Dragon Ball Super 126-131 Review

Author's note: These were originally reviewed separately, and later combined to be consistent with other Dragon Ball Super content. 

This was originally the episode 127 review, and preserved due to having the most comments. 

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Dragon Ball Super, Episode 124: The Fiercely Overwhelming Assault! Gohan's Last Stand!!

Hoo, I just finished from a huge, huge high of reviewing the entirety of Dragon Ball Super, and while I did watch the last two episodes as they came out, this is going to be the first Super episode that I review on its lonesome. Which isn't going to last very long with the show going on seemingly indefinite hiatus with episode 131 or thereabouts, but I actually have something prepared that's going to be Dragon Ball related for the foreseeable future. (No, it's not GT)

But while I'm all bubbly and happy about the franchise as a whole, what with my recent binge-watch and binge-review of Dragon Ball Super and my generally positive attitude towards it, plus playing through the story mode of Xenoverse 2, I do have to admit when an episode's not particularly up to scratch. And this one is one of those episodes. 

Granted, it's hard to keep up the high-octane pace that the Vegeta/Goku-vs-Jiren fight has been for the past two episodes. We got a couple of cursory blow-trading, Vegeta and Goku do a combined Final Flash/Kamehameha thing to bury Jiren in rubble, and we did get a ccool shot of Jiren rising out of it... but that fight felt more like it's just trying to fill up one-third of the episode's screentime. 

Because the main fight here is Dyspo fighting Freeza, and it's... it's not particularly impressive. Dyspo's gimmick of being super-fast doesn't really lead to anything particularly memorable, the constant usage of the ATATATATATA scenes are a bit too much. Freeza gets to stop dicking around in this episode and actually go Golden and shock the shit out of Dyspo with his sheer power level, it's kind of a given that the bunny  superhero's about to meet his end in the tournament. Freeza also tries to pull off a "hey, let me work with you to beat up Universe 7, but you wish me back, mmmmkay?" deal that he tried to pull off with Roh's agent and Frost, but it's honestly nowhere as well-executed or as exciting as it was in those two times. We also kind of get a failed opportunity with a lack of "I AM A PRIDE TROOPER, VILE VILLAIN!" style of dialogue.

Oh, and the Golden Freeza transformation is recycled, but it's a short and well-animated transformation sequence, so I don't mind it as much. 

I did find it rather surprising, however, that this isn't where Freeza just one-shots Dyspo... and we get the revelation that Dyspo has his own power-up mode called "Super Maximum Light Speed Mode". Really, Dyspo? No "Justice" or "Pride" somewhere in there? For shame. And they... well, they basically repeat the same thing, except this time it's faster than even the Kami-Pad's slow motion function can follow. Gohan ends up jumping in to help out Freeza, leading to a tag-team between the two, but Dyspo's power-up mode was delivered in such an underwhelming way that things like Anilaza ends up being far more interesting. Freeza ends up creating a laser cage for Gohan and Dyspo to fight in, but... Freeza... randomly "loses his grip"? Causing Gohan to choke-hold Dyspo, and for Freeza to ring them both out?

It's not the worst exit for Gohan, as he gets a far more dignified one than Piccolo and Tien Shinhan did, but it still leaves me with a weird taste in my mouth. We don't really get a proper payoff to Gohan's character arc in this tournament saga, and while he does really feel like a badass in the short while that he fights Dyspo, I still feel that as a character development tool it's still a bit hit-and-miss. The way that Freeza loses his grip could've been a lot better, too, by simply utilizing Toppo in interrupting Freeza's death-cage and having a resolution to the 17/Gohan deal they had last episode. I dunno. It's a pretty underwhelming episode in both action and character. It's not bad, it's just... bland. 

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Dragon Ball Super, Episode 125: With Impending Presence, God of Destruction Toppo Descends!

I am so glad I go into these episodes skipping the 'preview' sections from the previous episode, as well as the title of this episode, entirely. Otherwise, well, the big twist that happens in this episode is quite literally just spoiled in that. I honestly don't understand people who drink up spoilers when watching a serialized and relatively simple series like this -- what's left if you do so? It's like, apparently the spoilers for the previous episode literally just shows Toppo transforming into his brand-new form, and it's like... why would you spoil that? Hint at the form's existence and that's going to be enough to rile up the audience. 

With that said, this was a pretty good episode, and a fair bit better than the previous one. Sure, no lasting consequence is done as absolutely no one gets knocked out (or killed), but the execution of Toppo's power-up and his clash with Freeza and 17 is done remarkably well. We get a brief bit of Goku and Vegeta fighting Jiren, but of course nothing's going to be resolved until they get a proper episode dedicated to them. 

The battle between 17 and Toppo continues from the previous episode, with them just exchanging a crapton of ki blasts with each other, and 17 really just aims to pin Toppo with the aid of his infinite energy, but Toppo breaks through and they end up doing a pretty impressive beam struggle, seemingly in Toppo's favour as 17 is pushed towards the edge... but Freeza shows up and starts mocking Toppo while shooting him in the back like a dick! Again, it's a moment where Freeza is involved where we really should be rooting for Freeza as a representative of "our" universe, but Toppo has been so jolly and likable, and Freeza's all gloating and sucker-punching people and it's a really strange feeling. The combination of attacks from both sides causes Toppo to be overwhelmed, and gets blown up...

But then Toppo gets up to his feet while Freeza continues to gloat... and then shows off that the whole "training for a god of destruction" thing isn't just for show as Toppo growls about how "justice is meaningless",  and that only protecting Universe 11 matters now. Toppo then transforms, surrounded by a purple aura, his eyes turn red and he has a weird mark on his chest, and apparently he is able to manifest the god of destruction's Hakai energy around him like an aura that disintegrates anything thrown his way, including energy blasts. This power up essentially makes him a god of destruction in all but formal title, and Toppo assuming this form is even enough to make Jiren stop and look in his direction, commenting that "he's finally decided to accept". 

While everyone is in a state of shock, least of all Beerus, Freeza gloats about how he's survived a god of destruction's energy back when he was fighting that random assassin sent by Shidra, and I really, really love that scene as Freeza mocks Toppo, noting that "one hand will be enough", and then starts to get overwhelmed, is forced to use two hands and then seemingly just vaporized by the sphere of destruction. It's obviously clear that Freeza isn't killed, otherwise Toppo would be disqualified... yet Freeza acts so assholish in this episode, and the way the shot is executed and how Freeza remains out of our hair for a while really makes me think that Freeza is either killed or in a whole "trapped in another dimension" dealie that Goku went through in 113.

As the arena crumbles and splits in half under Toppo's strike, he and 17 then face off. Not even 17's all-around super-functional barrier can withstand Toppo's blasts, although the android is certainly faster. 17 uses the rubble around Toppo to jump around and unleash streams and streams of ki blasts, but it does nothing as they all disintegrate in Toppo's aura, and he then proceeds to Justice Flash all of 17's rubble footholds, talking about how "justice and evil are both meaningless now."

Also, unrelated to all this, but the animation's definitely on point here, especially in animating Toppo's glorious MUSTACHE fluttering around in all the explosions going on. 

And then Freeza shows up in a sequence that seems to be a homage to how he initially survived the spirit bomb, whacking the tail on the ground with one eye closed and launching a sneak attack (although this time throwing a rock to stop 17 from getting blasted). Freeza creates this gigantic Death Ball  thing and throws it at Toppo in, again, a neat homage to the Namek saga... and Toppo just creates a teeny-tiny sphere of energy that's like as big as his fingernail and flicks it at Freeza's Death Ball, completely disintegrating it and okay that's super-duper badass!

Toppo then just charges in, punches Freeza in the gut in one smooth sequence, cracks the fool's skull and then throws Freeza out of the arena... and then 17 throws a rock at Freeza's body, causing him to fall down still in-bounds, but unconscious. It's... interesting, because this means that there's going to be something relating to Freeza in the near future. Is he going to be the winner of the tournament by default because he's unconscious in the battlefield? Is he going to get his just desserts? Very curious.

Regardless, though, the cliffhanger here is that the wholly-outmatched 17 has to figure something out to fight a god of destruction, and honestly, despite all the talk about him being able to match Super Saiyan Blue back in the recruitment arc, I really don't buy that. Still, it's interesting to see if he can actually pull something off. Great stuff. 

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Dragon Ball Super, Episode 126: Surpass Even A God! Vegeta's Desperate Blow

This episode is actually... quite polarizing. Literally so, too! Let's go with the bad bits out of the way first, which is actually quite coincidentally, the first half of this episode. Like, the entire first half. See, one of the rather glaring problems that old-school Dragon Ball Z has is that sometimes the villains and antagonists feel like absolute chumps after displaying such a huge power-up, and then absolutely failing to defeat their opponents. Which is exactly what's going on here. Toppo's god of destruction powers are so unbelievably badass in the previous episode, and the man's an unstoppable juggernaut. Honestly, the previous episode might be one of my favourite episodes of Super due to the fighting scenes between Toppo, 17 and Freeza. 

Here it kind of... undoes the impact of last week's episode, honestly. Toppo is just shouting HAKAI wily-nily and shooting the Justice Flash attack (probably now just called "Flash" since he's renounced justice) and the entirety of the first half of the episode honestly feels like filler, not helped by literal filler due to the extra-long recap. 17 just runs around without any of the badassery that made him so entertaining in all of his previous outings, and Toppo ends up just hakai-ing all the rocks and rubble, which isn't as impressive as... literally every single other thing he did in the previous episode. Freeza shows up, having recovered from having his skull crushed, to pull off a telekinesis attack to hold Toppo in place, before lobbing some rocks telekinetically at him... but of course it does nothing. It's a new trick, at least, even if it doesn't look impressive at all. 

Honestly, a lot of these felt more like they should've happened earlier in the fight, and not after Toppo has broken Frieza's spirit by flicking a little marble ball to destroy his death ball. 

And then the random errant energies from the fight between Jiren and the two Saiyans lashes about, and 17 and Frieza get caught in the crossfire from a Jiren blast and just get knocked out unceremoniously. I'm not a big fan of this. Thank god that 17 and Freeza don't actually get ringed-out in a ridiculous and out-of-nowhere attack, but the fact that they get taken out of the fight without doing much to Toppo after fighting him for the entirety of the previous couple of episodes is honestly a bit galling. 

And I would've been far more mad if the second half of the episode isn't as well-done as it is. Toppo and Jiren splits up, with Toppo facing off against Vegeta (and, well, since I go into anime episodes skipping their titles, it does mean that this wasn't a development I realize was going to happen). There's an actual bit of a clash of ideals going on between Vegeta and Toppo, which is genuinely unexpected, and I really, really wished that the writing behind Toppo shedding his Justice is actually handled somewhat better. Maybe cut out some of the recycled animation and sequences in the first half, and just have some Toppo monologues about abandoning justice? Maybe talk a bit at the impartiality that gods of destruction must have or something along those lines? 

But Vegeta is the perfect foil for Toppo, and the show acknowledges it -- I didn't really consider it, but Toppo harps about the Pride Troopers being warriors of justice, and it's similar to Vegeta being a huge proponent of Saiyan Pride throughout the entire series. It also gives me faith that Vegeta still has a character arc throughout Super instead of just being a generic, boring anime side-character-that-fights-and-has-no-other-personality. Vegeta is disgusted at Toppo for sacrificing his pride and ideals, while he himself has a brief moment to recall his wife and children, as well as his promise to Cabba... and actually powers up so much he punches through a hakai sphere and even goes through some amazingly animated fighting sequences to toss Toppo around. 

And we get a glorious flashback to one of the best moments in the Buu Saga -- Majin Vegeta's sacrifice, as he detonates himself knowing full well that he's going to be sent to hell after his death, marking his complete character growth back in Dragon Ball Z. It's pretty amazing, and without pointing it out overtly, it actually reminds me of how Vegeta actually did what Toppo exactly did back in that arc -- he threw away his allegiance to Goku, as well as his family, in order to get stronger and become Majin Vegeta just for the sake of power, and it's a decision he eventually came to regret and made peace with. Vegeta isn't just spouting and mocking Toppo's abandoning of justice because he's a jackass -- take note that he actually says "I won't sacrifice anything again!" And that comparison with past-Vegeta actually makes the latter half of the episode absolutely amazing, coupled with some pretty great voice acting from Horikawa Ryo that truly makes Vegeta's brief moments of contemplation really powerful. It is literally impossible not to get emotional and pumped up throughout all of the Vegeta scenes, which legitimately got me slightly misty-eyed, and for that I tip my hat to the anime staff. 

Again, outside of the Vegeta stuff, there's a lot of great material here that I really wish was made more impactful by having Toppo be somewhat developed beyond just repeating "hakai" and "justice is meaningless" like fifteen times throughout the episode. Still, Vegeta unleashes the Final Explosion (or Final Atonement) technique and blasts Toppo out of the ring, and while he's not killed by it he's reverted back to his regular form. This leaves only Jiren, with Goku, Vegeta and 17 ready to fight him (Frieza's presumably just groaning in a pile of rubble somewhere), and Jiren... Jiren's uncharacteristically chatty here, isn't he? He actually gets somewhat pissed off and gets angry at Goku and Vegeta earlier in the episode, and here he tells Toppo to piss off for being useless, before promising to show off his "true"power as he finally powers up. 

So yeah, there's like four minutes left in the tournament and around that many episodes are left for Super. Overall... probably one of the better moments in the Super series for Vegeta, and the parallels between Toppo and Vegeta ends up making this a fight I ended up getting far more emotionally invested in despite taking place for only half an episode compared to most of the "you and you, fight!" battles that have been happening throughout this tournament... but not a good episode overall due to poor pacing and the very weak first half. 

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Dragon Ball Super, Episode 127: The Approaching Wall! The Final Barrier of Hope!

This episode of Dragon Ball Super is... odd. I tend to easily handwave a lot of Dragon Ball Super's shortcomings for the simple reason that I've never found Z to be as impressive or a masterpiece as most people make it out to be, not having the benefit of viewing Z with nostalgia. Both Z and Super are really good shonen action manga, and the franchise is iconic for a reason, but it's not without its shortcomings. And Super's biggest shortcoming is the lack of consistency between episodes. For the most part, they could be handwaved as being "oh, the characters are holding back" or "they're saving their strength", but this one ends up feeling super-inconsistent especially in how Jiren and Vegeta are handled. 

Vegeta, having been established last chapter as using up most of his energy to take out Toppo in that Final Explosion attack, ends up very easily going back and forth into the Beyond-Blue form not once but twice in this episode without any real visible signs of fatigue beyond showing off his ripped pecs... whereas the same show had Goku floundering around because of fatigue after fighting Jiren and using Goku's lack of stamina and energy as a plot point to his fight against Caulifla and Kale. On the same token, the exhausted Vegeta and Goku can somehow put up as much of a punch-trading fight against a supposedly full-powered Jiren, making this supposed gloves-are-off Full Power Jiren end up looking way, way less impressive than the original Jiren-vs-Goku fight so many episodes ago. 

There are, of course, some really neat action beats between the generic ATATATATATA's that make this fight still vastly superior to something like Fairy Tail's generic slew of naught-but-punches-and-blasts, like Jiren's neat bit of using the force of his uppercut to erase a Kamehameha, or Android 17 putting up a series of barrier shields in a row that Jiren plows through, or 17 kicking Vegeta aside so Jiren punches him instead of Vegeta....

But ultimately, everything feels a bit bland and unfinished, as 17 ends up being the first person to hurt Jiren... by unleashing a point-blank explosion from his back. Did 17 discover something? A weakness? A weak spot? That Jiren's endurance requires concentration to maintain? Nah, it all ends up to one big show of "HIT HIM HARDER GUYS!" We've got a funny moment where fucking Freeza shows up and screams a lot before being punted aside by Jiren as easily as everything thrown at him... poor Freeza. It's not his day, isn't it? He did shout something about "FUCK THE RULES", so I'm curious if Freeza's going to try something else rule-breaking later down the line.

And then Belmod finally gives this huge reveal about Jiren's backstory! Baby Jiren! Beanie hat angsty teenage Jiren! And the backstory is... painfully generic. Jiren's family is killed by an evildoer! He trains hard with a teacher and a group of friends, but they, too, are killed by an evildoer! It's the most generic superhero origin story ever... and doesn't... really inform much about Jiren's motivations or personality. The only bit that this tells us about Jiren that really matters is his obsession with strength and that strength-is-absolute (which we know) and that the Pride Troopers are sort of this quasi-new family he's adopted. Honestly? While I don't put any stock in the super-complex "oh Jiren is the survivor of a destroyed universe" theories or whatever (some Last Jedi flashbacks here).

17 and Jiren trade some words, with Jiren mocking 17's simple wish of a cruise ship (to be fair, it is simple) while 17 notes that living in the past isn't particularly something honourable to do. Again, a lot of the writing for Jiren and Toppo are insanely lacking, and had it been done better or tighter, these two would've been so,  so much more interesting. Zamasu and Goku Black did way too much motive rants, Jiren and Toppo didn't do enough. And then as Goku, Vegeta and Freeza lay immobile from Jiren's assault, he prepares to blow them all up to kingdom come. 17 stands up, blocks the blast with a barrier.... and then says "well, I'll be giving up on that cruiser" and then covers the Saiyans with barriers...

And then 17 is eliminated. Well, he's got a good run, he's got a lot of great dialogue here, and he's the one consistently good thing in this episode. 

Wait, what? He doesn't go into the stands? Did... did Jiren's blast kill 17? Does that disqualify Jiren? That'd be anti-climactic. Oh. Oh, he self-destructed to waylay the blast. Huh. Like, I don't really think 17's death will be permanent because he's definitely going to be revived via one set of dragon balls or another, but it is legitimately surprising. It's actually a neat little twist that I really wished happened a bit earlier in the arc -- and again, a lot of stuff in this arc really suffers from poor pacing and sequencing. The end result is that this episode, while having some very strong moments and some really, really cool bits from Seventeen and Jiren, also ends up feeling very lackluster and messy at parts. 

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Dragon Ball Super, Episode 128: Noble Pride to the End! Vegeta Falls!

Gee, thank you so much, you jackass title, for spoiling the big event that happens here. It's actually not an episode that I'm particularly fond of, to be honest. It's got all the problems that the Universal Survival Arc has always had, but I don't think the moments shown to us in this episode make up for it. Vegeta's desperate last stand and flashbacking to Bulma and Cabba feels robbed of impact because two episodes ago we just had a far more effective showcase of that same scene and a re-enactment of the Final Explosion attack when Vegeta was fighting Toppo. Kudos to the voice actor for really making Vegeta's desperation and resolution feel genuine, but the combination of the over-reliance of flashbacks and the fact that we've already had Vegeta flashing back to Cabba and his own family in the past makes this episode feel a bit more like it probably should've happened in the previous episode, or have this whole sequence take part alongside 17's knockout -- hell, it probably would've flowed better, with Vegeta and 17 being knocked out together while they buffed Goku of sorts. I dunno.

And Vegeta just failing to do damage to Jiren while in his base form while not dying or getting knocked out with a single punch from Jiren really stretches the suspension of disbelief for how much I'm willing to handwave away in terms of power levels... although I guess it could just be Jiren doing so out of respect? Eh. The episode is just a long, long extended sequence of Vegeta wailing on Jiren and repeating the same lines of dialogue over and over before Jiren finally knocks him out, and it doesn't feel as dramatic as it should've been. Like, the voice-acting is great and the blackened eye is a neat touch, but otherwise it doesn't hit me with the same impact as Vegeta versus Toppo a few weeks ago. It doesn't actually make me angry like Piccolo's knockout (and to a lesser extent Gohan's) but it definitely is a wasted opportunity. Also wasted is the cries of Vegito/Gogeta fans who wanted a fused form to be the one to beat Jiren up, which isn't something I've even considered before Vegeta's knockout this week.

We did get Vegeta crying and giving that last ball of energy to Goku, which is neat, but not particularly groundbreaking either. Again, a lot of why the scenes even work is Ryo Horikawa's immensely amazing voice acting in this episode, and the relatively solid character arc for Vegeta in him being a team player... but otherwise it all feels like a whole chunk of "seen that a couple weeks ago". Like, it's not bad, but I really felt underwhelmed at times.

And then the rest of the episode is just Goku fighting Jiren, and being pushed to the edge, before activating Ultra Instinct again... and about time, too. Honestly, the whole episode felt more like padding than anything. Vegeta's drop-out could've been neatly integrated into the previous episode, Goku could activate Ultra Instinct in the beginning of the next, and honestly, this episode felt truly superfluous. Goku gets to punch Jiren and make him look shocked, but, again, it's nowhere near the epic levels of Goku's first usage of Ultra Instinct in 110 or Vegeta activating Beyond-Blue to punch Jiren in 124 or whenever... it's just really formulaic, and doesn't elicit much emotion from me but indifference and a quickly-fading hope that this arc of Super will end satisfyingly. Like, I'm not asking for much -- I'm just asking for a climax that's more beyond "Goku punches Jiren with his new form, Jiren falls". That's going to be neat to watch either way, but that will also feel generic. Overall, despite my negative vibes, it's not a bad episode, it's just a deeply flawed one. 

At least Iwan (Inwe?) gets a bunch of dialogue. Love that furball. 

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Dragon Ball Super, Episode 129: Limits Super Surpassed! Ultra Instinct Mastered!

I've learned from the previous episode and not looked at the title of this episode until I've finished watching it. Sadly, though, the contents and new power-up form of Goku's Perfect Ultra Instinct form has been spoiled all over the internet thanks to the previous episode's 'next on...' segment. And magazines. And merchandise. And it being part of the newest Xenoverse 2 DLC pack. Yyyyeah. That kind of soured things somewhat. 

Still, taken by itself, the journey to that power up is... decent. Sadly, it does seem like Dragon Ball Super is going through the motions of a generic "villain overpowers the heroes, villain beats Vegeta, Goku gains a new form, Goku overwhelms the villain" plotline. Did the Zamasu stuff and the generally negative reception cause the Super staff to stick to a safer climax? If so, then this is such a huge, huge missed opportunity. 

This episode's mostly just action, intermixed with an actually good point from Vegeta that it's not just Goku that's breaking through his limits, but it's also all the other Saiyajins like Gohan, Vegeta, Kefla and Cabba. It's neat, I guess, although I really, really wished the final confrontation had actually made those other Saiyans' contributions more meaningful instead of just "Goku punches Jiren in his new form".

Mind you, what a badass series of action sequences for that new form! Goku goes through this fight in his regular bluish-silver Ultra Instinct aura that we've seen before, and there's a neat bit where Goku just lurches forwards in the space of an eye-blink, and the trading of punches and Goku eventually moving from a defensive to offensive strike is neat... but it all kind of went for too long of too much of the same thing over and over again, and way too much exposition. Plus, the animation's particularly lazy, with a rather high amount of recycled animation at points, and an over-reliance of wide shots of the broken arena and explosions. 

But when Goku finally achieves the Perfected Ultra Instinct, with him glowing in an ethereal silvery glow, striking Jiren multiple times before he has any time to react? Or Goku grabbing Jiren's gigantic energy ball and just tossing it aside? It's pretty goddamn badass. That unearthly, amazing primal ROAR when Goku knocks back Jiren's barrage of punches, or the way the music stops when Goku does that "I'm already behind you" scene, or the way the energy just glows around Goku's hair and eyebrows like an unearthly, ethereal cloak? That's just amazing. And I don't doubt that once all the dust is settled, and Super is viewed not under the lens of a weekly anime show and viewed as a whole (like, y'know, Dragon Ball Z), these are going to be some of the more memorable moments.

It just came a wee bit too late and after way too much of the "Goku and Jiren trades blows" scenes. I'm not sure if that's a side effect of watching Dragon Ball Super weekly instead of in a huge chunk all at once, but at the same time... it doesn't quite have the badassery or the abrupt awesomeness of the original revelation of the original Ultra Instinct form. Still, with two episodes left before Super's conclusion, I just wish that it's wrapped up neatly -- I don't particularly expect anything super-duper amazing. I just want it to end satisfyingly. This episode, taken by itself, is definitely functional. I'm just worried that functional won't translate to satisfying when we actually do get the final conclusion of the Universe Survival Arc. 

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Dragon Ball Super, Episode 130: The Greatest Showdown of All Time! The Ultimate Survival Battle!

Well.

Well, holy shit.

And I don't just mean holy shit on a "the events happening are so epic" scale, because if we're really being honest a good chunk of the fight is just more Goku-vs-Jiren, which is still pretty fucking epic... but god damn. I know I've always championed substance over style, but holy fuck. Holy fuck this episode is pretty as hell. It moves so fast, but everything is animated amazingly well and there are so, so many money shots. I think my favourite has to be this scene with Jiren (who gets his own shirt-ripped super-muscly form, his new "MAX POWER" that's becoming a bit of a running joke, to be honest) and Goku trading blows while blue energy trails off Goku's eyes, but there are so many great shots in this scene.

And it's just so goddamned pretty from a visual and audio standpoint, and it really got me super-duper pumped as I watched through this episode. Like... YEAH, MAN! Goku fighting this unstoppable threat in his new form! Flashy attacks! Punchy punchs! Roars! Music that really rocks the soul! All of this has the markings of being super-awesome scenes that I'll remember many years down the line when you say "that Jiren/Goku fight". It is an exhilarating experience from an 'action anime' standpoint, and I genuinely find it hard-pressed to find any moment that looks prettier or is more well-executed than this. And yes, I'm including the movies in this -- it's so pretty!


But at the same time... the actual substance that goes on in this fight is really, really.... not there, is it? Like, we've got some token talks between Goku and Jiren, and the main theme that the writers have chosen to explore is a simple "Jiren fights alone and thinks only strength matters" while Goku, despite not having as solid of a set of ideals as Jiren (he actually says "I ain't a hero" in this episode) knows who he's fighting for, and that he's fighting for his allies and friends.

And it's... it feels really generic. I mean, I do suppose it makes sense, considering what we know of Jiren's backstory, but it's so... it's so basic. It's a simple "friendship triumphs" bit, which we've seen in anime a dozen hundred times. And I'm sorry -- yes, it's arguably executed well in the scope of this episode as a standalone... but taking Jiren and Goku's character arc for the Universal Survival Arc... or more accurately, the lack thereof, it genuinely feels somewhat hollow to me. And this was what I'm afraid of. The ending isn't bad... it's merely serviceable, and that's not quite enough, I think.

Thankfully, though, for a 'generic' anime ending, it's done amazingly well. Lots of great moment for the relatively simple story they're telling for Jiren and Goku, and, of course, it looks pretty as all hell.

Perhaps the moment that makes me really pissed off at Jiren's uneven writing is the fact that he ends up being reduced to an angry generic villain when he gets so pissed at all the talk of fighting for "friends" that he launches a death ki ball at the stands. That... that doesn't really feel like what Jiren would do. He's always felt arrogant and a bit of a dick, but shooting at others? That's just weird.

We've got Goku finishing Goku off with a mighty Kamehameha, and all Goku needs to do is to just finish him off... except, y'know, anime. So Goku takes his sweet time... and then Goku's back bursts open in a very cool censor-friendly shot-by-shot black-background sketchy-drawing scene as Goku collapses to the ground. It's actually quite brutal for the standards of Super, I'm not going to lie. Apparently, according to Whis, it's all the strain from using Ultra Instinct's mastered form, and Belmod screams at Jiren to murder Goku right now. And, credit where credit's due, after all the bad taste in the mouth of Jiren shooting at the observers, at least Jiren looks super-conflicted here.

And... and let's be honest here. As much as I'm thrilled at the idea that someone else other than Goku might finish off Jiren (although... hahaha, yeah right that's not going to happen) the fact that Goku's brand-new form just ends up having its time limit end up fizzling off feels like yet another cop-out. I'm not sure how I feel about this -- it's like a running gag, almost. The first appearance of Ultra Instinct, the first appearance of Super Saiyan 3, Vegito, Vegito Blue, Super Saiyan God's first appearance... At this point it's more annoying than thrilling. I get it. Having Goku reach a new form and then just curb-stomp Jiren to the ground, no matter how pretty, is pretty boring -- pretty 'standard', so they needed to figure out some other way to end the fight. But really?

Jiren blasts Goku away, and of course, the obvious Freeza save happens, blasting Goku to a chunk of rubble... and saves Goku. Of course. It's Freeza, who's back up again. That's expected, of course, for Freeza to come back when either Goku or Jiren's got the other on the ropes. Hell, judging by all the purple energy around Goku's body, it might actually just be Freeza who is responsible for shooting Goku in the back.

No, the surprise comes from the fact that Android 17 is back, alive, and ready to tussle, apparently not having self-destructed. So the Grand Priest was just flubbing? For some reason? And I'm of two minds of this. On one hand, it's an amazingly well-executed twist that also happens to make sense, but at the same time... jeez. Really? Seventeen's death was genuinely well-executed and genuinely touching even with the asterisk that "he's going to be brought back to life with the dragon balls sometime down the line", but this just feels like a moment that kind of cheapens 17's death earlier on. Freeza and 17 face off against Jiren, ready to hold the line, and the credits roll.

And... and despite the chunks of negativity I may have towards this episode, it's an episode I genuinely enjoy. It's testament to the high production values that the animation and music staff pour towards Dragon Ball Super that even with this very iffy script and frankly messy long-term planning that it manages to really inspire a sense of "HELL YEAH DRAGON BALL" in me, and that's saying something considering that Dragon Ball Super has no power of nostalgia whatsoever over me. It's really great at getting me super pumped-up while watching it, and it's a shame that it has so many slight problems with storytelling that makes it not quite reach the amount of greatness that it really should've been able to. So yeah. It's definitely not the best part of the Universal Survival Saga, although it comes quite close... and the ending isn't quite going to be as good as it could've been... but at the same time? It could've been far, far worse, and I, for one, am just content to rewatch this episode to see all the pretty animation. Good stuff.

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Dragon Ball Super, Episode 131: The Miraculous Conclusion! Farewell, Goku! Until We Meet Again!

Well, that happened. I think I'll do a separate review later on this week talking about the actual Universe Survival Arc as a whole, and where it did things wrong and where it did things right. For the moment, I think I'll just talk about this episode by itself.

And, of course, this is the final episode of Dragon Ball Super for a while, until the upcoming movie that'll come out at the end of this year (which had a teaser trailer recently!) and however they decide to handle Dragon Ball in 2019. A continuation of Super, a rebranding, or something else. The final parts of this episode does work as a bit of an ending, but truthfully, it is pretty evident that episode 131 did feel extremely rushed. None of the fight scenes are actually impacted, because they're around the pretty standard of episode 130... but the epilogue stuff feels bizarrely slapped together. And I get that Hiromi Tsuru's passing might have to do with them scrapping some of their plans, but at the same time... did Hit's voice actor just couldn't make it in time to record this episode? Why is there no final Goku/Beerus conversation?

I dunno. Definitely a very mixed ending about the arc overall, too -- on one hand, I am very happy that the final showdown against Jiren isn't a simple Goku-beats-Jiren-with-a-new-powerup trope. And I am so glad that we didn't go through the route of "shit, only Goku can beat Jiren so let's have 17 and Freeza give him all their powers". Y'know, like a lesser series. And Jiren actually does have some character development throughout the fight and after it... even if taken as a whole, poor, poor Jiren is just so badly handled from the get-go. And I'll talk a bit more about Jiren in my full arc review, but jeez... at least that trainwreck still manages to land at a serviceable stop.

On the other hand, though, the episode also ends up being insanely predictable. Wishing everyone back is a no-brainer, but for them to quite literally just shrug it off, and the Grand Priest lampshading it? We really could've had a slightly more dramatic moment, but 17 never really does feel like he's ever conflicted about choosing between the cruiser and a more selfless wish. Maybe if he was portrayed slightly more of a sociopath-but-on-our-side in the early parts of this arc, and had a proper character arc? Plus there's some really bad writing that makes it seem that half the cast didn't even think of wishing the other universes back with the dragon balls. It's not a bad conclusion. It's just... serviceable.


Anyway, going through the events of this episode quickly... the episode begins with some very, very slick animation as Freeza and 17 does battle with Jiren, including a bit where Freeza uses some rocks to sandwich Jiren, and another very smooth animation as 17 charges Jiren, traps them both in a barrier and causing a point-blank explosion. Freeza notes that Jiren is nowhere as indomitable as he was before, as apparently his lack of mental strength translates to a weaker physical state... and I really wish that the series would actually confirm this. That'd make earlier inexplicable scenes like Jiren just sitting and meditating like a jackass, or being beaten up by Freeza and 17 when he's practically invincible against them, feel a lot more palatable.

But 17's bomb-barrier trick actually ends up getting Jiren so hurt he vomits out his lunch -- which, in Super's level of censorship, probably is equivalent to him vomiting out blood. It's the only time that I think Jiren's actually seen vulnerable. Yes, he's taken hits and been punched and beaten before, but here he's straight-up defeated. Even Belmod seems resigned, noting that "Jiren fought well." Freeza walks off and takes the longest time to gloat with his death beam on Jiren's face, talking smack about how he sucks and shit... but then Toppo gives a motivational speech. One that... actually isn't sappy at all. Essentially, Toppo tells Jiren to fight for his pride if he doesn't believe in this "trust" shit that the Universe 7 dudes do.

And then all this talk about Toppo believing in Jiren's pride causes the bug-eyed alien to regain his confidence, as he gets up and unleashes this gigantic blast of energy that knock 17 and Freeza back, even straight-out knocking all that fancy golden energy out of Freeza. But then Goku shows back up and... okay, it's expected. At least we're not having Goku steal the show and the kill, but actually work together with the two of them to fight Jiren. There's a bit of a talk between Goku and Freeza about the terms of their deal -- and I do like that the only reason Freeza trusts Goku is that he's dumb and naive, and for the moment, he'll reciprocate that. Freeza's writing has been actually some of my favourite in this arc, and I do think the writers did manage to capture that balance between dastardly vile villain and jackass ally of convenience without turning Freeza into Vegeta Mk. II.

We get some really, really awesome animation that I could harp on for days, with Freeza and Goku wailing on Jiren while 17 unleashes energy blasts from afar. I think my favourite sequence has to be that scene of 17 shooting three blue energy missiles that shoot forward and fly alongside Goku and Freeza as they run, before the missiles impact into Jiren mid-air. There's also a great scene of Goku and Freeza slamming onto Jiren from both sides, only for Jiren to ORA ORA ORA them away, clothesline Freeza, and then jump down to the ground to knock 17 away. And, of course, the hilarious-yet-epic "THROW ME!" scene as Goku volleyball-punts Freeza to intercept Jiren. Goku eventually turns Super Saiyan and together with Freeza, the two of them charge Jiren and knock the big bastard out of the ring, finally ending the Tournament of Power.

Universe 11 gets erased without that much impact. Everyone swarms around Jiren, but only Toppo and Belmod really gets any dialogue -- Toppo gives Jiren one last thank-you, and Jiren doesn't really comprehend why -- he's been such a dick to the Pride Troopers. (And I really wished that they actually showed Jiren being a dick outside of this final Toppo/Jiren arc) But then Goku does what he did with hit and goes "hey I wanna fight you again" and Jiren smiles as U11 disappears. Again, the writing's nowhere as good as, say, the development of Hit as a rival, but eh. It's... serviceable.

Also, Android 17 is the winner of the match, and it's definitely a great character to end the tournament on.

We then get the long summoning of Super Shenron by the Grand Priest, and as the true winner of the Universe Survival Arc, Android 17 gets to make a wish. It's, of course, to wish all of the destroyed universes back, and apparently the Grand Priest tells those assembled that "Zen'o foresaw this". Really, now? The two child-like maniacs with the empathy of a selfish newborn baby? I think it's more of "the Grand Priest foresaw this". But apparently they rigged the wish so that if the wish made was anything other than returning all the other universes back, the Zen'o's would wipe out the winning universe as well? It's extremely weird, honestly, there's little to no buildup to this fact, and considering all the talk at the beginning of the arc about how the Zen'o's were planning to wipe out the lesser universes, everyone and their mother thought that "hey, wouldn't the Zen'o's be mad at someone reverting all the destruction?" But apparently they're fine and shit? I dunno. It feels a bit hackneyed, but I honestly don't give two shits about the Zen'o's that much.


We get a brief glance at the erased universes, although Universe 6 and 11 are rightfully the only ones we get to see in any amount of time. We get to see Caulifla and Kale in U6, we get to see Cabba thanking Vegeta, before Caulifla ropes him in to get him to try for Super Saiyan 3 with them. We get to see Champa looking a the sky and acting all tsundere about thanking Beerus. In U11 we get a final conversation between Toppo and Jiren, with Toppo noting that Jiren has finally learned to let go of the past and make connections -- not just with Goku, but with his allies. Or, well, at least Toppo. It's a neat little bit of character development that Jiren gets throughout the last two or three episodes. Extremely rushed, yes, but eh. It could've been worse.

We get a couple of reactions from the U7 Peanuts Gallery that makes it look as if 17 giving up the cruise to save multiple entire universes is like such a big sacrifice. It's not. Although 18 and 17's reunion is definitely sweet. Freeza isn't having any of this saccharine shit, though, and demands to be returned to hell until Goku can make good on his deal. But Whis senses that this is the final episode for a while, and decides to give Freeza his happy end... and restores him to life. Yep, Whis can just... restore Freeza back to life, as a gift from Beerus. What can Whis not do? He is the ultimate definition of walking, talking plot device. Good thing he's so entertaining, or he'd be a lot more irritating. We get some more fluff with the Zen'o's talking to Goku, some bit about the Grand Priest talking to Shin and Beerus about the aforementioned rigged wish...

And then we get we get a montage of everyone returning to their lives, most significantly a birthday party for Bulla. Or Bra. Or, as the show explicitly tells us in English, her name is "Bura". Okay! We get a wordless montage that show us that Goten, Trunks and Marron manage to protect 17's island from the poachers. Oh, and, of course 17 gets a cruiser from Bulma. And Baby Pan can fly around, and then whacks Vegeta in the forehead hahahaha that's funny. The final bits are actually voiced, showing Freeza in space, hovering around a bunch of other aliens (did the Freeza Force not get, y'know, destroyed?), announcing his return. Oh, and Goku and Vegeta are fighting in the wasteland where they first fought. Goku can't return to his Ultra Instinct form (what about Vegeta's Royal Blue form?) and they continue to be rivals in battle while striking that iconic pose, as the narrator notes that their journey comes to a brief close until a new threat arrives.

And we can all catch that new threat at the end of this year in theaters worldwide. Yeah, it doesn't feel like a proper finale at all, more of a rushed end-of-arc "we're going on a brief break!" stopgap. And overall? The Tournament of Power has some glaring issues, some glaring pacing and character writing problems, but at the same time... the conclusion itself isn't bad. It isn't great by any means, but it isn't bad. Maybe they were afraid of taking risks, considering the polarized reception to the huge random 'twist' at the end of the Trunks Saga? Eh. Honestly, "serviceable" and "not bad" is what I really expect from Dragon Ball... but they definitely could do better. 

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