'Dragon Ball Super' Episode 117: 'Great Battle of Love! Androids vs. Universe 2!!'

With Goku once again exhausted from the Ultra Instinct form, the other fighters from universe 7 try to give him cover, as he is now a prime target for adversaries from other universes, specifically universe 2.  It's a rare bit of team work from the universe that likes to go it alone.

Gohan and Piccolo do attempt to be the ones to offer said cover, but they are interrupted by the two Namekians who they have been fighting the past few episodes.  You do have to wonder why they thought that they'd be able to just abandon the fight right in the middle, but at least they made the effort.

Instead, it's the android siblings who end up coming to Goku's aid, taking on both Rozie and Ribrianne.  The prior is especially interested in avenging Kakunsa and goes after 17, leaving Ribrianne to deal with 18.

Had the pair not been largely portrayed as comedic relief, this fight probably would have come off as more daunting.  Thankfully, the episode manages to strike just the right balance so that the established trait isn't completely abandoned, but the fight is still exciting and tense enough to hold your attention.  At no point did I view it as a waste of time, which a lot of viewers could have easily thought.

While the two pairs do largely split into separate one on one fights, the twin siblings do get to showcase several great teamwork moments.  Oddly enough, for me the highlight was the small heart to heart talk the two have as 17 is bandaging up his sister's ankle.  You rarely see this sort of thing from the two of them.  It made the heartwarming nature of it that much more noticeable and effective. 

Speaking of 18's ankle, it seems the injury is worse than it looks, as it causes 18 to land on it wrong at one point.  Considering how her foot bent on said landing, I would have bought this as the debilitating injury much more than the small bruise that she was sporting before.  Oddly enough, she seems to fight fine afterward.  Chalk it up to her cybernetic implants, I guess?

Not surprisingly, the central theme of this match up is love.  18 reveals that she is fighting for her husband and daughter.  You'd think that Ribrianne would show some level of respect for this, but she scoffs and says 18 knows nothing of love.  The universe 2 fighter even mocks 18 for having Krillin for a husband. 

It's a very strange turn.  You'd think that someone that focused on love wouldn't be obsessed with appearance or be dismissive about the love between either spouses or parents and kids.  It makes Ribrianne's rants about how she's going to bring love to everyone sound fake and self righteous.  Maybe that was the point, but it didn't work for me.  It also leads to a strange moment after the sibling androids knock them out of the ring where the universe 2 fighters talk about how this was a learning experience and that they learned about a new kind of love.  So, they didn't know about familial love?  It seems like one of the obvious ones...just saying.  Ribrianne even referred to it as trite, so really, the whole thing is just confusing.

Oddly enough, while the two androids were aiming to protect Goku, the fight leaves him vulnerable to the other fighters from universe 2.  He himself doesn't seem to have a problem with it, though.  He just stands up, gets into a defensive stance and tells the three fighters to come at him.  It's perfectly in character and I think that's one of the things that fans love about Goku.  It was a small moment, but still awesome.

The episode also features a scene where Vegeta attempts to attain the power of ultra instinct himself.  To do so, he intentionally lets his guard down just as Katopesla aims to challenge him, thinking that simply by standing there, his body will naturally do the work.  I can almost understand Vegeta's logic, but it does seem like a gross over simplification of what ultra instinct is.  I mean, if the gods have trouble attaining this power, it really wouldn't be that simple.  At least he got a zenkai boost from it, right?  I know word of god says that's no longer a thing, but my headcanon says that they do still get a boost.  It might not be enough to make a difference anymore, but I think that works better than just saying that it's gone away because whatever shut up.

In order to challenge the saiyan, Katopesla changes his form to amplify his strength as opposed to his speed.  While it seems like he's doomed to be comic relief at this point, it was cool to see that he has some versatility.  Depending on what other stats he can boost through different forms, he could have been a serious contender in the tournament if the writers had handled him differently, it's almost a pity. 

Then again, once Vegeta gets bored and finally starts exerting even the slightest bit of effort, it's a quick curb stomp battle with Katopesla on the losing end of it.  It was a great highlight for Vegeta, though.  I won't lie.

All in all, this was a strong episode.  There were more than a few highlight moments and those who hated Ribrianne will be happy to see her eliminated.  She got a somewhat decent send off.  Sure, her cause is exposed as being hollow and hypocritical, but she got to showcase some clever tactics and that transformation sequence really was something to behold. 

Next week's episode should be interesting.  With both universes 6 and 2 down to a handful of fighters and the episode's title hinting at more erasures, we could be in for a two-fer as far as eliminations go.  It should be an interesting watch.

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'The Punisher' Episode 1: '3 AM'

On Friday, Netflix released the next chapter in its branch of the ongoing story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with "The Punisher".

Judging by the preview, I wasn't sure if this was going to be a sequel or prequel.  Judging by this episode, it looks to be a bit of both.  We are given a more in depth look into Frank's pre-tragedy life via flashback, with more focus on the family, but we also pick up where the second season of "Daredevil" left off.

If you're wondering why Frank was never considered when the Defenders were embarking on the war for New York, this gives you an answer; he wasn't there.  It seems Frank's quest for vengeance brought him all over the country.  He even takes down criminals who managed to cross the border into Mexico.  It's pretty impressive for a "street level" vigilante/hero.

Rather than spend the whole season chronicling Frank's desire for vengeance against those who killed his family, the episode's prologue wraps that aspect up, with Frank having killed everyone connected to said incident.

This allows him to close the book on the "punisher" concept.  Where Frank's war in the comics is much akin to Batman's in that it never ends, this iteration is taking cues from Nolan's interpretation where there was a clear endgame and the moniker was a temporary measure.  It does give Frank an arc as we see him attempt to live a more peaceful life before being dragged back in by circumstances around him.

It was interesting to see Frank try to adjust to living a normal life.  He's operating under an assumed name working a construction job.  On the plus side, using a sledgehammer to tear down walls does give him a nice outlet for his rage and frustration, but his coworkers are jackasses who seem to give him crap for no discernible reason.

It's sad to see Frank not really standing up for himself, but it is a testament to his restraint and shows that he is able to focus his violent tendencies on criminals.  Of course, this just makes it all the more satisfying, when said jackasses become criminals and he is able to cut loose and dish out some payback in the manner that we have come to expect from Frank Castle.

It makes for an exciting finish to the episode.  The fact that the whole scene is set to a Tom Waits song was a pleasant surprise. 

Barring that, the episode is largely dialogue driven, which is par for the course with the Netflix shows.  It actually works well here.  The conversations are well written and have a point.  It doesn't feel like the script is just spinning wheels to pad out the run time. 

The characters all get off to a good start in terms of development.  Some of the dialogue was a bit heavy handed (see Madani's boss), but by and large scenes were fairly balanced and didn't feel like the writer was lecturing you about a certain issue. 

The closest it ever came was with the vet claiming that the white Christian patriots were oppressed.  Oddly enough, some of his dialogue did stand out for other reasons.  I did get a kick about his talk about an oncoming war for the city (psst, you kind of missed it, buddy) and his talk about the role soldiers play took on an interesting angle given that this is a world populated with superheroes and vigilantes.  I don't know if the show will explore that, as it likely wants to be its own self contained thing, but we'll see. 

Overall, this was a solid start to the series.  Bernthal continues to do a great job in the role and allowing him more screen time has certainly paid dividends so far.  I'm looking forward to seeing where the show goes from here.

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'Dragon Ball Super' Episode 116: 'The Signs of a Comeback! Ultra Instinct's Huge Explosion!!'

The last episode ended with Goku once again acquiring the power of ultra instinct.  Despite seeing the form hold its own against the likes of Jiren, Kefla is unfazed and responds in kind by powering up to super saiyan 2 in a rather impressive display of power.

Sadly, even this isn't enough, as Goku still has a definite edge.  His reflexes are too quick and even the fused saiyan can't seem to land a hit against her opponent in his new form.  I would think that the best strategy here would be to stall for time and wait for the energy to burn out, but at no point does Kefla consider this.  I don't know if it's due to saiyan honor code or her lust for battle and/or her frustration with being on the losing end of the fight overpowering any sense of tactics, but in either case, the issue goes unmentioned.

While we do get a longer look at the impressive benefits of ultra instinct, we also see some other notable drawbacks.  Goku's reflexes are amazing, but he's not untouchable.  Two of Kefla's blasts during her final all out attack do graze his hair and arm respectively.  One could chalk this up to Goku not having mastered the form yet, but it's too soon to tell. 

On top of that, while the form is great for defense, it hinders offensive combat.  Kefla notes that while Goku is landing solid hits, they aren't doing as much damage as they should.  Whis later explains that this is due to fighters putting thought and focus into how they're going to attack.  As a result, it is difficult to combine with ultra instinct, which relies on the mind shutting down in order to let the body act at its peak potential.  It's possible, just very difficult.

Weaknesses aside, Goku is able to knock Kefla out of the ring with a point blank kamehameha.  In doing so, he destroys their potarra earrings, putting Kale and Caulifla in the stands as individuals.  It's sad to see them knocked out, but they did get to go out in a blaze of glory, as they put up a very impressive fight.  The fact that it took Goku's newest form to eliminate them also shows how formidable they really were. 

This really doesn't bode well for universe 6, though, who is now down to just the two Namekians who are currently fighting Gohan and Piccolo.  It's hard to believe, as it doesn't seem like it was that long ago when they were neck and neck with universe 7 for having the most remaining fighters, but they have lost 4 in fairly rapid succession.  We could be seeing another universe get erased in the weeks to come.

Where the last episode was able to touch on other match ups while keeping the focus on Goku and Kefla, this one basically abandons the prior in favor of the latter.  The fight is a blast to watch, so I can't say it's a bad thing, though it is strange how quickly every other fight in the tournament comes to a complete halt in order to watch two other fighters. 

All in all, this was an exciting conclusion to the Kefla confrontation.  It was fast, exciting, and had several memorable highlights.  There wasn't much in the way of plot progression beyond a little more info on Ultra instinct.  Vegeta vows to master the power before Goku, said power piques Jiren's interest enough to stir him from his meditative state, and Frieza reiterates that he plans to continue using Goku to achieve his goals.  Beyond that it was a big power up sequence and a big fight.  This is "Dragon Ball" so that is one of the main draws of the franchise, you can't say it doesn't give the viewers what they want. 

Next week, the androids face off against the fighters from universe 2 while Goku goes back into respite mode.  I'm looking forward to it after seeing these fighters sidelined for what feels like quite a while.  It should be a good match up.

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'Dragon Ball Super' Episode 115: 'Goku vs. Kefla! Super Saiyan Blue Defeated!?'

I like how the episode title makes it seem like super saiyan blue has never been defeated before.  At this point, it's not as uncommon as one might think.  It undercuts the weight of the idea and thus any possible tension or surprise at the concept.

In any event, the showdown between Goku and the newly fused Kefla begins in earnest, with the latter wiping the floor with the prior, even in his super saiyan god form.  I did find it strange that Goku was blown away by the fact that Kefla was a lot stronger than the two individual fighters that made her up.  He knows how the Potara earrings work.  He's used them twice and even learned a separate fusion technique that operates on a similar principle.  I guess they wanted to use this as a way to explain it to new viewers who might just be jumping in, but this seems like an odd spot to put something like that.

Speaking of fusion, Beerus does bring up the fact that fusion is supposed to be against the rules.  This was one of the reasons why Goten and Trunks were passed on the roster.  Not surprisingly, though, the dual omni-kings allow Potara fusion because it's cool.

This, of course, prompts every universe to consider the tactic, though none follow through at this point for various reasons.  Universe 7's Supreme Kai suggests having 17 and 18 fuse.  It was actually a clever idea on his part, but when Whis reminds them that it puts two fighters at risk of being eliminated in one foul swoop, Beerus vetoes the idea, leaving Goku to fight the fused saiyan himself.

Of course, he has no problem with this arrangement.  Judging by the look on his face, he's having the time of his life, both fighters are.  It allows the viewer to get an extra sense of enjoyment from the fight.

Kefla proves so formidable that Goku is forced to go blue, something Kefla was waiting for.  She, in turn, goes super saiyan.  It does manage to escalate the fight considerably and leaves everyone breathless.  You'd think that this would be a forced moment, but Kefla's actually doing a good job presenting herself as an adversary that can legitimately challenge Goku at this stage.  When he has to up things yet again using his kaio-ken/blue combo, it feels like something he has to do and not just something the writers are making him do for the sake of placating the audience.

While Goku does seem to be getting a second wind, Beerus notes that Goku's body is still exhausted from his fight with Jiren and that using the kaio-ken at this point is a major gamble.  Sadly, we never see any repercussions on that front, but it is another indicator that Goku viewed using the power up as a necessity.

Of course, part of this might be due to the fact that Kefla knocks Goku out before this can become a factor.  Yeah, he's out cold.  All Kefla has to do is knock his body out of the ring and universe 7 takes a major hit.

Before she can do this, though, Goku's unconscious body begins to stir and he slowly rises to his feet.  You can tell right off the bat that something is off, but it's not a bad thing, as it turns out that Goku has managed to tap into the ultra instinct power again.  It gives the episode a nice surprise to end on, as well as a cool tease for the next episode where Kefla will face off against the power that managed to give Jiren a quick run for his money.

I can't help but wonder if this is a good thing, though.  The form really left Goku exhausted.  Even putting aside the peril of the strain on his body, tactically, this could leave the team at a disadvantage.  Goku was finally starting to get his energy back.  This will burn through it and make him start all over again.  There are only 19 minutes left in the tournament, you'd think that having their key player recuperating for a majority of it would be a detriment.  Maybe he'll fare better now that his body is somewhat familiar.  We'll just have to see.

The episode does also touch on some of the other goings on in the tournament, namely the on-going fights between Vegeta and Toppo, as well as Gohan and Piccolo's battle with the universe 6 Namekians.  I'm surprised these two fights haven't gotten more screen time. From what we've seen, these are two match ups that warrant more than an after thought.  Maybe future episodes will give them their due.  As of now, they're just a nice way to break away from the Goku/Kefla fight for a few minutes.

We also pop in on 18, who has suffered some sort of indian burn on her ankle that is supposed to make me think that she's in trouble.  Things only get worse when Katopesla approaches her, voicing his intent to take her out while she's weakened.  So much for the whole noble hero thing, I guess. 

This might have been a tense moment, but Katopesla's initial appearance didn't exactly paint him as a fighter I'm meant to take seriously.  We do see that his speed is legit, even 18 is impressed by it, but I'm still not sold. 

Of course, I'm not sold on Toppo either.  I mean, come on, his go to move is a bear hug for crying out loud, but that's neither here nor there.

Either way, I didn't see the need for 17 to jump to his sister's aid.  Even 18 points out that she didn't need help, but 17 says that he was just passing through, so hopefully that will help quell any potential backlash regarding that scene.

Overall, the episode was solid.  The fights were exciting, paced well, and generally visually impressive.  There wasn't much in the way of plot progression, but it's kind of hard to do with this set up.  Everybody's still kung-fu fighting, and that's the long and short of it.

Although Kefla does manage to pique Jiren's interest, as he continues to show signs of awakening from his meditative state, so we'll see what comes with that particular development

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'Dragon Ball Super' Episode 114: 'Intimidating Passion! The Birth of a New Super Warrior!!'

The last episode ended with Kale losing control of her power and once again going into her berserker form.  This picks up a bit earlier, giving us a more drawn out transformation sequence.  It's cool to look at, no doubt, but it does eat up a lot of time.  Interestingly, where Goku was eager before, he remembers how insanely powerful that form is and seems more apprehensive about facing off against her again.  Even other fighters stop to marvel at the display, even though they've seen it before and have seen more powerful fighters (namely Jiren).

Sadly, we don't really get a rematch.  It was rather notable seeing Kale turn on her beloved "sis".  It shows how out of control the form really is.  Luckily, the strength of their bond surpasses it, and Kale is able to regain control again.  It seems like a rehash, especially with everyone marveling at how Kale has managed to control the awesome power of the berserker, but it was so well done and heartwarming that I had no problem letting it slide. 

The sequence wasn't a total bust, as Tien notes that Kale did receive a massive power up from the ordeal.  It allows her and Caulifla to put up a rather good fight against Goku.  The teamwork between the two is well displayed here and you really do buy that Goku is on the ropes.  It doesn't feel like forced tension.

Even when Goku goes into his super saiyan god form, the pair are able to hold their own for the most part.  Not surprisingly, it's here where he really starts to get the advantage back, but all things considered, they fared pretty well.  Goku himself says this and hopes that they'll be able to have a rematch after the tournament is over.  Considering one of their universes is going to be erased, I'm not sure how that's going to work.  I guess he's thinking that he'll just wish them back too?  I'm not sure, it's too soon to tell. 

Fortunately for universe 6, the girls have a trump card: a pair of Potara earrings given to them earlier by Champa. 

The two fuse, giving birth to a new warrior named Kefla.  Not surprisingly, she's shown to be very powerful.  Goku's unnerved and Vegeta gets distracted long enough for Toppo to land a serious hit.  Even Jiren seems like he's intrigued.  He is still in his meditative state, but you can tell that he's sensing the surge in power. 

Sadly, the Vegeta/Toppo match is only glimpsed briefly.  A part of me gets it as the 2 on 1 fight is the main draw, but time was used on other things that could have easily given us more Vegeta/Toppo fighting time.

Even the showdown between Frieza and a fighter named Katopesla from universe 3 is sidelined.  Granted, between Frieza's dismissive attitude and the goofy way that the universe 3 hero is portrayed, I sense a curbstomp battle coming, but it would have been interesting to see in any event.

If nothing else, it was nice to see one fight interrupt another, with Goku getting shoved into Katopesla.  The tournament hasn't really taken advantage of the "multi-person brawl" as much as one would have thought, but oh well. 

All in all, though, this was a strong episode.  The main fight was exciting, we got more great character stuff between Kale and Caulifla, the animation was solid, and we got a nice status quo change as Goku is now up against an even more formidable adversary.  We only got a glimpse of her power, but she's already looking to be a heavyweight.  The "voice of the legion" effect also adds a somewhat creepy element that makes her fun to watch.  I'm looking forward to seeing her get more screen time.

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