Was Goku vs Jiren Good?

[Bergamo]

I had good impressions of Goku vs Jiren, but I went back and watched the special and found no enjoyment. The 2 minutes of audience commentary every 30 seconds of action ruined the scene. "This isn't normal." REALLY NOW? Why even include dialogue that adds nothing to the scene. Upon review the fight contained...
-The Spirit Bomb: Fanservice that didn't really make sense, but was good anyways.(Seriously, why was the spirit bomb that big.)
-Ultra Instinct Debut: Suprising, but has too much commentary. Impossible to rewatch for me.
-A lot of in between
-Jiren vs Vegeta: Pointless, and the final flash homage was way too long.
-Vegeta's transformation: Really cool, but a bit out of nowhere. The form is not even named in the show, and that's disappointing.
-30 collective minutes of Jiren blocking: Painful. Just Painful
-Android 17 episode: Really solid
-Jiren not eliminating Vegeta for 22 minutes: Did Vegeta need to have 2 fake-out eliminations. It made him look pathetic, and it was hard to watch.
-Ultra instinct returns: 10 minutes of Goku and Jiren fighting and then 10 minutes of Goku's arms vibrating. The episode is appropriately ended with Jiren beating himself up like Patrick, which is humorously bad. This episode has too much of what I refer to as "implied action."
-MUI: 9.5/10 nothing more to say other than it should have been longer.
-Goku, Frieza, 17 vs Jiren: 10/10
And finally...
-A countdown timer worse than the 5 minutes on namek.

It wasn't bad in my opinion, but I feel that the ToP's appeal is contingent on the assumption that you will forget the bad and the filler and only remember the epic moments.

[JazzMazz]

I’ve rewatched the special multiple times. For me, I found I didn’t enjoy 109 as much on rewatches(its still good, just not very rewatchable), but the introduction and fight between Omen Goku and Jiren in 110 is still absolutely fantastic in every respect, even with the break ups in the action.

122 was rock solid. Really well handled episode. However, pretty much everything after it up to 130 is either tragic, mediocre or outright terrible.
130 and 131 were absolutely wonderful.

I would say its an encounter that ends up being more par for the course of the average antagonist protagonist showdown in its totality, than anything truly exceptional.

[The Patrolman]

Not to me, 75% of this fight was reused animation

[sintzu]

Goku's first fight with Jiren was just a taste for what was to come and despite that it was really, really well handled. The main fight at the end in 130&131 is the best thing DB ever produced so whatever shortcoming the first fight had was more than made up for in the second one.

Both of Vegeta's fights with him were also really good, in the first one he was able to surprise him and see through his attacks while in the second one he wouldn't stay down despite having 0 energy left, going out like a true warrior. We also finally got to see Vegeta do things his way instead of following Goku's by getting his own form and taking down Toppo, a destroyer candidate, something the mighty Golden Freeza couldn't do despite having help form #17.

[Super Saiyan Swagger]

To me, the actual fights between Goku and Jiren are round 1 during Episodes 109 & 110 and round 2 during 129 & 130. They still fight it out between those two rounds, but their fight isn't the main focus at that point. Vegeta was fighting alongside Goku most of the time.

I love how 109 starts their face off. Jiren walking towards Goku with the really cool soundtrack made for a great moment. The action itself was really quick and ended sooner than I thought, but after the Spirit Bomb explosion, shit gets real. The reveal of Ultra Instinct in 110 has gone down as one of my all time favourite Dragon Ball moments. Goku slowly walking towards Jiren and ignoring Toppo's attacks like they're nothing is so so good. This scene in particular is perfection. The action combines with the music and great animation all make for a memorable scene that I keep going back and watching over and over again. Fantastic stuff.

Round 2 is probably just as great. Although Episode 129 suffers from reused animation, what made me look past that were these great moments. Follow this up with Episode 130, which includes some of the best fighting animation I think I've ever seen from this franchise, and you've got yourself a great fight. The whole trust vs mistrust thing did its job for me, even though I felt like it wasn't developed enough and was introduced a bit too late into the tournament. It worked for the fight itself, but it didn't have enough build up as the tournament was progressing.

The fight kinda ends in Episode 130. I love Episode 131, but I wouldn't call that a Goku vs Jiren episode. Like Goku and Vegeta's fight with Jiren between the two rounds, the fight in Episode 131 was a collaborative effort from Goku, Freeza and 17.

So yeah, I reckon it was a great fight. I do love how they had two encounters rather than settling everything in one big fight in typical Dragon Ball fashion. Goku learning how to perfect Ultra Instinct during the tournament was great. It makes the final scene in Episode 129 feel incredible. That YouTube video I linked with the final scene from Episode 129 has over 13 million views! Just goes to show how much of an impact that scene had.

[Kataphrut]

I remember back when they were building hype for the one-hour special and kind of dreading it. They'd been building up the first fight between Goku and Jiren for months by the time that special aired, and I remember thinking how crazy it was that the big fight being built up was for an antagonist we knew hardly anything about, and the vague promise of a new transformation for Goku. Because he just doesn't have enough of those, does he?

Imagine how cringey it would be if the special had been bad? All that build-up for a wet fart. It's never fun when something that gets hyped up like that turns out to be bad (unless you're a boring cynic who was planning to shit on it no matter what). But it wasn't bad. It was mind-blowingly good. The two big fears I had were that Jiren would be just a powerhouse with no character, and that the new form being advertised would be just another boring hair colour/power multiplier to add to the pile. And yeah Jiren did end up being little more than a Give Way sign on legs, but they sold his power and intimidation factor so well it didn't matter (which is why it was so jarring when they decided to make him be ABOUT something later on, but that's another story). And the new form ended up being the most creative and refreshing concept since the original Super Saiyan transformation.

Add to that the amazing animation in both parts, the debut of Ultimate Battle, and the way it established the stakes for the rest of the arc and you have a pretty damn good pair of episodes. They lived up to the hype and gave us some of the franchise's most iconic moments to date.

[PFM18]

Goku's first fight with Jiren was just a taste for what was to come and despite that it was really, really well handled. The main fight at the end in 130&131 is the best thing DB ever produced so whatever shortcoming the first fight had was more than made up for in the second one.

Both of Vegeta's fights with him were also really good, in the first one he was able to surprise him and see through his attacks while in the second one he wouldn't stay down despite having 0 energy left, going out like a true warrior. We also finally got to see Vegeta do things his way instead of following Goku's by getting his own form and taking down Toppo, a destroyer candidate, something the mighty Golden Freeza couldn't do despite having help form #17.

I agree. The fight is the best thing DB ever produced.

The main fight in 130 and 131(and the latter half of 129) makes up by far the greatest fight in the franchise and I am frankly puzzled how somebody could conclude any other fight is better. Especially since I have rewatched the entire series up until SSJ3 Goku vs Buu, I think there's plenty of good fights but after watching them after Goku vs Jiren none of them can really compare. Piccolo Daimao vs Goku, Piccolo Jr vs Goku, Tenshinhan vs Goku, Goku vs Freeza, Goku vs Cell, and Gohan vs Cell were all really good but to me it just isn't a comparison. The question isn't "what is the best fight in Dragon Ball?" it is now "what is the 2nd best fight in Dragon Ball?"Whether it be the conflict in the respective fighters ideologies, the choreography, the stakes of the entire multiverse resting in the balance, and just the epic feel of this dynamic fight make it easily the best fight in the DB franchise.

Not to me, 75% of this fight was reused animation

I mean this is just a gross exaggeration.

[sintzu]

The main fight in 130 and 131 makes up by far the greatest fight in the franchise. The question isn't "what is the best fight in Dragon Ball?" it is now "what is the 2nd best fight in Dragon Ball?"

If the same team that worked on 130&131 are working on the movie then there's a chance we can get something just as good. Whether it's better or not really doesn't matter as we win either way.

[DiegoBrando]

No, it was terrible.

[Lord Beerus]

It didn't really feel like Goku vs Jiren to be honest beyond the first two episodes they fought. I would honestly classify that fight as more Jiren vs Universe 7. Especially considering the circumstances of how that fight continued relied on the fighter of Universe 7 (excluding Vegeta... for some dumb reason) giving their energy to Goku for his Genki Dama to Jiren.

But, yeah, that long stretch of Jiren fighting Goku, Vegeta, Freeza and #17 was top notch. There were a few questionable moments that happened in that period (#17 blowing himself up only to reappear alive three episodes later, the circumstances of the Genki Dama in Episode 109, Vegeta not giving any energy to the Genki Dama and reused animation scattered across several episodes with Episode 129 being the most egregious offender). But the positives (Goku vs Jiren in Episode 109, the reveal of Ultra Instinct in Episode 110, Vegeta fighting Jiren in Episode 122, Vegeta's breaking his limits in Episode 123, Vegeta and Whis' dialogues in Episode 129, Goku mastering Ultra Instinct, everything about Episode 130 and 131) greatly outweigh the negatives.

[SupremeKai25]

It was worse than most fights in the Future Trunks arc. It would have been more entertaining if the antagonist had not been the lamest character created in Super with the crappiest backstory. For people like me who care about the story and see beyond petty fighting, it was boring.

[shadd21]

It was worse than most fights in the Future Trunks arc. It would have been more entertaining if the antagonist had not been the lamest character created in Super with the crappiest backstory. For people like me who care about the story and see beyond petty fighting, it was boring.

It's a bit of a stretch to say this considering how stiff most non-Tate fight scene were during the pre-filter arcs of Super.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

It was worse than most fights in the Future Trunks arc. It would have been more entertaining if the antagonist had not been the lamest character created in Super with the crappiest backstory. For people like me who care about the story and see beyond petty fighting, it was boring.

It's a bit of a stretch to say this considering how stiff most non-Tate fight scene were during the pre-filter arcs of Super.

Tbh not even Tate's work in the Trunks arc holds to anything he did in the U.S arc. Outside of Shida's work on the Trunks arc the action scenes are what heavily bring the arc down especially what we witnessed in the U.S arc, the inconsistency in art is also what brings that arc down. It's shame because narratively 90% of that arc was good.

But anyway #130/131 definitely the best "set piece action" DB has ever had.

[Zen Yabuki]

I loved it. Goku vs Jiren Round 1 was fantastic. It's my third favorite fight in the franchise. Their second fight while not as good as their other ones (episode 123) was very fun to watch Goku outwit Jiren and nearly ring him out. Nice combat IQ on display for Goku there. Their third rumble in 130 wasn't as good as their first fight imo but is in my top 10 for sure. Loved that fight. It was incredibly hype. Their first fight, third fight, and just the fight between U7 and Jiren in general shits on the rest of Super's fights overall for me and most of DB's fights in general. I enjoyed them. They're not without their flaws however, but I enjoyed them more than anything.

[Michsi]

I liked the double ep special, but I don't know what to say about the rest. I usually evaluate something by their re-watch value, and while I remember enjoying the last episodes of Super somewhat, I don't really feel like re-watching them. So I guess I can say it was okay?

[goku the krump dancer]

It could've been better.. not to say it was bad at all.. because it wasnt.. So far though it just doesnt hold up to any of the other "Ultimate Showdowns" we got Prior to this incarnation of the series.. Hell that can be said about all of Supers "Big Fights" none of them really hold a candle to the heart stoppers we've gotten before. They're not bad. I just dont think they'll hold up.. guess we gotta give it a year or two.. or three to really find out.

[Forte224]

I enjoy 130 and 131. The audience commentary is minimal and the animation is really good. But, I didn't particularly care about the story revolving around it. And of course, though the animation was good, I'm still not a fan of the look of the show. So that's a constant damper on things for me too.

Still fun for a YouTube/Crunchyroll re-watch here and there, but never the full episodes.

[Ki Breaker]

I give it a 2.7/10, never understood what the hype was about, making something subjectively pretty doesn't provide enough of a reason to care, he is as exciting as beating that generic mook at the tutorial of a game, takes a hell lot of time and you just want to get to other things as soon as you win, there are no feelings of accomplishment or enjoyment here, because you can't wait to get to the good shit, which this obviously wasn't designed to be..
Jiren didn't give me a reason to care that he is being beat, some words thrown in from the side saying he is powerful is not enough to develop any kind of interest in a character, this is basic story telling, there are no feelings of for or against attached to him..

All in all, the Jiren fight was as good as a fan made fight, albeit a fan with knowledge of animation but zero story telling experience

[PFM18]

Let me ask you guys this. What is the best fight in Dragon Ball if it isn't this fight?

Frankly I have recently rewatched DB and most of DBZ and I really don't think anything else even comes close.

[Zen Yabuki]

Let me ask you guys this. What is the best fight in Dragon Ball if it isn't this fight?

Goku vs Piccolo is my favorite fight in the entire series. Goku vs Freeza is second, and Goku vs Jiren is third for me. So Goku vs Jiren isn't my favorite, but it's really up there for me. But right below Goku vs Jiren for me is Goku vs Daimao Round 2 and Goku vs Cell.