Kid Boo Finale... Was Namek Necessary?

[Bento-uri]

I loved where the Kid Boo finale was headed. Earth exploding, the fight moving to Kaioshin's realm. The fighting, Vegeta's "hats off to Kakarot" (best moment in the saga), and even Fat Boo suddenly returning all made excellent stakes.

Namek was the problem. The moment Vegeta brings it up, the momentum is lost. His telepathic communication with Dende... The whole thing was too convenient, especially with the Namekians having all seven dragon balls ready at hand, and their elder announcing that the balls have been “powered up” to revive any number of people with a single wish. Some argue that Frieza and Cell ended in the same "convenient" way, but I really think their stakes were organic and earned in a way Kid Boo's climax was not.

Even Vegeta instructing Goku to use the Genki Dama made no sense. Why would a technique he's barely familiar with suddenly cross his mind? He was hit by it exactly once, over ten years ago, and he hadn't even had the luxury of admiring it; it literally snuck up on him while he was charging Gohan, and it had been hurled by Krillin, not Goku.

Do you think this was Toriyama trying to wrap up the story without wracking his brains too much?

[PhantomSaiyan]

I don't see the problem with it.

Maybe it seems off to you because it's one of the few moments where the characters actually act smart and use everything they have at their disposal instead of choosing the dumbest and hardest route to solve their problems

[BernardoCairo]

I like the fact that the Dragon Balls help Goku one last time before the story is over.

As for the Genkidama, it's the best move to finish off Dragon Ball. I can't see an ending without it.

[Bento-uri]

I don't see the problem with it.

Maybe it seems off to you because it's one of the few moments where the characters actually act smart and use everything they have at their disposal instead of choosing the dumbest and hardest route to solve their problems

The only thing that's off here is your concept of "smart."

What else have you got backward?

As for the Genkidama, it's the best move to finish off Dragon Ball.

Maybe, if Vegeta hadn't conjured up that solution out of nowhere.

[PhantomSaiyan]

The only thing that's off here is your concept of "smart."

What else have you got backward?

So is it the only thing that's off? Or is there more? You seem confused with your own statement here. Not to mention the pointless and petty hostility, which I do no appreciate.

And secondly, there is no world in which using everything you have at your disposal, like the spirit bomb and the namekian Dragon Ball is not smart.

Now explain and prove to me that it's not smart, I'll wait. You won't be able to, because it's objectively smart to do what they did, and there is no counter argument to that, but I'll wait.

[BernardoCairo]

Maybe, if Vegeta hadn't conjured up that solution out of nowhere.

He didn’t, really. He’d already been hit by that same attack before, so he knew exactly how devastating it could be. And this time it wasn’t even the standard version. They had to power it up way beyond what Goku used on Earth, so it’s not like he underestimated it or walked in blind.
Honestly, Vegeta coming up with the plan is the best part. It fits perfectly with the theme of teamwork, and it pushes his character forward in a really meaningful way. Instead of going for some huge, flashy move like the Final Flash, he suggests relying on everyone else. These are the same people he once saw as worthless and was ready to wipe out without a second thought. The fact that he’s now putting his faith in them says way more about his growth than any random explosion ever could.

[dbgtFO]

Maybe, if Vegeta hadn't conjured up that solution out of nowhere.

He didn’t, really. He’d already been hit by that same attack before, so he knew exactly how devastating it could be. And this time it wasn’t even the standard version. They had to power it up way beyond what Goku used on Earth, so it’s not like he underestimated it or walked in blind.
Honestly, Vegeta coming up with the plan is the best part. It fits perfectly with the theme of teamwork, and it pushes his character forward in a really meaningful way. Instead of going for some huge, flashy move like the Final Flash, he suggests relying on everyone else. These are the same people he once saw as worthless and was ready to wipe out without a second thought. The fact that he’s now putting his faith in them says way more about his growth than any random explosion ever could.

It's mostly because Vegeta just knows about the Genkidama in the first place.
No one told him about it on screen, but he somehow knows everything about it from its name to its properties and how it's Goku's move not Krillin's.

[ThunderPX]

I don't think it's improbable that Vegeta would have learned about the Genki Dama at some point, especially because it's the last move Goku did before becoming a Super Saiyan. Given how badly he wanted to surpass Goku, it makes sense that he'd get all info possible on what the latter did. He could've asked Bulma at any point in the previous decade, who'd probably know about it from Gohan or Kuririn.

The stuff where the Namekian Dragon Balls are ready to go and set up precisely the way they need is pretty damn convenient, but I think it would've been a mistake not to involve Namek and their balls, and I don't see how Toriyama could've set that up beforehand. Although, weren't the Namekians already aware of some shit going down on Earth during the Cell arc before Goku showed up to get Dende? Was that filler? I guess that would create a precedent for the Namekians being aware of stuff that's going on far away, especially since Buu's rampage is on a much bigger scale than what Cell was doing.

[Yuji]

I think everything works wonderfully. The move that never works finally working when used as intended. The people of Earth uniting and saving themselves, in a series that is often cynical about the good of humanity, in an arc where the potential malice of mankind was illustrated already. The fraud with a heart of gold saving the day. Goku's friends he met along the way all contributing to the power. The dragon balls helping one final time. Culminating in the defeat of Goku's most twisted parallel, after he had destroyed humanity and Earth, who then reincarnates into Goku's successor.

It's one of the best finales to anything ever.

[BernardoCairo]

I agree with you both. Vegeta was so obsessed with Goku... Why wouldn't he know about Goku's greatest move after spending so much time on Earth? It makes no sense.

The Genkidama was the best way the series could've ever ended. So much so that GT pretty much copied it just two years later.

[SylentEcho]

Vegeta coming up with a plan for Goku to finish Majin Boo off is a testament to how much he grew and matured after shaking off his selfishness during their second fight. He just needed to get all of those grudges off his chest and he was a new man. The, "old" Vegeta would have insisted on him being the one to beat him, or would have sat off to the side, sulking about his own lack of power, while Goku fought Boo.

Regarding him not knowing, there was a ten year gap, so it's safe to assume he asked about the fight against Freeza at some point and Piccolo or Gohan might have filled him in with the details.

Namek being shown one more time tied everything together. The place where the Dragon Balls were born, had saved them after Freeza, and it was only fitting that they solve the final problem, as well. I thought a planetary Genki Dama was a great idea and for once, instead of using just nature, he got the whole planet to help build it, so it didn't seem like a lame ending at all, IMO.

[bahhma]

Even Vegeta instructing Goku to use the Genki Dama made no sense. Why would a technique he's barely familiar with suddenly cross his mind? He was hit by it exactly once, over ten years ago, and he hadn't even had the luxury of admiring it; it literally snuck up on him while he was charging Gohan, and it had been hurled by Krillin, not Goku.

Heh, I never thought of that. That's true.

To keep it in-universe, maybe Gohan, Kuririn or Piccolo described the Freeza fight to Vegeta sometime between arcs (off page/screen). I could see it likely being Gohan as during the high school arc, Gohan and Trunks had a bit of rapport with each other implying that Gohan visits occasionally.

[Koitsukai]

I don't think it's a problem that Vegeta never saw the Genki Dama except for that time he got hit by it, they had just fused together a while ago. We know from DBS that fusion gives some sort of access to the other fusee's techniques (like knowing Goku had a better form of SSB), so he got a glimpse of all the details as Vegito.

The namekians coming in to play is not a issue for me, in fact, they are returning the favor after the gang saved their race, gave them a place to stay for a few months and wished them for a another planet.
It's the entire universe working together to end the greatest threat it's seen in eons.

[Kenji]

I don't see the problem with it.

Maybe it seems off to you because it's one of the few moments where the characters actually act smart and use everything they have at their disposal instead of choosing the dumbest and hardest route to solve their problems

But, they did choose the dumbest and hardest route, they destroyed the Potara only to complain about it 5 seconds after the fact.

[PhantomSaiyan]

But, they did choose the dumbest and hardest route, they destroyed the Potara only to complain about it 5 seconds after the fact.

Yeah, that's why I said it's one of the few instances of them actually dealing with things in a smart way.
I was just talking about that one instance of the namekian dragon balls and genkidama idea, the rest of the arc they handled it as stupidly as they always do

[MasenkoHA]

I mean….yes it was necessary. There were no earth dragon balls and the story wasn’t going to end with the entire earth gone forever and Goku and Vegeta the only survivors.

[GurixDr34]

I feel like Namek functions as nostalgia the Buu saga was supposed to be the end of Dragon Ball and the Frieza saga being a very important saga for the Anime or Z arc definitely should have had some reference to it in the ending of Buu saga

[vilker]

I love the way that Mr.Satan becomes a real hero!

I completely understand your critique regarding the convenience of Namek. However, looking at it in perspective, it was the necessary gear for Toriyama's true stroke of genius: orchestrating a climax where brute force gave way to pure narrative, closing out the evolution of all characters in a masterful and absolutely epic way—especially two men who truly defined this saga: Vegeta and Mr. Satan.

If we review the final battle, Mr. Satan's actions are the true catalyst for victory. He survives by chance, yes, but his presence causes Kid Buu to expel Mr. Buu, giving them that vital breathing room that neither Goku nor Vegeta could secure. In the most critical instant, a terrified, ordinary man runs toward certain death to drag Vegeta away, allowing Goku to detonate the Spirit Bomb. And most spectacularly: without his charisma, the distrustful and selfish human race would have never given their energy to our friends.

This crowns a legendary evolution. The arrogant fraud from the Cell saga, who stole credit out of pure ego, finally understands his fragility. He knows these monsters can disintegrate him with a glance, and yet he still acts. He teaches us that true courage is not the absence of fear, but facing it anyway. It was him, a simple human, who achieved what neither Super Saiyan 3 nor magic could: stopping Majin Buu's massacre using only empathy, taming a beast by treating it with compassion. Ultimately, in this final stand and thanks to his intervention, he becomes a true hero even to the Z Fighters. They no longer see him as a lying fraud but as one of their own, eventually becoming Mr. Buu's guardian and Goku's extended family.

Toriyama decided that, deep down, humanity had to save itself. Narratively, the easy way out was to abuse sheer strength once again: using Ultimate Gohan, Gotenks, or resorting to a new fusion. But all those options were deliberately discarded. The visual spectacle of transformations had already peaked in this saga, and the story was crying out for a different, much deeper, and more emotional closure.

That is why Buu reverted to his original form, stripping away his absorptions to give us a more visceral fight. It was the perfect stage for Vegeta to culminate his own incredible redemption, swallowing his eternal Saiyan Prince pride to acknowledge, once and for all in front of the entire universe, that Goku was the undisputed number one, while also giving Goku an opponent worthy of his maximum power.

Power scaling was already broken; victory could no longer simply depend on who hit the hardest. Mr. Satan functioned as the ultimate anchor between the divine and the earthly, and Vegeta reached his definitive maturity as a warrior. It was a monumental collective effort where the final lesson wasn't about being the strongest, but about redemption and unity. Master Toriyama did it again, delivering an ending that transcends action to become pure narrative epicness.

[Civic]

There are some definite problems with the Buu saga, but the ending is not one of them, as many of the above posters have outlined.

[Slangh]

When Goku loses SSJ3 and is sidelined, the main focus still remains on him and Vegeta, moving the actual fight to the backseat. The stakes can still be felt since Fat Buu will ultimately lose, but the story can take a little breather and builds up to the grand finale, which works very well.

Having the Genki Dama and Namek involved creates a sense of universality never seen before. Vegeta shows his growth and humility by coming up with the idea. For once, the people of Earth can take responsibility for defending their own planet. Goku just becomes a vessel for their power. There were no egos involved anymore (we Saiyans fight alone blahblah) so it's a mature way to defeat a villain. The Dragon Balls being used creates a nice bookend for the story.

IMO it's the best way a DB villain has ever been defeated. I can still remember watching the Genki Dama struggle on TV, I was pumped. The anime also added some extra dramatic scenes like Fat Buu stepping in once more to save Vegeta. Great stuff.

EDIT: How could I forget Mr. Satan's essential contribution! It's because of him befriending Buu before that Kid Buu had to resort to spitting out Fat Buu, gaining valuable time for everyone else. He was the one who truly convinced the Eartlings to contribute to the Genkidama and also saved Vegeta.