Regarding the Pure Boo > Gohan and the Genki Argument.

[OWmyDragonBallz]

One thing I want you guys to know is that I am currently in the Super boo > Kid boo belief. But I also got a response from someone recently which appears to be pretty plausible. But if you guys could verify this, that would be great ;





[Yes. Genki and ki are interchangeable. So it meant genki up to their limits as well. Genki doesn't represent your formidable power. Otherwise Gotenks and Gohan would have powered up or go SSJ3 first at full power and then give their ki. *]*******


Gotenks not fusing before giving his ki sounds more like a goof on the author's part as gotenks clearly has a far greater degree of lifeforce than goten and trunks separately, thus it would make sense to fuse regardless of how you interpret the means by which the genki dama functions. As to Gohan alone though, it makes sense. Powering up has never really been necessary for the transference of ki from one place to another. Dr. Gero sucks out Piccolo's ki just fine to the point of exhausting him, despite him having not taken the time to summon the inner reserves of his ki. Krillin and Gohan give Piccolo most of their ki just fine without the need to power up.

You say: ******[* Plus let's look at the fact that Goku's first assumption was to bring Gohan and Gotenks to fight. And we all know that Goku doesn't want to bring other fighters if they have no chance of victory. The Cell games proves that. ]******

Problem is that Goku did not really have a good grasp of how powerful Kid Buu was until the fight was over. When he came into the fight, he'd thought he'd be able to charge up his ki enough via SSJ3 to destroy Kid Buu in one blast. He was proven wrong, noting that Kid Buu was really powerful and that he had just been toying around the whole time. Goku then charges up the spirit bomb and tosses it at Kid Buu, only to be flabbergasted that Kid Buu is pushing it back. He doesn't actually realize that he needs to be at regular strength until then.

It's not until AFTER the fight is over that Goku and Vegeta realize what they had been dealing with. This is why Vegeta insist on destroying Fat Buu. What is Goku's response to this? That they simply bring Gohan and Gotenks next time? No. He says that they will train hard so that they will be ready if Kid Buu ever comes back, completely acknowledging that none of them are a match for Kid Buu at that point in time.

[Darkprince410]

[Yes. Genki and ki are interchangeable. So it meant genki up to their limits as well. Genki doesn't represent your formidable power. Otherwise Gotenks and Gohan would have powered up or go SSJ3 first at full power and then give their ki. *]*******

Genki and ki aren't interchangeable. Toriyama's established later that genki is just a single aspect of ki, so the Genki Dama draws specifically on the genki of a person, not the entirety of their ki. So Gohan only contributed a portion of his total strength to the Genki Dama, as he only contributed his genki, not his whole ki.

Problem is that Goku did not really have a good grasp of how powerful Kid Buu was until the fight was over. When he came into the fight, he'd thought he'd be able to charge up his ki enough via SSJ3 to destroy Kid Buu in one blast. He was proven wrong, noting that Kid Buu was really powerful and that he had just been toying around the whole time. Goku then charges up the spirit bomb and tosses it at Kid Buu, only to be flabbergasted that Kid Buu is pushing it back. He doesn't actually realize that he needs to be at regular strength until then.

He had a perfectly good grasp at how powerful Buu was. At no point is his opinion or notion of Buu's strength proven to be wrong. He states later that he never had a chance to try and attack Buu with a full power blast before, and after just couldn't sustain Ssj3 long enough to power up a full power blast to fire it. Likewise, no, he never said Buu was toying around with him the whole time. Literally the only thing he said about Buu toying around was that he didn't regenerate immediately from the blast he used against Buu.

As for the Genki Dama itself, the only reason that it didn't take out Buu initially was because Goku didn't have the strength to push it down. It had more than enough power behind it, just he himself didn't have the power to push it down.

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

Yeah, Goku knew how strong Kid Boo was. The only one who said Boo was stronger than he imagined was Vegeta. Goku was just baffled that Boo's Chi wasn't going down.

[OWmyDragonBallz]

[Yes. Genki and ki are interchangeable. So it meant genki up to their limits as well. Genki doesn't represent your formidable power. Otherwise Gotenks and Gohan would have powered up or go SSJ3 first at full power and then give their ki. *]*******

Genki and ki aren't interchangeable. Toriyama's established later that genki is just a single aspect of ki, so the Genki Dama draws specifically on the genki of a person, not the entirety of their ki. So Gohan only contributed a portion of his total strength to the Genki Dama, as he only contributed his genki, not his whole ki.

Problem is that Goku did not really have a good grasp of how powerful Kid Buu was until the fight was over. When he came into the fight, he'd thought he'd be able to charge up his ki enough via SSJ3 to destroy Kid Buu in one blast. He was proven wrong, noting that Kid Buu was really powerful and that he had just been toying around the whole time. Goku then charges up the spirit bomb and tosses it at Kid Buu, only to be flabbergasted that Kid Buu is pushing it back. He doesn't actually realize that he needs to be at regular strength until then.

He had a perfectly good grasp at how powerful Buu was. At no point is his opinion or notion of Buu's strength proven to be wrong. He states later that he never had a chance to try and attack Buu with a full power blast before, and after just couldn't sustain Ssj3 long enough to power up a full power blast to fire it. Likewise, no, he never said Buu was toying around with him the whole time. Literally the only thing he said about Buu toying around was that he didn't regenerate immediately from the blast he used against Buu.

As for the Genki Dama itself, the only reason that it didn't take out Buu initially was because Goku didn't have the strength to push it down. It had more than enough power behind it, just he himself didn't have the power to push it down.

What about the statements Goku and Vegeta said regarding if Boo should return, they'd all be toast so they should train so they don't lose against him next time and be prepared. You'd think they would bring up Gohan and Gotenks as a no brainer option.

[Darkprince410]

What about the statements Goku and Vegeta said regarding if Boo should return, they'd all be toast so they should train so they don't lose against him next time and be prepared. You'd think they would bring up Gohan and Gotenks as a no brainer option.

Vegeta's the only one that voices actual concern about it, that with Mr. Buu around and the possibility he'll just release another Pure Buu (or Pure Evil Buu), who knows what might happen. Look at how quickly Buu tried destroying the Earth when he formed, and if Gohan wasn't around should Buu do that again (Gotenks would be even less of an option, as it'd require the boys fusing in time and getting there first), then they'd be out of luck.

Goku though was calmer about it, saying that, in a worst case scenario, they (he and Vegeta) could just fight Buu again, and that they should train so that, if they needed to fight in particular, they'd not lose.

[Pantalones]

Vegeta was probably worried about the possibility of another "skinny gray Buu" spawning, eating the fat Buu, and bringing out another Super Buu, who has proven himself capable of overcoming someone like Gohan or Gotenks through trickery at least (stray Buu-nugget knocked off by an earlier attack absorbing them unexpectedly from behind -- and with Gohan's slacked-off dulled combat reflexes and Goten/Trunks being dumb kids there's no guarantee they wouldn't fall for that twice) even if not through raw power. And if someone like Gohan or Gotenks gets absorbed, everyone else is screwed unless Goku and Vegeta fuse. Or if someone like Piccolo pulls off the Mafuuba against Buu, I suppose, but with his "scream a hole between dimensions" trick he may be just too powerful for a seal like that to hold him for long.

Basically Vegeta has finally learned from his mistakes made against Cell ("ha ha let's test my new power by letting him reach his strongest form!... oh crap") and is trying to avoid any future "suddenly, there's a super ridiculously powerful regenerating monster that none of us can handle" situations.

[LowRyder2005]

Regarding the "let's train":

1. Goku may have been referring just to himself and Vegeta, namely the people who had factually "lost one on one" and cleanly vs. Kid/Majin Buu at their strongest (Gohan and Gotenks, admittedly, were either not defeated fair and square, the former, or by giving out their 100% against the foe, the latter).
2. Goku may have been referring to everyone training, surpassing Kid/ Super Buu's strenght and being able to defeat him one on one (Goten, Trunks and Vegeta for sure couldn't).
3. Goku thought of Gotenks and Gohan as in need to train because Super Buu had still proved to be able to defeat them through trickery.

Your pick.

[dbgtFO]

As for the Genkidama and Gohan's energy not being enough.
Let's say that Gohan contributed all of his ki.
Goku's statement can still work, because the previous two times, the Genkidama failed, even though Goku thought they'd be enough to kill off the enemy.
Maybe he realized, he had to go for the overkill, as his prior notion of "enemy's power < Genkidama's power = definite win" had proven unsuccessful.

[OWmyDragonBallz]

As for the Genkidama and Gohan's energy not being enough.
Let's say that Gohan contributed all of his ki.
Goku's statement can still work, because the previous two times, the Genkidama failed, even though Goku thought they'd be enough to kill off the enemy.
Maybe he realized, he had to go for the overkill, as his prior notion of "enemy's power < Genkidama's power = definite win" had proven unsuccessful.

I think it's safe to say he did.
Vegeta : We won't just take a little bit. We will gather ki right up to their limits.

[Kaboom]

Yeah, I think it's a combination of all the big points being made...

Genki is a part of ki having to do with vitality and spirit, and not strictly related to battle power. Otherwise the amount from Earth's normal population wouldn't even come close to the amount initially granted by Gohan, Kaioshin, and the other super-powered beings with power levels in the billions or tens of billions or more. Plus the kids probably would have transformed or used Fusion so they could give more.

But that aside, even if it was somehow proportionate to battle power, Goku and Vegeta both probably assumed that a huge overkill amount of power much greater than Boo's power level would be needed to ensure that it works. Like dbgtFO pointed out, the Spirit Bomb had already failed twice even when they thought it had "enough" energy behind it.

[Speedster]

About your points:
(1) Regarding Goten and Trunks not fusing to contribute to the Genki Dama. As established in chapter 499, Goten and Trunks had to wait a period of time (likely an hour) before being able to fuse again. It is very likely that 1 hour hadn’t passed between the time Gotenks split inside Buu and Buutenks reverted to Buucolo. Now you might say. “OK they couldn’t fuse but why didn't they at least turn SSJ?” Well they didn't for the same reason Vegeta didn't turn SSJ when he fought kid Buu in chapter 515 while trying to buy as much time as possible...

(2) Regarding them training to stop Buu again if that he appears again
a. Let’s assume Gohan was all that powerful, 500x or more than kid Buu, as some fans make him out to be. We know that Gohan was stronger than fat Buu, good Buu, Mr Buu, skinny Buu, base Super Buu and Buucolo. Buutenks needs Goten and Trunks to fuse and transform into SSJ3 and Buuhan needs Gohan himself to be absorbed. So the only form that remains is kid Buu.

b. Even ignoring the fact that they have to be utter idiots to fall for the same trick to create Buuhan and Buutenks, how would the Z squad getting stronger help against trickery if it is Buu’s absorption trick that Goku was talking about instead of his power? If anything the more powerful Z fighters around the easier would be for Buu to trick somebody and power up by absorption. And if he was all about them being on guard to avoid that anyway then getting stronger serves no purpose.

c. Some say. “But it could probably mean kid Buu destroying the planet before being stopped”. Well actually any Buu could destroy the planet before being stopped. Buutenks actually tried to do that too. It wasn’t just kid Buu the insane of the group. And how would the Z fighters getting stronger become able to prevent this from happening anyway? I mean if Buu suddenly charges an attack and fires it to Earth there was nothing they could anyway. If there is only Gohan, or Goku, Vegeta are as strong too what can they do?

d. To me it is clear that Goku was referring to them getting stronger to defeat Buu (kid Buu) again in a battle like they just did. Also remember this whole saga wouldn’t get to that point had Goku fought seriously against the original fat Buu as SSJ3 and not wanting to pass the torch to the next generation. So are we now supposed to believe that if Gohan and Gotenks were already more powerful than kid Buu, and kid Buu reappeared it would still be Goku’s task to take on the bad guy?

(3) Goku didn't realise how strong kid Buu is until he started fighting with him. He was initially excited/relieved as much as Vegeta was when he saw him shrunk and thought he became more manageable. He soon released that he couldn't stop his huge energy blast from destroying the Earth and was constantly amazed by how his attacks didn't work on him. Vegeta was also surprised twice by kid Buu’s strength. First he said kid Buu is more powerful than he imagined and then when he started taking blows from him he was even more amazed with how heavy kid Buu’s blows had been and wondered how Kakarot could take on such blows.

Further points:
(4) Goku wanted to fight again someone with kid Buu’s power and wished him to come back as a good person. And even 10 years later he was excited for the prospect of fighting Uub. Forget DB Super which was not a thing at the time. The original author clearly had Goku being excited about a super strong character that could provide him a challenge. Why would Goku wish to fight someone of kid Buu’s level if Gohan and Gotenks were so much bigger challenges to overcome? And Uub didn't have any trickery or special techniques like candy beams and magic. Goku wanted to fight him purely for his awesome strength.

(5) Kid buu was the first ever person that managed to decrease the power of a Buu with kicks and punches. Not even Super Vegetto managed to do this against Buuhan. Buuhan was coming back good as new. And this was a case where Vegetto would have a reason to make Buuhan feel despair and absorb him. What better way to achieve this than beating him up to point of having his power decreased?

(6) Before Vegeta suggested the Genki Dama Goku suggested to bring both Gotenks AND Gohan to fight alongside them. If they were already so much more powerful than kid Buu then he would have said something “Yeah of course, we just need to bring here Gotenks or Gohan and will handle him easily”. But that’s not what he said. He suggested a collective effort instead. Which he finally had with the Genki Dama anyway.

(7) Piccolo in chapter 497 even after commenting about how awesome Gohan’s ki had become thinks that Gohan can’t possibly win against (base) Super Buu. Then Gohan starts fighting Buu and Piccolo’s jaw drops in amazement. So is Piccolo a reliable commentator of power ups? Remember Gohan's Ki was even felt from Kaioshin’s realm before arriving there! To me it is clear that Toriyama was doing his usual contrived “contrasting expectations” narrative. Beforehand he had Piccolo hyping up the boys saying “they might have a chance” only for Gotenks even as a SSJ to do jack shit. Now he is doing the opposite. "Gohan doesn't have a chance" and proceeds to not only have chance but beat up Super Buu nonchalantly. And then he had Goku and Vegeta being all happy about Buu shrinking and becoming "manageable" only to prove not manageable at all and (arguably) …. more powerful than ever.

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

Piccolo and the kids thought Gohan would be in trouble fighting alone. Right before he engages Super Boo, he does a quick power-up and proceeds to knock him around. You could just say Gohan wasn't emitting his full-power right there.

Gohan's not a fighter. Why would Goku have his sights set on someone who doesn't look at self-improvement in the same way as himself? Gotenks is comprised of kids that don't care about training.

[Speedster]

Piccolo and the kids thought Gohan would be in trouble fighting alone. Right before he engages Super Boo, he does a quick power-up and proceeds to knock him around. You could just say Gohan wasn't emitting his full-power right there.

So it is safe to say that Piccolo is an unreliable judge of power ups during the Buu arc, acting more on the emotion and that what he probably did with Gotenks in RoSaT too.

Gotenks is comprised of kids that don't care about training.

In chapter 518 Goku is training Goten. Just saying...

Gohan's not a fighter. Why would Goku have his sights set on someone who doesn't look at self-improvement in the same way as himself?

And is Uub (a 9 year old boy) was a fighter or not a kid?!! Heck even in the tournament Goku insulted Uub’s family just to get him angry to have a fight with him.

If Ultimate Gohan was 100s of times stronger than Goku and kid Buu, then logic says that Goku would have him as a target, not kid Buu. And if he was about to reach that target [reaching/surpassing Gohan] at some point along the way and become 100s of times stronger than kid Buu, then why would he bother with someone as weak (kid Buu’s level)? And why would Goku had to train to defeat the emergence of a bad Buu again? Wasn't all the Buu arc about him eventually passing the torch of the "defender of the Earth" to the next generation? And by the way he felt more like it passing the torch to Uub instead. He believed that when Uub is trained to use techniques he would become Goku's replacement as "protector of the Earth". So he doesn't count Gotenks and Gohan as such...because they are weaker...than kid Buu!

[Darkprince410]

If Ultimate Gohan was 100s of times stronger than Goku and kid Buu, then logic says that Goku would have him as a target, not kid Buu. And if he was about to reach that target [reaching/surpassing Gohan] at some point along the way and become 100s of times stronger than kid Buu, then why would he bother with someone as weak (kid Buu’s level)? And why would Goku had to train to defeat the emergence of a bad Buu again? Wasn't all the Buu arc about him eventually passing the torch of the "defender of the Earth" to the next generation? And by the way he felt more like it passing the torch to Uub instead. He believed that when Uub is trained to use techniques he would become Goku's replacement as "protector of the Earth". So he doesn't count Gotenks and Gohan as such...because they are weaker...than kid Buu!

He said that he wanted to train Uub primarily just because he wanted another match with him, stating that it was his legitimate #1 goal. It wasn't even a matter of Earth's defense. He just wanted a rematch with him. Besides, even if the Uub thing was legit, all that would mean is that Gohan, after 10 years of generally slacking off, would have been weaker than Pure Buu, not that Gohan before the 10 year gap was weaker.

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

So it is safe to say that Piccolo is an unreliable judge of power ups during the Buu arc, acting more on the emotion and that what he probably did with Gotenks in RoSaT too.

To be honest, almost everyone is unreliable in the Boo saga. Most of it doesn't make sense when you sit back and read it. In this instance, though, Gohan wasn't powered-up. That's why he wasn't confident in his chances to win fighting alone.

In chapter 518 Goku is training Goten. Just saying...

Because Goku was making him train. It wasn't something he particularly cared for because he even said he didn't want to enter. He'd rather be on the date he had planned than train.

And is Uub (a 9 year old boy) was a fighter or not a kid?!! Heck even in the tournament Goku insulted Uub’s family just to get him angry to have a fight with him.

He looked at Kid Boo as a potential rival, so he wanted to see that power come back down the line. Gohan isn't his rival. Someone being the strongest doesn't automatically make them a rival. What was more exciting to Vegeta: the chance to fight Goku (he knows he's been training, but isn't sure how strong he is) , the one whom he considers his rival, or Gohan, the kid that outstripped him to a greater extent than Goku? Goku, of course. Why? Because that's his rival. This was well before he was aware of Gohan's drop in power, too, so it just shows that defeating him isn't on the same level as Goku.

If Ultimate Gohan was 100s of times stronger than Goku and kid Buu, then logic says that Goku would have him as a target, not kid Buu. And if he was about to reach that target [reaching/surpassing Gohan] at some point along the way and become 100s of times stronger than kid Buu, then why would he bother with someone as weak (kid Buu’s level)? And why would Goku had to train to defeat the emergence of a bad Buu again? Wasn't all the Buu arc about him eventually passing the torch of the "defender of the Earth" to the next generation? And by the way he felt more like it passing the torch to Uub instead. He believed that when Uub is trained to use techniques he would become Goku's replacement as "protector of the Earth". So he doesn't count Gotenks and Gohan as such...because they are weaker...than kid Buu!

First off, who said Gohan is over a hundred times stronger than Goku?

Goku needs to train because his Super Saiyan 3 is simply trash to use, not because he's too weak. The reason why he was unable to defeat Kid Boo was because of the forms limitations. Goku fought Oob in Base form without getting overwhelmed. This merely shows that Oob is a good match for Base Goku. What if Goku transformed into a Super Saiyan instead? Wouldn't look like such a close fight, then, would it? None of this needs to have anything to do with Gohan or Gotenks because they're simply not apart of the equation.

[OWmyDragonBallz]

So it is safe to say that Piccolo is an unreliable judge of power ups during the Buu arc, acting more on the emotion and that what he probably did with Gotenks in RoSaT too.

To be honest, almost everyone is unreliable in the Boo saga. Most of it doesn't make sense when you sit back and read it. In this instance, though, Gohan wasn't powered-up. That's why he wasn't confident in his chances to win fighting alone.

In chapter 518 Goku is training Goten. Just saying...

Because Goku was making him train. It wasn't something he particularly cared for because he even said he didn't want to enter. He'd rather be on the date he had planned than train.

And is Uub (a 9 year old boy) was a fighter or not a kid?!! Heck even in the tournament Goku insulted Uub’s family just to get him angry to have a fight with him.

He looked at Kid Boo as a potential rival, so he wanted to see that power come back down the line. Gohan isn't his rival. Someone being the strongest doesn't automatically make them a rival. What was more exciting to Vegeta: the chance to fight Goku (he knows he's been training, but isn't sure how strong he is) , the one whom he considers his rival, or Gohan, the kid that outstripped him to a greater extent than Goku? Goku, of course. Why? Because that's his rival. This was well before he was aware of Gohan's drop in power, too, so it just shows that defeating him isn't on the same level as Goku.

If Ultimate Gohan was 100s of times stronger than Goku and kid Buu, then logic says that Goku would have him as a target, not kid Buu. And if he was about to reach that target [reaching/surpassing Gohan] at some point along the way and become 100s of times stronger than kid Buu, then why would he bother with someone as weak (kid Buu’s level)? And why would Goku had to train to defeat the emergence of a bad Buu again? Wasn't all the Buu arc about him eventually passing the torch of the "defender of the Earth" to the next generation? And by the way he felt more like it passing the torch to Uub instead. He believed that when Uub is trained to use techniques he would become Goku's replacement as "protector of the Earth". So he doesn't count Gotenks and Gohan as such...because they are weaker...than kid Buu!

First off, who said Gohan is over a hundred times stronger than Goku?

Goku needs to train because his Super Saiyan 3 is simply trash to use, not because he's too weak. The reason why he was unable to defeat Kid Boo was because of the forms limitations. Goku fought Oob in Base form without getting overwhelmed. This merely shows that Oob is a good match for Base Goku. What if Goku transformed into a Super Saiyan instead? Wouldn't look like such a close fight, then, would it? None of this needs to have anything to do with Gohan or Gotenks because they're simply not apart of the equation.

There is also that quote in the Daizenshuu saying that's "Goku is always seeking out the strongest and he awaited Boo's reincarnation above all else".

[LowRyder2005]

There is also that quote in the Daizenshuu saying that's "Goku is always seeking out the strongest and he awaited Boo's reincarnation above all else".

The strongest foe, perhaps. Or maybe Goku/Gohan had no interest in fighting Gohan/Goku, to the strongest person willing to fight Goku would have been that Buu.
I still can't help but find it slightly excessive to hang up on the literal meaning of every word from generic statements meant to portray generally applicable characters' traits to justify what happens in an entire saga that goes, at least on paper, in an entire other direction.
Plus, that statement is extremely weak as of today in trying to establish a notion such as "Buu is still the strongest at the EOZ". We know through retroactive continuity that EOZ Vegeta, for one, is miles and miles ahead of any form of Buu (unless he becomes weaker at the end of the series, I guess).

Other than that, even if you wanted, in fact, to hang on every word the Daizenshuu, for the Daizenshuu themselves it is almost mandatory for Gotenks to surpass Goku after the ROSAT, since he surpasses Vegeta and "at least two other people", when the only ones stronger than him other than Vegeta could be Goku, Buu or Gohan training with the Z-Sword (since for the same Daizenshuu, Goten is equal or comparable in strenght to Gohan himself).
Another issue would be that the DZs state that Goku's and Gotenks' Super Saiyan forms are virtually intended to work with the same *50 multiplier.
Therefore, even if you didn't want to add the *100 and *400 to the mix, you'd have to believe that Gotenks - both pre-ROSAT and post - happens to be weaker than SS Goku and Vegeta, and that all the people on the lookout, after having been told that Super Saiyan 2 Goku/ Cell Games Super Saiyan 2 Gohan were no match for the foe, and sensing SS3 Goku fighting Buu, were unable to gauge Gotenks' strenght correctly as someone unable to beat even Super Perfect Cell.

This as usual trying to wiggle your way around Goku's clear-as-day statements that they can only beat Fat Buu unfused, and that they'd have needed Vegito or the Fusion dance for anyone above the very first one (Super Buu, Piccolo-Buu, Gotenks-Buu and so on) the moment Vegeta crushes the Potara, and then Goku reminding Vegeta that they cannot beat Super Buu unfused.

The best way for the Goku/Buu argument to work coherently, from a narrative point-of-view would be by disregarding the multipliers/ make custom multipliers for everyone; if you venture in databook territory and try to make everything fit you'd have to make an argument for an awful lot of CIS/PIS in a story that would work relatively fine, if not being downright easier to read and interpret, otherwise.

[Speedster]

The strongest foe, perhaps. Or maybe Goku/Gohan had no interest in fighting Gohan/Goku, to the strongest person willing to fight Goku would have been that Buu.

I still can't help but find it slightly excessive to hang up on the literal meaning of every word from generic statements meant to portray generally applicable characters' traits to justify what happens in an entire saga that goes, at least on paper, in an entire other direction.

Speaking of excessive ... do you know what I find excessive? The extents the Super Buu side go to interpret things that otherwise have a very simple interpretation just to deny that an official piece of evidence points to kid Buu>Super Buu. So the statement is now applicable only to Goku’s foes?! So Uub, an innocent 9 year old human kid, is Goku’s foe and rival now? And we saw how Goku treated his former rivals once he surpassed them. Tenshinhan, Piccolo, Freeza, Vegeta...

Plus, that statement is extremely weak as of today in trying to establish a notion such as "Buu is still the strongest at the EOZ". We know through retroactive continuity that EOZ Vegeta, for one, is miles and miles ahead of any form of Buu (unless he becomes weaker at the end of the series, I guess).

For all we know the timeline of Super might have been created due to Trunks' time-travel causing a time ripple and waking up Beerus earlier than intended (or something like that) -- i.e.what we watch now is Super to be, in fact, an alternate timeline of those peaceful 10 years of the original manga. That is to be found out soon.

Anyhow, any statements in the guidebooks are supposedly the official interpretation of the material at the time, i.e. without the effect of future material retconning. We (the mere fans) can keep arguing forever about what Toriyama was thinking at the time as there are multiple interpretations. But at least knowing what the official franchise implied about the topic (kid Buu>Gohan) at the time (without the effect of future content) gives you something to hold on about what Toriyama's intentions most likely had been at the time too. We need to go to "back then" because there is the oxymoron here that the intentions of the original manga are supposedly different from what was presented in the original anime, Kai and Super.

[LowRyder2005]

Speaking of excessive ... do you know what I find excessive? The extents the Super Buu side go to interpret things that otherwise have a very simple interpretation just to deny that an official piece of evidence points to kid Buu>Super Buu. So the statement is now applicable only to Goku’s foes?! So Uub, an innocent 9 year old human kid, is Goku’s foe and rival now? And we saw how Goku treated his former rivals once he surpassed them. Tenshinhan, Piccolo, Freeza, Vegeta...

I'm not denying anything a priori, I'm just trying to approach this objectively: it says that Goku usually strives to fight the strongest people he can find. And that's nothing new, basically, since it's what he does in the entire series. So how exactly does it "prove" that Kid Buu is stronger than Gohan? Couldn't it simply mean that Kid Buu would be among the strongest people Goku can face at that given time, or that Goku was excited at the prospect of fighting someone new, hoping he could have possibly exceeded his expectations?
Heck, if you want to keep the new continuity aside, one could possibly say that - following the aforementioned line of thought - it could've even meant that Goku didn't make any substantial progress in all those years, since he still thought of Kid Buu as someone as strong as he was (needless to add that it'd sound strange).

No, there is an important difference. Any statements in the guidebooks are the interpretation of the material at the time, i.e. without the effect of future material retconning. Which is the thing we want to here do right? Discuss what Toriyama's or at least the official franchise were thinking at the time.

No problem with putting retroactive continuity aside if it's not deontological for you, but, again, even in the Daizenshuus you already have stuff like the Super Saiyan multiplier being labeled as a *50 increase for everyone (Gotenks included). So you'd have to argue that when people sensed Gotenks, after supposedly sensing SS3 Goku and Fat Buu, they thought that a Perfect Cell-ish tier could save them from a SS3-tier; or that there are custom multipliers or other shenanigans we are unaware of.
In Buu's body, you have to argue that Goku suddenly wanted to spare Vegeta's feelings (I mean, he had in fact indirectly implied he would have had to use Super Saiyan 3 against Fat Buu if there were a need just two pages before) even if there's no mention of anything like that.
Going back in the same Daizenshuu you have to justify Gotenks surpassing at least two other people who were stronger than Gotenks at the time and who are not Goku and Vegeta, with the extra condition of Gotenks being stronger than Vegeta. And it's objectively tricky.

And that brings us to the usual point with the Buu Saga, manga-wise and databook-wise: you have to add plentiful of extra conditions for Goku to be stronger than Gohan and Gotenks, while the other interpretation is... well, just putting all the statements/feats one after another sequentially. I mean, it's not far-fetched to say that you have to literally rebuild half of the story and guidebook statements to make it work around the single notion that Goku is/needs to be the strongest. This of course doesn't mean it's "less true", just that it's less probable, or less convincing.

At least in the anime, while ignoring the process, we are given the end result of "Pure Buu being the strongest Buu ever" and we can accept it with a "thus they declared".
I mean, isn't it more honest to say that you value the anime's word here and you see no reason for anime and manga to differ regardless of what the guidebooks may imply otherwise?

[Super Saiyan Turlast x4]

As for interpretations, how is any of that worse than "Goku said Super Boo was stronger but he was only factoring in Super Saiyan 2"? Or the fact that Goku is talking about size even though he believes he has enough power to seriously damage Boo from the inside? Or the fact that Goku would rather merge permanently or in general than fight an enemy (Super Boo) he could apparently squash with no issue?

No matter how you look at it, the Gohan/SuperBoo/Gotenks side isn't without merit. That's why this debate has been going on forever.