Deep Thoughts: The Best of the Next World Tournament Saga

Discussion regarding the entirety of the franchise in a general (meta) sense, including such aspects as: production, trends, merchandise, fan culture, and more.

Moderators: General Help, Kanzenshuu Staff

User avatar
ABED
Namekian Warrior
Posts: 20276
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:23 am
Location: Skippack, PA
Contact:

Deep Thoughts: The Best of the Next World Tournament Saga

Post by ABED » Mon Mar 06, 2023 7:35 pm

After nearly 200 episodes of story arcs that were of a more "serious" nature, it was nice to have a pallet cleanser before we go into the next one. I know the Buu arc starts off as almost a farce, but this arc is pure fun from beginning to end and doesn't overstay its' welcome. It's a nice way to decompress. In the first episode, we see more of the godly hierarchy not just other Kaio's, but we meet their boss. I love how silly and catty they all are with each other. I'm an atheist so the divine doesn't interest me. Beings that feel more human interest me way more, and they all feel like a bickering family. What's also amusing is how they mock our Kaio, the North Kaio, for being "dead". He has a halo, but it makes no real difference, and yet they mock him. Afterwards, we take a brief visit to Hell to subdue a rebellion of old villains. It's a cheap pop, but I like seeing a much stronger version of our heroes meet old villains.

We've had plenty of tournaments, and I'm all for more, but they all don't have to be long. A four episode good hearted tournament is a joy to watch. It's full of silly new characters but what I find interesting is how the story builds an interesting rivalry between Goku and another noble character. We don't always need good guys and bad guys. It's a martial arts story and athletes are naturally competitive.

The tournament is kept brief because it doesn't drag out each match. The more humorous bouts last long enough to give us one or two gags like the speedster running out of gas quickly into the bout, or Caterpi wrapping himself in a cocoon that as it turns out will take 1,200 years to hatch. I first saw it over 20 years ago and it's a gag that still makes me chuckle. "You hurt me, now you've made me really mad. I'm gonna transform and take you down, just you wait!" And by wait, he means over a millennium. In the finals, Goku and Paikuhan have an enjoyable, competitive, exciting match where we get a great example of the kind of fight he wants – one that takes him to the limit, but isn't against a megalomaniac out to destroy anyone in his way. I choose to believe that Goku won since no one knew about the roof rule. It's a rule no one knew because it wasn't established up front. This isn't the first time Grand Kaio did something like this with the rules. He "won" the race between Goku and East Kaio even though he never told anyone he was going to be part of the race.

And so this brief story arc comes to a close as the story cuts to 7 years later and we meet a teenage Son Gohan as he leaves for school.

The Dub:
The look and voice of the Grand Kaio remind me of The Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant. Do any old school wrestling fans get that vibe?
Olivue is first time I remember hearing the voice of Rick Robertson. It's another one of those voices like Brice Armstrong's that I enjoy listening to.
Looking at the wikia page, it appears the The Tournament Announcer was voiced initially by Mark Britten then Brandon Potter in the remastered version. I don't remember the remastered version, but I can recall Britten's performance even after 20 years. For a while I didn’t enjoy it. I felt it was trying too hard to be silly and funny. I've since gotten over that. It's not my favorite voice, but it doesn't bother me.

Home Video:
Of course, the story arc is subsumed into the next one. There are only 5 episodes and the VHS/DVD episode count only comes in groups of 3 or 4. Is that it? Is that their entire line of thinking?
Last edited by ABED on Tue Mar 07, 2023 12:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The biggest truths aren't original. The truth is ketchup. It's Jim Belushi. Its job isn't to blow our minds. It's to be within reach.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take - Wayne Gretzky" - Michael Scott
Happiness is climate, not weather.

User avatar
MasenkoHA
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 6201
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2017 9:38 pm

Re: Deep Thoughts: The Best of the Next World Tournament Saga

Post by MasenkoHA » Mon Mar 06, 2023 7:58 pm

ABED wrote: Mon Mar 06, 2023 7:35 pm
Looking at the wikia page, it appears the The Tournament Announcer was voiced initially by Mark Britten then Brandon Potter in the remastered version. I don't remember the remastered version, but I can recall Britten's performance even after 20 years. For a while I didn’t enjoy it. I felt it was trying too hard to be silly and funny. I've since gotten over that. It's not my favorite voice, but it doesn't bother me.
The wikia claims that but I'm not sure how true it is. It sure as hell sounded just like Mark Britten to me. But that was the blu-ray masters on FuniNow maybe the redub for that character only happened on the Orange Bricks?

Then again, the wikia also claim Man-Wolf's voice is no longer distorted in the blue bricks and it definitely is

Cipher
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 6333
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2009 11:54 pm
Location: Nagano
Contact:

Re: Deep Thoughts: The Best of the Next World Tournament Saga

Post by Cipher » Tue Mar 07, 2023 2:21 am

This is the strongest filler arc on the strength of the Caterpi gag alone. It also doesn’t overstay its welcome. I like it.

Paikuhan is basically a Hit before Hit—a stoic but non-antagonistic rival with little backstory who provides a challenge to Goku in a short, half-comedic tournament while befriending him at the same time. Hit winds up being more fun and memorable, but Paikuhan gets the job done.

User avatar
Koitsukai
I Live Here
Posts: 4276
Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2018 5:02 pm

Re: Deep Thoughts: The Best of the Next World Tournament Saga

Post by Koitsukai » Tue Mar 07, 2023 11:14 am

Paikuhan got a really strong introduction, putting down Freeza, Cold and in a ball of fire put Cell in jail. Nice moves too, that attack he spammed on Goku was so cool.
He is the missing link between Piccolo and Hit, with the weighted clothes and all. I never found Goku's method of defeating Paikuhan that impressive but it was satisfying, and also I really liked how Paikuhan took his defeat even though he controlled the entirety of the fight.

I liked that roach-like speedster fighter, and the Aqua dude, bringing a pool to the arena, he looked so helpless. I was left wanting for more Olibu, I don't think we saw him fight. But it's ok, a longer tourney would've defeated its purpose.
I liked that he was an earthling, I wonder when he was a hero, maybe he met Mutaito or he trained him, or perhaps he lived even before Namek's climate change brought us the first namekian.

The arena and the whole scenario is so beautiful, fighting among satellites and stars on the roof. The Great Kaiosama is fantastic, jeans, boots, a beard, a boombox, a 50's car. Now that's a god.

User avatar
Super Sonic
Born 'n Bred Here
Posts: 5171
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2004 4:45 pm

Re: Deep Thoughts: The Best of the Next World Tournament Saga

Post by Super Sonic » Tue Mar 07, 2023 10:47 pm

Koitsukai wrote: Tue Mar 07, 2023 11:14 am I was left wanting for more Olibu, I don't think we saw him fight. But it's ok, a longer tourney would've defeated its purpose.
I liked that he was an earthling, I wonder when he was a hero, maybe he met Mutaito or he trained him, or perhaps he lived even before Namek's climate change brought us the first namekian.
I had a feeling he was before them as King Kai called him a base of myths and legends so figured like Ancient Greece like or at least several thousand years dead a la Hercules.

Vijay
Advanced Regular
Posts: 1423
Joined: Fri Sep 06, 2013 9:48 am

Re: Deep Thoughts: The Best of the Next World Tournament Saga

Post by Vijay » Wed Mar 08, 2023 5:33 am

Was short, sweet & cherry on the cake was Goku winnin the Tourney as if toei gifted it to him to make up for CG battle. And yeah, its still an iconic saga/arc for whatever reasons. The strongest filler arc ever since heyday DB filler arcs

Dragon Ball Ireland
I Live Here
Posts: 3540
Joined: Thu May 21, 2015 9:09 am
Location: Sligo, Ireland

Re: Deep Thoughts: The Best of the Next World Tournament Saga

Post by Dragon Ball Ireland » Wed Mar 08, 2023 6:09 am

ABED wrote: Mon Mar 06, 2023 7:35 pmI'm an atheist so the divine doesn't interest me. Beings that feel more human interest me way more, and they all feel like a bickering family.
As an agnostic I'm never willing to rule out the possibility of something being out there, and am interested in different conceptions of what any sort of divine entity would be. In Dragon Ball is that the idea of what a God is always escalates, much like levels of power in general. We had a god of the Earth (Kami), the North quadrant (Kaio-sama), in this arc we have a Kai above both and the Kais of the other three quadrants (Grand Kai), then its Supreme Kai, Gods of Destruction that are even stronger than all of them, and now that there's 12 universes we have the Omni-King who rules all universes. The question now is if that will ever be topped, but I wouldn't put anything past Toriyama. Hell in the case of Saiyans one can be born a mortal but become a God, although I don't think we will see Goku ever surpass anyone stronger than Whis.
Do you have any info about international non-English broadcasts about the Dragon Ball anime or manga translations/editions? Please message me. Researching for a future book with Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula :thumbup:

Post Reply