TV Review: DB Super Ep. 61

WARNING: Spoiler Alert

When we last left of, we were introduced to the fact that Black was actually Zamasu in Goku’s revived body, which left us us on a cliffhanger: Who is in Zamasu’s body?

Without revealing too much for those who have not seen the episode yet, in this episode, we discover that Black and this Zamasu are both Zamasu from different periods of time the have united in Trunk’s future for “justice”.

This episode was one we have been waiting for. One that has more action than useless back and forth banter. That being said, it still had way too much exposition. We’ve had enough. We have heard all the talking. We have heard the characters explain the time paradox over and over again in an attempt to cover Toriyama’s blatant lack of understanding for his own content. There is actually a point when Zamasu corners Goku during battle and stares at him menacingly for five seconds, and you think, “okay, here comes some real action”. Nope. He does this and goes right back into flashback exposition mode. It was so so bad that I truly considered turning it off completely and reviewing an episode of Dora the Explorer. And that’s when it happened. That’s when we finally got what we’ve been asking for. Longing for. The Goku we used to know. The unflanderized, no-nonsense fighter. The high-instinct tactical genius. He hears of the death of his family at the hands of Black and he goes full rage mode. Unfortunately, Akira wrote himself into a corner with Black’s infinitely rising power, so, naturally, Goku’s triumph doesn’t last very long. Black’s power “swells” and Goku is bested once again.

At this point, I didn’t see redemption as a possibility for this episode. But when Black pokes and prods Trunks by telling him that what they are experiencing is a direct result of his interference with the timelines, Trunks powers up to a brand new mode, clad with blue and gold aurora with no pupils, indicating that his rage meter just broke. The episode ended with that, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out next week.

My impression of this episode is similar to the one I have of the entire series: There are no stakes. I never feel like anything is at risk. The protagonists usually completely dwarf their foe in strength, or it’s the other way around. There is no in between. There’s no wondering who is actually stronger. Even with Trunks’ new form, I can’t gauge its meaning because it is essentially pointless. I think a lot of this has to do with Akira getting rid of power scaling. This was the worst thing that Akira could have done. Because of this, we have no gauge, so we no longer understand what any of these arbitrary transformations mean anymore. Honestly, at this point, they might as well just be dying their hair.

Trunks’ transformation is a definite point of discuss so there will most likely be another post soon going into detail about that.

Cut to the chase: The episode is worth the watch, and it has its points where it feels like old school Dragon Ball. There’s a bit of tasteless exposition, but it’s nothing a true DBZ fan can’t get through.

Comment below and let us know what you thought about the episode!

Rating: Finally not getting carded at the bar, but then not having enough money to buy drinks.