5 Point Discussions – Dragon Ball Super 121

Universe 3’s greatest weapon finally appears! An unstoppable monster the likes of which Goku and the rest have never seen, what will it take to bring him down? Remember, if you like this article and 5 Point Discussions, please share it on Facebook or Twitter! It really helps. And if you’ve got any comments or questions, please hit me up @SageShinigami.

1. Aniraza feels like the potential of Frieza’s third form realized. You remember, this guy?

He lasted two, maybe three episodes before getting thrown in the dumpster after Gohan hit him with the longest Masenko ever, and Frieza just decided screw it and skipped directly to the form we all remember him for today. I’m pretty sure Toriyama’s editor hated weird looking monster characters like that, so he didn’t get to last terribly long or do all that much either. But while Aniraza doesn’t stick around long, he makes an impact in the episode he’s in, completely wrecking the entire Universe 7 crew.
I usually hate monsters like this, but Aniraza isn’t your typical big, dumb strong monster like Broly. Dr. Paparoni maintained his intelligence after absorbing the robots, and in doing so displays a wide variety of new techniques during the episode: a form of echolocation, ki blasts that turn into wide range scattershot blasts, and best of all–the ability to open a hole in space-time and punch people through them! At one point he even tries eating other tournament members, though I’m not sure what the plan was there, as I think being digested in stomach acid still counts as killing someone. Still though, in any other arc this guy would have been a perfect final villain, but unfortunately he’s in an arc where we’ve got a half-dozen final villains, so he only lasts a single episode.

2. I was almost certain Gohan was going to take himself out beating this guy, but the show threw a complete curveball with this week’s elimination. Aniraza razes the field with beam attacks, and Android 17 slips up and makes a mistake in placing himself too close to the edge of the ring. As a result, when the ring under him gets destroyed he falls off and nearly gets eliminated himself before his sister makes the save, jumping out of the ring and tossing him back in.
Now ultimately, I’m actually not too mad at this elimination. 18 got hurt several episodes ago and has been limping around ever since, so it was only a matter of time before she became more of a liability than a help. My only problem with how this went down specifically is that earlier this same episode, Goku was able to save 18 from getting chomped on by using Instant Transmission, and yet for this…apparently he couldn’t? Does Instant Transmission have a time limit I don’t know about? It’s proven useless so any times in this tournament I just thought we were transitioning away from Goku using it for everything, but here it is plain as day saving 18…only for her to eliminate herself just minutes later. Aight then.

3. Still, that results in this baller-ass moment in the climax. As Aniraza prepares his final attack for taking out Universe 7, all five remaining warriors team up in a massive beam struggle, until 17 covers himself in a barrier and travels through Aniraza’s energy ball to crack the crystal serving as a power reactor on his forehead. It’s a pretty awesome looking moment that cements Android 17 as one of the coolest characters in Dragon Ball Super, and not only a permanent member of the Z Warriors but one of the most powerful as well. He’s more than held his own in this arc, and he avenges his sister only minutes after she gets sent to the bleachers–I really hope future arcs will revisit him, and show him way more respect than just turning him into a villain for Goku and Vegeta to beat up.

4. With Universe 3 eliminated (it’s honestly shocking how many Universes have accepted their defeat as gracefully as they have), there’s only one opponent left standing between 7 and continued existence. And they’ve got this guy on their side. Honestly, I don’t have much to say about this ending besides wanting to point out the amazing levels of shade Jiren throws here. People spent so much time complaining that Jiren didn’t have a character that I guess the writers decided to change that–he’s now a cocky bastard, confident in the fact that Universe 7 doesn’t stand anything close to a chance.

5. Next Episode: The final battle between the remaining warriors of Universe 7 and 11 begins! But why’s Vegeta going head to head with the invincible Jiren? Will he be able to survive?
Going by the previews, we’re getting back to the pattern of Vegeta doing better against unbeatable opponents than Goku. Before they knew anything about a Super Saiyan God form, they both tried to fight Beerus; Goku was taken out in two hits, Vegeta actually managed to score a hit or two before going down. Against Goku Black they canonically made Vegeta stronger than Goku by giving him a year to train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. And here it looks like Vegeta scores several attacks and puts Jiren far more on the defensive than Goku ever did before he went Ultra Instinct. I feel like it’s meant to make up for how he never gets the big W, but who knows–maybe Vegeta discovers the “other” side of Ultra Instinct after all.
Dragon Ball Super is available for streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.