A Love Letter to Dragon Ball Super
And a big “thank you” to its existence — now that it’s finally over
As announced by TOEI Animation and other official accounts linked to the franchise, Dragon Ball Super ended in March 25, following the climax of the long-standing Tournament of Power saga. The news shocked the community upon release, rendering fans and media alike into wild theories, guesses and hysteria over what was read like the absolute end of Dragon Ball’s continuity as a whole.
What could be extracted from the announcement, however, is that the franchise is going into an undeterminated hiatus, with hints of a return in an unspecified amount of time. Proof of it was provided with the upcoming DB movie in December, which is tied directly to the end of Super.
With the amount of money (be it in merchandising, ad revenue, streaming, you name it) being pumped by Dragon Ball Super, the popularity of both the manga and the anime (not to mention recent games such as Xenoverse or FighterZ), the loose plot threads plus new, undeveloped characters introduced in the ToP saga, and Goku being named a 2020 Olympic Games Ambassador for Japan, it’s far too strange to think that the franchise is 100% finished. There’s far too much going for it right now. What can be said, though, is that the artists worked inhumanely to bring us the anime episodes on time — which probably sparked the subpar quality of animation in Super’s first two sagas — and the gap between anime and manga was getting wider and wider, to the point where I feel the staff decided to take a very well-deserved break. Further evidence can be found in the December movie trailer, where the art and animation style have changed drastically, showcasing a much more movement-friendly art style compared to the second half of the ToP’s more prominent scenes, which all look scaringly amazing but feel like they took soul-crushing work from the animators to be made.
That being said, despite all the criticism (deserved and undeserved), Dragon Ball Super has a beautiful legacy to leave behind, both to the community and to myself as a fan.
As a Brazilian kid from the 90s, my first contact with Dragon Ball was in 2001 via local TV, whereas japanese fans already got to see everything way past Broly and Janemba. As a result of that, I had the privilege of watching Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z episodes daily, and had a very reduced version of that anxiety that original fans had of waiting every week for a new episode. After Dragon Ball GT ended, and the franchise entered a long, 20-year slumber, the internet came along and I could rewatch the whole series (which I did) in batches, whenever I wanted, wherever I wanted.
So, when Dragon Ball Super started airing, and I started getting into it (I’ll admit, I was like 50 episodes late to the party, because I intended to wait for the dubbed version), I finally joined the community 100%, and felt in my skin what it was like to not know for an entire week what Goku & Co. would do next. The coming up with theories based on preview skits (Gohan Blanco, anyone?!), official art and all that jazz, the awe of witnessing new transformations for the first time, the anger at seeing Vegeta job to a villain in real time (ok maybe that one’s on me), I finally got to experience it all firsthand — all thanks to Dragon Ball Super.
But that’s enough from me for now; let’s see what was so good about the show itself, as far as Dragon Ball is concerned.
The setting
Having the plot be set relatively close to the end of the Buu saga was a right call. One of people’s many gripes with GT (disclaimer: I actually don’t hate GT) is the fact that it’s so far out into the future, most characters (which, y’know, are human beings who age normally) had to be handled in very different and awkward ways, from personality, to clothing, to appearance, to skills. Super, on the other hand, played the nostalgia card and featured our favorite characters from Z mostly unchanged, even going as far as having Krillin shave his head bald again.
Further nostalgia is also capitalized on by two things: first, the focus that Super tries to put on secondary and even tertiary characters. The slice of life filler episodes people hate so much are actually very fulfilling for me, because it’s where we get to see character development, screentime for minor/underused characters, and get that sense of personal connection with the cast. Say what you will, it was beautiful to see Goku and Piccolo, former fierce enemies, sitting on the grass, looking at the stars and reflecting about aging, parenthood and Pan. Also, it helps drive home what Toriyama would really love for some people to understand: Dragon Ball is also about comedy, absurdity, life and other things that aren’t muscular men beating each other senseless and yelling about how they’ll never forgive the other.
Second, Freeza. Some fans — myself included — have kind of disliked the way Freeza was made to be a wimp after his arc was over. Him jobbing to Trunks was understandable, since the Android Saga’s concept of more than one Super Saiyan existing and all that was foreshadowed in that event, but afterwards we see him being very far from the mighty, fearsome big bad of his saga days. He got easily bodied whenever he appeared on movies and OVAs, and even in Z, he jobs to Pikkon of all people; and then is later shown acting like a complete child when the Hell denizens are watching Goku vs Kid Buu (Yeah, I know, it’s ~filler~. Whatever. DBZ doesn’t even have an official canon, guys).
Now, I’m sure that the “new-villain-appears-and-overshadows-current-villain” chain of events isn’t new in DB, nor is it getting old anytime soon for it. But Freeza is different. He had that gravitas, that air about him, that iconicity that made him so more loved than Cell or Buu (which are loved in their own right). The Ressurection of F arc (also the movie) could’ve been handled better in many ways, but it did give Freeza what he desperately needed: a meaningful return. They gave him a new form, a kickass theme song with chanting and dark undertones, and kept his most remarkable features: sadism, cruelty, regal posture, irony, short fuse, powerful aura, and, most important, his “ooooooooooooooho ho ho ho ho!” laugh. Not satisfied, they also made him fight alongside the Z-Fighters in the Tournament of Power, following the series’ familiar trope of recruting former rivals to fight for good — only that in Freeza’s case, it was purely out of necessity, and he is truly irredeemable, which I like to think is a play on this exact trope. The ToP gave Freeza a whole new room of development, where we get to see his calculating, manipulating side more often while also watching him kick ass for Universe 7. Rooting for evil never felt so good!
A learning curve
Even the most avid Dragon Ball Super fan has to admit that the Battle of Gods and Ressurection of F sagas could’ve been made to be a lot better than they actually were, in many ways. The art has been discussed at lenght; by now, everyone has that one frame of SSJ3 Goku on King Kai’s planet memorized. The music, while people can be too harsh on it, also seemed a bit all over the place sometimes. Being expansions-adaptations of movies into anime episodes, people expected at least proportional quality of content, but it came short.
That being said, there were lots of good things introduced during these arcs that contributed positively to the whole franchise. Beerus and Whis, for one, are excellent characters whose absence in DBZ was acceptably explained. Beerus represents, to this day, 131 episodes later, a bar for the Z-Fighters to look at and reach, showing that Goku is still a ways from being #1 (that, and there’s also Hit and Jiren too). It also expands on the show’s main premise, which is the exploration of new realms and worlds beyond our own. I’m always in fear of DBS losing the plot over how many gods and universes there are in the hierarchy, but we can’t say it’s not entertaining.
Golden Freeza, for reasons stated above, is also another good addition. The Super Saiyan God form, while severely underused, represented the moment where Super stated, “Ok, DBZ is officially over, so leave your SSJ3s and your Majins at the door ’cause we’re taking another route entirely with this”. The introduction of god ki foreshadowed things we saw much later in the series: the striving to control your ki and tune your instincts, as opposed to the Saiyans’ former habit of throwing their raging fists and letting their power explode as much as they could, to the point where a Super Saiyan 3 could create dimensional holes by shouting. And, while Super Saiyan Blue’s introduction was rushed and underexplained, we can’t say that it doesn’t a) looks cool; b) represents the consolidation of all the training with superior beings. About the only problem I have with Super Saiyan Blue is how you never know if it’s actually THAT strong or not.
Music-wise, the Zamasu arc fixed that problem really nicely. Most of the soundtrack for that arc is amazing, especially Merged Zamasu’s theme. The characters are better established too, and, much like in DBZ, whenever Future Trunks is around, it’s time for a more mature and dark-ish plot. Art-wise, while we do get to see better animation, tracing and colors on Zamasu’s arc, it’s on the TOP’s second-half episodes where we get to see the staff’s full potential. Shading, expression, color… Most, if not all of the last 20 episodes have absolutely amazing art. Anyone still calling out DBS on the SSJ3 frame thing needs to move on from 2015 already and smell the coffee.
Not to mention tunes like Limit Break x Survivor, Chouzetsu Dynamic, Ultimate Battle, Final Death-Match and others that have, by now, become notable Dragon Ball theme songs.
All in all, while the start was really slow, the technical aspects of Dragon Ball Super picked up fast enough for a show that carried the weight of inserting a franchise 20 years in the past into modern times, while having the tall order of not being Dragon Ball GT 2 in the eyes of fans. It has really grown better and better in such a consistent way that I can’t say it was a mistake to move on from DBZ. People complaining about the colors and the skinnier characters need to understand that a) times have changed for anime design; b) it’s still a teens’ show first; c) it’s really fucking good.
Subarashii, ningens
Time traveling is confusing in almost any franchise out there. Multiverse theory, even worse. I’ll be the first to admit here: I haven’t got 100% of the facts straight on the Zamasu arc’s convoluted plotline. Not even close. But it doesn’t mean that it’s not enjoyable — far from it, it has, in my opinion, been one of the best arcs in Dragon Ball history.
Like I said earlier, when Future Trunks is around, you can bet some dark shit is going to happen and not the usual “bad things happening, hero appears, battle ensues, nicely happy ending” formula. There’s no one in this series that’s as tormented as that poor boy. And, to drive the point home, we get to see Future Bulma be killed by Goku Black with our own eyes in the first episode — worse, for first-time viewers, we get to see Future Bulma be killed by what seems to be Goku himself! Gasp!
Zamasu, as a villain, is also a darker concept only seen before in Freeza: a supremacist, narcisist, genocidal lunatic. Even the Emperor himself pales in comparison to Zamasu: while one hated mostly Saiyans, and would kill other races for fun, the other had an abnormal, boiling amount of seething anger for anything that is mortal. Killing his own superior (which he didn’t really hate, it seems to me) to gain access to time traveling resources, threatening the multiverse encyclopedia with violence to gain information, using the Super Dragon Balls to change bodies with a Goku from another timeline, killing him and his family, traveling to yet another timeline to team up with another him because he feared being “misunderstood” by others, the other him wishing for immortality via the same Super Dragon Balls, and forming a plan to kill all gods and mortals, leaving the multiverse for himself to rule and mold… all because he lost to Goku in a fight.
The motives of Zamasu are based on real-life things, that’s for sure. He’s a walking god complex, always commenting on humans’ imperfections; they destroy, they make war, they rob, they kill plants, they pollute, they’re ignorant, etc, surely you know people in real life who love talking about humans like they’ve ascended to a higher plane. With no one but Gowasu to closely watch him, Zamasu grew more and more deluded in his complex, which made him snap when Goku beat his ass. Right then, Zamasu decided that humans are a danger to everything. Having the means — god ki, fighting skills, time rings, you name it — to hatch his “Zero Mortal Plan”, Zamasu and Goku Black are a good representation of the arrogance of these kinds of people; even when his ploy backfires, after the fusion of Goku Black and Immortal Zamasu renders the end product not immortal anymore, he still refuses to listen to any logic but his own, believing himself to still be immortal. It’s like telling someone they fucked up something, and they answer with “I didn’t fuck up, I intentionally made a mistake to prove that I am aware of things happening around me”. As Vegito Blue states, he truly “always has an answer to everything”.
Another parallel between Zamasu and Freeza can be made regarding their nature: while Freeza couldn’t give less of a shit whether he’s evil or not, Zamasu is convinced that what he is doing is God’s work. Or, as he repeatedly states, “justice”. His concept of justice involves killing everyone that disagrees with him, even fellow gods, and that’s why he chooses to start with Trunks’ timeline; there, Beerus is dead (due to Goku Black killing Future Shin— Gods of Destrution and Kaioshins are life-linked) and the more threatening gods are gone, leaving lesser gods like King Kai. Haven’t you seen people around you sometimes act like others deserve to die for having different opinions? Zamasu is just the same. And no matter how disfigured and battered he got, his will never faltered; he was dead set on becoming the only god, even in extremely bad shape physically and completely mentally unstable.
Trunks’ powerups are seen as absurd in this arc, and from an objective point, I can see why; but if we started to nitpick every single absurd powerup on DB history, well, we’d have to stop the series before Goku fought Nappa. So, watching the series as it’s meant to — with naiveté and suspension of disbelief — Super Saiyan Rage is actually a pretty nifty concept which I wish Gohan had access to as well. Since Trunks isn’t a god, or a disciple of one like Goku/Vegeta, unable to tap into god ki, his transformation goes the other way from ki control and goes back to the Saiyans’ main source of power: raw anger. Someone with that much emotional baggage surely had lots of fury to spare, and it’s so satisfying to see so many feels plastered all over the screen, along with some cool explosions and awesome music! It’s like watching Goku turn Super Saiyan for the first time all over again. The Spirit Sword, on the other hand, is kind of a trip, but I like it; not only is it a nice callback to Goku’s “Spirit Saiyan” on the Super Android 13 movie, but also the Genki Dama wasn’t being used in Super up until then, and it felt right to use a concept like “nature/energy of living beings” to oppose “godly might”. Trunks being the sole defender of that world, a half-Saiyan with the heart of his mother and blood of his father, someone who does what Zamasu thought he was doing — justice for all — is more than enough of a candidate to wield the accumulated powers of people, animals and plants to beat the crazy god.
Of course, the saga could’ve ended there, after Zamasu is cut in half by Trunks; like any other person, I didn’t like the whole “Zamasu-becomes-the-universe” segment and its conclusion, but… it didn’t completely ruin the arc for me. It has a lot going for it. Not to mention Trunks’ farewells with Vegeta acknowledging his strength, and Gohan being a stand-in for Future Gohan! Do any of you know how much I cried at that goodbye sequence?! Zamasu’s saga is incredibly amazing and you know it. Don’t act like DBZ is untouchable; surely something has to be better than the Garlic Jr. saga…
Girl power
A relatively short segment since it’s not really my place to talk about these things, but man, I’m glad women get a little more respect in DB Super. Well… save for that episode in the ToP saga where Master Roshi… insinuates… ugh, that was really bad. I hope no one ever tries to do stuff like that again.
But! All in all, with #18, Ribrianne, Kale, Caulifla and all the other female fighters in DB Super, especially in the ToP saga and not to mention Heles as a God of Destruction from Universe 2, women — especially young women— have more characters, of all shapes, sizes and personalities, to look up to in the anime instead of having to conform to admiring a “men only” contest. Are you a fan of the shapely, cutesy figure of Caway, or a fan of Kale’s roiding, muscular Berserker form?
Even outside of the actual fighting, we have Bulma still going strong as the powerhouse of relevancy she’s been since the Namek saga in DBZ. Be it in slice of life episodes, the Zamasu arc, or the building up to the ToP, Bulma is as active as ever — though I don’t think the sexual innuendos around/with her are stopping anytime soon — as an established character that isn’t a fighter, but still never shies away from the action. Also, there’s Mai, Trunks’ soon-to-be-girlfriend, who isn’t too afraid of no freaking unholy strong god to try and shoot him on the head with a sniper rifle.
Some people complain about the way Videl turned out from DBZ to DBS, going from a hot-blooded tomboy fighter to a housewife, not unlike Chi-Chi (minus the crazy). While I see how people can find that to be bad, it’s also just another way of developing characters — sometimes you go the opposite way, and instead of being the shy, meek person who is secretly a hero, you’re the former martial artist who decided “you know what? I’m having a family and I’ll be the best fucking housewife ever”. It’s her choice, really — not everyone has to be a hero.
Of course, fans will be fans, and a significant part of the community is sexist without any shame of admitting it. They will continue to a) use women in the anime as an excuse for porn fanart or to use as the butt of rapey jokes; b) complain about women being relevant “just because”, as if there’s no reason at all to include more women in media; c) turn the entire thing into a political debate. Oh well. It’s still an improvement, right?
Voices of emotion
Speaking of emotions… care to watch SSB Kaioken x10 Goku vs Hit in the english dub again? Dragon Ball has that thing where it can make the most simplistic events and concepts be absurdly charged with emotion, and part of that comes from the hard work of the voice actors. As a fan of Brazilian, English and Japanese voices in DBZ, I like to think I don’t play favorites when choosing which scenes — and in which dubs — have been emotional for me.
The way Sean Schemmel (as Goku) screams when powering up to Kaioken x10 is so natural, with his voice actually cracking and making it sound so genuine, that you can’t help but keep staring at Goku like he’s alive in your world. Turning the tables on Hit’s seemingly impenetrable Time Skip, Chouzetsu Dynamic (the opening song) fades in, Goku screams a Kamehameha in that same cracking voice, fires it, then roars “You’re mine!!! Haaaaaaaaaaaa…” while charging at Hit through his own Kamehameha blast. If this doesn’t make you feel chills all over… either you’re not a DB fan, or you’ve seen too much.
There’s also Master Roshi’s final stand against Ganos in the Tournament of Power. After being told he was at his limit, the over 300-years old man stands up and basically says “fuck your limits” and starts his heroic speech. Him, the master, acknowledges Goku and Krillin (um, why?) as the ones to teach him on how limits are basically bullshit. He charges one big ass Kamehameha in his full power form, repeating the same things he said to Goku and Krillin when they started training with him years ago, beats Ganos out of the arena, and… dies! Seeing Krillin (Mayumi Tanaka) try to invade the arena, crying and screaming for Goku to do something, and the sheer desperation in Goku’s voice (portrayed perfectly by Masako Nozawa) as he rushes to Roshi and tries to ressucitate him… chills, chills all over.
And, since I picked an English and a Japanese scene, why not rep my own home country as well? Watch Trunks and Zamasu’s final scenes in Brazilian Portuguese, where the citizens chant for him and all that, and you’ll feel the amount of effort on everyone’s voices, including Marcelo Campos as Trunks; the Brazilian dub has been very consistently one of the better dubs IMO, with Wendel Bezerra being an iconic Goku and one of the DB franchise’s main ambassadors in South America.
Everyone gets a slice
Speaking on Master Roshi’s overall participation in the Tournament of Power saga, it’s important to say that the ToP did what Super was already trying to do from day one: bring back the relevance of other characters while still keeping Goku (and Vegeta, in a lesser way) on the spotlight. It’s arguable whether or not they managed to do it as well as they should, but the fact of the matter is that Roshi, Tien, Krillin, #17, #18, Gohan and Piccolo, not to mention Freeza, all got much more screentime and relevancy than GT ever dreamed of giving them (well, save for #17, who got a whole saga around him… but we’ll leave him to the side for this part). How some fans can ask for more minor character relevancy, then complain about Tien eliminating someone in the ToP because of “m-muh power levels” is way beyond me.
The show tried, and has bumblingly succeeded, to move away from simply “who’s the strongest” fights and highlighting techniques and strategy, such as Dyspo’s speed, Roshi’s utility in fighting specific adversaries, Frost’s cheating methods (what? it’s technique all the same), Hit, Maji Kayo, Saonel and Pirina, the entirety of Goku vs Kale+Caulifla, the risky maneuvers of Goku, Freeza and #17 against a very motivated Jiren… in so doing, characters end up being relevant again, be it onstage or at the sidelines (but actually near the action). While I agree with the criticism that the show can be “too much Goku”, there’s things we can change with criticism… and things we can’t. It’s simply impossible to ask Toriyana/TOEI for less Goku, like it or not. Oh well, at least he doesn’t win every fight he’s in, even with Ultra Instinct.
And I have to say, the way they made Vegeta be not a fixed #2, but an actual contender for #1 among the fighters, is a very nice thing. Yes, Goku’s still the first to power up beyond his current level and then Vegeta catches up later, but then again, isn’t that better than when Goku was far and above the strongest? Plus, there’s the ways in which they improve. Vegeta is always about working extra-hard to surpass his limits by his methods, while Goku isn’t too afraid of relying on others — even his adversaries, highlighted by him hiring Hit to kill him, doing the SSG ritual, or relying on the Genki Dama to reach Ultra Instinct — to complement his training. Their dynamics have become so opposite, yet so parallel, to each other that it’s been very good to watch.
The only one who hasn’t seen as many action as he should is, well, Majin Buu. But I kinda understand it. How OP would it be to have someone, in a battle royale tournament, in your team who can 1) regenerate quickly 2) heal himself 3) copy other enemies’ abilities 4) transform everyone around him into candy 5) stretch his body in a plethora of useful ways 6) heal others 7) absorb others? He may not be as strong as Jiren, but the tournament would be a lot less exciting; so, I guess I can swallow the “oh but he sleeps a lot” excuse as being Dragon Ball comedy.
The MVP
Speaking of the Tournament of Power… who knew that a mid-tier villain from the Cell saga, whose character and arc are largely forgettable if you count only the official timeline’s events, would end up being not only the winner, but the MVP of a whole multiversal survival battle royale with lives at stake? I guess we do need to thank Dr. Gero after all.
The return of Android 17 was received reasonably well for how little he did in his own arc, his battle with Piccolo being one of very few memorable moments in DBZ, followed only by his heroic act of pointing a gun at other people to get them to give their energy for Goku’s Spirit Bomb.
They did his character justice, too — he didn’t change too much. While he’s definitely a lot more mellowed out (probably after experiencing near-death, starting a family and getting to do his dream job of ensuring nature’s safety), he rarely smiles, toys with Android 18 a lot, and doesn’t care all that much about expressing emotions with words of facial expressions. In retrospect, it was much better to take a character we know so little about and develop him, rather than do a complete 180 on an established character and risk ruining them.
What’s most appealing about #17, and what I believe is the reason he got so far in the first place, is how he’s the Anti-Dragon Ball character. In terms of power, he was outclassed as soon as Universes 3, 7 and 11 were the only ones remaining. Were he to take Aniraza alone, he’d be toast. When he fought Toppo 1-on-1, he nearly lost. But #17 fights smart, knows how to play his cards, and was almost always the only one to notice his adversaries’ weaknesses. He doesn’t transform, he’s a team player and a strategist, he isn’t afraid of overusing his attacks (we’ve seen that force shield like 2000 times) and he rarely wastes time talking mid-battle. He also doesn’t follow Dragon Ball rules, and instead of suddenly being really linked up with Gohan when fighting Toppo, he flat out says “stop trying to coordinate with me, we’ve never fought together before”. How dare you, using common logic on Dragon Ball?
His infinite energy supplies got him far, but were it not for his intelligence, he’d have lost a while back. One of my favorite moments is when he plays with Jiren’s past and gets inside his head. Angering Jiren might lead to a one-way trip to HFIL, but he’s not scared. He always knows how to cloud his opponent’s mind and mess up their focus. It’s no surprise that he was the one to put Jiren on his knees in Episode 131.
Remember how I said before that Android 17 doesn’t like expressing his emotions with words? Well, that’s not because he’s heartless. Actually, he shows that his heart isn’t nearly as mechanic as we thought it was; #17 loves to act humanly, and he expresses it through his actions. Of course, you know what I’m talking about. His last words before “self-destructing” are “Hey, Goku and Vegeta; I’ve given up on my wish for a cruiser ride. The rest is up to you. (…) Sacrificing myself for others… I kind of like how human that feels.”
The fact that he was fighting “screw-friends-I-have-strength” Jiren made #17 give up on his wish and selflessly give himself up to let his partners recover. That moment is waaaaay more telling that it is at first glance. And since we knew the show was ending by then, we didn’t think “oh, whatever, he’s going to be revived by the Dragon Balls”. We thought “shit, we’ll never see him again”. That’s why, while completely ridiculous objectively speaking, the reveal in Episode 130 — the second-last one — that he survived his own explosion was so pleasant. Goku being thrown off of the arena already had us on our toes because, while we knew Freeza was still somewhere in the arena, we didn’t know where, or if he was already awake enough to act. Him saving Goku was a sigh of relief which we saw coming, but then, all of a sudden, after Freeza appears… guess who also isn’t dead?! I never knew it until I saw it, but I needed more #17. The man deserves like a thousand cruises with his name on it. And a big “Fuck Dr. Gero” painted on the side.
Following what’s been mostly done in Dragon Ball Super, Goku didn’t save the day in the end. It was #17 who wished for the universes to be restored, as MVP and last man standing. A semi-mechanical being won the tournament of mortals and did the most human and just thing anyone has ever done! I bet Zamasu’s having a headache trying to figure this one out.
Just think — were it not for Dragon Ball Super, Android 17 would be remembered, to this day, for his… “unique” participation in Dragon Ball GT as one half of the most wasted villain in history. One day, you’re Super 17… the next day, you’re MVP of everything. How the turntables, huh?
The best boring character
I’ve spent most of my days angry at Jiren. And you can’t blame me, really. The guy had no personality. All he did was say 1 or 2 words before eliminating all the characters I liked. And no matter how much he was challenged, he always turned the tables on them with some bullshit overpowered move and an “Owari da!” one-liner before throwing them out. He made Hit look like Garlic Jr., and he interrupted Ultimate Battle while making Goku’s long-awaited Ultra Instinct look like nothing! Seriously, the nerve of this guy-
Anyway. Most people found Jiren to be bland and boring because all he did was stand around being strong and arrogant. He’s supposed to come from a group of heroes, but doesn’t share the others’ penchant for justice (despite being very devoted to the concept, as his universe’s gods state). And, while few can be actually called villains in the Tournament of Power, he sure as hell made himself as antagonistic as he could be, calling everyone weak and being a general asshole even to his own companions. Most of the time, he was meditating. He barely talked. We didn’t even know his background, or get a sense of his personality. He really was just a strong, blank wall of nothing.
As the fight progresses, in the final stretch of the ToP, we learn his backstory from God of Destruction Belmod. When Jiren was a child, some evildoer killed his parents, and years later, his teacher and companions. His remanining allies gave up hope, and this made Jiren become obssessed with strength and also turned him into a stoic loner, unable to trust anyone. While all of this made sense, and gave some meaning to Jiren, it still wasn’t enough to redeem his character. For one, the backstory was incredibly vague and rushed — some people even thought Belmod was the one that killed his loved ones, given how cagey he was while sharing — and also, it still didn’t excuse some of Jiren’s actions.
The ones who did give meaning to Jiren’s character, surprisingly, were others. Vegeta got to him a little by showing his unyielding pride and unwillingness to just roll over and die; then, Android 17 gets him pegged and teases him, saying that being the strongest ever doesn’t mean squat if you only do it for yourself, and that strength wouldn’t bring his family back. And, in the end, Goku charms him like he charmed every other foe he’s faced.
Being chased around by all these inferior beings and their “trust”, their “friendship”, to Jiren, felt like mosquitoes buzzing while you’re sleeping at first. Then, it started to escalate, and bother him more and more. And when he thinks he’s got Goku on the ropes, the “last remaining” fighter (besides an unconscious Freeza and a soon-to-be-revealed #17) of Universe 7 and their ace, he hears Vegeta yell his name from the stands and sees Goku attain Ultra Instinct for the 3rd time. That’s got to hurt his pride very badly, since he always scoffs at the very notion of motivating yourself based on others. While being battered by Mastered Ultra Instinct Goku, at one point, Jiren tries to attack the people in the stands — Goku’s friends — to prove a point about how his source of motivation is “easily erased”. That’s some low-brow bullshit, right? People complain about this moment a lot, because it makes Jiren be a villain, which he wasn’t intended to be. I, for one, don’t think so; yes, what he did was horrible, but you’re being cornered by a man you beat to a pulp countless times, and he’s challenging your core beliefs every step of the way, playing at your childhood traumas, basically telling you that you’ve wasted your time trying to be the strongest by yourself, plus your universe’s at risk of erasure… you’d be a little pissed off too, right?
Of course, Goku charms people without them noticing. So, when Jiren finally has his chance of eliminating Goku, his anger… disappears. This untrusting loner is suddenly shaking at the thought of ending the battle he was having, because deep inside him, he knew he was discovering himself better than ever. Having that cut short over a technicality has to be a bit of a bummer. No wonder his last words are so out-of-character, based on what we knew about him until then: “Though we part ways now, you’ll live on in my memories forever. Farewell, proud warrior Son Goku”.
And, well, we know what happens after that…
The Finale
I need to address Episode 131 individually. Say what you will about Dragon Ball Super as a whole — this episode was perfect in every step of the way. Animation, music, plot… it was core Dragon Ball to the last fiber, and boy was it wild. First of all, Freeza and #17 vs. a very weakened Jiren. Being ragdolled by the pinnacle of multiversal power has got to hurt you, and because of that, Jiren had a hard time keeping up 2-on-1. Smart as ever, #17 puts Jiren on his knees with yet another self-hurting attack, betting his chips on Freeza to finish Jiren off while he recovers — yet another case of trust trumping pure strength.
This next scene is what I consider to be a master stroke from the writers. Remember how the characters were supposed to be? You know, Jiren being more of an antagonist and Freeza being the cold-blooded murderer? This is when we’re snapped back to reality. Face it, most of us threw morality to the wayside and cheered for the genocidal psychopath to eliminate Jiren while he trash-talked the kneeling grey fighter. But this is Dragon Ball, and evil never prevails! Toppo chimes in, and gives a (severely underrated and) rousing motivational speech to Jiren. The same Toppo that Jiren mocked openly upon being eliminated. At that moment, every experience Jiren’s had with the power of trust so far finally rubs off on him, and his colleague’s words get him to rise once again and regain what’s left of his power.
This is a very underrated scene, because it shows us that, in the end, mostly everyone in the Tournament was fighting for something. And it’s not only our heroes that can have trust in one another and say kind, motivating words; no, they can as well. They, of course, being fellow defenders of their own beliefs, who happened to be on the opposite side of the battlefield. Not everything has to be Good Guys vs. Bad Guys, people. Jiren bursts his ki, forces #17 and Freeza on their backs (Freeza’s Golden form melting off of him was so nice to watch), and Goku finds yet another short supply of strength within himself to teleport and help his friends. Limit Break x Survivor (Instrumental C) playing here is amazing (hell, the music itself is), and we get a little pep talk from Goku and Freeza to one another while Jiren powers up and #17, as always, plays it smart. Even Freeza is a little touched by Goku and how he’s so willing to trust his nemesis, so long as they keep their promises to one another — but he’ll never admit it, of course. Freeza turning into a fulltime Z-Fighter would be too much for me.
After the three U7 fighters shatter Jiren’s power barrier… begins one of the most iconic sequences in Dragon Ball History.
Jiren smiles. That’s telling. He’s having fun, he’s loving every second of it now that he’s decided to try out this “trust in others” thing and see where it takes him. #17 stays behind while Jiren, Goku and Freeza charge to the sound of Ultimate Battle, and their attacks are incredibly well-choreographed. Goku and Freeza’s years of fighting each other are condensed into a fighting chemistry that leaves Vegeta incredulous at the sidelines, and while Goku’s at base form, he doesn’t shy away from the fight.
In an awesome maneuver, Goku and Freeza have a bro moment when Freeza asks Goku to launch him off. Probably too weak to start his Nova Strike by himself, Freeza relies on Goku giving him an impulse with a nice callback to Tien’s Volleyball Fist and charges at Jiren, who is set on knocking #17 off. Jiren is caught by Freeza, and the Galactic Emperor tries to ring himself out along with Jiren — this scene, I’ve seen thousands of live crowd reactions to it, and it’s marvelous how people started to chant Freeza’s name and cheer for him to do it. But, of course, Jiren doesn’t cede and swerves off to a loose piece of the arena. While he’s busy pounding Freeza to the ground, he doesn’t see Goku charging at him — flashing in and out of Super Saiyan form! — and the bitter rivals both catch Jiren at the same time, pushing him off.
The sight of Goku’s yellow dash aura side-by-side with Freeza’s purple one is something I’d never even dreamed of seeing before, but Kami-sama dammit it’s perfect. As if to tell us that it’s time to end this, we get a shot of #17, then Beerus, and then the remainder of U7’s members yelling at their heroes to finish the job. Jiren ponders about how darn powerful this “trust on others” thing ended up being…
… and then…
…this.
Guys. I was weak. on. the. knees. If I went back in time like Trunks, found Little Me gawking at Super Saiyan Goku beating the shit out of Freeza and told him, “Y’know, these two are going to be saving the universe together in a multiversal tournament in like 20 years”, Little Me would’ve slapped my face and told me not to believe in Dragon Ball AF.
Anyway, the moment Jiren is comforted by his teammates and even Goku himself is heartwarming. If MUI Goku had eliminated him back then, Jiren would’ve been sulking in the bench until the Zenos erased U11, probably at risk of lashing out against even Belmod and Supreme Kai Khai themselves. But after all that’s happened, Jiren is oddly satisfied. His beliefs were challenged, he lost, but learned new, precious things about himself along the way. He accepts defeat, and, with a smile, leaves the plane of existence thinking about how fucking nice it is to have friends.
The moment where #17, the last man standing, is asked about his wish is where I think the ball was kind of dropped. Why the suspense? Did anyone actually think that, after all this, #17 was going to ask for a damn boat instead of restoring the universes? Anyway. The sight of the Super Dragon Balls and Super Shenron, along with the music, is chillingly emotional. It’s like saying goodbye before it’s time to say it. After restoring the universes, we see a few shots of them — that means Hit, Caulifla, Kale, Cabba, Champa, Gowasu, Basil, Bergamo, Lavender, Obuni, Saonel, Pirina, … Ribrianne … and everyone are back! This is the first time where “not dying for real” actually felt right in Dragon Ball.
Cabba crying over thinking that Vegeta himself wished for his return, while Champa silently assumes that Beerus won, are heartwarming scenes, but I really liked to see a smile on Gowasu’s face. The man had a tough ending for his arc when Zamasu was killed. He stored his Time Rings, blamed himself for everything and next thing you know, his universe is the second to be erased. Sucks, doesn’t it? I’d have really, really liked to see Zamasu appear as well. Like, even if for 2 seconds. As a reformed person or something Uub-esque. Gowasu would be so happy to see that! Anyway.
Jiren’s quick return to life is when I believe his arc hit its stride. In the previous segment, I talked about how his character started boring, and continued being boring over time despite efforts to make it less boring. Well, looking at it now. I’m glad he was. It gives his ending far more meaning. The lone wolf himself is now staring at the horizon, and Toppo, the man he despised so much for forsaking justice at one point, is now the shoulder he leans on while talking about himself. “Son Goku said he’d like to see me again, but I’ve lived my life bound to the past, and unable to bond with other people”. These words are heavy, y’know? Especially coming from someone like him. Toppo pep-talks him, makes him remember about how it felt when Toppo put his trust on him, and Jiren’s now motivated to become a better person and fighter, so that he can beat Goku next time.
Happy endings and all that, but Freeza’s having none of it. Happy endings make him want to vomit. And I like that — like I said, I want Freeza to be a villain. Hell, of the 10 Universe 7 warriors, HALF of them (#17, #18, Piccolo, Tien and Vegeta) wanted Goku dead at one point and turned good afterwards. Enough, alright? Anyway. Whis ex Machina comes in and revives Freeza on the spot, making Goku’s promise to him worthless. Much to my relief, Freeza warns everyone that he doesn’t plan on becoming good anytime soon, and to my even greater relief, Goku says that he’ll beat Freeza’s face if he tries anything.
There’s also a moment when #18 displays concern for #17 wishing for the universes to be restored instead of the cruiser. That may seem illogical and absurd, but c’mon, let the sister be concerned for her brother. She almost lost him. At that moment, the Zenos reveal that they’re not as stupid as they pass themselves off to be — the reason for this whole tournament is finally revealed. The Zenos wanted to test the multiverse’s character through their MVP. If they wished something selfless, they predicted it’d be the restoration of the universes. If they wished for something selfish… poof. Everything, gone on the spot. Thank Dr. Gero for that! And also, a whole damper on all the “Grand Priest is evil”, “Angels are trying to overthrow Zeno” and similar theories when the GP and his angels, who were already aware of Zeno’s plan and were mostly acting throughout the arc, congratulate Universe 7 on their display of positive character traits.
Credit roll. Funny scenes. Grandpa Piccolo. Pan — whom I liked on DBGT, save for the horrible voice acting — hits Vegeta in the face and he decides to take it out on Goku. By then, you’re either leaving your seat earlier because you’re a heartless monster, or you’re like me and you’re bursting in tears, on the floor, in a near-fetal position because your back sucks, thinking it’s all over. In either scenario, you nearly missed the ending sequence… and boy, oh boy, what a sequence.
First of all, we get a quick shot of Freeza announcing to the Freeza Force troops his return as head of operations. That’s awesome. Freeza’s back where he belongs — on a position of power, which allows him to continue doing his bad stuff and being the counterbalance to the Z-Fighters’ good.
Then, Goku and Vegeta are fighting one-on-one, and Vegeta asks about Ultra Instinct. Goku says he can’t reach it anymore. Makes sense — UI is about breaking your own shell, and the more you break it, the harder it is to break it again. It also leaves more room for Super Saiyan Blue, SSB Kaioken and SSB Evolution to be explored while completely removing the anticlimatic prospect of Goku reaching UI at will, because we know how it usually goes with Dragon Ball: every form is unique when first presented, then next thing you know Goku’s using Super Saiyan while reading Arale on the toilet.
Then, after a brief ego massage from both Goku and Vegeta over how Saiyans are so awesome and will never conform to their limits… There’s this shot.
This fucking shot ends Dragon Ball Super.
It’s full circle! It’s brilliant!
Conclusion
All in all? It’s been a wild ride.
To me, Dragon Ball has always been a way of reaching your heart through fantasy, a means of mimicking real life obstacles, situations and events and a friendly advice on how to proceed. Maybe you’re a Goku, never tired of finding something better for you out there and refusing to settle; Maybe you’re a Vegeta, someone who wants to blow the past away and start anew if it doesn’t suit you anymore, but never letting go of your essence; Maybe you’re a Gohan, who realizes your potential, but is more interested in things that pertain to yourself and prioritizes peace, family and friends first; Maybe you’re a #18, a strong, independent free spirit that knows where home is; Maybe you’re a Bulma, fearless, intelligent, wanting all the riches out there but never settling for being just what your job tells you to be; Maybe you’re someone else entirely! Or maybe you’re Jiren, and if you are, I just want to say: beat your past, beat your fears of others, and make friends. It’s nice to not be alone.
But anyway, Dragon Ball has always been present in my life as much more than just another mainstream anime that I liked to watch as a kid, like, say, Samurai Champloo, Captain Tsubasa or Cardcaptor Sakura. It’s been part of my core for years, never dying even long after the End of Z aired, through games, movies, fanmade parodies and fiction, the Dragon Ball Z Abridged series… I can (and have) spend hours of my day searching Dragon Ball lore on Google for fun, things like “can Cell achieve SSB” or “if Freeza is the Emperor why is Cold the King” or “is Cooler higher ranked than Ginyu”… and for that, I’ve never actually felt a strong want for a brand new DB series. I was content with everything that we had by then, they tried GT, it didn’t work, so let it die and live on through the fans.
But now, as I write this, I want to quote the Dragon Ball Z Abridged version of Vegeta:
“Never in my life have I needed something so much, and never known it until I received it.”
Dragon Ball Super made me a kid all over again, all the while helping me in my adult understandings of life. It’s been a fresh breath of air to a lore that was starting to spiral out of control, with what-ifs and bad fanfiction taking over, and it successfully placed Dragon Ball into the new age of animations in the place it’s always been: at the top. 20 years later, people still love Dragon Ball, or care enough about it to go on far too angry rampages about its so-called shortcomings.
Dragon Ball Super, much like its characters, defied its own limits, preconceived notions, tropes and stereotypes and brought completely new concepts, refined old ones (like the Potara retcon, I don’t get why people hate it so much), and paid homage to old ones via extremely pleasing references, such as the Father-Son Kamehameha against Universes 2 and 6, Kale (Broly), Aniraza (Janemba/Hatchiyack/Hirudegarn), Gohan (Goku) grabbing hold of Dyspo (Raditz) and telling his former rival Freeza (Piccolo) to eliminate them both… DBS has never been afraid of the dauting task of picking up DBZ, making it reconnect with its now-obscure DB roots, and all the while bring in new elements to create a whole new multiverse (heh) of stories to tell, awesome music to play, auras to animate and blasts to be fired.
Whether we’ll meet again soon, or in the distant future, or with another name (“Dragon Ball Ultra” is kinda lame, though), I just want to say a big arigatou gozaimasu to everyone responsible for the birth of Dragon Ball Super. You have made my life that much better every Saturday, in ways none of you can even imagine. Thanks for making me feel alive, thanks for all the laughs, the tears, the nostalgia and the new, the emotion, the lore, the time you people made me so pissed off by hyping up SSJ3 Goku in the ToP only to make him show up for all of 10 seconds…
And I’ll be waiting for the next saga…
Even if it takes another 20 years…
Because, as we know by now, for warriors, the battle wages on. And as warriors, we must always be ready to be called to action once more to contribute to a fictional Genkidama.
Thank you, and see you soon — which isn’t the same as goodbye.
