'Dragon Ball Super' Episode 113: 'With Great Joy! The Repeat Battle-Crazy Saiyan Fight!!'

For some reason, this episode doesn't open like a normal one.  It wasn't a new intro, exactly, but some sort of teaser.  It wasn't clear at first, but eventually I figured out what they were doing.  It's a cool idea, though I'd think it would have been something that they did before the big 2 part event, as opposed to this episode.

In any event, Caulifla challenges Goku to fight her again.  She wants to hit super saiyan 3 so that her power can make up the difference from losing both Hit and Cabba in rapid succession.  She powers up to super saiyan 2 and readies herself for combat.

Alas, while Goku is more than willing to fight, his exhaustion from the Jiren fight prevents him from returning the favor and powering up beyond his base form.  I'm not sure why Caulifla takes umbrage at Goku not powering up.  He flat out says that it's out of necessity, and that he'll power up later as he gets his second wind, but she still deems it to be arrogance on his part.  It was weird.

You'd think that Goku would be at a disadvantage, but he actually starts off winning the fight.  It seems that Caulifla's cruder, brawling style doesn't fare well against Goku's more formal training and experience, even with a more powerful form at her disposal.

She's a quick study, though, and it isn't long before things start to even out.  Caulifla starts landing some heavy hits and comes up with ways counters Goku's various techniques in short order.  It makes for an exciting fight.  Caulifla may not be as ridiculously strong as Jiren, but she is able to make for a formidable opponent in her own right. 

Even when Goku does eventually power up to his own super saiyan 2 form, the two are evenly matched.  It continues to impress Goku and he's certain that not only will she hit 3 at some point, but maybe even go beyond that.  Yes, the show made a legitimate tease of super saiyan 4.  While I honestly have no problem making that form canon, the fact that I'm invoking GT does provide me with some amusement given the general reception of that particular branch of the franchise.

I found it odd that Krillin was marveling at the spectacle of 2 super saiyan 2's fighting, as this isn't the first time we've seen such a confrontation.  However, Goku's far more powerful now than he was when he fought Majin Vegeta and Krillin was kind of turned to stone at that point and didn't actually know about that, so his reaction makes a bit more sense.

If that wasn't spectacle enough, things escalate when Goku invites Kale to join in the fight.  While you'd think that this makes for a much stronger example of Goku being a "cocky bastard", Caulifla is all for it.  She eagerly welcomes her "sis" to join the fight so that they can, not only defeat Goku together, but reach super saiyan 3 together.  The bond between these two never ceases to be utterly endearing.  It also stands in pretty stark contrast to the way universe 7 saiyans operate.

Me being a sucker for 2 on 1 fights, I thought that this was a brilliant move on the show's part.  The two girls work rather well together and manage to give Goku a solid fight, though as his stamina returns, he gains the advantage back. 

He even manages to get enough of his energy to go into his super saiyan 3 form.  While this image was prominently featured in the teaser, his stay is brief as he quickly powers back down to 2 and reveals that he isn't quite there yet.  It does make you wonder if he's found a way to counter the energy drain of that form or if this is just another example of that at work. 

It does give the two saiyan girls a taste of the power that they can acquire, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.  In fact, seeing it makes Kale so eager that she powers up again and accidentally goes back into the "berserker"/"legendary" form.  I think this form is more impressive than the streamlined one that she used for a majority of this episode, so I'm totally OK with this development.

Goku himself seems excited.  I guess he forgot about her utterly wiping the floor with him when he was in his blue form.  I suppose it makes sense, though.  Goku does love fighting strong people and even Krillin notes that pushing himself to his limits so that he can break them is Goku's modus operandi. 

All in all, this episode was decent, but it might end up being one of the more forgettable ones in the long term.  The fight itself was solid and we did get some good banter.  The two are such good sports and have such a good dynamic that they're fun to watch.  The teaser for next week looks interesting, as both Caulifla and Kale seem like they're going to continue to grow as fighters.

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'Dragon Ball Super' Episode 112: 'A Saiyan's Vow! Vegeta's Resolution!!'

With Goku exhausted, a group of fighters from universe 3 decide to gang up on him in an attempt to eliminate him from the tournament and gain an edge over universe 7, who has a substantial lead when it comes to remaining fighters.  The tournament has tried to build up false tension before, but with Goku burnt out, it does seem like the saiyan is in legitimate trouble, even though his opponents are nowhere near the levels of Hit, Toppo, or especially Jiren.

Piccolo does suggest that Gohan back his father up in that fight, but Gohan comes from universe 7, where you just let your teammates, friends, and family members get pounded on without offering assistance. 

Granted, the two do have their hands full fighting the two Namekians from universe 6, but it was still a face palm inducing moment.  At least have Gohan try to aid his father and have the Namekian get in the way or something, sheesh.

This match up doesn't resolve in this episode, as we jump to Caulifla and Kale, the prior of whom is about to face off against universe 4's Monna.  Caulifla insists that Kale stay out of it to keep it a one on one fight, but it never comes to pass.

At first, I thought that one of Monna's teammates was going to jump into the fray and give us a 2 on 2 match up, but instead, the face off is interrupted by Cabba, who insists that he be the one to deal with this particular opponent.  It should be noted that this is more of a tactical decision, as Cabba wants them to continue to recover so that they can fight effectively later on in the tournament.  I could see some calling foul, but it does make sense.

At first it seems like Cabba has the upper hand with the power of his super saiyan form, but it isn't long before he's getting knocked around.  It's strange, as Monna's fighting style is "turn into a giant ball and roll into him a lot".  Either way, Cabba is on the ropes.  He even attempts to use the same tactic that was used in the climax of the first "Tremors" movie to no avail. 

It gets so bad that he almost gets thrown out of the ring.  Were it not for a last second save from Vegeta, he would have been eliminated.  Yes, Vegeta saves his pupil.  Granted, he follows this by berating Cabba for being weak, but it was still a big moment.  Even Champa is amazed and says that he'll find a way to repay the favor because he's honorable.  I get the feeling that it was supposed to be played for laughs, but I still liked it.

The following exchange between the two saiyans makes for one of the episode's highlights as Vegeta mentions that he still wants to see the home planet of the universe 6 saiyans, something Cabba brought up back in the initial tournament between universes 6 and 7. 

Cabba rightly points out that it's impossible to fulfill the promise, as one of the two universes will be erased, but Vegeta reveals that he plans to win and bring everyone back with the super dragon balls.  It really goes to show how far Vegeta has come.  He could have just settled on bringing universe 6 back in order to see the saiyans, but he's willing to go beyond that desire and save more people.  It's quite heartwarming.  Cabba offers to make a similar wish, but Vegeta doesn't really appreciate the sentiment the way others would. 

Eventually, though, the fight has to resume and Cabba is still having trouble.  Monna makes the mistake of mocking both Vegeta and Cabba's fellow saiyan teammates.  He doesn't take kindly to this and powers up, hitting super saiyan 2 in the process.  Good for him. 

It's enough for him to ultimately win, but it does leave him exhausted.  You'd almost think he was fighting at super saiyan 3 (more on that later.)

Much like the robots did with Goku, Frieza takes this opportunity to pounce and challenges Cabba.  Frieza sure is fun to watch.  His polite but still sinister demeanor never gets old. 

When compared to other fights involving Frieza, Cabba got off easy, but he does find himself on the losing end of the fight very quickly.  Even his newfound super saiyan 2 power isn't enough to contend with the power of Golden Frieza and he gets eliminated from the tournament in pretty short order. 

It's kind of a shame, as I do like the character, but it seems like the tournament wasn't sure what to do with him.  This, at least gives him a moment to shine before he gets knocked out.  He also achieved his goal of giving Caulifla and Kale enough of a breather to get back into the fight, so mission accomplished there.

Caulifla doesn't hesitate to jump back into things, taking out (though not eliminating) the robots plaguing Goku.  Not surprisingly, she has her own agenda, she wants to challenge Goku to another fight. 

Meanwhile, Vegeta is about to take on Toppo.  It makes for a solid sequel hook, as we have more than a few solid match ups to look forward to for the next episode.

This episode took a step back from action and put more focus on character.  It still delivered on the prior, but it also gave the episode the feeling of a breather episode.  There was more levity and heart to it that really made it stand out.  There was some padding early on in the episode.  The most glaring instance being the two omni-kings needing to be told what happens when the tournament ends, but once we got past that initial tedium, the episode was pretty well paced and moved along nicely. 

Much like how the Hit vs Jiren fight was a worthy successor to Goku vs. Jiren, I suspect that the Caulifla and Goku relationship is going to shine just as Vegeta's and Cabba's did here.  Even better, Goku mentions that he's going to go super saiyan 3.  Considering it got snubbed in the Jiren fight, it'll be nice to see it get a chance to shine.  Who knows, maybe Goku found a way to counter the burnout, much like Frieza did with the golden form.  We might even see Caulifla hit super saiyan 3.  Goku did note that it was a distinct possibility before.  Could she go super saiyan 4?  We'll just have to wait and see I suppose.

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'Dragon Ball Super' episode 111: 'The Surreal Supreme Battle! Hit vs Jiren!!'

Even with a new form, Goku was unable to defeat Jiren.  This doesn't stop Hit from taking a crack at it anyway.  While this match up wasn't as hyped up as Goku's, it was teased and it was nice to see it finally come to fruition.

Before that, however, we have to find out how Goku is going to get out of his current bind, exhausted and powerless with a smirking Frieza hovering over him ready to blast him point blank.  I had seen a few people predict how this was going to go and they were right.  It turns out that Frieza ends up giving Goku some of his energy.  It's a pragmatic move, as it keeps Goku in the tournament (Frieza flat out states that he has no desire to fight Jiren himself and would rather have Goku do it,) but it also "settles the debt" from when Goku did the same for him back on Namek.

With that taken care of, we come to the main event: Hit vs Jiren.  The preceding two episodes had set a pretty high bar, but this manages to keep that momentum going and deliver another very strong fight.

Hit actually seems to be holding his own fairly well early on.  I did find it odd that he seemed to have a harder time against Dyspo, but as the fight progresses, Hit's apparent advantage dissipates and he finds himself in the same situation that Goku did.  Like Dyspo before him, Jiren's ability is such that he can counter Hit's time skip, rendering it pretty much useless, though that doesn't stop Hit from continuing to try.

I don't get why the others are so baffled as to why he keeps using it.  It's still his most potent ability, what else is he going to rely on to get an edge in the fight?

To their credit, both Caulifla and Kale express a desire to back Hit up, but Cabba stops them, saying that Hit has a plan.  In most circumstances, I'd say that this declaration was laughable as Hit is clearly getting clobbered, but the fight with Dyspo started off this way too, so at least there is some precedent on that front.

Sure enough, Hit is able to study Jiren's moves enough to regain his footing and start to level the playing field.  It culminates with Hit using his time skip to freeze Jiren in place.  It's outright stated to be Hit's final trump card and it takes all of Hit's power, but his plan is to keep doing this while the universe 6 saiyans keep fighting. 

Knowing Jiren, you know this won't last, and it doesn't.  Still, the fact that Hit held him as long as he did is pretty commendable.  It also gives the episode something of a hope spot, as Jiren's imprisonment is a major game changer for other universes.  The delay also pays dividends as it makes the shock of Jiren's liberation that much more palpable. 

With no other tricks up his sleeve, Hit has nothing left to do but get blasted repeatedly until he is finally thrown out of the ring.

Yeah.

Hit got eliminated.  It was pretty shocking to say the least and it doesn't bode well for universe 6.  The saiyan trio aren't completely disheartened, but even Vados points out that it was still a pretty devastating blow.

The Grand Priest announces that the tournament has officially hit the halfway point and Jiren decides to clock out.  As far as he's concerned there's no one left worthy of his effort and he goes back to meditating. 

Don't think that Jiren is letting his guard down, however,  Two fighters make that mistake, having one distract Toppo and Dyspo while the other attempts a surprise attack.  It turns out that Jiren still has a force field that can only be penetrated by the aforementioned worthy fighters.

While Hit vs Jiren was the main draw, the episode did have a few other small highlights as well.  We got to see Vegeta face off against Ribrianne again.  Her power seems to be waning, but Rozie offers some reinforcements. 

The bigger moment in this scene was Ribrianne's sudden doubt in their ability to win the tournament.  You feel for her as fear suddenly sets in, but Rozie manages to lift her spirits and get her head back in the game.  It was a nice character moment that added some emotional weight to the episode.

We also see Gohan and Piccolo begin to face off from a pair of Namekians from some other universe after said pair attempt a sneak attack on Goku while he is watching Hit fight Jiren.  It's still strange to see fighters so willingly let their guard down in these circumstances, but at least Gohan and Piccolo had his back.  That 2 on 2 fight should make for a fun episode sometime down the line. 

Overall, this was another very strong episode.  It was definitely a worthy successor to the gem that preceded it.  We had a great main fight while also giving other characters moments in the spotlight, we got another example of just how stupid powerful Jiren is, and the status quo changed significantly as a result of the episode's events.  It was a packed and exciting 23 minutes.  You'd think that after 15 episodes of tournament that fatigue would start to set in, but it seems like things are only getting more exciting.  It'll be interesting to see how things progress from here.

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'Dragon Ball Super' Episode 110: 'Son Goku Wakes! New Level of the Awakened!'

When last we met...earlier today, it appeared Goku had lost his battle with Jiren and had been consumed by his own spirit bomb.

It turns out that this wasn't the case, not surprising, and that the struggle continues.  It doesn't look good, as Jiren is hardly breaking a sweat while Goku is clearly reaching his limits.  Still, this is what the Dragonball franchise does so well, epic battles of will power with tremendous amounts of beam energy being pushed back and forth between the two adversaries.  It's a spectacle to be sure and the animation is top notch.  You can really see where that extra week went, not only here, but throughout the remainder of the episode.

Alas, it appears that it was only a delay of the inevitable.  Goku succumbs to exhaustion and falls into his own spirit bomb.  It's not clear if he's alive or dead.  He doesn't appear in the bleachers, but nobody can sense his energy.  It's a very somber moment that is quite well done, even taking into account the meta-knowledge that Goku's coming back.

You'd think that Goku dying would eliminate Jiren, giving the other fighters some semblance of hope, but this doesn't turn out to be the case.  As it was Goku's attack that did him in, Jiren is spared elimination.  It adds a little extra salt to the wound for universe 7.

In the last episode, the gods surmised that watching Goku fall would crush everybody else's fighting spirit.  It turns out that this isn't the case at all.  In fact, other fighters all approach Jiren.  Sadly, this Jiren vs everybody match up never materializes, but it was still a good moment for the other universes, regardless.

It is interrupted by the glorious return of Goku, who has now ascended into a new, powerful form that blows everybody away.  It's been a while since we had a new form, so it was rather nice to see things kick up another notch.  On top of that, the form is pretty cool looking, is bolstered by the aforementioned top-notch animation, and has some unique features.  This new form grants Goku amazing speed, though the way the characters talk, it's more than that.  In any event, he is able to actually stay on par with Jiren now, where his previous peak form could barely keep up. 

In a glaring contrast to universe 7, when Toppo and Dyspo see that the fight is turning against Jiren, they actually jump in to give their teammate some backup.  Admittedly, it doesn't work, but I still thought it was nice to see somebody finally do it.  As Toppo and Dyspo are hardly slouches on their own, it also goes to show you how powerful Goku has become, now being capable of fighting off two of the remaining universe 11 fighters at the same time with no trouble. 

Suffice it to say, everybody is stunned at the power Goku is showing.  It begs the question of what happened.  I assumed that, like he had in several of the non-canon movies, that Goku just absorbed the spirit bomb and used that to boost his power.  It's apparently more convoluted than that, I think unnecessarily so.  Either way, Goku has tapped into something called "Ultra Instinct".  This is a thing that's never clearly defined, but it is apparently a power that even gods have trouble attaining.

I kind of wish that we had gotten more detail, but it was still a fairly well done scene, with a remixed version of Zamasu's theme playing as the spectators try to deduce what had happened.  The pantheon seems a tad spooked, but the grand priest is more curious and mayhap even slightly impressed.  The omni-kings just think it looks cool. 

The ensuing fight is one for the ages.  I know I already mentioned the animation twice, but it bears repeating that the crew really stepped up their game here and it paid off.  The fight was fast paced, both fighters landed solid hits, and it kept you on the edge of your seat.  I know that moving this fight up is supposed to subvert convention, but you get the feeling that subsequent match ups aren't going to be able to jump this particularly high bar. 

Despite Goku's best efforts, he is still unable to eliminate Jiren.  Much like super saiyan 3, this one burns through energy really quickly, and Goku finds himself reduced to his base form, where Jiren once again has a clear advantage. 

It's a shame, the form was just introduced and I already get the feeling that it will join the ultra super saiyan form and super saiyan 3 as ones that never really come up again due to lack of practical use.  Then again, Goku could pull a Frieza and master the form to work out the flaws.  I guess we'll have to see. 

In the meantime, however, the episode leaves us with some intriguing morsels for the next episode.  Hit attempts to take on Jiren, following through on the face-off that was teased earlier in the tournament.  Vegeta is about to get a rematch with Ribrianne.  Most interestingly, though, is the predicament Goku finds himself in.  He is exhausted from his fight and Frieza has decided to take the opportunity to off his nemesis once and for all, aiming a death beam at the saiyan as he grins menacingly.  It makes for quite a cliffhanger.

This episode was fantastic, delivering everything fans would want to see with a match up like this.  Most two parters start strong and taper off, this one started strong and got stronger....which is kind of fitting given the franchise we're talking about.  Either way, this was one for the books and the next episode looks like it will actually make for a worthy follow up.  I'm excited to see how things play out from here.

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'Dragon Ball Super': Episode 109: 'The Ultimate Enemy Approaches Goku! Now Let Loose! The Killer Spirit Bomb!'

After a week off, Dragon Ball Super returns with a double header.  It was certainly the wait as two of the tournament' heavy hitters face off: Goku and Jiren.  This was a fight that would've been best suited for the final match up, but we get it a bit early.  It's an interesting subversion, but the gods of universe 11 note that having them face off now will have ramifications later.  By seeing Jiren's power in action, the remaining fighters will likely lose the morale to keep fighting.

Before this, though, we see Goku facing off against Ribrianne.  It's not a bad fight per se, but it isn't the most active.  It's kinetic, sure, but Goku is largely playing defense and it doesn't seem like Ribrianne actually lands a clear hit.  I did get a kick out of her "love" arrows.  Not even Oliver Queen or Hawkeye ever came up with that one.

Ribrianne also stands as the first fighter to declare her intended wish with the super dragon balls: to become a god that is worshipped and loved by everyone across the multiverse.  I was surprised by how cool with this Helles was.  Even the Zen-oh's don't seem too bothered by this.

For Goku's part, he's not sure what he wants to do with the wish.  He does bring up the idea of wishing for something for Chi-chi or his family, which I thought was kind of heartwarming; but he's more excited at the idea of wishing for a strong person to fight.

While Ribrianne thinks herself to be the ticket, she is but an appetizer to the main course that is Jiren.  I rather liked the segue.  I'm surprised we haven't seen more fights like this where one is interrupted and a fighter moves onto another target, but at the same time, seeing fights complete has worked for several episodes as well.

Ribrianne's reaction to seeing Jiren was rather amusing to boot.  You might find her being reduced to comic relief a disappointment, but a little levity is always nice.

At long last, Goku faces off against Jiren.  As has often been the case, Goku opens the fight trying to gauge his opponent's power.  He attacks in his base form, in super saiyan form, in super saiyan 2, and in super saiyan god form to no avail.  The complete bypass of super saiyan 3 was noticeable, but I can understand why Goku didn't want to burn through his energy, even if the time spent in that form was brief.

All of these appear to be completely useless as Jiren is stupid strong.  Even in blue, Goku doesn't fare too well.  The only time Goku can even hold his own is when he combines blue with the kaio-ken times 20, and even that's by the skin of his teeth.  Like I said, Jiren is stupid strong.  Goku pretty much gets his clock cleaned for a good chunk of this episode.  Even Vegeta notes that Jiren's power is ridiculous.

It would have been nice to see the other universe 7 fighters back up their teammate when they saw that he wasn't getting anywhere in that fight, but this is Dragon ball and them just sitting on the sideline is par for the course.

With no other options, Goku uses his trump card: the spirit bomb.  I'm curious how this one compares to the one used against Buu.  That one had a whole planet behind it, though the few contributing now are a lot more powerful now.  Granted, Vegeta doesn't help, but Frieza does.  Even Krillin, Tien, and Roshi toss in energy.  I'm kind of surprised that was allowed, but I'm guessing the Zen-ohs were willing to let it slide because the attack was gonna be cool.

It would have been interesting to see fighters from rival universes lend Goku some strength out of sheer pragmatism.  If Jiren's that powerful and this is Goku's best bet to take him out, why not improve the odds of taking out the major frontrunner?  You could argue that it would have been moot, but again, it would have been interesting to see rival characters at least consider the idea.

Is the attack enough to defeat the powerful foe?

....

No, of course not.  This is a 2 parter.  Jiren's not going out that easy.  In fact, he rather effortlessly sends the spirit bomb back at Goku.  The saiyan does try powering up again to get the strength he needs to push the bomb to its intended target, but it doesn't work.  In fact, the episode ends with Goku seemingly being taken down by his own attack.  You could argue that it's not much of a cliffhanger, as we know that Goku is fine, but if nothing else, there's tension in the fact that Goku has no real options left against this particular opponent.

Overall, this was a very strong episode.  The Jiren vs Goku showdown lived up to the hype and the prior lived up to his reputation as possibly the most powerful fighter in the tournament (and in turn, the multiverse.)  I'm looking forward to seeing how this match up concludes in the second half of this Dragon Ball Super double header.

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'Gerald's Game' Movie Review

While I still haven't managed to catch "It" or "The Dark Tower", I did finally get a chance to sit down and watch Netflix's cinematic adaptation of "Gerald's Game". 

For a long time this was cited to be one of King's "unfilmable" books (though I think "Rose Madder" trumps it in that regard) but somebody finally adapted it.  This was a perfect fit for Netflix.  The simple premise keeps the budget low and the more risque subject matter might have been a gamble had they tried to go for a theatrical release.

The film plays into the more psychological aspects and it works well.  Even though Jessie spends a majority of the movie chained to a bed, you're never bored.  There's tension that is effectively executed and keeps you engaged in what's happening. 

The cast all do a great job.  Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood carry the brunt of the weight, but they show that they're up to the task.  Both get to play multiple iterations of their respective characters.  It gives them plenty to chew on.

The movie itself is very faithful to the source material...not that there was really much room for deviation.  Still, even little details are consistent with the novel.  It was nice to see.  Really, the biggest change that I noticed was a glossing over of the aftermath and Jessie's fear of the mysterious figure who she saw in her room.  It's touched on, and she does confront him in court to get closure, but we don't see her trying to convince others of what happened the way she did in the book.

Being such a faithful adaptation, I suppose it's fitting that the strengths and weaknesses from the book come right to the film.  Is Jessie still a strong central protagonist who proves to be resourceful, clever, and have a clear arc of evolution? Yes.  Is the book's social commentary wonky and eyebrow raising? Yep, you bet. 

Still, though, the movie does pull back from the book in some respects.  I thought Gerald came off a lot better here than he does in the source material.  The guy still has issues, but he felt more layered here.  What Jessie endures as a child is also watered down.  It's still squicky as hell, but it might undercut the dramatic weight a little.

As always, I got a kick out of the nods to other King works.  You wouldn't think that writers would find a way to reference "The Dark Tower" in a more grounded book like this, but they found a way.  I was amused.   

The run time was under 2 hours, which I think works to the film's favor.  It keeps things moving and it also makes it more viewer friendly as they'll have an easier time carving out a block of time to sit and watch it.

All in all, this was solid.  I recommend giving it a watch.  Even with all of the King adaptations, I think that this one will go down as one of the stronger ones overall.  It's well acted, well shot, well written...for the most part.  The script does get a little hamfisted at points, but all in all, I thought it worked.  I'd still say it's worth checking out.     

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'Thor: The Dark World' Movie Review

You can read my review of the film here.

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'Man of Steel' Movie Review

You can read my review of the film here.

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