I had thought it was about a shadow goku or something but now that you post it I think that's what we all were speculating it might have been based on that quote.
Very fair reasoning. I also wondered if at all it had to do with Zamasu being mystical in nature and affecting him in a way that is different for mortals, which Piccolo Dameao was retconned to be, and those we saw in the ToP.
Adding to the main thread, it's not just Goku wanting to fight regardless of how appropriate it is but also the fact that he often lost. Didn't he lose multiple tournaments in DB? I know he for sure lost to Jackie Chun and Tenshinhan. It at least added some consequences to his desire to fight.
I feel like Goku always wanted to scrap but when it came time to go against someone really strong he got serious about it.
He hated it so much that he hijacked the initial Battle of Gods script that was in production without him and turned it into the story that we eventually got ( I believe...
I agree with CC that disorientation is a fair explanation. And technically speaking he had only been using this ability for a few days by the time he was killed by Freeza. It would be more natural to wake up from the afterlife and not immediately try to do it since it was a new ability.
I like the vile and opportunistic side of Vegeta he had in the anime, specifically on Namek. He wasn't wrapped up in his pride and took whatever breaks and openings came his way. Much more of a villain and less of an anti-hero, which fits him better at this time, in my opinion.
Bumping this as I was skimming through the Goku Black Arc. After Trunks uses the Mafuba, Black says Zamasu's energy is is coming and going, while also growing considerably weaker. This was after Zamasu escaped. Worth noting that the Mafuba may in fact cause damage.
When Trunks displays USSJ while training with Vegeta, he is stacking it on SSJ2, not SSJ like he did in Z. It just had me wondering if it should be consider to be the same of if it technically should have a unique designation. I've never seen it brought up but technically its use is different...
RIP. I imagine that, unlike in American comics, the odds are very low that another author will take up his work and finish the story. Certainly a one of a kind story teller.
Everyone is pointing to Cell or Cooler being the surprise character but the first one that popped into my head was Android 16. He's semi popular with fans and he's an easy introduction by having Bulma build a copy. Just my guess.