There's my GOAT

Where's the Frieza Force's time machines and capsules at?

I mean, sure, technology doesn't advance in the same way everywhere, but Dr. Gero's androids supersede pretty much all of the Frieza Force's tech, which seemed better than that of Thorn's homeworld. I find it hard to believe that bro is just "that good" at this one specific relevant thing, especially moreso than the super genius scientist that's been working at this for decades(?) 2 Replie(s)

Bulma getting tech-mogged is pretty cringe. I could've sworn this dude came from a magic medieval fantasy-styled planet, too. Lame character with lame execution.

Pan remote controlling an android is great, though 2 Replie(s)

Whoa, insane page jump

lmao the asexual namekian

And Vegeta's kids' reactions

At least the character designs are delightful to look at

Big buff bashful lady blushing is wonderful

Faputa cameo is insane though 1 Replie(s)

Hell yeah, wonderful page spread. I love the Heloites standing in formation

Praying that Yamcha gets one too on the next page for I'K'L

I don't really understand "highest kill count". Do they mean like "amount of matches that ended in fatalities"? Gast definitely is viable for that award, but Vegeta 13 killed more people across the tournament in total, for sure.



I think he just doesn't like his awards lol 1 Replie(s)

I'K'L's mom and Mary Sue are both still around right lol 1 Replie(s)

I'm loving these XXI pages, he's very efficient in his redirections. Extremely two-faced.

I wonder where that universe 10 thing is going, though. I didn't remember that the old kai relocated there, but like... so what? Would the Supreme Kais care about what he's up to? It's not like they're breaking any rules or endangering any other universes... Wouldn't this be bad for XXI, since Old Kai is working against him and is probably more trustworthy to the Supreme Kais than him? Old Kai could just be like "the dude that told you to come over here is an evil universe-devouring monster and I'm scheming to stop him" and the Supreme Kais would probably get on board with that. Strange move, that.

XXI having to bring himself back down to Earth is an unexpected treat. And God damn, he fucked up Gast worse than I thought.

YES! LET'S GOOOO
I didn't want to jinx it with speculations on the last page but this is a way more interesting route than just "Gast gets killed by XXI." We now have a living witness to XXI being crazy cosmic evil, and more, a witness that actually will be concerned about that.

Oh sick, it seems like Dr. Gero is alive (or lasted longer than he normally would've, at least) and made another few android batches.

I love these designs. 28 is an easy win of course but 31 resembling a school teacher and a bully mixed together is great too. Always loved androids bringing that "domestic normie" vibe like 17 and 18 did.

I hope he manages to beat Janemba by the skin of his teeth, even if XXI ultimately wins.

Oh, he's so GOD DAMN COOL

Damn, he's getting fucked up lol 1 Replie(s)

Lol so much foreboding in such little time.

"I don't have any instant attack plan" seems an awful lot like something a guy with one of his iconic Instant Attack Plans(tm) would say. Namekians have a lot of weaknesses to exploit, although Gast has shown to be resilient to these before. But, he also was instantly killed by Zen Buu's magic, so clearly his magic defense could use some work. Maybe he came prepared this time?

As always, I'm VERY interested to see what XXI is gonna try to pull this time. I hope Gast forces him to actually show his hand.


This is the last fight in the semifinals; Goku vs Vegeta was the other one. Gast, XXI, and Goku are the only contestants left in the tournament. Whoever wins this fight will fight Goku in the finals.


That would be pretty funny tbh. We're so used to XXI pulling his little magic tricks and Gast enters the ring with a dozen anti-magic defense spells or whatever, and then XXI just gets ripped and starts punching the shit out of him until he loses lmao

Ooh, I love these XXI animated pages. It's crazy to think that the semifinals are coming to an end with this fight. I truly have no idea what to expect here. 1 Replie(s)

Uh huh.

"Man, that sure was funny!"

At least it's over now. But hey, this chapter wasn't completely pointless! Now we know not to be hyped or expect anything when Raditz actually does get his power up in a non-meme chapter, because it's a weak little funny haha meme plot point that isn't actually worth / setting up anything. So there's that, I guess.

Yeah yeah, cut to them getting smashed in the next page, we all know this one. Hilarious.

This is a very cool page on its own, though.

I assume the emergency button just sends the entire universe back all at once. Idk if there's anything in the story that contradicts that so far, but that seems to be how it works.

Otherwise Vegeta and Nappa should still be in the tournament area T-T

Kakarot is gonna be the first to get obliterated lol 2 Replie(s)

Second panel is the earrings being left behind.

> Sent back to their universe in the flashback
> Still there in the present

Seriously, what are we doing here, I'm so lost. Is this supposed to be a bad future vision inside a flashback? Why would we spend this much time on something like that? Yet, I'm hoping it is, because this would be a horrible waste of U13 if that was it.

When the arc that's just for fun isn't fun at all:

I'm just annoyed that Mystic Raditz was wasted on a bit. I'K'L, ironically, had less promise and was more overtly a meme from the start, and yet somehow, he mattered more and delivered something interesting. Raditz's motives were interesting, the idea of someone getting mystic other than Gohan was interesting, the fate of universe 13 was interesting, but this is just stupid. Kakaditz is stupid. It's not a good feeling, being embarrassed that one was hyped about something that turned out to be this cynical and meaningless.

Like, remember the U3 specials about how the throne kept changing hands over time, and we got to speculate on how it ended up the way it did, and it climaxed with Vegeta beating Broly by using Bardock's clever plan to dispatch him? I'd always thought that Raditz's overthrowing of Vegeta would go something like that; the mystic powerup would bring him up to just below Vegeta's level (which is already a fuckin hilarious lowball, btw, this comic did Raditz and the powerup WAY dirtier than deserved), and then he'd have to use some kind of tactics or plan to actually BEAT Vegeta and deal with Nappa, all while juggling Kakarot being a nutjob. Instead it's all written off as a single stupid fight with a REALLY stupid lame fusion that surmounts to literally nothing because this is either a vision, or a flashback that somehow got retconned magically back into the status quo that the present-day chapters enforce; both options being fucking wastes of time spent not having fun.

idk how many more "well that was a disappointing waste of [x exuberant amount of years]" I got in me, man. I always wanna tell people that DBM is a cut above the rest in terms of fan content but it seems hellbent on proving me wrong more and more often. Just gotta keep thinking about that fantastic Goku vs Vegeta fight and keep moving forward, praying that the evil Vegito or XXI plotlines aren't half as stupid as shit like this.

Battle of the brainwashings. Wild.

Aight I have no idea what's happening anymore T-T

lmao, brutal

Don't forget the classic where we watch Future Trunks sign up for the tournament. And then, its iconic sequel, where he... reacts to the tournament. A real pair of back-to-back bangers, those chapters. 2 Replie(s)

So... Goku is dead, the cyborgs show up and defeat all the other Z Fighters, teen Gohan goes super saiyan.

I guess this special may be necessary to show what happened to Dr. Gero and 19 in these universes? Or how Gohan went super saiyan for the first time specifically?

I kinda don't care. Hope it'll be good and a pleasant surprise, but I'm not optimistic.

Art looks neat 1 Replie(s)

He DEAD dead


I'K'L's power seems to treat everything that's frozen as literal ice / glass. The power definitely works differently from Guldo's; they don't really have to explain why. The visual exposition makes those things fairly clear and straightforward. 1 Replie(s)

Poor Yamcha trying his best to be a pure hearted hero but I'K'L won't have any of that

The "unstable but psychic lawful neutral" was just trying to go scorched-Earth like Frieza and leave them all stranded there with no way to undo any of the damage or return home. Yamcha tried talking to him. It didn't work, because this dude's psychic powers are making him a lunatic. He poses a threat to EVERYONE there. Killing I'K'L now is an extremely reasonable and responsible thing to do.

Spirit Ball but in weebspeak.

Oh shit, he knows something about XXI? This is sudden

Beautiful, there it is, the closure to that foreshadowing

Bro's showing off the fact that he IS indeed a real bonafide martial artist. Love to see it. 1 Replie(s)

Yoooo he's not getting speed blitzed, let's fucking GOOO

The mass murdering psychopaths that torture and kill people for fun are not strategic, pragmatic, or grateful for Yamcha saving them, nor do they have a strong sense of self-preservation. Imagine my shock.

Still prayin my boy Yamcha clutches the win on this

Hell yeah, Yamcha!

This narrative turn seemed weird and awkward to me at first, but now I'm totally digging this. Yamcha and a mixed set of future androids working together to fight I'K'L goes very hard. Here's hoping that Yamcha can spread that U9 coordination we saw earlier to them.

Cyborgs are exempt... but not Cell?
???

Rest in Peace, Akira Toriyama 1 Replie(s)

If I had to guess what's going to happen, IKL will succeed at killing most of the people in the arena with these hax, but will probably be stopped by some magical bs from Ghast or XXI. I say XXI because it makes more sense, but Ghast is on the cover so clearly he'll do something important.

HOLY MOLY. He's gonna be mad about these hax when he gets revived from this.

Ah

Nvm, this is a gag T-T

From the previous page, I thought this was gonna become a gag where I'k'l just challenges some random character and gets one-shot like Mary Sue, but now, with Vegito's interactions have me thinking this is a serious story beat. If he's been observing all of them, then surely this isn't just overconfidence, he must actually be packing some serious power. Interesting, I wonder where this is going. It's not everyday that an impactful or powerful character just randomly spawns into the story in the 11th hour.

Edit: WAIT, he said "first and last" act on the last page, and acknowledged everyone's power here. He totally doesn't intend on fighting them, he's gonna blow himself up or some other weird crazy sacrificial thing

Vegeta being amicable with Kakarot is so cursed lol

lmao very in-character for him to steal the other villain line but make it 20% more stupid

I thought Polar was bigger than Cold. Guess I got it backwards.

The after-fight BFF stare.

This battle was legendary, DBM team. Lived up to the hype and then some.

Nah, he didn't go home yet. He was teleported away during the majin revolt with the other heroes, but came back all the same and hasn't really been relevant since. 1 Replie(s)

Vegeta's "gg" smile makes me very happy :)

Her Saiyan fight hype is awakening lol

Oh he's getting domed

Oh no Vegetabros, Goku's doing a thing, it's over...

Gogeta vs Vegito is all but guaranteed lol 1 Replie(s)

Let's go, this is hype! Vegetabros it is not over yet

Yeah fair enough, bro's vile and Krillin only won originally because he was a counterpick

Holy moly, it booba

This is pretty hype, I'mma keep up with this project with great interest

Damn that was sick fight, one for the ages, one of the top contenders for this comic for sure

Oh yep, there it is, the big punch

Talk about explosive, this fight is insane, I'm sensing we're getting close to the last shot

They really pulled out all the stops with this fight, my god this is awesome. I'm on the edge of my seat for every page's release. I'm totally gonna reread this a few times over when it concludes.

I love everything about this page

That Varga is the people's champion, truly

He can't, and he is 100% human.

Probably Vegito. Or maybe I'K'L, that'd be weird.

Aw man now I wish these two universes got to fight. Poor 17 got Goku'd and 18 got XXI'd. Someone had to be the fodder, shame it was them but that's the luck of the draw.

So when does this special's plot start? We're 22 pages in now, I understand slow burns but this is excessive and seemingly pointless. 1 Replie(s)

So Bulma figured out something the Vargas didn't, all by accident? That's so on-brand and fitting lol

Incoming Android 16 entrance

I absolutely adore this cover. The iconic History of Trunks art, but he's older and the city behind him is no longer covered in craters. No idea what the special could be about but the cover is sick

Oh that's a surprising development

It's kinda awkward dialogue, having XXI make a wish, then Shenron goes "that won't work, you're fucked lmao," only to jump to XXI making another wish that presumably goes through. Maybe this Shenron has a personal stake in the victory of this tournament, but if that were the case, you'd think he'd care more that XXI has apparently hit a wall in his eyes. Ah well, we'll see soon. 1 Replie(s)

1. Frieza is not having a redemption arc in Super. He just played the part of "potential next major villain" like two chapters ago.

2. Good Buu's body count is 1 person, Dabura, if you want to count Majin Buu as Good Buu, which is in and of itself dishonest. Our heroes did not befriend Evil Buu, Super Buu, or Kid Buu.

3. Let's look at Vegeta's case a bit closer than the one-sentence breakdown that everyone seems to go with for some reason:
— He was a villain in the Saiyan saga that got his ass kicked
— He was a villain in the Frieza saga that the heroes only worked with because they weren't strong enough to do anything on their own and he had bigger beef with Frieza than with them
— He was a villain in the Android saga who didn't want to help the heroes, only fight and kill Goku to satisfy his ego, but once again worked with the heroes because the androids were getting in the way of that
— He was a villain in the Cell saga who explicitly helped Cell just for fun
— He coexisted with the heroes in the timeskip because he was not a threat, and nobody could deal with him, and he lost all his ambitions
— He was a villain in the tournament arc, willing to turn evil and kill many people just to fight Goku again
— Literally the first thing he's ever done for the sake of other people was sacrificing himself to stop Buu, still went to hell after the fact and was only allowed to return to help Goku
— Turned a new leaf during the final battle

Nobody absolved him of his sins. Nobody forgave him or called him a friend or hero. Piccolo straight up went "nah G you're going to hell when you die" with absolute confidence. They all just tolerated him as either a useful yet evil power level in a fight against a greater threat or "that asshole who tried to kill us once but isn't really doing anything anymore." To disregard all the parts in the story where the Z fighters had stand-offs against him or were cautious around him is extremely dishonest. They didn't just "forgive him," that's not what happened in the story. He had to actually [i]turn good[i] before anyone got buddy-buddy with him, and that's a Super GT / End of Z exclusive status quo.



HA that's some real authentic source-accurate continuity if I've ever seen it 1 Replie(s)

Couldn't use any pleasant memories from the actual comic because there aren't any lmao

On a serious note, Vegito lookin mad in the background there. Not explosive, but he's clearly seething.



Talk about bad faith argumentation. Just say you don't care enough about the opposing side's actual opinions to read them and move on.

She'd be getting more hate if she was a dude, because, all things considered, she's just insufferable both in her personality and how the story around her treats her, but gets any semblance of a defense force because it's easier to sympathize with a teenage girl than a teenage boy.

Her arc could've been REALLY interesting: the daughter of a galactic hero, whose family stands at the pinnacle of all power, even above the gods, giving them all egos and control-complexes. She was born not only stronger than most, but with a level of power and malice that makes her a threat to the strongest members of the family, and by extension, the entire universe.

With that much power and that style of personality, they could've told a story about responsibility, something heavily untouched by Dragon Ball Z. They did not do that, they did the Majin Revolt arc and had her avoid any form of responsibility both in and out of universe to as hard of a degree as they possibly could have. She can throw around her power however she wants and she won't even receive a slap on the wrist because it's just not fair to be even slightly upset at her for

— Blowing up an entire planet of innocent people, including Goten
— Not caring that she blew up a planet, or Goten, after the fact
— Being evil enough to be affected by the majin curse
— Not having the willpower to bend the majin curse

No, holding onto grudges like that make you a sexist, apparently. Maybe there would be a different story if she like repented and wanted to do good, and the comic clearly wants to communicate that to us (even though none of these "sheepish Bra" panels have had any actual substance behind them related to that so far), but that hasn't happened. After blowing up the people and Goten, she didn't give a shit. She didn't change her mind until Vegito berated her, because she is a psychopath. She didn't even change her personality since that day; you'd think something so dark and traumatic would have any effect on her by the time she got to the tournament, but nope, still snarky and calling her murder victim brother who got over it a "dumbass," no amends to be made there.

During the revolt, she listed off her reasons for taking on the curse, and partially blamed Vegito (page 1742 and 1743). And after the revolt, she cried for a bit and took responsibility for a second, and then immediately flipped the script and started blaming Vegito once again while denying that she became a majin on purpose, as if the curse forced her to say all those things, which isn't how it works. She accepted the curse (page 1745) and then denied it later when Vegito was confronting her about it, and everyone believed her.

She's been real quiet for a bit, yet the Brajerking just could never stop. It's less about her specific character now and more about the very palpable vibes about the comic where the authors are demanding we praise/ forgive her. Everyone she's killed are all conveniently "the bigger man" about getting fucking murdered. Gohan isn't even slightly concerned that his sibling is a viable target for the majin curse, or said all that shit during the revolt, no he's just perfectly fine. Phipsil(?) doesn't know her at all, yet she's over it too; the vehicle of her forgiveness being Bra staking their universe's fate not on "whoever wins that match," but rather just Gast, another stranger. Vegito brings up good points about what the hell they're supposed to do for Bra's next episode, seeing as this is her second team-killing meltdown, and Gotenks and Gohan had the audacity to pretend that "if something really bad happens we'll just all stop her" as if anyone other than Vegito could claim that. We're shown one singular character holding her accountable for any of this, and the comic writes it off as childish and vitriolic.

So without even a hint of accountability for her own powers, the "responsibility" potential of her arc is dead.

With the paranoia of folk like Vegito, it could've been a arc about "accidentally making your own monsters." They didn't do that either. We've seen more than once that being paranoid around Bra is completely justified, and yet the story doesn't want her to be a villain despite having a higher innocent-live body count than Cell and wasting our time with an entire arc framing her as the villain where she wins in the end. By not committing to any of the traits that she had during the majin revolt, that she really did see the weak as worthless and only acted like a good guy to avoid Vegito's judgement, the narrative believes that it has avoided making her evil, despite introducing all of that to us and then not addressing it. We sat through her bullshit "I'm free" shpeel, her slaughtering her family and friends while they pleaded for her to stop, and her absolute victory over all of them. And then the story thought it could go "no wait she's actually not evil" by having her "think for a second" about the words that all the people she just murdered were throwing at her.

So no narrative-acknowledged villain, no "make your own monster" theme. Also Vegito is nowhere near paranoid enough (page 1353) to pull of that story. He only ever seems to go into angry mode after Bra has done something catastrophically horrible, but the story thinks that that's unfair or abusive instead of a sensible retribution.

So what exactly is this comic doing right with Bra? Why are we apparently morally wrong for disliking her? Why do y'all like her not enough to just enjoy her when she's on the screen, but to actively attack the characters of those who don't in the process? Those seem like bad faith questions but I actually do want to hear answers. I don't see anything of value with her, she gives me like Kylo Ren vibes where the story thinks it hasn't committed to whether she's good or evil even though she's done horrible things for horrible reasons without growing or facing accountability for them, and now it's just all missed potential and terrible execution floating around an icon of controversy with no entertainment value attached. 2 Replie(s)

Man I don't want to jump on the Bra hate train, but like... wtf?

We just had half a dozen pages showing Bra's inner monologue about ways she could win the current fight. She wasn't thinking about XXI at all; this is one of those rare occasions where we can legit prove it.

Having her murder victims jerk her off about it ain't particularly charming either. "You're sacrificing yourself for the greater good" as if she didn't just say she would lose the next fight due to magic hacks either way. "Thanks for thinking about us" while putting our fate in the hands of a stranger without even humoring the idea of winning your fight; sure hope Gast is as capable of XXI as your estimations (without fighting him) say he is. "AlSo I fOrGiVe yOu FoR mAjIn BrA" yeah okay I'm sure you do, that seems about par for the course with this comic.

Best one is "it was a different person I fought earlier." Tell that to Cell lmao

Whatever. At least she's finally out of the tournament now and the semi-finals can hypothetically have a Bra-war-less comment section. 2 Replie(s)

Vegito ain't gonna like that one

I completely forgot that Dragon Ball characters frequently have telepathy. That's great lmao

Based Pan

My hopes for this fight keep going up. I'm feeling more and more confident that the writers are aware of how Bra is perceived and are treading slowly with this new arc she's going through.

God I hope Gast doesn't lose for the sake of said arc, though.

It just occurred to me that U16 is getting eliminated if Bra loses this one. I know it's popular to doomsay Vegito's meltdown, but I think that might actually be a significant trigger: that his universe's greatest powerhouses both got eliminated by magic hax, which he REALLY hates.

I'm looking forward to this fight. Maybe it'll win the audience over to Bra's side, seems like she was severely humbled by the last few arcs, so she won't be as insufferable as she was before. I think she's still salvageable as a character.

There is literally no possible way Bra can win.

Which frightens me because it means Bra is probably going to win.

Also, the cringe sore loser most-of-the-gone-universes vs the based good sport Cell

I really like the 3-dimensional aspect of this page. Like, the perspective between the first and last panel and the other perspective in the two middle panels is different, but they're consistent with each other, with Goten and Trunks being visible from an angle that's looking beyond Piccolo.

Pretty neat.

Don't forget Gohan killing Kakarot and Nappa lmao

OH.

Well okay then.

That's certainly something.

Is Gast just dead? Or is he a lobotomized head?

Damn Buu, maybe you should've prepared some hack magic for the actual fight :/
This is starting off interesting, good way to end a hiatus

Oh no I do not want to see Popo die T-T

Bra's back on speaking terms with Vegito? That was quick lol

Look's like Buu's about to give up on diplomacy

I kinda want Buu to win this one.

Holy shit, this is taking a turn.

Maybe not the best time to spout about how incredible and all-powerful and in-control he is, right after he lost a match in a single move.

Even weirder that he's saying this even though Ghast absolutely had a hold over Buu but then Grand Supreme Kultist over here went out of his way to break it.

Maybe Ghast should take his job. He seems to have a better angle on it.

lol tf is this

Why are the DBM characters discussing subjective moral relativism now? Especially the grand supreme kai? They're the gods of creation, right? Shouldn't they decide what's good and evil? Or at least, what universal threats should or shouldn't be allowed to continue destroying large chunks of the universe they made?

There honestly isn't that much of a grey area in this multiverse. Some guys, when left to their own devices, like Broly, will literally just destroy everything if they're not dealt with. Like, the kais should have no regrets about killing legendary super saiyans. Even the baby ones. They're REALLY bad.


Yeah tbh things haven't been the same since Majin Bra showed up. The only thing that's been really great since has been the art (mostly), the U13 special, and the XXI reveal (which was immediately screwed one page later by the fight just abruptly ending and turning into this). Idk what went wrong but it's just weaker now.

I'm glad some of the characters are finally starting to acknowledge XXI.

I'm curious as to how Gast figured out that Grand Supreme Kai and Buu are in cahoots. Maybe he also figured out what that actually even means.

Bruh.

I figured Zen Buu was gonna lose, and I know XXI has anticlimactically countered and deescalated all of his fights so far, but like...

"Deceitful Magicians"? Really? We got this cool chessboard chapter cover, and two god-like magic users that both love their tricks and contingencies, and the fight ends after each of them does one thing?

Here's hoping it's a red herring, but he didn't break any rules and apparently time's up, so idk how that would even be possible. 2 Replie(s)

Oh shit this is mega hype, the smoke is an amazing touch. He looks like a djinni.

I'm guessing the spell only contained some pieces of Buu; if it really got all the pieces, I feel like they'd show the piece that's currently with Uub getting absorbed as well.

That artstyle is WILD. I'm very excited to see what's going on with this universe, it's been years since they left and we never really got much elaboration on what the deal is with those girls.

Damn, Vegeta played us all for fools. This is a good twist, but still that fight wasn't very good. Here's hoping he still has something up his sleeve for Goku.


This is the same comic that did King Cold sixth form btw 1 Replie(s)

Damn, that's really lame. That fight was NOT good. I admit, my expectations were high, but like... really?

I hope that's not the end of the match. Cause if it is, they really jobbed Cell with this one, not to mention that Vegeta's power scaling is just whonky right now. Really wish they weren't so non-committal with telling us whether he and Goku are supposed to be stronger or still slightly weaker than Gohan.

Well okay then...
I hope that ain't it, because the "transform really fast" trick in conjunction with ssj3 shouldn't be enough to beat Cell. 1 Replie(s)

Oh shit, he's actually gonna show it off? I'm so hyped. Come on, SSJ4, I know it won't happen but still I'm prayin.


I don't really care about this whole greater topic of SSJ3's usefulness as a whole, but I feel compelled to point out that Goku detransformed and retransformed into his super saiyan form only minutes after unlocking it. Gohan did this with super saiyan 2 when Cell came back from self destructing. They do not have to train to reaccess the form, that's the opposite of how it's always been. 1 Replie(s)