The points for SSJ1 are strong, especially the one about Gohan saying he could maybe beat Buu if he used his full strength despite not being able to defeat Dabura, although one could argue that he meant having access to the power that he'd temporarily lost to Spopvich etc which had maybe not fully returned against Dabura or he meant just using more power within the SSJ2 form that he was already using against Dabura. The point about Gohan having no lightning in the same chapter that Goku and Vegeta had it is a strong one, but Toriyama could have just forgotten for Gohan because Gohan being SSJ2 wasn't a new phenomenon whereas SSJ2 Vegeta was completely new so he would've had on his mind that SSJ2 has lightning for the Goku vs Vegeta fight but not for Gohan vs Dabura, because he's forgetful and needs reminders of some sort to be consistent with stuff.
I feel like in this topic the SSJ2 points are stronger. The point about Vegeta being angry makes sense since he was angry about Gohan being sloppy rather than not putting in effort, indicating there was no way Gohan could further transform, as otherwise Vegeta would have made different remarks. It sounds like Vegeta believed Gohan was using his current full power.
The point about Gohan's stamina isn't evidence for SSJ2 I'd say. Yes, SSJ2 does place strain on the body much more than MSSJ, but at the same time transforming can actually make the user less tired while doing the same tasks due to having access to more power. For example would Trunks have killed Freeza without breaking a sweat if he stayed in base? Of course not, he'd have to strain his body (and would still lose of course). Would Gohan kill 50% Perfect Cell with less in-battle fatigue using SSJ or SSJ2? SSJ2 without a doubt. Even comparing Base to MSSJ (which has no additional strain on the body supposedly) in the Buu Saga we see Goku is tired while shadowboxing (if you can call it that) with weights but is not tired when doing the same exercise as a MSSJ. So overall if Gohan was tired against Dabura it doesn't help us narrow down the form as being pushed to SSJ's limits will tire the user out about just as much as being pushed to SSJ2's limits.
Th 3rd point in favour of SSJ2 I literally don't understand so won't try to address it. Explain that shit properly.
The point about Krillin and Piccolo being stone is a big one, as are the points about trying to destroy or escape Buu. Only explanations for him to not be in SSJ2 when trying to save Piccolo and Krillin are that he couldn't go SSJ2 any more due to not training (pretty sure he went SSJ2 at the tournament though, although I watched it a few years back snd have never read it yet) or being energy sapped and that he realised that they'll probably just go to New Namek and sort that shit out, but that's improbable because even the genius Gohan isn't allowed to realise that DBZ deaths are easily reversable.
Concluding, I'd say after weighing it up I'm on the SSJ1 side actually. Gohan was unable to use SSJ2 due to Spopovich so despite trying hard to defeat Dabura he was not at max power. Vegeta being mad is hard to counter but it can be reconciled with Gohan being SSJ1 by assuming that Vegeta could tell that Gohan wasn't able to go SSJ2.....blah....tbh though that's weak as fuck and it makes no sense for him to not mention losing SSJ2 if that was the case.
Mofos
