Before Trunks, Goku Was Dragon Ball's First Time Traveler

Trunks is recognized worldwide as the first time traveler introduced in Dragon Ball Z and in the Dragon Ball franchise, but was he really? The answer is no: the first character we see traveling through time is Goku, in Dragon Ball episode 129.

That episode is called, quite literally, Time Traveling Goku. It belongs to the arc covering Goku's training with Kami, which is for the most part a filler, anime only arc. It is, without question, my favorite piece of filler in all of the original Dragon Ball. If you have never seen it, or have not seen it in a long time, you really should go back and watch it.

Episode 129 came from its own writer and director, not Toriyama

Credit this time goes not to Toriyama but to the episode's writer and director. The episode aired on October 12, 1988, which made it 34 years old, almost to the day, when I wrote this in October 2022.

As Goku continues his training with Mr. Popo and Kami, he is given a new task meant to make him a stronger and smarter fighter for a challenge Kami already knew was coming: the offspring of Demon King Piccolo, Ma Junior, at the 23rd Budokai. Those events were still a few years away, but Kami wanted to prepare Goku now. The episode opens with Goku training with Popo but making no progress and failing to keep up with his speed, so Popo decides it is time for something new.

The room Popo uses is not the Hyperbolic Time Chamber

Popo takes Goku to a room where past, present and future exist. This is not the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. It is a room that lets you transport yourself into the past, present or future.

It was only mentioned one other time, in Dragon Ball Z, when Goku's friends Yamcha, Krillin, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu went to train in the pendulum room. We do believe the pendulum room and this room are the same room, although they look different, so maybe they are not. Either way, neither exists in the manga, which is why they have never been used outside of anime filler, and the pendulum room was never mentioned again. Popo's goal is for Goku to travel through time and meet a grand martial arts master.

The dub's Master Shen name for the Crane Hermit is one of its most annoying changes

Meanwhile, Roshi is discussing his training under his master, Mutaito, alongside his rival, the Crane Hermit, who was called Master Shen in the dub. That is one of the most annoying dub changes, because Dragon Ball already has a character named Shen: the one whose body Kami takes over to enter the tournament later in the series. The dub came up with its own name for the Crane Hermit for no reason except wanting something different, and suddenly we have a Shen who is not really Shen. It is quite annoying.

Goku lands on an 18 year old Master Roshi

We then see a young martial artist trying to sneak a peek at a woman bathing when Goku arrives and lands on him. The woman he is spying on looks strangely like a character from earlier in Dragon Ball, so she is obviously a distant relative, maybe an ancestor, of that character.

The young man introduces himself to Goku as the best student of Mutaito: an 18 year old Kame Sennin, aka Master Roshi, the Turtle Hermit whom Goku wants to train with. The episode also introduces a young Crane Hermit.

Mutaito folds Goku with ki control

Roshi takes Goku to face Mutaito. When Goku says he trains in the Heavenly realm, he is laughed at, and Mutaito wants to see him fight for himself. Goku tries to strike Mutaito with amazing speed, but being far less experienced he gets folded by the old master's speed and technique.

Goku asks how Mutaito pushed him back without touching him, and Mutaito explains that this is the power of ki control. I find it weird that Goku already knew how to use ki at this point in the series, having used the Kamehameha multiple times, but perhaps he did it instinctually rather than really knowing what he was doing and how to control it. Mutaito then takes Goku to a waterfall to show him how to cut the water using energy, which demonstrates a high mastery of ki and how to control and suppress it properly.

The Crane Hermit's pursuit of the bathing woman turns ugly

The story then moves to Roshi going after the woman, but the Crane Hermit wants her too, and she admits she is not into those kinds of guys. The Crane Hermit demands that she be his girlfriend, going so far as to punch her in the stomach to knock her out. A man knocking out a woman who said no and insisting she will be his girlfriend no matter what? As I put it at the time, "that is a cancelable offense in 2022."

The Crane Hermit attacks Goku but cannot land a hit, and Goku counterattacks. Then we find out the woman has been tied to a tree with a knife at her throat. My reaction: "I'm sure she'll really fall for you now." Kidnapping someone and threatening her life is hardly a way to win her over.

Goku uses what Mutaito taught him to split a ring of fire

The Crane Hermit gives Goku a real beating, and Goku takes it and laughs despite getting beaten up. A torch is dropped and Goku and Roshi are surrounded in a ring of fire. Goku remembers what Mutaito taught him about focusing his energy, powers up and fires a blast that splits the fire and creates a path to walk through.

The woman kicks one of the Crane Hermit's students in the groin, and Mutaito shows up, leaving him in shame. Roshi then vows to one day surpass Goku, which is a great line considering how they would end up meeting many, many years later. The episode ends with Goku back at the waterfall, trying to cut it and knowing he still has a lot of training left.

Why I would love a spinoff about Mutaito, Roshi and the Crane Hermit

I love this episode. It has a good range of comedy, and it is cool seeing a young Master Roshi, a young Crane Hermit and a young Mutaito. I kind of wish they would do a spinoff about these characters and how they developed their rival schools.

Mutaito is a legendary martial artist. He invented the Mafuba, the evil containment wave, and he was the one who sealed up Piccolo many years ago. Around the time I wrote this, Toyotaro had done a redraw of young Roshi, the young Crane Hermit and Mutaito. When you get a chance, go back and watch Dragon Ball episode 129, because "it's one of my favorite pieces of filler ever made."

Would you want a spinoff exploring how Mutaito's students built their rival Turtle and Crane schools?