Dragon Ball Super - Episode 131 Finale! (Review)
By: RogueSymbiote
SPOLERS AHEAD! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!Well the time has finally come. The tournament of power comes to a close in spectacular fashion. With Goku recovering from the repercussions of pushing his limits, Frieza and 17 take on a weakened Jiren. Just when you think everyone is at their breaking point, resurgence of power emerges culminating in an epic final battle.
Episode Arc
No time is wasted as Frieza and 17 jump in to take on Jiren. The lone fighter from Universe 11 is still reeling from his battle with Goku. Frieza begins to taunt Jiren and 17 is able to land a devastating blow. Just as it appears that Frieza is about to finish him off, Toppo rallies Jiren who explodes in stellar power. The energy radiating from Jiren is so strong that Frieza falls out of golden form. The fighters from Universe 7 look all but finished when Goku steps in to deter Jiren's onslaught. Goku looks as though he can barely stand, but he knows he must push onward.Goku and Frieza lead the charge against Jiren while 17 serves as backup for their attacks. In what no fan of Dragon Ball Z would have ever expected a few years ago, Goku and Frieza play off of each other perfectly. Their stunning coordinated attacks catch Jiren off guard and all three are sent flying out of bounds leaving 17 and Universe 7 as the tournament victors. As 17 contemplates his wish, an off-putting glare appears in his eyes for a moment. It leaves the audience questioning 17's true motives, but it appears to have been only a minor redirect. Rather than wishing for him and his family to travel around the world, 17 wishes for all of the Universes to be restored.
As all 12 Universes are shown fully restored, we see excitement and gratitude from them all. Toppo calls Jiren out for not accepting the bonds he forged with his fellow fighters and the two look forward to facing Goku and his friends once again. Whis resurrects Frieza at Beerus' request as a thank you for his contributions. It's revealed than Zen-Oh sama foresaw the outcome that the remaining fighter would wish for the resurrection of all other universes. If the wish had been selfish however, all universes would have been erased. Beerus stops Goku from giving Zen-Oh sama anymore ideas and our heroes return home to their normal lives.17 ends up getting his wish of traveling the world with his family thanks to Bulma's gigantic yacht. Bulla has a birthday celebration where Pan begins to fly around. Witnessing Goku's lineage once again surpassing his own, the two Saiyans begin the next installment in their never ending battle. Frieza returns to his forces, leaving us all wondering what his next plans will be. Goku admits to Vegeta that he can't use Ultra Instinct at will. The Saiyan warriors continue their search for power by pushing one another even further. The episode concludes with the narrator stating, "when a new, unknown powerful enemy appears, Goku and his friends’ adventures will begin again. Until then, a brief parting. See you all again!” Clearly this is not the end of the Dragon Ball franchise and I for one can not wait to see what comes next.
Episode Review
What an ride! The animation was phenomenal throughout the entire episode. With a series full of inconsistencies in animation, this was by far one of the best visual displays I have seen from an anime, period. The Goku/Frieza team-up was something I never knew I wanted before, but man I'm glad I got to see it done so well. Their ability to work in unison is almost disheartening as we all know Frieza isn't about to change his ways. I was totally expecting Frieza to betray his teammates, but I'm glad the story didn't follow that predictable "twist." The stylistic choice to have Goku shift in and out of Super Saiyan form was brilliant and looked incredible on screen.While the finale left the future of Dragon Ball Super is so open, I can't help but to feel wanting just a little bit more. With the next film set to release December 14th of this year, it would have been great to get a little hint as to what's next. If you don't have any clue what I'm talking about, click here to learn what the future of Dragon Ball Super has in store. The final paragraph in that article will explain all the details we have on everything coming up for DBS.
Another great choice was to have 17 narrow his eyes, making the audience guess if he was in fact tricking out heroes all along. This redirect was about all they could do to make us second guess what the wish would be. As nearly everyone guessed, 17 wishes for the most predictable thing that was never in jeopardy of happening. There were just too many incredible characters introduced during this inter-universal tournament to not keep around for the foreseeable future. You know we need a Goku/Jiren rematch and for Vegeta to witness the existence of an entire Saiyan population. Not to mention Vegeta stepping up as a mentor to Cabba.One issue I do have is with Zen-Oh sama. It was so off-putting that a childlike god was so nonchalant about erasing entire universes. I thought that was remedied by them saying Zen-Oh knew what would happen all along... but that lasted for like two seconds when it's stated that he would've erased every single universe if a selfish wish was asked. I don't get that character, but whatever. Sometimes you just need a chaotic character thrown in for the hell of it. All in all, this was a fantastic installment and I can not wait to see how the series evolves when it returns. Now to watch some reruns until the film in December. See you all then!
