Doctor. wrote:So, let me get this straight. We're gonna bring back Freeza, we're gonna imply that he learned from his mistakes, we're gonna make it so that he plays it cool for all the tournament and we're gonna have him realize he's no match for Jiren so he's gonna manipulate the others into taking him out for him. Then... let's have him literally chimp out and attack Jiren for no particular reason besides a cheap Namek arc reference. Sure, why not? I just can't understand what the hell they have in mind. It's like each episode is trying to destroy everything the others have set up.
"Looks like getting hit by an attack that big, unguarded, can hurt him" has to go down as one of the dumbest lines someone has ever said in this show.
Jiren's backstory is bad. Let's ignore the fact that it's generic and that "Might is Right" is such a boring theme for the final antagonist of a series. The portrayal of Jiren in this episode feels completely incoherent with the way he was being characterized in the past. What happened to "I seek what lies beyond strength"? What happened to his disdain for Hit being an assassin? If Jiren was always like this, then he would have praised Hit for being strong regardless of his occupation.
And, of course, #17's sacrifice, though he has been one of the highlights of the tournament, felt completely shallow due to the fact that the fight seems to have no sense of progression. They were already getting their asses kicked when Jiren was holding back, he reveals his full power and... nothing changes. Vegeta and Goku still spam their Final Flash/KHH combo and Jiren still tanks it only to have trouble with them in hand-to-hand combat. He actually feels weaker now considering, when he was holding back, he was defeating Kaioken x20 with a glance and shrugging off UI Goku's attacks. The sacrifice feels unnecessary since he could have just pushed Vegeta and Goku out of the way (we know he can control his barriers' movement now) and tried to block his attack with pure strength. Had he succeeded, great; had he failed, he would have been dead and Jiren disqualified. As always, Toei only seems to care about the spectacle and not about the context surrounding it. Also, I don't really want to mention it, since it's a superficial aspect of the scene, but #18's reaction had no weight because of how lifeless her face looked and how stiff the animation was.
One thing I do like is that the stage is finally somewhat interesting. Characters bouncing from rock to rock, using the side of the stage as footing. The choreography isn't really good, but at least the stage and setting is actually pleasant to look at now.
Another, excellent post!
Super in a nutshell lolThe Patrolman wrote:
Consistency? WHATS THAT?