The latest chapter of the Dragon Ball Super manga released, and in my opinion it’s the best chapter we’ve gotten in quite a while. Super is weird, because unlike most other Weekly Shonen series we get well, weekly, Super releases one longer chapter per month. The pacing of releases can make it hard to string together hype moments, and you might have to go back and read last month’s chapter just to remember what the hell is going on every time a new chapter releases.
But putting all of that aside, this truly is one of the strongest entries in the whole series we’ve seen. Picking up where Goku and Gas left off, the chapter begins with straight action. Goku and Gas duking it out from location to location as Goku teleports again and again. There’s not even any dialogue until page 5, where we get a pretty humorous action break. Goku seemingly uses telekinesis to dump a nearby truck of cement on his opponent, driven by Monaka – nice to see him again. Goku takes this chance to mock Gas, joking he should go get clean before they continue.
Gas charges, and they’re off again. This time Goku leads him to the Galactic King’s house, which winds up with Gas falling in a full bathtub. Again, Goku keeps up the mental jabs. Checking in on planet Cereal, we see Monaito healing Granolah, Vegeta tracking Goku’s movements, and the Heeter Gang working on tracking down Gas. Goku leads Gas to the Galactic Prison, where they are both recognized by some prisoners we’ve seen before, Saganbo’s men.
Here’s where the chapter gets interesting to me: up until now, we’ve just had action and some light fun at Gas’s expense. It might have seemed like just some passing jokes, but this scene cements what Goku is trying to do here to Gas: completely and utterly humiliate him. Gas has left the door for provocation open, and Goku is sprinting in. The prisoners make fun of him, saying he literally pissed his pants the last time they saw him. Instead of just ignoring these weakling’s insults, Gas allows them to get to his head, ultimately leading to a convoluted explanation of how he did indeed pee his pants that day. While Gas may out class Goku physically at the moment, it appears as though he can’t get over this juvenile mentality that leads to reckless aggression.
Goku keeps up the mental assault as they teleport out of the prison. Asking why Gas follows his brother Elec’s order despite being so much stronger, we even get a Raditz reference, which made me happy. Gas tells Goku that Elec made him what he is today – something that is quite literally true, since Elec is the one who made the wish to strengthen his little brother to this degree. It’s right around this part of the chapter that really makes me feel like Gas is not the end villain of this arc. We know Granolah only has 3 years left to live after he used the dragon balls of planet Cereal to wish himself the strongest being in the universe. Which means it’s likely Elec made a similar deal for his little brother, something Gas probably isn’t aware of. When will Gas’s time run out? When it does, then what for the Heeters? Elec is no dummy, and he’s still keeping these cards close to his chest. The outright humiliation of Gas coupled with these secrets tells me, he won’t be the last or strongest opponent we see.
Goku keeps the game of space tag up, eventually leading Gas to Whis and the Oracle Fish, who are enjoying a nice day on some random planet. Goku dumps Gas off with Whis, and takes off, going from planet to planet until he makes it back to Cereal. The distance is too great for Gas to teleport, so he asks Whis for directions and flies off at unreal speeds on his own. Here we get another VERY interesting tidbit: Whis is sad Gas couldn’t stay for a more leisurely visit, and the Oracle Fish asks who Gas was. Even Whis is surprised by the question. Why is this so interesting? Back at the beginning of the entire Granolah arc, the Oracle Fish makes a proclamation: the power balance of Universe 7 will soon shift, and the strongest in the universe will rise up. Technically, at the current moment, that’s Gas. And yet, the Oracle Fish has no idea who Gas is. It could be a nothing line, but I’m not so sure.
Arriving back to Cereal, Goku helps the crew of Vegeta, Granolah and Monaito load up in the new and improved Oatmeel’s car (yeah I know, these names are pretty silly.) Sporting a new mini-robot body, Oatmeel gets them to safety at Monaito’s. On the way, Goku gets a visual call from Whis on a device he planted on him without Goku’s knowledge. He lets them know that Gas is on the way once again, and should get back in about 20 minutes. This leads to a discussion about Goku’s training, and his progress at mastering Ultra Instinct. It’s here we get a pretty “in your face” character development set-up for Goku.
While highlighting the differences between them, Whis asks Goku: deep down inside, what are you really? Goku ponders this out loud, and IMMEDIATELY is referred to by Monaito: “Hey, son of Bardock…” It’s kind of like in Sixth Sense, when the kid says “I see dead people” and the camera immediately cuts to the main char- sorry, no spoilers. Anyway, we’ve been seeing Goku struggle with this whole “inner identity as a Saiyan” thing lately, and that’s the direction they continue to take it. Monaito tells Goku he has to show him something, and in the house they go.
To everyone’s surprise, Monaito reveals none other than Bardock’s old scouter. Vegeta politely requests it, assessing that it’s broken. Apparently, it has audio data containing a recount of Bardock’s fight with Gas 40 years ago, and there may be some clues on how to beat him on there. Thanks to our handy dandy new robotic friend Oatmeel, we get the scouter powered up and the audio message plays. Monaito confirms the voice they hear is Bardock’s, as he urges Monaito, Granolah and Granolah’s mother of the past, “You have to stay alive.”
And here we have it: one of the most profound moments, the entire series in the making. Upon hearing his father speak those words, Goku is shaken to his core. We see an incredibly well done zoom into Goku’s eye, showing the reflection of his parents, Bardock and Gine, telling him that he must stay alive in his final moments on his former planet as baby before being sent to Earth – where he would subsequently hit his head, forgetting everything about himself. The last we see of Goku, it looks like he got struck by lightning.
This moment is monumental. All the way back to the fight with Raditz, where we learn the truth about Goku’s heritage until now, Goku has proudly proclaimed himself an earthling. While he doesn’t outright deny his Saiyan lineage, it’s not something he’s really tied himself to, like Vegeta does. He’s never cared to learn much about his race, or his home world, or anyone on it, including his birth parents. Now, this looks like it’s starting to change. For the first time, Goku remembers.
We finally get the chapter title page, and go back to the past to see Bardock fighting Gas. It’s pretty damn exciting seeing Bardock in action, and we get plenty to cap the chapter off. Bardock is proving to be no weakling despite the low-class warrior reputation, and Gas is hanging the whole time as well. Gas ends the chapter by telling Bardock he has to win, due to the trust his big brother Elec placed in him, and now we wait another month.
Like I said in the beginning, I think this is one of the best chapters we’ve gotten in some time. Anytime a chapter combines good action, lore, and humor, it gets a 10/10 from me. The humor here kind of reminds me of old Dragon Ball humor, crude and juvenile. Which happens to be my favorite kind of humor. The artwork is fantastic as always, as Toyotaro continues to show his skills as an artist. The story is taking some interesting twists. and I’m very excited to see where it leads.
I know a lot of people aren’t a fan of “new Bardock”, since his character has pretty much been overhauled from the original TV special to Dragon Ball Minus and the Broly film. I think both are fine, and getting upset about the change isn’t going to do anything but diminish your chances of potentially enjoying a new story. Some things to pay attention to moving forward are the “strongest being” thing, Elec’s involvement behind the scenes, and what Goku will take away from his father’s experience. The level of power Bardock and Gas are at in the past is a drop in the bucket compared to the present day, so I’m curious just what kind of weakness Gas will have that Goku can still exploit.
I wonder if Goku will start an interest in exploring his past and his heritage. Will he try to find them somewhere in the afterlife? Wish them back? Or just say well that was cool, but I don’t really care? Either way, I’m excited for next month’s chapter to hit.
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