Universe 6 arc - The good and the bad

[Krillin1994]

I've scrolled back a few pages and can't see any threads like this to fully discuss things that worked and things that didn't work in the U6 arc now some time has passed.

Overall I would say that I found myself to be somewhat disappointed with Toriyama's story which had been hyped up since the initial announcement of DBS.

The good

Jaco proving to be useful beyond a gag character also Galatic King too (much love for the handshake)

Champa and Vados seem to be entertaining

The alien announcer had me sceptical at first as I was hoping Goku would request for the TB announcer as I love that character. But the Alien grew on me quite a lot.

the fighting from Magetta onwards was markedly better than all of the fighting before it.

Some good new characters (Zuno Zeno)

Planet Salad lore

Hit having a fighting style unlike any other.

Callbacks - Kaioken and seeing Final Flash again.

Goku losing

Monaka pulling a Satan



The bad

The fact that we didn't have a hunt for the super dragonballs, plus I'm not a fan of their size since it generally means that Goku and co won't be able to gather them without Whis to put them in his staff - I'd have rather just dragonballs spread across the universe like the blackstar ones

being labelled the universe 6 arc yet not going to universe 6.

The layout of the tournament - The way I would have preferred it would have been to have each person in the tournament have one fight against somebody from U6. i.e 5 matches. Universe with the most victories wins. but at the same time I enjoyed Monaka so that wouldn't have worked. Unless his fight wasn't until after U6 had been assured victory so he didn't need to fight.

the early fights seemed to be very uninspiring - Piccolo vs Frost got some praise about how Piccolo would have beaten frost. But it really wasn't too exciting just to see him dodging while charging an attack.

Frost's character revealing to be evil

Botomo barely speaking

Not enough commentary from all of the spectators (I enjoyed Yamcha getting some speech in the cabba fight) but generally it just felt like it was mostly Bulma/Krillin/Beerus/Whis talking.

Buu not getting a fight.... or even just the fact that the manga gag of him failing the test was much funnier. (did he comment on any of the fighting I can't remember any lines from him)

Did we get told the cool down time for the Super Dragonballs. and couldn't their scattering literally destroy planets by hurtling across the universe so fast?

The universe 6 team generally being quite weak compared to Goku and Vegeta - Yes I know that the TB had fodder level opponents in their fights but they had more contestants so it was okay.

I also feel we may have benefitted from having the fighters square up before the tournament leading to Goku and Vegeta deciding to train for 3 years (didn't really like them sacrificing 3 years of life in a day for this).


what are other people's opinions on the arc?

[GodKaio-Ken]

It seems to be an arc many people enjoyed but personally I liked it a lot worse than BoG or RoF arcs. The characters were extremely boring, the build up to Hit was a let down in the end. Vegeta got 95% of the stage time and nothing meaningful came from it story wise other than the Super Dragon Balls which could have been introduced another way.

Worst arc of the series IMO

[Cipher]

The good:

Creative, Toriyama-styled expanding of the world. Fights that highlight bizarre techniques over power. Hit. Vegeta and Cabba's interactions. Goku grabbing the Galactic King's dick.

The bad:

P U R P L E

The anime's languid pacing within each fight and constant throwbacks to earlier moments in the series forcing me to constantly imagine how snappy and funny the same material might have played out with a Toriyama script. (See Toyotarou's handling of Vegeta vs. Magetta -- much closer to this direction -- against the anime's for probably the best example of this. See also the snappy humor of Boo failing the test against in the manga vs. the anime's handling, which barely registers as a joke.)

The anime's constraints are really on display here, and not just in terms of animation. That we don't get Universe 6 spectators stands out, as the franchise has never been that shy about including extras.

The lazy convenience of the location of the last Dragon Ball.

Nothing I care about happening as far as character development. We could have some, if the series landed one way or the other on what interacting with/kowtowing to these capricious gods means, but we only get a throwaway line in reference to it in the anime, and overall the series doesn't seem to be interested in taking that approach. Nor does it fill the void with anything else that backs the main action up with something character-driven, which Toriyama always managed to do one way or another. Maybe we'll get payoff with the King of All, but this arc was lacking.

[TekTheNinja]

The good: The Goku vs. Hit fight.

The bad: Everything else.

[dbs fanboy]

The good:
-The expansion of the lore.
-Super dragon balls and Super Shenron.
-The weird techniques and the use of strategy to win
-Goku losing.
-New characters ( Hit, Magetta, Zuno,Zeno and Cabba).
-The character development and character interactions.
-Jaco being useful.
-The serious little moments.
-Vados.
-The return of Kaioken and final Flash.
-Chi-Chi x Goku

The bad:
-The order of the fights.
-The lack of tension and serious moments.
-Botamo.
-Frost being (possibly) wasted as a character.
-Goku vs Botamo.
-Not knowing Champa's intentions with the super Dragon balls in the first place.
-The lack of exploration of U6.
- The placement of the Music in some moments (Galick Gun)
-Gohan not being even there.
-The animation of Super Shenron's summoning (Even thought i enjoyed The moment)

[Baggie_Saiyan]

Good- The build up to the tournament was great best part of the arc. All the world building. All of Vegeta's flights. Hit. SSGSSKK. Super Shenny. Beerus and Champa. "F" outfits.

Bad- The beginning of the tournament. Goku and Vegeta show. Frost. Forst's twist. The promised death match that didn't happen. Lack of threat or tension. Monoka twist.

[TheMikado]

I feel like RoF was far far worse, but the thing that stings the most was seeing Cabba, from a universe of good tailless Saiyans and he has the same fighting style and moves as Vegeta and no transformations and suddenly... He's SSJ... furthermore the invitation to visit his planet has amounted to nothing at all so far.

I love Saiyan lore with the exception of SSG and this is the best we've got??? Yuck yuck yuck . I have other complaints but that's the one that hurts the worse.

[Baggie_Saiyan]

I feel like RoF was far far worse, but the thing that stings the most was seeing Cabba, from a universe of good tailless Saiyans and he has the same fighting style and moves as Vegeta and no transformations and suddenly... He's SSJ... furthermore the invitation to visit his planet has amounted to nothing at all so far.

I love Saiyan lore with the exception of SSG and this is the best we've got??? Yuck yuck yuck . I have other complaints but that's the one that hurts the worse.

Dude it's literally only been one arc since the tournament. Setting up future story. Like how Beerus set up the different universes and we didn't get that straight away.

[dbs fanboy]

I feel like RoF was far far worse, but the thing that stings the most was seeing Cabba, from a universe of good tailless Saiyans and he has the same fighting style and moves as Vegeta and no transformations and suddenly... He's SSJ... furthermore the invitation to visit his planet has amounted to nothing at all so far.

I love Saiyan lore with the exception of SSG and this is the best we've got??? Yuck yuck yuck . I have other complaints but that's the one that hurts the worse.

I actually think that is great that they didn't visit planet Salad yet as after the Black arc,we could have an arc focused in this. I think that Cabba's introduction as well as the other characters, was pretty much for world building.

[Gig]

Good:
- Champa and Beerus
- Some fights not based on power level only
- Hit fights
- SSBKK

Bad:
- Some unclear things, e.g. how timeskip works exactly and Vegeta stopping a punch with his forehead (???)
- Piccolo's fight could have been managed differently. Why did Goku tell him he had no chances against Frost? Frost was already weakened and did hit have a chance against SSJ1 Goku... Piccolo managed to defend himself for minutes with an arm only... I think he may have fought normally instead of charging a makankosappo for 5 whole minutes.
- IIRC (I should rewatch the episode), Frost's body breaking the dome (even without reporting really serious injuries) has really resized the "wow" effect one previosly got by seeing the makankosappo breaking the dome a few moments before.
- Anticlimatic ending of Goku-Hit fight.

[Lord Beerus]

The Good:
- Everything about Hit
- Everything about Magetta
- Everything about Champa
- Eveything about Vados
- Lore expansion
- The Monaka double swerve
- Super Shenlong
- Vegeta getting his ass kicked
- Goku vs Hit
- Vegeta vs Cabba

The Bad:
- Frost's wasted character
- Goku vs Botamo
- Lack of any real stakes or tension
- Piccolo forfeiting his match
- Majin Boo not participating

[Freeza9000]

I personally find this arc to be quite a mixed bag or should I say a hit/miss. Sure, I enjoyed some aspects of this arc, but there were parts that also pissed me off greatly.

The Pros
-It introduces new characters, world-building, and lore. We got to know bits of information about the main cast of Universe 6 such as heroic Saiyans as opposed to the genocidal psychopaths we knew of in Z. Planet Sadla, Cabba, and the king were all genuinely nice people. I really hope to see Vegeta explore that planet with Cabba and see more of that relationship that was built during the battle with Cabba. I also like that the fight between Cabba and Vegeta wasn't really an actual battle like the previous battles, but rather training. Not to mention, the great Hit. Hit to me was one of the more interesting combatants with one of the interesting abilities. Tokitobashi added a lot of tension to the battle as it gradually improves each time a strong opponent challenges him to great heights. Tension that wasn't present in most of the previous battles like the fight between Magetta and Vegeta. Previous battles were against fodders.

The comedy was also on point as well. The way the Omni-King just stepped in the tournament with such an appearance that was able to strike fear on the Gods of Destruction was quite creepy, but hilarious nonetheless. And how could I forget, Goku accidentally touching the Galactic King's dick. Champa's child like personality was annoying, but it also reflects my past self because I was as food-obsessed as he was and had tendencies of temper tantrums that were ridiculous.

The Cons
-Character utilization played a huge role on the tournament's disappointment. The writers were hyping up the characters like Piccolo, Boo, and Monaka to play a huge role in this arc. The posters were promoted and yet that turned put to be nothing. Piccolo just got cheated by Frost. Could've been better if Piccolo actually managed to win the battle. What makes his defeat all the more stupid is the fact that Jaco noticed Frost's secret weapon and could've exposed him after Goku got knocked out of the ring. But then again, if that were to happen, then there would be no Vegeta or Piccolo moments, right? Boo was also set up to fail the test as the writers have decided to write him off the story to make way for Goku and Vegeta. Now don't get me started on Monaka, the fodder that was hyped up to be the strongest.

Most of the characters on the U6 side were just bland. Botamo and Magetta were just giant gag characters with good techniques, but easily forgettable. Cabba was also as bland as he's just as pure hearted and dedicated as Gohan, Mirai Trunks, Tarble, etc. Frost was just simply a repainted Freeza with the same character, only sneakier. Seriously, we have had enough Freeza clones.

93% of the tension was non-existent. Most of the fights on U6 team were simply fodders and it only took one character such as Goku and Vegeta to take most of the team out. Not to mention, the writers trying to add tension when Frost poisoned Goku and during the battle with Vegeta and Magetta. If they went SSB in the first place, then those conflicts could've been avoided easily. At least with the battle with Cabba, the writers decided to take a different route with Vegeta training Cabba to be a SSJ and made this match training. I also felt some tension when SSJ Vegeta was mercilessly kicking Base Cabba up into the air as it initially caught me by surprise and shock.