Another theory: While holding Raditz's tail, Goku realized he would have to deal with Chichi after the battle and death seemed like a sweeter option. Sacrificing himself seemed like the best option at the time for him : Raditz would be stopped and Chichi wouldn't be able to nag him for a while. Goku then smiled before dying because he was satisfied on how well his plan was going and how nobody caught on the true reason of his sacrifice.
Clearly you don't seem to know what the word nag actually means cuz if you did you realize Chichi doesn't actually do lol And like most people you skip the part where Goku said he loved that about chichi, saying men are into that kind of stuff, so either stop trolling or pay attention to the story lol 🤭
@@ChiChiLand299 I love Chichi and I don't think she's ACTUALLY a nag, but it's a funny bit that has been going on for decades so I just sorta roll with it.
@@ChiChiLand299 tfs iteration says otherwise, its a joke that most people know due to tfs dbza lmao, light hearted humor def went over ya head. If you are so involved with the story, then maybe go look at parodies of it since they may shine a light in a different, darker humor sense..wait..you wouldnt be able to follow along with half the jokes
I think what confuses a lot of people here is Raditz begging Goku to let him go. People think that A) Raditz was truly desperate and that B) Raditz honestly believed Goku would let him go. Raditz honestly believed he was going to have to cut off his tail. He wasn't begging Goku for mercy because he was truly hoping for it. He was exaggerating his own vulnerability for Piccolo. He wanted Piccolo to take the bait. If he was going to have to sacrifice his tail, he wanted to be sure that Piccolo would waste that special beam canon. He wasn't trying to convince Goku to let him go, He was trying to convince Piccolo he was truly vulnerable and helpless. Goku realized that Raditz was playing it up and that Piccolo was falling right into his trap. So he released the tail. Not because he believed Raditz would change, but because he knew this wasn't going to work. Raditz honestly didn't think that Goku would let go, he was more focused on getting Piccolo to fire the special beam canon, Hence his shock and Exclamation "You FOOL!" when Goku released his tail. Goku didn't know what would happen next, but he knew that Raditz was going to cut off his tail and dodge the special beam canon and then they would be helpless against Raditz. That's why when Goku grabbed Raditz with the full nelson Raditz realized goku was not in fact a fool, but was onto his plan. TL:DR goku went for the full nelson the second time, sacrificing himself instead of grabbing the tail again because he knew Raditz would cut it off at the last second.
Also, betting on Raditz deciding to stop the fight after being shown mercy was the only way they could survive, Goku knew it probably wouldn't work but holding on to the tail any longer was suicide anyway.
It’s likely but I don’t think it’s the reason Goku let go of his tail. I don’t think it was Goku’s naive nature but rather his pure heart. That’s what makes him unique among everyone else. He values life. One of his moves is the spirit bomb.The first episode shows him denying his brother’s request to kill other humans and join him in conquest. But if you look at his track record he has a history of forgiving his enemies and making them allies/rivals. He would rather see them change.Which is something the video does not mention.
I've noticed that when the topic of 'Goku being smart' comes along, knowledge of Dragon Ball helps to understand how smart he can actually be. Just in the topic of the tail, Goku learned to use his tail as a helicopter and trained not to be stunned from a trail grab before he learned to fly. I can totally buy the theory that Goku took the risk because he knew Raditz could cut his tail off, since he took the risk already that Raditz wouldn't had trained to withstand the tail grab. Piccolo wasn't around when Goku had the weakness and lost the weakness, thus Piccolo couldn't know Nappa's training.
At around 7:20 he says after the second special beam cannon piccolo would of had no power left yet he had enough power to regrow his arm which takes up enormous amounts of energy as seen by how much power Nail dropped when he did it against Frieza. Also Nail was fresh when he regenerated his arm and only did that one hit on Frieza's neck before Frieza ripped it off while Piccolo was fighting constantly and wore out from fighting Raditz with no arm and two special beam Cannon's plus piccolo had enough power to fly away which back then took up mega amounts of power which is why Goku used the flying nimbus
@@OverRule1 It would be nice analysis topic to compare Warrior Namekians like Piccolo and Nail. TLDR: Guardians are not as good Warriors as the Evil Ones. I feel Toriyama has been consistent in original manga when it comes to Piccolo's Namekian powers. King Piccolo made an egg, even if it made him weaker, yet still he was strong enough to defeat un-boosted well-fed Goku. Later King Piccolo released his full power even though it could shorten his life expectancy, yet still considering how long Kami has lived - not an issue. Piccolo Jr (or Piccolo in Z) inherit everything from King Piccolo, and regenerating an arm during the tournament similar implications - it lowered the strength but it's not noticeable when power levels are close to equal. But main difference between Nail and Piccolo: one is Guardian and one is the Evil one. One fights when they have to, the other one fights when they want to. This was also demonstrated well during the tournament arc. Even if Kami and Piccolo are the same being, Piccolo who kept battling through out the years became stronger than the other one, who focused on intervene only when they had to.
Goku is much smarter than people give him credit for. Tbh, I enjoy Goku being a goofy and funny fella because seeing goku be just some "powerful stoic man that doesn't talk a lot" would really ruin the entire story
@@ZeusDaEvilOne "reviving freiza on namek" "Giving cell a Senzu" Firstly, Goku didn't "revive" freeza.Freeza wasn't even dead. And if you're referring to Goku giving him some energy, Goku didn't give him likd his entire energy. He gave him just enough energy to make it out of namek and survive. It's called Mercy. After Freeza betrays him, Goku (in his mind thinking that he killed him) had a deep remorse, it just shows that Goku gave Freeza a chance to save himself, or change his ways but he didn't and instead betrayed him. And for the "Giving Cell a Senzu bean"Goku knew Gohan was ready, and knew he just needed a little push. After fighting cell himself, Goku knew that Gohan would unlock his full potential and defeat him. It wasn't Goku giving a senzu which was wrong (like if being trusted in your son's abilities is a crime, then beat me), it was his miscalculations which led to the death of 16. And even his "miscalculation" isn't really a miscalculation, like how are you supposed to know if someone's "90%" ready or "95%" ready (unless if you're and android). And hell, Goku was right, Gohan did unlock his full power and did defeat cell (altho it was Gohan who extended the whole issue). So Goku wasn't wrong here either But you know what they say, Never argue with Dragon Ball "Fans", they have never watched the show. Just like you!
Some of us realized why Goku let go of the tail reading manga closely, what I do not get is how Goku plan on getting Raditz killed after letting go of his tail? No way he planned on Gohan breaking out of Raditz' Saiyan pod after hearing his father's cries. Does he plan on grabbing Raditz's foot to prevent him from moving around, even tho Raditz can easily sway his hands away?
What Goku was betting on, if he assumed Raditz was telling the truth, was that he may just decide to leave the fight right there out of gratitude. It was a very low chance, but it was all they had because holding on to the tail any longer wasn't going to work. It was a miracle that Gohan helped them and he saw his chance to get Raditz with the Full Nelson.
Goku saved Piccolo's energy for later when he went for the Full Nelson. No I don't think he knew Gohan could injure him but he knew they'd definitely lose if Piccolo missed a ki blast and was then out of energy and time
After Goku let go of Raditz's tail, he was in a position where he needed some sort of miracle to happen, so he took the opportunity for a full-nelson after said miracle. They likely would've died had Gohan not created the opening that Goku needed to hold Raditz in place
Completely agree!! I just don't see Goku being a fool in this fight nor it costing his life. What happened was the only way to beat Raditz on that battlefield. Gohan the miracle. Piccolo the weapon. Goku the smart sacrifice.
No, the full Nelson strategy was definitely more risky than the tail gripping and waiting for piccolo to use special beam canon. The logic behind radiz was crafty that he could have found a way out is pure agenda driven, especially suggesting had enough iq to make himself seem weakened when he got his tail grabbed. If he was that crafty why didn't he you know shot out a beam from his back and impale goku using that.
Without Gohan, they wouldn't have won. Raditz would have broke out of the Full Nelson if he was fresh. Goku realised Gohan hurt Raditz and took advantage of it.
@SaiyanScholar okay, doesn't change the fact that if you believe raditz is indeed smart and deceiving enough to fake exhaustion then why couldn't he have broken out goku grasp using as i said ki, or flight (if he couldn't go up go down, these characters are strong enough to ignore dirt and goku wouldn't be exactly something like that), your whole video relies on the idea that raditz is smart when he's shown to not be. Also the logic goku has to not grab the tail again is stupid, just prevent him from touching his tail when he's on the ground raditz was clearly shocked about gohans power so much he forgot he had ki when goku was hugging him. Goku is under the impression raditz could take off his tail but why would he assume that are saiyans like those lizards that can shoot off there tails, why and how would goku know about it. Just say you have an agenda
@nani4249 After Raditz was assaulted by Gohan, he no longer had enough ki to break out of Goku's firm grasp because Gohan injured him that badly. It was smart for Goku to trap Raditz in a full nelson instead of going for the tail again because what was gonna stop Raditz from elbowing Goku in his temple during his attempt to unwrap his tail? Goku going for a full Nelson was a less risky and faster way to trap Raditz while he was stunned. Also, it's dumb to question how Goku knew that Raditz would cut off his tail, given Goku also had his tail cut off before.
Here's the thing: Goku trained so his tail wouldn't be a weakness. And that's when he was much weaker (still kid Goku btw), so there's no way Raditz hadn't. Raditz was definitely playing up his "vulnerability."
The thing is Goku only trained that because people kept taking advantage of his weakness because they knew about it solely from being around Goku throughout his life, Raditz would've had no reason to train to get rid of that weakness because no one on the planets they invaded really knew about it.
@@EmperorFriezaTheSaiyanBeater yet, Vegeta and Nappa trained so their tails wouldn't be a weakness when they conquered planets. They've said as much. Raditz was part of that team and their punching bag, so he'd have reason to.
@@PregnantFreddyKrueger Yeah that makes sense, Raditz did have some strength left when his tail was held onto unlike Goku when he was a kid so he's likely trained it as well but not enough for complete resistance like Nappa and Vegeta had. I doubt he was playing up his vulnerability because he really wouldn't have anything to gain from it, and he definitely did have enough strength so that he could cut it off like he said in the video.
@@EmperorFriezaTheSaiyanBeater Goku was the same way after training. It's definitely plausible, likely even, that Raditz did as well. He seemed ready to cut his losses and remove his tail.
@@NeCoruptionThe inside Buu bits were non canon, that's 1. Number 2 even fucking then, he was still very much aware of the situation, can actually hold a fucking conversation and not look stupid with that " :0 " look on his face whenever Vegeta or someone else talked or explained shit to him. Let me know when Super Goku, talks about the future of earth when he's long dead. Not insightful wisdom ever comes out of Goku's mouth in Super. Never.
Great video I say it was more luck than anything, there was no way Goku would know Gohan would Attack Raditz the way his did, creating the opportunity for a Win.
I agree! Luck played a huge part of it! It just seemed like Goku knew "this won't do it" when holding the tail knowing there's only 1 SBC left. Raditz was so quick after Goku released that Goku had zero chance to switch to a Full Nelson. Raditz needed distracting. Thanks for watching though!
Gohan positively rocked raditz's shit with that charging headbutt. It was the perfect distraction, and it really cleared up a lot of work for Goku tryna stick that full nelson on raditz. I also find it kinda silly to suggest that grabbing the tail a second time, or even that hanging on to it woulda sufficed in keeping Raditz still long enough. Ever been popped in the nose? It makes your eyes water. Temporarily.
I really don't feel like we can credit the wise choice of Goku dropping Raditz's tail to his brilliance and more to the fortunate circumstances of the writing. There was nothing in that scene to suggest otherwise. I do agree that Goku letting Raditz go was likely the better choice in hindsight, but pretending like allowing Raditz to get the upper hand again, letting his ribs get crushed, and relying on his 4 year old son to come in and give him the opportunity to finish off Raditz is Goku playing 4D chess is farfetched. If Goku was so smart about it, what was his plan after letting Raditz go? Was he just giving up and declaring his defeat then, or are we expected to believe he could see the future like his father? Him letting his brother go was absolutely due to his naivete, and there was just no reason to try that strategy again since Raditz was aware of it. I feel like that extra line in the manga about Goku knowing about Raditz cutting off his tail is either a post-hoc meta explanation from Toriyama or the aforementioned not trying the same strategy twice.
The video wasn't talking about 4D chess, though; as that would suggest Toriyama had the whole fight plotted out, and this doesn't seem to be suggesting that. It just made sense why Goku made those individual choices, consistent with who he is as a character. Sure... it had some fortunate writing, but there were also desperate adaptations being made, which takes a lot of effort and creativity in the writing. Toriyama is a discovery writer/pantser. It takes a different skillset to write that way.
@@beastmage3 I don't know how you didn't get the implication that Goku was being smarter than we thought in the video. That is exactly what SaiyanScholar implied by emphasizing Goku's supposed intellect and that's how the rest of these comments took it as well.
I won’t even give you that it was a wise choice in hindsight. Raditz was on the ground, if he cut off his tail and dodged the special beam cannon would’ve hit the ground not Goku.
@@Phillylove100 I don't think Picollo has the energy to just be shooting 1 zillion special beam cannons this early in the plot, bro would be juiced after his second
@@humanconvertileGoku's tail was removed and regrew during Dragonball, so it makes perfect sense to think that he knew raditz could cut his tail off with the knowledge that it would regrow
Goku had grew beyond the tail issue when he was a kid. People seem to forget that, the second torment he fought in when he fought Krillin he let it be known the that he had grown passed that weakness…..
Yeah kinda undermines a lot. I remember the tail copter like tails in sonic lol. Still a fun big brain theory vid, let alone no way they'd be a match for nappa and then vegeta (fortunately they didn't fight goku at the same time) without king kai's training.
Its funny how this slowed down fight where just shooting a blast is a whole event is so much more memorable than the modern stuff of 20k energy blasts and everyone zipping aorund at light speed.
Another possible point to consider would be that Piccolo punched a very large hole through a mountain when he missed with the first Makankosappo. A close range ground shot could have severely endangered Piccolo, Goku, and Gohan whether it connected with Raditz or not. Whether or not it occurred to Goku to keep Raditz standing with a full nelson, it was the right call. His son was prone only a meter or two away on the second attempt.
Piccolo: "I got one more technique!" Goku:"You do?" Piccolo: " Yes, but you have to distract him while I charge it" Goku: "That doesn't sound to bad..." Piccolo: "For 5 Minutes, and considering how he beat us both up... well I am sure you can handle it!"
A great point. Sometimes even us biggest fans forget how much of a tactical genius Goku is at fighting. He quite often reads his opponents' combat plans as instinctively as motorists read road signs.
Sometimes people forget this is the same Goku who had the foresight to let Vegeta live after beating him, and also the same Goku who figured out how to bait Cell into bringing out Gohans true potential.
There's a reason Raditz has remained one of my favorite antagonists. I don't recall if the dubs of the anime ever mentioned that Raditz could've cut his own tail off. It would make sense for that to be overlooked if it wasn't mentioned in the anime.
Another thing people overlook is that holding Raditz in a full-nelson makes him a much easier target to hit, versus him lying flat on the ground when Goku's holding his tail. Piccolo already missed him once, so making sure he's standing upright is a smart idea.
Wow, I never knew about Goku being a few steps ahead and anticipating his plan to cut off his own trail to escape .. never read this information from the manga. Very interesting perspective! Great video.
*How* would he do that? If the tail weakness was still present, he couldn't move to do it. If it wasn't then he could just dodge the narrowish beam attack
such a reach, theres nothing to suggest he wasnt stunned or had any plan and to suggest goku was also aware of radditz plan when their entire strategy was to grab his tail is insane. I also think radditz is too prideful to beg unless necessary and he was so strong he intended to defeat them w force alone
Love this info, it really changes my perspective. The situation is called back to again just afterwards and even foreshadowed right before. Beforehand, Goku says that his tail was removed because it got in the way. Right after the battle, we see a whole segment of piccolo regrowing his arm. Bulma or Krillin makes a remark about how its like a lizard. The reason lizards can do that is that it leaves behind a distraction so they can escape. Piccolo lost his arm but he was fine with just one arm, and similarly Raditz was about to loose his tail but survive as well. Raditz is using the same method as the lizard here, tricking the predator (piccolo and goku) and getting away, perhaps at most getting shot through the arm but definitely still being alive. This would 100% be the end of both of the heroes. People are saying that Goku didnt have a strategy, and yeah he didnt. But that doesnt mean he wasnt smart here. I think what happened is, at first Goku grabbed his tail and both of the heroes felt pretty confident. Raditz knowing this was a easy way to trick them into firing the only other beam they had was really playing it up, acting like he was already at Goku's mercy and defenseless to bait out the attack. What i think happened here is that Goku had that "oh shit" moment where he realized why his brother was being dramatic. Just like the farmer dropped the cigarette. Goku released the tail in shock realizing he was actually about to loose and die. If Piccolo fired his only shot there they were both toast. Truth is without Gohan they didnt even have a possibility of winning. Goku and Piccolo got cocky (in desperation ofc, they didnt have any chance either way), grabbed Raditz tail, and then it hit Goku that this wasnt going to work. His heroic sacrifice was him capitalizing on the only good luck they had that entire day lol. You can really tell that Raditz faked his fear the first time too. Bluffing and messing with his opponents' sense of confidence really appeases him. He completely drops the act and is in complete disbelief when goku actually grabs him at the end. If the tail thing was going to work hed have been more scared. Raditz I believe let his ego show a little too much by really hamming it up (no doubt planning on laughing maniacally after piccolo missed twice) which may have tipped off goku that this wasnt a real checkmate the first time. Also, Raditz did say hed leave etc, which although is like 90% chance a lie, there is the 10% chance that letting him go would actually be meaningful enough that hed just leave. Its not like Goku even knows the dude. What is certain is that if Goku didnt let him go Raditz would escape, minus a tail so even angrier, and have no reason to not just kill everyone. If frieza told you to dance for him to avoid getting killed, youd do it. Even if its a 1% chance to change his mind. Little brother 'letting him go' (he wasnt even actually trapped so no loss) might have been able to change Raditz wildly inconsistent mind. The man came to earth just to meet his brother and within a day went from recruiting his brother, kidnapping his nephew who "hed never hurt", then considering just killing Gohan anyways just after that, then changing his mind, then deciding to just murder Goku out of nowhere wasting his whole trip. Its not crazy to think he might change his mind again, man was running off of 100% ego and emotion.
The problem is that Goku let go of the tail because he was trying to show mercy. Not because he was actively making a tactical choice. Even if he knows Raditz could escape anyways, he still didn't have any better options immediately available. It's only by sheer chance of Gohan intervening to weaken Raditz that made the rest of the events possible. So he was still a fool in that moment for believing Raditz, just a lucky one, sort of.
they would have been worse off if he kept holding onto the tail tho, and he literally called raditz out when he was holding him. did you even pay attention to the video.
@@nolife4218 I know that things conveniently worked out. That's obvious. I'm saying that Goku did not let go of the tail as a tactical choice, he did it because he figured showing mercy in that moment might work out better than trying to kill Raditz. In the exact moment he first got the tail, he had no other options available whether he figured holding the tail was going to work or not. He did not let go out of some genius 4D chess strategy to full nelson him later. He let go because he was desperate and figured showing mercy might help. Raditz was too strong to hold any other way until Gohan injured him. There is no way Goku would've assumed that Gohan was going to do that. Goku does not have magic, Bardock special foresight. If Gohan did not intervene, Goku and Piccolo were screwed regardless. Did you even pay attention when you read my comment? Or are you just trying to sound smarter than you are?
@@mojaxon23If Goku was actually desperate he would have told Piccolo to fire the special beam cannon or if Piccolo couldn't they would attempt to kill him in one way or another + he literally knew Raditz can cut off his tail because he said it and Raditz said "how did you know"
@@BBroski That whole comment changes nothing. Goku just went with the options he had available, and picked the less tactical and more compassionate option that happened to work out when it otherwise would not have because of 3rd party intervention. He could've either held on or let go. Simple as that. The smart play with the information he had available in that moment was to hold on and he chose not to. He got lucky that Gohan attacked Raditz. There was no 4D chess involved here. Dude just got lucky. Why people think Goku has some magic foresight and knew what was going to happen is beyond me. Why wouldn't Goku know Raditz could escape anyway? Cutting his tail if he had to is an obvious move, anyone could've figured that out, it isn't that hard. But forcing Raditz to do so would still be somewhat better than just letting him go and taking the ass whupping for no real reason other than hope that Raditz had suddenly changed his mind. Goku could not have realistically predicted anyone was going to help him, so he was trying to use kindness to hopefully win when everything else he could do had failed. He does not have foresight, and he did not make some epic 4D chess move to win. He got lucky.
Good ole DBZ: Budokai on the Nintendo GameCube 🎮🥋🔮🐉 Getting Piccolo to hit Raditz with that Special Beam Cannon on that game as a kid was hard af 🤦🏾♂️😭
9:43 Well Piccolo couldn't have known that because he wasn't a Saiyan and never knew about this weakness (Goku didn't even had a tail back then). The question is why didn't Raditz remove his tale when Goku got him but instead begged for his life? Maybe he wanted to test Goku if he is ruthless enough to join them for one last time?
@@SaiyanScholar I guess so. But honestly It's pathetic that Raditz has this weakness when Goku was able to remove it when he was half his age, especially when his two comrades had also removed that weakness.
I think Raditz wasn't fully paralysed and was counting on cutting his tail. I think he was BS'ing some of the pain and could have got out of it if he really tried.
Raditz is stronger with his tail like all saiyans are, so if he can convince his brother to let go he gets to keep his extra strength, if memory serves adult saiyans aren't able to regrow their tail so losing it this time would be a permanent downgrade in power and losing access to his great ape form
@@midorisetsuna7334 I don't know about adult Saiyans not regrowing their tails. When Vegegeta recovered from his fight on Earth he said that his tail would regrow. It didn't but that was mostly due to Toriyama forgetting or simply wanting to get rid of them. I think Raditz would still have an advantage over them even after losing a bit of power.
Raditz is so cool...wish he could've been brought back...I can only imagine scenes of raditz growing far stronger and keeping up with the rest of the group. And maybe even getting a piece of frieza. If raditz only stuck around for the namek arc, it would have been splendid and i would have been happy with that. Raditz learning about how planet vegeta really went out could have been a character turning moment. And maybe he could have had beef with vegeta since vegeta seemed largely indifferent to this fact and stuff...(maybe I'm wrong in my memory about all that). Anyone who tries to justify raditz having such a short spotlight is lame and has no imagination :(
Saiyan Scholar, Goku Wasn't Dumb He Got Strategic By, His First Dragon Ball Z Battle Against, Raditz His Brother Said He Knew About The Saiyan Tail's Weakness Of Being Cut Off Thanks For Letting Everyone Finding Out The Answer On, Why Goku Let Raditz Saiyan Tail Go
Wonder why they never wished Radditz and Napa back. Especially since there are so few of them left. You would think that post super sayajin they would have done the old revive and befriend.
I appreciate you pointing out the more subtle things that got glossed over in the anime. Those of us that grew up watching Dragonball from the original series on had a bit more insight into the whole tail thing for the start. I’m turning 30 on the 13th so I’ve been able to witness a lot of the story with my own eyes. And as a kid even I grasped the idea of what was going on. Cuz whe Goku got his tail grabbed he couldn’t even get up. It’s a subtle nuance about the strength of each individual character. Raditz, even though Goku had his tail, didn’t immediately hit the ground paralyzed and still had plenty of strength to move around cuz Goku barley started letting go of Raditz’s tail before Raditz elbowed the fuck out of him. He was milking the tail weakness the whole time laying it on thick for Goku and Piccolo but piccolo is extremely analytic and saw through Raditz word but Goku caught on to the deeper picture sooner. And didn’t go for the tail again.
Gotta love it when the manga blatantly tells us that Raditz already had that plan cooked up and that Goku knew that now that he is aware of the Special Beam Cannon so it isn't going to be effective as a surprise attack anymore.
Don't forget that with Dragonball Z, it was Akira Toriyama's plan to pass the torch to Gohan, and have Goku killed off permanently, so Goku has a side story in the afterlife getting to fight all manner of dead warriors in what is his idea of heaven, including fighting saiyans who died before him, to train and fight for all eternity to his heart's content. And Gohan being the new hero of Earth who has the same psychological scars as Goku, but has a formal education and thus much smarter than his father.
My guess at first when reading the title was that from the position he was in, the makankosappo wouldn't be sufficient for the kill on Raditz because he wasn't in a preferred bodily orientation relative to piccolo's location to receive the proper damage to be defeated. I was right on the edge of guessing the answer in that manga. Lol
Spectacular video! I love Goku, and it hurts when they treat him as an utter fool when he really wasn't. Raditz was probably the most threatening foe they had faced since Piccolo, so he knew they had to get serious. I love this fight because not only the two rivals tag along, but also because they strategically fought Raditz together, in a very smart way.
if goku didn’t let go, he wouldn’t be able to train with king kai, which would indefinitely make him too weak to even stand up to nappa, which would end dbz at frieza saga, because vegeta wouldn’t get his zenkai boost from almost losing to the z fighters and yajirobe
The Budokai 1 OST is such a great music choice for this vid My earliest memories of Dragon Ball is the Budokai games, and especially the Raditz fight 😤
I do think him being his only family did have a small part in Goku letting go I mean he had to be at least slightly interested in that fact that he could learn more about where he came from
And in the vein on this thinking that act of kindness giving them the win would solidify his keeping his body due to King Yema seeing he was good of heart and truly the only way to win this battle.
Toriyama wanted to make sure there was a good enough reason for this character to not have an arc and never come back, and this tactic he used, although brilliant subterfuge, is of the lowest caliber of morality trick of trying to appear weak begging for life lying about being good after what he did and said.
I like this. Radish is not as strong as Cabbage and Vegetable, but he is a warrior. They probably wouldn't give a damn about the tail or not, but the tail is the catalyst to summoning the mighty Oozaru when they stare at a full moon. It's strategic to keep it, and as a warrior they also know that their tail is a weakness because someone can grab their tail (evidenced by the fact that they wrap it around their waist). The backup plan to cut off their tail is most likely because that in the heat of battle, they won't focus on things like keeping their tail wrapped around. Manga or anime don't have to be realistic, but this is reasonable
Makes sense if he didn't d!3 then would have never learned kaioken and spirit bomb and probably wouldn't have been able to take on Nappa let alone stood a chance against Vegeta.
Actually raditz would have beat goku not kill him, then Gohan nd raditz would have an arc on "how to be a saiyan" then goku goes on an arc to find his son
1: Goku has always been like this. There isn't a magic divide between kid Goku and adult Goku. Adult Goku ended Buu, tried to end Cell, and encouraged Gohan to end him after. Pleading is his weakness, Tao and Freeza both used it too. When someone is begging for their life Goku finds it very hard to finish them. 2: Raditz COULD have done it. Goku himself did it when fighting Grandpa Gohan. Not because he was strong enough to resist, but because if there's enough of a struggle it will just straight up detach. When Raditz says "You knew!?" it is more "You know?!" Sorry, but yes. Goku acted very foolishly here because of his bleeding heart. And that's fine. Trying to make Goku perfect is extremely irritating. He's a flawed character and it makes him more interesting.
Yeah, people forget when Goku fought Krillin in the Tournament after he hadn't seen em for a while and thought grabbing his tail would work and found out the hard way Goku trained his tail to be resistant.
so one issue both Goku & Gohan have REGENERATED their tails naturally so its a moot point since Radits has access to advance medical tech he could simply regrow the tail even if he had to save the severed tail so Radits would not be reluctant to cut it off but rather his opportunity NEVER came up.
even if Raditz severed his own tail wouldn't he still be in some sort of weakness after? that first ape transformation against Pilaf when Goku got his tail cut off he had to relearn to walk again, he couldn't balance. in other animals including apes the tail is an extension of the spine. for Raditz I believe over time he'd get used to it but right after he wouldn't be the same fighting level. it would be a quick escape but how would things go after?
that does not really apply in this situation for two reasons. first off the tail makes up a much smaller percentage of an adult saiyans body mass, so it's effect on balance would be much smaller to begin with. secondly and much more importantly, radditz showed that he was able to fight unhindered with his tail wrapped around his waist, so he clearly knows how to fight without using it for balance.
@@windhelmguard5295 I think ppl also forgot radditz was a high caliber saiyan warrior I'm pretty sure they would teach them how to balance n counter balance with or without his tail just incase it ever got cut off in base form
0:53 I had so much trouble playing this part of the game cause I was dying at how theyre positioned and the way theyre moving so aggressively like Radotz is getting dominated by his brother 😂😂😂😂
Ironically letting go raditz tail then dying vs raditz did more to save earth from Vegeta and nappa as trading on king Kai’s planet is equal to thousands of years of training on earth during the few months Goku was there
Another factor of not mentioned is that letting Raditz cut off his tail would have weakened him(possibly more than Gohan injuring him did) because a the tail even without counting the transformation we see in Dragon Ball when Goku grows his tail back during the W.M.A.T. that just having their tail substantially improves their base level abilities by a noticeable margin.
Even looking past the tail cutting, when you consider picolo tien vegita and even oolong, Goku letting his enemies live hasn't always been a bad thing.
people need to understand goku isnt stupid. he isnt really a fool either. he just lets his saiyan tendencies get in the way and is far too trusting of people. but in reality he is a genius when it comes to martial arts and fighting. hes just not book smart
I first watched the Raditz fight when DBZ first aired (that was almost 30 year ago, damn) in the US. I had almost no context for the tail grab, beyond watching Dragonball, which aired before DBZ did. However, since DB in the US only aired up until the first Dragonball, Goku still had the weakness of the tail grab. However I later learned that, by the 2nd tournament, Goku had gotten rid of that weakness through training. Also both Vegeta and Nappa did the same at some. So it really doesn't make sense that Raditz would still have that weaknesses. It would actually make sense that all Sayian warriors would get rid of that weakness as children. It seems like one of those things that AT may have forgotten and then was reminded of by the time he got up to the Nappa/Z warrior battle.
Another theory:
While holding Raditz's tail, Goku realized he would have to deal with Chichi after the battle and death seemed like a sweeter option. Sacrificing himself seemed like the best option at the time for him : Raditz would be stopped and Chichi wouldn't be able to nag him for a while. Goku then smiled before dying because he was satisfied on how well his plan was going and how nobody caught on the true reason of his sacrifice.
Brilliant!
Clearly you don't seem to know what the word nag actually means cuz if you did you realize Chichi doesn't actually do lol
And like most people you skip the part where Goku said he loved that about chichi, saying men are into that kind of stuff, so either stop trolling or pay attention to the story lol 🤭
@@ChiChiLand299 I love Chichi and I don't think she's ACTUALLY a nag, but it's a funny bit that has been going on for decades so I just sorta roll with it.
@@ChiChiLand299 learn how to take a joke 🤣
@@ChiChiLand299 tfs iteration says otherwise, its a joke that most people know due to tfs dbza lmao, light hearted humor def went over ya head. If you are so involved with the story, then maybe go look at parodies of it since they may shine a light in a different, darker humor sense..wait..you wouldnt be able to follow along with half the jokes
"He can cut off his tail!"
"You knew?!"
That's very conclusive, good theory!
Completely left out of the anime, that's why I like reading the manga
@@FirstnameLastname-yc2mt It wasn't left out out the anime. On the original version in japanese, it was said exactly as in the manga.
@@fabricealluma7236 well, I speak English
@@FirstnameLastname-yc2mt I speak french and english, watched the OG with subtiltes. U should give a try.
@@fabricealluma7236 that's really cool bro.
I'm not going to go back and rewatch anime subbed for a few lines of dialogue
I think what confuses a lot of people here is Raditz begging Goku to let him go. People think that A) Raditz was truly desperate and that B) Raditz honestly believed Goku would let him go. Raditz honestly believed he was going to have to cut off his tail. He wasn't begging Goku for mercy because he was truly hoping for it. He was exaggerating his own vulnerability for Piccolo. He wanted Piccolo to take the bait. If he was going to have to sacrifice his tail, he wanted to be sure that Piccolo would waste that special beam canon. He wasn't trying to convince Goku to let him go, He was trying to convince Piccolo he was truly vulnerable and helpless. Goku realized that Raditz was playing it up and that Piccolo was falling right into his trap. So he released the tail. Not because he believed Raditz would change, but because he knew this wasn't going to work. Raditz honestly didn't think that Goku would let go, he was more focused on getting Piccolo to fire the special beam canon, Hence his shock and Exclamation "You FOOL!" when Goku released his tail. Goku didn't know what would happen next, but he knew that Raditz was going to cut off his tail and dodge the special beam canon and then they would be helpless against Raditz. That's why when Goku grabbed Raditz with the full nelson Raditz realized goku was not in fact a fool, but was onto his plan.
TL:DR goku went for the full nelson the second time, sacrificing himself instead of grabbing the tail again because he knew Raditz would cut it off at the last second.
😤🔥🔥
Also, betting on Raditz deciding to stop the fight after being shown mercy was the only way they could survive, Goku knew it probably wouldn't work but holding on to the tail any longer was suicide anyway.
It’s likely but I don’t think it’s the reason Goku let go of his tail. I don’t think it was Goku’s naive nature but rather his pure heart. That’s what makes him unique among everyone else. He values life. One of his moves is the spirit bomb.The first episode shows him denying his brother’s request to kill other humans and join him in conquest. But if you look at his track record he has a history of forgiving his enemies and making them allies/rivals. He would rather see them change.Which is something the video does not mention.
@@ilcamileon6617 that what it was i think people over thinking lol
Wrong. Goku calls him a liar in suprise after raditz elbows him.
I've noticed that when the topic of 'Goku being smart' comes along, knowledge of Dragon Ball helps to understand how smart he can actually be. Just in the topic of the tail, Goku learned to use his tail as a helicopter and trained not to be stunned from a trail grab before he learned to fly.
I can totally buy the theory that Goku took the risk because he knew Raditz could cut his tail off, since he took the risk already that Raditz wouldn't had trained to withstand the tail grab. Piccolo wasn't around when Goku had the weakness and lost the weakness, thus Piccolo couldn't know Nappa's training.
At around 7:20 he says after the second special beam cannon piccolo would of had no power left yet he had enough power to regrow his arm which takes up enormous amounts of energy as seen by how much power Nail dropped when he did it against Frieza. Also Nail was fresh when he regenerated his arm and only did that one hit on Frieza's neck before Frieza ripped it off while Piccolo was fighting constantly and wore out from fighting Raditz with no arm and two special beam Cannon's plus piccolo had enough power to fly away which back then took up mega amounts of power which is why Goku used the flying nimbus
@@OverRule1 It would be nice analysis topic to compare Warrior Namekians like Piccolo and Nail.
TLDR: Guardians are not as good Warriors as the Evil Ones.
I feel Toriyama has been consistent in original manga when it comes to Piccolo's Namekian powers. King Piccolo made an egg, even if it made him weaker, yet still he was strong enough to defeat un-boosted well-fed Goku. Later King Piccolo released his full power even though it could shorten his life expectancy, yet still considering how long Kami has lived - not an issue. Piccolo Jr (or Piccolo in Z) inherit everything from King Piccolo, and regenerating an arm during the tournament similar implications - it lowered the strength but it's not noticeable when power levels are close to equal.
But main difference between Nail and Piccolo: one is Guardian and one is the Evil one. One fights when they have to, the other one fights when they want to. This was also demonstrated well during the tournament arc. Even if Kami and Piccolo are the same being, Piccolo who kept battling through out the years became stronger than the other one, who focused on intervene only when they had to.
its not really a theory if theres a panel where he says it
It can still be analyzed. At least I haven't come across that discussion too often (if at all).
@@OverRule1 Would have*
(Yes it's that important that you stop saying "Would of" like a fucking Chav.)
Goku is much smarter than people give him credit for. Tbh, I enjoy Goku being a goofy and funny fella because seeing goku be just some "powerful stoic man that doesn't talk a lot" would really ruin the entire story
Yeah, makes it more impactful when he gets serious from time to time as well
@@Henvag True
Smart huh… reviving Frieza on namek was smart huh. Giving cell a senzu was smart huh.
@@ZeusDaEvilOne "reviving freiza on namek"
"Giving cell a Senzu"
Firstly, Goku didn't "revive" freeza.Freeza wasn't even dead.
And if you're referring to Goku giving him some energy, Goku didn't give him likd his entire energy. He gave him just enough energy to make it out of namek and survive. It's called Mercy. After Freeza betrays him, Goku (in his mind thinking that he killed him) had a deep remorse, it just shows that Goku gave Freeza a chance to save himself, or change his ways but he didn't and instead betrayed him.
And for the "Giving Cell a Senzu bean"Goku knew Gohan was ready, and knew he just needed a little push. After fighting cell himself, Goku knew that Gohan would unlock his full potential and defeat him.
It wasn't Goku giving a senzu which was wrong (like if being trusted in your son's abilities is a crime, then beat me), it was his miscalculations which led to the death of 16. And even his "miscalculation" isn't really a miscalculation, like how are you supposed to know if someone's "90%" ready or "95%" ready (unless if you're and android). And hell, Goku was right, Gohan did unlock his full power and did defeat cell (altho it was Gohan who extended the whole issue). So Goku wasn't wrong here either
But you know what they say, Never argue with Dragon Ball "Fans", they have never watched the show. Just like you!
goku was still stupid for letting go of his tail the first time, besides raditz would be weakened if he did cut it off.
Some of us realized why Goku let go of the tail reading manga closely, what I do not get is how Goku plan on getting Raditz killed after letting go of his tail? No way he planned on Gohan breaking out of Raditz' Saiyan pod after hearing his father's cries. Does he plan on grabbing Raditz's foot to prevent him from moving around, even tho Raditz can easily sway his hands away?
What Goku was betting on, if he assumed Raditz was telling the truth, was that he may just decide to leave the fight right there out of gratitude. It was a very low chance, but it was all they had because holding on to the tail any longer wasn't going to work. It was a miracle that Gohan helped them and he saw his chance to get Raditz with the Full Nelson.
Goku saved Piccolo's energy for later when he went for the Full Nelson. No I don't think he knew Gohan could injure him but he knew they'd definitely lose if Piccolo missed a ki blast and was then out of energy and time
After Goku let go of Raditz's tail, he was in a position where he needed some sort of miracle to happen, so he took the opportunity for a full-nelson after said miracle. They likely would've died had Gohan not created the opening that Goku needed to hold Raditz in place
Completely agree!!
I just don't see Goku being a fool in this fight nor it costing his life. What happened was the only way to beat Raditz on that battlefield.
Gohan the miracle.
Piccolo the weapon.
Goku the smart sacrifice.
No, the full Nelson strategy was definitely more risky than the tail gripping and waiting for piccolo to use special beam canon.
The logic behind radiz was crafty that he could have found a way out is pure agenda driven, especially suggesting had enough iq to make himself seem weakened when he got his tail grabbed. If he was that crafty why didn't he you know shot out a beam from his back and impale goku using that.
Without Gohan, they wouldn't have won. Raditz would have broke out of the Full Nelson if he was fresh. Goku realised Gohan hurt Raditz and took advantage of it.
@SaiyanScholar okay, doesn't change the fact that if you believe raditz is indeed smart and deceiving enough to fake exhaustion then why couldn't he have broken out goku grasp using as i said ki, or flight (if he couldn't go up go down, these characters are strong enough to ignore dirt and goku wouldn't be exactly something like that), your whole video relies on the idea that raditz is smart when he's shown to not be.
Also the logic goku has to not grab the tail again is stupid, just prevent him from touching his tail when he's on the ground raditz was clearly shocked about gohans power so much he forgot he had ki when goku was hugging him. Goku is under the impression raditz could take off his tail but why would he assume that are saiyans like those lizards that can shoot off there tails, why and how would goku know about it.
Just say you have an agenda
@nani4249 After Raditz was assaulted by Gohan, he no longer had enough ki to break out of Goku's firm grasp because Gohan injured him that badly. It was smart for Goku to trap Raditz in a full nelson instead of going for the tail again because what was gonna stop Raditz from elbowing Goku in his temple during his attempt to unwrap his tail? Goku going for a full Nelson was a less risky and faster way to trap Raditz while he was stunned. Also, it's dumb to question how Goku knew that Raditz would cut off his tail, given Goku also had his tail cut off before.
Here's the thing: Goku trained so his tail wouldn't be a weakness. And that's when he was much weaker (still kid Goku btw), so there's no way Raditz hadn't. Raditz was definitely playing up his "vulnerability."
The thing is Goku only trained that because people kept taking advantage of his weakness because they knew about it solely from being around Goku throughout his life, Raditz would've had no reason to train to get rid of that weakness because no one on the planets they invaded really knew about it.
@@EmperorFriezaTheSaiyanBeater yet, Vegeta and Nappa trained so their tails wouldn't be a weakness when they conquered planets. They've said as much. Raditz was part of that team and their punching bag, so he'd have reason to.
@@PregnantFreddyKrueger Yeah that makes sense, Raditz did have some strength left when his tail was held onto unlike Goku when he was a kid so he's likely trained it as well but not enough for complete resistance like Nappa and Vegeta had. I doubt he was playing up his vulnerability because he really wouldn't have anything to gain from it, and he definitely did have enough strength so that he could cut it off like he said in the video.
@@EmperorFriezaTheSaiyanBeater Goku was the same way after training. It's definitely plausible, likely even, that Raditz did as well. He seemed ready to cut his losses and remove his tail.
@@PregnantFreddyKrueger vegeta and Napa didn’t train to get rid of that weakness they stated they as upper class evolved beyond that weakness
DBZ eras and yes Goku was much smarter in DBZ rather than super
Even super goku is decent, contrary to popular belief. Not the brightest, but definitely not a "black hole" as people claim him to be
Goku made dumb decisions even in Dragonball, Goku fangirls need to watch it again more closely.
@@NeCoruption Good luck changing other’s minds with that display of ignorance on your post. Lol
Not just smarter.....an actual character with thought put into him
@@NeCoruptionThe inside Buu bits were non canon, that's 1.
Number 2 even fucking then, he was still very much aware of the situation, can actually hold a fucking conversation and not look stupid with that " :0 " look on his face whenever Vegeta or someone else talked or explained shit to him.
Let me know when Super Goku, talks about the future of earth when he's long dead. Not insightful wisdom ever comes out of Goku's mouth in Super. Never.
Great video
I say it was more luck than anything, there was no way Goku would know Gohan would Attack Raditz the way his did, creating the opportunity for a Win.
I agree! Luck played a huge part of it! It just seemed like Goku knew "this won't do it" when holding the tail knowing there's only 1 SBC left. Raditz was so quick after Goku released that Goku had zero chance to switch to a Full Nelson. Raditz needed distracting.
Thanks for watching though!
Gohan positively rocked raditz's shit with that charging headbutt. It was the perfect distraction, and it really cleared up a lot of work for Goku tryna stick that full nelson on raditz.
I also find it kinda silly to suggest that grabbing the tail a second time, or even that hanging on to it woulda sufficed in keeping Raditz still long enough.
Ever been popped in the nose? It makes your eyes water. Temporarily.
The irony, is that if Goku didn’t give Piccolo a second chance, he wouldn’t have been able to help him defeat his brother.
I really don't feel like we can credit the wise choice of Goku dropping Raditz's tail to his brilliance and more to the fortunate circumstances of the writing. There was nothing in that scene to suggest otherwise. I do agree that Goku letting Raditz go was likely the better choice in hindsight, but pretending like allowing Raditz to get the upper hand again, letting his ribs get crushed, and relying on his 4 year old son to come in and give him the opportunity to finish off Raditz is Goku playing 4D chess is farfetched. If Goku was so smart about it, what was his plan after letting Raditz go? Was he just giving up and declaring his defeat then, or are we expected to believe he could see the future like his father?
Him letting his brother go was absolutely due to his naivete, and there was just no reason to try that strategy again since Raditz was aware of it. I feel like that extra line in the manga about Goku knowing about Raditz cutting off his tail is either a post-hoc meta explanation from Toriyama or the aforementioned not trying the same strategy twice.
The video wasn't talking about 4D chess, though; as that would suggest Toriyama had the whole fight plotted out, and this doesn't seem to be suggesting that. It just made sense why Goku made those individual choices, consistent with who he is as a character. Sure... it had some fortunate writing, but there were also desperate adaptations being made, which takes a lot of effort and creativity in the writing. Toriyama is a discovery writer/pantser. It takes a different skillset to write that way.
@@beastmage3 I don't know how you didn't get the implication that Goku was being smarter than we thought in the video. That is exactly what SaiyanScholar implied by emphasizing Goku's supposed intellect and that's how the rest of these comments took it as well.
I won’t even give you that it was a wise choice in hindsight. Raditz was on the ground, if he cut off his tail and dodged the special beam cannon would’ve hit the ground not Goku.
@@Phillylove100 I don't think Picollo has the energy to just be shooting 1 zillion special beam cannons this early in the plot, bro would be juiced after his second
@@humanconvertileGoku's tail was removed and regrew during Dragonball, so it makes perfect sense to think that he knew raditz could cut his tail off with the knowledge that it would regrow
Goku had grew beyond the tail issue when he was a kid. People seem to forget that, the second torment he fought in when he fought Krillin he let it be known the that he had grown passed that weakness…..
Yeah kinda undermines a lot. I remember the tail copter like tails in sonic lol. Still a fun big brain theory vid, let alone no way they'd be a match for nappa and then vegeta (fortunately they didn't fight goku at the same time) without king kai's training.
yeah, he did. but he certainly didnt do it in like 3 minutes 😭
Its funny how this slowed down fight where just shooting a blast is a whole event is so much more memorable than the modern stuff of 20k energy blasts and everyone zipping aorund at light speed.
Another possible point to consider would be that Piccolo punched a very large hole through a mountain when he missed with the first Makankosappo. A close range ground shot could have severely endangered Piccolo, Goku, and Gohan whether it connected with Raditz or not. Whether or not it occurred to Goku to keep Raditz standing with a full nelson, it was the right call. His son was prone only a meter or two away on the second attempt.
Saiyan Scholar: So what do you think about...
Audience: Well my opinion is...
Saiyan Scholar: WRONG!
😭😭😭😭😭
Piccolo: "I got one more technique!"
Goku:"You do?"
Piccolo: " Yes, but you have to distract him while I charge it"
Goku: "That doesn't sound to bad..."
Piccolo: "For 5 Minutes, and considering how he beat us both up... well I am sure you can handle it!"
*Goku will remember that*
@@SC-Skye-Gaming proceeds to repeat it the next saga.
Did... did you just hold a grudge?
"Charging my attack"
This feels like a retcon.
A great point. Sometimes even us biggest fans forget how much of a tactical genius Goku is at fighting. He quite often reads his opponents' combat plans as instinctively as motorists read road signs.
uh is that a joke? or like do you live somewhere that people actually gaf about road laws
@@M4shus I don't see how it's relevant. Most people who don't care about road laws still read the road signs. They just choose to ignore them.
Sometimes people forget this is the same Goku who had the foresight to let Vegeta live after beating him, and also the same Goku who figured out how to bait Cell into bringing out Gohans true potential.
Yeah. Goku's choices might seem naive at best and boneheaded at worst at face value, but Goku's a lot smarter than he's given credit for being.
So Goku giving Cell a bean and letting Raditz's tail go was all 300 IQ moves
😂 yeah moves that almost got everyone killed
Yeah. The only thing Goku didnt envisioned was Cell spawning Cell Jr's.
Understandably so.
@@deoxysandmew2162 or self destructing and coming back even more powerful.
There's a reason Raditz has remained one of my favorite antagonists. I don't recall if the dubs of the anime ever mentioned that Raditz could've cut his own tail off. It would make sense for that to be overlooked if it wasn't mentioned in the anime.
Another thing people overlook is that holding Raditz in a full-nelson makes him a much easier target to hit, versus him lying flat on the ground when Goku's holding his tail. Piccolo already missed him once, so making sure he's standing upright is a smart idea.
Wow, I never knew about Goku being a few steps ahead and anticipating his plan to cut off his own trail to escape .. never read this information from the manga. Very interesting perspective! Great video.
*How* would he do that? If the tail weakness was still present, he couldn't move to do it. If it wasn't then he could just dodge the narrowish beam attack
such a reach, theres nothing to suggest he wasnt stunned or had any plan and to suggest goku was also aware of radditz plan when their entire strategy was to grab his tail is insane. I also think radditz is too prideful to beg unless necessary and he was so strong he intended to defeat them w force alone
Love this info, it really changes my perspective. The situation is called back to again just afterwards and even foreshadowed right before.
Beforehand, Goku says that his tail was removed because it got in the way.
Right after the battle, we see a whole segment of piccolo regrowing his arm. Bulma or Krillin makes a remark about how its like a lizard.
The reason lizards can do that is that it leaves behind a distraction so they can escape. Piccolo lost his arm but he was fine with just one arm, and similarly Raditz was about to loose his tail but survive as well. Raditz is using the same method as the lizard here, tricking the predator (piccolo and goku) and getting away, perhaps at most getting shot through the arm but definitely still being alive. This would 100% be the end of both of the heroes.
People are saying that Goku didnt have a strategy, and yeah he didnt. But that doesnt mean he wasnt smart here. I think what happened is, at first Goku grabbed his tail and both of the heroes felt pretty confident.
Raditz knowing this was a easy way to trick them into firing the only other beam they had was really playing it up, acting like he was already at Goku's mercy and defenseless to bait out the attack.
What i think happened here is that Goku had that "oh shit" moment where he realized why his brother was being dramatic. Just like the farmer dropped the cigarette. Goku released the tail in shock realizing he was actually about to loose and die.
If Piccolo fired his only shot there they were both toast. Truth is without Gohan they didnt even have a possibility of winning. Goku and Piccolo got cocky (in desperation ofc, they didnt have any chance either way), grabbed Raditz tail, and then it hit Goku that this wasnt going to work. His heroic sacrifice was him capitalizing on the only good luck they had that entire day lol.
You can really tell that Raditz faked his fear the first time too. Bluffing and messing with his opponents' sense of confidence really appeases him.
He completely drops the act and is in complete disbelief when goku actually grabs him at the end. If the tail thing was going to work hed have been more scared. Raditz I believe let his ego show a little too much by really hamming it up (no doubt planning on laughing maniacally after piccolo missed twice) which may have tipped off goku that this wasnt a real checkmate the first time.
Also, Raditz did say hed leave etc, which although is like 90% chance a lie, there is the 10% chance that letting him go would actually be meaningful enough that hed just leave. Its not like Goku even knows the dude. What is certain is that if Goku didnt let him go Raditz would escape, minus a tail so even angrier, and have no reason to not just kill everyone. If frieza told you to dance for him to avoid getting killed, youd do it. Even if its a 1% chance to change his mind. Little brother 'letting him go' (he wasnt even actually trapped so no loss) might have been able to change Raditz wildly inconsistent mind.
The man came to earth just to meet his brother and within a day went from recruiting his brother, kidnapping his nephew who "hed never hurt", then considering just killing Gohan anyways just after that, then changing his mind, then deciding to just murder Goku out of nowhere wasting his whole trip. Its not crazy to think he might change his mind again, man was running off of 100% ego and emotion.
Goku isn't stupid, he is just ignorant of most common concepts of the world. But in martial arts he is a straight genius
People probably wouldn't think that if it was included in something other than manga...which is newer than what came out
The problem is that Goku let go of the tail because he was trying to show mercy. Not because he was actively making a tactical choice. Even if he knows Raditz could escape anyways, he still didn't have any better options immediately available. It's only by sheer chance of Gohan intervening to weaken Raditz that made the rest of the events possible. So he was still a fool in that moment for believing Raditz, just a lucky one, sort of.
they would have been worse off if he kept holding onto the tail tho, and he literally called raditz out when he was holding him. did you even pay attention to the video.
@@nolife4218 I know that things conveniently worked out. That's obvious. I'm saying that Goku did not let go of the tail as a tactical choice, he did it because he figured showing mercy in that moment might work out better than trying to kill Raditz. In the exact moment he first got the tail, he had no other options available whether he figured holding the tail was going to work or not. He did not let go out of some genius 4D chess strategy to full nelson him later. He let go because he was desperate and figured showing mercy might help. Raditz was too strong to hold any other way until Gohan injured him. There is no way Goku would've assumed that Gohan was going to do that. Goku does not have magic, Bardock special foresight. If Gohan did not intervene, Goku and Piccolo were screwed regardless. Did you even pay attention when you read my comment? Or are you just trying to sound smarter than you are?
@@mojaxon23If Goku was actually desperate he would have told Piccolo to fire the special beam cannon or if Piccolo couldn't they would attempt to kill him in one way or another + he literally knew Raditz can cut off his tail because he said it and Raditz said "how did you know"
@@BBroski That whole comment changes nothing. Goku just went with the options he had available, and picked the less tactical and more compassionate option that happened to work out when it otherwise would not have because of 3rd party intervention.
He could've either held on or let go. Simple as that. The smart play with the information he had available in that moment was to hold on and he chose not to. He got lucky that Gohan attacked Raditz. There was no 4D chess involved here. Dude just got lucky. Why people think Goku has some magic foresight and knew what was going to happen is beyond me.
Why wouldn't Goku know Raditz could escape anyway? Cutting his tail if he had to is an obvious move, anyone could've figured that out, it isn't that hard. But forcing Raditz to do so would still be somewhat better than just letting him go and taking the ass whupping for no real reason other than hope that Raditz had suddenly changed his mind. Goku could not have realistically predicted anyone was going to help him, so he was trying to use kindness to hopefully win when everything else he could do had failed. He does not have foresight, and he did not make some epic 4D chess move to win. He got lucky.
@@mojaxon23 Who said Goku was expecting to be knocked down and who said he would expect Gohan to help?
This is an incredible video! What a topic and wonderful communication of the points!
Good ole DBZ: Budokai on the Nintendo GameCube 🎮🥋🔮🐉 Getting Piccolo to hit Raditz with that Special Beam Cannon on that game as a kid was hard af 🤦🏾♂️😭
In a way Raditz helped both Goku learned about his origins as a saiyan warrior. Piccolo, later by vegeta and nappa said he was a namekian.
9:43 Well Piccolo couldn't have known that because he wasn't a Saiyan and never knew about this weakness (Goku didn't even had a tail back then). The question is why didn't Raditz remove his tale when Goku got him but instead begged for his life? Maybe he wanted to test Goku if he is ruthless enough to join them for one last time?
Makes sense that he tried to plead to his Brother before resorting to cutting the tail off. He had time to do it.
@@SaiyanScholar I guess so. But honestly It's pathetic that Raditz has this weakness when Goku was able to remove it when he was half his age, especially when his two comrades had also removed that weakness.
I think Raditz wasn't fully paralysed and was counting on cutting his tail. I think he was BS'ing some of the pain and could have got out of it if he really tried.
Raditz is stronger with his tail like all saiyans are, so if he can convince his brother to let go he gets to keep his extra strength, if memory serves adult saiyans aren't able to regrow their tail so losing it this time would be a permanent downgrade in power and losing access to his great ape form
@@midorisetsuna7334 I don't know about adult Saiyans not regrowing their tails. When Vegegeta recovered from his fight on Earth he said that his tail would regrow. It didn't but that was mostly due to Toriyama forgetting or simply wanting to get rid of them. I think Raditz would still have an advantage over them even after losing a bit of power.
Raditz is so cool...wish he could've been brought back...I can only imagine scenes of raditz growing far stronger and keeping up with the rest of the group. And maybe even getting a piece of frieza. If raditz only stuck around for the namek arc, it would have been splendid and i would have been happy with that. Raditz learning about how planet vegeta really went out could have been a character turning moment. And maybe he could have had beef with vegeta since vegeta seemed largely indifferent to this fact and stuff...(maybe I'm wrong in my memory about all that). Anyone who tries to justify raditz having such a short spotlight is lame and has no imagination :(
Wow goku really was the man in DBZ. Cool info man thanks 🙏🏻
Saiyan Scholar,
Goku Wasn't Dumb He
Got Strategic By, His First Dragon Ball Z
Battle Against, Raditz
His Brother Said
He Knew
About
The Saiyan Tail's
Weakness Of Being Cut Off
Thanks
For Letting Everyone Finding Out The Answer
On, Why Goku Let Raditz Saiyan Tail Go
Wonder why they never wished Radditz and Napa back. Especially since there are so few of them left. You would think that post super sayajin they would have done the old revive and befriend.
I appreciate you pointing out the more subtle things that got glossed over in the anime. Those of us that grew up watching Dragonball from the original series on had a bit more insight into the whole tail thing for the start. I’m turning 30 on the 13th so I’ve been able to witness a lot of the story with my own eyes. And as a kid even I grasped the idea of what was going on. Cuz whe Goku got his tail grabbed he couldn’t even get up. It’s a subtle nuance about the strength of each individual character. Raditz, even though Goku had his tail, didn’t immediately hit the ground paralyzed and still had plenty of strength to move around cuz Goku barley started letting go of Raditz’s tail before Raditz elbowed the fuck out of him. He was milking the tail weakness the whole time laying it on thick for Goku and Piccolo but piccolo is extremely analytic and saw through Raditz word but Goku caught on to the deeper picture sooner. And didn’t go for the tail again.
Finally a thumbnail i can use to respond to "DOES HE KNOW"
Gotta love it when the manga blatantly tells us that Raditz already had that plan cooked up and that Goku knew that now that he is aware of the Special Beam Cannon so it isn't going to be effective as a surprise attack anymore.
Thank you for making this.
My pleasure!
I like how Goku just looked like a big version of Kid Goku until he trained with King Kai. He doesn't quite look like a fully adult vs. Raditz.
New episode you are doing great work
Thank you so much!
Raditz did not anticipated Goku to grab his tail because it is similar to a man grabbing another man’s d.
Don't forget that with Dragonball Z, it was Akira Toriyama's plan to pass the torch to Gohan, and have Goku killed off permanently, so Goku has a side story in the afterlife getting to fight all manner of dead warriors in what is his idea of heaven, including fighting saiyans who died before him, to train and fight for all eternity to his heart's content. And Gohan being the new hero of Earth who has the same psychological scars as Goku, but has a formal education and thus much smarter than his father.
My guess at first when reading the title was that from the position he was in, the makankosappo wouldn't be sufficient for the kill on Raditz because he wasn't in a preferred bodily orientation relative to piccolo's location to receive the proper damage to be defeated. I was right on the edge of guessing the answer in that manga. Lol
Goku sacrificed himself in order to save his son? What a bad dad. Rip bozo
Spectacular video! I love Goku, and it hurts when they treat him as an utter fool when he really wasn't. Raditz was probably the most threatening foe they had faced since Piccolo, so he knew they had to get serious. I love this fight because not only the two rivals tag along, but also because they strategically fought Raditz together, in a very smart way.
And even if he grabbed the tail and if they one and goku survived he would learn kioken and that was a huge factor in the goku vs Vageta fight
The fact that he rejected a bright and eternal future in heaven and instead chose family shows how loyal he is.
I’m sorry, nobody will ever be able to convince me that goku is smart.
0:42 a full WHAT!?!?!?
if goku didn’t let go, he wouldn’t be able to train with king kai, which would indefinitely make him too weak to even stand up to nappa, which would end dbz at frieza saga, because vegeta wouldn’t get his zenkai boost from almost losing to the z fighters and yajirobe
*Inhale*
*"Well, you know what they say about Dragon Ball fans-"*
The Budokai 1 OST is such a great music choice for this vid
My earliest memories of Dragon Ball is the Budokai games, and especially the Raditz fight 😤
Well when you put it that way I guess it makes sense
I do think him being his only family did have a small part in Goku letting go I mean he had to be at least slightly interested in that fact that he could learn more about where he came from
And in the vein on this thinking that act of kindness giving them the win would solidify his keeping his body due to King Yema seeing he was good of heart and truly the only way to win this battle.
Hey man great video, another great video!
Toriyama wanted to make sure there was a good enough reason for this character to not have an arc and never come back, and this tactic he used, although brilliant subterfuge, is of the lowest caliber of morality trick of trying to appear weak begging for life lying about being good after what he did and said.
I like this. Radish is not as strong as Cabbage and Vegetable, but he is a warrior. They probably wouldn't give a damn about the tail or not, but the tail is the catalyst to summoning the mighty Oozaru when they stare at a full moon. It's strategic to keep it, and as a warrior they also know that their tail is a weakness because someone can grab their tail (evidenced by the fact that they wrap it around their waist).
The backup plan to cut off their tail is most likely because that in the heat of battle, they won't focus on things like keeping their tail wrapped around. Manga or anime don't have to be realistic, but this is reasonable
This is crazy that I didn't even know this information
Makes sense if he didn't d!3 then would have never learned kaioken and spirit bomb and probably wouldn't have been able to take on Nappa let alone stood a chance against Vegeta.
'Full Nelson!'
'A full Nelson? I am RADITZ!'
The choreography of this fight was top tier!💯
Actually raditz would have beat goku not kill him, then Gohan nd raditz would have an arc on "how to be a saiyan" then goku goes on an arc to find his son
1: Goku has always been like this. There isn't a magic divide between kid Goku and adult Goku. Adult Goku ended Buu, tried to end Cell, and encouraged Gohan to end him after. Pleading is his weakness, Tao and Freeza both used it too. When someone is begging for their life Goku finds it very hard to finish them.
2: Raditz COULD have done it. Goku himself did it when fighting Grandpa Gohan. Not because he was strong enough to resist, but because if there's enough of a struggle it will just straight up detach. When Raditz says "You knew!?" it is more "You know?!"
Sorry, but yes. Goku acted very foolishly here because of his bleeding heart. And that's fine. Trying to make Goku perfect is extremely irritating. He's a flawed character and it makes him more interesting.
Raditz,the start of all the madness and storyline in dbz and kinda super
Yeah, people forget when Goku fought Krillin in the Tournament after he hadn't seen em for a while and thought grabbing his tail would work and found out the hard way Goku trained his tail to be resistant.
Raditz: Wait why didn't I just fly?
Screw it
"Goku's not a fool, Goku's not an idiot (in classic and Z)"
I wish Raditz didn’t die. Would love to see how he would of played out in the series if he was alive
so one issue both Goku & Gohan have REGENERATED their tails naturally so its a moot point since Radits has access to advance medical tech he could simply regrow the tail even if he had to save the severed tail so Radits would not be reluctant to cut it off but rather his opportunity NEVER came up.
Ohh so he played to his heart strings so he could keep his tail
I never thought about this that way, that makes a lot of sense.
Also not to mention gokus empathy was what gave him the idea to go for the tail.
He put himself in raditz shoes.
Even I forgot that part 4:29 I wanna go back and check my manga to see if it was in there! I i kinda thought he was fucking with us with a edit lol.
Finally. Justice for Goku.
even if Raditz severed his own tail wouldn't he still be in some sort of weakness after? that first ape transformation against Pilaf when Goku got his tail cut off he had to relearn to walk again, he couldn't balance. in other animals including apes the tail is an extension of the spine. for Raditz I believe over time he'd get used to it but right after he wouldn't be the same fighting level. it would be a quick escape but how would things go after?
that does not really apply in this situation for two reasons.
first off the tail makes up a much smaller percentage of an adult saiyans body mass, so it's effect on balance would be much smaller to begin with.
secondly and much more importantly, radditz showed that he was able to fight unhindered with his tail wrapped around his waist, so he clearly knows how to fight without using it for balance.
@@windhelmguard5295 I think ppl also forgot radditz was a high caliber saiyan warrior I'm pretty sure they would teach them how to balance n counter balance with or without his tail just incase it ever got cut off in base form
I agree I was naive this makes way more sense. Dbs goku acts a little dumber though in some scenarios even though he is a genius for the most part.
Bro Goku was very smart in Z but in super he's just plain dumb
0:53 I had so much trouble playing this part of the game cause I was dying at how theyre positioned and the way theyre moving so aggressively like Radotz is getting dominated by his brother 😂😂😂😂
I call bs. If he was able to cut his tail off before the special beam canon hit he wouldn't have wasted time begging for Goku to let go.
Yep. I'm sure he could have done so the second time Goku went for it but the first time? Nah. Goku got played for a fiddle.
You about to make me go back and listen to the dialogue...
Ironically letting go raditz tail then dying vs raditz did more to save earth from Vegeta and nappa as trading on king Kai’s planet is equal to thousands of years of training on earth during the few months Goku was there
He probably would've just adjusted his body to make piccolo cut of his tail for him.
Imagine what would happen if radits came at night
He knew Vegeta would come and Vegeta would eventually change.
Another factor of not mentioned is that letting Raditz cut off his tail would have weakened him(possibly more than Gohan injuring him did) because a the tail even without counting the transformation we see in Dragon Ball when Goku grows his tail back during the W.M.A.T. that just having their tail substantially improves their base level abilities by a noticeable margin.
9:51 Remember guys, this is battle IQ not regular IQ and Goku in Super let alone Z is, and has always been a fighting genius
also lets not forget because of his experience in the afterlife after dying he learned the kaioken and the spirit bomb
I seen brother VS brother but.. what about Brother along side Brother
Even looking past the tail cutting, when you consider picolo tien vegita and even oolong, Goku letting his enemies live hasn't always been a bad thing.
people need to understand goku isnt stupid. he isnt really a fool either. he just lets his saiyan tendencies get in the way and is far too trusting of people. but in reality he is a genius when it comes to martial arts and fighting. hes just not book smart
I loved all the DBZ Budokai music in the background. Budokai was my favorite DBZ game
I first watched the Raditz fight when DBZ first aired (that was almost 30 year ago, damn) in the US. I had almost no context for the tail grab, beyond watching Dragonball, which aired before DBZ did. However, since DB in the US only aired up until the first Dragonball, Goku still had the weakness of the tail grab. However I later learned that, by the 2nd tournament, Goku had gotten rid of that weakness through training. Also both Vegeta and Nappa did the same at some. So it really doesn't make sense that Raditz would still have that weaknesses. It would actually make sense that all Sayian warriors would get rid of that weakness as children. It seems like one of those things that AT may have forgotten and then was reminded of by the time he got up to the Nappa/Z warrior battle.
It should be the other way around. Yes, Raditz is in a full nelson but uh .... HE CAN FLY!
that's how you know he beat vegeta he knew the tail weaknesses
Goku was just lucky his son helped him.