BUU ARC (#200-#291)

Episode 246 (Bai Bai · Bobbidi!! Majin Bū Hangyaku) aired on November 16th, 1994. 
Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Shingo Ishikawa.
Key animation: Shingo Ishikawa, Shigeki Sato, Miyako Jinguu, Hiroyuki Yokota, Atsushi Matsumoto, Mizue Ogawa.

-First episode to use M19XX (fourteenth movie soundtrack). I swear we’re going to hear the abridged M1912 so many times…
-Really good storyboarding and direction. Kikuchi‘s chromatic mixtures are so appealing.
–Yamamuro out of nowhere.
–Thick.
–Middle finger is indeed a universal language.
–I never got the meaning of the… Pinocchio nose.
–Badass. That’s all I have to say.
-That’s how you do it: Babidi’s beheading looks as brutal as it should be, without appearing too gruesome.

–Pfff. (okay, I’ll stop)
-Overall, SSJ3 Goku vs Best Buu isn’t among my favorite DB battles. It’s not very animated.
-Again, I don’t get his astonishment. NEARLY ANYONE CAN PERFORM A KAMEHAMEHA.

Episode 247 (Mecha Kakko Warui!? Tokkun Henshin Pōzu) aired on November 23rd, 1994. 
Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Shigeyasu Yamauchi and animation supervision by Keisuke Masunaga. 
Key animation: Keisuke Masunaga, Isao Sugimoto, Chisato Ikehira, Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Megumi Yamashita.

-After his last forgettable effort, Yamauchi is back with his godlike performances: from his framings to his extravagant colors, everything is in the right place and works simply flawlessly.
-Such beautiful watercolored harmony cels, like re-experiencing the first Broly movie.
-Babidi’s death manages to look even more brutal than the previous entry: this time not only we actually observe his beheading, but we also get to see him beheaded. Astounding execution.
–DA FUSION DANCE.
–HA.
–This is a very nice moment. No urge to explain why.
-The story repeats itself: Goku leaving everything to Goten and Trunks, just like he did with Gohan in the Cell Games. Goku is basically trying to pass the baton to the next generation, because he’s no longer alive and actually wants living warriors to handle the job. On one hand, it’s definitely a very mature moment for his character, as he’s ready to step aside as the main savior of Earth. Sure, he still loves fighting, but here it looks like his character about to “retire”.

-On the other hand, this moment would be a lot more impactful if the future events did follow such dynamics. Talking about this in retrospect is indeed cheap, but to be honest, a mature moment like this falls flat at the same time.
1) For instance, Toriyama tries to retire Goku’s character THREE TIMES (first time after the Cell Games, the second here and the third… we’ll get to it), nonetheless he seems to struggle to continue the story without him. I suppose he doesn’t trust the other protagonists as much as him.
2) Goku leaving it all to Gohan in the Cell Games was the result of an entire year spent in the ROSAT, in which he’d realized his son’s full potential would’ve come in handy against Cell. Sure, he should’ve told him about his strategy in the first place, but his intent was sensible, because he KNEW Gohan and his skills. On the other hand, Goku leaving it to Goten and Trunks works as an intent EXCLUSIVELY, but doesn’t work pragmatically: regardless of how Gotenks will be like, he couldn’t view Goten and Trunks in same meticulous way as Gohan, as such an action is needed only because the plot needs it. It clearly doesn’t come off as natural and fluid as the Gohan one. Goku has known Goten and Trunks for less than 24 hours, it’s basically impossible for him to realize their true potential. As a result, entrusting them to such a role sounds sufficiently stupid, not because they’re younger than Gohan, but due to them not thinking and acting like Gohan: with the exception of his Super Saiyan 2 omnipotence, Gohan has always been diligent and earnest, whereas Goten and Trunks are the TOTAL OPPOSITE.
3) Piccolo’s reaction to Goku’s decision sounds quite incorrect and incoherent, especially knowing his rant in the Cell Games. If Piccolo had tried to dissuade Goku “Goten and Trunks are still children“, THIS rant would’ve made more sense. Though, to his credit, his relationship with Gohan cannot be compared with the one with the Saiyan kids. It’s also true they’re the only ones who can stop Buu, but the whole rhetoric behind Goku retiring turns out to be very shallow. Noble intent, but shallow execution.
–What a bandwagoner.
–So this is where this douchebag came from.
–What about this? I suppose we have to wait.

Episode 248 (Jā na Min’na!! Gokū Ano-yo ni Kaeru) aired on November 30th, 1994. 
Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. 
Key animation: Masayuki Uchiyama, Taiichiro Ohara.

–Ambiguous transition…
–HAHAHA. Piccolo’s reaction.
-This is classic Toriyama humor: a villain teaching the audience to brush their teeth. Yes, you can destroy cities and kill innocent people, but you can’t overlook your dental hygienie.

-They clearly had to borrow some clips of episode 245 to fill in the new Super Saiyan 3 transformation. Jarring to say the least.
–Poorly aged things.
–Third time Toriyama removes Goku from the story for good, and maybe it’s me, but this moment is kinda weightless. It cannot be compared with Goku’s farewell after the Cell Games, because there might’ve been a chance he wouldn’t have come back, and Gohan would’ve ultimately been promoted as the main protagonist. At this point, after several attempts, we should be able to see the conclusion coming. We already know he’ll come back eventually, and the plot will have HIM handle the job, thus stepping Goten and Trunks aside.

Episode 249 (Gohan wa Doko da!? Kaiōshin-kai no Mōtokkun) aired on December 7th, 1994. 
Script by Masashi Kubota, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Tadayoshi Yamamuro. 
Key animation: Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Noriko Shibata, Kazue Kinoshita, Kumiko Horikoshi, Akemi Ueda.

–HA.
-Another proof of why this Buu is the best Buu: he’s capable of doing kind actions, like healing a blind kid’s sight or giving him some human-flavored milk… without being capable of distinguishing good from evil. Sure, he’s seen destroying another city afterwards, but the main reason why he’d heal a blind kid is for terrorizing him. Then, he clearly spares his life because he was finally aware of doing a good deed.
–Enma-sama sending Dabura to Heaven is a clever move…

-… which the show will make it a mockery in the future.
-Okay, the issue here isn’t the boys MASTERING fusion, but more like the boys MASTERING fusion too well…

Episode 250 (Uso Daro!? Zetto Sōdo ga Orechatta) aired on December 14th, 1994. 
Script by Masashi Kubota, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. 
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Toshiyuki Kan’no, Yuko Inoue.

–#18 helping Krillin cheat. Adorable.
–Their overreaction to the Z-Sword breaking.
–HERE COMES THE BOSS.
–THE CEREMONY.
–Kaioshin stuff in a nutshell.
–This brings up an interesting point: do ogres do anything else but working? Don’t they have dwellings-oni?
–Well, he’s not wrong. Kaioshins are weaklings.
-First elephant in the room: about THAT guy who sealed Elder Kaioshin in the Z-Sword… I can easily buy what modern DB brought, with Beerus sealing him in order to prevent his death, since if he dies, Beerus will also perish. Bad guy? He’s not necessarily good, not necessarily evil. “Not as much as Buu” – he states.

-Hmm, Beerus was nervous for other reasons.
–See what I meant? They’re not as responsible as Gohan. Remember when he decided to join Krillin and Bulma to revive Piccolo? FIVE YEARS OLD.
–Goku blasting Elder Kaioshin sounds as dumb as it looks. It’s not the only time, because Monaka…
-The OTHER elephant in the room: this scene. Goku has rarely been a “balanced” character in non-battle situations: we saw him pat people’s crotches to verify their genders, show his gonads to a disguised sybil, ignore the meaning of marriage, ignore what a kiss is (I still believe the anime explained it lamely, it probably meant “give Senzu orally”), but right now we’re seeing him consent THIS, touching one of their female acquaintances to get the elder’s help. For instance, the show made already use of that device, like a couple of times, that is putting a girl in an awkward and sexualized situation for deus ex machina sake, which it’s not the main issue here, because it’s not about HOW or WHY, but more like about WHO. Muten Roshi and Krillin are definitely more accustomed to voluptuous matters, while Goku has only shown platonic interest in FIGHTING. Sure, he got married and bred, but before this moment we never saw him be THAT keen on sexual topics. He was never like “Woman, I want to touch your mammalian equipment”.
-Therefore, Goku trying to use Videl and Bulma as “sexual samples” for Elder Kaioshin is so much out-of-character. Not only Gohan strongly (rightfully) disagrees with him, but also asks him “is this sexual harassment“? YES, IT IS TOTALLY SEXUAL HARASSMENT. Of course, it’s not a very funny moment, and Toriyama had better pick a TOTALLY DIFFERENT CHARACTER to approve this. Goku isn’t into sex, his personality isn’t THAT mischievous. REMEMBER WHEN HE USED TO RIDE HIS KINTOUN??? And I know purity can shrink while growing up, BUT NOT ENTIRELY ALL OF A SUDDEN.
–HE EVEN ORDERS GOHAN TO ASK BULMA TO LET HER CLEAVAGE BE CARESSED. Goku was never that bright, but JESUS… if they want to flanderize him so badly, I’d rather have him as a battle-maniac.

Episode 251 (Gattai Chōjin Tanjō!! Sono Na wa Gotenkusu) aired on December 21st, 1994. 
Script by Masashi Kubota, storyboard and direction by Takahiro Imamura and animation supervision by Shingo Ishikawa.
Key animation: Shingo Ishikawa, Shigeki Sato, Miyako Jinguu, Hiroyuki Yokota, Atsushi Matsumoto.

–Imamura really likes lighting backgrounds, does he?
-2nd half more action-packed than the 1st one.
–Goten and Trunks glowing in different colors while fusing.
–This dialogue.
–Piccolo’s resignation after Gotenks’ second attempt.
–Popo casually correcting Piccolo.
–Even the narrator messes up Gotenks’ real name.

–And thus Gotenks was created. Maybe it’s just my thought, but shouldn’t a fused character have BOTH Goten and Trunks’ attitudes? Because I can only find TRUNKS’ personality in Gotenks, mostly his arrogance multiplied tenfold. On one hand, it can’t be helped since Trunks actually demonstrated to possess a personality unlike Goten, who’s just there as a chibi Goku lookalike. However, the thing is Gotenks is ONLY UTTER ARROGANCE: he overestimates his skills, stating he can defeat Buu, and for the first time since episode 162, a good character gets deservedly humiliated by his enemy.
–Not too veiled bodyshaming.

Episode 252 (Saishū Heiki Shidō!? Satan wa Chikyū o Sukū) aired on January 11th, 1995. 
Script by Masashi Kubota, storyboard and direction by Shigeyasu Yamauchi and animation supervision by Naoaki Hojo, with Naoki Miyahara as chief animation supervisor.
Key animation: Naoaki Hojo, Yasunari Hayashi, Ken Mochizuki, Tetsuya Takeuchi, Ryoko Takano, Mitsuko Sakamoto.

–Excellent direction. This episode has what’s probably the most creative beginning sequence ever: minimal and squared artwork with very thick outlines surrounded by PINK, which slowly pans over a much eerier and darker environment, while the narrator explains Buu’s evil actions. Every single device Yamauchi suggests functions so seamlessly: from dramatic harmony cels to confident pigmentation, from clever freezing metaphors to simple photos describing the final events.
–Miyahara‘s additional supervision isn’t too frequent, but when it appears, it’s indeed felt. To be honest, I’m not really keen on his toothached cheeks.
–WHY SO SERIOUS?
-Even though the transition from M1705 to M1020 sounds odd, it’s always great to hear that masterpiece again.
–The way Mr. Satan lowers his voice when he approaches Buu’s house. Ends up sounding so high-pitched.
–Sweat of concern on Buu’s house.
–I remember they also use this pun on DBS once.
-This is perhaps my favorite moment of this arc: Buu meeting Mr. Satan. This is the latter’s turning point for his character. A character viewed as a fraud so far, who stole someone else’s victory, takes his chance to redeem himself. How? Defeating Buu? No, he simply indulges him with some sort of shenanigans, like poisoned chocolate, a Game Poy bomb (pun of the really popular Game Boy, it even has Tetris in it) and a simple photo scam. Each of these shenanigans obviously fail miserably, but that’s how Mr. Satan’s approach is truly like, since he’s not nearly as strong as the Dragon Team. The result is Buu starting to like him, thus making him a servant first, and then a valuable friend in a straight-down, yet effective way.

–Why would he keep human candies THERE?
–Trunks, you silly twerp… Vegeta only attempted to save Earth once. He wasn’t really the most reliable defender of the world.

Episode 253 (Korosu no Yameta!! Majin Bū Yoi Ko Sengen) aired on January 25th, 1995. 
Script by Sumio Uetake, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Keisuke Masunaga. 
Key animation: Keisuke Masunaga, Masaaki Iwane, Isao Sugimoto, Chisato Ikehira, Akihiro Tamagawa, Takao Kaiya, Masayuki Sato.

–Wholesome friendship.
–Buu tasting dog food.
-Again, my favorite moment of this arc. It’s so simple, yet so linear: it all starts with Satan’s simple question, which Buu replies that he does what the two Madoshi told him to. Once again, the most important quirk of his character is his flexibility, because he still follows Babidi’s orders even after his demise, but that’s what makes THIS Buu so different from Freezer and Cell: the former was the emperor of the universe conquering planets, the latter didn’t really have a plausible goal after obtaining his perfect form, and Buu was only Bibidi and Babidi’s puppet. He’s not NECESSARILY a killing machine, just POTENTIALLY.
–Having Satan tell him to stop his evildoing by… basically telling him to stop his evildoing isn’t cheap at all, because that’s what you’d expect from Satan. Since violence wasn’t the key, he talks Buu into it through WORDS. This was possible thanks to Satan’s sheer inability to fight Buu, and most of all, thanks to THIS Buu’s naive and “pure” personality, which we learnt to appreciate during these 20 episodes. Satan nearly saves the world after doing something so simple.
-Lastly, I might sound unpopular, but if the Buu arc ended like this, it would be a bold and satisfying change: no violence required and good triumphing over evil thanks to mere rhetoric. Imagine ending it with Goku and Vegeta staying dead permanently and fusion being pointless as usual. Then again, it’d be undoable with Gohan still around… well, I tried.

-This would get a higher rating without a Gotenks-centered 1st half.
-Amazing how Piccolo’s motivational speech turns out to be completely pointless here, since Gotenks manages to be even more arrogant and unlikable than ever. Look, I tend to criticize Vegeta a ton, but AT LEAST he’s got a SOLID reason for acting arrogantly, as he’s undoubtedly a more multifaceted character than Gotenks will ever be. Again, he’s nothing but full of himself.
-Furthermore, Gotenks is so busy flexing his speed he runs out of time. Twerp.
–SCUM OF THE EARTH, not only for shooting at the doggo, but also for contributing to the main issue of this arc. We’re getting warmer…

Episode 254 (Nigero Satan!! Ikari no Majin Bū Shutsugen) aired on February 1st, 1995. 
Script by Takao Koyama, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. 
Key animation: Masayuki Uchiyama, Taiichiro Ohara.

–Ueda’s colors dominating crucial moments. Nothing new to add, it’s great stuff.
–Ohara’s angered close-ups are back.
–This is such a good moment for Mr. Satan. He’s FULLY redeemed after appearing as a fraud in the Cell Games. Albeit not nearly as strong as the Dragon Team, he still reminds us he’s the world champion, so seeing him rightfully beat those scums to a pulp is so damn satisfying.
–Cute design of Buu’s house.
–Buu is such a good boi.
–Satan officially considering Buu a friend is a totally sincere moment.
–DESERVED IT.

-While I praise Satan’s fury, his expression looks quite ridiculous.
–He kinda looks like a monkey.
-Because of that scum, Buu ejects his evil side from his body and now there’s two of them: Fat/Best Buu, much weaker but with a solid personality and Slim/Bland Buu, the evil side who took most of his power but left the personality to the good side. We’re getting to it.

Episode 256 (Dotchi ga Katsu no!? Zen’aku Bū-Bū Taiketsu) aired on February 8th, 1995. 
Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Tadayoshi Yamamuro. 
Key animation: Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Noriko Shibata, Kazue Kinoshita, Kumiko Horikoshi, Akemi Ueda.

–Great storyboarding and direction.
–The battle between the two Buus is short, yet pretty well-choreographed. Step up over Goku vs Buu.
–Daisuke Gori is great.
–That’s a painful and brutal way to die.
–This is funny.
-“Super” Buu recognizing Satan and sparing his life follows a nice continuity…

-… even though I’m not sure M1413, one of Vegeta’s themes, sounds that appropriate.
-That’s why I made the distinction THIS Buu while describing Fat Buu. He was definitely the most complete Buu, being both good and evil. On the other hand, Super Buu is pure evil, he laughs maniacally and likes cracking his neck, and that’s about it. To be honest, this one is a pretty generic and one-dimensional villain, on a par with the worst Cell. I mean, he goes berserk most of the time, but lacks of the same charm and complexity of the other Buu. I do realize the plot needs a more threatening villain, and while he IS threatening, he’s also become kinda bland.
–This Buu can also sense ki randomly. I get it, learning this skill isn’t a big deal anymore (Videl mastered it rather quickly, despite being much weaker than pre-23rd Tenkaichi Budokai Goku), but it seems like the pacing sped up all of a sudden.
-I’ll never stop reiterating my praise towards Yamamuro of this era, but he’s kinda getting used to facial highlights by now.
–Miscolored eyes.

Episode 256 (Matta Nashi no Hakyoku!! Chikyū Jinrui Zetsumetsu) aired on February 15th, 1995. 
Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Shigeyasu Yamauchi and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. 
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Toshiyuki Kan’no, Yuko Inoue.

–Pretty great storyboarding and direction.
–Clever device.
–The human extinction: a very well-structured segment, despite not being too bloody or gory. Everyone dies but Satan.
–Mr. Popo’s expression.
–Goku’s a supportive parent.
–Last time for Kan’no as a Studio Live animator. While I’ve never been a massive fan of his post-Cell Games work, he’s definitely the saving grace of Studio Live.
–The latest Studio Live entries have actually looked decent, most of the time…

-… although Ebisawa isn’t very trustworthy quality-wise. His Bulma still looks dreadful.
–Tenshinhan’s arms proportion is totally off.
–Super Buu is very irritable and tends to shriek quite often. Such a complex personality…

Episode 257 (Tokkun Seikō!! Kore de Owari da Majin Bū) aired on February 22nd, 1995. 
Script by Atsushi Maekawa, storyboard and direction by Junichi Fujise and animation supervision by Shingo Ishikawa.
Key animation: Shingo Ishikawa, Shigeki Sato, Miyako Jinguu, Mizue Ogawa, Junichi Nagano, Taiichiro Ohara, Kumiko Horikoshi.

-Interesting how Budokai 3 and Budokai Tenkaichi 3 introduce Gotenks with the two poses he displayed.
–Piccolo showing some respect for Mr. Satan’s accomplishment.
–I fully agree.
-In the past I stated I wasn’t going to be sorry for Chichi when Buu turned her into an egg. To be fair, I was kinda wrong, since Chichi has been tolerable during this arc altogether. It’s maybe due to her screen time being only 20% filler, unlike in the previous arcs, in which Toei depicted her as a hardened pain in the ass. Could it be Toriyama understands her character better?
–YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS.

–Someone’s been taking Koyama’s notes. DON’T.
-You realize this arc is putting up too much speed when they have Gotenks already reach Super Saiyan 3 in just a few hours of training. This is just IMPOSSIBLE, since both Goten and Trunks can’t go beyond the regular Super Saiyan, therefore their fusion cannot learn and MASTER the third level without SSJ2. I know it, the plot needs to go on either way, but if it took years and years of training for Goku to master the transformation, I can’t fathom how two Saiyan rookies would accomplish it in a few hours. C-cells or not, it doesn’t make much sense.
-In addition to this, Trunks’ strategy is simply LAME:
1) On one hand, we finally realize WHY Gotenks only has Trunks’ personality… because Trunks has a personality unlike Goten. Or if the latter barely has one, it’s easily overwhelmed by Trunks’.
2) That said, unfortunately Trunks isn’t in the position of treating Buu’s threat like a game. Just like Vegeta, he wants to screw around by not going all out from the start, but at least Vegeta’s gigantic ego always had the best of him and he was even right sometimes. On the other hand, Trunks absolutely has no reason for being irresponsibly arrogant, apart from being Vegeta’s son, because he hasn’t been that useful up to now. I get it, he’s only a kid, but Gohan was far more responsible at his age and couldn’t turn Super Saiyan, either.
-Another elephant in the room… four people in the ROSAT. What about the “two at the time” rule??? Are you going to tell me 2 kids = 1 adult?? Because I won’t buy it.

Episode 258 (Honki de Iku ze!! Sūpā Gotenkusu Zenkai) aired on March 1st, 1995. 
Script by Atsushi Maekawa, storyboard and direction by Takahiro Imamura and animation supervision by Yuji Hakamada. 
Key animation: Yuji Hakamada, Shinichiro Fukushima, Takayuki Manaka, Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Megumi Yamashita.

–Imamura‘s directional performance is definitely a positive. That reflection on Piccolo’s sweat is a gem.
–Some Ueda-esque coloring while Gotenks is performing his silly techniques.
–Hakamada’s original genga shows Piccolo’s belt being red, just like in the manga. Interesting detail.
-I believe he added an extra impact frame during Takeuchi’s scene.
-The 1st half is pretty asinine, with Gotenks using his silly moves. Thankfully, the episode picks up during the 2nd half. Not only the action is better, but Gotenks also shows two very cool techniques: Galactic Donut and Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack. I may not like him that much, but I can’t deny there’s quite some creativity behind his attacks.
-Okay, I finally got Piccolo’s role in this arc: being a box seats spectator, making sarcastic comments or simply fanboying. I’m still not sure if this new role of his is diminishing or radical.
–A fart gag?
–Universal language.
–HA.

–Why does Takeuchi like characters jerking off nonchalantly???
-Seriously, how many elephants are in the room of this arc?? Buu’s irises changing color out of nowhere, from white to red. Could it be that Toei screwed pigmentation up once again?
-Even though the 2nd half is more enjoyable, I just can’t get over Gotenks’ carefree attitude: he times out in the middle of a battle TWICE and treats Buu like a game by not going at full power from the start. The only hope of the world is taking this fight WAY TOO LIGHTLY. As a result, there’s barely no tension. Buu is intimidating, but to an extent due to the superficial tone the plot wants to show.
-For example, displaying comedy moments isn’t necessarily bad, but there’s a time and place for everything. On top of that, it may work once or twice, not too many times.

The twelfth Dragon Ball Z movie (Fukkatsu no Fyūjon!! Gokū to Bejīta or The Rebirth of Fusion!! Goku and Vegeta) was released on March 4th, 1995. Script by Takao Koyama, direction by Shigeyasu Yamauchi, executive production by Tsutomu Tomari, Tan Takaiwa and Yoshio Anzai and animation supervision by Tadayoshi Yamamuro.

-Kikuchi’s M20XX is pretty solid: M2007, M2010 and M2012 are glorious, M2003 and M2016 sound so close to rock and roll stuff, M2013 and M2024 (Gogeta’s theme) are also great but they’re NEVER used in the anime, M2015 is the best track and the movie knows it because it’s used TWICE.
Nonetheless, I don’t understand the presence of tracks from the ninth film, such as M1606 and M1618. Oddly enough, that movie used an alternate version of M1207B from the fifth film (M1207A was actually more used in the anime).
–Yamauchi is a spectacular director: accurate cinematography, atmosphere, choreographies, colors, creative framings… if Tatsuya Nagamine is nowadays one of the best Toei directors, it’s also thanks to a terrific mentor.
-His use of extremely thick outlines is much more frequent than it was in Second Coming. It resembles the beginning of episode 252.
–Goku turning Super Saiyan 3 is one of those scenes even non-DB fans remember the most. Easily the 2nd best transformation sequence of the franchise: it’s not very animated, but Yamauchi’s cinematography and use of negative turn it into something SPECIAL.
–Yamamuro’s corrections are spot-on, but are nearly absent on veterans like Shimanuki, Hisada, Miyahara, Shida, Ide and Kan’no. It’s almost like he wanted to allow them some more liberties. By all means, it’s a super polished film.
-After the two Brolixperiments of 1994, Goku is back as the protagonist. To the movie’s credit, the annoying FORMULA seems to have disappeared for good. The only surviving cliché is Vegeta saving Goku because “I want to defeat Kakarot”. Fine, as long as he doesn’t say “Don’t get the wrong idea blah blah”.
-The setup isn’t too bad. I actually appreciate the movie shows the soul purifying machine of the Other World, which was mentioned by Piccolo before Vegeta’s Final Explosion. The conflict starts due to the machine bursting, thus allowing wandering souls to come back to life, including Juliano from Romet and Juliano and Dracula. Oh, and also bad guys from previous arcs and movies.
-I also believe the idea of an enemy vulnerable to insults works pretty well. Much like Namekians not standing whistles, this, too, functions as a creative weakness.
–LOOK AT HOW ADORABLE SHE IS. JUST BLOODY LOOK.
-For the first time ever, Vegeta distances himself from his stock frown to look genuinely desperate. Great stuff.
–Goku teaching Vegeta the Fusion dance reproduces the exact same framings as the regular series version. Both media were directed by Yamauchi, makes sense.
-And yes, having them fail the first attempt is actually necessary. Clearly Veku is no match for Janemba, but his clumsiness and fart gags manage to confuse him quite a bit.
–As for the main event, maybe Toei wanted to “respond” to Toriyama’s Potara Fusion, introduced in his manga in late January 1995, by simply having Goku and Vegeta perform the Fusion dance. My guess is that Koyama wasn’t really sure of what to do with Gogeta’s personality, as if he was afraid of making him too similar to Vegetto. The solution? Making him a nearly taciturn alpha. That probably explains why he only appears near the end, disposing of Janemba with his really cool Soul Punisher/Stardust Breaker. I’m kinda uncertain if this Gogeta portrayal is alpha or just plain bland, especially comparing it with DBS Broly Gogeta, who was unlikely balanced for being a fused character.
-Albeit he contributed to Janemba’s defeat, Vegeta’s soul still vanishes in the end. Following continuity.
-Quite curious the episode that aired after this film was about Gotenks’ Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack. Perfect timing.

–Saike Oni looks and acts like a generic and stereotypical ’90s teenager, listening to loud music and ignoring his superior’s orders “eh, he’s an adult, I hate him. FAK DA POLICE”. It’s all downhill from here, as the shockwave turns him into Janemba.
I HATE JANEMBA. I HATE HIS VOICE. I HATE HIS GIANT FORM DESIGN. (his transformed state looks okay-ish) FUCK JANEMBA. He’s the worst DB cinematic villain. Yes, he’s worse than Bio-Broly, because he represents what a character should never be: obnoxious, loud, hysterical and without a personality. HEY, JANEMBA BREAKS HIS SWORD WHICH MAKES HIM LAUGH A LOT. HEY, JANEMBA CAN’T FIND GOKU AND VEGETA, SO HE SCREAMS. LAUGHING AND SCREAMING CONSTANTLY DOES NOT GIVE DEPTH TO A CHARACTER. IT’S NOT SUFFICIENT. Seriously, I can find no villain as awful as Janemba, he’s THE worst villain ever.
-While I do realize a few people didn’t watch the Other World Tournament arc (they didn’t lose anything valuable, anyway), not only they had to bring back content from a filler arc that aged like milk under the sun, but they also gave WRONG INFO: Paikuhan now belongs to WEST GALAXY. Wasn’t he from SOUTH GALAXY? Then again, you might think “Who cares? It’s not that important”. And you’re so right.
–Wrong battle damage.
–If nearly every bad guy came back to life, shouldn’t Vegeta be on Earth, too? Last time I checked, his soul was being purified among the evil ones.
-Our prince, everybody: the guy who’d rather die again than fusing (in spite of being already dead). Oh well, at least he still has his dignit… OH NO HE’S CRYING ONLY BECAUSE GOKU’S SOUL IS STRONGER THAN HIS SOUL. Why, it was never a secret since Goku was generally stronger than Vegeta. WHY WOULD HE REACT LIKE A SPOILED BRAT?? Because he’s the same spoiled brat as ever, alive or dead.
-The mysteries of Toei Animation: the same Janemba that could overwhelm a Super Saiyan 3, receives damage from Goku and Vegeta IN THEIR BASE FORM. Always been their problem, has it?
–THIS IS DOWNRIGHT BULLSHIT. No matter how strong Gohan can be, but ONLY ONE HIT? IN HIS BASE? You see, turning Freezer into a joke is the reason why that MASTERPIECE of Fukkatsu no F exists in the first place.
-I kinda appreciate Goten and Trunks’ involvement, but it would’ve been better if they’d fought against some older foes, like those who made brief cameos. ANYONE could’ve been appropriate. Literally anyone. Instead, what do they do?
THEY CONFRONT THE MOST DESPICABLE HUMAN BEING WHO’S EVER LIVED. I’m pulling no punches, I’m dead serious this time. Bringing that asshole here was a shitty idea, it’s nowhere nearly as satirical as ’40s films, like The Ducktators, Daffy-the-Commando or Der Fuehrer’s Face. THIS CANNOT EVEN BE CONSIDERED A SATIRE, it’s just fucking stupid. Sure, the Unnameable gets humiliated by Goten and Trunks, but then, why would anyone come up with a stupid idea like this to begin with?

Episode 259 (Yatta ze!! Obake de Seikō Bū Taiji!?) aired on March 8th, 1995. 
Script by Reiko Yoshida, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. 
Key animation: Masayuki Uchiyama, Taiichiro Ohara.

–Very good storyboarding by Hashimoto.
-This episodes makes use of pre-M15XX soundtrack, such as M319, M320 (OG DB tracks playing in the Buu arc are a rarity), M1003 and M1010.
-Once again, Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack is a pretty cool technique: if you touch it, it bursts.
–These ghosts already have more personality than Janemba. They’re all voiced by Takeshi Kusao using different filters on his voice.
–Cutscene of Gotenks’ defended ultimate in Budokai 3.
–Will-O-Wisp?
-I’d normally complain about the lack of tension, but this is classic nonsense humor.
–HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Goku totally burnt Kaioshin.

–Uchiyama just can’t draw hair.
–Looks way too cartoonish to be true.
-See? I don’t even have to explain it. THE STORY IS ALREADY AWARE OF LACKING OF ANY TENSION WHATSOEVER.
–I wouldn’t mind the Mr. Satan cutaway, if it weren’t for the unnecessary recycled montage of fat Buu being devoured by his evil part and the AWFUL switch from M1010 solemn chorus to the OVERUSED M1912.
–Get it? Because he’s a dog.
–Not if Bulma could endure a ten times stronger gravity.
-I’m getting used to save the worst for last regarding the Buu arc. Jesus, this part of the story… we have to think:
1) Saiyans normally take such terrible decisions, like Goku giving some of his energy to Freezer out of nowhere, Vegeta allowing Cell to achieve his perfect form or Gohan not finishing Cell off when he had the possibility. This, however, manages to be the SECOND WORST DECISION a Saiyan has ever taken. Why not the absolute worst? 5 episodes are worth your wait.
2) Gotenks PRETENDS to have run out of energy and PRETENDS to be unable to fight anymore. I don’t even have to explain why this behavior is downright irresponsible. Then again, what else did you expect from a selfish, full of himself and egomaniac dimwit??? He literally puts Piccolo’s life and even HIS OWN life in danger for a pathetic pantomime.
3) Worst part about this? He comes up with this BRIGHT IDEA after Piccolo reveals his plan of sealing Buu in the ROSAT without the entrance. Again, there’s a time and place for everything, Gotenks considers fighting Buu a mere game. The thing is he doesn’t fight to protect other people like Goku or Gohan, or even to prove he’s the strongest like Vegeta. The main reason why he fights is to overcome his BOREDOM. I mean, he’s indeed competitive, but also a cocky jester. EVEN SO, can you believe this isn’t the absolute worst decision made by a Saiyan?
4) What about Piccolo? Is he really guilt-free? Well, not entirely: sure, destroying the entrance of the ROSAT has always been part of his plan and his last resort, but folks… PICCOLO IS SUPPOSED TO BE ACUTER THAN THIS. He immediately believes Gotenks’ lie, but he doesn’t ponder over why he’s still a Super Saiyan, despite running out of power. And if you think I’m nitpicking, take a look at what happens in episode 262.

Episode 260 (Ijigen kara no Dasshutsu!! Sūpā Gotenkusu Surī) aired on March 15th, 1995. 
Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Keisuke Masunaga. 
Key animation: Keisuke Masunaga, Isao Sugimoto, Chisato Ikehira, Takao Kaiya, Masayuki Sato, Tatsufumi Tamagawa, Hisashi Kagawa.

–Great storyboarding and direction. Ueda providing quality as usual.
-Apparently, Keisuke Masunaga worked on SSJ3 Gotenks’ design. Unlike SSJ3 Goku, Gotenks has no pupils.
-The 2nd half is an improvement over the mediocre 1st.
-From this episode onwards, the classic SSJ sound effect would be used on SSJ3, as well.
–THIS FRAME OVER HERE.
–He deserved that.
–Buu is so furious he literally rips up the ROSAT dimension by just yelling at it. In this case, I don’t mind it, since Buu has always been OP.
-It would be terribly easy to mock Krillin’s suicidal rush, but I actually praise him for trying. Krillin knows he’s not as strong as the Saiyans or even #18, but he still attempts to attack Buu in spite of this enormous gap, in order to defend his family. Sure, it was helpless, but I guess it can be considered a good moment for Krillin’s character.
–Buu’s chocolate banquet is indeed a successful moment. Nearly nobody is spared. THEY EVEN SHOW MARRON TURNING INTO A CHOCOLATE BAR. A TODDLER. Pretty hardcore scene without trace of blood. That’s how you do it.

-However, I hate it when characters aren’t conveniently practical. RUN? AND WHERE? #18 CAN FLY, damn.
-Hmm, Krillin was already revived by Earth DBs once… remember what made Goku’s SSJ transformation possible…?
–They can run faster than this…
–I thought I already spoke about this: IN ACTUALITY PICCOLO DID WARN GOTENKS. It was entirely his fault for acting irresponsibly.
–White lie = PUTTING EVERYBODY IN DANGER.
-As much as I don’t agree with Gotenks obtaining Super Saiyan 3 so soon, I actually have to accept this. I never wanted to, but there might be a chance the new generation’s learning is actually rapider and more efficient than the older gen. As a result, this transformation can be achieved in much less time, even though I do not like this contrivance AT ALL.
-Nonetheless, THIS is definitely a contrivance which leaves to be desired. While Buu AT LEAST had his frustration as an excuse to rip up the ROSAT dimension, WHAT’S GOTENKS’ EXCUSE? He succeeds only because the plot must go on. I’m pretty sure Super Saiyan 3 powers don’t go THAT far.
-Whoa, now Gotenks is REALLY MAD. I guess he won’t screw up anymore, right?
RIGHT??

Sadly, this is Kohei Miyauchi’s last line as Muten Roshi, as he’d pass away three months after the release of this episode.

Episode 261 (Norisugi!? Bū-Bū Barēbōru) aired on March 22nd, 1995. 
Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Naoaki Hojo, with Yuji Hakamada as (uncredited) assistant animation supervisor.
Key animation: Naoaki Hojo, Yasunari Hayashi, Mitsuko Sakamoto, Masaki Inada, Hideyuki Yagi, Noriko Shibata, Tetsuya Saeki.

–Takeo Ide out of nowhere.
–HAHA. Piccolo cares about the temple.
–Even his ears are blushing.
–HAHAHAHA.

-After Yamamuro and Miyahara, Hakamada is the third supervisor to join Kino Production. Even though his presence is useful, he never stands out particularly like Yamamuro.
–The outsourced animation is a bit iffy. Without a good direction or assistant supervisor, these flaws come to light more easily.
–All Gotenks’ techniques are so creative and fun to watch… if only he wasn’t such a turd.
–Why is Piccolo stuttering?
–PICCOLO CAN FLY. Is that supposed to be memeable or the show forgot what he used to be like???
-By the way, remember when Piccolo was a warrior?

Episode 262 (Masa ni Gurēto!! Shinsei Gohan Chikyū e) aired on April 26th, 1995. 
Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. 
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Ayako Kurata, Aiko Nozaki.

–A slower and more violin-centered version of M1623 is used during Gohan’s parental “””farewell”””.
–Biting his opponent.
–HE UNDERSTANDS HOW THE SHOW WORKS BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE.
–Kibito changed his mind. Progressive…?
–It’s actually nice of Gohan to wear the same outfit as Piccolo… wait.
-Jokes aside, Gohan wearing Goku’s gi is an excellent homage, and works as a turning point of his character, who was momentarily set aside. Mystic Gohan sounds like a juicy opportunity to make him the cornerstone of this arc once again, and I’m going to say it…

-… if the story ended with him defeating Buu for good, it would be an utterly acceptable and bold conclusion: Gohan being confirmed as the new protagonist and Goku staying dead and making room for the new generation. Probably a bit too severe? Changes can be risky and drastic, but are sometimes welcome to subvert tropes. Unfortunately, between the two roads, Toriyama picked the safer one, but my problem with it doesn’t stand on HOW Goku comes back, but more on Gohan deciding to blow it.
–Ebisawa appears to animate the first half all by himself, and while I do admit he’s kinda decent, I’m not really keen on his stock anatomy and poses.
-Moreover, the new animators don’t seem to come close to Kan’no’s solidity that much.
-Overall, not a very successful recreation of Toriyama’s panel.
–Gohan’s head looks tiny in comparison with the rest of his body.
-Again, Gotenks had multiple chances of overwhelming Buu, but his arrogance manages to overwhelm his own self in the process. He’s just an irresponsible twerp… to think that he was totally angry a few episodes ago.
-While I’m okay with Gotenks losing his power in a crucial moment, I personally think he had it coming. It’s the simple result of his inexplicable conceit.

Episode 263 (Bū o Attō!! Gohan no Mirakuru Pawā) aired on May 3rd, 1995. 
Script by Masashi Kubota, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Shingo Ishikawa.
Key animation: Shingo Ishikawa, Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Megumi Yamashita, Noriko Shibata, Kumiko Horikoshi.

–So many colors throughout this episode, especially during the battle between Mystic Gohan and Super Buu.
–Furukawa’s delivery.
-Overall, this arc has been nailing its funny moments pretty well.
–Again, the elder’s got a point.

–M1510 is misplaced.
-I already expressed my opinion about Goku addressing the next generation to fight future enemies, and I’m going to reiterate it: it would be more sensible if Goku stayed dead permanently.
-Speaking of the next gen, feels like a premature responsibility in retrospect, doesn’t it?
–Silly Big Green, you’re not allowed to fight in this arc.
-As always, the hottest topic saved for last: Mystic Gohan, or like fans like to call him, Chadhan. I guess I’ll need to list my thoughts:
1) On one hand, it was a relief Gohan wasn’t fully rejected by Toriyama, as this is another chance for his character to shine once again, and he does actually SHINE. Gohan is beating Buu like he did with Cell, he’s become a killing machine for the second time, and just like the other time, his confidence skyrocketed. Overconfidence has never been one of Gohan’s main qualities, unlike the likes of Goku or Vegeta, but hey, it might be acceptable as long as it’s functional to the plot.
2) On the other hand, we’re more used to Goku flexing his superiority because he’s more accustomed to fighting, whereas Gohan is generally a milder character who fights because he HAS to, not because he WANTS to. Of the two times the plot wanted him to fuel the conflict, it always backfired, since he never finished what he started PROPERLY, but we’ll get to it later. As for the R-word, it totally sounds perverse. This is NO Gohan speaking, this is CHADHAN. Chadhan isn’t Gohan, he’s a character brainwashed by his own power. Look, Cell Games Gohan was flawed and all, but at least kept a solid language even as a Super Saiyan 2. IT’S THE SAME GOHAN WHO TOLD CELL HE DIDN’T WANT TO KILL HIM. I’m no puritan, but he should be the very last character to use the R-word, regardless of how much power urge he may have.
THIS ISN’T GOHAN. He looks like Gohan, but to those who view him as an edgy killing machine.

Episode 264 (Yatta ka!? Majin Bū Dai-Bakuhatsu) aired on May 17th, 1995. 
Script by Atsushi Maekawa, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Yuji Hakamada. 
Key animation: Yuji Hakamada, Shinichiro Fukushima, Takayuki Manaka, Takeo Ide (uncredited), Nobuhiro Masuda.

–Some great cinematography here and there.
–Takeo Ide?
–MR. POPO DIED FOR OUR SINS.
–The balls are inert.
–Piccolo acknowledging Mr. Satan’s importance. Radical.
–Mr. Satan still trying to refresh Buu’s memory is kinda nice.
-In this arc Piccolo lost all of his stoicism, and tends to overreact and fanboy quite often. Again, not sure if it sounds radical or downright cheesy.
-For the first time since his debut, Super Buu finally adopts some strategy instead of simply screaming or laughing.

–Gohan doesn’t finish Buu off when he has the chance. Welcome to the club of the WORST decisions ever taken, not necessarily for its execution, but due to Gohan being a hopeless backslider. It’s actually discouraging to witness his comeback without him learning any lesson whatsoever. He only grew stronger and cockier and unlocking his hidden potential made him act like a full-blooded Saiyan, JUST LIKE THAT OTHER TIME. Looks like every time Toriyama makes Gohan the strongest warrior, he always lets him screw up. The plot never allows him to get a hold of himself when he feels the strongest. And yes, on one hand it’s sensible since he doesn’t have as much experience as Goku, but JUST ONE TIME WAS SUFFICIENT. Learning from one’s mistakes is part of a DEVELOPMENT, and Chadhan isn’t a developed character. He isn’t even the REAL Gohan: the REAL Gohan was the one who turned Super Saiyan because he was tired of being weak. The REAL Gohan was the one who wanted to become a scholar. The REAL Gohan was good-natured and used to go berserk for solid reasons. I would expect Vegeta to act like this, not him.
-Yes, Buu tries to blow himself up like Cell. The epilogue differs a lot, though.

Episode 265 (Bū Saiaku no Hansoku!! Gotenkusu Kyūshū!?) aired on May 24th, 1995. 
Script by Atsushi Maekawa, storyboard by Yoshihiro Ueda, direction by Hidehiko Kadota and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. 
Key animation: Masayuki Uchiyama, Taiichiro Ohara.

-It’s like watching a full Ueda episode, with plenty of colorful framings, especially during the battle between Chadhan and Buutenks.
-Even though it’s not a massively animated battle, it’s quite entertaining. Without a doubt an improvement over the entire Gotenks vs Buu. Ohara’s work is pretty crafty, but I’d still could do without INVISIBILITY.
-Of course, the legendary REFERENCE to Goku and Vegeta’s stances during their original showdown.
–Goten and Trunks glowing with the opposite colors of their first attempt.
–HAHAHA. Elder Kaioshin = best Kaioshin.
-After absorbing Gotenks and Piccolo, Super Buu gains some personality once again, mostly thanks to Piccolo’s brain. And he grows a nose, too. Fat Buu remains the best Buu, but Buutenks is clearly an improvement over Tall and Slim Buu: he’s way more talkative and more of a strategist. Sure, his motivation is kinda lacking, since he fights to demonstrate he’s the mightiest like Cell, but at least he’s trying to be more interesting as a villain.

-Commenting on Uchiyama’s unappealing corrections would be way too predictable.
–That Super Saiyan 3 hair is surprisingly terrible.
–Uchiyama’s scandalized pose. No comment.
–Buu’s actually not wrong: Chadhan is to blame for not finishing him off, and consequentially, for provoking him. The worst mistake a Saiyan has ever made on the show.

Episode 266 (Zen’uchū no Tame ni… Yomigaere Son Gokū) aired on May 31st, 1995. 
Script by Sumio Uetake, storyboard and direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto and animation supervision by Keisuke Masunaga. 
Key animation: Keisuke Masunaga, Isao Sugimoto, Chisato Ikehira, Masahiko Nakata, Masaaki Iwane, Takao Kaiya, Masayuki Sato, Toshiyuki Kan’no.

–Extremely solid storyboard and direction.
–Ominous effect on Super Buu Kamikaze Attack.
-I constantly criticized Shin for being a poopy head, but I actually praise his acknowledgement of his zero effort in this arc, as he suggests to give his own life to Goku. After episodes of Gotenks neglecting his responsibilities, it’s definitely a welcome change of pace.
–THIS SCENE. Goku’s resurrection was never troublesome to me, because it arose from what’s probably one of my favorite scenes of the entire franchise: amazing how the mood seamlessly switches from sorrow to hilarity, as soon as M1623 ends and Elder Kaioshin wakes up nonchalantly.
–Buutenks touching Chadhan’s nerve. Overall, I think he deserves that beating. Not Gohan, I’m talking about Chadhan, they’re not the same character.
–Doggo barking and growling at Buutenks. I don’t care if this is filler, it’s a strong moment nonetheless: Buu threatens to blast Doggo, but he seems to hesitate at first, because he remembers him but not quite to spare his life. M1208 sounds fitting, too.
-Even though I previously suggested the Buu arc could’ve ended with Gohan defeating the enemy, this much safer solution was probably still necessary. Toriyama stops experiments and returns with the “old chestnut”, Goku and Vegeta take their roles back to the detriment of Gohan, Goten and Trunks (Piccolo was also important in the other arcs, but honestly, his cheerleader role here is a bit questionable).

-Sure, all of that next generation stuff proved to be nonsense in hindsight, but I guess the story now needs two very strong characters to pick things up, which Goten and Trunks aren’t and will never be. As for Gohan, he had one more chance and blew it by acting like someone else.
–Miscolored mustache.
-HOW MANY TIMES DOES THIS ARC USE M1912??? I’m starting to hate it.

Episode 267 (Kiseki wa Ichido… Naru ka Gohan to no Chō-Gattai) aired on June 7th, 1995. 
Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Naoaki Hojo, with Naoki Miyahara as chief animation supervisor.
Key animation: Yasunari Hayashi, Tetsuya Takeuchi, Mitsuko Sakamoto, Tetsuya Uetani, Masaki Inada, Naotoshi Shida, Tetsuya Saeki, Akemi Ueda, Kumiko Horikoshi.

-This is definitely a full-fledged Ueda entry: masterful storyboarding and direction, with his classic intense pigmentation. Colors scattered all over.
–Miyahara’s additional corrections are extremely solid and far more frequent than they were in episode 252. He even seems to redraw smoke.
–This Tenshinhan is 100% faithful to Nakatsuru’s model sheet.
–This has to be the quickest Super Saiyan 3 power up ever.
–Goku’s terror of fusing with Mr. Satan.
–The filler fight between SSJ3 Goku and Buutenks isn’t too bad. I mean, it’s got Shida in it and those scratches do appear in his modern stuff frequently… but this arc doesn’t really provide solid choreographies most of the time. Of course, it’s all up to the animator and the storyboard artist’s ability to make it stand out, but overall, they mostly involve instantaneous movements and energy blasts over and over. Spamming Zanzoken has officially become an issue.

-So, the Zenkai boost doesn’t appear to work anymore. Maybe due to Gohan’s concealed potential being already unlocked, but last time I checked, Dende’s healing powers were a total deus ex machina in that regard.
-Strange, last time Tenshinhan proved to be VERY useful was… WHEN HE SAVED GOKU FROM DAIMAO’S FIRST BAKURIKIMAHA. It’s been ages and he’s still astonished at his own uselessness. I can’t really blame him, he was introduced as a very crafty character, and was immediately WASTED after the end of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai.
–Wow, what a fail.
-While I praise several comedy moments of this arc, I do believe this is also one of the main flaws of this arc: after Gohan fails to catch the Potara, Goku begs Buu to wait for him. To be honest, that’s how DBS Goku would act in some episodes, not in Toriyama’s adaptation. There’s too many funny moments in this arc it sometimes forgets how to be serious. NOT EVEN the Piccolo Daimao arc was THAT shallow. The previous DBZ arcs knew that there was a time and place for everything. GOKU SHOULDN’T REACT THAT WAY, it isn’t supposed to raise hilarity.
–Again, characters letting down their guard. For some reason, after Gotenks’ fusion ends, Goku immediately underestimates Buu for being much weaker than a second ago. WHY WOULD HE DO IT? I mean, there’s no reason for fearing Buu’s powers, he never wiped out humanity… HOW COME DOES TORIYAMA HAVE A FETISH FOR CHARACTERS TAKING BAD DECISIONS???
-I swear this arc has so many elephants in its room it should become a zoo. Let’s talk about POTARAS: Potara fusion differs from the Metamorian fusion for not having a time limit… IF YOU’RE A KAIOSHIN.
1) On one hand, it might be considered a retcon, since with the time limit rule, the Potara fusion would appear as IDENTICAL to the Metamorian fusion. I don’t think it’s a retcon because the Potara fusion isn’t properly identical to normal fusion, since the former appears to be slightly stronger (also 60 minutes > 30 minutes). Potaras are an equipment, after all. As for what is going to happen with Vegetto, we’ll simply have to wait.
2) However, distinguishing Kaioshins from non-Kaioshins is a clever move, since they cannot belong to the same layer. No matter how a Saiyan can be stronger than a Kaioshin, the latter would still privileged because of his “divine” origins. Of course, this rule was added many years later, but I think it’s useful to establish such distinction.
Moreover, we have Elder Kaioshin’s line “You can’t do it over and over“, which sort of anticipates that rule. It basically implies Potara fusion is NOT illimited for non-Kaioshin users, because if it ever was, only ONE TIME would be necessary to combine.
–Goku going to Gohan’s school… I see what DB Multiverse did.

Episode 268 (Gattai!! Bejīta no Hokori to Gokū no Ikari) aired on June 28th, 1995. 
Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Osamu Kasai and animation supervision by Kazuya Hisada. 
Key animation: Kazuya Hisada, Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masahiro Shimanuki, Naoki Tate, Megumi Yamashita.

-A year later, SEIGA POWER is back at full force. Curiously enough, with almost the entire staff list as their last episode, 231: written by Hiroshi Toda, directed by Osamu Kasai and with the same animation staff minus Hiroyuki Yokota.
-The Seiga trio Hisada–Tate–Shimanuki contribute to rise my final rating of this episode. Yes, the fight between Goku and Vegeta vs Buuhan is filler, but this is actually what made the episode.
–Hisada’s supervision is mostly helpful, as it narrowly saves a meh first half from looking utterly unappealing.
-This Tate is clearly stiffer than modern Tate, but his dynamic poses, rounder eye lines and impact frames resemble his modern stuff so much.
-Shimanuki’s main qualities are his character art and visual effects, such as his iconic debris. His key animation is very rigid, though.
–Dendeku and Mr. Gotan.
–Dende can’t put up with Satan’s nonsense.
–Nozawa sounds particularly manly here. Terrific performance.
-After so much time on this rewatch, you’ll probably expect me to criticize Vegeta here… I won’t, because knowing how much Vegeta cared about their rematch, realizing Goku was holding back was certainly some sort of betrayal. At this point they’re basically like a married couple and if he/she cheats on his/her wife/husband, someone will eventually be upset by such infidelity. Goku and Vegeta’s rivalry is more like a marriage now.
–YOSHA.

-The Seiga trio may be worth a 8/10, but the rest not that much: while Yamashita’s section looks fine, Iizuka and Takeuchi‘s efforts are underwhelming. Reasonable, yet kind of a letdown.
–Terrible SSJ transformation.
–Goku’s oversize head.
-I may sound highly unpopular, but I was never a fan of Hisada adding massive chins. Shimanuki’s Goku would look so much better without his corrections.
–No Potara.
–Buu is counting WAY TOO SLOWLY. Convenient.
-Now, this is very difficult to describe, since Toei mostly tends to fill what needs no further filling. I guess I’ll have to use Toriyama’s source material as a comparison.
-In the original manga, Vegeta constantly refuses to fuse (stating he’d rather die again than combining), but Goku manages to talk him into it by telling him everyone else was eliminated by Buu, including Bulma and Trunks. There’s no battle whatsoever, just chatting.
1) On one hand, Toriyama removes the thrill of the battle, which turns out to be the triumphant card of this episode.
2) However, adopting a more straightforward resolution, without any gimmicks, sounds like a more mature idea: it gets to the point at once, Goku convinces Vegeta in much less time and we’re not bothered by the presence of unpleasant moments.
3) Of course, the anime displays some extra content, which isn’t ONLY about the combat. Sadly, there’s something else. Since episode 231 battles have been feeble and lacked of substance: Majin Vegeta vs Buu, SSJ3 Goku vs Buu, Gotenks vs Buu, Gohan vs Buu… even though I enjoyed their respective episodes, I wasn’t that engaged by the execution of said battles, good art isn’t sufficient without good choreographies. Therefore, I see what they did here: the anime needed and deserved some REAL ACTION after so many episodes of dryness.
4) Nevertheless, that SOMETHING ELSE diminishes what the real action accomplished. Sorry, but after his Final Explosion redemption, I JUST CAN’T PUT UP WITH THE UNCARING VEGETA BULLSHIT ANY LONGER. This also demonstrates why the Majin symbol was pointless after all, because Vegeta doesn’t need to be manipulated to act like a douche. HE’S STILL THE SAME DOUCHE AS ALWAYS. And I praised his identity crisis, which I thought it helped him find his real self. That Final Explosion could’ve been the dawn of a new Vegeta… instead, we got the old, douchy and spoiled bratty Vegeta back. My apologies, someone still weeps for that scene after so many years, but don’t blame me if the anime decides to pretend it never happened. Not only that moment becomes pointless, but also generates a brand new cliché for Vegeta, the SQUIDWARD TROPE.
Remember season 7 episode Sponge-Cano!, in which Bikini-bottomites had to stop a volcano from erupting by sacrificing the unhappiest guy ever, according to the prophecy, who had to be Squidward, of course? While being on the verge of falling into the lava, he begged Spongebob to save him, confessing him he actually loves his life, job, friends and town, for him taking it all back as soon as he got saved afterwards. THIS IS MODERN VEGETA: it starts off as Prickgeta, then something happens that alters his mind, and at the end of the day, Prickgeta’s back again.
-Personally, Prickgeta made sense when he was actually a dangerous subject in the Namek arc, back when he was cunning, unreliable and engagingly ruthless. Toriyama tried to bring Prickgeta back when Babidi controlled his mind, but he was no longer cunning or engagingly ruthless. Though, he was unreliable anyway. An unreliable spoiled brat, that is… wait, it’s an incorrect statement, since Prickgeta was also in the Artificial Humans arc.
5) With all of that being said, I’m actually fine with Vegeta being arrogant: at least it’s not a gratuitious attitude like with Gotenks. Sure, his race is extinct, he’s the prince of nobody, but if he mustn’t be cocky, nobody else will ever get that privilege. It’s simply a matter of TIMING: if Vegeta bumps into a situation like this one, him talking big will appear much more natural as a result.
Confidentially, his Ls never fail to entertain.

Episode 269 (Sōzetsu Pawā!! Kyūkyoku o Koeru Bejitto) aired on July 5th, 1995. 
Script by Masashi Kubota, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. 
Key animation: Masayuki Uchiyama, Taiichiro Ohara.

–Pretty good storyboard and direction.
-Yamauchi would be so proud of the blue and pink hues of the Planet Burst segment.
-As expected, Vegetto doesn’t fight Buu in his base form in the manga, since he immediately goes super. Most of the content here is filler, including Vegetto’s Big Bang Kamehameha.
-As for Vegetto himself, I’ll need a few more episodes to contextualize him. On the surface, he may be like a grown-up version of Gotenks, but it’s partially incorrect.

–This expression looks more grotesque than intimidating.
–Cursed.
–They had to offer another balls gag.
–Wow, this cutaway… I do admit a purified Dabura in Heaven might be a rather sensible idea, since a subject like him would feel far more comfortable in Hell. Not a bad idea per se, even though I wouldn’t miss it so bad.
NEVERTHELESS, TOEI CAME UP WITH THE UMPTEENTH POINTLESS CUTAWAY GAG, only because they like showing characters who have NOTHING MORE to offer to the story, such as Bulma and Chichi (Videl stopped being relevant after her battle against Spopovitch). Cutaway gags narrowly ruined the Saiyan arc, butchered the Namek arc and here… they’re only useless extras nobody has ever asked, because this arc has already been including lighthearted moments within the story. I utterly don’t give a shit about this kind of content. Say what you want about the Tournament of Power, but at least it was interrupted by characters on the bleachers, not by some kind of silly shit.

Episode 270 (Jigen ni Kiretsu!! Bū ga Kirechatta!?) aired on July 12th, 1995. 
Script by Masashi Kubota, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. 
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Ayako Kurata, Aiko Nozaki.

-It’s quite tough to produce something remarkable in a Studio Live episode, but Ueda pulls it off with his skills. The action isn’t that good, but he definitely tries to make it a little more interesting.
–This kinda reminds me of a mix of Seizo Toma and Yoichi Onishi.
–Nice impact frame.
–Even though the Big Bang Attack is supposed to be an energy ball, I still appreciate their effort to make it stand out. After all, the only interesting thing of the Big Bang Attack is its name. It’s a bland ENERGY BALL, the Galick-Ho is already more iconic.
-Most of the action is filler, once again, including Buu trying to make Vegetto explode from the inside. This, of course, doesn’t work because he’s OP.

-Let’s be frank, Ebisawa had more intolerable times throughout DBZ, but I just find his action very boring. This combat portion is PURE BOREDOM.
-Sure, it would’ve been nice if they’d allowed humans to train under Dai Kaio, but it’s unfeasible since we’re in the Buu arc.
-Speaking of which, this cutaway is pretty divisive: is Yamcha defeating Other World warriors mere BS or a return to form? In any case, here’s my older thoughts.
-THE ONLY TIME THE GLORIOUS M1524 IS USED IN THE MAIN SERIES, AND IT’S MISPLACED.
-It’s finally time to comment on Vegetto. He’s also pretty divisive: he’s considered either full of himself or a total badass. What is a Vegetto, then?
1) For starters, unlike Gotenks, Vegetto turns out to have a solid reason for procrastinating, since if he ever vaporized Buu, Gohan and the other would be vaporized, too. And yes, constantly mocking and provoking Buu is part of his plan, and no, I don’t consider this a flaw like I did with Gotenks, because the latter had NO reason for taking Buu lightly, apart from treating the conflict like a game.
2) However, my personal issue with Vegetto is his character imbalance. I could excuse Gotenks for having Trunks’ personality ONLY (Goten has no personality apart from being chibi Goku 2.0.), but not Vegetto, since it’s the fusion of Goku and Vegeta, two characters with distinct personalities. 50/50 would’ve been just fine, but THIS Vegetto is more or less 80/20, as Vegeta’s character appears to dominate over Goku: the one who generally likes to mock his opponent ON PURPOSE is Vegeta, the foulmouthed one is generally Vegeta and the one who usually comes up with a plan is Vegeta again. Vegetto barely has nothing of Goku.
-You may think “both Goku and Vegeta tend to take fights lightly” and while this statement is true, both have way different reasons for doing so: Goku simply likes having fun, whereas Vegeta likes making fun of his opponent. Here Vegetto isn’t having any sort of fun and is indeed making fun of Buu for being weak.
-I might also dare to say Buuhan is ironically a much weaker character than Buutenks. Why is that, despite Gohan being better than Gotenks? For some reason, the plot decides to erase all his slyness and craftiness he displayed against Chadhan to turn him back into the easily irritable, generic foe who fought against Gotenks. He’s still talkative, but Piccolo’s ingenuity seems to be gone for good. He’s the same bland Super Buu as ever.

The thirteenth Dragon Ball Z movie (Ryū-Ken Bakuhatsu!! Gokū ga Yaraneba Dare ga Yaru or Dragon Fist Explosion!! If Goku Won’t Do it, Who Will?) was released on July 15th, 1995. Script by Takao Koyama, direction by Mitsuo Hashimoto, executive production by Tsutomu Tomari, Tan Takaiwa and Yoshio Anzai and animation supervision by Tadayoshi Yamamuro.

-This may be the first DB movie to feel like an actual animated full-length film. It nearly took a decade, but Toei pulled it off at last.
–Hashimoto’s best product of the franchise. He’s normally had ups and downs in the main series, but I’m not afraid of stating this is one of the best directed DB films of all time: every one of his quirks is developed to perfection, from solid framings, wonderful cinematography, use of colors and imageries, to meticulous usage of environment.
–Amazing transition.
–It’s a pretty polished film, thanks to Yamamuro’s strong corrections. Animation-wise, it’s also the third best animated DB film, especially thanks to the likes of Shimanuki, Hisada, Tate, Shida, Miyahara and Kan’no. It’s definitely not a heavily action-packed film, but quality is in advance of quantity for once.
–Tapion is a pretty cool character: his design is quite original, and incarnates the cliché of the highly responsible warrior who tries all he can to defeat evil. Yet, despite being a trope, Tapion demonstrates how to be a GOOD TROPE, because the plot NEEDS him to be represented like an undefiled hero. Moreover, we FINALLY get a new character with a proper backstory. We haven’t had this kind of development since the first Broly movie.
-Everyone recalls his iconic ocarina theme.
-I like the idea of him being locked in a music box, as a way to imprison his inner demons. Of course, it’s a subtle reference to Buu’s cocoon, but works very well in context.
–The relationship between Trunks and Tapion is quite well-developed. It makes sense for Trunks to view him as an older brother. His responsible attitude is someway reminiscent of future Trunks, which is probably why his friendship with present Trunks manages to be so compatible.
-The first half-hour has got the most unique material that the franchise has ever shown: mostly narrating events and displaying slice of life moments. Action scenes are divided into pieces, but during this half, they don’t appear as the core of the story. It might sound odd for DB standards, but the whole half-hour is so balanced it can’t be that problematic.
-The usual We Gotta Power opening is replaced by a montage of the Great Saiyaman duo stopping robbers. I agree with this decision, as it allows the plot to start immediately. It also works better than the DB montage of the third DBZ movie.
–NOW THIS IS HOW MYSTIC GOHAN WOULD BE LIKE. Was it so hard???
–He’s showily drooling over Videl. Can’t blame the guy. Also, bonus points for showing Videl wearing shorts most of the time.
–Savage.
–More bonus points for Goku using Super Saiyan 2 during the main battle.
-Most fans believe the final section sort of ruins the movie, with Super Saiyan 3 Goku finishing the job with a still amazing Ryu-ken, since he literally disappears after Tapion is freed from his music box, thus leaving a lot more screen time to the hero and Trunks, only to reappear before the main battle strikes. As a result, they wanted the conflict to end without any sort of Goku time, since that conclusion feels disjointed from the rest of the film.
While this is partially true, the title ALREADY spoils the epilogue (Dragon Fist Explosion!! If Goku Won’t Do it, Who Will?), so we shouldn’t be that amazed.

-However, the last action-packed 20 minutes are not that exempt from that annoying FORMULA (always written in caps lock) Koyama loved so much for his theatrical films: Vegeta saving Gohan (was Piccolo busy?), Vegeta getting his ass kicked (one of the very few times he didn’t deserve it), everyone being K.O. and ONE MORE GOKU TIME FOR THE WIN. I mean, the action is great and all, but why misusing Vegeta so much? Not even the second Cooler movie was THAT bad at it, which says a lot. To be honest, the conclusion is not as problematic as some other flaws of this film.
-As for Tapion donating his sword to Trunks, someone still considers it a plothole, believing the hero might’ve given it to future Trunks in another timeline. Well, I don’t think THIS is a doubt I’d question. A better question would be “WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT SWORD?” Trunks never uses it on DBGT, opening sequences aside.
-Maybe due to being only used in the last three episodes of DBZ, Kikuchi’s M21XX never grew on me. It’s probably his blandest soundtrack: it certainly has good tracks like M2105 (the music box theme), M2120 (ANOTHER version of M1119 and M1914, the latter is still the better track) and M2126. The rest is so forgettable I can hardly make any more examples.
-Goku time and Tapion’s sword present are widely considered the main issues of this movie… NOT IN MY OPINION, however. This movie radiates quality from every pore, it’s personally in my TOP 2 DB MOVIES alongside DBS: Broly, but unfortunately, even the best DB movies do have flaws, and in this case, pretty big flaws.
–The big flaw of this film is Hoi. Design-wise, he sucks ass and looks like a tiny and stupid version of Kibito with Babidi’s whiskers. Look, I may excuse Hildegarn for not having a personality, because it’s literally a gigantic inner demon, but NOT HOI. What’s he like? He’s evil and…? NOTHING ELSE, he doesn’t have a solid motivation, either: he wants Hildegarn to absorb innocent people (also, very original… Cell and Buu anyone?) just to cause destruction. Amazing how Garlic Jr, Dr. Willow, Cooler and Broly were the ONLY cinematic villains to possess a motivation, which is supposed to be a key for a plot functionality, isn’t it?
-Nevertheless, the BIGGEST flaw of this film is introducing Hoi not as a villain… by AUTOMATICALLY DEMONSTRATING HE’S THE VILLAIN. I mean… HOW COULDN’T YOU TRUST THIS ANGELIC FACE??? This introduction is way too predictable and we ALREADY deduce he’s the villain. There’s no twist unlike in the first Broly movie, in which we could actually question Broly and Paragus’ evil guy role at the very beginning.
–SHENLONG WISHES MISCONCEPTION. First two, then three, here JUST ONE. MAKE UP YOUR GODDAMN MIND. It was so much better when Dende was still on Namek…
–Perverted Muten Roshi is funny. Sexual harassment is hilarious.
FUCK OFF.
-On a side note, I’m happy the DBZ movies are over, so that I won’t see this dumbass trope ever again.
-Overall, 1995 is a return to form over the experimental 1994. Both movies have strong visuals and direction, but lack of a proper nemesis. DB Renaissance ended on a fairly good note.

Episode 271 (Bū no Oku no Te!! Amedama ni Natchae) aired on July 19th, 1995. 
Script by Masashi Kubota, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Shingo Ishikawa.
Key animation: Shingo Ishikawa, Atsushi Matsumoto, Tetsuya Saeki, Kumiko Horikoshi.

–Fairly solid storyboarding.
–Sky going purple after Vegetto is turned into a hard candy.
-The only Goku-like quirk in Vegetto is his very expressive Super Saiyan. Feels so fresher than the usual stock SSJ frown.
-The anime adds a second Super Buu Kamikaze Attack attempt, with a Kamehameha–Masenko combo. Quite engaging strategy.
–An ultra-thin TV in 1995???

-I’d honestly like to appreciate the battle more without those unnecessary instantaneous movements. It’s decent, but choreography is lackluster.
-I get Vegetto isn’t stalling just because, but he still gives me Gotenks vibes.
–I refuse to believe they didn’t know the definition of CRINGE in 1995…
–DAS IST MIR EGAL, JE M’EN FICHE, NO ME INTERESA, NON MI INTERESSA, EU NÃO ME IMPORTA… I. DON’T. GIVE. A. SHIT. Stop it.

Episode 272 (Hīrō Sōshitsu!? Kyūshū Sareta Bejitto) aired on July 26th, 1995. 
Script by Masashi Kubota, storyboard and direction by Shigeyasu Yamauchi and animation supervision by Yuji Hakamada. 
Key animation: Yuji Hakamada, Shinichiro Fukushima, Takayuki Manaka, Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Megumi Yamashita.

–This portion of the battle might not have improved that much, but at least it’s well-choreographed and -framed. Yamauchi is probably the most competent in the original series in that regard.
–Thick outlines.
–Sparkle transition.
–Vegetto still being able to fight back even as a candy may sound stupid… but it’s implied he’s THAT OP, so it’s fine.
–WTF is Vegetto doing?
–THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE AGAIN.
-I actually appreciate the idea of Buu’s regenerating ability starting to show some limits. Too bad this “weak spot” will never be analyzed thoroughly again.
-I also like the anime showcasing how Enma-sama convinced Vegeta of fighting Buu again: it’s got some lovely green and purple hues covering the entire building…

-… but I could easily do without a blinding recycled montage. That filter is HARMFUL.
-Besides, during this filler scene Vegeta is actually sure of defeating Buu for good this time around… only to be resigned once he lands on Earth (both in the anime and manga). Toei has good ideas sometimes, but tends to interfere with Toriyama’s material very often, thus managing to invade the arc continuity.
–I swear Enma-sama’s place wasn’t THIS wrecked last time.
–Okay, it’s true Vegetto’s plan will eventually succeed, but I still believe the plot wasted ANOTHER CHANCE of defeating the enemy for good. Vegetto would’ve been the perfect character to achieve such privilege.

Episode 273 (Ma no Meikyū!! Bū no Onaka ni Nani ga Aru!?) aired on August 2nd, 1995. 
Script by Masashi Kubota, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. 
Key animation: Masayuki Uchiyama, Taiichiro Ohara.

-This episode would totally deserve a 4/10, but fortunately Ueda’s such a good director. Really nice, bright colors intensify an otherwise stale atmosphere.
-First episode to use Kikuchi’s M20XX (fifteenth movie soundtrack). Also, for the first time IN AGES, they don’t play M1912. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
–Ohara’s indigestible impact frame.
–Buu is so proud of his strength he accepts to go topless.
-Back in the ’90s they used to diversify Vegeta’s base form aura color from the other fighters, by being blue instead of the trademark white. Such a distinction doesn’t pop up in modern DB anymore, probably not to mistake it with the Super Saiyan Blue aura.
-I swear Uchiyama is still the most faithful supervisor when it comes to recreate Toriyama’s original panels…

-… however, it’s not necessarily a radical thing. Toriyama isn’t really at his best in the Buu arc, either.
–Uchiyama’s corrections in general.
–Cursed Goku Black eyes.
–Mr. Satan’s eyes aren’t black, right?
-Several music choices are very questionable, like the joyous tracks M1808, M1810 and M1812 when Buu has fun destroying everything. I’m sorry, am I supposed to be amused or spooked??? BUU ARC, MAKE SENSE FOR ONCE.
–Middle finger again…
-Oh yes, I totally missed talking about Prickgeta so much… I get it, he needs to be like this so that they can sell his t-shirts irl more easily. “OMG, I LOVE MUH PRINCE, HE’S SUCH A SAVAGE”.
No, folks. He’s not THAT KIND of savage anymore. Now he’s a douche.
-On top of that, is it me or the last episode of this arc WITHOUT any battles was 256??? It seems like the anime has been finding any single excuse to feature a battle in each episode. Here’s no exception, as they have Goku and Vegeta taking on some nasty digestive particles. They’re THAT desperate. EVEN the Universe Survival arc knew how to stop and have some breaks.
-I’m the first one to enjoy battles, but it’s also important to know when to stop. To be perfectly honest, the Buu arc should’ve stopped showing combats back to back, especially because the only AUTHENTICALLY GOOD one was Goku and Vegeta vs Buuhan. I didn’t enjoy the rest that much. If they want to feature a battle per episode, I’m fine with it as long as it’s well-structured. Gotenks vs Buu, Gohan vs Buutenks and Vegetto vs Buuhan barely had any structure.
-While the manga immediately moves Goku and Vegeta to the inside of Buu’s mind, the anime prefers focusing on how Buu’s digestive system works. Oh yes, I was certainly dying of curiosity about watching his stomach acids in action.
–Potara fusion running out due to awful air… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA… of course an anime like DBZ cannot rely on time continuity after the inglorious five minutes bit, therefore the hour-long fusion rule isn’t to be applied so simply, I guess.
-No, they wouldn’t still be able to reuse THOSE specific Potaras. Elder Kaioshin confirmed it, too.

Episode 274 (Akumu ka Maboroshi ka!? Gokū to Gohan no Oyako Taiketsu) aired on August 9th, 1995. 
Script by Atsushi Maekawa, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Keisuke Masunaga. 
Key animation: Keisuke Masunaga, Isao Sugimoto, Chisato Ikehira, Masaaki Iwane, Takao Kaiya, Masayuki Sato.

-Even though this arc is in apnea without battles, the more dynamic 2nd half avoids a nastier rating to this episode.
–Smeary head.
–Love this.
–THEY HAD TO CREATE A FILLER EXCUSE TO LET PICCOLO FIGHT IN THIS ARC. Think about it.
–Am I wrong to prefer THIS Gotenks over the real one?
–Ingenious device to end a filler battle.
–Goku’s uncharacteristic vanity.

–Everyone remembers this mishap.
-Toei is desperately trying to resume the classic wacky and light-hearted nature of the original DB, but the 1st half only manages to look bizarre and cheesy: over 5 minutes of toilet gags and Vegeta’s very random vermiphobia (coming from a guy who was shown eating a bugman in his very first appearance).
–Dende can’t stand BS anymore.
–That pun again.
-I might praise Dende’s attempt to play an active role in the story, but his plan is unbelievably stupid. He has never fought in his life, he’s not even a warrior-type Namekian, so what’s that for?
–HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, it’s funny because Prickgeta.
-So… Vegeta is the first one to leave Goku behind, but still demands his help afterwards. Hypocritical bitch, he’s like Squidward. No doubt about it.
-“This is bad, if only I could transform into advanced Super Saiyan forms.“
–So it IS possible to fuse inside Buu. Awful air my ass.

Episode 275 (Majin no Himitsu!! Bū no Naka ni Futari no Bū) aired on August 16th, 1995. 
Script by Atsushi Maekawa, storyboard and direction by Shigeyasu Yamauchi and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. 
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Ayako Kurata, Mayumi Fukushi, Yoshifumi Miyaji, Masatoshi Hakata, Hiroaki Yoshikawa, Tomekichi Takeuchi (uncredited), Yoko Iizuka (uncredited), Megumi Yamashita (uncredited).

-Yamauchi delivers an extremely competent storyboard and direction: his layouts, creative framings and trademark colors are easily the highlight of this episode.
–A subtle reference to the fragments of the first Broly movie?
–Nice usage of Buu glitching as soon as he “enters his own insides”.
–M1014 is used in this episode for the VERY FIRST TIME since the 3rd DBZ movie. Nice to hear it when Goku and Vegeta cut off Buu’s cysts.
–This.
–Effective attack.
-Another average human character would’ve died after that fall. Kudos to Mr. Satan for surviving.
-It’s actually very strange to see the “minor half” of Seigasha Takeuchi–Iizuka–Yamashita uncredited here. Neither of them appears to escape Ebisawa’s corrections.
-This episode actually alternates rather good and solid drawings…

… with sheer mediocrity.
Ebisawa is a special case.
–No in-betweening here.
–Vegeta strongly refuses to combine, but he accepts to perform a cheek to cheek energy blast.
–Getting DBZ Movie 6 vibes. This is no good.
-Jesus, what’s wrong with this sociopathic weirdo?
–My reaction to M1912. PLEASE MAKE IT STOP, it’s the most annoying Kikuchi track.
–Ryo Horikawa narrating the birth of skinny Buu is just too random. Also, reusing clips from past episodes.

Episode 276 (Deguchi wa Doko da!? Kuzureru Bū kara Dasshutsu) aired on August 23rd, 1995. 
Script by Atsushi Maekawa, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Shingo Ishikawa.
Key animation: Shingo Ishikawa, Atsushi Matsumoto, Tetsuya Saeki, Noriko Shibata.

–So Vegeta does care about someone who isn’t himself.
–Removing Fat Buu’s cyst is actually an intelligent move, so that he loses most of his power like it happened with Gohan and the others being freed last time.

-Unfortunately, Buu turns out to be so OP he’ll never seem to be weaker than he should be. Goku and Vegeta still being no match against him is fine to a degree, but my problem with the original Buu is being portrayed as a villain who basically gets less strong when he absorbs other warriors. To put it simply, the idea of making Kid Buu stronger than the previous Buu forms makes absolutely NO sense, since the whole point of absorbing people is missed COMPLETELY. WHOEVER ABSORBS PEOPLE TO GET LESS POWERFUL? I get it, they still want him to be a challenge, but looks like any sort of logic is forgotten in favor of showcasing how unnecessarily OP Buu is.
-Character-wise, the original Buu is NOT the worst reincarnation of Buu, despite being nearly taciturn and lacking of a solid personality. I do realize he’s supposed to represent Bibidi’s original creature, but he sincerely could be worse. After rewatching this arc, I actually believe Super Buu is much worse, because AT THE VERY LEAST Kid Buu gets a proper battle instead of a mere child play.
-Apart from a few good framings, Kikuchi’s board is pretty tame.

Episode 277 (Chikyū Shōmetsu!! Bū Jāku e no Gyaku-Henshin) aired on September 6th, 1995. 
Script by Atsushi Maekawa, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Yuji Hakamada. 
Key animation: Yuji Hakamada, Shinichiro Fukushima, Takayuki Manaka, Naotoshi Shida, Noriko Shibata, Akira Inagami, Akemi Ueda, Kazue Kinoshita.

-It seems like the 1st half is outsourced to Studio Carpenter, while the 2nd is partially handled by Toei names and Shindo Pro animators.
-Instead of Kaioshin ONLY narrating Buu’s origins, the anime actually shows those narrated events from start to finish: from Bibidi having a hard time controlling Buu to the other Kaioshins dying one by one. Of course, Ueda’s colors give this sequence the justice it deserves.
-I definitely enjoy such addition, as it displays Kid Buu’s contumacy and Fat Buu’s naivety and flexibility back to back, after the latter absorbs Dai Kaioshin. On top of that, having Bibidi bribe Buu with cake is perfectly in line with every event he was involved in after being released from his cocoon.
-Even so, the episode highlight is the entire Earth destruction sequence: very well directed and animated, surrounded by red, white and pink hues. Needless to say, Shida’s uncorrected artwork is sublime.
-Kid Buu doesn’t have much personality, but his lack of self-restraint is actually functional to the story, as he immediately obliterates the whole planet without any hesitation. He’s nothing like Super Buu, who stated he was going to blow up Earth a couple of times, but to no avail. This Buu is entirely different, he acts instead of talking.
–As for Goku saving Mr. Satan and Dende instead of Gohan and the others… I don’t see a problem with it. A good-natured character like him would’ve never left Mr. Satan and Dende to a horrible fate, and even if there was a chance of him going back to pick Gohan and the others, it’d still be impossible since he couldn’t even have time to locate a ki to teleport. It was an emergency, who would act rationally?

–Yes, the other Kaioshins were poopy heads as much as Shin…

Episode 278 (Bū Raishū!! Kaiōshin-kai de Ketchaku da) aired on September 13th, 1995. 
Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Osamu Kasai and animation supervision by Masayuki Uchiyama. 
Key animation: Masayuki Uchiyama, Taiichiro Ohara.

–Decent transition.
–I’m actually fine with Buu instantly learning Kibitoshin’s Kai Kai. At least they did explain he could absorb other people’s techniques after observing them once. It’s nowhere nearly as dumb as Cell’s Shunkan Ido.
-Despite being obviously delirious, Mr. Satan is actually talking sense, and I enjoy Elder Kaioshin still rubbing it in Kibitoshin’s uselessness in this arc.
-As harsh as it may sound, Elder Kaioshin recommending not to use the Namekian DBs has a solid meaning, as not only they alter the natural flow of events, but also because they should be used by Namekians exclusively. Since Porunga was already summoned elsewhere, this statement makes perfect sense. Then again, rules exist only for the purpose of being transgressed in this franchise.

-I’m very sorry for the guy, but Uchiyama is getting more and more embarrassing. I used to enjoy Last House in the previous arcs so much I almost considered them the best DB studio. Even after Shida’s departure, their work was actually serviceable, most of the time. This cartoonish approach is awful, proportions are inexcusable and his corrections start to dominate from this episode until episode 62 of DBGT. He even touches smaller details like impact frames and smoke.
–This pout is just gross.
-It’s been quite a while since I was genuinely annoyed by an episode, so I’d better enumerate everything wrong with this terrible entry.
1) For the first time since the Piccolo Daimao arc, DBs are unavailable. If Dende had never mentioned the Namekian DBs, it would’ve been a slightly better change of pace for this arc. Let’s be frank, this arc has been goofing around since the beginning, battles have been mostly letdowns and lacked of tension due to recurring gags or mere will to goof around. Buu wiping out the whole planet was the perfect solution against their goofing around: nothing left to defend, no surviving fighters and no more Shenlong. It would’ve raised the gravity bar completely and would’ve been the perfect turning point for this problematic arc. Nonetheless, DBs are still necessary for this show, hence the name…
2) Goku not being able to sense Namekian ki is fine, and since Shunkan Ido requires ki to be located, it’s okay for him not to even try to teleport. HOWEVER, what did he do last time? Kaio may be dead, but I’m pretty sure he could locate his ki in any case.
3) Goku promoting sexual harassment, AGAIN. I already explained why this gag doesn’t work: it’s unfunny, wrong in every possible way, and GOKU IS NOT A DAMN PERVERT. Was Toriyama edited when he came up with this??? Though, I suppose Vegeta’s indignant response is fine, him mentioning Chichi’s chi-chis is kinda amusing.
4) Once again, characters taking stupid decisions. I actually have to apologize for bashing Gotenks and Chadhan for their behaviors. Not saying I totally regretted it, but I got to admit THIS IS THE WORST DECISION A CHARACTER HAS EVER TAKEN. Way worse than goofing around against Buu, because such a decision is taken AFTER SPECTATING AN ENTIRE PLANET GETTING BLOWN UP. Look, I may excuse Vegeta for feeling uncomfortable while fused, BUT NOT GOKU, because he was the first one to recommend fusion to begin with, yet refuses to fuse CONVENIENTLY NOW, in spite of a critical situation.
THIS line I wrote is very inaccurate in retrospect, since THIS is THE thing Goku is to blame for, not reviving Buu. Besides, why would HE feel uncomfortable fusing? What about Vegetto Blue against Zamasu?
5) “YES, LET’S THROW A PARTY HERE. After all, there’s no evil monster that wants to obliterate everything“. You can totally realize these latest episodes weren’t written by the same person. Things get jarring without manga guidelines, don’t they?
-South/West Kaio (the show doesn’t remember his provenance, why should I?) ignoring Buu’s existence.
-Too bad we neither got to see Krillin’s training, nor Kaio teaching him the Kaioken or whatever. It’s tough when you’re a human.
-Again, I don’t like the idea of the original Buu being stronger than his enhanced forms, otherwise absorbing warriors would become more of a handicap than an advantage.

Episode 279 (Mirai o Tsukame!! Uchū o Kaketa Daikessen) aired on September 20th, 1995. 
Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Shigeyasu Yamauchi and animation supervision by Keisuke Masunaga. 
Key animation: Keisuke Masunaga, Isao Sugimoto, Chisato Ikehira, Masaaki Iwane, Masayuki Sato, Tatsufumi Tamagawa, Akihiro Tamagawa, Hisashi Kagawa, Yuichi Akimoto, Ken Sato, Yuji Hakamada, Shinichiro Fukushima, Takayuki Manaka, Hitoshi Kamata.

–Yamauchi’s storyboard is the true protagonist of this episode: he definitely knows how to create a tense atmosphere, he definitely nails the depth of his framings, and likewise, his chromatic creativity does stand out.
-As you may know, Goku immediately turns Super Saiyan 3 in the manga, whereas the anime decides to let Super Saiyan 2 shine for a bit. And he does shine indeed: while the animation isn’t that fluid, the incredibly solid choreography and cinematography make up for this issue, with lots of smears and dynamic poses. Even ki blasts are inserted within a solid context. It’s 100% filler, but SSJ2 Goku vs Kid Buu easily exceeds the average level of Buu arc battles. It took lots of episodes, but at long last this arc has got a fulfilling battle.
–Goku moving over flames just like Tatsuya Nagamine would do with Broli many years later.
–HAHA. Nice.

–Kibitoshin’s miscolored face.
-For some reason, Arai’s sound effects are low-pitched in this episode.
-Amazing how this arc tries so hard to sound as contradictory as possible. Every time it seems to get a breakthrough, it immediately gets a backward step.
1) Goku wanting to make Buu pay for the destruction of Earth was a SOLID MOTIVATION on its own. It was enough to make the final showdown function.
2) However, at the same time, he treats the final showdown as a game, because he wants to fight alone ONLY NOW. THE SAME GUY WHO RECOMMENDED FUSION AND BEGGED VEGETA TO COMBINE WITH HIM, NOW HE WANTS TO FIGHT ON HIS OWN. I’m not saying he isn’t taking any sort of responsibilities, but it’s nothing like the Saiyan arc or the Namek arc, in which he was actually THE ONLY WARRIOR LEFT. Here he’s not THAT alone, nonetheless he plays rock-paper-scissors with Vegeta to choose who’s going first.
I know what you’re thinking, it’s the Saiyan nature… again, HE’S THE SAME GUY WHO INSISTED ON HAVING GOTEN AND TRUNKS LEARN THE FUSION DANCE AND BEGGED VEGETA TO FUSE WITH HIM. Besides, Goku doesn’t reject teamwork so easily. I would expect this from Vegeta, to be honest.
-Plain and simple, having Goku be rightfully angered by the tremendous loss caused by Buu and making him fight on his own cannot coexist as a narrative solution. Unfortunately, having him as a Super Saiyan 2 (not at full power, then) makes the whole thing even more contradictory.
–This is quite debatable. Super Saiyan 3 was indeed able to keep up with Buu, but the latter could still regenerate, whereas SSJ3 was destined for losing more and more power. You can’t make assumptions with a not so trustworthy transformation.
-Once again, I appreciate his intention, but dislike the execution and outcome. This decision felt more rational during the Cell Games, since Goku knew Gohan’s skills inside out. On the other hand, he entrusts two children he met only a few hours before to fight in his place. See how it’s so painfully jarring?
–Kid Buu shouldn’t be THIS strong. Period. Otherwise, why would he absorb people in the first place? To become weaker? I hate being the one defending power levels, FAR FROM IT, but COME ON, it’s against common sense.

Episode 280 (Bejīta Datsubō!! Gokū Omae ga Nanbā Wan da) aired on October 18th, 1995. 
Script by Hiroshi Toda, storyboard and direction by Kazuhito Kikuchi and animation supervision by Naoki Miyahara.
Key animation: Naoki Miyahara, Takeo Ide, Naotoshi Shida, Tetsuya Saeki, Toshiyuki Kan’no, Akira Inagami, Tadayoshi Yamamuro (uncredited).

-Many episodes after the finale of that tedious tournament arc, Toei finally handles an episode of this arc, and in line with tradition, it turns out to be an all-star episode: NEARLY every important animator is here for the most crucial entry so far, from Miyahara supervising to likes of Shida, Ide, Kan’no, Saeki, Inagami and even uncredited Yamamuro providing key animation. I dare to say it would easily be a 10/10 with at least ONE Seigasha animator, but you can’t always get what you want. I mean, we’re still talking about what’s arguably the highest peak of this arc.
-Relying on an all-star staff nearly outshines a slight backward step in the battle choreography compared with Yamauchi’s entry. Fortunately, it’s a small complaint, because that’s how an action-focused episode should be like. Kikuchi also does a competent job at directing the main event.
-I’m also not afraid of admitting the anime blows the manga away when it comes to such an important moment like Vegeta’s ultimate redemption. It doesn’t always happen, but Toei actually surpassed Toriyama in this instance. How? By doing what Toei always does: FILLING and PROCRASTINATING. It sounds odd, but what is globally considered a flaw turns into the redeeming quality of this episode.
1) In the manga, after being thoroughly astounded by Goku putting up such a good fight, he immediately realizes his rival is better than him. I’m not assuming Toriyama’s take is bad. It’s just… incomplete. Sure, both versions emphasize Vegeta comparing his attitude with Goku, but considering the complexity of the anime adaptation, this isn’t a totally satisfying portrayal.
2) On the other hand, the anime takes things far more slowly (as usual, but it’s an epitome here). Everything starts off with Goku reverting to his base form and collapsing, after receiving a massive attack, and Vegeta rushes in to switch places. Now, this is actually very important, as the anime decides to take some bold liberties: for instance, they show Vegeta be truly CONCERNED about Goku (for the first time EVER, this is a bonus alright). Then, instead of letting him fight AFTER his Admission, here he fights BEFORE (and after) his Admission, which works much better in my opinion, since Vegeta AT ONCE sees Buu’s overwhelming superiority first-hand, which makes him wonder WHY Goku could keep up with him and he couldn’t. Vegeta getting beaten up (in his base form, why wouldn’t he transform…?) is useful to compare the two once again in order to remind the audience who’s the boss.
3) Such a reminder is a perfect excuse for a long flashback montage, but unlike the majority of flashback montages, this is actually good. Not only the previous events are totally reanimated, but I think it’s nice to recall the various phases of how Vegeta’s obsession with Goku began and progressed. THIS is what made this episode so great, it’s not ONLY about Vegeta instantaneously admitting Goku’s better than him, but also about WHY and HOW he’s better than him. His real redemption as a character starts here, it’s a very strong moment and the Morricone-esque M1527 and M1528 (the latter used for the first time since DBZ movie 8) sound so perfect for such an iconic sequence. Although, I still have to analyze HOW the past arcs were reanimated. I know I’m nitpicking, but I don’t want to miss anything.
4) Saiyan arc – episode 28 had an extremely faithful recreation of Toriyama’s furious Goku, but there was no recreation of the iconic first page of that respective manga chapter, which happens to be remade here. The pose is identical, but Goku’s features look way too manly and mature for the time, just like the following Vegeta shot, which is rather faithful to the original, but I still prefer Ide’s first version.
5) It’s surprising the iconic Goku-Vegeta stand off isn’t as accurate as the original, but the rest is basically perfect. I remember complaining about Tatsuya Orime taking some questionable liberties in episode 30, including an awful recreation of the classic Kaioken glare. I’m so glad that panel is remade so accurately.
6) Namek arc – episode 66 is known for being one of the ugliest Studio Live episodes, so even if Goku was replaced by a rock, it would still be better than what it had to offer. Better illustrated (those highlights look meh, though), better depicted, more faithful to the manga, what else?
7) Artificial Humans arc – episodes 129 and 130 (this one also directed by Kikuchi) portrayal of Super Saiyan Vegeta isn’t that bad, even though it partially deviates from the manga, especially during his golden power up and the Big Bang Attack. The pose may be similar, but his expression is different and there’s no smirk like in the original. What the montage offers follows the original panels so perfectly, including the Big Bang Attack (no energy ball, again) and the grinning Vegeta shot, which is a considerable improvement over Hisada’s version.
8) Buu arc – I suppose Kikuchi wanted to make up for that rugby assemblage in episode 208, which finally becomes a collective hug like it should be. The Goku shot isn’t completely as close as the original, but I guess it’s another improvement over Uchiyama’s version.
-You can easily tell this will be the last important battle of DBZ, as it has spectators all over the universe, even in Hell. I do really like how the old villains are so captivated by it.
–Biting his enemy.
–Babidi rooting for Goku? That’s… new.

-I’m not really a supporter of Miyahara in this era, I don’t really like his Porky Pig-like characters.
Likewise, his corrections are everywhere. Maybe they’re felt on someone like Kan’no a lot less, because his art is more or less similar, which sadly features his exact same flaws.
–Friendly reminder of Fukkatsu no F existing due to SOMETHING LIKE THIS.

Episode 281 (Taenuke Bejīta!! Inochigake no Ippunkan) aired on November 1st, 1995. 
Script by Masashi Kubota, storyboard and direction by Yoshihiro Ueda and animation supervision by Kazuya Hisada. 
Key animation: Kazuya Hisada, Tomekichi Takeuchi, Yoko Iizuka, Masahiro Shimanuki, Naoki Tate, Megumi Yamashita.

-Third episode covering the final showdown and it’s another great one. Ueda + Seigasha is such a successful duo. The former provides such an intense direction, with his trademark chromatic picks dominating at the right moment. He always seems to nail cinematography, this is simply a golden era for his career.
-The latter’s absence was terribly felt during the middle section of this arc. Seigasha is the best DBZ studio, as it’s got tremendous animators like Shimanuki, Hisada and Tate delivering such outstanding stuff. They’re absolute protagonists in both battles. Even Super Saiyan 2 Vegeta vs Kid Buu is pretty engaging and great. Totally another story compared with the previous battles, which were all but completely satisfying.
-Starting from this episode, M1522 is no longer looped, but played in its original length.
-Friendly reminder: Vegeta is fighting as a Super Saiyan 2. Looking at context can come in handy, even without trademark sparks.
–Green Big Bang Attack? Okay…
-Somehow I like Vegeta attempting to cooperate with Goku in order to allow him to recharge his Super Saiyan 3.
–SECOND recreation of Toriyama’s panel of Vegeta getting his ass kicked. He actually fights BEFORE and AFTER his Admission in the anime. I appreciate the effort, but that can be a little confusing.

-Episode 279 had both Goku and Vegeta unharmed, 280 had the two of them injured (Vegeta didn’t get to fight, yet he’s injured out of nowhere) and here he’s unharmed again. What was Toda thinking, since he wrote both 279 and 280??? They were definitely confused.
–The injured shoulder Vegeta pose would be so overused later on.
–My problem with this is NOT Vegetto purposely playing around against Buu as much as REFUSING TO FUSE THE SECOND TIME JUST TO FIGHT INDIVIDUALLY.
–And that’s why Super Saiyan 3 sucks: I’ve never seen a transformation be so flashy and so damn inefficient. It wastes a huge amount of ki for what? For being less effective than Super Saiyan 2. No wonder its usage gets less and less frequent in modern DB, since SSJ God, SSJ Blue and Ultra Instinct manage to be more or less functional without being sideshows like this STUPID TRANSFORMATION. I mean, Super Saiyan Blue is bashed for looking minimal and lazy, but no joke, Super Saiyan 3 is just INEXCUSABLY POINTLESS. Even after its (still great) introduction, it wasn’t anything special also because Fat Buu could’ve still kept up with it just fine. We don’t have countercheck of THAT Buu winning or losing against it, but think about it:
1) Namek arc introduces Super Saiyan = Super Saiyan Goku defeats Freezer.
2) Artificial Humans arc introduces advanced Super Saiyan states = Super Saiyan 2 Gohan defeats Cell.
3) Buu arc introduces Super Saiyan 3 = Super Saiyan 1 Goku defeats Buu.
-“Vegeta offering to stall for a minute in order to allow Super Saiyan 3 to recharge“…
Questionable DB time + overrated and not so functional transformation = recipe for an absolute disaster. What could possibly go wrong???
I did say Vegeta’s cooperativeness is praiseworthy, but relying on Super Saiyan 3 is a shortsighted idea.

Episode 282 (Satan o Ijimeru na!! Ganso Bū Fukkatsu) aired on November 8th, 1995. 
Script by Masashi Kubota, storyboard and direction by Junichi Fujise and animation supervision by Yukio Ebisawa. 
Key animation: Yukio Ebisawa, Hiroshi Takeuchi, Takenori Kudo, Ayako Kurata, Yoshifumi Miyaji, Hiroaki Yoshikawa.

–BEST BUU IS BACK.
-Buu’s energy blasts are either orange or yellow in this episode. No pink.
–Mr. Satan casually dodging Kid Buu’s attack. Not bad.
–Overall, he’s been rather active in this arc.

-In fact, he’s been more active than Piccolo. HE FOUGHT MORE THAN PICCOLO. THINK ABOUT IT, THIS ARC IS SO TWISTED. In hindsight, cheerleader Piccolo wasn’t such a rad role.
-This episode switches between rather solid artwork and pure ugliness. Ebisawa’s Vegeta looks still incredibly crappy.
-Pointing out the obvious, remaking the conclusive scene of the last episode. Embarrassing comparison.
-As usual, the content of half of Toriyama’s chapter is developed in an ENTIRE episode. An ENTIRE episode of Mr. Satan’s shenanigans, which is a bit too much. I almost regret praising the anime for taking its time, they tend to cross the line.
–This bit is downright STUPID: SINCE WHEN DOES A TRANSFORMATION TURN OUT TO BE SO UNIMPRESSIVE AND ALL BUT FUNCTIONAL??? I don’t care if Super Saiyan 3 losing his power sounds convenient. I do care for a transformation being both FUNCTIONAL and USEFUL to the plot. Keep in mind this is the ONLY brand-new SSJ form not to be that determining in DBZ. Super Saiyan was determining. Super Saiyan 2 was determining. This clown-esque form does NO SHIT, which confirms letting Goku recharge his SSJ3 energy was a pretty bad idea.
-Say what you want about Fukkatsu no F, but AT THE VERY LEAST Super Saiyan Blue got a kill.