With most dragon ball storylines, it wraps up with the crew gathering the dragon balls to use wishes as a way to undo the damage done by the latest big bad and restore the lives of those lost. As this latest arc largely took place in an alternate future, they don't really have that problem. As a result, the wishes used here can be used in a more indulgent fashion.
As it turns out, everybody has a wish that they want granted. Goku wants to finally revive King Kai, Bulma wants material for the time machine that she's building, Roshi wants women, Goten and Trunks want to make a wish because they have never had the opportunity, 18 wants to get a gift for Krillin, and Pilaf wants to take over the world.
Going in, I thought that Shenron's ability to grant multiple wishes would mitigate the conflict somewhat. As you can see, though, the wish list goes beyond what Shenron can do. It's even worse as he can only grant two wishes given the fact that he was summoned back during Beerus' initial attack.
As you can imagine, this leads to quite a bit of bickering as everybody makes the case for their respective wish. We also get a nice running gag as Pilaf's repeated attempts to hijack a wish are met with a new party charging in to get their wish granted and knocking him around.
Credit to Shenron, he's not normally that patient, but he puts up with it for quite a while. Granted, near the end, he sticks around due to fear of Beerus, but it's still surprising.
While the episode's humor works well, the real highlights are the more heartwarming bits. When Gohan arrives, he asks that Shenron cure Pan of a fever that doctors and medicine have been unable to treat. For one thing, Gohan politely asking the others if he can have his wish granted is in stark contrast to most of the other characters who expect to have their wish granted just because they showed up. On top of that, it's Pan. Even when the cast are in the height of their squabbles, they all put aside their differences to let the kid get the necessary magical treatment. Pan's reaction to being back in peak condition only makes the scene that much more fun to watch.
Does the zenkai boost work with diseases? I'm guessing not, though you could argue that the body still recovers. If it does apply, it's a good way to get the ball rolling for her becoming super saiyan when she gets older.
You could also see Bulma's speech to 18 about how she and Marron are all Krillin wants as rather sweet, but I was thinking that Bulma was playing her to remove a potential competing wish. From what we see, there's nothing to suggest this and it seems that Bulma was on the level (even 18 acknowledges that it's what Krillin would say,) but I figured that was going to be the route they were going to take. Considering 18's wish was more altruistic and posed less of a risk, it really wouldn't have surprised me if Bulma felt she had to resort to such a tactic to "win".
Speaking of, it was odd how dismissive most were of Goku's desired wish. I'd think reviving a divine being takes precedence over another pair of women's underpants, but these characters don't seem to think so. It's even more jarring as Goku was the one who went through the trouble of gathering the dragon balls and summoning Shenron in the first place. Expecting him to move to the back of the line is obnoxious, though no one thinks to acknowledge it as such.
At least Bulma can make the case that her radar is what allowed him to be summoned. She also does a pretty good job stepping up to the plate and "granting" the wishes of others. She uses her wealth and connections to call up some escorts for Roshi, pays 18 to swat Oolong away, and points out that the kids don't know what they're going to wish for. It just goes to show you that even if you can't summon a magical, wish granting dragon, you can do just about the same thing with enormous sums of money...wait.
This was a simple episode, but it was just the breather that viewers need after the fairly intense confrontation with a deranged, omnicidal god.
The next episode looks like it's going to take a similar tone, though it's hyping of the return of Arale is undercut by the fact that I don't know who that is. I'm sure the episode will give some explanation, much like it did with Jaco, but we'll see how that plays out when we get to it.
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