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I decided to go and experience Dragon Ball Super as a whole. However, I couldn't be bothered with the anime considering it'd take me hours to get through it all. This'll be strictly a manga review for every major arc barring the ToP as that hasn't finished yet.
Battle of Gods Arc; 1/10
I think this is a suitable rating for this arc. The arc is ultimately just a tl;dr version of the movie, which means that it's existence is redundant in every sense of the word. However, I did enjoy the details that Toyotaro added to it, Champa and Vados gathering the Super Dragon Balls was a really nice touch, showing how and why Shin defused from Kibito, Beerus's scene at the beginning where he destroys the planet. It's just a shame that the rest is eh.
Universe 6 Arc; 2/10
This arc had some good gags, Beerus and Champa banter was fun, Piccolo getting roasted was 10/10. The fight choreography was good.
That's it.
Tension and stakes in this arc didn't exist, if Goku and friends had lost they literally would've just switched places with U6's Earth. There wasn't even the threat of death because that would disqualify you. It also didn't help that only Hit was a threat to Goku and Vegeta, and even then... he wasn't all that big of a threat.
The characters introduced in this arc are lacklustre at best. Champa is just Beerus, but fat, Vados is just Whis, but uh, implied to be more sneaky(?)
Botamo doesn't have a character, Magnetta doesn't have a character too, both of these fighters should never have been here in the first place.
Frost is just less evil Freeza, I actually like how he's just an asshole instead of being Freeza but reskinned in the anime. However, he's ultimately a very shallow character. At least the bait and switch was fun, and how he disliked being in the tournament.
Cabba is horrible, he's just some polite goody two shoes, annnnnnnnd that's it. Despite being shown and stated to be some experienced fighter, he was utterly incapable of going Super Saiyan, and had never even heard of it before that tournament. Yet he turned Super Saiyan the moment Vegeta uttered a threat to him about destroying Planet Salada.
Hit was just stoic, and a assassin, that's the full extent of his character here. However, Timeskip was cool before it was trivialised.
Monaka had nice nipples.
Despite being a tournament nearly all of the fights were terrible. Botamo V Goku was a joke, it was literally Goku punching Botamo a couple of times before dragging him out, what a waste of pages. Magnetta V Vegeta was boring to read, just Vegeta trying to pick up Magnetta, failing, and then trying to destroy the ring. The gag that Magnetta couldn't take insults wasn't fleshed out.
Frost V Goku was honestly the best in terms of fight choreography, and hand to hand combat. However, this fight was hurt by the fact that Frost was embarrassingly outclassed by Goku in every way, and that Goku was just playing with his food the entire time. I do like how Frost won, it was pretty creative and managed to defeat the gap in power between him and Goku.
Even though it got undone and Goku came back.
Piccolo V Frost was worthless in every sense of the word, just Piccolo attempting to tire Frost out by running around the arena, what a joke.
Vegeta V Frost was good if you're a Vegeta fan, Vegeta gets to beat up and pummel Bootleg Freeza, and pay back everything Freeza did for him. It's pretty much Vegeta getting his hurrah moment.
Vegeta V Hit was a hilarious stomp, and it proves that no matter what Vegeta will always be 2nd fiddle to Goku.
Goku V Hit started out great. Goku managing to counter Hit's time skip by predicting where Hit will attack was creative, and fun. The fight turned into a complete bore when Goku proceeded to turn into SSJG and just straight up overpowered Hit, then Hit powered up, and then Goku powered up some more. This fight made Hit look pathetic, his ability was rendered obsolete.
Then Goku gave up willingly.
Monaka V Hit was the greatest stomp in all of Dragon Ball.
Future Trunks arc; 0.9/10.
I'll be splitting up this review into likes and the avalanche of fuck ups that this arc is.
I really liked how Shin and Kibito were both active players in this arc, it really made up for how they were both useless in the Boo Saga. I enjoyed the Golf Cart gag, and the gags in general besides Kid Mai liking Future Trunks. Also the foreshadowing for Trunks being the apprentice of a Kaioshin.
Guess that's it.
Now for the fuck ups.
Arguably the greatest mistake this arc committed was giving Goku the Zen'Oh button. It renders the entire conflict with Zamasu as nothing more than a titanic waste of time. Every idea, Goku mastering SSJB, Vegeta using SSJB and SSJG in tandem with each other, Mafuba, Vegetto, every-time the characters risked life and limb, is completely negated by the fact that Goku had the literal "I win button." The only argument against Goku using it (the only reason why he didn't use it was because he forgot, if he hadn't he would've used it at any point prior they were backed into a corner) was because Zen'Oh would simply destroy the timeline. However, I have to question how that's important in anyway shape or form. The series itself didn't make a big deal about Trunks and Mai losing their home, instead quietly ushering them to a new timeline without the slightest fuss.
The arc was also well versed in the art of bait and switch, it establishes multiple plot points and builds them up as the solution and the finial hope before pulling the rug under it. The return of Vegetto, the fusion of Goku and Vegeta, confirmed by Shin to be even stronger than Beerus himself... beats up Zamasu for about 11 pages before defusing. He does absolutely nothing of worth, you could cut Vegetto out of this story and the story wouldn't be impacted in the slightest. He's the very epitome of shitty and tasteless fanservice.
Mafuba was also built up, there was quite a bit of time spent training. It actually works, it seals Zamas... However, it was ultimately undermined by Goku somehow getting the wrong seal, because of that Zamas is then released. Like Vegetto it didn't impact the story in any meaningful way and it could be cut out.
Beerus himself is already a sloppy retcon that completely changes the entire story of Dragon Ball, and he could be argued to be a plot hole too. However, by establishing that if all the Kaioshin died, the Gods of Destruction died too, makes the entire events of the Boo Arc asinine. With just the events of Battle of Gods, you can make the argument that Shin wouldn't want to call the purple cat because he'd just destroy everyone...
Now? If Shin dies Beerus is dead fucking meat. There was literally no reason to not call the God of Destruction to flick the wad of bubblegum known as Boo out of existence. Old Kai does exist, but through Beerus's dialogue it's pretty much implied he doesn't know who the hell he is, so there's no reason why he wouldn't do it.
The asspulls which sprung up at the finale in a constant wave. Goku suddenly having Mastered Super Saiyan Blue the whole entire time, a form which gives him the power to go toe to toe with Merged Zamas was complete shit. Goku having Hakai the whole entire time was complete shit. Goku could have ended this whole entire arc in an instant without the Zen'Oh button if he wanted too.
Zamas is a complete embarrassment of a villain. To start, having Zamas get ahold of the Super Dragon Balls not once but twice was a mistake. Zamas had the perfect opportunity to end this arc before it even began by simply wishing all the mortals away, but instead he decided to waste it on switching bodies with Goku and wishing for immortality, two useless wishes.
I also only refer to Zamas as it's really only Zamas. Goku Black is just Zamas, Zamas is Zamas, Merged Zamas is Zamas. It's really fucking boring when Zamas is nothing more than a brutish lunatic who loses his cool at the slightest second, and rants on for ages about the inferiority of humans, the superiority of gods, and his plans, all the fucking time.
There was potential in Zamasu for complexity. However that was completely shat on with Gowasu outright stating that Zamasu always hated humans from the start.
Battle of Gods Arc; 1/10
I think this is a suitable rating for this arc. The arc is ultimately just a tl;dr version of the movie, which means that it's existence is redundant in every sense of the word. However, I did enjoy the details that Toyotaro added to it, Champa and Vados gathering the Super Dragon Balls was a really nice touch, showing how and why Shin defused from Kibito, Beerus's scene at the beginning where he destroys the planet. It's just a shame that the rest is eh.
Universe 6 Arc; 2/10
This arc had some good gags, Beerus and Champa banter was fun, Piccolo getting roasted was 10/10. The fight choreography was good.
That's it.
Tension and stakes in this arc didn't exist, if Goku and friends had lost they literally would've just switched places with U6's Earth. There wasn't even the threat of death because that would disqualify you. It also didn't help that only Hit was a threat to Goku and Vegeta, and even then... he wasn't all that big of a threat.
The characters introduced in this arc are lacklustre at best. Champa is just Beerus, but fat, Vados is just Whis, but uh, implied to be more sneaky(?)
Botamo doesn't have a character, Magnetta doesn't have a character too, both of these fighters should never have been here in the first place.
Frost is just less evil Freeza, I actually like how he's just an asshole instead of being Freeza but reskinned in the anime. However, he's ultimately a very shallow character. At least the bait and switch was fun, and how he disliked being in the tournament.
Cabba is horrible, he's just some polite goody two shoes, annnnnnnnd that's it. Despite being shown and stated to be some experienced fighter, he was utterly incapable of going Super Saiyan, and had never even heard of it before that tournament. Yet he turned Super Saiyan the moment Vegeta uttered a threat to him about destroying Planet Salada.
Hit was just stoic, and a assassin, that's the full extent of his character here. However, Timeskip was cool before it was trivialised.
Monaka had nice nipples.
Despite being a tournament nearly all of the fights were terrible. Botamo V Goku was a joke, it was literally Goku punching Botamo a couple of times before dragging him out, what a waste of pages. Magnetta V Vegeta was boring to read, just Vegeta trying to pick up Magnetta, failing, and then trying to destroy the ring. The gag that Magnetta couldn't take insults wasn't fleshed out.
Frost V Goku was honestly the best in terms of fight choreography, and hand to hand combat. However, this fight was hurt by the fact that Frost was embarrassingly outclassed by Goku in every way, and that Goku was just playing with his food the entire time. I do like how Frost won, it was pretty creative and managed to defeat the gap in power between him and Goku.
Even though it got undone and Goku came back.
Piccolo V Frost was worthless in every sense of the word, just Piccolo attempting to tire Frost out by running around the arena, what a joke.
Vegeta V Frost was good if you're a Vegeta fan, Vegeta gets to beat up and pummel Bootleg Freeza, and pay back everything Freeza did for him. It's pretty much Vegeta getting his hurrah moment.
Vegeta V Hit was a hilarious stomp, and it proves that no matter what Vegeta will always be 2nd fiddle to Goku.
Goku V Hit started out great. Goku managing to counter Hit's time skip by predicting where Hit will attack was creative, and fun. The fight turned into a complete bore when Goku proceeded to turn into SSJG and just straight up overpowered Hit, then Hit powered up, and then Goku powered up some more. This fight made Hit look pathetic, his ability was rendered obsolete.
Then Goku gave up willingly.
Monaka V Hit was the greatest stomp in all of Dragon Ball.
Future Trunks arc; 0.9/10.
I'll be splitting up this review into likes and the avalanche of fuck ups that this arc is.
I really liked how Shin and Kibito were both active players in this arc, it really made up for how they were both useless in the Boo Saga. I enjoyed the Golf Cart gag, and the gags in general besides Kid Mai liking Future Trunks. Also the foreshadowing for Trunks being the apprentice of a Kaioshin.
Guess that's it.
Now for the fuck ups.
Arguably the greatest mistake this arc committed was giving Goku the Zen'Oh button. It renders the entire conflict with Zamasu as nothing more than a titanic waste of time. Every idea, Goku mastering SSJB, Vegeta using SSJB and SSJG in tandem with each other, Mafuba, Vegetto, every-time the characters risked life and limb, is completely negated by the fact that Goku had the literal "I win button." The only argument against Goku using it (the only reason why he didn't use it was because he forgot, if he hadn't he would've used it at any point prior they were backed into a corner) was because Zen'Oh would simply destroy the timeline. However, I have to question how that's important in anyway shape or form. The series itself didn't make a big deal about Trunks and Mai losing their home, instead quietly ushering them to a new timeline without the slightest fuss.
The arc was also well versed in the art of bait and switch, it establishes multiple plot points and builds them up as the solution and the finial hope before pulling the rug under it. The return of Vegetto, the fusion of Goku and Vegeta, confirmed by Shin to be even stronger than Beerus himself... beats up Zamasu for about 11 pages before defusing. He does absolutely nothing of worth, you could cut Vegetto out of this story and the story wouldn't be impacted in the slightest. He's the very epitome of shitty and tasteless fanservice.
Mafuba was also built up, there was quite a bit of time spent training. It actually works, it seals Zamas... However, it was ultimately undermined by Goku somehow getting the wrong seal, because of that Zamas is then released. Like Vegetto it didn't impact the story in any meaningful way and it could be cut out.
Beerus himself is already a sloppy retcon that completely changes the entire story of Dragon Ball, and he could be argued to be a plot hole too. However, by establishing that if all the Kaioshin died, the Gods of Destruction died too, makes the entire events of the Boo Arc asinine. With just the events of Battle of Gods, you can make the argument that Shin wouldn't want to call the purple cat because he'd just destroy everyone...
Now? If Shin dies Beerus is dead fucking meat. There was literally no reason to not call the God of Destruction to flick the wad of bubblegum known as Boo out of existence. Old Kai does exist, but through Beerus's dialogue it's pretty much implied he doesn't know who the hell he is, so there's no reason why he wouldn't do it.
The asspulls which sprung up at the finale in a constant wave. Goku suddenly having Mastered Super Saiyan Blue the whole entire time, a form which gives him the power to go toe to toe with Merged Zamas was complete shit. Goku having Hakai the whole entire time was complete shit. Goku could have ended this whole entire arc in an instant without the Zen'Oh button if he wanted too.
Zamas is a complete embarrassment of a villain. To start, having Zamas get ahold of the Super Dragon Balls not once but twice was a mistake. Zamas had the perfect opportunity to end this arc before it even began by simply wishing all the mortals away, but instead he decided to waste it on switching bodies with Goku and wishing for immortality, two useless wishes.
I also only refer to Zamas as it's really only Zamas. Goku Black is just Zamas, Zamas is Zamas, Merged Zamas is Zamas. It's really fucking boring when Zamas is nothing more than a brutish lunatic who loses his cool at the slightest second, and rants on for ages about the inferiority of humans, the superiority of gods, and his plans, all the fucking time.
There was potential in Zamasu for complexity. However that was completely shat on with Gowasu outright stating that Zamasu always hated humans from the start.
