold” being something you shoot with a laser to make a ship fly. It’s more like wiring than electricity, which is a lot easier for me to swallow. So it’s gratifying to see that I’m somewhere between Professor Omori and 5-year-old Bulma, at least in terms of metallurgy.
So they don’t even need the money now, but Jaco still goes ahead and gives Dr. Brief the anti-gravity tech. All he asks for in exchange is some money for Omori and Tights, since they helped him so much. Also, he radios HQ, and they agree to just give Dr. Brief the whole spaceship for free, since it’s an outdated model.
Wait, so how does this work? Jaco needs the ship to return home, so does he have to tow the thing back in a different spaceship to bring it to Dr. Briefs?
So I guess that wraps things up pretty well. Also Bulma’s ray gun actually works. Dr. Briefs asks Tights how college is going, even though Tights already graduated last year. And Bulma’s mom wants to get wasted.
With the money Dr. Briefs gives him, Omori buys the entire island, and he continues to live there, along with Katayude, who’s a much better cook than Tights. I dont’ want to read too much into this, but did Katayude and Omori hook up after he moved to the island?
I think Tights lives on the same island too? She had Jaco take her around some different planets, which helped her career in science fiction writing. Though highly successful, she had one dud novel, which was based on Jaco.
Anyway, Jaco comes by to visit sometimes, and he got a girlfriend at some point, although no one can tell them apart in the photos.
And about eleven years after Jaco’s first visit to Earth, Bulma drops by the island for a visit while on a journey to investigate a set of magic wishing balls, which she suspects may have originated in outer space.
... Which you can read about in Akira Toriyama’s other manga, which he plugs on the last page of this chapter. Well, I’m sold. I think I might just give this Dragon Ball thing a try.
And that’s it. Well, this was a treat to read. I’m not sure if Jaco being a prequel to Dragon Ball was much of surprise to the readers in 2013, but even though I knew about it going in, I found it enjoyable to watch everything build to the reveal.
There is one final chapter in the Jaco collection, but I’ll cover that in another post.
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Dragon Ball Super 014
We made it! The Beerus arc from Dragon Ball Super is finally over!
Okay, let’s wrap this up. Goku’s running on fumes and he doesn’t even know it. He knows his Super Saiyan God form has worn off, but he still has the power it bestowed upon him, so he’s trying to put up as good a fight as he can before it’s too late. Beerus uses the... Afterimage Technique? That’s kind of beneath him, isn’t it?
Then they fly back up into space...
And Goku finally runs out of steam. Beerus salutes his efforts, and ends the fight by giving Goku another flick in the forehead... but!
Goku powers up one last time, so Beerus throws another energy ball at him, which he manages to disperse, despite Beerus telling him he was at his limits.
Vegeta catches Goku as he falls back to the boat. Weird that Goku came down in this exact spot.
Beerus rejoins them on the deck, and the rest of the fighters try to put up some sort of defense, even though they all know it’s hopeless. For some reason, we get this close up of Vegeta’s groin. They linger on it for like two seconds while the others are talking. I don’t know.
Goku pleads for Beerus to spare the Earth, but Beerus insists that he must keep his word. Well, actually, he only promised to spare the Earth if Goku won. He never promised to destroy the Earth if Goku lost. But before he can go through with it, his shot goes wild and he passes out while still standing. Whis explains that Beerus mostly sleeps and eats and watches TV anime, so all this sudden exertion takes a toll on his stamina. Whis thanks Goku for playing with Beerus, and promises to reward him some day. Then he leaves with Beerus and the food he collected earlier.
But it turns out Beerus was only pretending to be asleep because.... I don’t know. Does he not want the Earthlings to know he chose to spare them? I liked the movie version better, where he destroyed the Earth, but only a small piece of it. It just made more sense. Also, Whis knows Beerus lied about using his full strength against Goku. So yeah.
Hey, you know what’s creepy? Bulma’s mom in this series, because she keeps her eyes open all the time. Also, she never seems to say anything.
There’s this really awkward moment where Gohan basically reminds Goku about Videl being pregnant, and it looks like Goku’s mad at him for a moment, and then he tells Gohan to have some food. It’s like he didn’t hear Gohan or something.
I cannot figure out what this is about. At one time, I wondered if Gohan was worried that Goku might disapprove of Gohan having premarital sex, but that doesn’t sound like something Goku would care about. Also, Gohan and Videl are already married at this point, so that’s not even an issue.
Anyway, Goten asks Goku what it was like to be a Super Saiyan God, and he seems pleased with how Goku was the second strongest being in the universe, even if he couldn’t beat Beerus.
Vegeta, however, is not impressed with Goku being in second place. He plans to surpass Goku and Beerus, and he refuses to use the Super Saiyan God ritual to do it. Goten seems offended by this, but it never leads to anything.
Also, they do the bit where Goku reveals he was watching part of the tussle on the cruise ship in secret, but it kind of doesn’t matter in this version.
And the Pilaf Gang have left in their life raft, and that’s the end.
Thank goodness. This was a terrible arc, redeemed only by a handful of decent visuals, and the fact that the movie they were borrowing from was so good. Take my advice and just skip the first 14 episodes of this series, and watch Battle of Gods instead.
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➤ Messy
Vegeta x F!Reader
Warnings: None
Word Count - 1.5k
Summary - Vegeta is a clean freak with anger issues and pent up emotions, and decides to take it out on you for fun.
Notes: This is my first time posting here. I am from Wattpad, so I don't know tumblr etiquette, apologies.
“Your habits are disgusting and you’re a mess.”
He would follow you around and criticize you for what felt like hours on end. It was enough to drive anyone mad, and he did it to you on purpose. He was a man on a mission, out to make your life as miserable as possible. That’s just how it was, being acquainted with the prince of all saiyans. It didn’t matter if you tried to avoid him, he would find you, and he would let you know of every flaw in your life. Almost as if he took a sick satisfaction in seeing you wallow in your own misery and insecurities.
“Vegeta, her house is none of your business,” Bulma scolded with a harsh glare, slapping your discarded napkin out of his hand. You hadn’t had the time to clean up your living space before Bulma and Vegeta dropped by, unannounced. You didn’t mind surprise visitors, but Vegeta was an exception. Every single time he came by, which had become noticeably more frequent, you made absolutely sure that he could not find a single reason to complain or nitpick. You were simply thankful Bulma was there to keep her dog on his leash.
“Sorry for the mess,” you forced through grit teeth with a smile, before your face relaxed as your eyes landed on Bulma. “What brings you here? You’re not one for random visits.”
“Right, sorry,” Bulma chuckled, brushing some strands of her azure hair behind her ear, glancing over at Vegeta as he tip-toed through the specks of dirt in your carpet. Bulma rolled her eyes at the dramatic saiyan, sighing. “I need you to keep an eye on him. I don’t really trust him to be alone at Capsule Corp., and my mom and dad are out on vacation. I’ve got a big workload on my hands and can’t deal with him right now. I’ll pay you good, I promise.”
You wanted to say no. You wanted to tell both of them to get out of your house and never come back. Babysitting Vegeta could have perhaps been Bulma’s most unreasonable request for you. He had not been on Earth for long, and yet had antagonized you more than anyone. You rarely even showed your face at Capsule Corp. anymore because of the man. And Bulma was your best friend that you visited nearly daily for years. She knew how much you hated Vegeta.
And yet, when she pulled the wad of cash out of her pocket, you immediately found yourself agreeing to the impossible task. Bulma’s payments were usually unreasonable amounts, as if the stack of paper zenni she handed to you was less than allowance money for her. It felt wrong to take, but what could you say? You were living independently in the city - you needed any cash you could get. Even if it meant spending a day with the most annoying being in the universe.
As soon as Bulma had left, it was not long before Vegeta started to act up. He almost acted like a prepubescent boy at times, unable to properly convey his feelings, resorting to anger to vent. You had even made a point to clean up around the house so he wouldn’t feel so uncomfortable, but some of the things he complained about were unreasonable.
“The geometry of your living space is poorly designed, woman,” Vegeta commented as he stood in the midst of your living room, looking around at the furniture. You rolled your eyes as you vacuumed the carpet, tuning his voice out.
“Nobody is stopping you from just leaving. You hate all of us, I don’t understand why you continue to torture yourself on this planet,” you muttered, unsure if he heard you over the vacuum. You didn’t care much if he did or not, barely having the energy to speak to or at him.
“I’m waiting for Kakarot to come back to this miserable planet. But I’m starting to doubt he will,” Vegeta said as he placed his hands on his hips, searching for more things in your house to nitpick about. You had done a pretty good job hiding things for him to complain about.
“Maybe he’s avoiding you,” you said with a smirk at the idea. You would not blame Goku one bit if he was avoiding the entire Earth because of Vegeta’s presence. Vegeta did not find your comment very funny as his head whipped to your direction, glaring harshly.
“Then I would track him down and drag him to this miserable planet to humiliate him in front of his loved ones,” Vegeta sneered, lip raised in a slight snarl, as if the mere assumption were the most offensive thing he’d ever heard.
“Is it really that hard to accept that somebody doesn’t like you and doesn’t want to see you? I really don’t understand you, Vegeta,” you stood up straight as you turned off the vacuum, turning to glare at him. “You antagonize people on purpose, and then get mad when everyone leaves. What do you want from us? Why won’t you just leave?”
“My business is none of your concern, woman. I suggest you close your mouth and not utter a single sound from now on, unless you really want to see what antagonistic looks like. I could put you through a world of misery with words alone, I haven’t done anything to you yet.” Vegeta’s harsh eyes stared into your soul, as if knowing you weren’t going to listen. He had been here less than a year, and yet knew you would not stand for such nonsense.
“This is my house! I suggest you shut up if you know what’s good for you, asshole!” You yelled, leaning closer to his face. His warm breath hit your face as he scoffed, looking down at you as if he were so high and mighty. He was barely three inches taller than you.
“I could destroy you, and this house, and this whole planet in a matter of seconds if I wished. Your empty threats mean nothing to me, human.” Vegeta smirked down at you. That was your breaking point as your hand moved on its own. Even Vegeta found himself shocked by your sudden movement as your hand left its mark across his cheek, its shape searing into his cheek. Head turned from the sudden force, Vegeta stared at you with wide eyes, as if to let his brain process the attack on him. You expected him to blow up. You needed to gain control, fast. You would rather your house remained intact by the time Bulma returned.
“Wh-What’s with the surprised look? Didn’t think a girl could hit you? Bet you’re completely smitten, huh?” Your face lit up like a lightbulb, cheeks burning as you smirked, watching his every muscle movement. You didn’t even mean for the words to escape your lips, but as they did, you knew you were dead. “You want to kiss me so bad, huh, Vegeta?”
You saw the blush bloom across his cheek, making your hand mark burn ever brighter. That was the first time you had ever seen an emotion other than anger or pride on his face. But the view did not last long, as you suddenly found your vision obscured, his large frame right in your face, his lips connected to yours. This was an unexpected development, to say the least.
His touch sent lightning through your nerves as his hands uncharacteristically gently slid up your arms, gloved fingers brushing over your cheeks. His kiss was soft, as if to show you everything he had been unable to get across before, many emotions flowing through one small touch. That one small touch, however, began to grow more desperate as Vegeta grabbed your shoulders, firmly pressing his lips to yours. Your scent was intoxicating, and every little jolt of electricity to his nerves sent him spiraling through his pent-up emotions even more.
It wasn’t until your palms were pressed to his chest, trying to push him off, that he broke from his much-needed kiss. You stared up at Vegeta in surprise, watching many emotions flow through his dark pupils, before he finally came to his senses. You were pushed away, although much softer than you would have expected, his warmth pulling away from you as he left you standing there. He plopped down onto the sofa, sinking into the cushions as he crossed his arms, avoiding meeting your gaze. Your eyes stayed glued to him for a moment longer, before you let out a silent scoff, smiling in amusement.
Vegeta had not uttered so much as a word after that. No more comments on her habits or appearance, no more jabs at her life and home. He had sat silently at her side, stealing glances at her every once in a while as she read her book in peace. And perhaps it was the cleaner environment, or just something in him beginning to bloom, but you looked much better than when he had shown up.
And you weren’t sure if it was just the sunlight hitting him at just the right spot, or if he just looked like this when he wasn’t constantly raging, but Vegeta had a different look about him, almost a glow. Perhaps he wasn’t as bad as you had originally thought.
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