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.