The newest episode of
Dragon Ball Super is a love letter to fans of Vegeta, as the Saiyan Prince steps up to face the newest God of Destruction, Toppo.
The episode begins immediately after Frieza's crushing defeat at the hands of Toppo, which is perhaps one of the most brutal fights we've seen in
Dragon Ball Super so far. The first act mostly focuses on Android 17 doing everything at his disposal to survive against the absolute monster that is Toppo.
I appreciated this segment because it really highlighted that 17 is an invaluable member of the Universe 7 team. There is a vast difference in power between himself and Toppo, and he knows it. He instead chooses to take advantage of his limitless energy and his wits to survive against Toppo for the remaining time in the tournament. It's a commendable effort and it remains consistent with 17's role as a dark horse in the tournament.
The battle between Toppo and Vegeta is not just one of strength, but of principal and character. Toppo has thrown away all of his principals to ascend and become a God of Destruction, whereas Vegeta has gotten where he is today because of his beliefs and ideals. It's an interesting contrast between the two characters and it makes the fight all the more investing.
I love that Vegeta has become one of the most human characters in
Dragon Ball and continues to grow and develop even this late in the game. It makes you wish all the characters were handled this way.
Based on the power scaling, this fight makes it clear that Goku and Vegeta are at God of Destruction level and may finally be able to step up and give Beerus a decent fight. Toppo may not have done a lot in the tournament but he was an incredibly formidable opponent in the end. There's genuinely a lot of menace behind him as his desperation to survive begins to almost corrupt him.
Vegeta's "life risking blow" is the Final Atonement technique that he used back in the day against Majin Buu. However, due to his Super Saiyan Blue power-up, Vegeta is able to survive the attack but has lost a major amount of stamina. This makes sense to an extent and doesn't defy all logic, and it showcases the desperate lengths Vegeta had to go to, which is once again a testament to Toppo's strength and the threat he posed.
I'm a little disappointed with how the Hakai technique is being portrayed. The technique was used by Beerus back in the Future Trunks arc and it seemed like it was a one-shot kill. It felt like a trump card that Beerus had up his sleeve and re-established the potential threat of Beerus and the other Gods of Destruction. After seeing Toppo spam the technique, it just comes off as any other super powerful blast and removes the threat behind it.
Overall though, this was a pretty great episode of
Dragon Ball Super. It should make fans of Vegeta very happy and it sets up the final showdown with the remaining fighters of Universe 7 and Jiren.
What do you guys think? Were you happy that Vegeta finally got his moment to shine?
Sound off below!