C&C - Dragon Ball Super - "Bloodcurdling! The Explosive Birth Of A New Super Warrior!" [6/8]

[Nobodyman]

How is it a surprise, Krillin? You already know he can do that.

 

[Kitschensyngk]

We don't need Frieza with this.

Damn. You good.

 

[trance2009]

Muscular Kale is kind of hot.

Sent from my moto e5 (XT1920DL) using Tapatalk

 

[Kitschensyngk]

Red before blue, sailor’s...delight?

Pop up behind him! POP UP BEHIND HIM!

 

[Nobodyman]

Girl-on-girl fusion action. Hot.

 

[Space Cadet]

Fusion huh? Can a Super Saiyan God handle that?

 

[Hypeathon]

On Anime Ajay's animation breakdown of episode 114 of Dragon Ball Super, the animator that takes a crack as an animation director brings forth the Buu era design aesthetics!

 

[Kitschensyngk]

They can fuse now, too? Did Cabba teach them that?

You think your universe invented fusion?

Could Goku lose this one, please? I really like these two.

 

[Nobodyman]

And another episode with no KOs. Come on Super, pick up the pace.

52 KOs, 28 remaining.

 

[shany94a]

Kefla's cute. Too bad she wants to beat Goku to a pulp. Oh well.

 

[TFormersMarvel]

Surprise, it was a Steven Universe episode all along!

 

[DBTrilogy100]

Goku continues to fight Caulifla & Kale in tonight's episode. The episode starts with Kale powering up to Super Saiyan Berserk Form and Goku remembers when Kale powered up into that form earlier in the Tournament of Power while Caulifla is impressed by Kale's power. Jiren's hands twitch for a moment in his meditative state and Vegeta & Top can sense Kale's energy signature during their fight with one another. Top comments that Saiyans are a formidable species and Vegeta claims he is the mightiest of the Saiyans; Top says Vegeta hasn't been able to prove this claim and Vegeta manages to land a punch that launches Top quite a distance. The Omni-Kings are excited to see Kale's Super Saiyan Berserk Form again and Caulifla continues to be impressed by Kale's power; Caulifla approaches Kale to congratulate her sister-in-arms for changing into the form without losing control but Kale doesn't seem to recognize Caulifla. Caulifla figures that Kale has lost control as a trade-off to acess this power and then thanks & praises Kale, mentioning that they can defeat Goku while working together with this power; Caulifla's words get through to Kale and Kale changes into a new form while regaining control of herself (supplementary material indicates that this is Kale's version of Super Saiyan 2).

Champa cheers Caulifla & Kale on while Goku says his Saiyan instinct is reacting to Kale's power and he needs to be careful; Kale says she will follow Caulifla's lead but Caulifla says that they will fight together equally and Kale is happy to hear this. The Female Super Saiyan 2s use teamwork to take on Goku and Goku ends up using the Solar Flare to distract Caulifla, leaving Kale fighting him without Caulifla for some time. Frieza is launching various energy blasts elsewhere in the arena, wondering who will be his next opponent; the Universe 3 fighter in the suit with the "P" on it challenges Frieza and reveals his name to be "Catopesra". Catopesra reveals that he is a police officer in Universe 3 and is about to demonstrate his suit's "mode change" ability...but is interrupted when Goku & Kale pass by during their fight; the Solar Flare's effects have worn off on Caulifla ands catches up to Kale, reminding her that they will defeat Goku together. Frieza approaches the area where the 3 Super Saiyan 2s are and comments about how he found the interruption to be annoying but is interested in fighting the Female Saiyans; Caulifla recognizes Frieza as the fighter who eliminated Cabba from the tournament. Caulifla prepares an energy attack to avenge Cabba and Frieza prepares a Death Ball...but Goku stops Frieza and says he's still fighting the Female Saiyans; Frieza grumbles that Goku should lose quickly so that he can fight the Female Saiyans while Goku says Frieza shouldn't count on that happening.

Goku lets Caulifla & Kale know that they shouldn't be distracted by Frieza and warns Frieza not to try any tricks; Frieza says that he finds the idea of Saiyans fighting each other to be amusing to watch. Catopesra catches up to where Frieza is and uses his suit's mode change ability to "Speed Mode" (the suit has an "S" on it and the blue parts are now red); Catopesra says his speed is 300 times faster when he is in Speed Mode. Catopesra challenges Frieza to keep up with him but Frieza decides to ignore Catopesra and focus on watching Goku fight Caulifla & Kale; Caulifla asks if Goku is really OK with fighting by himself, Goku says he wants to fight them both with everything he has and Caulifla praises Goku's response. Caulifla launches energy blasts to create a dust cloud but Goku can still sense Kale's energy signature but Kale wasn't planning to attack Goku...she is holding Goku in place so that Caulifla can attack Goku; Cabba & Champa cheer Caulifla & Kale on while Shin, Old Kai & Beerus comment about Goku being at a disadvantage. Goku breaks free from Kale's grip and performs Instant Transmission but Caulifla launches energy blasts where Goku has teleported to; Goku praises Caulifla & Kale's teamwork and powers up to Super Saiyan God. Shin & Old Kai are surprised that Goku powered up to Super Saiyan God even though his stamina still hasn't been fully restored and Krillin comments about Goku exceeding expectations in even the worst of times.

Goku gains the upper hand against Caulifla & Kale and eventually leads the fight towards the edge of the arena using a tracking energy blast that follows Caulifla; Goku praises Caulifla & Kale's teamwork again but adds that they need to know how finish a fight and offers a rematch after the Tournament of Power has finished if the opportunity is somehow possible. Caulifla tells Kale to take out something they acquired before the tournament started and Goku charges a Kamehameha that breaks the part of the arena that the Female Saiyans are standing on; a blinding light flashes and a single fighter jumps back to the arena. This fighter has a hairstyle that mix's Caulifla & Kale's hairstyles, is wearing a red tank-top, red pants, Kale's armbands, Kale's boots and Potara Earrings; Goku immediately notices the Potara Earrings. The fighter's voice is Caulifla's voice & Kale's voice talking in unison and she declares herself to be "Kefla". Champa cheers that Potara Earrings Fusion was successful and Fuwa points out that he was the one who let the Female Saiyans borrow the set of Potara Earrings; Cabba recalls when he brought Caulifla & Kale to meet Universe 6's Divine Beings and a flashback shows the Female Saiyans receiving the Potara Earrings "as a last resort". Vados mentions that a Potara Earring Fusion fighters' power doesn't just add the power of the fuses but multiplies the power "dozens of times" while Champa says the best weapon is saved for last; Kefla begins to power up and Goku & Vegeta can sense Kefla has tremendous power while Frieza says the upcoming fight will be very interesting. The episode ends with Kefla demonstrating her speed against Goku and the Narrator revealing that 21 minutes remain in the Tournament of Power.

This episode did a great job at highlighting Caulifla & Kale's teamwork and bond as sisters-in-arms; it was also cool that Kale unlocked Super Saiyan 2. I was also glad to see Super Saiyan God return again, the Universe Survival Saga has been giving the form more attention after it last appeared in the Beerus Saga (in the anime, the manga does feature the form more often in comparison). I found Catopesra to be an entertaining character and his suit's mode change ability is pretty cool; I also liked hearing a bit of his backstory as a police officer since it gives us some insight on one of these fighters from another universe. Caulifla & Kale performing a Potara Earring Fusion was an awesome surprise (while also revealing what Cabba meant when he said they were Universe 6's "secret weapons") since Fusion is one of my favorite concepts from the franchise and we have a "canon" fusion between two female fuses (taking into account how Old Kai fused with an old witch); like the other Fusion characters, I think Kefla has a cool design. I'm hoping there will be a chance for Vegito or Gogeta to appear in the Tournament of Power now that Kefla has appeared, the fight between Vegito and Fusion Zamasu was an awesome fight although I still dislike the retcon involving the Potara Earring Fusion. I will be looking forward to seeing Kefla in action in the next episode.

 

[Yojimbo]

As much as this Goku v Kefla fight will be, uh, are using those Potara earrings legal? Who am I kidding, the Omni Kings will probably allow it because it's cool.

It's getting kinda nail biting to see when Frieza will actually enter a fight seriously and not just picking others off. Or is that not going to happen until the finale against Jiren? Hmm.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

Surprise, it was a Steven Universe episode all along!

Which would be fair since Rebecca Sugar borrowed the whole concept of fusion dancing from Dragon Ball Z... granted SU actually goes a lot more indepth with it and makes it a much more interesting emotional thing instead of a joke but SU did take the fusion concept from DBZ. So if Kale and Caluifia using it as a reference back to SU it would be appropriate... though we don't know for sure if the Super team knows anything about SU and even so SU again is more direct with it's actual coupling relationship while this series is much more well coy about it.

I'm hoping there will be a chance for Vegito or Gogeta to appear in the Tournament of Power now that Kefla has appeared, the fight between Vegito and Fusion Zamasu was an awesome fight although I still dislike the retcon involving the Potara Earring Fusion.

Personally I don't have a problem with it as the whole Portora earring fusion in the Buu Saga felt like a big old plot cheat. Since it was established that dance fusion training takes so long to get right and requires a connection with the person you're doing with that they couldn't find the time to cram in once Toriyama changed his mind on who was going to take down Buu and just felt so haphazardly rushed in. And the whole "it will happen forever" thing just felt like trying to have consequences about it that Toriyama couldn't even keep up thus why Vegito wound up getting split up and... point is that was some pretty lazy writing on Toriyama's part that retconning it wasn't that big a deal. IMHO though now that we have another actual fusion as an enemy to defeat for the first time the process feels more justified honestly then it has been before.

I do kind of wish that they made it more clear that though Kale has gotten more control over her Berserker form she's lost a lot of it's power since before Berserker Kale shrugged off attacks from Super Sayian Blue no problem and though stronger then Caluifa doesn't seem like it's to the degree it should be. Also the Freeza scene felt pretty pointless if you think about it. We don't see any actual battle with that Universe 3 robot guy, and though I do like Caluifa and Kale noting Freeza as the jerk who took out Cabba nothing comes of that as Goku wants the battle for himself so... feels pretty pointless to have in honestly. That said I do like this episode because again you actually do really root for the two unvierse 6 Sayians. I like Caluifa being proud of Kale for having mastered the state more and wanting to fight with her partner as well as Kale's concern once Caluifa is hurt in the battle with Super Sayian God Goku and them becoming Kelfa. I appreciate also remembering that yeah portara earring fusion is a tremendous power up since even regular Vegito was apparently stronger then Mystic Gohan and Super Vegito was like the strongest character in Z apparently so makes sense even regular Kelfa could outclass God mode. Granted yeah no one got taken out this episode but again the actual opponent was interesting thus the fight was and again it is showing just how much a trump card these guys are for Universe 6 more so then the team we saw in the initial 6 v 7 tourney so pretty good stuff here.

 

[DBTrilogy100]

Personally I don't have a problem with it as the whole Portora earring fusion in the Buu Saga felt like a big old plot cheat. Since it was established that dance fusion training takes so long to get right and requires a connection with the person you're doing with that they couldn't find the time to cram in once Toriyama changed his mind on who was going to take down Buu and just felt so haphazardly rushed in. And the whole "it will happen forever" thing just felt like trying to have consequences about it that Toriyama couldn't even keep up thus why Vegito wound up getting split up and... point is that was some pretty lazy writing on Toriyama's part that retconning it wasn't that big a deal. IMHO though now that we have another actual fusion as an enemy to defeat for the first time the process feels more justified honestly then it has been before.

My dislike for the retcon on the Potara Earring Fusion is feeling it was uncessary and makes it less distinct from the Fusion Dance in some ways; they might as well have just used Gogeta if they wanted a time limit. The idea that Vegito's time limit ran out the second he let the barrier down inside Buu feels too much like a contrived coincidence to me in comparison to the initial reason given; the "magic atmosphere of Buu's innards canceled out the Potara Earrings' magic" explanantion felt like a reasonable explanation to me since Buu is a magical being and I was cool with the Champa Saga saying a wish from the (Namekian) Dragon Balls could undo the fusion since it fits that idea of "magic loopholes" being able to end the otherwise permanant fusion.

I see the permanat effect (not counting loopholes and prior to the time limit retcon) as a high risk for using the "easier" method of Fusion to be a fair trade-off in compariosn to the temporary dance having the high risk of being more complicated to perfrom.

In all fairness, Akira Toriyama freely admits to making decisions out of convience; Super Saiyan looking the way it does and the existance of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber being other examples of aspects of the franchise made for convience. Having said that, I would say doing something out of convience isn't automaticlly a bad thing and it ultimatly depends on the execution; knowing that Super Saiyan looks the way it does because Akira Toriyama wanted to save on ink & time doesn't deteriorate how iconic or cool the look is, in my eyes.

The Potara Earring Fusion was created because Akira Toriyama didn't want to step on the toes of DBZ Movie 12 but it didn't feel out of place to me, it just felt like a method of Fusion created by the divine in contrast to a method created by mortals to me and I can appreciate its part in the lore by establishing that detail. I don't have a problem with retcons, in general and feel Akira Toriyama is ususually able to make them work but the retcon for the Potara Earrings didn't land for me. I suppose there's a reason why the saying "different strokes for different folks" exist.

 

[Yojimbo]

Hmm, the 1 hour time limit is out of the question. There is the extreme arrogance side effect or if they power up too far and negates the fusion. I guess either Goku will be forced to go to Blue and/or the fight might trigger Ultra Instinct again. But for the latter, we still don't have much info on it. Like we don't know how many times Goku can achieve it in such a short span of time.

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

The idea that Vegito's time limit ran out the second he let the barrier down inside Buu feels too much like a contrived coincidence to me in comparison to the initial reason given; the "magic atmosphere of Buu's innards canceled out the Potara Earrings' magic" explanantion felt like a reasonable explanation to me since Buu is a magical being

Even though thanks to the Fusion, Vegito is also a magical being and obviously far stronger then Super Buu at that point and honestly couldn't they of just killed Super Buu and wished Piccolo, Gohan, Goten and Trunks free with the dragon balls? Not to mention if they were so concerned they didn't really act like it at all focusing on saving Hercule and Dende instead of actual more close friends and family and... ugh there's just so much of that part of the Buu arc that is so stupid and contrived. I do agree with DBTrilogy100 that yeah a lot of Toriyama's writing does rely on concidence and contrivance and some of it actually does work or sometimes it's dependent on who you are which bit works for you but man that entire part of the story for me was such terrible BS. It honestly just feels like he should of went with his original instinct and just had Gohan kill Super Buu instead of like going through all these hoops to have a much longer convoluted ending that just makes so little sense if you break it down. Thus why I'm more fine with retconning that particular part of the story since it felt so poorly thought out. Honestly same with the fact that no matter how there's still some effort of trying to pretend the ending of Dragon Ball Z originally is still canon... no sorry Super has changed way too much for that original ending to be canon and Super and whatever that comes after it is the new canon and I am totally fine with that.

Hmm, the 1 hour time limit is out of the question. There is the extreme arrogance side effect or if they power up too far and negates the fusion. I guess either Goku will be forced to go to Blue and/or the fight might trigger Ultra Instinct again. But for the latter, we still don't have much info on it. Like we don't know how many times Goku can achieve it in such a short span of time.

Or just find a way to destroy the earrings which honestly seem like they would be need to kept up a Potara fusion. Not going to say if that pays off or not but just something I was thinking about when I first saw this episode.

 

[DBTrilogy100]

Even though thanks to the Fusion, Vegito is also a magical being and obviously far stronger then Super Buu at that point

This ultimatly boils down to an argument over semantics/how one would define a "magical being", I would define Buu as a magical being since he has used magical abilities; while a Potara Earring Fusion is created through magic items, I wouldn't automaticlly call them magical beings. Old Kai has magical abilities but that was due to him fusing with an old witch rather than being a Potara Earring Fusion, in general.

Vegito being able to keep his selfawareness as candy is a moment where one could make the argument that he has magical abilities but others have argued that was more the earrings' doing. As for why the earrings' magic would be cancled inside Buu in the scenario that the earrings let Vegito keep his selfawareness as candy, some fans have pointed out that Buu's innards came of sort of like a pocket dimension with its own rules while other fans have suggested that being in an enviorment filled with Buu's magic would have overwhelmed the Potara Earrings' magic compared to a smaller concentration of it like Buu's candy beam. It should also be pointed out that magic working on stronger beings was shown earlier in the Buu Saga with Babidi using his magic on his stronger minions (Vegeta not counting, of course, since Vegeta allowed Babidi to use his magic on him).

The initial/pre-retcon explanantion was on the vague side but fans have had decades to fill in the blanks for themselves and come to conclusions that make sense to them, magic being a flexible/not-straight forward concept certainly helps in that department too. At this point, it's probably for the best to leave this as "agree to disagree"/"to each their own"; fair enough if the retcon wasn't an issue for you and fair enough that it's a retcon that doesn't gel with me.