Dragon Ball Z, Volume 6: Battlefield Namek Book

Freeza and his cronies are collecting Dragon Balls on Namek while Kuririn and Son Gohan look on with horror, helpless. Meanwhile, Son Goku is on his way, training hard, and Vegeta is also on Namek, secretly collecting Dragon Balls for his planned insurrection against Freeza.

This one's a mostly Vegeta-centric volume as he begins to take out Freeza's elite guard starting with Dodoria. He learns the truth behind what really happened to the Saiyan homeworld but it also reveals something about Freeza - he's afraid of the Saiyans' power. This is also the first time super Saiyans are mentioned… But, as is often the case with Vegeta, his arrogance gets the best of him and his battle against Zarbon goes badly.

Kuririn and Gohan have some cool moments. Gohan heroically saves a Namekian kid called Dende from slaughter at Dodoria's hands before Kuririn, equally heroically, has to use his wits to save Dende and Gohan. Thanks to a Namekian elder destroying Freeza's scouters (those head-sets they use to, gah, measure chi power), they're now unable to pinpoint the locations of the Dragon Balls, buying everyone more time for Son Goku to arrive.

It's a fun book with a lot of cat and mouse scenes as Kuririn, Gohan and Dende make their way to the Namekian's Great Elder trying not to be spotted by Vegeta, Zarbon or Dodoria, all of whom are much too powerful to take on in a head-to-head fight. Freeza has five Dragon Balls while Vegeta has one - they have to get to the last one before either of them! There's also the delightful reappearance of some old friends at the Lord of the Worlds' place.

Volume 6 is another great addition to the series but I feel it's more table-setting before the real story begins with Goku's appearance. Still lots of fun though and I'm looking forward to seeing how Freeza fares in battle - you know it's gonna be awesome!