English Dub Review: Dragon Ball Super “Gohan, Get Ruthless! Showdown with the 10th Universe!”

Gohan’s still got it.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

The Universe 2 beauties are enacting a furious counterattack against Universe 7, who has just knocked out Kakunsa, one of their three main warriors. Ribrianne, the leader of the three, starts going to town on Android 17 without mercy, proving herself to be an actual challenge for the young android. Meanwhile, Goku is having a tough time fighting with Rozie, who hails a flurry of energy blasts mixed in with a series of feints to throw Goku off his game.

Android 17 jumps to Goku’s aid, bolstering him with his energy shield. Goku starts to catch on to Rozie’s fighting style, figuring out her attack pattern so he can dodge a good amount of her blows. Goku is also able to catch her energy blasts and then returns them to the sender, knocking her out of the fight. With that done, Android 17 and Goku head off to find the next fight.

Gohan, meanwhile, takes on Botamo, the giant “Winnie the Pooh” looking goon who seeks to take on the Universe 7 crew. Gohan hits him with a flurry of blows and pushes him off the edge of the ring with a Kamehameha blast. After defeating Botamo, Gohan and Piccolo are approached by Obni and Rubalt of Universe 10. Obni is a tough match for Gohan, since he can shift his internal body’s internal energy to feint his opponents and misdirect them. Piccolo, meanwhile, takes on Rubalt, who don’t last against Piccolo’s powerful energy blasts and gets tossed off the edge of the arena.

It looks bad for Gohan, however, who can’t land a hit on Obni. Gohan turns it around however with a brilliant strategy. He allows himself to get hit by Obni so he knows exactly where he is and then returns the blow at the same time. It’s not a perfect idea, but Gohan’s furious endurance keeps him in the fight blow for blow. Slowly, but surely, Gohan turns the tables on Obni and sends him flying with a well-placed Kamehameha wave. With Obni gone from the ring, Universe 10 is out of fighters and is immediately erased by Zeno. The last thing Gohan sees of Universe 10 is a locket containing a picture of Obni’s family that had fallen on the ground. A grim reminder of the stakes of the Tournament of Power.

Our Take:

Dragon Ball Super, much like the defining strengths of its characters, is filled with a sense of determination that continues to push the Tournament of Power arc into the upper echelons of “Badass shounen arcs.” Each episode is made up of a small self-contained story that emphasizes a different character or idea all while progressing the larger story of the arc further. This style of storytelling is almost like an anthology, where our characters encounter an odyssey of events loosely connected through the tournament. To that end, this story is going quite well, to say the least.

I felt an honest sadness when we saw the locket of Obni on the ground after his entire universe was completely disintegrated from existence. It’s a testament to the storytelling ability of this show that it can stir up such an emotional response to a character who we only just met in the latter half of this episode. Yet, the old methods work, and something simple like a locket with a family photo can stir up empathy when its for a character who just lost everything for an arbitrary reason. I had initially criticized Super initially for not driving home the ramifications of this tournament, but it seems that now this tournament is shaping up to be quite the existential torment. How will Universe 7 fare when they’re the only universe standing after defeating so many good opponents?

The larger theming aside, this episode’s visuals and animation are put to excellent use. Dragon Ball Super doesn’t always put on the best show of fighting, but when it wants to knock things up a bit, it can. Goku’s fight against Rozie has an excellent flow to it. He dances and jumps around Rozie grabbing her energy blasts with the elegance of a ballet dancer. And Gohan’s struggle against Obni is made all the more real because of how stoic and strong Obni is presented as.

This is a great episode from start to finish, and I’m at the edge of my seat yearning for more. It’s great to be reminded of why a good anime is so bingeable. I feel like I could watch this show for hours and not get bored since each episode is filled with great content, solid animation, and emotional moments that legitimize this story. This is what anime should be. This is the stuff that legends are made of.