A Grand Problem

"A Grand Problem" is the first episode of Dragon Ball GT that aired on American television. It is an English-only recap episode created by Funimation to work around the first 16 episodes of the series, as FUNimation did not think the more adventure oriented tone of those episodes would work well with western audiences. It features the scenes from "A Devastating Wish", "Pan Blasts Off", "Terror on Imecka", and "Giru's Checkered Past" to summarize the story.
==Summary==
The episode begins with Goku and Trunks getting wrapped up by some robotic ooze. Everyone wonders how it started, so a flash back occurs to Goku training Uub. He and Uub have become completely equal in strength, and after 10 years of training at the lookout Goku feels he's trained Uub in every way possible as Goku bids Uub farewell and returns to his village. He then decides to head off towards home when a mysterious light appears.
The scene flashes to Emperor Pilaf and his minions who have snuck into the Lookout. They were searching for the Dragon Balls, but not just any Dragon Balls. They are looking for what are called the Black Star Dragon Balls. These Dragon Balls were created by the Nameless Namekian before he split into Kami and King Piccolo.
They found these mysterious Black Star Dragon Balls in a hidden chamber under the Lookout, and so Emperor Pilaf called the dragon forth. However, before he can make his wish to take over the world, Goku arrives after seeing the mysterious light while he is about to leave the lookout and return home and recognizes Emperor Pilaf, and when Emperor Pilaf realizes who Goku is after discovering that Goku looks familiar as he wishes Goku was a little kid so he could beat him up, unaware that the dragon is listening. Ultimate Shenron grants the wish, and Goku is turned into a little boy of 12 years old, much to Pilaf's dismay.
King Kai then contacts Goku. He informs Goku that he must gather the Black Star Dragon Balls back to the Earth within one year, or the Earth will blow up. Goku enlists the help of Bulma who builds a new spaceship, and Vegeta makes Trunks and Goten prepare to go look for the Dragon Balls as well. Just before Goten boards the ship, he gets a phone call from his date. Pan has snuck onto the ship, so she takes off with just Goku and Trunks on board.
A few Dragon Balls are found, and then a mysterious robot named Giru swallows the Dragon Radar. The Dragon Team are forced to bring Giru along so they can track the Dragon Balls.
Giru leads them to Machine Planet M-2, but the Saiyans are attacked by a group of robotic people. They capture Goku and Trunks, and now Pan must find a way to free them.
==Trivia==
*The title card background is very similar to the first episode of Dragon Ball GT.
*This episode was originally in place of the sixteenth episode of Dragon Ball GT.
*The episode was also released in Australia and New Zealand, as those countries received Funimation's in-house dub of GT, instead of the alternate English Blue Water dub which was shown in the UK and Canada.
*This episode is available on the Game Boy Advance Video Dragon Ball GT Volume 1, alongside "Pan's Gambit".
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