So here it is, the long awaited part 3 of my Dragon Ball Super Vs GT Comparison! The other 2 parts can be found on the side bar. Go on, I can wait. Sorry about the wait, but I'll discuss that a bit more in detail in the next section below. I just wanted to point out how crazy it is that from last time when I posted part 2 to when I have posted part 3 we have had an announcement AND release date set for an English release of not only Dragon Ball Super but the Buu arc of Kai as well! AND we started getting Super Simulcast by Crunchy Roll! Well, let's look at the Super 17 Saga and the Universe 6 Tournament Saga!
So before I jump in, let's talk shop. SUPER sorry about the delay, guys. ...no pun intended. So I finished Super 17 like 2 days after I posted the last one, and planned on jumping into Universe 6 not long after that. It got busy at work so it was about a week later and I was about to start watching... when I got news that Crunchy Roll was about to sub Super semi-officially. I say Semi-officially because while official, these are definitely not the final Subs. I mean, Supreme Kai-Sama? HA! Point is, I felt I should wait until after the Universe 6 Arc was subbed on Crunchy Roll. Then came problem 2: my job. See, I work at Best Buy. Usually, no problem. But when the episodes are being released during the busiest shopping weekend of the year... yeah, kinda had to pull rank there. Then I had to recover a bit because of the long hours. Then I actually watched it... only to realize that I already forgot most of what happened in Super 17 so I watched it again...only to constantly doze off because... well, we'll talk about that... Point is I'm sorry, next post should be sooner, and I may actually hate Super 17 after all this...
DRAGON BALL GT: SUPER 17 SAGA; EPISODES 41-47
Wow, this will be a bit short. Shortest Saga in Dragon Ball, depending on where you break things off. Regardless, our story starts with Goku losing another tournament...but that was a fun, well executed "filler" episode that doesn't tie into the story at all. But long live Papayaman. Anyways, our story REALLY starts when Gero meets up with Myuu in Hell and they decide to make a fully Synthetic version of Android 17 because Hell is well known for having advanced technology and materials. I don't know, maybe it's like a prison and they're entitled to a certain amount of things... anyways, they somehow use this new "Hellfighter 17" (Should totally be a band's name, by the way...) to control the REAL Android 17. First he beats up Trunks because no matter the timeline, robots hate Trunks. Then The 2 17s somehow use their combined energies from the same area but different locations to open Hell, and to enact the strangest and most convoluted revenge plot I've ever seen. The first step is to have all the old bad guys escape Hell and wreak havoc on Earth, which would somehow cause Goku to be drawn to Hell to check up on Freeza and Cell, where they will trap Goku to be Tickle tortured for eternity while Gero and Myuu will rule...Earth, I guess, by combining the two 17s and maybe 18 to form an unstoppable machine mutant thing that they think they could control. It's a weird plot. Well, Myuu betrays Gero, and Super 17, the being created when 17 fuses with 17, betrays Myuu. Oh, and Krillin dies again. Forgot to mention that. Also forgot to mention that grass is green and the sky is blue. Well, Piccolo moves to Hell to help Goku escape, Goku and 18 team up to defeat Super 17, we clumsily rush to a finish, and then Dragon Balls cause weird smoke and an odd Dragon pops up. ...the End!
DRAGON BALL SUPER: UNIVERSE 6 TOURNAMENT SAGA: EPISODES28-46
So Beerus has a brother named Champa. He looks like me. Champa wants to try some of Earth's food in his Universe, but his Earth has gone bye-bye, so they decide to hold a Tournament between the 2 universes to decide who gets to keep Earth. Oh, and the ultimate, all powerful, wish granting, ultra orbs known as Super Dragon Balls, but that's secondary when it comes to our food! ...I love Beerus and Champa. So...uh... they have the tournament. And it looks like Universe 7 will lose. But they win. Yay! And then Beerus wishes Universe 6's Earth back with the Super Dragon Balls. Then some delightful "Filler". Then Purple Vegeta! ...NEXT!
ANIMATION
So, Super REALLY steps up their game here! And GT actually has some wonky animation with Freeza and Cell! So this time it's...still GT. Sorry, Super, but still below the par... But nice improvement.
SOUND
Again, Super has gone above what they were at. The moment that Chouzetsu Dynamic kicks in during the Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken was brilliant! But then that darn song that haunts my ever waking nightmares has to be brought back. LET IT DIE! PLEASE! So on GT's side of things, business as usual. Though no really cool moments... so you know what? Due to the epicness of the Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken Dragon Ball Super wins this category for once! I never believed in you, Super! Way to prove me wrong!
STORY
So I've always had this one issue when it came to Dragon Ball Tournaments as stories. No, not with the Tournaments themselves, they're awesome! No, my issue has always been with their classification. What I mean is that most people label Tournaments as Sagas, but that never made sense to me. A saga implies a large, grand story that moves up and down, usually to either gather all Dragon Balls or to defeat the main villain. Or both! Tournaments, however, last 1 day canonically, are usually relatively stakeless, and don't usually have a main villain. I mean, the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai is really the only exception on that front, and even then Goku treated it like a standard Tournament. To me, the 3 tournaments in Dragon Ball OG were more bookends to the proper sagas, used to help demonstrate how Goku grew as a fighter AND a person, ultimately culminating into the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai where Goku both won, the first and only time he did so, but defeated the stronger reincarnation of King Piccolo. Well, now we have a tournament again, but this time... yeah, it kinda doesn't feel like a saga...sort of. Look, I LOVE these episodes, but they aren't really a gripping story. You want the real story here? Beerus fights with brother, beats him in contest, feels bad, does nice thing for him. That's this saga in a nutshell. Super 17, on the other hand, has a bit too MUCH story, at least for the amount of episodes given. This saga is short, but they threw in the opening up of Hell, the return of Freeza AND Cell, Krillin dying again, character wrap up with 17 and 18, ect. It bit off WAY more than it could chew. Still, though, as pure stories go... I think I have to give this one to GT. The episodes aren't really paced right, but the presence of a real villain helps, in my opinion. I feel like I have a dirty taste in my mouth after saying all that...
CHARACTERS
So GT has Everyone escape hell...and get wiped out in a montage with little to no dialogue. Believable? Yes. Good Character development? Not at all! Super 17 as a villain is pretty terrible, with only a brief moment of character development showing before dying. Krillin dying and 18's reaction WAS excellent, though. Oh, and Piccolo's response to being in Hell forever was great! But on a whole, not wonderful. Super, on the other hand, created some of the BEST new character! Hit is mysterious and powerful, an excellent challenge for Goku. Monaka is the new Mr. Satan, and I love it! Champa and Vados are great counter-points to Beerus and Whis, and excellent characters in their own right! Botamo and Metallo are...funny. And Cabba ( Or Kabe or Kyabe or whatever you want to call him...) is an excellent addition to show off a new kind of Saiyan. Oh, and Frost. He was there. There was some EXCELLENT character development moments in this arc as well. Cabba's Super Saiyan Transformation, Beerus' wish, Chi-Chi worrying about Goku, Buu deciding to fight solely for Mr. Satan to get a wish, ect. The list goes on and on. All in All, Super's characters far surpasses GT's.
FINAL THOUGHTS
These two arcs both had some great moments, but ultimately the Super 17 Saga just failed to deliver. In the end, Super's story of two universe's meeting to have a semi-friendly martial arts match, while pretty simple, leaves a much greater impact than you'd expect from the story structure. Also, the Super 17 saga was too overblown for it's own good. They tried to do more stuff in a much smaller amount of episodes, but ultimately it just made the whole saga feel longer than it really is. Super wins again.
Next time we close things off and see if Super will take the win or if GT can cause a tie. It'll be stories of evil dragons brought forth because of Dragon Ball misuse and crazed gods brought forth because of time travel misuse. Point is, our heroes suck at their jobs.
I am The R2 Dude, and this is The R2 View!
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