Assassin's Den Reviews Dragon Ball Super God of Destruction Arc

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

With the Resurrection F arc starting tomorrow night on Cartoon Network, I'm finally ready review the Battle of Gods arc that finished last week.  I took some time to binge watch all the episodes I recorded to see how the arc flowed, I've come up with several impressions.

First off, Beerus is a dick.  Yes, I get that he's the God of Destruction of Universe 7.   It's his job to blow up planets to allow new life to surface.  But he's extremely overzealous.  He blows up planets for the smallest perceived slights, and is extremely fickle.  The only reason he spared Earth was a combination of how good the food was, and how Goku tested him in the Super Saiyan God form.

Which brings me to the Super Saiyan God form.  I don't like it, and I'm glad its gone.  It just looks like the Kaioken, but without the restrictions, but with red eyes.  Instead, it had a new restriction, and neither Goku nor Vegeta like the form, since they had to take power from others via a ritual to even achieve the form.  I mean, yeah, Goku's Genki Dama does pretty much the same thing, but it's a technique that he has to shape in order for it to be a useful attack.

Third, the Beerus/SSG Goku fight drug out WAY too long.  And unlike the SSJ Goku/Freeza fight, this wasn't to buy time to let Toriyama to complete the arc; no, it drug because it drug.  I've since seen the movie, and you know what? It showed the fight better!  We didn't NEED all the fluff that the show gave us!

Now, I will praise the English voice acting.  These men and women have been doing these characters for 18 years (with the notable exception of Bulma, who is voiced by Monica Rial, Bulma's second voice actress, and 18, who is voiced once again by her original voice actress Meredith CcCoy, after being voiced by Colleen Clinkenbeard between 2010 and 2014.), and they know these characters in and out.  So of course, they sound like they're supposed to sound.

Now, I've been told that later arcs get better.  But if I didn't have that knowledge? If this was my first impression of Super? I wouldn't bother with it after this.  It felt less like Dragon Ball than people claim GT felt!  I don't know, maybe the Resurrection F arc will be better.  But I feel that a show that has so much hype shouldn't have me going "I hope the next arc delivers" when I look back on it.

Anyway, I've got the next episode all set to record, and I should have the review this time next week.  But for now, stay beautiful freaks!

Assassin's Den Reviews Dragon Ball Super Episode 12

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

Yes, I know, I'm really late in my analysis of this episode, but I only got around to watching it today, four hours (at the time I'm writing this) away from the episode 13 review.  But I've had a LOT on my plate this past week, and I've only had a chance today to settle down and enjoy things.

With the battle moving into space, I now know that the fight between Goku and Beerus is almost done. Only an episode and a half left of this fight before I don't have to see this stupid Super Saiyan God form ever again.  I really never liked the look of the SSG form, but I absolutely LOVE the Super Saiyan Blue form.  It's the iconic power of Super, and I've loved playing as, and fighting against, Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Vegeta in Dragon Ball Xenoverse.

As for the Funimation Dub?  I'm glad that they're staying true to the integrity of the Japanese source, and not shying away from minor profanity when it's warranted.  Goku saying "You're damn right I am!" when Beerus mentioned him not being satified with the power of a god and wanting to push beyond it fits the character.

So, yeah, the arc's almost over.  I'm actually looking forward to seeing the Resurrection F arc, and to see if the show used the Maximum the Hormone song "F", and whether Funimation lets the dub keep it.

But for now, hopefully I can start to keep a schedule for watching Super next week.  As for you guys, check out my referral code if you're a SWTOR player, and stay beautiful freaks!

Assassin's Den Reviews Funimation's Dragon Ball Super: Battle of Gods arc

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!

Now, I know I said I'd wait until the Beerus arc ended before reviewing the arc, but I can't wait any longer to say what I need to say: this is BORING! Why is one of the most exciting franchises in anime history SO BORING in the first arc of the newest series?

At this point in the series, Goku is fighting Beerus in his Super Saiyan God form.  Back and forth, Beerus lets Goku get used to power before wailing on him, only for Goku to come back with another power boost.  But it's so badly paced; this much back and forth is FAR from necessary.  Between when Goku becomes a Super Saiyan God and when the arc finally ends next week, it's 5 whole episodes.  That's two and a half hours.  The entire runtime of the Battle of Gods movie? One hour and forty-five minutes.  The fight between Goku and Beerus in the show is 45 minutes longer than the movie in which Beerus was introduced. 

And Beerus? He's a dick.  All I've seen in this arc is "Give me what I want, or I blow up your planet!"  If I hadn't seen him in Xenoverse first, I'd hate him.  He is completely unlikable in this arc.

Now I know, maybe I'm spoiled by being able to buy a saga on DVD and watch it entirely the way through without stopping and having to wait for a week, but between the poorer quality animation in this first arc and my general distaste of cliffhangers, this is not boding well for my enjoyment of the series.

The only positive things I can say about this arc are about the English voice acting, and the early hints on what will be on full display later in the show with Goku.  Sean Schemmel, Chris Sabat, Kyle Herbert, Meredith McCoy, Colleen Clinkerbeard...they've been doing these characters for over a decade, and they know the characters very well.  They're experienced, they're dynamic, and they always a joy to listen to.

And as for my second point about Goku's characterization, you can see a LOT of early hints when it comes to future arcs.  His selfishness is on full display, and you can tell right from the start that he cares more about his fight with Beerus than he does about the fate of the Earth.  Oh yeah, the fate of the Earth is in his thoughts, but it's more "They make good food there!" and less "There's billions of lives down there!" Very inline with Toriyama's view of Goku's character.

All in all, I agree with a LOT of people when I say they should have just skipped this arc, as well as the Resurrection F arc, and just done new stuff. Granted, it would have left the few people, like myself, who didn't see the movies in the cold, but they could have easily done a whole "the story that came before" thing like they do before every episode. 

At this point, I'm going to just go with a review episode by episode.  And once I get to Episode 27, I'm going to link to the videos of MasakoX, the voices of Goku and Gohan in Team Four Star's Dragon Ball Z Abridged.  That will also give us an idea how far ahead the Japanese version of Super is from the English dub.

But for now, look forward to my review of Episode 14 of Dragon Ball Super next week, check out my referral code if you're a SWTOR player, and stay beautiful freaks!