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Vegeta Deserves To Be the Protagonist Against Jiren

Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta

An editorial by Opinionated MJ

I have been an avid lover of the Dragonball series. I have been a follower of the Prince of Saiyans, Vegeta. He’s the best fighter in all of Dragonball, just to show my bias. I’m happy and fed up at the same time right now after watching Dragonball Super Episode 123. I know you want to ask me why? I’m upset because I just saw Vegeta take what looked like a death blow from Jiren in Episode 122. I know the rules prohibit the participants from killing one another in the Tournament of Power. So Vegeta was spared. He took multiple heavy blows before that one and didn’t get eliminated. Happy about that. Was his survival just to give Son Goku more time to get back to achieving Ultra Instinct? I hope not.

Vegeta: The Acknowledged Warrior

I fell in love with Ultra Instinct the two times we’ve seen it and I know that the third time is a charm. I wasn’t actually too pleased with Vegeta attaining his new Limit Breaker Blue form. Every time I’ve seen this man during the filler episodes, HE WAS ALWAYS TRAINING! This man (Vegeta) was training with Whis 3+ months before Son Goku even knew it. Vegeta has gone into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber (Room of Spirit and Time) multiple times and destroyed the room. Once with what seemed to be a big effort and another time in what seemed to be a cinch. Word is, with the way he destroyed the room, that would put him on the level of a god. I understand the Blue forms, but why hasn’t this created a new level in Vegeta that is on par with Son Goku’s Ultra Instinct? I’ve not seen Son Goku destroy the Hyperbolic Time Chamber (Room of Spirit and Time) nor put in the extra time and effort that Vegeta put in with Whis. What is the problem with letting Vegeta take the lead Mr. Toriyama?

Every time I’ve seen this man during the filler episodes, HE WAS ALWAYS TRAINING!

As a fan of Dragonball, I’ve seen Vegeta fall to Son Goku in the Saiyan arc, I saw Vegeta suffer against Captain Ginyu, I’ve seen Vegeta fall against the same man who killed his father and wiped out the entire Saiyan race, Frieza. You see where I’m going with this. Fast forward to the latest Frieza arc, we seen Vegeta take the lead and have Frieza at total mercy but then fail again. That failure resulted in Whis rewinding time and Son Goku coming in to execute the death blow on Frieza. Another letdown for Vegeta fans worldwide. We have never been able to see Vegeta clearly ahead of Goku. We’ve never been able to see Vegeta seal the deal against anyone worth any value.

We have never been able to see Vegeta clearly ahead of Goku

I just wanted to pose the question, “Why can’t Vegeta be the protagonist for once?” We’ve seen him fall and look stupid over and over again. If it were not for him, there’s a chance that Son Goku and the Z fighters would have already suffered death from one of the various enemies that always seem to come wanting to destroy the earth. Vegeta has been the one who has suffered the most in the entire story of Dragonball. His father was killed with one punch by Frieza. Why not create the storyline where Vegeta becomes the strongest and eliminates Jiren, finishes Universe 11, and move forward to planet Sadal? We are sorely awaiting Vegeta to receive his respect and admiration for all that he has meant to the Dragonball Universe. That means being #1.

 

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The toughest opponent in DragonBall Z

Frieza Cell Buu

The enemies in DragonBall Z

The toughest opponent in DragonBall Z

How hasn’t weighed in on this topic? Frieza, Cell, and Buu. Each of them have respectively had a shot at the Z fighters during the DragonBall Z saga. Each one of them caused their on path of destruction, but only one of them can be declared the toughest opponent. The one villain who gave the Z Fighters the most pain and heartache is none other than the first major villain, Frieza!

How could I possibly select Frieza?

Okay! Let’s work in reverse and I will explain to you why Frieza is the toughest opponent in DragonBall Z

Majin Buu

Majin Buu appeared in the final arc of DragonBall Z after the wizard Babidi manufactured battles on Earth to resurrect him. Buu took many forms throughout that saga. The first was fat buu, a ruthless but kind enemy. Next was super buu, the intelligent one, who manipulated the Z Fighters to ultimately getting the upper hand. The last one was kid buu, who was not the strongest, but most maniacal of the versions. The Z Fighters had a hard time fighting buu; however, they were probably at their most disjointed state. Consider that:

  • Vegeta was more focused on fighting a returning Goku.
  • Gohan failed to train seriously in the past seven years.
  • Goku was dead and only had a limited time on Earth.

Buu wouldn’t have been able to get past his “fat” stage under normal conditions.

Cell

Cell appeared at the end of the Android Saga as the last creation of Doctor Gero as the fail safe measure to destroy Goku and the Z Fighters. He obtained his perfect form by absorbing Androids 17 and 18. Additionally, he had the abilities and techniques of all the other fighters giving him the upper hand. Cell is definitely the more popular opponent, but toughest? Hardly. Again there are a few circumstances surrounding Cells rise to power. Forget the obvious element in the story pertaining Vegeta’s pride and folly of allowing Cell to obtain perfection. The Z Fighters were getting ready to do battle with him. There really was no contest once the battle began. In fact, Goku decided to spar with Cell just to show Gohan how to beat him. How is that considered to be the toughest opponent?

Frieza

Here is one thing I decided to wait until now to mention. Cell and Buu were both beatable in their first form. Frieza not so much. Even in his first form Frieza had the capacity to destroy all the fighters easily. He changes forms more so out of anger and an attempt to intimidate rather than necessity. By the time Frieza got to his final form there really was no contest. Frieza lost because of his pride. By toying with the Z Fighters he allowed Goku to become Super Saiyan and ultimately defeat him. As Frieza stated in the saga, he had never trained a day in life up to that point, which means he had pure power on his side.

I know it may be tough to believe, but Frieza, the destroyer of Planet Vegeta, is in fact the toughest opponent in DragonBall Z.

 

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Dragon Ball Super 118 Review – Saiyan Resilence

Gohan Charging up

Gohan Charging up

Dragon Ball Super Episode 118

We are at the 118th episode and the Tournament of Power has final added some emotional context to it. The fate of Universe 6 has been of note for the past two to three episodes with all of that universes saiyans being eliminated and the remainder left to represent Champa and the crew were Namekians.  Meanwhile, Universe 2 was winning the hearts of the crowd with their abundance of love.

Both Universes decided to take on Universe 7, a terrible mistake.

On the one side you Goku, Android 17, and Android taking on Universe 2 while Gohan and Piccolo continued the battle with Universe 6.

The Battle for Survival

How did it play out?

Well it was no surprise that Goku would be a target with his energy being depleted, but two things were in play:

  1. The Androids acquired a taste for eliminating Universe 2
  2. Goku is actually ascending, despite what should be his death kneel

At the same time, while the Namekians of Universe 6 revealed that they have the power of the Namekian community within them through fusion, we STILL have not seen the full extent of Gohan’s power, which he was happy to display a taste of now.

Both Universe 2 and 6 gave their all the fight. Universe 2 trapped Goku, 17 and 18 in a Black hole of Love and Universe 6 engaging in a super energy wave. The concurrent Kamehameha wave from Gohan and Goku blew both Universes off the stage in beautiful display that will leave fans of Gohan saying, “ITS ABOUT TIME”, and fans of Goku saying,”HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?”

In the end though, that meant it was time to say goodbye to Universe 2 and 6 and that is when the emotion kicked in.  Realizing that Beerus ultimately cheered the demise of his brother was intense. His stoic expression said it all.

The last, and equally powerful, response came from Vegeta who told his opponent to get ready because now he is in a bad mood.

Thoughts on the Episode

This episode of Dragon Ball Super is one of the better ones in an recognizably drawn out arc. Lets hope that with a smaller fight pool that the remaining episodes carry the same weight.

Do you want to watch Dragon Ball Super? You can do so through crunchyroll. Its free to create an account and you can watch all the episodes. Premium options are available.