The two did throw out some nice trash talk beforehand, though. There was an interesting parallel in terms of dialogue between this exchange and the one between Toppo and Goku back in the exhibition. Ribrianne cites 17 as evil for knocking out her friends and threatening their universe. 17 shrugs it off in the exact same way Goku did. I have to assume that was intentional. In any event, it made much more sense coming from 17 than it did Goku. He seems more inherently neutral and less concerned with alignment.
We see Goku continue to struggle against Rozie. In addition to rapid fire ki blasts, she can also apparently make fakes to throw Goku off balance. Even on the off chance that the blasts miss, Rozie can control them and creates a bubble around Goku, leaving him surrounded.
While I did like 17 taking the time to back up his teammate and give Goku some force field cover, I can't help but wonder why Goku didn't just instant transmission out of there. He uses the technique later, which makes it even more bizarre.
Before either fighter from universe 7 can score a decisive win, one of universe 2's other teammates (a yardrat) comes in and teleports them elsewhere for the time being. It's anti-climactic in some respects, but I can understand the desire to keep some of the bigger fighters in the show's back pocket for later showdowns.
From here, the episode shifts its focus to Gohan as he takes on Botamo. Where'd Magetta go? Those two seemed unbeatable with their combo dynamic. Oh well.
Sure enough, Gohan's plan to beat the big bear is to do the one thing that is well known to be completely ineffective against him, punch him in the belly repeatedly. Even some of the other characters point out that this is a bad strategy. Goku, for his part, is confident, as he told Gohan how Botamo's powers work.
Sure enough, Gohan is able to lift Botamo off the ground with the power of his blows. I'm honestly not sure how that works. If Botamo absorbs the energy from the hits and sends them to another dimension, than what's pushing him upward? Whatever, Botamo gets eliminated.
Shortly after, two fighters from universe 10 appear to challenge both Gohan and Piccolo (who had been able to stand and watch the fight uninterrupted for some reason). Gohan faces off against a fighter named Obuni, while Piccolo takes on Rubalt.
Both fighters give universe 7 a good fight. Piccolo is knocked around a bit before he's able to turn the tables.
Gohan has a bit more trouble, as Obuni is able to shift is energy, making it hard for his opponents to track him. There are times where you'd think that Gohan could tell where Obuni is just by looking, but a lot of the fight takes place at high speed, so it works a bit better in those sequences.
He doesn't get a whole lot of screen time, but I grew to like Obuni. He was just looking for a good fight. He also makes a point that he's determined to protect his loved ones back home, but his honorable warrior schtick was more prominent. I imagine he and Goku would have gotten along swimmingly. At multiple points, he commends Gohan for his efforts and fighting prowess. It's always nice to see respect between worthy adversaries.
It's nice to see the show depicting Gohan using his wits to win fights. It's been the case a few times now, but once again, he's able to overcome a disadvantage by using his brain instead of just blindly throwing punches or ki blasts. It makes the win more memorable in my opinion.
With the defeat of these two warriors, universe 10 is eliminated. In some regards, this does play out like a rehash of universe 9's erasure. The same animation is used and the same song is played, but where the first was more horror at the fact that Zen'o wasn't lying, this takes a more somber and poignant turn.
Where Mojito, the angel for universe 9 was happy to see his universe and gods erased; Cus is actually saddened by what happened.
From the viewer's perspective, seeing Gowasu disappear carries more weight as we are more familiar with him. On top of that, he was a lot more likable than Roh, so there's a bit more loss there.
The somber tone is further touched on when Gohan finds a locket left by Obuni containing a picture of his family. It was a small moment, but it packed a lot of punch and reminded us of the cost of the tournament.
The episode ends with one hell of a teaser as Hit is about to face off against Dyspo from universe 11. It would've been cool to see a fight centered on two characters outside of universe 7, but the preview shows that Goku and Hit are going to team up. OK, that's cool, not going to lie. I'm looking forward to it.
All in all, this episode was solid. Gohan's fight was probably the most impressive, though 17 got some good moments in. It's still weird to see characters able to stand around and chew the fat in this setting. You'd think that somebody would attack them, but so far that hasn't happened; well, Krillin notwithstanding. It's especially odd as this episode kept making a point about Goku letting his guard down. I guess we can just assume that the other fighters are busy with each other. It still seems like a missed opportunity to add some spice to these one on one fights.
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