#rabanra

[bliss-wily]

[universe2snumber1fan]

He's as tall as a tree, might as well decorate him.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super 118

“Led Zeppelin rules!” *ceases to exist*

Last episode, Universe 2 was reeling from the elimination of Rosie and Ribrianne from the Tournament of Power. And I don’t just mean the team representing Universe 2; I mean the entire population of Universe 2, because Helles, their God of Destruction, has been livestreaming the event to the mortals who live there.  Naturally, Ribrianne was the top star of their team, so for her to get knocked out of the competition is a huge blow.  With her elimination, there’s only three fighters left, and they’re kind of the third string. 

So Brianne appears on the feed to reassure them.  I notice Brianne’s a lot more sober and serious in her base form.  Maybe that’s just the gravity of the situation, but I’m wondering if transforming into Ribrianne just makes her goofy.

Meanwhile, Universe 6 is also in a desperate situation, as they lost their ace, Hit, several episodes back, and their backup plan, Kefla, was eliminated soon after.   So now they’re down to just two Namekians, Saonel and Pilina.  Caulifla threatens to kick their asses if they don’t win, but that’s not much of a threat when universal obliteration is on the line.

Anyway, Saonel and Pilina have been fighting Gohan and Piccolo for the last several episodes.... and that’s pretty much all they’ve done for the whole tournament.  For a while, we hardly saw them at all, and then they’ve been locked in combat with the same two guys ever since.  But now, they’ve begun to power up, which makes Piccolo concerned....

It takes a while for the truth to be spelled out, but Piccolo can sense it.  Saonel and Pilina have undergone Namekian fusion, the same kind Piccolo used when he combined with Nail on Namek, and then later when he reunited with Kami.  The difference is that Saonel and Pilina fused with all of the Namekians in their universe.  When the U6 Namekians learned of the Tournament of Power, they literally pooled all their resources into making Saonel and Pilina as strong as possible.  The two of them might have merged with each other, except Champa’s team needed two more members.  

However, the power boost didn’t fully kick in until this episode.  That’s why Saonel and Pilina have been staying in the background until now.  They knew if they bided their time, their full strength would emerge and they could clean house. 

Meanwhile there’s a similar powering up going on with the U2 fighters.  They’ve been triple-teaming Goku, trying to execute the strategy U2 had adopted right before Ribrianne got eliminated, but Goku’s getting back into the groove, and they’re probably not up to the task.  And yet... they seem to be getting stronger.

That’s because everyone in Universe 2 is cheering in support of those guys.  They had overlooked Zarbuto, Zirloin, and Rabanra, but now they’re giving them all the love they can, and it’s giving them a much-needed boost.

Then the three of them begin to transform, just like Brianne and her Jumping Bombshell Firebomb Kamikaze Squad did a while back. 

I mean, I guess this is supposed to be a joke, but they actually look a lot cooler than they did before. 

So Goku’s in trouble, or he would be, except 17 and 18 show up to help him out again.  17 decides to play along with this dumb bit, and announces himself with all the bluster that the U2 characters do.  18 follows up with her own improv.

Then they all look at Goku and he’s like “Hi, I’m Goku!”  You sure are, buddy.  You sure are.

Back to the other fight, Piccolo has lost his nerve after realizing just how far the U6 Namekians have gone to protect their universe.  This throws him off his game...

... But Gohan’s still on top of things. He cuts off Pilina’s arm to save Piccolo and proposes a strategy.  Their opponents may be incredibly strong now, but that means Gohan can go all out without worrying about accidentally killing them.  So while he takes them on by himself, Piccolo can charge up the Special Beam Cannon.

While Gohan and Piccolo talk, Pilina re-grows his arm, and the glove reappears on his hand, so I guess that confirms he uses a Clothes Beam-style trick to put it back.  Cool.

So Gohan and Piccolo try his plan, but Piccolo sees Gohan in a tight spot and fires too early, which hurts Pilina, but not enough to take him out of the fight. 

Instead, Piccolo eats a ki blast from his opponents, and it looks like he’s done for...

Then he sees a vision of Nail and Kami beside him, and Kami points the way forward...

“Look over there... go on, look.”

GOHAN FIGHTS FRIEZA DOT MP3

That’s right, in this battle, Gohan’s the one who saves Piccolo, and he doesn’t even have to sacrifice himself to do it, because Gohan’s so double-tough that he can do stuff like that.  He looks back at Piccolo and apologizes for getting into that tight spot that made Piccolo blow his shot.  And he asks Piccolo to help him try again.

Then he goes right back to fighting two super-duper Namekians at the same time, because Gohan kicks ass. 

Piccolo says he should be the one apologizing, because he let the U6 Namekians get in his head.  He was so blown away by the lengths they went to that he forgot about how strong Gohan’s resolve is, not to mention his own.  All this time, he had been lecturing Gohan about being ready to seal the deal and secure victory, and yet he’s the one who faltered in the critical moment.

Back to the U2 fight, I don’t want to gloss over these guys, but the story here is that they now have the same powers as Ribrianne, Rosie, and Kakunsa, which means that they’re basically doing all the same moves we saw when the real Ribrianna, Rosie, and Kakunsa fought Goku, 17, and 18.  But now, they suddenly take things up a notch.

Everyone on the bench flips out, because apparently the C-team managed to pull off some sort of technique which not even Ribrianne’s group could achieve. 

Basically, they take all the love they’re getting from Universe 2 and collapsing it into some ultra-dense attack, like a black hole of love or something.   It crashes down on the U7 group and threatens to push them straight down through the stage, and out the bottom, where they’ll be eliminated.

It’s so heavy that Goku can’t even teleport out of it. 

But he can still muscle through it with Super Saiyan Blue.  As he readies a Kamehameha, he pays respect to Universe 2 and their unconventional style.  He doesn’t understand how they use the power of love, but he can’t deny the results. But he has a different path to power, and it’s “guts”, or “fury”, depending on which language you watch this in.  I feel like “fighting spirit” is what he’s trying to say. 

And while Goku sets up his own Kamehameha...

Gohan sets up his own to use against the Namekians.  Cool!

But as Pilina tries to hold off Gohan’s Kamehameha, Saonel extends his arms and grabs Gohan’s wrists to screw him up.  Oh no! 

But Gohan’s not worried at all, because he’s got...

... the Special Beam Cannon!

Get Special Beam Cannon’ed, idiot!

Oh, and it hits Pilina too, which screws up his mouth-blast thing that he was using to hold off Gohan’s Kamehameha. 

Which means that while Goku blasts the U2 fighters off the stage, Gohan simultaneously blasts the U6 fighters off the stage.   With authority!

Meanwhile, Frieza hasn’t done jack shit this whole time.  At least they accounted for his presence.  The U3 and U4 teams must be taking a lunch break or something.

So this means Universes 2 and 6 get erased together.  Universe 2 goes first, and they act very positive about the whole thing, and give a warm farewell to everyone.  Everyone’s thrilled with the final heroic efforts of Zarbuto, ZIrloin and Rabanra, even if their team ended up falling short of the goal. 

As for the U6 team, Saonel and Pilina ask Caulifla if she’s going to kick their asses, and she tells them they fought so well that she’s not even mad.  But a promise is a promise, so she chases them around the bleachers.

Champa uses his last moments to make one last rude gesture to Beerus, who looks away with nothing to say. 

But I think Vegeta takes it even harder, because he had a soft spot for Cabba. 

He stares down Catopesra, and warns him that he’s going to beat the crap out of him, because he’s in a really bad mood. 

That works for me.

So you wouldn’t expect this to be an emotional episode, since we didn’t even know the Universe 2 and 6 characters all that well until recently, and their last few fighters-- Zarbuto, Zirloin, Rabanra, Saonel, and Pilina-- were even more obscure.  And yet, this episode managed to pull a rabbit out of its hat and make me care about a bunch of also-rans.  It uses the established lore of the U2 and the Namekians, plus there’s a lot of additional mushy stuff between Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo.  Put it all together and you end up actually missing a pair of universes that we were expecting to see destroyed.  They gave away the outcome in the title, for goodness’ sake.  And yet it still works.  I went into this rewatch expecting it, and it still got to me.  They fought so hard and lost, but they went out on a positive note.  That’s not lost on Vegeta, who has already sworn to use the Super Dragon Balls to wish the erased universes back.  This moment has only re-steeled his already-steeled resolve.

So it’s sad boy hours here at the 2023 Dragon Ball Apocrypha Liveblog, so here’s KISS with “Beth”.

[vgeta]

“Bye, bye!”

[thebigmick284]

Passionate till the end. Farewell Universe 2!

[cehache91]

Well, there goes my favorite Universe...

[achthenuts]

BOI THERE’S A NEW CHALLENGER

[sunglasses-kitaro]

[pochqmqri]

Farewell, Universe 2...

[goldenfirefox]

Nothing daunts him...

[berryt]

Team Universe 2, except the Kamikaze Fireballs/Maiden Squadron.

[bliss-wily]

[animegadaisukiidesu]

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super 115

Tonight’s Episode: Kefla Whoops Goku’s ass!

Last time, Goku had defeated Caulifla and Kale, but they had a secret weapon up their sleeves!  Well, I think Caulifla was keeping hers in her belt/sash thing, really.  Turns out Champa gave them Potara Earrings before the tournament started, with instructions to put them on late in the tournament.  So now we’ve got Kefla, and if she’s anything like Vegito, then Goku is in deep trouble.

Kefla’s only real weakness seems to be that it takes her a bit to get used to how overwhelmingly powerful she is.  When she leaps at Goku, she overshoots him, for instance.  But it doesn’t take her long to get used to her body.  Come to think of it, Vegito had a similar period of adjustment. 

Although... when Vegito returned in Episode 66, he was ready to rock right out of the gate.  I guess that only makes sense, seeing as it was the second time Goku and Vegeta fused.  Still, it’s kind of weird to think about how Vegito remembers being two different guys, then being Vegito, then separating again, then being Vegito again after a number of years.  I guess it’s no different from all the times Gotenks has shown up, but I’m used to thinking of Gotenks as a temporary thing.  Vegito is too, apparently, but I still think of him as this one-and-for-all deal that just happened to cancel out. 

Anyway, Kefla’s putting the boots to Goku, and she’s only in base form. 

What’s she doing--?  AW SHIT!  IT’S THE GIANT SWING!

Okay, so she does have the hair tie from Kale.  I’ve seen fan artists draw Kefla with her hair “down” and I never understood what they were getting that from.  Anyway, the audience is counting the swings.  Goku’s dizzy as hell right now! 

Arrgh! The centrifugal force!  Chris Jericho tapped out to this once.  But Goku won’t because he’s not fighting Cell this time he knows Universe 7 is counting on him!

She just keeps swinging his ass!   While we’re waiting, here’s KISS with the hit song, “She”. 

Meanwhile, Beerus complains about the use of Potara being illegal.  Champa doesn’t see the problem, and the Grand Zenos think it’s cool, so that makes it legal. 

So Beerus demands to use Potara earrings himself, and mugs Shin. Whis points out that there’s a risk to this.  If Androids 17 and 18 fuse, for example, they might get an incredible warrior out of it (Shin calls this “Android 35″).  However, if that fused fighter makes a mistake and gets eliminated, then they lose two fighters in one stroke. 

Meanwhile, Vegeta is still fighting Top, and he keeps getting distracted by how powerful Kefla is.  Top offers to eliminate him so he can watch the action from the bench, and then he puts the squeeeeeeeeze on Vegeta, which is nice, because it’s always fun to see him get worked over.

Meanwhile... yuck!  Gohan and Piccolo are fighting U6′s Namekians, and Pilina does the long-arm bit, and Gohan just stomps right through it!  That’s messed up!

I mean, he can grow it back, of course.  They’re just like the U7 Namekians.  Really, the only awkward thing is that Pilina wears gloves, which means he has to go find his severed arm and get the glove.  Well, maybe he Clothes Beamed himself a new glove.  All we really see is him putting it on. 

Meanwhile, while Universes 3, 4, 7, and 11 aren’t interested in exploiting fusion, Universe 2 decides to give it a shot, and Helles tosses Potara earrings to Zarbuto and Rabanra.  Things immediately look bad when Zarbuto can’t get his on because he’s too dumb to remove his helmet. 

Then Kefla charges through them while fighting Goku, and the Potara are shattered.  Easy come, easy go, Helles concludes.

Meanwhile, 18 has an owie, and Catopesra shows up to capitalize.

But 17 shows up to bail her out.  Aww...

Meanwhile, Goku finally manages to reach Super Saiyan Blue.  As before, this is probably something he wasn’t quite ready to try yet.  Remember, Jiren kicked Goku’s ass in Episode 110 and he’s been fighting Caulifla and Kale to try to get back in the groove as he recovers. So he’s not just sandbagging in lower forms to drag this fight out.  He probably couldn’t turn Blue until somewhere around this moment. 

But Kefla turns Super Saiyan, so Goku’s probably still at a disadvantage here.  That’s the power of fusion.  Speaking of fusion, the dub keeps referring to it as “merging” in this episode, which seems odd to me, since they called it “fusion” almost exclusively before.  It’s like there was some directive from Toei about it, but I can’t imagine why.  Maybe someone wanted to restrict “fusion” to the Fusion Dance as opposed to the Potara thing.

Not a whole lot for me to say here.  They shoot rapid fire ki blasts and go to town on each other...

Vegeta finally manages to overpower Top, but he doesn’t eliminate him, so either he knows Top’s still got a lot left in him, or he’s too distracted by Super Kefla to think straight.

Eventually, Goku has to use Kaio-ken to keep up, but he still keeps up.  At one point he does an Instant Transmission to fake Kefla out, then reappears in the same spot to land a blow.  Nice twist on the technique after Caulifla had his usual tactics scouted. 

But ultimately, Kefla gets the better of him, and lands a heavy kick to the side of Goku’s head. 

He’s down.  Kefla congratulates him for putting up such a great fight, but it’s over, and all that’s left is to throw him out of the ring.

Or.... not.  Goku rises to his feet and says he won’t give up.  He’s still got some fight left in him.  So Kefla throws some more ki blasts at him and...

Uh-oh!

Uh-ohhhhhh!

Uh-ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

[jacquardwyse-blog]

I just downloaded Pixlr and imma be playing around on here for a bit....

[the-iron-fjord]

23 and 22, Saonel and Pirina of Universe 6

21, 20, and 19, Zirloin, Rabanra, and Zarbuto of Universe 2

RETIRED

Universe 6 and Universe 2 have been eliminated!