What is the General Consensus on the Moro Arc?

[Dylanrockin]

Genuinely I'm curious. I read it once, monthly, and thought it was about a 75-80ish. Reread the entire thing in one-sitting and still feeling about around there. Not spectacular, overstayed its welcome, but overall good. Not amazing, not great, just good. Liked the beginning, a lot actually, and if you were to make a line graph of how well it went to its current status, from where it started, it would be a lot of ups and downs. The 73 Moro I know a lot of people didn't like, but I actually kind of dig the appearance a bit. That said, that form was definitely the weaker, one visually, from his previous forms.

Also, that ending I really quite liked and when Goku went MUI against Moro was extremely cathartic and satisfying.

Overall, I look forward to seeing it animated and maybe it will make more sense as an anime than it does a manga - especially if they can make it a bit better paced. Kind of like how Yu Yu Hakusho cut out parts from the manga to make the anime better paced. Not holding my breath, but hey, who knows.

Kind of curious how others felt.

[precita]

I think the anime could salvage this arc getting rid of the stupid parts (Goku giving Moro a Senzu bean for one thing), extending the scenes of Gohan and the humans fighting (which they'll probably do anyway), and making Moro a bit less one dimensional. The stuff with Boo especially is actually very interesting and was the highlight of this arc, but unfortunately it's more or less pushed aside as it goes on. Returning to Namek was pretty bland to be honest, reminded me too much of the second Cooler movie.

The manga in general is very poorly written, but there are some good concepts that could be fleshed out more. As it stands now it feels like, "published fanfiction," which is more or less exactly what it is. So iron out the bad parts, give Moro more agency, and well give us good animation and it'll be fine.

[TheSaiyanGod]

It was good / solid. At least for me, it was an arc that benefited from a full reread after it was finished. The monthly wait tends to amplify the problems of the individual chapters, since if the chapter is mostly uneventful or slow, the bad impression is greater due to the wait and there is a whole month to discuss about (and this arc has pacing problems), so reading it all at once felt better.

I liked the direction that was taken with Vegeta's character, and it was refreshing to see him and Goku parting ways for different journeys during the story (the whole Yardrat stuff was great, especially the interactions with Pybara). Boo, despite being less used than he could have been, was a nice surprise, just like was Oob. Also, it provided a good way to explain why Goku still remained so interested in Oob after everything that happens in DBS (the Kaioshin lore overall was good too)

I felt that even though Merus is a compelling character, he would benefit a lot from more screen time, especially if his relationship with Goku was more fleshed out. Him being the trigger for Perfected UI was believable and his friendship with Goku felt real, but deep down there's a feeling that it could have been better. I also think Moro gets the job done as a villain, being an obstacle that forced Goku and Vegeta to look for different approaches to face him, but a little more nuance would benefit his character. He has some good moments as a threat with a more strategic and pragmatic approach, but for the most part he seems too one-dimensional. A more diverse interaction with the cast would be appreciated.

These two things are points that the anime could improve. However, fleshing out something and unnecessary padding are lines that the anime generally struggles to balance, and would not help the pacing of the arc, so that's something to watch out for.

[Jamtia]

I personally liked it.

I'm glad we finally got an enemy that used magic (I know Babidi but him alone he wasn't really a threat).
Returning to new Namek and Vegeta making amends for what happened in the past was great for character development.
Seeing Yardrats was cool. Still kinda confused why Vegeta knew to go there to learn that move though.
Boo and his counterpart Kai getting action/backstory was awesome.
I would have loved to see Beerus with his interaction with Moro. But I know they kept him away on purpose just so it's not a resort to Beerus show. Just loved to see a God of Destruction facing off against that monster, or at least talking with him.
73 was a pretty cool character.
Cool to see Meerus. Didn't care for him at first honestly but grew on me when I found out he was an angel. Makes me think how many more are out there that haven't been shown in the TOP.
Z Warriors getting more action is always a plus.

I don't have any negative thoughts. There are parts that could have done without maybe. Felt like some parts were rough around the edges. Goku giving Moro a sensu bean is like wtf... but that to me is Super's Goku for you.
I'm not sure about the pacing of this arc. It's really hard in manga (I watched the read through on youtube) so I feel like it went kinda quick. Hopefully we get to see an anime adaptation.

I don't know how I would have made the arc any better honestly. At this point it's still the Goku and Vegeta show. And with their God powers/levels continuing to go up, it just makes the side characters even more useless. That's why the TOP was such a breath of fresh air. It made me miss what made Dragonball so great was the team work pre Buu saga. Even if Goku had to save the day at the end, at least the others helped in many areas. I can see why people hated GT just for the fact that it was the Goku show.

[SupremeKai25]

Terrible, terrible, generic, bland villain. You'd think Toriyama had learned how to make good, morally grey villains after Zamasu, turns out he hasn't. He couldn't even be bothered to explain Moro's origins, is there a more lazy and forgettable villain? Nope.

[Cipher]

It seems to either be people's favorite or least favorite arc in Super as a whole, with no in between, based almost entirely on whether or not they liked the first three arcs of the manga.

And then there's a section of fans who just have never had anything good to say about the Super manga, and whose minds weren't changed by it either way.

I'll never give my opinion away, but let me say that I really enjoy the first three arcs of the Super manga. That said, there's also no arc in it I don't at least mostly enjoy.

[BWri]

Genuinely I'm curious. I read it once, monthly, and thought it was about a 75-80ish. Reread the entire thing in one-sitting and still feeling about around there. Not spectacular, overstayed its welcome, but overall good. Not amazing, not great, just good. Liked the beginning, a lot actually, and if you were to make a line graph of how well it went to its current status, from where it started, it would be a lot of ups and downs. The 73 Moro I know a lot of people didn't like, but I actually kind of dig the appearance a bit. That said, that form was definitely the weaker, one visually, from his previous forms.

Also, that ending I really quite liked and when Goku went MUI against Moro was extremely cathartic and satisfying.

Overall, I look forward to seeing it animated and maybe it will make more sense as an anime than it does a manga - especially if they can make it a bit better paced. Kind of like how Yu Yu Hakusho cut out parts from the manga to make the anime better paced. Not holding my breath, but hey, who knows.

Kind of curious how others felt.

I'm pretty much with you. I think an animated version would be better and I'd welcome the length with more fleshed out training sequences from the sub characters. The only thing that brings the arc down for me is Goku deciding to not only spare Moro but hand him a sensu bean as well. That feels OOC and seemingly only exists to artificially extend the arc for another chapter. I think the same thing could be done with simply having Moro outsmart Goku, which is what he does anyway, he just shouldn't need Goku's help to do it.

I'd also like a redesign of Moro73 so he doesn't look so much like Cell. Other than that, I loved the developments for all the characters from Vegeta's repentence + spiritual training to the strength gains of the sub-characters and I love the fights. Maybe let the humans win their 2nd fights too. Goku doesn't have to mop up all the jobbers and Saganbo, geez! At least let Gohan and Piccolo do that since they don't get to win either of their fights.

[Alruneia]

I mean, the most you'll really get here is a local consensus. It's hard for us to say what the general consensus is without doing some pretty heavy survey work. Ignoring that, the sense I get is that it's a very polarising arc. I've heard plenty of people say it's the best arc in Super, and I've heard plenty of people say it's the worst arc in Super (like Cipher says), so I'm not sure how to "rate" that.

[Yo'Goodfella]

Yeah, Cipher and Alruneia have a great point. Kanzenshuu is only a place on the Internet, and the Internet is... Quite vast and varied to say the least.

Our answers we can give about the general consensus can only get accurate up to a certain point, which is "what we look at and hear overall".

For what I can say here, I've heard all kinds of opinions on the Moro Arc, which was a bit frustrating: it's amazing, it's really bad, it's overall eh, it started great but went off the rails later, mixed feelings overall, please do/do not adapt this...

I'm not sure. You also don't know which opinions it's best to take into account or not, as one may or may not have much experience with the Super Manga or Super at all, and you never really know until they demonstrate it in some way. And it's not as simple as getting one question righr or wrong.

[capsulecorp]

I enjoyed it, especially the moments where Buu got to shine. It doesn't bother me that much about Moro is left to the imagination, or for the future (was he a demon?), and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with 7-3. The low point for me was the very unnatural and melodramatic Merus fakeout near the end. I'll have to read it again sometime but I think it's one of the stronger arcs in Super so far.

[Magnificent Ponta]

I think the only features of the arc that might reach anything like a real consensus amongst the broader spectrum of fans is:

• It's way too long and slow-paced;
• The villainous cast had more promise than they delivered in the end (whether Moro himself or his underlings);
• Merus is pretty cool;
• Vegeta's arc was pretty good;
• For all its flaws, it "stuck the landing", and that counts for something.

Something like that, anyway. I wrote my own opinions on the arc at length, when I did The Super Re-Read (relevant excerpt below):

Spoiler:

So, time to talk about the Moro arc overall: what is it like, and unto what shall we compare it? To say it in terms Moro might appreciate, it is like a three-course meal, consisting of an appetising bowl of Minestrone Soup for the Starter, a Plain Omelette for the Main Course (confusingly elevated from a Side Dish to a Main Course; it has sides of its own - fries and a salad - which are nice, but not enough to offset the fact that this is just an omelette, and not the Steak that was on the menu), and a rich, deeply satisfying Layered Trifle for the Dessert Course. Make of that analogy what you will. But substantively, what can one say? Well, there’s the obvious, which is that it does overstay its welcome: the First Act (超 #42-50) is generally well-done (some missteps aside), and so is the Final Act (超 #59-67) – particularly well-done, in my opinion (apart from the pacing issues, which are pervasive) – but the Second Act (超 #51-58) is long on length and short on substance; it’s mostly big ole puffs o’ nothing. Around 200 pages could’ve been shaved off the arc with very little (if any) impact on the actual plot, the themes of the arc, or the important character arcs. There’s a lot of not much – as I say, that’s particularly true of the Second Act (超 #51-58), but it has clear instances elsewhere (超 #47 and 49 are probably overstretched in the First Act, as are 超 #62 and 超 #64 in the Third Act). Sometimes, as with 超 #62, I feel the extended format itself works against telling a tight story, as it stretches what’s there across what it needs to fill even though the structuring of the story increments make sense that way in theory, but other times there’s the filler beats of repetition (most notoriously 超 #54 and 超 #56) and elliptical plotting that does ‘stuff’ but contrives to bring things back to where they were, by way of some sort of (occasionally quite perfunctory or anodyne) action. And there’s no lack of that, either: I believe V-Jump calculated that there are 41 distinct fights in the arc. Faced with such a figure, one might wonder how it is that the Moro arc seems to lack a certain ‘energy’ across much of its span. Then again, one might see an answer in that very figure: did we really need all of that stuff to tell this story well? The arc could have done with a more judicious approach to its plotting, and to the presentation of action and some of the other features therein. More isn’t always more.
Speaking of which - bound up with this sense of ‘padding’ is the other main flaw of the arc: the Saganbo Bandit Brigade. I don’t have a problem with more characters being introduced to ‘flip’ expectations across 超 #49-50, but they needed to be utilised more effectively than they were after this point, to justify their presentation as noteworthy. Their schtick of running with Moro is established in 超 #51, and after that, the goons have the run of the story, but they’re self-evidently a sideshow act, and they mostly don’t bring anything to the table to hold the reader’s interest. They don’t even manage to elicit interesting, characterful conversations with (or actions from) Moro until 超 #58, and while a few of them manage to inject themselves into the action in a relatively enjoyable fashion (the OG73-I stuff in 超 #53-54 is okay, though he himself has nothing to commend him as a character – I assume that’s deliberate; Yuzun gets an enjoyable turn in 超 #55; and Saganbo’s connivance at being taken hostage to try to prove himself to Moro in 超 #58 is the best thing we get out of them), others don’t even get named until it’s time for them to be swept off the stage, let alone get something really interesting or worthwhile to do (Hi, Zauyogi!). Saturating the narrative with 10 characters who are supposed to be noteworthy, and then doing nothing much with them except woodenly fill pages (the scenes noted above notwithstanding) is a blunder. For this lot, more is unfortunately less, as we get a diminishing sense of their importance or centrality to the key progression of the narrative every time we see them, and we see them quite a lot. A squad of just 4 of them around Moro might have given each of them a little more definition, and given them the opportunity to be more memorable: say, Saganbo, OG73-I (he is necessary to the plot, after all), Yuzun, and Shimorekka (or some new, less consistently aggravating creation – though I have to admit that the runt, obnoxious though he is, gets more characterisation than most of his colleagues). That would’ve been plenty. Or, they could have continued to run with Cranberry and the Macarenis; though I can understand why they didn’t do that, I can hardly see the justification for showing the Macarenis again alongside these other bit-part chumps, other than to give the bit-part heroes something to do – was that really needed to tell the story well? I surprised myself when re-reading this arc, as I found myself actually relieved to see Moro re-enter the action in 超 #57.
So, what about Moro, then? I think I’ve come around to him as a character. Like many, I was prepared to see him as simply a doom-bringing pastiche, but I actually think he has enough definition in himself to carry the scenes he runs, and to be a strong presence from the moment he’s introduced to the moment he dies: the predatory, insatiable sense of the character is strong (particularly in his reductive conception of everything he approaches as a meal of some sort), and his incorrigibility works to drive the plot on even when things turn against him. This marries up well with his cunning, and feeds into his superiority complex. A bunch of it is stuff we’ve seen before (hence the sense of the pastiche, I guess), but the specific way these attributes are combined and intersect with the arc themes of Stealing, Earning, and Giving is actually pretty strong, and I was surprised to see how he managed to keep me entertained when he was at the centre of the action. The main issue, for me, is that having established this quality, he retreats from the centre of the action to be replaced by his much blander squad of identikit mooks for about one-third of the arc. This might’ve played differently if his presence behind the scenes had built up to a reveal, but jumping into the confrontation, seeing all the kinds of stuff he can do, and then taking him back out of the mix (I know he’s apparently having his way with the Galaxy and becoming ever more formidable, but that isn’t where the action is) seems to let the tautness of the whole arc go slack, without anything much being put in its place. I don’t think Dragon Ball has ever tried that kind of construction before – even Cell, to whom it is sorta similar, isn’t the self-evident main threat when he goes into hiding, but simply a potential one among a set, and his off-screen growth allows him to realise that potential later when he returns. Moro, by contrast, is unquestionably always the key threat, and…stays that way, but isn’t the key occupant of our attention. To me, that can only serve to hammer home the feeling that we just mark time in much of this arc. But when he’s back in focus, he’s very effective: Toyotarou went for a feeling of ‘we have to beat this guy no matter what!’, and he nailed that. I still think some other quirk might have given Moro some added dimensions, but as he is, he certainly has ‘cut-through’. I can appreciate that. And while I once thought his dependency on Piccolo Daimao for his depiction was a little limiting, I now think it works very well for the broader story being told here, particularly in relation to Goku’s own character arc – both in terms of how neither of them fundamentally change from beginning to end (despite both doing so on the outside), and in terms of Moro being a fitting sort of adversary in an arc where Goku surpasses the Gods (as he did in the Piccolo Daimao-23rd Budokai cycle in original Dragon Ball).
And Moro runs the themes of the arc strongly and relentlessly. Toyotarou has shown an aptitude for theme-work throughout much of Dragon Ball Super, using them in earnest from the Future Trunks arc onwards (though arguably you can see some of the more pervasive series themes before then, and on reflection, there are themes running even in the Universe 6 Tournament arc), and his theme-work in the Tournament of Power, and the way it intersected with a character-driven plot, was very strong, and highly enjoyable. In this arc, the approach continues, stronger than ever: the arc relentlessly pushes combinations of Stealing, Earning, and Giving in its plot points and character interactions, and to good effect: Moro is strongly characterised by his function as a Thief, and his smallness as just a Thief shines through his grandiose self-presentation; whereas Merus (one of the best things about the arc) is a relentless Giver, which is why it’s so easy to side with the character and like the things he does (along with him being a super-competent guy who does lots of cool stuff) – and in the middle, you have Goku and Vegeta striving to Earn their way through to victory, but each finding that Earning isn’t enough on its own and needs an act of Giving to truly fulfil the promise of Earning and so gain the victory. Even between themselves, Goku and Vegeta bifurcate and overlap simultaneously on these themes, as Vegeta initially Earns his power to Steal from the Thief (Stealing-Earning), whereas Goku Earns his power by way of a Gift, and seeks to Give in turn, even to the villain of the piece (Earning-Giving), manifesting the tension between this pair even when they align. It also obviously sets them off against Moro, as they both manage to prove (Goku in an extremely in-your-face way, in 超 #65) that the virtuous path of Earning is a superior approach to the malign path of Stealing, which Moro (literally) embodies.
Also relevant on these lines is the theme of Facing the Past, Forging the Future, which pervades the arc, particularly where Vegeta is concerned, but gains special extra dimensions in the middle, where we learn more about Merus, and in the Final Act, where the seeds sown for Vegeta and Merus bear fruit, and the whole structure of the confrontation centres around the original Story of Dragon Ball, thus revealing Goku’s place in the arc. The theme, as such, is pretty much always with us in Dragon Ball Super in one way or another, given its status as an interquel for a famous and beloved series (and it is sometimes used in fluffy and gratuitous ways), here it is deployed in substantial ways that add real depth to the arc: we see a nurturing of Vegeta’s own moral sense, as he takes the first step to making amends for his past sins – here, the sins of DB #259, where he “did untold harm” to the Namekians, but as a cipher for his broader sins – and progressing towards a more heroic sensibility that may culminate in the character of DB #518-519 who is arguably more at ease with himself and his surroundings (the Granolah arc plays further on this inner journey, as 超 #69 establishes that Vegeta bears a burden of guilt for all the things the Saiyans have done, not just his own sins). Merus confronts the nature of his own existence by internalising the things he has come to know and believe from his time in the Galactic Patrol, as this drives him more towards Goku’s point of view and away from his own sympathetic neutrality, as he goes ‘all-in’ on saving the future of the Galaxy at his own expense and puts faith in his allies to bring it all home – and as a result, he gains a future (by way of a Gift) that he might not have anticipated, but which fulfils the desires that have bloomed within him (being able to use his own future to fight whole-heartedly for Justice and to maintain the Peace of the Galaxy). And then there’s Goku – I’ve banged on about it (and again, apologies if any have found it tendentious or trying their patience), but why stop now? – whose arc across Dragon Ball Super culminates in a way that is fundamentally directed by his own story from the Piccolo Daimao arc onwards, through all of Dragon Ball up to the end. Just as the Tournament of Power arc took the characters who belonged to that story and made them key to the workings of the arc, the Galactic Patrol Prisoner arc takes the Story itself and uses it to drive through the resolution of the arc, in a way that I find effective and deeply satisfying, as links up with the future that we know is coming in its final beats, as the sub-structural underpinnings naturally coast through Dragon Ball’s arcs until we get the revelation of Uub and his power, which is deeply connected to Goku’s own past and future, and plays strongly into the present by way of the broader work it’s doing with Goku surpassing the Gods in his achievement of Ultra Instinct. It’s like these two most recent arcs of Super serve as a kind of Goku-centric ‘diptych’, deploying both of the elements of his story in ways that make the arcs what they are. While appropriating the backstory to make the story we see now, it’s obviously more plot-driven (or should that be theme-driven?) than the Tournament of Power, which used the characters as such and was therefore more character-driven as a matter of course, but I still think it’s very clever and one of the real strong points of this arc.
It also works in the here and now, as the characters interact with each other and we see this theme and the ‘mechanics’ of the arc interact satisfyingly with motifs of Change and the Unchanging. Fans puzzled over why Goku emerges to become the natural opponent of Moro when on a surface reading, Vegeta seems to be the more productive engagement, as he clearly and obviously pins his personal development and character arc on being able to thwart Moro, whereas Goku doesn’t, beyond simply having to attain power in order to beat the Bad Guy for its own sake; thus, some fans thought this was an artificial privileging of Goku’s position as Main Character against the general drift of where the story ‘ought’ to go. But really, bearing the foregoing in mind, the story goes exactly where it ought to because of the substructural elements that all point to Goku’s centrality – both the ‘Level 2’ reading, where the character arc follows Goku’s path to surpassing the Gods, which naturally plays him off against Moro, who is a villain who takes so much in his conception and activity from the last character who served as a foil for this in Goku’s story (Piccolo), and the ‘Level 3’ reading, which presumes upon the patterns and progression of Goku’s own story to work out the resolution to this arc, and shows up Goku’s core changelessness in so doing (which is highlighted by Piccolo in 超 #61). And this plays him off directly and naturally against Moro again, because Moro too is changeless at heart, and we get a dynamic of an unstoppable force meeting an immoveable object, which is the most fundamentally natural confrontation that I can think runs in this arc: Goku doesn’t change inwardly, only outwardly, Moro doesn’t change inwardly, only outwardly, and so the way they interact has to go to the same bitter end that Goku’s opposition to Piccolo Daimao went, despite Goku’s own (unchanging) attempt to begin to divert Moro to the alternative Piccolo path of redemption, by sparing him in 超 #65 and showing him the deficiency of his character and approach. I find this, too, effective, and all the more so when you bring the other two main characters – Vegeta and Merus – back into the picture, as they are the two characters who exemplify Change, both within and without (Vegeta the former, Merus the latter by way of the former), as these two play off against this clash by demonstrating the ways in which Goku’s changelessness induces change in others, but that this change also gives Goku something he can’t achieve on his own. That, too, is a pervasive pattern of his own story.
The motifs of Change and Changelessness, governed as they are by the themes of Stealing, Earning and Giving and the wider structural drift of Facing the Past, Forging the Future also intersect with the motif introduced by Vegeta’s interaction with the Yardratians – another strong point of the arc, even in the pervasive slowness of the Second Act – in the principle that Where the Spirit Leads, the Body Follows. The arc hammers on this motif again and again with every outside change, particularly in Moro and the relentless drive of his own incorrigible Spirit to steal ever more ‘Spirit’ (ki), which forms and re-forms his exterior, until the sheer corrupting, insatiable influence of his Spirit drives him beyond the point where it is tenable anymore, and his body manifests this grotesquely until he quite literally destroys himself: his eyes being bigger than his stomach, he Steals ever less digestible prizes, and his inability to Change ruins him: which is why there is no Future for him. Contrast this with Merus in particular, whose Spirit aligns with the lodestar that is Goku’s Changelessness, such that when he uses his own Divine Spirit (ki) it leads him to erasure, but the virtuous nature of his Spirit, and his Change, portends another Change that opens the way to a Future of fulfilment for Merus. While Vegeta doesn’t change outwardly, he is brought further into balance between his Body and Spirit (ki), as shown in 超 #55, which is one manifestation of a broader push by Vegeta to balance his Spirit, and which shows that the main thing that has being holding Vegeta back is…Vegeta. The Granolah arc will build further on the good work done here. And, of course, all of these themes and motifs fuse into a single, satisfying unit in resolving the arc.
So I think all of the theme-work and structural work used to tell the story in the Moro arc, particularly the Final Act, is actually stellar – cleverer and more pervasive even than the Tournament of Power, though one gets the sense that the themes and motifs lead the characters at times, rather than the characters leading the themes, which is what the Tournament of Power arc still has over its bigger, unwieldier ‘partner’. But once those pieces are in place, and are actually being used in the momentum of the arc’s climactic Act, all of the good work tumbles out richly and dynamically for all to see, and I genuinely think that that stuff specifically may well be the best stuff Toyotarou has done yet. So while the flaws of the Moro arc are too glaring and pervasive to let me conclude that as a whole it is anything like Dragon Ball Super’s best, its good features are the best features of the series up to this point. Perhaps that’s why the arc is so divisive among the fandom: there’s plenty that isn’t up to scratch, and this less-good stuff has an outsized position in the arc that makes it impossible to ignore (hence the negative judgement given by so many), but there’s also a clean cut-through that uses a very clever and satisfying set of patterns and interactions that is ultimately both a ‘Love Letter’ to the original series and yet something of its own which is presented, at its heights, more strongly than the previous arcs, as it unites with the key features of the conflict at hand – and so I see the contrasting judgement by fans that it’s the best arc yet. I guess it depends on what features come out strongest for each reader.
The presumption of the fandom (and the implication by Toyotarou himself, arguably) is that Toyotarou took a bigger role in fashioning this arc than he did in previous arcs. If so, I think this demonstrates the work of a generally talented storyteller, who nevertheless needs more guidance to refine his sensibilities and present a more polished and even product. In that vein, I should make a comment on the art: Toyotarou has by this point drawn around 170 ‘old-money’ Chapters-worth of manga for this series now, and I’m really surprised to look at the difference between his output now and back, say, in the ordinary scenes of the Future Trunks arc – it has come a long way. We don’t have quite as much information on how Toriyama reviews and corrects his art anymore (we see a couple of panels of Son Goku from early in 超 #64, but that’s all), but I get the impression that Toyotarou’s work continues to be more refined and confident than it was. There are some things he still could do to progress further, such as cutting out shots that are logical but not necessary to our comprehension (as mentioned of 超 #61), but the wealth of strong design work where it matters (i.e, not the Bandit Brigade or the other mooks), such as Moro’s original and OG73-I conceptions, or Merus’s slightly bishy, slightly out-of-place retro-futurist look, and the strong and creative work in most of the Chapters, show how he’s developed as an artist; much the same view could be taken of his development as a storyteller – strong groundwork, excellent features, and a pervasive genuineness in its presentation, but requiring more development to polish, tighten, and excise where necessary. I hope Toyotarou still has more room to grow as one of the principal storytellers of Dragon Ball.

...the TL;DR of which is:

• The Moro arc is occasionally excellent (mostly in the Final Act, in my opinion, but the First Act is also pretty good), marred at points by glaring flaws, and on balance comes out looking alright. Nothing like Dragon Ball Super's best, but not bad.
• The theme-work in the arc is excellent, like in basically all the other Super Manga arcs, particularly with the focus on Stealing, Earning, and Giving throughout, but also with ideas of Change and Changelessness, one's own spirit being manifested on the outside by the body, and the facing of the past - to wit:
• The way Goku, Vegeta and Merus's character arcs are variously handled in the arc is also strong, and the different ways Goku and Vegeta confront the problem of Moro is rewarding (particularly the way the Final Act seems to me to draw simultaneously on the Piccolo Cycle and on Goku's story as told in Dragon Ball overall to resolve itself);
• I didn't like Moro much on the first read through, but on re-read, he grew on me; he has definite presence and cut-through, his schtick works, and the way his actions bear the themes of the arc also work for me;
• On the other hand... the pacing is screwy; there's no denying it. Partly it's just too slow, not allowing enough to unfold per Chapter (200 pages could have been lopped off the sum total of the arc without causing any issues to speak of), and occasionally the plot moves elliptically to end up right back at the beginning of a series of actions already initiated (e.g. the faffing about in Space only to re-confront Moro back on Namek, but most egregiously, stopping the action-in-progress on Earth in Chapter 54, only to re-initiate it as a sideshow in Chapter 56); occasionally this sucked the momentum out of the plot.
• While I like Moro better on re-read, I like the Saganbo Bandit Brigade even less than I did previously. With the exception of Saganbo, OG73-I (who is functionally necessary to the plot) and Yuzun (who gets an entertaining little run-out in Chapter 55) none of them do anything interesting or worthwhile, even in the set-piece sideshow dedicated to them. If Moro needed goons, less would've been more, and they could've been more skilfully deployed.

I think that's the fairest short appraisal of the arc I can give.

[Thani]

I think from a story perspective, this arc would fit better in between the first two arcs of Super (BoG and RoF). All I would change is how Moro's magic work (as in, he can't actually handle god ki without going boom).

Apart from that, I enjoy the arc for what it is.

[BWri]

I will say that it's the first arc that felt like it had proper spectacle to it. I think, for a while that the manga has lacked in the style department which the anime delivers in spades from the very end of the U6 arc on. This arc seemed like it captured some of that vs the earlier arcs which feel dry compared to the anime.

[Kataphrut]

It was pretty good- it lagged in the middle, but had a strong start and end which is the best way to go. I liked the focus on Goku and Vegeta's mutual development as warriors after the previous story arcs left them both flat. I wasn't keen on Merus for most of it, but he won me over in the last act. And the climax was terrific- I really hope we get to see it animated someday.

The most interesting thing to me about the Moro arc was how it felt like a step-forward for Super while also feeling like a Z throwback. On the one hand, it gave Vegeta a purpose and dramatised motivation beyond being Goku's grumpy sidekick, on the other hand it gave us Moro, the least nuanced villain the series has had since the revival.

[Trouser]

It's bad, but not as bad as Fukkatsu no F'. The only thing I liked in this... was introducing two types of Yardratians (from DBZ and DBO). Oh, and Yamcha. It was nice that he wasn't forgotten AGAIN when old fart Roshi fights all the time (I will never understand why is he on the battlefield). Other than that, I can't say anything good about it.

[superfan2024]

Terrible, terrible, generic, bland villain. You'd think Toriyama had learned how to make good, morally grey villains after Zamasu, turns out he hasn't. He couldn't even be bothered to explain Moro's origins, is there a more lazy and forgettable villain? Nope.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but wasn't this arc mostly Toyotaro's path? With Toriyama just adding bits and pieces here and there?

[GatoF]

Good: The arc gave a chance to every z fighter to fight except Goten and Trunks as usual.
New techniques for Vegeta and Gohan(Gohan only had kamehameha and masenko until that arc)
Merus is an interesting new character.
Uub showed a bit of his potential.

Bad: Moro is the worst thing of the arc. I had good expectations for him as he was hyped as a villain who uses mainly magic and not brute strenght but in the end he is probably the worst villain Dragon Ball ever had.
Moro's background is a copy of King Piccolo's background and his powers were a copy of the Androids(drain) and Cell(tecniques of all the z fighters). Almost nothing about magic.
The ending was also a copy of the Cell arc in which Moro tried to explode himself to destroy the Earth because Goku like Gohan with Cell didn't finish him when he could.
His personality is very bland, Freeza compared to him is x1000 times better in charisma.

[Jamtia]

If they do an anime adaptation, I hope they give Moro some umph. Maybe some backstory, more personality, more use of magic. I felt like there was more potential with Moro and I do agree with the Cell comparisons.

[Cipher]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but wasn't this arc mostly Toyotaro's path? With Toriyama just adding bits and pieces here and there?

Never been confirmed, but that seems to be the (not exactly subtle) implication in all the behind-the-scenes talk and promotion surrounding the arc.

[Zephyr]

I liked when he became a planet.