Dragon Ball Super Vol. 2by Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 10 In case you haven't been following the new series, Goku has reached Super Saiyan God thanks to Lord Beerus, the God of Destruction for Universe 7. Their relationship opens up many new challenges for Goku and the other fighters on Earth.In this volume, Jaco realizes Frost is cheating, so Universe 7 gets players put back in. Vegeta beats Otta Magetta with his words, then helps Cabbe reach Super Saiyan before beating him. Goku sees through Hit's time-skip ability, but also realizes the rules limit their ability to truly fight. The contest is concluded with a few surprises. Then ... Trunks arrives from the future -- a future where there's a terrible new enemy who looks just like Goku! There are some fantastic details in these battles. From Frost's hidden knock-out attachment to Hit's ability to skip 0.1 seconds. I love that it takes Jaco to spot these, keeping him involved and pointing out some rules that are larger than this tournament, which is important later in this volume as well. My favorite part with Goku is seeing how he anticipates Hit's moves and builds on that, getting comfortable with fighting him. Interestingly, Hit was operating under a handicap due to the no-killing rule, and Goku had to be mindful of how he spent his own energy during their fight, so a rematch outside of this would definitely be interesting and is something I hope we get later, especially since we don't get a winner here thanks to Goku's actions. Piccolo is outmatched, but he still gets to shine and plays a role in wearing Frost down and allowing Jaco the opportunity to better spot the cheat. I love that we get to see Piccolo use his arm-stretch maneuver, as we don't get to see it often. Monaka was a humorous surprise, especially when paired with Goku's gullibility. The battle between Monaka and Hit is not only funny, but insightful about Hit's personality; he's definitely a good rival for Goku. My favorite parts, however, had to do with Vegeta. He's still got ego and attitude and all the things I liked about him already, but becoming a husband and father has done wonderful things for him. He takes his opponent under his wing, in a "mean" Saiyan way, to make Cabbe (who is far kinder than any Universe 7 Saiyan, except maybe Goku) a better Saiyan. Piccolo chalks this up to Vegeta's past as a prince, but it's more fatherly than princely. I love that it's his smack-talking that wins against the metal man, and I love that it's a fact so little known that even Lord Beerus was unaware. It's a nice bit of unexpected humor, especially paired with an otherwise impenetrable and unmovable opponent! Vegeta's reactions to Bulma's allowing him (and Goku) to go to the future and take care of this villain are hilarious! I'd expect the reactions from Goku, but seeing Vegeta jumping to attention and responding equally to her as Goku does is endearing. We even see Vegeta (and Goku) apologize! I really, really love that we're getting to see more depth to Vegeta in this new series; these little insights make it more believable to picture him as the loving husband and father we knew he somehow was. Trunk's storyline, as always, is a post-apocalyptic setting. Poor Trunks never seems to get a break, especially when it comes to losing those he loves. The new enemy is quite the upset to things, which were going better in the new alternate timeline. There is much time spent in this section talking about and explaining various aspects of time travel and alternate timelines. It helps, but there are still some paradoxes that are not quite addressed. The most intriguing parts are those opened up by the existence of the God of Destruction and his thoughts on how bad time travel is; there are even hints that allude to how this Goku Black (as Bulma named him) could have come to be. An exciting volume packed full of action, character growth, and lots of plot movement. If you thought you liked Dragon Ball before, you haven't seen anything yet! Written: January 10, 2018
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