Majin Boo's chi is like a lie

[Fantastische Hure]

But then a later quote basically backs-up that he just wasn't sure, when he says "Now I can say that..." or something like that.

The "now I can say that" isn't due to some sort of reaization that he can now defeat Boo. Since Piccolo and Goku's conversations, Goku left explicit he could have taken care of Boo but didn't do so due to wanting to pass the title as protector of the Earth to the new generation, pretty much like how Vegeta could have fixed things by bringing up Gohan and Gotenks but decided to make a moral point, giving the opportunity to the Earthings to fix things.

The "I can say this now" is more like "now that they failed to do it and I'll have to take care of him, I can openly admit I could have dealt with fatso".

 

[ahill1]

 

[Fantastische Hure]

Nah, really though bro. I respect you.

 

[Pyro]

I think ahill1 is wrong, but whatever.

 

[ahill1]

I think ahill1 is wrong, but whatever.

Prove me wrong, boyyyyyy!!!

 

[Pyro]

No, you're good.

 

[ahill1]

No, you're good.

Nah, I want to be proved wrong.

 

[Cell]

Imagine if there was a certain type of of Ki in Dragon Ball... let's call it Type-G for now... imagine if this Type-G Ki wasn't sensible in the usual way... that characters who possessed this Type-G Ki were unable to have their strength measured.

Now imagine if you had a character... let's call him Salagadoola... who absorbed a Type-G Ki user... character's might have difficulty accurately measuring the strength of Salagadoola. His measurable Ki may seem lower than his actual total... it would almost seem deceptive.

...if only things worked out that cleanly...



When Goku says the "like a lie" "...I think I probably..." line, he is unable to fully gauge Majin Buu's strength... but was also not exactly trying to win in the first place. When he says the "Now I can say" line, he has a grasp on that strength.

For the "Now I can say" to be a big reveal that he knew he could beat him all along would require his motive behind that to also be revealed... but that motive was already long-revealed after the first encounter: He wanted to leave things to the next generation. If he knew he could beat Buu earlier, it would've changed nothing... there's literally no reason for him to lie about that.

 

[ahill1]

When Goku says the "like a lie" "...I think I probably..." line, he is unable to fully gauge Majin Buu's strength... but was also not exactly trying to win in the first place. When he says the "Now I can say" line, he has a grasp on that strength.

I see the "I probably couldn't have won" as just Goku trying to hide from Piccolo the fact that he could have defeated Boo. He tried to make it sound like he didn't fight to the end since he probably couldn't have when in reality it was to give a chance to the new generation. Piccolo pressed Goku back and he was forced to admit it... he could have defeated Boo but didn't want to. That's how I see it.


Chapter: 476 (DBZ 282), P10.5-8, P11.1-3
Piccolo: “Goku…There’s something I want to ask you while I’ve got the chance…[ ] …That Super Saiyan 3 thing earlier…if you had gone all-out, wouldn’t you have been able to defeat Majin Boo?...How about it, am I wrong?”

Goku: “Nah, I don’t know…When it comes to Majin Boo’s strength, it’s like a lie…I think that I probably couldn’t have won…”

Piccolo: “…Probably? Knowing you, why didn’t you try until the very end?...Does it have to do with that energy…?”

Goku: “No…I’m no longer a human who’s particularly even supposed to be here…I shouldn’t be the one to do it. It’d be better for these young guys to solve things somehow or another…After all, some other outrageous guy might show up eventually, right? …It's a nasty gamble, but…Seeing those two super-gifted squirts, it made me want to take this gamble…”

The "I shouldn't be the one to do it" also backs this up imo. The it imo means not defeating Boo, since soon after he says these guys should be the ones to solve things, meaning he could have solved it if he wanted. I also think him calling his attitude a nasty gamble doesn't fit too well if the odds of winning weren't on his side.


Later he reinforces it even more, that the reason to which he didn't defeat Boo was him wanting to leave things to the new generation:


Chapter: 509 (DBZ 315), P11.4-6
Context: as Goku prepares to fight Boo
Goku: “Alrii~~iight. I’d better go all out right from the start…! If we get done in, then the entire universe will go ‘poof’…”
Vegeta: “Let me see this ‘Super Saiyan 3’ thing with my own eyes…”
Goku: “Is that alright? You just might not get your turn…I can say this now, but the truth is that with that fat Boo, I would have been able to defeat him at the time with Super Saiyan 3…However, I wanted the young guys to manage something…For the Earth’s sake too…”

He says he didn't defeat Boo because he wanted the young guys to do it. "Wanting the young guys to do it" wouldn't have a place imo if defeating Boo was something he realized just now. Unless you think he wasn't sure but was afraid of really trying and end up doing it? But then I don't find a reason for Goku to be unsure before and later be sure of it.

 

[Evil Vegeta]

Yeah, I think "the truth is" really gives it away, too. Not being able to handle Fat Boo was all based on a lie.

This was already hinted at when Goku thought they'd need to revert Boo down to Fat Boo if they were going to win without Fusion. Vegeta can't handle Fat Boo, but Goku can.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

This was already hinted at when Goku thought they'd need to revert Boo down to Fat Boo if they were going to win without Fusion. Vegeta can't handle Fat Boo, but Goku can.

Actually, their plan was to revert Boohan into Super Boo then use Gogeta to defeat him at least that's Goku's plan. It was later when they discovered Fatso in the pod being absorbed and Vegeta realized that Boo will either turn into the skinny or into Fatso version.

 

[Evil Vegeta]

Vegeta: “Hmph…That’s better than being merged with you…Anyway, there shouldn’t be any need for us to merge anymore, right?”
Goku: “We can’t know that! There’s [no] guarantee that we’ll be able to successfully rescue everyone who got absorbed from here and return Boo to the very first one of all…!”

Note: when Goku finds the good Boo later, he calls him “the very first one of all”, so apparently that’s the form of Boo he means here too.

Goku was referring to Fat Boo.

 

[Let's Go Fearless!]

Then later why does he need to fuse with Vegeta instead searching for Fatso? First of all, they went inside Boo's body in order to rescue their kids and Piccolo and return Boo into Super Boo the one with no absorption [later they learned that Fatso was absorbed as well] then fuse to destroy Boo. If they intended to return Boo into Fat Boo then there would be no need for fusing. It seems Herms made that mistake.

 

[Evil Vegeta]

Because Boo didn't revert to Fat Boo and returned to normal Super Boo. That's why Fusion was still necessary. Goku knew he didn't start out like that, so he was hoping that they could've returned him to that form.

Goku's reply was to Vegeta asking if they won't need to merge anymore. They obviously have to merge to fight Super Boo, so there's no other Boo he could've been talking about except Fat Boo. Vegeta wasn't going to merge with him again, anyway.

I've asked nearly every translator the same question and ALL of them said "very first Boo" is what Goku said in that line and what he said when he saw Fat Boo's pod. It isn't a Herms mistake. Fat Boo is the Boo Goku had in mind and is actually "the very first one of all".