It's made painfully clear that everything will die if Buu lives, the battlefield is basically at the end of existence with the guardians of the universe watching on, Goku is fighting all out with a power implied to be ridiculous by the series' own standards, jumping back and forth between loving the challenge of an enemy tailor-made for him and cursing Buu's resilience, Vegeta pretty much becomes Goku's brother from another mother after dropping the angst, we get to see just how stupid the Dragon Ball populace is (Going with Vegeta on that one), and the Spirit Bomb final gets some properly built, non-movie time in the spotlight after it's made adequately clear that there really isn't another way.
I shall proceed to ruin itGaffer Tape wrote:Was that a TFS reference/joke?
Dragon Ball Kai Abridged Part 1:
Goku: Ah, he took my son!
Piccolo: I'm here to help you!
Goku: Aren't we enemies?
Piccolo: Nobody watched Dragon Ball, let's go!
To count that as a "fight" wouldn't being doing it justice; that was an event. I'd count both that scene and the Cell games, which is the only other time Z really catches that tone again, only made more impressive that we had a clear-cut final battle after the twistiest arc in the series, two of the series highest points.Gaffer Tape wrote:The fight with Nappa and Vegeta. Most well done. Most emotionally-driven. Most, for lack of a better term, realistic. There is a build. All the characters get to do stuff and haven't yet found the stupid terrible idea of exclusively one-on-one fights. There isn't some huge build-up of multiple characters having a huge, massive power-up only to fail. There is an awesome feeling of despair. I could probably go on about it all day, but it's the last fight that doesn't have all the trappings and cliches that DBZ would become known for.
The Saiyan fight because it introduced the brutality and power that Z villains would operate with, and the results of failure against this new caliber of enemy; death, and lots of it. Even if you saw Z first and first half second, you could see the violent tone change; I remember Bulma's grabbing the frame of the crew at the 23rd and asking "What happened?" The Cell games because the whole thing is borrowed time; the love of the battle Goku's genes gave Cell was the only reason the crew was still alive, and Cell could cut the facade at a moment's notice, as he does when Gohan snaps.
I think people put a bit too much stock in that Buu's beat him with a stupid trick; to see Gohan maxed out with intent to kill, but a completely clear mind going- versus bursting with power but momentarily becoming Vegeta against Cell- was a great way to complete his character. Hitting Buu so hard that he has an identity crisis has to count for something.Kid Buu wrote:I realize I am in the minority here with my vote, but I really enjoy both of Gohan's bouts with Super Buu. You can just feel the brutality in the punches in that match.
