MajinMan wrote:Cabba was great this episode. I felt that his moments and power ups were well earned. The way Freeza took him out was also pretty chilling, showing how Freeza will take whatever chance he gets to eliminate fatigued warriors. And back to Cabba's power up, you know how this fandom works. There's probably a bunch of people going, "OmG, CaBbA jUsT pUlleD SsJ2 OuT oF hiS aSs. WhAt ShiT wRiGhTiNg. DbS sUcKs." Why the hell are people so obsessed with knocking down the U6 Saiyans power ups? They're not main characters. They don't need to "earn" anything. If they do, then it's a bonus, like tonight. Just because they're Saiyans doesn't mean shit. I bet nobody gives a damn about the two Namekians putting up a fight against Gohan and Piccolo, but if they were Saiyans the world would explode.
I half-agree with you here. Just being a Saiyan shouldn't mean shit. It likely wouldn't either; I don't recall hearing many complaints about Future Trunks showing up with SSJ already unlocked. I think the main problem really arises from how Super set up the Universe 6 Saiyans in the first place. They portrayed them as being Saiyans with a different evolutionary process (hence the lack of tails) and having no such thing as a Super Saiyan legend. Before Vegeta helped Cabba tap into the Super Saiyan form, it was unheard of in Universe 6. Now in this arc, we're just speeding through forms like it's an 80's montage. Let's do a list of every newly acquired transformation since this arc began:
1.) SSJ for Caulifla
2.) Super Saiyan Berserk for Kale
3.) SSJ2 for Caulifla
4.) SSJ(?) for Kale (the controlled form in episode 101)
5.) Ultra Instinct for Goku
6.) SSJ2 for Cabba
I've heard the term "transformation fatigue" thrown around and I can understand why. They're cramming all these transformations in a short time span.
As for "earning" it, I think you're just looking at it with a different mindset. Many people have fond memories of watching Goku tap into his anger against Freeza and unleash Super Saiyan, or Gohan's explosion of rage against Cell. There were events and build-up that lead to these transformations. Having Caulifla tingle her back and turn on SSJ can be seen by some as lessening the value of Goku's transformation on Namek. Of course, this issue also isn't exclusive to Saiyans. I still remember how epic the initial Kamehameha fired by Master Roshi was; now Kamehamehas are a dime a dozen. Saiyans and their transformations are just held in a higher regard than energy techniques.
"If you notice this and understand that it's flawed and just don't let it bother you, that's perfectly fine. But enjoying a flawed movie and calling a movie flawless are two completely different things."
-Adam from YourMovieSucksDOTorg
(Replace "movie" with "DBS episode" and that's pretty much my thoughts in regards to DBS critique)