So after around 10 weeks or so, the Resurrection F arc of Dragon Ball Super has come to a close, and boy was I relieved it was over. The last several weeks has been a huge debate within the Dragon Ball fanbase with regards to the harsh criticism the show has been receiving. I happen to be among those critics. Hell, I've been called a Dragon Ball hater among other things because of my criticism of Super alone, despite the fact that I grew up watching the entire Dragon Ball franchise! Just because I am a fan of Dragon Ball doesn't mean I am biased in saying Dragon Ball never has any flaws. It does, and in the case of Super, it's big and it's very much hard to not ignore that it's there.
I've discussed my issues with the show before in my review of the Battle of Gods arc and I'm going to express it again, but more expansive and in detail - just like the two arcs being an expansive version of the movies.
The first biggest criticism I have with the show is its Animation. You cannot deny how surprisingly bad the Animation of Dragon Ball Super is, because simply put, it's so noticeable and frequent. The reasons for this have been discussed to death, but the factors surrounding this are among the following:
1) Toei is producing a lot of projects, some simultaneously. Besides Dragon Ball Super, there is One Piece, Robot Girls Z, World Trigger, Digimon Adventure Tri, Buddha, PreCure (or Glitter Force for those who watched it on Netflix), Sailor Moon Crystal, which just picked for a third season, and the upcoming Anime version of Miraculous Ladybug. I'm sure there are more that I haven't mentioned.
2) With regards to 1), Toei's resources are being spread thin. On a business perspective, Toei understandably chooses to focus a good chunk of their resources on their most popular IP that will give them a good chunk of profit - that IP is One Piece. To be fair, One Piece also has its own share of bad animation, but considering it's been running for 17 years now and over 700 episodes strong, there's no point to talking about One Piece as it's like The Fairly Oddparents, The Simpsons, etc, in which that show will keep going even if I had grandkids.
3) Today, new Anime are being produced for TV each year by the HUNDREDS (not counting ongoing series, movies, and direct-to-video releases) in Japan than they were decades ago. This is no joke. There is simply a huge surplus of Anime out there all dying for our attention. So the competition is fierce. Toei, being one of the biggest Anime Studios in Japan, simply won't yield against the other smaller studios, and with a recognizable brand name like Dragon Ball, they are milking it for what its worth, irregardless of the product's quality. Why? Because Toei knows the franchise has a huge fanbase that will pay for any Dragon Ball material no matter how bad.
4) The working conditions within an Animation Studio in Japan are well documented to be quite harsh, with staffers working overtime hours just to meet the deadline and with very little pay, compared to the conditions in other places like the United States. Word has it this practice was the unintentional consequence made by Osamu Tezuka, the creator of Astro Boy, in which he chose to work overtime and cut his salary as he was determined to meet the scheduled deadline for Astro Boy's broadcast.
5) This is just a conspiracy theory I made up, but the bad animation not just in Dragon Ball Super, but in several other Animes were likely intentional so they can be fixed in the Blu-Ray release to increase the value of those BDs. Home video releases remain a key factor in Japan that determines an Anime's success or failure, as opposed to viewership ratings. Note that there are some Anime Studios where the bulk of their revenue comes from things other than BD releases.
Some of you will say "So what? We don't watch DBS for the Animation. We watch it for the story!" Well, the second criticism I have with DBS is the writing, which is inconsistent and done with very little effort to make the progress of the story interesting and instead is written just to meet with the episode order. One major highlight of this is how the show writes off Gotenks to participate in the battle against Frieza by having his Fusion run out shortly after ramming against Ginyu, now in Tagoma's body. Feel free to explain how Gotenks, who is able to go around the world several times in mere seconds, took so long to get to Ginyu?
It is worth noting that unlike other Anime series, DBS does not have a season break, unlike Sailor Moon Crystal. Should DBS be given season breaks, then probably, PROBABLY, the overall production and presentation of DBS would have been better because there's more time to refine it.
Having said that, the final episode of the Resurrection F arc is done quite well. The episode gives time for Vegeta to beat up Frieza real good before the latter destroys the Earth. They did try to make the scene a little more impactful by showing the other characters get caught in the blast. That would have worked if the Earth and everyone in it were not destroyed before by Kid Buu.
The only other change from this episode that's different from the movie version is the epilogue, in which Gohan, having realized how much he was badly nerfed, asks Piccolo to train him again. Now a LOT of people complain of Gohan's huge nerf in Dragon Ball Super. I find it ironic since back when Dragon Ball Z was new, it was the exact opposite. Now some think Gohan would also attain the Super Saiyan Blue form, based on the dialogue Goku made in which Vegeta was able to reach it without having to go through the ritual that would turn him into a Super Saiyan God first. Worth nothing this is a reference as to how Goku and Vegeta both achieved their first Super Saiyan forms differently.
It's a little hard for me to grasp the idea of Gohan also achieving Super Saiyan Blue without the ritual of becoming a Super Saiyan God first, and furthermore not possessing God Ki. I can only think that during the ritual to make Goku a Super Saiyan God, traces of God Ki may have been left upon the participants. That would most likely explain Vegeta achieving Super Saiyan Blue, and not only makes it possible for Gohan, but for Goten, Trunks, and even Pan as well. But that is quite a stretch.
Will Gohan after his training with Piccolo play a vital role in the Champa Arc? Who knows. And speaking of which, that's what I, and everyone will be looking forward to, as the Champa Arc finally begins. I don't expect much in terms of technicality, but I do hope that the problems I have with the first 27 episodes of Dragon Ball Super would be mitigated, if not completely gone.
The Champa Arc in Dragon Ball Super begins January 24th at 9 am Japan Time as part of Fuji TV's "Strong 9" Anime Block alongside One Piece.
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