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EP. REVIEW: Dragon Ball Super

I think that, as with the regular Dragon Balls, the Super Dragon Balls have limitations to what they can do. Namely, I'm not sure if they're powerful enough to wish back an entire Universe, especially not one destroyed by Zen-o. A planet? Yes, I can see that. But a whole Universe, let alone multiple ones? I don't see it. I think being able to wish them back the way they're hoping to do is going to end up being a No Go, in part because it would defeat the whole reason Zeno-o wants to destroy them in the first place. He's *already* letting one extra Universe survive as a favor to Goku, so an additional one seems hard to fathom.

^ We'll see (I presume). I doubt it'll be that easy or straightforward, though, despite what Beerus said. The Super Dragon Balls aren't going to be more powerful than Zen-O, for example. IMO, there's going to be some sort of twist involved. I'm curious as to what it will be.

As for the wish.... I doubt wishing the other universes back will work. I suspect wishing the contents of the other universes into Universe 7 might. That way, no one dies, no extra universes to handle, and all the fun characters introduced are now readily available for future fights. (Did I mention that theory here before?)

I really loved episode 113.

I don't think Caulifla wanting to get SSJ3 is intended to be some huge fanfare moment. It's just her wanting to get stronger.

This episode did a great job balancing the power of all the characters. I love that Goku's skill matters over Caulifla's and Kale's massive power. It's not how strong you are, but how you use that strength, something I'm very happy about Super bringing back because DB is a martial arts series and Goku is supposed to be a martial arts genius. Caulifla is just a thug and even if she's really powerful and learns really quickly, she doesn't have the years of experience and many techniques Goku has at his disposal. Kale has her massive power, but she doesn't have perfect control over it. I was the most worried about these two not having any clear flaws and this episode did a great job fleshing them out in terms of that.

I love the back-and-forth between Goku and Caulifla, too. To counter the review, I don't think Goku has the intention to push them out and that is perfectly in-character, even if it might also be for plot convinience, their relationship is a more active version of the relationship between Vegeta and Cabba. They are both pushing each other and I agree with the review that he's doing so to figure out Ultra Instinct. I love how proactive Caulifla is, it's a breath of fresh air among battle shounen, where female characters are more commonly support figures or damsels.

Add to that Goku did struggle going into SSJ2 and only briefly went into SSJ3 because that was the smart thing to do, making it clear that he's exhausted from the previous battle, which I think is completely legitimate. While Goku recovering in just a few minutes is a little strange, it works narratively because we see he's not quite recovered yet and it is something that happened back in the Buu arc, too, so it's at least based on something previously established.

The pacing within this episode as a stand-alone is really good, too. There are no long pauses in action and just focusing on a few characters makes the fight more cohesive. My least favorite episodes for the ToP are the ones scattered between many fights because they often feel directionless. Focusing on one character or fight for an episode gives it direction and a structure in a good way because Super just doesn't generally have the resources/time to make a more scattered episode exciting. Focus is going to be on making the big fights look good.

I thought it was all very solidly written and I really like Caulifla after this episode, while I just kind of liked her character before.

More of technique over power and figuring out techniques in my battle shounen, please.

I don't understand what is the problem Sam has with this episode. Saiyajin's in general and Goku in particular like a good fight, that is their whole reason to exist. I have no doubt Goku could end the fight with Caulifla and not-broly in a jiffy like Freeza did with Cabba, but that would not be fun and one of the reasons all the universes are in this tournament is because wanted to have fun fighting strong opponents. So in essence Freeza is a cold blooded killer while Goku is a happy go lucky brawler that has only good memories from his original fight with Vegeta where his body was reduced to a barely alive pulp of flesh.

Am i the only one tired of the Goku fest going on? Can we get some love for Gohan, Piccolo and 18 please?