Gohan's victory over the namekians in the last episode...

[Puaru]

... was really lame when you stop and Think about it.

I mean Gohan actually had an equal, I repeat an EQUAL beam-struggle against the namekian despite specifically saying that he had gone full Power. And Before you say "but that namekian was really strong!", no he really wasn't, because he was defeated by Piccolo's Special Beam Canon. This clearly proves that these multi-fusion namekians were not some kind of top-tiers in this tournament. The other namekian even says "so this is the strenght of Universe 7 namekians" when Piccolo defeats him, suggesting that Piccolo is actually strong from their perspective.

So yeah, this was the kind of oponent that Gohan struggled against despite being at full Power. And what bugs me is that the episode plays this up as some triumphant moment. The way that this, ahem, "feat" of Gohan is narratively linked to Goku's ACTUALLY IMPRESSIVE feat of breaking through a black hole is just lame. "Horay! Goku managed to outpower a black hole! And Gohan managed to... struggle against a namekian and get saved by Piccolo!".

I almost prefered it when the narrative aknowledged that Gohan was weak and lame, because at this Point in the series Gohan is supposed to be "back" and is presented and talked about as such, and yet in terms of actual shown strenght he still mostly comes of as weak and lame.

[namekiansaiyan]

... was really lame when you stop and Think about it.

I mean Gohan actually had an equal, I repeat an EQUAL beam-struggle against the namekian despite specifically saying that he had gone full Power. And Before you say "but that namekian was really strong!", no he really wasn't, because he was defeated by Piccolo's Special Beam Canon. This clearly proves that these multi-fusion namekians were not some kind of top-tiers in this tournament. The other namekian even says "so this is the strenght of Universe 7 namekians" when Piccolo defeats him, suggesting that Piccolo is actually strong from their perspective.

So yeah, this was the kind of oponent that Gohan struggled against despite being at full Power. And what bugs me is that the episode plays this up as some triumphant moment. The way that this, ahem, "feat" of Gohan is narratively linked to Goku's ACTUALLY IMPRESSIVE feat of breaking through a black hole is just lame. "Horay! Goku managed to outpower a black hole! And Gohan managed to... struggle against a namekian and get saved by Piccolo!".

I almost prefered it when the narrative aknowledged that Gohan was weak and lame, because at this Point in the series Gohan is supposed to be "back" and is presented and talked about as such, and yet in terms of actual shown strenght he still mostly comes of as weak and lame.

The Special Beam Cannon is an attack that is that powerful. Anyone but Jiren, Saonel and Pirina on the arena would probably have been killed if it hit them.

[SsjCookie]

It wasn't the fight I was hoping to see from Gohan.

Gohan radiates reluctance and passiveness at fighting, its boring to watch him to be honest.

[sangofe]

... was really lame when you stop and Think about it.

I mean Gohan actually had an equal, I repeat an EQUAL beam-struggle against the namekian despite specifically saying that he had gone full Power. And Before you say "but that namekian was really strong!", no he really wasn't, because he was defeated by Piccolo's Special Beam Canon. This clearly proves that these multi-fusion namekians were not some kind of top-tiers in this tournament. The other namekian even says "so this is the strenght of Universe 7 namekians" when Piccolo defeats him, suggesting that Piccolo is actually strong from their perspective.

So yeah, this was the kind of oponent that Gohan struggled against despite being at full Power. And what bugs me is that the episode plays this up as some triumphant moment. The way that this, ahem, "feat" of Gohan is narratively linked to Goku's ACTUALLY IMPRESSIVE feat of breaking through a black hole is just lame. "Horay! Goku managed to outpower a black hole! And Gohan managed to... struggle against a namekian and get saved by Piccolo!".

I almost prefered it when the narrative aknowledged that Gohan was weak and lame, because at this Point in the series Gohan is supposed to be "back" and is presented and talked about as such, and yet in terms of actual shown strenght he still mostly comes of as weak and lame.

I has managed to stay spoiler free until this post with this title. Thank you very much, mister.

[Ki Breaker]

Gohan radiates reluctance and passiveness at fighting, its boring to watch him to be honest.

I am going to agree with you here...
Gohan is the most boring person to see fighting nowadays..
Always soft spoken even during the fights, no cool one liners, throwing a Kamehameha all the time, no fighting spirit whatsoever and most of all always by Piccolos side and playing "you shield I shield" with him..
In simple words he seems lame..

The manga version though is amazing once again, that one gravity room scene brought back the Gohan I know and love..

[Kataphrut]

Did you miss the part where Gohan was handling the two of them by himself immediately beforehand?

I don't see how anyone could complain about the handling of characters in that fight. The animation I could understand, there wasn't a lot special outside the Tate sequence and the storyboarding of the final sequence. But the fight did a good job establishing where everybody stood in relation to each other and what their strengths were. Gohan was the strongest, naturally since he's the big half-Saiyan with unlocked potential that can sort of stand up to god-level fighters. Piccolo was the Nameless Namekian fused with a powerful warrior, but he appeared to be slightly below Saonel and Pirina, which makes sense given they were made up of multiple Namekians. Fortunately, he has a technique that can defeat stronger opponents if he has enough time to charge it, so the logical climax came down to Gohan holding the two of them off while Piccolo charged.

Basically, it was teamwork of a stronger and a weaker fighter versus two equal opponents. An interesting matchup, the kind I wish we had more of (Vegeta and Roshi vs Frost and Magetta was kind of like that as well, only with a much bigger power gap). Plus, the Namekians were noted for their insane durability, hence why Saonel was able to survive being caught between the beams and would have caught Gohan if Piccolo hadn't charged the beam up enough to pierce him. That doesn't make Gohan look weak, that makes Saonel and Piccolo look damn awesome. When's the last time Namekians have looked cool in Dragon Ball? Incidentally, Piccolo was only able to damage them because Gohan bought him enough time to charge, so yay for teamwork.

[Ki Breaker]

Did you miss the part where Gohan was handling the two of them by himself immediately beforehand?.

And let his guard down in the next second, shielded Piccolo, said a cheesy line and proceeded to have a namekian fly through his full power Kamehameha?
I don't think anyone missed anything, the way fights are presented are simply horrible and definitely not worth the hype it gets..

[Michsi]

Gohan radiates reluctance and passiveness at fighting, its boring to watch him to be honest.

He was neither reluctant nor passive in this fight, if anything, he took charge and handled it very well. Did nobody see him plant Saonel's head in the ground ? That was brutal for someone who supposedly doesn't like to hurt people.

[Ki Breaker]

Gohan radiates reluctance and passiveness at fighting, its boring to watch him to be honest.

He was neither reluctant nor passive in this fight, if anything, he took charge and handled it very well. Did nobody see him plant Saonel's head in the ground ? That was brutal for someone who supposedly doesn't like to hurt people.

The thing is, when the scene is over in a second, nobody seems hurt, no reactions are shown and the scene basically amounts to nothing the next second, it loses all of it's luster

[Michsi]

He was neither reluctant nor passive in this fight, if anything, he took charge and handled it very well. Did nobody see him plant Saonel's head in the ground ? That was brutal for someone who supposedly doesn't like to hurt people.

The thing is, when the scene is over in a second, nobody seems hurt, no reactions are shown and the scene basically amounts to nothing the next second, it loses all of it's luster

The whole fight was badass, really well animated (when frames weren't re-used) I'd actually argue he got the best fight choreography after Goku.

[Cipher]

I had zero issue with this, and don't see room for one even when you get really pedantic.

Gohan is stronger than either Universe 6 Namekian individually, but not to the extent that he can easily end the match against their tag-team. Piccolo is weaker, but not to the extent that he can't assist Gohan in a crucial moment with a charged technique.

[namekiansaiyan]

Did you miss the part where Gohan was handling the two of them by himself immediately beforehand?.

And let his guard down in the next second, shielded Piccolo, said a cheesy line and proceeded to have a namekian fly through his full power Kamehameha?
I don't think anyone missed anything, the way fights are presented are simply horrible and definitely not worth the hype it gets..

Gohan couldn't hold them off for long.

He was neither reluctant nor passive in this fight, if anything, he took charge and handled it very well. Did nobody see him plant Saonel's head in the ground ? That was brutal for someone who supposedly doesn't like to hurt people.

The thing is, when the scene is over in a second, nobody seems hurt, no reactions are shown and the scene basically amounts to nothing the next second, it loses all of it's luster

The punch didn't hurt Saonel that is why, he was just caught by surprised when regenerating his arms and that was only proper hit Gohan landed. Saonel immediately punched Gohan into the air afterwards.

The only thing that hurt Saonel and Pirina was the Special Beam Cannon.

[Kataphrut]

It was a fight where everybody looked good, y'all don't need to be fussy.

[Michsi]

The punch didn't hurt Saonel that is why, he was just caught by surprised when regenerating his arms and that was only proper hit Gohan landed. Saonel immediately punched Gohan into the air afterwards.

The only thing that hurt Saonel and Pirina was the Special Beam Cannon.

We don't know how much damage it did since they have that great regeneration ability, but the point was that the fight was good. He handled himself well. Soanle and Pirina were good and strong opponents.

[namekiansaiyan]

The punch didn't hurt Saonel that is why, he was just caught by surprised when regenerating his arms and that was only proper hit Gohan landed. Saonel immediately punched Gohan into the air afterwards.

The only thing that hurt Saonel and Pirina was the Special Beam Cannon.

We don't know how much damage it did since they have that great regeneration ability, but the point was that the fight was good. He handled himself well. Soanle and Pirina were good and strong opponents.

When they lost arms there was no reaction and the same thing with the punch. You could see the pain in their faces when Piccolo's attack hit them.

[Michsi]

The punch didn't hurt Saonel that is why, he was just caught by surprised when regenerating his arms and that was only proper hit Gohan landed. Saonel immediately punched Gohan into the air afterwards.

The only thing that hurt Saonel and Pirina was the Special Beam Cannon.

We don't know how much damage it did since they have that great regeneration ability, but the point was that the fight was good. He handled himself well. Soanle and Pirina were good and strong opponents.

When they lost arms there was no reaction and the same thing with the punch. You could see the pain in their faces when Piccolo's attack hit them.

I'm not undermining PIccolo's role at all, his attack was essential, but Gohan's fight was well done too. (YES I WOULD HAVE LOVED FOR PICCOLO TO TRADE BLOWS AT THEIR LEVEL, but oh well.....)

[namekiansaiyan]

We don't know how much damage it did since they have that great regeneration ability, but the point was that the fight was good. He handled himself well. Soanle and Pirina were good and strong opponents.

When they lost arms there was no reaction and the same thing with the punch. You could see the pain in their faces when Piccolo's attack hit them.

I'm not undermining PIccolo's role at all, his attack was essential, but Gohan's fight was well done too. (YES I WOULD HAVE LOVED FOR PICCOLO TO TRADE BLOWS AT THEIR LEVEL, but oh well.....)

I AM ONLY TALKING ABOUT WHAT HURT SAONEL AND PIRINA AND NOTHING ELSE. THE FIGHT WAS WELL DONE.

WHY DOES EVERYONE ALWAYS THINK I AM TRYING TO MAKE A DIFFERENT POINT TO THE ONE I AM MAKING?

This is also another post that is basically just telling me to shut up.

[SsjCookie]

Gohan radiates reluctance and passiveness at fighting, its boring to watch him to be honest.

He was neither reluctant nor passive in this fight, if anything, he took charge and handled it very well. Did nobody see him plant Saonel's head in the ground ? That was brutal for someone who supposedly doesn't like to hurt people.

It just didn't feel like a real boss fight to me, Gohan had some moments fighting the Namekians but again this episode was overshadowed by Goku fighting the remnants of U2.
Why can't they just dedicate a whole episode on one single character for a change?
I feel Goku once again stealed the best fight of this episode.

Gohan's not my favourite character but I think he can do waaaay better.

[namekiansaiyan]

He was neither reluctant nor passive in this fight, if anything, he took charge and handled it very well. Did nobody see him plant Saonel's head in the ground ? That was brutal for someone who supposedly doesn't like to hurt people.

It just didn't feel like a real boss fight to me, Gohan had some moments fighting the Namekians but again this episode was overshadowed by Goku fighting the remnants of U2.
Why can't they just dedicate a whole episode on one single character for a change?
I feel Goku once again stealed the best fight of this episode.

Gohan's not my favourite character but I think he can do waaaay better.

Saonel and Pirina who are 2 of the best fighters in the tournament got hardly any screen time and it is a disgrace. Toei think that Gohan and Piccolo can't carry an episode is why Goku was in it fighting again.

[Michsi]

When they lost arms there was no reaction and the same thing with the punch. You could see the pain in their faces when Piccolo's attack hit them.

I'm not undermining PIccolo's role at all, his attack was essential, but Gohan's fight was well done too. (YES I WOULD HAVE LOVED FOR PICCOLO TO TRADE BLOWS AT THEIR LEVEL, but oh well.....)

I AM ONLY TALKING ABOUT WHAT HURT SAONEL AND PIRINA AND NOTHING ELSE. THE FIGHT WAS WELL DONE.

WHY DOES EVERYONE ALWAYS THINK I AM TRYING TO MAKE A DIFFERENT POINT TO THE ONE I AM MAKING?

This is also another post that is basically just telling me to shut up.

Nope, I don't do that. The capslock was to meant to underline how much I would've LOVED to have him fight more and become stronger, not directed at you at all.

My point was simply that even if he needed Piccolo, Gohan's fight was good and intense, meaning his victory is well deserved. But it seems people try to sway it in favor of either Piccolo or Gohan, and I think that misses the point of the entire team-work theme they were going for.

He was neither reluctant nor passive in this fight, if anything, he took charge and handled it very well. Did nobody see him plant Saonel's head in the ground ? That was brutal for someone who supposedly doesn't like to hurt people.

It just didn't feel like a real boss fight to me, Gohan had some moments fighting the Namekians but again this episode was overshadowed by Goku fighting the remnants of U2.
Why can't they just dedicate a whole episode on one single character for a change?
I feel Goku once again stealed the best fight of this episode.

Gohan's not my favourite character but I think he can do waaaay better.

Because it was shared, I get that it didn't feel quite as game changing as a final fight, but this was never a boss fight. That's Jiren and Jiren alone. Super in general lacks the intensity and tension Z had. Even Kefla, despite having and entire episode dedicated to show how powerful she is, never quite rose to serious threat level because I never felt that Goku got pushed to his absolute limits. Yes, despite UI and everything.