How did Goku become so famous? Almost everyone, at some point, tried to do at least a Kamehameha, or a fusion, or perhaps control our Ki or, to the extent of our imagination, reach the Super Saiyan state... without forgetting the idea of searching for the Dragon Balls to wish for something.
When you're a child, or don't completely lose that childish essence, it's obvious that the last thing you want is for an anime like Dragon Ball to end, that is, why do good things always have to end? That was the case with Goku. After entire years of enemies, threats, time travel, space travel, more enemies, and countless adventures, Akira Toriyama, may he rest in peace, brought an end to that entire universe with what was the Majin Buu saga, or so we thought.
Dragon Ball GT, personally, was not my most favorite saga. I felt a deep disconnection with the events of that story arc, even more so when it wasn't a story of Akira Toriyama's own making. At least I preferred to think that GT never existed.
I always longed for Toriyama to decide to release a new collection of episodes. After the remastering of Dragon Ball Z, and the new batch of OVAs in which Beerus, God of Destruction, appeared, the idea of a new Goku adventure was no longer so crazy.
And then, Dragon Ball Super appeared.
Dragon Ball Super was a great surprise for me. At that time, I started watching its broadcast on Cartoon Network. The first seasons included the appearance of Beerus and the resurrection of Frieza, something that had already been shown in two corresponding OVAs. Then, the future Trunks arc was incorporated, and the Tournament of Power.
For a more specific review, I will divide the story into two major arcs.
First Arc
What marked the new wave of Goku's adventures and battles was the awakening of Beerus. Dragon Ball was always an anime deeply rooted in mystical themes, openly presenting heaven and hell, as well as the various deities that govern them. The god of Destruction is what would be new here, also being considered one of the most powerful entities in the universe.
There was almost nothing new between the Beerus OVA and its inclusion in the anime, except for some minor details. It was not a very exciting series of chapters, although I admit they had quite epic moments, like the battle between Goku and this god.
One of the great elements of Dragon Ball has always been its Openings. In this new collection of episodes, they returned with a slightly more nostalgic touch, although I always preferred those with the original Japanese audio.
First Opening of Dragon Ball Super: The characteristic sun and the dragon balls reappeared, something similar to the 1986 Dragon Ball opening 馃槑.
Frieza's resurrection also followed the same events as the OVA. He was always one of my favorite villains, mostly because he was the first with whom Goku had to break his limits to defeat him. His return was not so epic, perhaps because I had already seen a lot of it in the OVA. His presentation as "Golden Frieza" at the time surprised me a lot, although I feel it could have been exploited more.
Starting with the tournament between Universe 6 and 7, Dragon Ball Super began to take a different direction. For me, the reincorporation of Future Trunks, along with the appearance of Goku Black and Zamasu, revived the classic style of villains that Goku used to face.
Let's not talk about the timelines here (馃槀).
Beyond the fact that poor Future Trunks was born to see everyone die, this Goku Black saga is the best of the first arc of Dragon Ball Super. A total success to see an evil Goku for the first time, even if it's not "Goku" exactly speaking.
Second Arc
The Tournament of Power was the pinnacle of Dragon Ball Super, with the best warriors fighting each other for survival, facing the threat that a defeat would lead to them being erased from existence.
What an opening! From the very first moment, the tournament story was presented to us with energy. Without a doubt, one of the best openings in all of Dragon Ball.
Something that always characterized Dragon Ball were the tournaments. If you're knocked out of the combat arena, you lose. This was taken to a much higher level than Cell's, because if I recall correctly, the latter only wanted to see if there was a stronger warrior than him, with the consequence of an epic battle that ended up destroying him at the hands of Gohan. Something almost similar happened when Goku defeated Piccolo Daima艒, or even in the initial tournament in the Majin Buu saga.
However, in Dragon Ball Super, the idea was presented that all universes, and the best warriors from each, would face each other in a death match in a battle ring in the middle of the void. I really liked it, and I suffered a lot with the last duels.
The incorporation of Frieza into Universe 7's team, along with Goku, Vegeta, Majin Buu, Master Roshi, Krillin, Androids 17 and 18, Tien Shinhan, and Piccolo was masterful. The diversity of rivals, who more than being enemies sought to survive, added an extra layer of emotion to the matter.
The final duel between Goku and Jiren was brutal. The unexpected ending regarding Universe 7's victory, I didn't expect it, especially since I was always used to Goku or Gohan defeating their rivals without anyone's help.
The Super Dragon Balls and the final wish were the necessary retribution for the bitter taste that Android 17 left me in Dragon Ball GT. For me, a character ending quite in line with 17's evolution, at least compared to 18. Come on! The guy also needed a happy ending.
Dragon Ball Super was, at least to some extent, the necessary closure to an anime with a historic trajectory. A continuation that, without a doubt, filled us with emotions and good battles. Of course, after a long time, seeing Goku and his friends again is something that excites anyone who loves their adventures.
Akira Toriyama left a wonderful legacy with his most popular work. For me, Dragon Ball Super marked Toriyama's style, leaving the anime with a very pleasant ending, without a Goku who rides a dragon to disappear forever (I didn't like that GT ending, 馃槀).
Until the very last moment, Toriyama granted us good emotions. Dragon Ball is and will be one of the best animes of all time.
The images used in this post were extracted from FilmAffinity.
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Version en espa帽ol
驴C贸mo es que Goku lleg贸 a ser tan famoso? Casi todos, alguna vez, intentamos hacer al menos un Kamehameha, o una fusi贸n, o quiz谩s controlar nuestro KI o, en la medida de la imaginaci贸n, llegar al estado de super sayayin... sin dejar a un lado la idea de buscar las esferas del drag贸n para pedir deseos.
Cuando uno es un ni帽o, o no pierde esa esencia infantil del todo, es obvio que lo menos que deseamos es que un anime como Dragon Ball llegue a su fin, es decir, 驴por qu茅 lo bueno siempre debe acabar? Ese fue el caso de Goku. Tras a帽os enteros de enemigos, amenazas, viajes en el tiempo, viajes al espacio, m谩s enemigos, e incontables aventuras, Akira Toriyama, que en paz descanse, le dio un fin a todo ese universo con lo que fue la saga de Manji Buu, o al menos eso cre铆amos.
Dragon Ball GT, en lo personal, no fue mi saga m谩s favorita. Sent铆 una profunda desconexi贸n con los eventos de dicho arco argumental, m谩s a煤n, cuando no se trataba de una historia propia de Akira Toriyama. Al menos yo, prefer铆 pensar que GT nunca existi贸.
Siempre anhel茅 que Toriyama se decidiera a sacar una nueva colecci贸n de episodios. Tras la remasterizaci贸n de Dragon Ball Z, y la nueva de tanda de ovas en las que apareci贸 Bills, dios de la destrucci贸n, la idea de una nueva aventura de Goku ya no fue tan desquiciada.
Y entonces, apareci贸 Dragon Ball Super.
Dragon Ball S煤per fue una gran sorpresa para m铆. Para ese momento, comenc茅 a ver la transmisi贸n de este por Cartoon Network. Las primeras temporadas incluyeron la aparici贸n de Bills y la resurrecci贸n de Frezeer, algo que antes ya se hab铆a mostrado en dos ovas correspondientes. Luego, se termin贸 de incorporar el futuro de Trunks, y el torneo de los universos.
Para efectos de una rese帽a m谩s puntual, dividir茅 la historia en dos grandes arcos.
Primer arco
Lo que marc贸 la nueva ola de aventuras y batallas de Goku fue el despertar de Bills. Dragon Ball siempre fue un anime muy ligado a las cosas m铆sticas, presentando abiertamente al cielo y al infierno, y las diversas deidades que los rigen. El dios de la destrucci贸n es lo que vendr铆a a ser nuevo aqu铆, siendo considerado adem谩s como uno de los entes m谩s poderoso del universo.
No hubo casi nada nuevo entre la Ova de Bills y su inclusi贸n en el anime, salvo a algunos detalles menores. No fue una serie de cap铆tulos muy emocionantes, aunque admito que tuvieron momentos bastante 茅picos, como la batalla entre Goku y este dios.
Uno de los grandes elementos de Dragon Ball siempre fueron sus Openings. En esta nueva colecci贸n de episodios, estos volvieron con un toque un poco m谩s nost谩lgico, aunque siempre prefer铆 los que ten铆an el audio original en japon茅s.
La resurrecci贸n de Freezer tambi茅n sigui贸 los mismos acontecimientos de la Ova. Este siempre fue uno de mis villanos favoritos, m谩s porque fue el primero con el que Goku tuvo que romper sus propios l铆mites para vencerlo. Su regreso no fue tan 茅pico, quiz谩s porque ya hab铆a visto mucho de ello en la Ova. Su presentaci贸n como "Golden Freezer" en su momento me sorprendi贸 mucho, aunque siento que pudo aprovecharse m谩s.
A partir del torneo entre el universo 6 y 7, Dragon Ball Super comenz贸 a tomar un rumbo diferente. Para m铆, la reincorporaci贸n de Trunks del futuro, junto a la aparici贸n de Goku Black y Zamazu, revivi贸 el estilo cl谩sico de villanos a los que Goku acostumbraba a enfrentar.
No hablemos aqu铆 de las l铆neas de tiempo, (馃槀).
M谩s all谩 de que el pobre Trunks del futuro naci贸 para ver morir a todo el mundo, esta saga de Goku Black es lo mejor del primer arco de Dragon Ball Super. Un acierto total ver a un Goku malvado por primera vez, aunque no sea "Goku" exactamente hablando.
Segundo Arco
El torneo de los universos fue la c煤spide de Dragon Ball Super, con los mejores guerreros pele谩ndose entre s铆, por la supervivencia, ante de amenaza de que una derrota los llevar铆a de ser borrados de la existencia.
Algo que siempre caracteriz贸 a Dragon Ball fueron los torneos. Si te sacan de la arena de combate, pierdes. Esto fue llevado a un nivel mucho mayor que el de Cell, pues si m谩s no recuerdo, este 煤ltimo solo quer铆a ver si hab铆a un guerrero m谩s fuerte que 茅l, con la consecuencia de una batalla 茅pica que lo termin贸 destruyendo a manos de Gohan. Algo casi similar pas贸 cuando Goku venci贸 a Piccolo Daima艒, o incluso en torneo inicial en la saga de Majin Buu.
Sin embargo, en Dragon Ball Super se present贸 la idea de que, todos los universos, y los mejores guerreros de cada uno, se enfrentaran en un duelo a muerte en un ring de batalla en medio del vac铆o. Me gust贸 mucho, y sufri mcho tambi茅n con los 煤ltimos duelos.
La incorporaci贸n de Freezer al equipo del unirveso 7, junto a Goku, Vegeta, Majin Buu, el maestro Roshi, Krilin, los androides 17 y 18, Ten Shin Han y Piccolo fue magistral. La diversidad de rivales, que m谩s que ser enemigos buscaban sobrevivir, le dio una capa extra de emociones al asunto. 麓
El duelo final entre Goku y Jiren fue brutal. El final inesperado con respecto a la victoria del universo 7, no me lo esper茅, sobre todo porque siempre me acostumbr茅 a que Goku u Gohan vencieran a sus rivales sin ayuda de nadie.
Las superesferas de drag贸n y el deseo final, fue la retribuci贸n necesaria para el agrio sabor de boca que me dej贸 el androide 17 en Dragon Ball GT. Para m铆, un cierre de personaje bastante acorde a la evoluci贸n de 17, al menos con respecto a 18. 隆Vamos! El t铆o tambi茅n necesitaba un final feliz.
Dragon Ball Super fue, al menos hasta cierto punto, el cierre necesario a un anime de trayector铆a hist贸rica. Una continuaci贸n que, sin duda, nos llen贸 de emociones y buenas batallas. Claro que, despu茅s de mucho tiempo, ver de nuevo a Goku y sus amigos es algo que emociona a cualquiera que ame sus aventuras.
Akira Toriyama dej贸 un legado maravilloso con su obra m谩s popular. Para m铆, Dragon Ball Super marc贸 el estilo de Toriyama, dejando al anime con un final bastante agradable, sin un goku que se monta en un drag贸n para desaparecer para siempre (no me gust贸 ese final de GT, 馃槀).
Hasta el 煤ltimo momento, Toriyama nos concendi贸 buenas emociones. Dragon Ball es y ser谩 uno de los mejores animes de todos los tiempos.