Sunday, January 29, 2023

A Second Tournament of Power?

 There's been talk on and off among the Dragon Ball fandom about another Tournament of Power.  I can see the logic to an extent, a lot of characters have gotten huge power boosts (Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, and Piccolo, Frieza.)  On top of that, several powerful fighters have been introduced since (Broly, Granolah, Gamma 1.)

Still, it seems like it's too soon.  Yes, we've had two movies, two manga arcs, and the start of a third; but it still seems like the last tournament is quite recent.

OK, let's say the anime comes back: they take a cue from "Super" and re-do the Broly movie (maybe even incorporating all that footage that was supposedly cut), they do Moro, Granolah, the current manga arc (which is a lead-in to the events of "Super Hero"), and finally "Super Hero".  Heck, let's throw in a retconned "Peaceful World" saga to incorporate what still applies from the end of Z and mix it with what we've seen since.  This will have the added bonus of putting us beyond the end of Z, adding more of a time buffer, and allowing for some degree of tension should there be actual stakes.

Should there be stakes?  I'm not so sure.  It would just feel like a rehash.  Having it be a fun tournament more akin to what Goku envisioned when he pitched it could still work.  I mean, the exhibition fights were fun and there were no stakes there.

This would also be an opportunity to establish that 17's wish revived not just the 11 other universes, but the 6 that Zeno had erased back in the day.  6 more universes mean six more groups of fighters to include for added variety (and future world building.)  

On a similar note, the universes that sat out of the previous tournament can and should participate here.  You don't just want to have all the same fighters going at it again.  We're trying to buck the "rehash" possibility as much as possible.  Having the fighters partake in different matchups helps, but only so much.

The universe 7 roster is an interesting situation.  In the first tournament, they were scrambling to fill the 10 slot roster, now they seem to have too many possible fighters.  

Sadly, it seems like Krillin, Tien, and Roshi are going to have to get sidelined. One of the major selling points of the first tournament was the fact that the humans were getting brought back into the fold.  Sure, they didn't end up doing all that well (except for Roshi, oddly enough), but at least they weren't completely shoved off. However, with the addition of new fighters, their presence is harder to justify.

One other upside to moving past the end of Z, though, is that Uub can be a possible contender.  He, in addition to 17 and 18 give humans at least some presence on the team.

If Buu is going to be on the team, they'd have to commit.  Having him fall asleep again would be a potential shark jump moment.  He has things to bring to the table and it would be nice to see him be able to show them off.  In some ways, he is overpowered, but at the same time, he's been beaten enough to show that he's far from unbeatable.  On top of that, having Buu and Uub fighting side by side would be kind of cool to see.

I doubt Frieza would play a part in this go around.  He actually did a pretty good job in the first tournament and he's a lot more powerful now, but he has no reason to cooperate this time.  Goku and Vegeta were both stronger than Frieza was, and they were offering him something that he wanted (revival).  They have no leverage now.  Even if there were no stakes, Frieza would probably still gleefully kick all of his teammates out of the ring just for funsies.

So let's see

1. Goku

2. Vegeta

3. Gohan

4. Piccolo

5. 17

6. 18

7. Uub

8. Gamma 1

9. Broly

10. Granolah or Buu


The thing with Granolah is that he's probably dead by this point.  On the other hand, he could just do the 24 hour thing that Goku, Vegeta, and Frieza have used throughout the series.  That's assuming that he just doesn't get wished back outright with a different set of dragon balls.  

See what I mean when I say that there's too many options now?  It does stink that Goten and Trunks get sidelined again, especially now that they are older and more combat experienced.  However, there just aren't enough slots and while they are definitely better prepared to partake in fights like this, the other fighters are just more powerful at this point.

I've seen some people pitch the idea of Cell making a return.  He's a popular character and it would be cool to see on some level, but it doesn't seem like it's necessary here.  Unless Buu falls asleep and Granolah is gone for good, but that seems like a stretch.

Maybe the sequel arc could work some time down the line?  Dragon Ball does love its tournaments, so making a return to them is a logical choice.  I can see some potential in the idea, but it would have to be a way down the line.   










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