The Tournament of Power truly has been a mixed bag for Dragon Ball Super. It was a premise that had so much promise and potential but as we've seen it's not always been able to live up to fans expectations.
The biggest problem with The Tournament of Power is the lack of memorable characters, and then there's the characters that are memorable for all the wrong reasons. The best example of this is Ribrianne of Universe 2, who the writers have easily cemented as the Jar Jar Binks of this arc.
I thought the whole concept of Ribrianne was quite clever at first. It took the 'magical girl' trope and flipped it on it's head in typical Toriyama fashion. However, the joke has gone too far now, it's not funny anymore and Ribrianne's time in the tournament should have come to an end a long time ago. It appears to show a bit of disconnect between the fans and the writers. Ribrianne was finally defeated by Android 18 this week, however, her presence was a major hinderance on this episode.
Luckily androids 17 & 18 were the saving grace of this week's episode. There was a really poignant moment between the two where they discuss what they want to do if they win the tournament while 17 treats 18's sprained ankle. Some might take issue with this and feel like it's out of place. I thought it worked really well and appreciated that the writers took the time to give the two a quiet moment together. It shows the familial bond between the two and that they genuinely care and have a lot of time for each other. It was a very grown up moment in a series that some consider to be little more than flashy fight scenes and lots of screaming. It also showcases that the Z fighters really are family at this stage in the series.
The animation and action was a step down from last week's episode. That's not to say that the animation and choreography was poor, it was perfectly servicable, but coming off of the excitement of last weeks episode I was a little disappointed. Ultra Instinct Goku vs Kefla made me feel like an 8 year old kid again, where as there was nothing that really blew me away this week.
The comedy was on point with the two Zenos throwing hands and play fighting with each other mimicking the fast paced fight scenes. It was a really cool moment for me as it was something my buddies and I used to do when the most important things in our lives was to get back from school in time to see Goku go Super Saiyan for the first time, or to see Cell finally reach his perfect form.
Zeno really is all of us.
This episode featured a truly bizaare moment where a 50 foot Ribrianne tries to crush 18 with her fist. The whole scene was very strange and seeing Ribrianne towering over the fighting stage was honestly a little surreal and disturbing. Obviously we've seen fights with giant characters before, but in this case it just felt very lazy. It didn't feel like
Dragon Ball, in fact it felt like the series was parodying itself. The good thing to take away from this is that Ribrianne is out, finally. Overall though, this was a pretty mediocre episode and continues to raise concern for The Tournament of Power's greatest flaw, which is it's wild fluctuation in quality.
I talk about how Ribrianne's time in the tournament should have came to an end a long time ago. I said the same about Kale and Caulifla in last weeks review, but really the core problem is the writing. Maybe it is time to try and wrap this arc up and allow the series to move on. There's "only" 15 minutes left till the end of the tournament, lets hope that the tournament heats up with the next few episodes and that this arc can end on a high note.
Sound off below about your thoughts on this week's episode.