Dragon Ball Super 131 Review: Jiren Falls

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.