Disclaimer: This freewrite was written under the influence of alcohol. It may not make logical sense.
Dragon Ball isn’t deep. There are deep themes, but it isn’t that deep than other anime. Dragon Ball is a goofy, battle action manga and anime series created by some crazy Japanese dude who bread and butter is gag comedy manga (Dr. Slump). Expecting Dragon Ball to be meaningful and insightful is like trying to find one’s dignity at a drunken, drug-fueled anime con orgy:
It ain’t gonna happen.
This doesn’t mean that Dragon Ball can’t teach us lessons about life. After all, Goku’s journey is a lesson that if you want to better yourself, you must go out and travel; putting in the hard (and smart) work to and learning under those better than you to obtain whatever you want in life. Baby from Dragon Ball GT teaches us that people who were treated unfairly (through oppression) will come back to take revenge against those who oppressed them – even going as far as hunting down and killing innocent people if they have to.
Dragon Ball Super with the Tournament of Power arc is no different. There are valuable lessons to be taught about that arc, one that is obvious and yet – it’s the most important lesson. In order to achieve what you want, emotions need to be put aside.
In episode whatever it was in Super (I’m drunk: I don’t feel like looking it up), Majin Buu succumb to his deep sleeping habits; putting him out of action for two months. Thing is, it would have been okay for Majin Buu to take a two months break from combat…if he wasn’t a team member of Universe 7, and the existence of their universe was at risk of being destroyed by Zeno-Sama. With their ranks shorten, Team Universe 7 had two options:
Find a replacement for Majin Buu
Operate at a loss and/or risk destruction
Logically, Team Universe 7 should have put Majin Buu in the Time Chamber (Room of Spirit and Time for your purist elitist weeaboos) but logic doesn’ work in anime. While everyone else was in a panic, Goku came up with an ideal replacement for Majin Buu: Lord Frieza – mortal enemy of the Z Warriors.
The Z Warrirors weren’t happy with Goku’s suggestion. They had every right to. Krillin and Vegeta were murdered by him. Piccolo’s race and home planet was destroyed by the cruel tyrant. Plus, Frieza’s a snake. Who knows what kinda of shit Frieza would pull on the Z Warrriors if given the chance. If he wanted to, Frieza could had kill members of Unvierse 7 for shits and giggles. (Un)forutnetly for Team Universe 7, Freiza’s an asset to their surivivial. Yes, Frieza did horrible things to Z Warrrios and caused suffering to the unviersse. But what’s worse; Having a powerful, yet psychopathic warrior on your side who can get the job done with ease or losing your exsitance because you got emotional over somebody you don’t like?
I thought so.
In dire situtaitons, you have to put aside your emotions and focus on the ultimate goal. Emotions are great. They make us humans. They drive us to do amazing things. But emotions can fuck you up if you can’t control them. Let’s look at what happen to Lerbron James during the 2018 NBA Finals. Game 1. He got in his feelings over a teammate’s mistake. He gave into them and got swept by The Golden State Warriors.
What would had happen to Universe 7 if they gotten emotional over Frieza’s includcion to their team? You might say “But Ben, they could had went with Yamcha instead or maybe even Cell!” You’re right. They could had went with Yamcha or Cell. But Yamcha would had gotten slaughter within the first five seconds of the tournament. And Cell doesn’t give Toei Animation enough money like Frieza in terms of product sales.
Don’t get emotional when trying to hit your targets.
(Warning: Terrible grammar and spelling. I was drunk off three shots of Jim Beam and drank like two 32 oz. cans of cheap Miller beer. You’ve been warned. Originally written on March 2nd, 2018.)
Assuming that there won’t be a final ED for Super’s finale, ONEPIXCEL’s Lagrima as the final ED is a poor choice. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad song for what it is (and the women performing the song are pretty cute). I find myself bobbing my head in sync with the beat of the song even. Still, it’s doesn’t carry the emotional weight of 70cm Square Window. Why do I think it carries more weight than Lagrima? Well, hear me out.
Once we get past Adult Goku riding on the Flying Nimbus (or the Kinto’un for you fucking Japanese sub purist weeaboos), there’s a shot of Kid Goku alone starting far into the distance. Following that, the ending animation transition to Kid Goku’s running animation cycle featuring the OG Dragon Ball characters in the background (Bulma, Pura, Oolong, Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, Muten Roshi, and Goku’s late beloved grandpa, Gohan). Next, Goku grows into his current self, riding back on the Flying Nimbus while images of the Team Universe 7 crew scroll along. Finally, that shit ends with Goku running next to images of Beerus, the Zeno Kings, Grand Preist, Hit, and Jiren – the important characters of DB Super.
The animation of 70cm Square Window shows Goku’s growth from classic Dragon Ball, Z, and Super (sorry DBGT stans ya don’t get shit). Goku went form a curious, humble country boy traveling the world for stronger people to fight and train with, to a man who could destroy an entire universe with ease. Just imagine, you finish watching the final episode of Super, this song plays, and you watch Goku’s progression within this ED. You watch this man improve and better himself – becoming this unstoppable warrior. Imagine that shit man. How the fuck can Lagrima could ever compare?
Fuck, let’s check the best lyrics of the song:
‘I was always thinking of you
The reality that squeezes my heart
I was always longing to see you
And I’ll continue to forge ahead with that memory…”
Let’s imagine that none of the universe or any warrior that died will be brought back (they will cuz it’s Dragon Ball Super and Super is fuckin predictable as fuck) after the Tournament. Do you know how those lines could fit well with say 18 remembering her brother or Vegeta remembering Cabba and the Saiyans of Universe 7 and how they will have to continue on living without them? I want you to imagine 18’s and Vegeta’s sadness as those lyrics play.
Wouldn’t that shit be perfect?
Real shit tho, I’m drunk as hell and none of this will lever happen cuz Toei Animation don’t get deep with Dragon Ball like that. Hope you enjoyed this durenk rant I will do more in the future when I have nothing better to do on a Friday night or something.
Afterword:
Alcohol doesn’t make you a better writer. It only makes you an alcoholic writer and increases your alcohol dependency.
“Respect is earned, not given” is a controversial statement. Some believe that respect should be given to all – regardless of who they are or what they have accomplished. Others think that respect should only be earned through hard work, talent, skills, etc. In high levels of competition, respect is earned only if one is impressed by the superior flair of another person (most of the time). In the Tournament of Power, we see Jiren giving his respect towards both Goku and Vegeta: calling both men warriors. Jiren doesn’t use this term lightly, nor does he use it freely.
For Jiren, calling you a warrior is his sign of respect and admiration.
In Episode 122, as Jiren squares off against Goku, the two engage in conversation. Jiren asks Goku why does he seek to become stronger. Goku simply replies that he doesn’t know why; he just wants to. Following, Goku asks Jiren if he too wants to be stronger. Jiren states that what he wants is beyond mere, selfish thought of strength. This is a change from how Jiren initially viewed Goku (from their first fight). At first, it appears Jiren had no respect for Goku. But, after proving his worth against Jiren, we can assume that he’s a little curious about Goku’s strength and goals. It should be noted that Jiren calls Goku by his name: “Son Goku”, rather than a title like “Saiyan” or “Assassin” (as he did with Hit during his battle against him).
With this, it’s safe to say that Jiren respects Goku.
In Vegeta’s case, Jiren gives him the title of “Warrior”. As Belmod and Khai both stated, Jiren calling Vegeta “warrior” is his sign of respect Now, originally Jiren viewed Vegeta as arrogant. He even dismisses his brash fighting style as too prideful – taunting his Saiyan heritage in a sense. When Vegeta was able to hold his own against Jiren, that’s when Jiren was able to show his respect towards the Saiyan Prince.
Jiren’s respect doesn’t end there.
When Goku fought Jiren in Ep. 123, Goku overwhelmed Jiren. Not by brute strength, but by tactics and strategy. Using a combination of teleportation, Ki landmines, and Destructo Discs (or Kienzans for you purist weebs), Goku was able to knock Jiren out of the ring. This forced Jiren to use a hint of his true power to recover and combat against Goku. In turn, Goku tapped into his reserves; going Super Saiyan Blue with Kaikoen x20 stacked. Vegeta tapped into his hidden power, breaking his shell and limits. The fact both Goku and Vegeta drew out power beyond their limits could suggest that Jiren want to see both warrior’s true power in combat.
Jiren sees them as truly worthy warriors. Goku and Vegeta have earned Jiren’s respect.
Title: Mechanical Madness: Clash of the Artificial Humans!
Summary: Nearly 25 years after the Cell Saga, brother and sister duo Androids 17 and 18 unite in combat once again! Ordered by Mosco – Universe 3’s God of Destruction – Panchla, Borareta, and Koltsukai start to hunt down the Android twins. Unmoved by their oncoming attackers, the Androids smirk at each other before charging at the threat with such great and furious offense. They appear to show dominance over the robots but…
““Gattai!”
STAFF LISTING:
Producer: Hiroyuki Sakurada
Storyboard: Masanori Sato
Planner: Kōzō Morishita
Script: Hiroshi Toda (Scenario writer for the TV special Dragon Ball Z: History of Trunks)
Animation: Yuya Takahashi
Music: Norihito Sumitomo
What do you guys think? I’m excited that Androids 17 and 18 are teaming up again, it makes me excited. The term “Gattai” (lit. “Combine”) is used in many classic mecha anime and Super Zentai . With Kale and Caulifa fusing into Kefla from this past episode 114, I wouldn’t be surprised if Panchla, Borareta, and Koltsukai fused into a super robot. Given Toriyama draws influences from Super Zentai shows and sci-fi movies, seeing those robots fuse is not out of the realm of possibility.
Also, if you believe any of this, well good sir or madam, you’ve been duped. You deserve to be fooled by misleading and false information on anything Dragon Ball Super related. I hope you’re tricked by clickbait articles and vlogs from the likes of Blasting News and Double4Anime until the end of time.
Seriously. There’s no source from any official websites or trustworthy members of the Dragon Ball community. As Akira Toriyama famously said in a May 2013 JUMP Magazine interview:
‘Do not believe anything you read on the internet about my works, upcoming projects, and episodes from unconfirmed, unofficial, and untrustworthy sources – even if they list staff members from Toei. They’re trying to trick you into giving them your views. To be blunt, I’m sick and tired of the misinformation in the community and fanbase.
Before I begin I want to say two things:
1. These leaks have yet to be confirmed until we have scans from the official Japanese TV Guide (usually provied by Herms98 over at Twitter). Take these leaks with a grain of salt. However, Toru Furuya (voice actor of Yamcha) posted a tweet that may confirmed the truth of these leaks.
2. You assume the risk of being spoil if these leaks are legit. If you do not want to take that risk, turn back now. You have been warned. With that said, let’s go!
Today has been a wild news day for the Dragon Ball community. Recent leaks from 2channel have surfaced containing major spoilers for Dragon Ball Super episodes 95-98. Let me say that (these spoilers are some straight up game changers for the Tournament of Power of the Universe Survival Arc (assuming if they’re real of course) . Freiza betraying Universe 7 and joining Universe 4? Universe 11 recruiting warriors from different universes to target Universe 7? If you fall off the arena, not only you will die, your existence will be erased as well?!
Man, this is crazy! Let’s break down the episode spoilers and I shall give my opinions on each!
Episode 95 (Airdate: 6/10/17)
Members of Universe 9 decide to take a nice and fun little universe studies field trip to Universe 7 meet their favorite people in the whole wide universe: Goku and Frieza. No, not so they can get their autographs or anything cool like that. They wanna kill them both before the tournament begins. If you remember from episode 93 of Super, Universe 4’s God of Destruction Quitela hired spies to scout Universe 7’s warriors and discovered that Goku recruited Frieza for the Tournament. Surprised that Universe 7 have went as far as inviting dead warriors within their rank, Quitela starts plotting with Sidra (God of Destruction of Universe 9) to assassinate Frieza. Frieza and Goku, for the very first time, must join forces to take out the assassins of Universe 9. They decide to waste no time, as they have little of it before the tournament.
Do not get too content with Frieza and Goku being buddy-buddy for long.
Episode 96 (Airdate: 6/17/17)
Ya really thought this man would work with a Saiyan!
Oh no. Oh my. Frieza doesn’t wanna work with Universe 7 after all. He betrays them, linking up with Universe 4 instead. Man that’s so fucked up. I can’t believe that this man Frieza would backstab Goku like that. Are you surprise as much as I am? Well, I dunno how Quitela managed to get Frieza on his side, but he got him. Maybe Frieza is playing mindgames with both Universe 4 and 7, killing members off of Universe 7 first, and then betray Universe 4 and will kill them off as well just for his own personal and selfish gain.
Welp congrats Frieza, you played yourself! Say goodbye to the deal of you coming back to life with the Earth Dragon Balls (as if he could had use them to come back to life again). Beerus might just reward him with a stupid prize (Hakai) for playing stupid games. Well, Goku boy is short a member, again. Universe 7 enters the Tournament of Power with just nine warriors. But wait! Who is the 10th member entering at this 11th hour!?. Who is “He”?
$200 says this “He”. Screenshot this post.
Well, there aren’t any information within the spoilers about who’s the new 10th member, but some rather interesting “meta” information have came out on Twitter within the last 24 hours or so of this writing. There are talks in the Dragon Ball community of Yamcha being the possible 10th member of Universe 7th. How do we know this? Well, let’s check out this tweet by Yamcha’s voice actor, the legendary seiyu Toru Furuya.
Seriously the 10th member is Yamcha just screenshot this post.
“I was tired talking a lot with Yamcha.” (Gotta love Google Translate) Hmm. And he can’t go into further details about what he was talking about. That’s rather suspect, isn’t it? Yamcha has been featured in a few episodes of the Universe Survival arc, waiting for Goku to recruit him (poor fellow) but perhaps he’ll finally have his chance to prove his worth with Frieza’s betrayal and leaving Universe 7 one member short. I for one can’t wait to see Yamcha shine! Plus, I figure Toei needs to sell some Yamcha figures and toys because there’s a fan demand and market so why not!
Enough about Yamcha, let’s move forward to the next episode, and my lord, the Grand Priest’s new information is grim, scary, and depressing.
Episode 97 (Airdate: 6/24/17)
There’s something about his smile and the camera’s angle…
Finally! After 20 episodes, the Tournament of Power kicks off with this episode (I’m gonna have some beers and trees on standby for this one). The warriors of the eight universes gather at the World of Void to combat for their survival! Before doing so, The Grand Priest drops some dire news: whoever falls off the arena will not only die, but their existence will be erased on the spot! That’s it. Game over man. You’re gone for good! Yea, I mean this is Dragon Ball, nobody (good) stay dead forever. It’s pretty obvious the victor will use the Super Dragon Balls to revive all the universes that were erased, but this is some pretty grim shit.
Now that I think about it, the “no killing allowed” rule make sense. In the world of Dragon Ball, if you die, your spirit will either go to the Other World or Hell depending on if you were evil or good in your life. You will still exist unless you either die again in the afterlife or if a God of Destruction erase your existence.
Ghosts can get it too.
So let’s imagine if a warrior in the tournament was killed by say Frieza. Their spirit would enter either the Other World or Hell, and tell the rest of the dead folks some shit like “Hey, so I was just killed in a fucked up tournament in which if our universe loses, we all being erased. Let’s go to this World of Void and revolt against the Onmi King and his priests! Also Son Goku of Universe 7 caused this to happen so let’s kill his love ones!”
You know how chaotic things would be if word of a tournament of this nature got out to the other universes? Pretty great insurance policy the Grand Priest installed by banning killing. Eh, I’m just hopefully speculating at this point. Let’s move on to the last episode leak.
Episode 98 (Airdate: 7/1/2017)
The warriors are divided into two groups: Those who’ve joined forces with Universe 11 to take out Universe 7 , and the rest who do not wish. Universe 11 were going around recruiting fighters from outside their own ranks to link up and take out Universe 7’s warriors. Goku, being the asshole he is, is just sitting back enjoying his own allies being targeted by Universe 11 and their new temporary teammates. This is interesting and we had clues that this might happened. First off, let’s check out a screenshot of second opening of Dragon Ball Super.
Kale if you were taken in by Universe 11 against your will please blink twice
It’s possible that the woman in the background next to Jiren is new best girl Kale of Universe 6. I can only assume and speculate that Universe 11 managed to recruit Kale to join the assault on Universe 7. Now, this is interesting to say the least. Universe 6 and 7 are counterparts. Warriors such as Cabba and Hit hold Universe 7 in high regrades. To see Kale on Universe 11 side to attack Universe 7 will create conflict within Universe 6.
Also, remember that Universe 11 pride themselves as being warriors of justice, yearning to rid the universe of any and all evil by any means necessary. Let’s take this one step further by examining some lyrics Dragon Ball Super’s 7th ending theme “An Evil Angel and A Righteous Devil”:
‘”For all that is righteous, destroy this evil!”
They say, “The whole world is waiting for you!”
“’For all that is righteous, fight this evil!”
They’ll say “You’re our hero! You’re the one!”
As stated earlier, Universe 11 prides themselves to their oath to destroy all evil and defend righteousness. I can imagine members of that universe sweet talking somebody like Kale to use her powers for justice to attack Universe 7, the evil doers. Plus, as fucked up as this sound, it’s probably easy to convince like Kale (who has self-esteem issues) to join forces with a group like Universe 11 to give them some confidence in themselves.. Just tell them “Hey, Goku and his team are evil and we’re the good guy. They’re the reason why we’re in this situation!” Some fucked up game of politics if you ask me.
I really hope these leaks are true because if so, this makes the Tournament of Power and the Universe Survival Arc in general interesting as all hell. Frieza betraying Universe 7 and joining Universe 4, Yamcha may make a comeback, Universe 11 recruiting warriors of other universes to attack Universe 7, and the rule of not only dying, but being erased if you lose?
This past week, news from 2channel (Japanese image board) surfaced citing the return Freeza to Dragon Ball Super (DBS) for the Universe Survival Arc. I didn’t care at first; the major Dragon Ball YouTubers (Geekdom 101, Qaadman’s Land, Dragon Ball Nation, etc.) I follow and trust didn’t believe it was legit news. The lack of a secondary and more trustworthy source made it less believable. It’s 2channel. Any ol’ (Japanese-reading) nerd can post some fake ass shit on there and pass it off as “legit” news.
However, long-time Dragon Ball news translator Herms98 posted his translations of the upcoming Japanese TV Guide Dragon Ball Super episode synopsis; confirming the return of ruthless tyrant. Freeza will replace Majin Buu in the Tournament of Power (whom once again, has gone to sleep right before a major tournament).
Japanese TV Guide “spoilers” for Dragon Ball Super Ep. 90-93
I’m honestly not happy with Freeza returning. I mean yeah, having a different warrior outside of Goku’s clique representing Universe 7 is refreshing. We didn’t need ten warriors from Earth as a team that suppose to represent a vast universe.
Yet, Freeza replacing Buu just seems like lazy writing on Toei’s end. The Majin Buu falling asleep trick is old. We’ve seen Freeza returned ten times throughout the series. We get it; Toei has a hard on for Freeza. Some of us fans do not.
Toei, please end the Freeza dicking riding session.
While I’m not happy Freeza is coming back, I do look forward to his interactions with the Z Warriors. Especially with the ones he has a storied history with (Piccolo, Krillin, Goku, and of course Vegeta: prince of no one). Piccolo’s home planet was invaded by this man. Krillin pretty much has PTSD from Freeza torturing and killing him. Vegeta and Goku’s entire race was wiped out by this dude; with Vegeta being misled about Freeza’s killing his.
I doubt Freeza wants to work with past enemies, but if it means getting out of that damn cocoon surrounded by pretty stuffed animals and fairies as a bargain, then I guess he’ll have to work with folks he don’t like.
But seriously Toei stop the dick riding of Freeza.
SOURCES:
Herms98’s translation of Freeza’s return
Spoilers for DBS eps 90-93. Yes, it's true: Fortuneteller Baba will be making a long-awaited return appearance! pic.twitter.com/HBU19IpOps
Yuki The Snowman 