Monday, July 11, 2016

'Dragon Ball Super' episode 51: 'Feelings that Transcend Time - Trunks and Mai'

You'd think that the fact that Bulma kept the second time machine wouldn't require a lot of explanation.  Oddly, the episode devotes a lot of time to detailing the circumstances. It was nice to see the flashbacks to the Cell saga, though. I do wonder why the others were so surprised that Cell came from the future. Didn't they know that already?  I'm pretty sure that at least Krillin was there when they went to go blow up the "present day" Cell in Dr. Gero's basement.  Maybe it just never came up?  It's not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things, but it was odd.

I also wonder if we're going into a "Terminator" situation where the technology from the future is what allows that technology to be developed in the first place. It seems like Bulma is getting a lot of her knowledge from "future Bulma's" notes.  I suppose a stable time loop is better than an unstable one, but it is one of those time travel scenarios that makes you go cross-eyed.

Said notes are actually vital, as the damage to the vessel extends to more than just the window.  While you'd think that the heroes wouldn't have time to waste, it seems they can do nothing but wait, as it's going to take time to get the ship in working order.

With that, Goku and Vegeta go to train.  As Whis isn't in the mood to mentor the pair, Vegeta goes to the gravity room and Goku goes to King Kai's planet.  King Kai's sour mood makes perfect sense, but I'm confused as to what Vegeta's deal is.  He seems to harbor some sort of grudge that comes out of nowhere and doesn't even fit with his "I need to surpass Kakkarot" schtick.  It'll probably get addressed in some future episode, but it was strange, regardless.

As there's really nothing else for people to do, the others just sort of hang around.  Future Trunks becomes fixated on Chibi-Mai, which is a little strange to watch, in all honesty.  I know those two were close in his time, but the looks he was giving the small child set off some mental alarms.

Once he snaps out of it, he does tell her how they knew each other.  This leads to the episode's highlight, as he details how the remnants of humanity mounted a resistance against Black's attack.  Said resistance is led by Mai herself.

We get to see them try and fend off the foe, only to come up woefully short. Of course, even Trunks' aid doesn't do much to help turn the tables either.  Black Goku is just that formidable a foe.

It seems that the writers are fans of "The Flash", as Black mimics Zoom's bullet catch rather well when her squad tries to pump him full of lead.  The scene comes complete with Black Goku dropping the shells to really rub in the futility.  Black's instance is arguably more impressive, as Mai's squad was wielding machine guns compared to handguns, meaning more shells to catch.

Even heavy explosives prove futile against the foe, though that was expected.  Even Black himself remarks that they shouldn't have thought that it would work.  It's good to see that humanity is still fighting back, but it just goes to show how hopelessly and hilariously outgunned we really are.  Then again, it seems like Black is something much more than anything of this realm.

Once again, we get some hints as to his nature. He says that he comes from someplace beyond the universe and he's deemed humanity the biggest failure of God's creation, hence his determination to wipe them out.

We see that Black has somehow absorbed Goku's fighting ability.  The villain also goes on to say that he's hoping to fight Goku again in order to get even more powerful.

Where the last episode had Beerus and Whis confused as to what Black was, this one suggests that they may have some idea. Neither one seems to remember, but both note that they feel like they've met Black before.  Whis is tasked with looking into it, but that's all they really offer.  It did make for a nice, cryptic way to end the episode. It isn't the biggest wham moment, but it piques the viewer's interest none the less.

Alas, overall, this episode isn't much to write home about.  The flashback....to the future was what really made this episode work.  The music featured in that sequence was fantastic and it was a great confrontation overall.  Black Goku continues to shine as a villain.  He got some great taunts in and the voice acting on his front remains top notch.  The mystery surrounding him remains intact, but once again, we got some hints that help form a better picture of the villain.  Sadly, the rest of the episode just seemed like wheel spinning.  Even the earlier reveal that Future-Mai is still alive never gets followed up on in any capacity.  Hopefully next week's episode will be able to move things along in a much more effective capacity.




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