Greetings upstanding gamers to yet another episode of the Daily Days podcast that show that honors the past while pondering the present. I'm Mr. Picario, your humble host as we continue our retro travels. And today, after what I hope was a great Thanksgiving break for everyone involved, we venture back to the world of Dragon Ball Super.
Last time, I shared my initial impressions regarding the early episodes of this series, the first two arcs primarily. It's never easy to reboot something that has long slumbered. And I'm sure this is why Hollywood is still trying to figure out both Superman and Heman all these years later. But Super managed to honor the past while still jumping ahead with new revelations and material.
Yep, the whole gang was there, even if their personalities seemed to have shifted slightly from their last days in Z. But there were new characters too, including the God of Destruction Beerus and his Angel Whis. Frieza was back for the ride as well, but mostly, Dragon Ball Super's first two arcs merely serves to show there was still a lot more going on in the Dragon Ball universe as a whole. Which appropriately we would soon learn was actually Universe 7.
For this show, I'm going to hit the highlights of the later arcs, stopping just before the epic Tournament of Power, which really needs its own show. That said, I'll be stealing from that long-winded arcs musical backdrop to help accentuate the proceedings here, as that soundtrack is truly something outstanding that many fans overlook. So, after the Frieza saga, we get introduced to Beerus' brother Champa from Universe 6. Natural rivals, the two soon-planning tournaments between their respective universes' best fighters.
The winning God gets any wish he desires via the Super Dragon Balls. I enjoyed this arc at the time, finding the new characters entertaining and naturally enjoying the non-stop action. In retrospect, this was really just the precursor to the upcoming Tournament of Power, and it now feels rather quaint by comparison. Nonetheless, the fighting relationship between the two Gods is pretty entertaining, with Goku and friends helplessly God in the middle.
I also like how the writers figured out a way to start the fight with Goku, then have him lose at the hands of a cheating frost, only to then be allowed back into the competition later because of said cheating to take on the big Hocho himself hit. Indeed, the only real loser here is poor Piccolo, as usual, who again is given little to do in the wake of his apparent Saiyan superiors. Also disappointing are Potamo and Ota-Makeda, if I'm saying those right, two Universe 6 fighters I held little affinity for. If not uninspired or generic, they certainly seem to design to be comedic foils and little more, but the introduction of a new Saiyan through Kaaba was appreciated.
Indeed, the most remarkable element of the whole arc is watching Vegeta take the boy under his wing, and to then goad, I mean coach him into going Super Saiyan for the first time. It shows that Vegeta has a character has come a long way since the old days, even if on the surface he seems as foul and pissy as ever. I do wonder however why every new Saiyan we come across in this new series seems to master the jump to Super Saiyan so effortlessly, but I suppose that trope is here to stay. That said, hit by far is the star.
No matter what Goku does to keep up, the master assassin always manages to regain his grip on the battle and bounce back ahead in the end. Goku being a good sport, he is realizes he would have easily lost had hit been allowed to kill, and thus forfeits the battle. And as a testament to his own character, out of respect for Goku's decision, the assassin then allows himself to be defeated by the Shripe Manaka, giving Universe 7 the win. It's all fitting, somewhat unpredictable, and ironic.
And before I leave the storyline, I should mention both Goku and wife, Chichi. I like that Chichi runs to him the first time he's downed. That's one thing Super seems intent on correcting since the Z days, making Chichi a tad more sympathetic and likable. It's hard to believe there ever was a time when Chichi out-right ignored her suffering, nearly dying husband, as seen in his original fight with Vegeta back in Dragon Ball Z.
Here, she seems to at least care. Of course, the most significant character introduction might be the childlike Grand Ezino himself. Naturally, Goku be friends, the little guy who put this all again begs the question as to whom is really in charge over all of these universes. What's higher than a Kai?
Well, the Angels. What's higher than them, Zino? Is there anything above him? Not clear, really, but knowing Dragon Ball were always is.
After the tournament thinks it'll down for a time, there's a funny bit involving Beerus, Masquerading as Manaka, a more extended arc involving Goku having to battle Vegeta's evil doppelganger, which is especially cool considering it's voiced by Vegeta's original voice actor Brian Drummond. But the arc many feel is the most significant is that of Goku Black, which sees an alternate timeline Goku having his potty swapped with Zamasu, a Supreme Kai apprentice from Universe 10, of all the storylines seen in Super thus far. This one is the most adult, the most tragic, the most disturbing, and really the most interesting. Indeed, time travel itself is always an intriguing concept.
And this saga mixes that typical reality-bending trope with added multiverse shenanigans, plus parallel alternate timelines, body swapping and dimensional counterparts, even romance, to tell one of the most compelling if convoluted tales of the series. I mean, we see alternate Goku's family get wiped out, we see the return of future Trunks, we even get to see an alternate Herobian Terrobi and a grown-up, Mai, who now serves valiantly, has the alternate Earth's great resistance leader. And yet, despite all the crayons, characters and info, the story is told in a relatively lean 20 episodes or so, with plenty of time hopping in the meantime. In truth, I'm not sure if half of it even makes sense with some interesting theories to explain why things are the way they are, moreover, the idea that anyone can just wish themselves into universal conquerors by invading someone else's body should prove a pretty disturbing possibility to anyone of real Uber power, such as Goku himself.
Indeed, the story ends with the Earth destroyed and the Goku crew only escaping thanks to Future Zeno, who is forced to obliterate the entire timeline. And though it's easy to shrug off because it's not Goku's own reality that's been erased, the ease of which countless lies can be exterminated and super is definitely reinforced here. But deletion seems to be the overarching theme of this series. At least, Future Trunks gets a cool moment to shine and finally finds some peace with Mai.
I also found Young Trunks' reaction to his older self to be pretty priceless, I can't deny. Perhaps my favorite episodes, though, are what immediately follow afterwards. After those grim dire stakes of the Goku Black Ark, we are then suddenly thrust back into something resembling the original Dragon Ball series, a level of cheeky humor and wackiness in which Goku meets Arolé, a robotic girl taking right from Toriyama's comedic, manga Dr. Slump.
Surreal moments abound here as Goku and Vegeta attempt to take that reality-defined character on, and indeed, it's hard to believe something so silly can happen in the same universe that holds such horrors as Frieza and the Hetukoku Black. Funnier still is the episode that follows right after, called Chappas Challenge, Beerus' brother calls for another competition, this time a baseball game. The tale is nothing but a series of gags involving a mostly clueless cast, trying to figure out how to play this crazy thing known as baseball. I laughed repeatedly during this one with Goku throwing his ridiculously slow, slowball, Vegeta trying to strike Goku out and the low tug-of-war power play that follows, and a naturally poor Yancha who finally gives a moment to shine despite being sorely out-classed, and the only one who truly understands how to play the game.
The wives watching from the sidelines also prove amusing, and the whole affair itself is just a funny comedy of errors not unlike a classic Linutun's short. And yeah, I loved it. I should also mention quickly the episode involving Goku hiring and directly hit, to take him out so he could have a true one-on-one battle with the assassin. This shows a shrew decided to Goku I'm not used to seeing in this series.
So as we stop at the cusp of the great tournament of Power Arc, what did I think overall of the second splash of Dragon Ball Super? As I alluded to last time, I liked it more if only just a bit, while the contest between Universe 6 and 7 seemed somewhat inconsequential at the time, it has a good payoff later in the series, and the Goku Black Arc is some of the most serious material I've seen yet for the franchise. The humor episodes are also on the mark, and in truth, I wouldn't mind a few more of those. On the downside, compared to Z, Super still feels a little off with characters acting, well, slightly out of character, power levels that seem inconsistent and too easily achieved, and an animation art style that is clearly inferior to what came before.
This last point troubles me the most. After just watching Z, I can definitively state that the animation direction in that classic series far out classes than merely serviceable results we see in Super. Super's visuals are brighter and more consistent for sure, but lack the creative choreography, the tiny details, the clever flourishes, that really made Z's battles and even ordinary scenes often pop in a way not always easy to explain. In the Tournament of Power, we'll see the art and scene direction get punched up another notch, but even then, it never quite transcends that processed cooked in a computer feeling that Z's hand-drawn approach so easily avoids.
Anyway, tune in two weeks from now for my thoughts on that Tournament of Power. I'll probably do another show after that at some point with my final thoughts and questions concerning the franchise overall, and what I expect to see from it in the future. Next week, however, is every turn to the great gamer's quiz, so for you interested, be ready for that one. So, I'll write to everyone thanks again for listening, and until next time, this is Mr.
Picario, signing up for now.