Everyone by now should know of Ultra Instinct, the powerful form Goku managed to tap into twice during the Tournament of Power arc in Dragon Ball Super, the anime. It’s the form that helped him to go toe-to-toe with Jiren, and no doubt we’re going to see it again in the Broly movie.
Now, it should come as no surprise that the Dragon Ball Super manga is different from the anime, though the difference is not by much. When it comes down to Goku tapping into Ultra Instinct for the first time, it’s not the same when compared to the anime.
Here’s the thing, Goku first got a taste of this new power when Jiren threw a Spirit Bomb back at him. From there, he went ahead and gave Jiren a run for his money, but it didn’t take long for Goku’s body to fizzle out due to the lack of mastery over the technique.
In the manga, then, we understand that Goku getting his first taste of Ultra Instinct has much to do with Master Roshi than anyone else. All it took was a few words from Roshi and him getting knocked out of the ring by Jiren for Goku to take on the new form.
Interestingly enough, it didn’t take a direct fight with Jiren for this to happen, which is quite the departure. We’re not sure how fans of the anime will feel about this, but at the same time, one must understand that the manga, at times, will deviate from the anime because here, Akira Toriyama has complete control.