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uglydbzmerch · 2 years

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My Unfiltered First Thoughts on DBS Super Hero

Okay! Spoiler free review: I FREAKING LOVE PICCOLO SO MUCH I AM GONNA CRY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE I LOVED THIS MOVIE.

Spoiler containing review under the read more!

Okay! So, I saw DBS Super Hero this evening, specifically the dubbed version. I’m watching the sub tomorrow. I went in blind having not watched any of the unofficial copies of the Japan release that are floating around, and having avoided spoilers by basically going dark on social media since the Japanese release.

I make it pretty obvious that I love Piccolo. In fact, this summer marks the tenth anniversary of my falling in love with him (how I managed to sleep on how AMAZING he is for the first ten or so years of my DBZ fandom I don’t know. And yes I’ve been a fan for over twenty years. Your girl Maji is old). So the fact that he was basically the main character? And got a ton of not only badass fight scenes and cool moments like that, but also cute/funny/dramatic character bits? Seriously I could not have dreamed of more. And so much of his ADORABLE familial relationship with Gohan and Pan! Piccolo and Gohan are literally my favorite fictional besties of all time and just, ACK. They’re so cute. And when Gohan won it all with Piccolo’s signature attack? I died. When Piccolo commented on it and then complimented Gohan afterwards? I died again. RIP me. Killed by feels.

Also! Loved the new characters, especially Gamma 2 and Dr. Hedo! PRECIOUS DORKS. Gamma 2 deserved better than he got but at least he got to be a hero <3 And I liked Cell Max, sick and terrifying. Original Cell will always be best but this was still a cool scary baddie.

There was so many great little moments for the hardcore fans to enjoy, like lots of minor characters getting little cameos, great callbacks, etc, but I also think it was put together well enough to be fairly accessible to casuals. We’ll see what my gentleman (my partner of thirteen years, and he DOESN’T LIKE DRAGON BALL. My bad luck to fall for the only guy in my generation that didn’t watch the show as a kid I swear XD) thinks of it when we watch it together in a couple days, but I think he’ll like it. If nothing else there is a ton of humor (BULMA’S WISH FOR A PERKY BUTT. GOTEN AND TRUNKS’ FAILED FUSION. PICCOLO PRETENDING TO HAVE STOMACH TROUBLE.) that doesn’t require a lot of context so it should be fine.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT ORANGE PICCOLO? He was ugly and sexy and so cool and so tough and I need a bunch of merch asap. I also need merch of him in the Red Ribbon guard uniform, and of adult Gohan with glasses and Piccolo’s outfit, and the new characters, and yeah.

Also Beerus x Cheelai killed me. I need fanfics. I’m gonna be looking for them shortly because I’m a simple woman with simple needs and ridiculous ships are one of them <3

Final thoughts for the moment? I LOVED IT SO MUCH. I’m literally having the worst year of my life and the hype for this movie has been one of the few things keeping me moving forward, I’m so glad it was even better than I’d dreamed. Go see it! It’s so good!!!!

#dbs super hero #DBS spoilers #Dragon Ball Super Super Hero #DBSSH #DBSSH spoilers #DBSSH review #OH MY GAWD #Piccolo #I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

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ankle-beez · 2 years

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[ID: A three-and-a-half star review of "Dragon Ball: Super Hero" by ankle-beez on Letterboxd that reads, "*blows kiss to the heavens* for piccolo"]

#my letterboxd reviews #dbs super hero #dragon ball super super hero #angel.post

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mastacell · 6 months

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FINALLY Watched Freakin DragonBall?!!

#dragonball #dragonball super #dragonball z #dragon ball #anime #manga #otaku #manga anime #youtube #anime review #goku #son goku #Kamehameha #kid goku

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movieanimex · 8 months

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Checkout Dragon Ball New Anime Called "Dragon Ball Daima" Teaser Trailer Breakdown On MovieAnimeX:-

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zzukkummi · 2 years

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Ok... so @sally-for-sally took me to watch the new Dragonball Super movie. Thanks bestie♡

I promised a review so here it is~

WARNING: Spoilers! Rambling! Disorganized fangirling!

All the characters are so cute!!! I have no idea how to write a review about this one. It's going to be very scattered and I'm just going to ramble and word-vomit all the feels that I do remember!

Here we go!

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Dragonball Super: Super Hero

First off, I really liked the "montage" intro. Perhaps more like a tribute/flashback/review. It definitely served its purpose in setting the tone. It felt more like a nod to the OG db vibes and I loved every bit of it.

Villains:

Speaking of OG db, they brought back the OG villain, Red Ribbon! I am aware RR is featured in the newer DBZ games, but it was still nice to see that old logo on the big screen.

The main villain is Magenta, the son of Commander Red. Red... Magenta... lol I will always appreciate the never-changing naming preference.

Magenta is this short mafia-head-looking dude. He hires another shortie. A superhero fanboy who is actually a genius, De. Hedo, the grandson of Dr. Gero.

Dr. Hedo is soooooo cute!!!!! We first see him leaving prison, so we are lead to believe he's a bad guy. But he was serving time for successfully reanimating the dead (think Frankenstein's monster). His crime was for unethical medical/scientific studies/esperiments. Ok. Still a crime...but we know he's a genius. He knows it too! He said his grandpa was a genius, but he's a SUPER genius. Lol so cute~

He's not only a super genius, he's also a hardcore superhero fan! He likes the oldschool superhero costumes, the aesthetic, everything! He even modified his own skin to make it more tough. Kind of like classic superheros where even if they get shot, they're daijyokay.

I liked seeing the son of Commander Red and the grandson of Dr. Gero interacting. They're both short so it's extra cute. The entire time, I was like "awww these two shorties~~" I was particularly amused when Magenta kept feeding Dr. Hedo oreos lol. So cuteeee!!!

Magenta successfully tricks the super genius Dr. Hedo into thinking the saiyans are the bad guys. So in order to save the planet, Dr. Hedo creates superhero androids, the Gammas!

Ahhhhhhhhh

Now look. I am not a seiyuu fan... but MAN.... why did they cast such amazing voices for these androids???? Gamma 1 and Gamma 2... their design is super cute! Gamma 1 has 1 fin on his head and Gamma 2 has 2 fins on his head. Idk if they are fins or horns. But they kinda reminds me of sharks so I'm just going to call them fins. Anyway, I like their designs!! Simple and non-human. BUT THEIR VOICES!!///// Why make their voices ikemen???////////// I was not ready for that.

Anyway, the Gammas were designed to be the best superheros. They, at first, blindly listen to Dr. Hedo's commands, believing that they were fighting villans (the saiyans + Piccolo). But when they realize the saiyans area the villains, they "re-program" themselves to be true superheros.

I like Dr. Hedo and the Gammas. They aren't villains, just a bit naive. I always love the classic trope of genius but naive. Dr. Hedo didn't disappoint.

Other than the Gammas, Dr. Hedo also made another Cell, Cell Max. Nothing too interesting to say about Cell Max, to be completely honest. His design is mainly the same, just more red. He's just supposed to create a "dangerous" atmosphere so that the heros can level up a bit before they save the world. He was "released" prematurely, so it's not like he is cognitive. He's just a brat that is big mad that someone woke him up from his sleep.

Piccolo:

Ok. So to summarize the entire movie with 1 description... it's a Piccolo Movie.

He's the main character.

We see Piccolo being a great babysitter, as always. Not only did he babysit Gohan, now he's babysitting Gohan's daughter, Pan. He trains her and also picks her up from school. But just because he's Pan's teacher, it doesn't mean he ever stopped being Gohan's teacher.

Biss gets attacked by Gamma 2, and what does he do? He goes above and beyond to make a training regime for Gohan.

He stops by for the dragonballs to wish for latent potential (Shenron gave him a little extra as well), goes undercover into RR HQ SEVERAL times.... and even makes Pan pretend to be kidnapped. All of this to make Gohan understand that training consistently is important because you never know when we will need to save the planet.

The entire movie is about Piccolo being extra.

I always liked Piccolo in the manga because he was always so darn cute. But it was great to see him depicted in a cute manner in animation too! His place of residency is very barren because he doesn't like to keep unnecessary things. He's also like a houseplant because he only really needs water to live. Because his basic needs are met, he has no use for monetary assets.

We learn that Videl has been "paying" Piccolo for his babysitting with plushies. Piccolo clearly does not need anymore (or any at all) plushies... but I'd like to think he can't get rid of them because they were gifts. It's super cute. And since he doesn't get rid of them, perhaps everyone just thinks he likes them. It's extra cute. The cycle doesn't break. More plushies!!!!!!!

Anyway, with Shenron's extra boost, Piccolo gets his first visual upgrade. His skin turns golden, very much how the saiyan's hair turns gold when going super. But then he had to go and slap a boring name on it: Orange Piccolo. This dude needs a better naming guidebook.

Piccolo not only helps the villains grab Gohan's attention, but he also helps to escalate the villains' plans, but it's all gucci because he ends up being the main drive to successfully save the planet. So yeah. A one-man show. A one-Piccolo show. Bless.

The Saiyans:

So many things I want to comment on!!

There was a great lack of ChiChi here. But looking back, it makes sense to take out ChiChi's presence. Gohan is too influenced by his mother. That's a whole 'nother can of Asian tiger mom worms. Not sure if that was the correct setting for this kind of movie. As much as I love ChiChi, for the vibes of this movie, it was right to leave her out.

Speaking of leaving out. I thought it was great how they sent Goku and Vegeta over to Beerus's planet to have them train under Whis with Broly. It was necessary to remove those training-obsessed grandpas from this "disaster."

Beerus crushing on Chirai is canon lol. I think I need some time to process this choice too. Pretty sure that was just added randomly so that there is an excuse to keep Goku, Vegeta, and Broly from being forced to return to Earth. I ship Chirai with Broly so kitty kat needs to just end it at the crush state.

I just want to say.... Goten's glow-up tho~~~ ahh so cuteeeeee I def love his new hair!~

I thought having Goten and Trunks mess up the fusion was a great move. Every small detail happened so that Gohan and Piccolo could level up. If Trunks and Goten successfully fused, they could have easily floored Cell Max.

We then have Krillin and Android 18. I absolutely loved how Krillin actually stayed back with Bulma to "protect" her. Bros been through a lot these many years. He's only human. Give him a break. No cap tho, I found myself hoping Krillin didn't get killed. It would be too much. And yay! They kept him alive! Good job, Krillin! You made it to curtain call!

I spoke about Videl a little bit, but sounds like she's also a girlboss. As much as people diss DBZ female characters, I kind of appreciate how Toriyama makes his female characters strong. No, I don't mean "can they solo Goku?" strong... but in the real world, Bulma, ChiChi, and Videl are all top tier.

Bulma: CEO of Capsule Corp. Certified genius. She has beauty, brains, and money.

ChiChi: Literally a princess. She comes from money, yet she settled for Goku. She's good at whatever she wants/needs to do. She's stubborn, sure, and has a bad habit of only seeing what she wants to see, but she's just super goal-focused. She's smart, pretty, and knows what she wants. I'd assume she also has money as well.

Videl: She's the daughter of Mr. Satan. Meaning... she also comes from money. She's also very efficient with her job. She knows how to ask for favors too (shown with Piccolo). Videl's EQ is probably the highest in the entire DBZ cast.

It's because of these fierce women then the saiyans are able to do whatever tf they're into...

Which brings me to Gohan.

This biss.

At least he doesn't train all day like Goku and Vegeta.... at least he stays home... sure. He stays cooped up in his room... only interested in his research. ChiChi wanted you to study to land a good career! Not so you could continue the cycle of being a negligent father!

Dude really pushed all his fatherly dutied onto Piccolo. Like father like son... One would think that because he couldn't spend a lot of time with his dad growing up, you'd think he would want to be in Pan's life more... nah. Bro straight-up was like "I didn't need a dad, so you don't need a dad either, Pan!" Bruhhhhh

Which... kinda maybe yeah. Maybe Piccolo should just open an official academy. Get paid in sensu beans?

Pan was probably my favorite character in this entire movie. She was so cute!!!! Her lovely acting reminded me of Anya from Spy x Family too. "Papa!!! Tasukete!!!!" Was too cuteeee~~~!!!

But honestly... how does Gohan not know how strong his own kid is? At least Goku was like "nah, my son will be fine! He's 3 now, but he's strong!" Meanwhile, Pan's about to learn how to fly and our man Gohan is just like "oh no! Humans have kidnapped my saiyan daughter!" Lol. It's just extra sad and shows just how much of a negligent father he is.

Am I done with this review? No idea... I think this is all of my feels at the moment. It was a super cute movie. I loved Pan, I loved the shortie villains duking jt out, I loved the Gammas, I loved Krillin trying to stay alive, I loved Goten and Trunks messing up fusion. I loved Piccolo and his plushies.

Arigathanks for reading!

#dragon ball super #dragon ball super hero #piccolo #orange piccolo #cell max #dbz super #review #dragon ball movie #dbz movie #movie spoilers

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fabuloustrash05 · 2 years

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Just saw Dragon Ball Super: Superhero movie!

Here are my thoughts!

Warning: SPOILERS

Android 21 is officially canon!!!

Magenta fucking bullshitting the whole idea of Bulma having an evil organization and plotting an alien invasion is hilarious 😂

The throwback/reanimated scene of future Trunks vs Freiza and King Cold! The nostalgia!

CELL!!!!

Piccolo training Pan!! 🥰

PICCOLO HAS A HOUSE!!! FINALLY!! TFS IS GONNA LOVE THIS!

Anyone noticed that Piccolo’s chair he sat in is very similar to King Piccolo’s throne in Dragon Ball?

I love how Piccolo holds his phone, also LOL Piccolo has a phone!!

Piccolo being another grandpa for Pan is so sweet

Piccolo calling out Gohan for neglecting his daughter. I guess the Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree because Goku’s parenting is starting to rub off on his own son

I like how the red ribbon army tries to paint off Goku, Vegeta, and Buu as the villains to convince Dr Hedo to build them androids brought a chuckle out of me

Loved the fight between Piccolo and Gamma 2

Piccolo pointing out Gamma 2’s background affects popping up behind him!! 🤣🤣

Smart idea of Bulma constantly gathering the Dragon Balls to prevent anyone from using them for evil deeds

But also very pity that Bulma is basically using the Dragon Balls for cosmetic surgery. It was a good call back to the Broly movie when Bulma wanted to use the Dragon Balls to make herself look 5 years younger. Is it because her saiyan husband ages slower than her?

Piccolo and Dende!! I love that Dende and others refer to Piccolo as “Kami”

Piccolo’s new powers and forms!! So badass!!

BROLY!!!! 😍😍

So Broly and his friends are now living on Beerus’ world to hide from Frieza. Smart choice! I hope they are safe!

Goku, Vegeta, and Broly training on Beerus’ world!! The last 3 Saiyans!! I LOVE IT!

Vegeta meditating! I love that he’s trying to focus more on his mental strength than his physical strength, he learned a lot from observing Jiren during the tournament of power. He’s definitely have come a long way in his training and even his character growth

BEERUS X CHEELAI????!!?!

Lima becoming Beerus’ personal chef is so cute.

GOKU VS VEGETA TRAINING TIME!! LETS GOOOOOO!!!!

Honestly I like how this is the reason for why Goku and Vegeta are not in this movie or the fights. I’m glad they didn’t show up into the fight because if they did I’m pretty sure the fight would’ve been over sooner. This is a Piccolo and Gohan movie, as much as I love them, we don’t need Goku and Vegeta.

Can I just say how much I absolutely love Gamma 1 and 2? I love G2’s upbeat want to be superhero persona and I love how G1 completes him by being more serious.

Piccolo “kidnapping” Pan for the Red Ribbon Army so he can get Gohan back into his training and encourage him into his old ways as a fighter. I also love how Pan was playing along and having fun with it.

I absolutely love Piccolo and Pan’s dynamic. It’s so sweet and adorable.

DADDY GOHAN READY TO KICK SOME ASS AND SAVE HIS DAUGHTER!!

I love the fight between Gohan and Gamma 1! Very well done!

Gohan basically being blind without his glasses when he’s not a Super Saiyan was a funny running gag.

Piccolo trying to reason with Gamma 2, He knows that they’re lost and are trying to show them who they are truly working for

ORANGE PICCOLO!!! 😂 Why not Super Namekian?

Bulma bringing in Trunks, Goten, 18, and Krillin into the fight!

Bulma: I brought all our strongest warriors! Oh, and Krillin too

Me: EMOTIONAL DAMAGE!!

Krillin actually having to remind Piccolo that he can grow huge and Piccolo being like “oh yeah I forgot I can do that“ 🤣

CELL MAX!!!

18 was definitely getting some ptsd when she saw Cell Max

Gamma 2’s sacrifice 😭

Goten forgetting how to do the fusion dance! 😂

Did they seriously just tease us of getting teen Gotanks?? We did get him but as his chubby self. At least it was still useful in battle 👍

GOHAN!!!! HIS NEW SAIYAN FORM!!! BADASS GOHAN IS BACK BABY!!!

PAN CAN FLY!!! 🥹💞

I love that we got to see Piccolo and Gohan’s father-son dynamic again

Very kind of Bulma to offer Dr Hedo and Gamma 1 a job at Capsule Corp, maybe we’ll see them again in future Dragon Ball projects

The after credit scene was definitely a surprise I didn’t expect but I really enjoyed it!

Goku and Vegeta have been fighting the entire freaking movie and are exhausted but are still going!

Broly and Lima in awe over Goku and Vegeta‘s battle 😂

VEGETA FINALLY BEAT GOKU IN A FIGHT! THE PRINCE OF ALL SAIYANS DESERVES THIS WIN!!! 👑❤️

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misakialter · 1 year

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Ok but am I about to Rant?

...You know what? Fuck it.

Why not, I'm gonna end the year talking about something nobody really cares but I certainly do for whatever reason: Dragon Ball Super, babyyyyyy.

Specifically the Granolah Arc.

(In advance, thank you for reading.)

Genuinely, I have like a lot to criticize about it but for those who need a refresh or have no idea what I'm about to say but still wanna read my thoughts anyways lemme do a quick summary for you.

The story continues from the resolution of the prior arc, as a power copying enemy known as Seventhree is salvaged by it's creator. Before this guy could do anything though, the titular Granolah trounces and steals the Android.

We find out he's the last of his race, and had his planet wiped out by Saiyans working under Frieza back then. He's serving a faction known as the Heeters, they sell planets but work under intel over force, now holding their own monopoly after Frieza's first death.

Keyword: FIRST. Now that he's back, they are in trouble and tell as much to Granolah, whose trauma kicks in and wants nothing but vengeance, but of course, he's too weak. Though the Heeters start to carefully plot around this development thanks to SevenThree's memory helping them get caught up with last arc's development and our heroes.

Granolah returns to his planet and the topic comes out with his caretaker, a namekian elder. Reminded of their set of 2 Dragon Balls and with the finding of the missing one, Granolah wishes to become the strongest (At a cost) and demands to see Frieza.

The Heeters, of course, tell him to stay put and set in motion their plan: Get rid of Granolah before he destroys the empire they wanna overtale by tricking Goku and Vegeta into coming, while they wish their toughest member, Gas, to be THE strongest to then kill Frieza.

After a long brawl between our heroes trying to talk Granolah down, the elder is forced to reveal some truths: A Saiyan (Bardock) saved them and the Heeters killed his mom actually, he couldn't reveal it prior as Granolah was put to work with them in exchange for their safety.

Thus, Gas turns into the strongest and faces the now teamed up trio who are vastly outmatched as he continues to grow, little by little wearing him down until Frieza's surprising arrival, who wipes out Gas in one clean sweep and leaves Goku and Vegeta with the bitter feeling of being left behind powerwise.

With Granolah now giving up on his vengeance, Goku finding out more about his father and adapting Ultra Instinct in his own way, and Vegeta fueling his newfound Ultra Ego form with his feelings on the Saiyan's past, the gang says their goodbyes and set off.

People with familiarity on the arc will notice me describing the entire second half of it in three paragraphs. And this is for sure not a mistake: This IS the relevant information of that section. So you know, we'll be here for a while when I get there. :)

So like, was the arc bad from the start?

No. Much like the grand majority of DBS, I think it's got one of, if not the most promising start so far, because as it stands, the arc set in motion a very character centric narrative over something with a bigger plot in motion. This is actually the most enjoyable part of it which we hardly get in this series at all, so it feels fucking good when people come to blows because we have so much baggage on each side the clash gets hype, much like how DBS: Broly toyed with (Or you know, how Battle Shonen that go hard do it).

Granolah is an interesting character, despite having his arc rushed at the very end and with some missed out chances. Already having seen a similar concept with Baby from GT, we know the idea of a surviving race member of a wipeout from the Saiyans writes itself. Not to mention his unique aspects such as his trauma or his combat quirks help him stand out beyond the cool design. He's also integrated into the world with as much grace as the new group, the Heeters, who serve as our "people to punch" this arc.

From the duo of Maki and Oil proving to be a little more comedic than threatening but still effective, and the cunning Elec being modestly entertaining, they don't feel out of place in the world of DB. Gas in particular I'm going to put off for now, but know that his interactions with Elec is what make the latter vastly more unique in terms of narrative role. Commander Red comes to mind but if he was played entirely straight. I think they serve the narrative pretty damn fine without the need to go beyond as characters, Gas nonwithstanding.

When it comes to Goku and Vegeta's role in the story, the latter gets the most out of it. His training with Beerus, his theraphy session with Granolah, his showcase of the Ultra Ego to an extent and him getting to interact with the Saiyan's past in a fresh way. They have never fucking fumbled Vegeta since the "doing the same thing as before but worse" allegations from prior arcs, which is a strong positive for his fans, but yeah, he doesn't get any Ws lmao.

With Goku, we have... Things happening for sure, of varying qualities, but the praises are getting short on that end, so I'm going to save it for later. On paper, I do appreciate the attempt to do more with this character and he still is not the weakest part of the character centric narrative.

In general, the central core of said narrative is one of the more interesting and cool so far. It makes the entire portion of the fight against Granolah all the better, not to mention that section having bouts of good coreography and action. I love having an enemy worth punching in a series where punching people happens so much they can be souless bricks to punch, especially if the bricks aren't interesting unlike, say, Frieza.

Speaking of, he turned out the be the funniest, most shocking element in this arc. Like not even as a joke, his presence is a legit highlight from the sheer absurdity of his impact. He barely gets foreshadowed at the first half, with the asumption it's the character who is most commonly tied to everybody what makes you think of him at all times, and isn't even used until the very last minute. But when he DOES show up, he ONE SHOTS GAS, VEGETA AND GOKU, claims to have been OUT OF RANGE for the "make me the strongest" wish to account for him, found a HYPERBOLIC TIME CHAMBER in space and proceedes to brag that he knew what's up and that got a brand new form only to LEAVE.

It's truly a chaotic shock to the system which matches the ridicolousness of Dragon Ball Heroes whipping out a new Broly out of nowhere every anniversary or so, but in an oddly positive way. Like you could've done more with the concept but honestly I can't truly be mad with the sheer boldness in display. But that's because... Well...

So like, is the second half bad or what?

I can certainly say the ending woke me up. But it's kinda fucked up how once Granolah stopped being the opponent everything else kinda crumbles into fighting a boring nothing character with no connection to the heroes and progression being constantly halted JUST so we can attempt to give this opponent some fluff.

Let's be fair: Gas holds his own with Granolah padding and brick personality aside, there is some setup to their rivalry and the backstory works, albeit motion is wasted to highlight aspects that only come out now instead of beforehand: The fact that he was envious, the stubborn devotion to his own techniques, Granolah feeling anything beyond towards him, etc. Still works fine, still patched up now.

There's also his relationship with Elec as a highlight, the former manipulating him and hyping him up in spite of Gas doubting himself, showing devotion and loyalty back to Elec and even being grateful he made him strong as he is, which is kinda tragic once he realizes what he becomes.

But I can't fucking caaaaare.

I believe the core problem with Gas is that they waited too fucking long to start showing his development and choosing the very distracting battle that HALTS ALL PROGRESSION to try and do something with him.

This is also after the big break which was the Bardock flashback, we'll get to that, but since the goal became his defeat and he has no one to bounce from naturally, the second Goku steps up as the main opponent (After the fight has had MANY twists and he powered up several times) everything resets completely harder than when each form turned the tides. Because Goku still had no internal change, he doesn't remember Bardock yet, and the story didn't think of bringing Gas along to recruit Goku and Vegeta and build THEIR personal rivalry outside of Bardock's impact on Gas after defeating him so it feels limp without the connective tissue.

So what we have is a scene which deadass could've played like this:

Their goal is to kill Frieza. They did not want to waste time. They literally just believed they killed Granolah and incapacitated both Goku and Vegeta. What are they gonna fucking do? Defend Frieza? They don't fucking care if he dies again, maybe they wanna fight them, but it would provide a fucking change of scenery which hasn't happened since the start of all the fighting. Gas too, like, sure, he would want to kill them for knowing too much but at this point NO ONE is a threat.

As a result the jawdropping moment of Ultra Ego and Ultra Instinct together feels wasted on a very lame opponent. The revelation Goku has to use Ultra Instinct his own way is just kinda there because Gas is the least important part of said development. The epic struggle to take him down feels done already.

It's tiring. Really tiring. No matter how fancy the techniques, the core character is being built as we speak in a narrative that SOLELY focused on characters on the last minute. And I can't care as a result.

Speaking of breaking progression and being tiring, we also need to talk about a little something.

This is another joke page, dw.

But uh, anyone feels like the first flashback would've been enough? Technically, they could skim on HOW Bardock defeated Gas interrupting an already glacial paced conflict, especially not without any substantial information to the characters, Goku's development aside.

Bardock doesn't feel entirely realized either. I appreciate the fact they are trying to bridge the gap between Minus and Z Bardock to make it look like it's mostly the same character but it's not until he's fighting where this seems to be at play.

He feels like he's on autopilot on his own plot thread. There's feeling his actions are arbitrary (To the point of needing a flashback within one for justification) as him being conveniently set up to be there, rather than let his character flow naturally. His impact is felt across the characters but "just so happens to be there" is not the card they play. This isn't a rando — Nonono, this is Goku's Dad™, therefore he MUST be important... Which goes against the core idea of making Minus Bardock and Z Bardock the same character, but topic for another time.

Point is: When the story could've chosen to use the Saiyans as a positive influence (A loaded statement but yet another topic for some other time), they really chose to tell this story in a rather clunky way, contradicting the core idea of a typical Saiyan without exploring Bardock's uniqueness regarding it (If he has it) when we need it to buy into it. We're coming off from the character from Minus, you HAVE to expand on it because that one had ALSO next to nothing going for him.

So yeah, I may be beating this aspect way too much but in hindsight, if the story decided it should be focused heavily for breaks between fight while also having a half that is meandering just to trigger Goku's memories, then maybe they should've thought about it a little more when telling this story.

Which leads us to perhaps the biggest weakness of writing for DB: Getting Goku involved in the plot without him feeling less like a problem solving plot device they are forced to keep out the action. He's active, sure, but he has no connection to anybody, so what do?

His arc this time around is Ultra Instinct being a technique Goku needs to improve on despite everyone in the fandom swearing that the one we were calling MASTERED Ultra Instinct for years wasn't really it. As such, he has to find a path to use it on his own, which obviously means "dodge on your base form" but there's more to it: He has to learn and stop mimicking Whis when doing so.

The solution is simple and it works in every aspect but to make UI less impactful, but asuming we saw that coming and we don't mind, this leaves Goku accepting his emotions instead of repressing them while using UI, thus getting the most out of the Sign form.

...And it's kinda disconnected to everything? They tacked in Bardock's sole focus on his drive to win as a catalyst which is why they used the second flashback, and that kinda gets a little lost when this still doesn't tie him to Gas and with how little that statement says on it's own. "He has the same determined look" doesn't work and the Sign reveal loses a lot of impact, so what we're left is with what feels like a very random power up.

This scene of Goku recovering his memories is used as a superficial aspect as a result, because the memories themselves don't make for anything beyond one disconnected touching moment. It's even lacking impact on Goku as a character because he sure knows the thing which never mattered to his core identity at all save for being a fighting freak, it would be nice if this was important as it wants to be. But that's it. Him being positively in touch with his Saiyan side internally has always been a thing, he's supposed to be the opposite of the stereotypical one, so yeah, sure. It's not awfully offensive but it sure feels wasted.

Wait, that's it? Those are your takes?

Listen, you probably expected me to go off over the new set of DBs making the story lame with how anyone can wish for strength or what I think about the new forms and how I think they are either ugly or cool, but like, I feel there was a bigger urge to talk about the core narrative problems and less about the window dressing of the action. The balls have always been in a downward spiral to becoming too convenient already, and forms as punctuations for progression is like, tiring but it works visually, it's not a specific problem to the arc but the series as a whole.

Overral, I just feel uneven about it. The character driven conflict is obviously gonna leave you with a lot of holes if you don't keep it PERSONAL so the failure to do something so cool with DB hurts a lot. Undeniably though it's first half was the best part of this entire Manga on setup alone.

The second half is an atrocity however that makes me call the arc trash without the hesitation that I should be having. The fighting? Drags on with a nothing opponent. The opponent? Boring us to death as momentum has to stop to develop them. The developments? Tied to Bardock between breaks in a couple of flashbacks, used sloppily with a protagonist that feels uneven. Our actual protagonist? Hardly there.

Frieza coming back to end the arc feels cathartic on top of hilarious as a result. It's a spit to the face to the whole of it. And it's not horrendous as the Future Trunks Arc's ending thanks to at least having promises for the upcoming stories and ultimately being more interesting too.

o(-(

I don't know. This especially sucks because we were going so hard on something amazing like always but DBS just has a mystifying way to fuck things up for literally no reason. But you've heard me ramble enough. I still enjoy the series for that alone: I can't stop peeking no matter if it's a trainwreck with thousand dead. It's easy to pick apart the pieces.

Thank you for reading this if you did. I really appreciate it.

Take care! <3

#dragon ball super #dbsuper #dbs manga #review #granolah arc #bardock #gas #dbs vegeta #dbs goku #I talked a shitton this time around #thanks for reading #i will shut up now

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