Episode 95 – Transformed at Last/Transformed At Last!! The Legendary Super Saiyan, Son Goku

Speaking of Dragon Ball Z episodes that changed anime, what best episodes list would be complete without “Transformed At Last,” the first appearance of the Super Saiyan transformation. How do you even begin to talk about this episode? It was the biggest thing ever, especially during the series’ American airing — ask any fan about their reaction when they first watched this episode, they’ll tell tales of freaking out in their childhood living room or hearing roaring screams of collective hype emanating from dorm room halls. It’s a universal experience for all Dragon Ball fans; this was the moment.

But it’s not just about the hype, nor is it just about the badass moment of Goku’s rage turning his hair gold and multiplying his power: it’s about the culmination of everything that came before. Akira Toriyama wanted to end Dragon Ball after the end of the Frieza saga, and as much as I love everything that comes after, it would have been a great way to end it. The concept of a Super Saiyan is teased throughout the entire arc, and before that, Goku’s stance as a “lower class” Saiyan is made clear by Vegeta in the Saiyan saga, an idea that is broken over and over again as he breaks through limits imposed on him by this ideology. It all comes to a climax when Goku goes Super Saiyan; his power comes from the kindness of mourning a friend, from his hard work as a martial artist and from being the opposite of Frieza, which is what makes it so poetic and powerful that Goku becomes the one thing Frieza feared. It’s goddamn brilliant.