© BIRD STUDIO/Shueisha, Toei Animation
In most cases, it feels always has developed a pretty solid formula for balancing its grand adventure vibe with exposition and comedy. This week’s episode was pretty much the same in that regard, with Goku and the others taking a few detours on their way to the Demon King’s castle, and we learned a little more about how difficult it is to walk in the Demon Realm. It’s nothing too exciting per se, but luckily it still has enough charm to keep things interesting, and while not much happens this time around, a lot of what we do get feels like some very Good setup.
Since our threesome were now stuck without a ride, they had no choice but to travel on foot until they could board a new ship. Interestingly, Goku points out the obvious problem here, wondering why they don’t just fly there. It turns out that the air pressure in the demon world makes flying as difficult as moving, and any attempt to fly long distances is just a waste of energy. While a lot of these restrictions do help flesh out the setting, it’s hard not to feel like some of them are just a convenient way to explain why Goku isn’t as powerful here as he probably should be, which is something I can imagine not sitting on Got along well with some of the fans. So far, though, I think limiting him this way is largely about keeping things simple for the show, giving him and others a good reason to explore the demonic realm rather than jumping straight into the big fight.
In case you missed some of the usual power adjustments, though, we can get a rough idea of how Glorio stacks up against the rest of the cast. When he saved Goku and Supreme Kai from becoming monster food, Goku estimated that he was at least as good as Supreme Kai. While the latter doesn’t seem too happy about the speculation, it at least proves that Glorio can keep up with his new companions. Weirdly, he doesn’t seem to know what ki is, and while I’m sure Goku explaining this to him is more for the benefit of the audience than himself, it at least further illustrates how different the rules of the Demon Realm are from everything else dragon ball. Power levels aside, we still have a hard time getting to know this guy, so it seems like him being so powerful might be an issue later on if his motivations for helping Goku and Supreme Kai aren’t altruistic. When Goku learns how the Demon Realm’s Dragon Balls work and wants to use them to save Dende and return him to normal, his pattern of behavior becomes even more suspicious. Glorio feels a little also He entertained the idea of taking such a huge detour, and his quick smirk afterwards suggested that he might have leaked the information on purpose for a larger plan. Everything about him remains a big mystery.
While we’re still waiting for answers to some of these questions, there’s still enough charm to get by. After finding themselves in trouble and turning to hunt down the Dragon Balls, Goku and the others stop at a local store to figure out how to get around, and we start to learn more about some of the demonic realm’s local goods and services, and it all gets really weird. . You have health drinks with mysterious eyeballs floating in them, bugs that can do a few things from restoring stamina to making people fuse (I hope it comes back whenever Vegeta joins this road trip), and a A giant seed that doubles as a rocket that allows the jet to travel long distances without having to fly, it ends up being the gang’s mode of transportation in this episode. It’s all very silly, and a lot of it feels like it’s been ripped straight out of an old-school RPG, but the level of cartoony energy some of it exhibits makes it feel closer to Brave than your typical RPG world-building Dragon style.
Things end with setting up a new arc, with Goku and the others running into a small village currently being oppressed by King Goma’s military police force. It’s not a particularly original setting, but it feels right out of the ’90s RPG scene alwaysBeen doing that so far, so it at least fits the vibe. Also, I like that the villagers are threatened by a machine that literally sucks years of the life out of its victims, because it’s one of those concepts that feels so inherently silly that it’s somehow Stunning. We also get a pretty killer action showcase out of the deal, when Goku decides to step in and save the villagers, we get to see him pull off more martial arts acrobatics, and we finally get some good ones with him on the pole reason to retreat. He can use it for everything from swinging around buildings to deflecting energy bolts, making this one of the best choreographed fight sequences we’ve gotten from the franchise in years.
As much as I love the definition of energy conflict and light speed exchange dragon ballaction in Z era and beyond, it would be nice to see it scaled down and become more physical and creative in combat. The results so far are hard to argue with. If the show can continue this way, then I’m all for holding off on getting Kamehameha or Power Blast for as long as possible. It looks like we’ve finally met the second new main cast member, Panzy. While we didn’t get enough time with her to read the full story, she seemed interesting so I’m looking forward to learning more about her in the next episode. Although this week’s outing always It feels more like a transition than anything else, and it’s still very charming, and while it’s still not impossible to hit a roadblock, I’m increasingly confident that the show knows exactly what it’s doing.
grade:
dragon ball malaysia Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
