Mr Baggins wrote: ↑Sat Apr 30, 2022 2:24 pm
That's why I'm fine with this whole "determination" angle in the context of UI specifically (Bardock and non-UI not so much, but it is what it is). I probably won't find it all that compelling or remarkable, and it's kinda been done before, but at least it's something you can add to Goku's calm mental state in Ultra Instinct without totally reverting the strides he's made.
It's whatever, it's cool -- in isolation, that is. The arc in general is a whole different ball game that I'll have to post about later after it ends in a couple months.
One of the biggest things about all this that I wholeheartedly disagree with is how UI is being treated. It's whole concept is effectively being abandoned for the sake of Goku having his own "unique" flavor of it. The whole purpose and idea of UI is that it is a state where the Body moves and reacts without input from the brain. Without thought. As Whis explained, there is always a delay between thought and action. Hence UI removes the necessity of thought, enabling every part of the body to Act without that delay. Without thought.
By pushing for the "Determination" angle, they're placing a Conscious Decision onto what has been an Unconscious Action. I very much disagree with this as it removes the whole concept of UI from the equation. If they just decide to turn it into, what I would call, Determined Instinct, then they're kinda going in the same direction as Vegeta's Ultra Ego. Allow me to explain. If the idea of Determination based on Bardock's concept of "Focusing on winning above all else", then that "all else" would also include Defending Yourself. That would entail DI going for the hardest blows while ignoring all defense. It would become a state of pure offense with no sense to avoid danger to the body. It's winning at all cost, even unto death. Which is not all too different from Ultra Ego in that the form is meant to take damage and ignore defending yourself.
When UI was first being explained, the way I saw it was different than how it ended up being treated. That it shouldn't be a transformation, but a state of being. Not a form that amps your stats like everything has been shown to do in the traditional sense. But a state where all of the users energy is condensed and compressed to the smallest point. Which would not just make it sharper, but denser. It's about motion with the least movement necessary so that all that energy can be used for evasion and offense, both occurring simultaneously without thought.
It's the same idea with pushing the same volume of water through a narrower and narrower opening. The smaller the tube and opening gets, the more pressure is created, the faster it moves and exits. This is how a high-pressure water jet is made. Continuing to increase that pressure and water density can allow even water to cut steel and is what's used to sharpen and clean diamonds. Apply this same concept to Ki within the body and what you get is something extraordinarily intense.
That's what I see UI as. All of your energy condensed, compressed and focused through the narrowest point possible. That would allow anyone to achieve a level of speed and force they're otherwise completely incapable of through an other method. This was why Whis was teaching Goku and Vegeta to control their ki and to prevent it from leaking out. That was the whole purpose of their training within the space created by Whis' staff, where they couldn't move their bodies until they stopped their energy from escaping. That, to me, was just the start of what was needed to begin learning UI. Unfortunately it feels like this has been completely abandoned.
