If there is something that
Dragon Ball Super definitely does not excel in, it would be realism. Over the course of the franchise’s more than three decades of history,
Dragon Ball
has been a staple of over-the-top shonen anime, featuring fights and
power levels that are borderline impossible. While unabashedly
unrealistic, however,
DB thrived because of its style. Now,
with the Universe Survival Arc, the anime is tackling its most ambitious
saga yet, and if the teaser for
Dragon Ball Super Episode 86 is any indication, things are about to get even more out of this world in next week’s episode.
The plot of
Dragon Ball Super Episode 86
has been leaked for a while now. The episode, which would involve
Goku’s attempt at recruiting Android 17, is set to feature the two
dominant fighters’ first battle against each other. Fans of the series
have been looking forward to the episode since the first summary for
DBS Ep 86 was leaked, especially since Goku and Android 17, while both iconic characters in
Dragon Ball Z,
have never actually fought against each other in the past. Thus, it was
no surprise when the anime’s massive fanbase became extremely excited
over Episode 86’s premise.
As this week’s episode aired, however, fans of the long-running anime franchise have noted that the preview for
Dragon Ball Super Episode 86 was rather off. According to numerous fans in online forums such as Reddit, the teaser for Ep 86, which showed
Android 17 going head-to-head with SSJB Goku,
was just downright ridiculous. After all the character, while powerful
in his own right, could not possibly put up a fight against the Saiyan’s
most second-most powerful transformation. At least, that is what
classic logic appeared to dictate.
If the scenes in the
Dragon Ball Super
Episode 86 preview were any indication, however, it seems that the
Android would be holding his own pretty well against the Saiyan’s
attacks. This, unsurprisingly, has managed to aggravate numerous fans of
the franchise. Many felt that Goku’s SSJB form has begun to get so
nerfed, it was hardly relevant anymore.
Over the last few episodes, SSJB Goku battled with Krillin and his
wife, Android 18 while in his SSJB form. During the battle, the pair was
able to hold him off, including the Saiyan’s massive energy attack.
During the Omni-King’s pre-tournament match, SSJB was also just enough
to hold off Toppo of Universe 11. Considering that Super Saiyan Blue was
supposed to be the most powerful transformation that the fighter has
reached so far, the fact that even fighters such as Krillin, and now,
Android 17, would be able to pose a challenge to it practically means
that Goku has either been nerfed, or everyone else must have gotten an
unexplainable power-up. Ironically, this has not sat very well with
longtime fans of the franchise, with many calling out Toei Animation for
allowing such a disregard for power levels to take place in the anime.
While there is some point to the criticism of
Dragon Ball Super‘s
current power levels, it should be noted that the franchise, as a
whole, revels in the abandonment of realism. Goku and the other
Z-fighters’ power-ups back in the
Dragon Ball Z era also
featured some liberal plot twisting. With the franchise’s history in
mind, Goku’s’ apparent SSJB nerf could simply be attributed to
Dragon Ball‘s classic liberties with its plot.
After all, the Tournament of Power is something that would require a
massive team effort from the Universe 7 fighters. For U7’s
representative team to actually win the massive competition, each member
must be able to fight as a cohesive whole. If everyone’s power levels
are massively unbalanced, the whole premise of teamwork becomes void.
For
Dragon Ball Super‘s Tournament of Power to work as well as
it should, fans would be best prepared for a lot more power level
liberties that are sure to be coming their way.
