At long last, my fourth part in my comparison between GT and Super. For those wondering what took me three months, I wanted to wait until the Future Trunks saga was completely finished and we were decently into the Universe Survival saga before diving in. Oh, and if you're curious, there will be one final part of these comparisons where I take a look at what worked, what didn't work, why GT failed while Super Succeeded, and what I would do to change both. So, look forward to that!
One of the hardest things about this part was the fact that the Future Trunks stuff was VERY new. I had to be careful not to let my fanboyishness get in the way of analyzing both sagas fairly. For the record, it was pretty darn hard. I also wanted to make sure that I didn't let other people's reviews of the Future Trunks saga not influence my decision one way or the other, so I avoided most of them. I do find it odd, though, how critical people seem to be about the relatively small stuff as opposed to the more major issues...but to each their own, I suppose. Well then, let's get started!
DRAGON BALL GT: SHADOW DRAGON SAGA: EPISODES 48-64
Continuing where we left off, there's a weird new Dragon sitting where Shenron usually is... AND HE'S A SMOKER!! He reveals that the Dragon Balls collect negative energy anytime somebody makes a wish, and it takes around 100 years for the negative energy to dissipate. However, thanks to Bulma's Dragon Radar, all the negative energy has built up to the breaking point, causing each Dragon Ball to become a corrupted Shadow Dragon that will destroy the world! So, with little time remianing until the earth is destroyed... everyone but Goku and Pan resume their normal lives like nothing is wrong. Goku and Pan, oh, and Gil, I guess, set off to find the 7 Shadow Dragons to reclaim the Dragon Balls and to save the world! ...is this the first time I even mentioned Gil since part 1? ...I think it is! Wow, that's saying something... Oh, yeah, so Goku obviously keeps killing these Dragons and reclaiming the Dragon Balls with little to no issue, until Pan dies. But she got better. Then Goku fights the Four Star Dragon, who has a moral code, and his brother, who doesn't. The Four Star Dragon kills his brother, then gets killed by the One Star Dragon, who absorbs the Six other Dragon Balls to become... well, in the original Japanese version just bigger, but in the American dub they call him Omega Shenron, so I'll stick with Omega because it's quicker to type and I'm lazy. So Omega seems to be too much for blinded Goku, don't ask, until Vegeta shows up and, thanks to Bulma, goes Super Saiyan 4! Then HE gets knocked around by Omega until Goku and Vegeta dance a little jig and fuse into Super Saiyan 4 Gogeta! He soon proves to be the best fighter, and knocks the Dragon Balls out of Omega... and then diffuses because of Power Consumption. So then Goku eats the Four Star Ball. Yeah, that just happened. Then Goku grows a Dragon Ball on his head. This series may have just jumped the shark... Finally, with the power of Deus Ex Machina... I mean the Genki Dama, Omega is defeated and Goku is dead! Maybe. Kinda. Not quite. It's not clear... well, Shenron returns, yells at the group that gathered to commentate on the fight, and takes Goku away to say a last goodbye to... some people. Oh, and Krillen's alive again. Cool. Then Goku flys off on Shenron to...wherever they're going. Cut to 100 years later and it is once again time for the final match of the junior division of the World Martial Arts Tournament! This final battle is Son Goku Jr, grandson of Pan, and Vegeta Jr, Grandson of Bra, I think. ...again, I think this is the first time I mentioned Bra in this whole thing!! Anyways, Old Pan is distracted from her Grandson's fight when she sees Adult Goku smiling and watching the fight. She rushes down to see him, but by the time she reaches the spot, Goku is already gone. She gives up, which is too bad because we see Goku walking right outside the stadium remembering all the adventures he had. With a grip of his Power Pole and a hop on his Nimbus, Goku takes off, leaving behind a message of "Until we meet again." ...or at least, he does in Funimations dub. In the Japanese he stays quiet, and leaves behind the words "The End".
DRAGON BALL SUPER: FUTURE TRUNKS SAGA: EPISODES 47-76
We finally get to see the wonderful future that Trunks created for himself after defeating the androids and Cell in his future! ...death and destruction surrounds him as he runs for his life. Things are even worse then they were with the Androids, and no place is safe. Even Bulma, Trunks mother and inventor of the time machine, is brutally murdered in front of Trunks eyes. His only companions in this nightmarish hell is his Grandfathers little Black cat and Mai, Emperor Pilaf's old minion. And who is this villain that is hunting him down, who killed his mother, and seemingly kills Mai right in front of Trunks as well?! ...Goku?! ...THIS SAGA'S GONNA BE GOOD! Well, Trunks manages to escape the Future and return to our present, but he's badly injured. And as he comes to he sees Goku staring at him. ...oh, crap. Well, after calming down from his PTSD, Trunks reveals that a guy that looks like Goku, but dressed in black, who they call Goku Black or just Black (Which I will do), invaded not long after Trunks defeated Babbidi and prevented the birth of Majin Buu. Black has made it his mission to kill everyone everywhere, and has set his sights on Earth. Vegeta is quite upset when he hears that Future Bulma was killed by this guy, and agrees to help defeat him. Goku is happy to fight a strong guy, and agrees to help defeat him. ...wait, which one is the hero again? Well, they arrive to fight Black, but they get their butts kicked, so they go back to train. They return again, but get their butts kicked, so the return back to train without Trunks. Finally, they return again..and get their butts kicked. Oh, and we learned during this time that Black is a Kaioshin in training called Zamasu that swapped bodies with Goku and traveled to the future to recruit his other self who wished for immortality, and then they fuse! Oh, but before that there was a lot of stuff with the Mafuba, and Black went Super Saiyan Rose, and Mai wasn't dead, and Trunks got a new power up, and Yajirobe is there for some reason, and Goku's apparently never kissed Chi-Chi, and...wow, thinking about it, this saga is kind of confusing with a lot of subplots. Well, eventually Black and Zamasu fuse, and all seems lost. But then, Goku and Vegeta put on some bling and fuse into Super Saiyan Blue Vegetto! He soon proves that he is the best fighter, and then knocks the pretty out of Merged Zamasu ...and then diffuses because of power consumption. ...I'm getting Deja Vue... anyways, all seems lost, when Trunks jumps in with his Deus Ex Machina sword... I mean Genki Dama sword, and defeats Merged Zamasu. ...Again with the Deja Vue... Regardless, Zamasu's evil is no more. ...except it is, and they failed. So they hit the reset button! ...almost literally. Trunks and Mai are heading to a new version of their future where they already exist, raising way to many questions, and with a moment glorious and incredibly frustrating all at the same time, Trunks and Mai depart, presumably to kill their other selves so that they can steal their lives!
ANIMATION
GT's animation continues to be good. So unless Super suddenly had some of the best animation in the franchises history I'd have to give this to...oh right, IT DOES! Super wins this easily!
SOUND
Honestly, by this point the constantly repeated music in GT is getting a little old. Still good, but I've heard most of it already. Super, on the other hand, has been given some more new music, and some of it is pretty dang good! Especially some of the choral tracks they made. Also, Yoka Yoka Dance is the greatest ending theme ever. Not to even get started on the amazingly chilling performance Nozawa brings to Black. Super wins hands down.
STORY
Oh boy, where to start. Well, let's start with how polarizing different these two stories are. GT went with a super simple premise with a lot of back story, while Super went with a complicated premise with a relatively simple backstory. GT's story was boringly by the books but with a truly touching finale, while Super's story was constantly shifting and changing with exciting and shocking reveals with a very frustratingly mixed ending. Or maybe we could start at how similar these stories are? Black and the Shadow Dragons only exist because of the actions of our protagonists in the past, which while these actions were done for all the right reasons, had these unforeseen consequences that created the villains. The villains of these stories fuse in the climax to become the ultimate evil, forcing Goku and Vegeta to fuse and use their newest power up to face him, only to defuse at the worst moment, and only finally being defeated with a Genki Dama attack. It's kind of uncanny just how similar and yet different these stories were. But, which was better? Well, that depends on whether you prefer the journey or the destination. For me, despite the plot holes, loops, and every other thing the plot does, I prefer the Future Trunks saga. The Shadow Dragon stuff just wasn't executed right for me. Super takes the win.
CHARACTERS
This is so obviously Super, where do I begin? Do I talk about how disappointed I was that Krillen was brought back to life offscreen without ever even seeing 18 and Marron's reactions to him returning? Or should I talk about how Super took a comedic lackey of Pilaf and turned her into a deep, fleshed out, and wonderful character? Or maybe talk about the villains, how the Shadow Dragons were all pretty forgettable except for Omega and the Four Star Dragon while Zamasu and Black were wonderfully despicable and possibly some of the greatest villains Dragon Ball has ever had? I think you get my point. Not to mention all the little scenes and episodes in Super that really helps flesh out everyone. Future Trunks with Gohan's family, Future Trunks with Kid Trunks, Vegeta's declaration to Black that he's not fighting him for himself but for Trunks, and Goku's horrified and angry reaction when he learns that he killed Goten and Chi-Chi in his timeline are but a few of these moments. Even some funny ones like Chi-Chi freaking out and checking Goten over when she heard he died, only to realize that he wasn't dead, or pretty much anything Future Yajirobe does. My favorite moment, though, is at the very end of the story, when Trunks and Mai are about to leave, and they see Piccolo and Gohan outside their window. Trunks, seeing Gohan, is reminded of his Master Gohan, and breaks down in tears because he failed him. The future was destroyed. The future Gohan died to protect is gone, and there is nothing Trunks can do. But then Gohan calls out to him, telling him simply "Be well." At this, Trunks realizes that Gohan doesn't blame him, and is happy with all that Trunks has done, allowing Future Trunks' character to finally be at peace. The only real negatives I can give about the characters is the fact that all of the Future characters die in an instant without warning, but you could argue that it just adds to the tragedy of Future Trunks' character, so there's that. Any question WHY I gave this to Super?
FINAL THOUGHTS
In a landslide, Super wins, and I'm not surprised at all. The series seems to be constantly getting better, much like Goku himself. The music is better, the animation is better, the Story is better, and the characters are better. Yes, there are flaws, of course, but most of them I can overlook. I don't care that they retconned the Potara to only work one hour for humans because it gave us Vegetto Blue! An I don't care that Mai probably shouldn't be Trunks age in that timeline because this version of Mai is so cool and interesting. Yes, the ending is frustrating, but could be fixed with another saga or filler episode showing what happened to Trunks and Mai after this saga. But let's be fair with GT as well. That ending, was great. Dan Dan works great as a remembrance type song, so it playing over classic scenes of OG and Z was brilliant. Even the 100 years later part closes off something introduce in the GT special, and shows how bright the future can be. Despite Super winning here, and me obviously liking it better than GT here, I don't hate GT. I love Dragon Ball, in all of it's incarnations, GT included. But that can be discussed more in my next, and final part of my GT vs Super Comparison.
Next time, my final thoughts on both series, the ups, downs, all arounds, and how I would improve on them. And maybe talk for a bit about the future of Super... and maybe some certain new characters?
I am The R2 Dude, and this is The R2 View!
