Regarding Dragonball Super
Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2025 4:17 am
Since we got a bunch of Dragonball posts lately might as well talk about Super. Buried somewhere in this forum is that but I think a fresh take on it would work. It's been years since the anime ended with Tournament of Power.
Ending with Tournament of Power was actually a smart idea IMO. I know the manga continued and I haven't followed it recently. We did get Heroes which IMO was a lazy rehas of the Cell Games.
I will start with I love Beerus and Whis. They added alot to the series. They kicked off the series going to the realm of the Devine. Dragonball and Z both touched on this previously. First with Kami, then the Otherworld with King Kai and then Supreme Kai. But actually having a God of Destruction and an Angel companion? Great. I also like that Beerus or other Gods of Destructions are linked to the Supreme Kai. Like their one true weakness.
While I am not a real fan of the characterization of the Omni King, Zenni, as he or later they come off as just children, I do like that the reason why they like Goku is his straightforward personality (Goku being like this is still on par for Goku even in Z). Think about it, before Goku everyone except the Angels groveled to him. It probably annoyed and bored him. Having a mortal with no fear and friendly was new.
In the context of the whole show, bringing back Freiza was a good idea. He was fun in the Tournament of Power even if his movie wasn't that good.
It was still the Goku and Vegeta show though with a more emphasis on Goku. But at least Beerus and Whis were there. Beerus occasionally threatening Goku or Vegeta with erasure.
Has so many flaws though. For most of the series Gohan was done wrong especially in the Freiza movie. Piccolo continued his downward trend of usefulness with much of it just being a babysitter to Pan. Videl being a demure housewife and not resembling herself from Z. It seems like someone based Goku off of his Team Four Star character. Buu falling asleep twice got old.
They should have kept Fit Buu for the Tournament of Power and replaced Master Roshi. Don't get me wrong, I liked what they did with Roshi. Hell even in the Manga, Roshi showed a form of Ultra Instinct. But he was just horribly outclassed. I get it, he was there as a way to show that power wasn't everything and experience, tactics, strategies was going to be a part of this. But then we saw Goku fight and eventually overpower Jiren who was beyond all of that.
So many ass pulls. First one would be from the Freiza movie. First off is Freiza being able to bridge a vast gap since the Namek saga to Super in four months. Then just creating Super Saiyan Blue off screen and we not really seeing it. Vegeta also in this respect as he went from having just SSJ2 to now SSJB. One thing the anime should have done was create a few episodes that shows this in some form.
Then we got the Universe 6 Saiyans. It was one thing to get Cabba to go SSJ as Vegeta was teaching them. It was another describing it as a tingly feeling in the back when he taught the others. Then them going SSJ2 in the Tournament of Power. It really kills Gohan's transformation in the Cell Games. I mean we already were deadened with any Saiyan really being able to go SSJ by this point. Super Saiyan bargain sale indeed.
Never liked the Future Trunks arc. The ending even worse. If anything it should have ended with Futue Zamasu being locked in the Evil Containment Wave and then locked up in his universe. With Trunks taking on Goku Black Rose. There wasn't any real reason to have two Omni Kings by the time of Tournament of Power honestly.
I think the anime would have benefitted more of what you could call filler episodes that we got in between the main arcs. Like we did get a nice lead up between Future Trunks and Tournament of Power.
Oh and since I am about to talk about Trunks and Goten, I will say it did kinda annoy me that they weren't aged up as the show progressed. Gohan did. Goku did. They kept them as little kids. Even though we arent really sure the time progression withkn the show, my gut feeling is that Trunks should be about 11 and Goten about 10.
Now getting to Trunks and Goten. I am OK with what they had in the show. It was always ridiculous back in Z having Gohan fight the Big Bads as a kid. First the Saiyans when he was 5-6 years old. Maybe 7 when he fought Freiza. I think 12 when he fought Cell. That being said, then we come to Gotenks. Yes a powerful fusion of the boys but they did give in universe reasons. They are too young, too inexperienced. Or their power just wasn't enough for whatever they were going to face.
Ending with Tournament of Power was actually a smart idea IMO. I know the manga continued and I haven't followed it recently. We did get Heroes which IMO was a lazy rehas of the Cell Games.
I will start with I love Beerus and Whis. They added alot to the series. They kicked off the series going to the realm of the Devine. Dragonball and Z both touched on this previously. First with Kami, then the Otherworld with King Kai and then Supreme Kai. But actually having a God of Destruction and an Angel companion? Great. I also like that Beerus or other Gods of Destructions are linked to the Supreme Kai. Like their one true weakness.
While I am not a real fan of the characterization of the Omni King, Zenni, as he or later they come off as just children, I do like that the reason why they like Goku is his straightforward personality (Goku being like this is still on par for Goku even in Z). Think about it, before Goku everyone except the Angels groveled to him. It probably annoyed and bored him. Having a mortal with no fear and friendly was new.
In the context of the whole show, bringing back Freiza was a good idea. He was fun in the Tournament of Power even if his movie wasn't that good.
It was still the Goku and Vegeta show though with a more emphasis on Goku. But at least Beerus and Whis were there. Beerus occasionally threatening Goku or Vegeta with erasure.
Has so many flaws though. For most of the series Gohan was done wrong especially in the Freiza movie. Piccolo continued his downward trend of usefulness with much of it just being a babysitter to Pan. Videl being a demure housewife and not resembling herself from Z. It seems like someone based Goku off of his Team Four Star character. Buu falling asleep twice got old.
They should have kept Fit Buu for the Tournament of Power and replaced Master Roshi. Don't get me wrong, I liked what they did with Roshi. Hell even in the Manga, Roshi showed a form of Ultra Instinct. But he was just horribly outclassed. I get it, he was there as a way to show that power wasn't everything and experience, tactics, strategies was going to be a part of this. But then we saw Goku fight and eventually overpower Jiren who was beyond all of that.
So many ass pulls. First one would be from the Freiza movie. First off is Freiza being able to bridge a vast gap since the Namek saga to Super in four months. Then just creating Super Saiyan Blue off screen and we not really seeing it. Vegeta also in this respect as he went from having just SSJ2 to now SSJB. One thing the anime should have done was create a few episodes that shows this in some form.
Then we got the Universe 6 Saiyans. It was one thing to get Cabba to go SSJ as Vegeta was teaching them. It was another describing it as a tingly feeling in the back when he taught the others. Then them going SSJ2 in the Tournament of Power. It really kills Gohan's transformation in the Cell Games. I mean we already were deadened with any Saiyan really being able to go SSJ by this point. Super Saiyan bargain sale indeed.
Never liked the Future Trunks arc. The ending even worse. If anything it should have ended with Futue Zamasu being locked in the Evil Containment Wave and then locked up in his universe. With Trunks taking on Goku Black Rose. There wasn't any real reason to have two Omni Kings by the time of Tournament of Power honestly.
I think the anime would have benefitted more of what you could call filler episodes that we got in between the main arcs. Like we did get a nice lead up between Future Trunks and Tournament of Power.
Oh and since I am about to talk about Trunks and Goten, I will say it did kinda annoy me that they weren't aged up as the show progressed. Gohan did. Goku did. They kept them as little kids. Even though we arent really sure the time progression withkn the show, my gut feeling is that Trunks should be about 11 and Goten about 10.
Now getting to Trunks and Goten. I am OK with what they had in the show. It was always ridiculous back in Z having Gohan fight the Big Bads as a kid. First the Saiyans when he was 5-6 years old. Maybe 7 when he fought Freiza. I think 12 when he fought Cell. That being said, then we come to Gotenks. Yes a powerful fusion of the boys but they did give in universe reasons. They are too young, too inexperienced. Or their power just wasn't enough for whatever they were going to face.