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Dragon Ball Super Episode 73: Gohan's Plight! The Preposterous Great Saiyaman Film Adaptation?!

Gohan's Plight! The Preposterous Great Saiyaman Film Adaptation?!

EpisodeEp. 73

Gohan returns to his Great Saiyaman persona as a stuntman for a superhero film starring Mr. Satan. When a parasitic alien criminal named Watagash escapes to Earth and possesses a bank robber, Gohan must fight for real while keeping his identity hidden.

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Lights, Camera, Saiyaman

In deep space, the galactic patrolman Jaco stops for a bowl of ramen, leaving his prisoner, the parasitic organism Watagash, unattended. The creature breaks free and heads straight for Earth. On the ground, Gohan and Videl learn that Mr. Satan is starring in a new superhero movie called "Great Saiyaman vs. Mister Satan," with the famous and arrogant actor Barry Kahn cast as the lead. When Gohan visits the set with his family, Barry becomes infatuated with Videl and makes advances. She rejects him in front of the entire crew, humiliating him publicly.

Seeking revenge, Barry manipulates Gohan into taking over as the film's stuntman, hoping he will embarrass himself or get hurt. Since Gohan is the actual Great Saiyaman, he performs every stunt flawlessly, frustrating Barry further. The film shoot is interrupted when a pair of bank robbers strike in Satan City. Krillin responds as a police officer, but Gohan dons the suit and intervenes. Watagash, now on Earth, infects the smaller robber and grants him enormous power, forcing a real battle. Gohan defeats the possessed criminal with a single blow, but Watagash escapes into the sewers.

The incident draws attention to Gohan, and his identity is accidentally discovered by Cocoa Amaguri, a young actress in the film. She agrees to keep his secret in exchange for a flight around the city. Meanwhile, Jaco tracks Watagash to Earth and, suspecting the Great Saiyaman might be the parasite's host, fires his vaporizing cannon at Gohan.

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Gohan's Balancing Act

This episode marks the first time in Dragon Ball Super that Gohan receives a spotlight arc entirely his own, separate from his father's storylines. The Great Saiyaman persona, often played purely for laughs, takes on new meaning here as Gohan uses it to participate in the film while protecting his civilian life. The tension between his desire for normalcy and the reality that threats keep finding him drives the entire two-parter.

Barry Kahn serves as an effective foil, representing the kind of shallow celebrity culture that contrasts sharply with Gohan's genuine heroism. His schemes are petty and human-scale, grounding the story in interpersonal drama before the alien threat escalates things.

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Expanding Gohan's World

This entirely anime-original story gives rare attention to Gohan's life as a scholar and family man, something the manga largely skips. The presence of Jaco ties these events into the broader galactic framework, and Watagash's parasitic ability introduces a threat that raw power alone cannot easily resolve, since the host must be saved rather than simply destroyed.

The episode also quietly reintroduces Krillin in his police role, building on the character development from his recent training arc with Goku and reinforcing that the Z Fighters have lives beyond the next cosmic crisis.

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This content is original writing by Daddy Jim Headquarters based on the Dragon Ball anime series, manga, and official materials. Episode and chapter references are cited where applicable.

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