Summary
Friendship has always been one of the most fundamental themes in the world of shounen anime. Some series may use this theme more than others, such asFairy Tail,but one thing’s for sure, every shounen anime fromDragon Ballandall the way toMy Hero Academiahas friendship deeply baked into the story.
Speaking ofDragon Ball,this legendary series actually has one of the most unlikely friendships in the history of shounen anime. Nobody expects these two characters to even interact with each other and yet they end up becoming close friends. Of course, we’re talking about Majin Buu and Hercule Satan, otherwise known simply as Mr. Satan. Here’s how this unlikely friendship began.
Polar Opposites
A friendship is usually formed between two people who are similar to each other.Goten and Trunks are childhood friendswho have similar ages and both of their families are close to each other. Goku and Vegeta are rival turn friends who deeply respect each other’s strength. Nothing surprising about these two examples. In fact, you expect them to be friends from the moment they enter the story. But nobody expects a boastful martial arts champion can forge a close bond with an extinction-level monster.
First Appearance
Episode 254
Majin Buu is an immortal being with immense power who was broken out of his seal by the evil wizard Babidi. Because of that, Buu has no choice but to be Babidi’s servant. But it doesn’t take a long time until he eventually kills Babidi with his bare hands.
Goku is already dead at the time whileGohan is training with the Lord of Lords.So the Earth’s fate lies in the hands of Goten and Trunks who are in the middle of practicing their fusion move. In the meantime, Buu who has gained his freedom feels bored waiting around for a strong opponent to arrive. So he decides to decimate 80% of the human population to kill some times. He truly is a monster that can bring about human extinction.
Episode 173
Hercule Satan, referred to as Mr. Satan from now on, is the champion ofthe Strongest Under the Heaven Martial Arts Tournament.He manages to gain that title because superhumans like Goku and the Dragon Team were absent at the time. They were busy dealing with Frieza and other highly dangerous threats.
Mr. Satan is clearly a strong martial artist in his own right, but that is only because his opponents are mere humans. He is nothing against true monsters like the Androids, Cell, and Majin Buu. His big break actually comes when Gohan and the Dragon Team decide to give him sole credit for defeating Cell. Thanks to this, his status is elevated to the Hero who saves Humanity. So who do the people turn to when the Earth is ravaged by an evil monster called Majin Buu? Well, they call Mr. Satan of course.
The Unlikely Meeting
So on the one hand, we havean immortal being who can dish out nuclear-level attackswhile laughing hysterically. On the other hand, we have a martial arts world champion who takes credit for other people’s achievements. This is how these two polar opposites meet each other.
Playing the Hero
When 80% of the world has been destroyed andcountless innocent people killed during Buu’s attempt to kill his boredom,what’s left of the human population placed their hope on their savior, the most powerful human in the world, Mr. Satan.
Unbeknownst to them, Mr. Satan is scared out of his wits. But the last thing he wants is to tarnish his carefully crafted reputation. So he marches on to Buu’s home with sweat running down his face, weak in the knees, and his heart beating like crazy.
Mr. Satan’s plan is simple. He will sneak into Buu’s home when the devil is out destroying another city and hide the stack of dynamite that he has prepared beforehand. When the time is right, he will detonate the bomb and kill Buu in the process, while standing from a safe distance, of course.
Master and Servant
Unfortunately for Mr. Satan, Buu is at home when he tries to execute his brilliant plan. Buu is ready to turn him into candy when Mr. Satan suddenly offers a box of poisonous chocolate to him. Buu gladly gobbles them up and, unsurprisingly, the poison doesn’t have any effect on him.
Mr. Satan then tries to give a fake gaming console to Buu and while the monster is busy playing, he blows up the gaming console from afar. Again, to no effect on Buu. All these silly schemes amuse Buu and he tells Mr. Satan to be his servant. Needless to say, Mr. Satan agrees.
“You’re funny. I’ll make you my servant.”
– Majin Buu, DBZ Chapter 287
At this point, Mr. Satan is planning to play the long con. Whilehe pretends to be an obedient servantto this monster of mass destruction, he secretly hides the stack of dynamite and bides his time until he can safely blow up Majin Buu. But until then, the relationship between Buu and Mr. Satan is that of Master and Servant.
The Most Unlikely Friendship
So how can a cowardly servant become a best friend to his monstrous master? Again, the key is the fact thatthis is the good version of Majin Buu.While he barely has any moral compass, Buu still acts with kindness towards the people that he likes. And the reason why he ends up caring so much about Mr. Satan is, quite surprisingly, because of a puppy.
United by a Puppy
One day, Buu comes home with an injured puppy on his hands. He is curious why the puppy didn’t run and screams in terror at the sight of the Majin Buu. Mr. Satan then explains to Buu that the puppy is injured and, therefore, he cannot run. So Buu instantly heals the puppy. Much to the monster’s surprise, rather than running away, the puppy wags his tail at Buu. Mr. Satan explains to him that that means the puppy likes him.
From then on,Majin Buu spends most of his time playing around with the puppy.Seeing such a wholesome scene, Mr. Satan begins to warm up to Buu. He asks Buu why he likes to kill people and cause massive destruction. In response to that, Buu simply says that killing and destroying things is how Babidi taught him to have fun. Mr. Satan bravely asks him to stop because killing people is bad. Surprisingly, Buu immediately nods his head and promises to never kill humans again.
Best Friends Forever
The puppy clearly brings Mr. Satan and Majin Buu closer to each other, but the key moment happens when a couple of thugs come near Buu’s house. They are armed to the teeth and foolishly think that they can take on the Majin Buu.They take out their sniper rifle and shoot their first target,the innocent puppy. And then they unleash RPG rockets upon Buu’s house, turning it into rubbles in a matter of seconds.
Needless to say, Buu is unharmed. But when he sees the motionless puppy lying on the ground, Buu is seething. But before he can do anything to those thugs, Mr. Satan has already appeared right behind them and showcased his martial arts by kicking, punching, and beating them up.
Buu is understandably shocked to see this scene, but he is even more surprised when he finds out that the puppy is still alive. Buu immediately jumps and heals the puppy. Seeing the puppy back in full health and wagging its tail, both Buu and Mr. Satan holding hands and jumping around in joy.This is the moment when they become best friends.Not only that, this friendship will last all the way to the end of the series.
“I don’t understand. Why are Boo and that braggart together?”
Dragon Ballis available to stream onCrunchyroll
