English Dub Review: Dragon Ball Super “Goku Must Pay! The Warrior of Justice Top Bargest In!”

Looks like Goku’s got some serious competition.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Upset at Goku for putting the universes of the multiverse in danger, Top from Universe 11 challenges Goku to a one-on-one match to show him who’s boss. Of course, Goku gladly accepts, and the two square up for a showdown.

Much to Goku’s surprise, Top is a much stronger fighter than he anticipated. With his flashy moves that blend both speed and power, Top nearly breaks every bone in Goku’s body with a crushing grip. Goku hits his Super Saiyan Blue form and soon finds himself matching Top’s power. The two exchange blow after blow and Goku delivers a powerful a Kamehameha to the warrior of justice. However, before their fight can finish, its called off so as not have anyone die.

With the exposition tournament over, the universes learn that the Tournament of Power will take place in a mere forty hours from this moment. This leaves Goku and his friends to go back to Earth to find the ten strongest fighters which will form the team from Universe 7 entered into the tournament. A daunting task indeed.

Our Take:

The fights just keep on coming as we gear up for the proper beginning of the Tournament of Power. As we see more and more of these universe’s many powerful fighters, Goku appears to be much smaller of a fish than we’re used to seeing in this show. This is an important shift for the series, since, after all, it just wouldn’t be any fun to see Goku win battle after battle.

Goku’s fight against Top is, as you might imagine, an entertaining and explosive fight, but also one that adds a good bit more drama to the typical shounen experience we’ve had so far. We’ve only seen Goku as our hero, but Top stands as a foil to Goku’s reckless, child-like strength. Not to mention, Top is a character who’s just a blast to watch. He’s like a member of the Ginyu Force, except not an arrogant douchebag. His attacks are all creative and bring a sense of flair and flourish that the fights in Dragon Ball Super usually lack. Though, and this may just be a criticism of Dragon Ball Super overall, Top’s “justice” shtick does start to get old after a bit. It wouldn’t hurt for him to be a character with a little more depth.

Top is a fighter who’s more than a match for Goku, and that’s a point driven home through the brutal fight between the two and is able to completely disable Goku with his bone-crushing abilities, something I don’t think any character in the history of Dragon Ball has been able to do. It’s good to get a reminder of what’s at stake here in the coming tournament. This isn’t going to be a cakewalk.

The name of the game here is “Intensity.” Dragon Ball Super is doing an excellent job of mixing things up enough to keep the audience interested when Goku has already faced down so many villains. At the same time, the challenges Goku faces don’t feel forced, as if the story was just making him weaker for the sake of tension. The show, and this episode is creative enough that it can keep finding new and interesting situations to put Goku in that push him to his limits. We’re at the edge of an exciting new arc here in Dragon Ball Super, one that stands to be the pillar of this series.

Score
7/10