Spoilers ahead for those who haven't read the latest chapters of the Dragon Ball Super manga by Toyotaro. Read at your own risk.
Welp, it already looks like a few of my predictions were wrong. To see those and get some giggles out of my lack of foresight, go ahead and check out this link http://belartscorner.blogspot.com/2015/12/dragon-ball-super-and-team-universe-7.html.
Included was my idea that Buu would actually make it to the tournament. He didn't even pass the written exam. It was so predictable that even I didn't think Toriyama would go for it. He did and sadly there's no Buu in the tournament despite the hype of him on the promotional materials. So the poster should look more like this.
Training gains in Dragon Ball have always been wildly inconsistent. Most of them are largely based on the plot. But if a character is getting some screen time dedicated to intense training, usually they end up with a decent role in the the upcoming or current arc. So with Piccolo and Gohan being the "B Team" of Dragon Ball Super, will something come of this? That's the question many of you want to know, I suspect. And the answer to that is yes in my opinion. I don't think this nicely animated and well drawn action scene was just added to pad anything out. I believe that this training session between two series favorites, who are the main defense Earth has behind Goku and Vegeta and who are leagues upon leagues behind the two in strength, will ultimately result in a substantial powerup for the both of them.
That's definitely up in the air. It wouldn't make a ton of sense for them to reach Goku and Vegeta levels in only a few months of training, especially when Goku and Vegeta are still constantly training. I think this training will put both Gohan and Piccolo in a realm of power where they can both be recognized by Beerus and Whis. As idiotic and crazy as it sounds, I think Piccolo will reach Super Saiyan 3 Goku levels. I don't really know what's going on with Gohan though. He should have already been way ahead of Super Saiyan 3 Goku, so is this training meant to get him back at that level? Will he surpass the Vegeta who pushed Beerus to use 10% of his power? I just don't know.
My guess is Gohan will unlock something new. It won't be Super Saiyan God or the blue haired form though. It'll be something just for him and he'll be back in the second arc or whenever the hell sh** hits the fan in this arc to show off his new power.
Welp, it already looks like a few of my predictions were wrong. To see those and get some giggles out of my lack of foresight, go ahead and check out this link http://belartscorner.blogspot.com/2015/12/dragon-ball-super-and-team-universe-7.html.
Included was my idea that Buu would actually make it to the tournament. He didn't even pass the written exam. It was so predictable that even I didn't think Toriyama would go for it. He did and sadly there's no Buu in the tournament despite the hype of him on the promotional materials. So the poster should look more like this.
Nothing to see here, move along...
 |
| Yup, just four U7 fighters, as it always was. Good ol' Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, REDACTED, and Monaka *whistles and slowly walks away.* |
Now with what he know of the end of Super's Fukkatsu no 'F' arc, let's see if we can figure out Piccolo's role.
Resurrection no 'P'
At the end of the Dragon Ball Super anime's Fukkatsu no 'F' arc, Piccolo is resurrected with the Namekian Dragon Balls not long after his death at Frieza's hand. As you all should know at this point, he stepped in and took a blast from the tyrant that was aimed at his protege Gohan. At the victory party, Gohan apologizes and earnestly asks Piccolo to retrain him so that he can protect his family. Piccolo seems to agree, but tells Gohan that he'll have to properly retrain his weak body. So now it seems that these two have a proper motivation to train. Like many of you, I'm stuck wondering what will come of these results. I did a post about ways Akira can power these characters up in an interesting way http://belartscorner.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-dragon-ball-fanboy-vs-akira-toriyama.html but he's missed the window for the powerups I had for Piccolo in the after life. So now what will he do?
More than 5 days to train
I'm relieved that my concerns about the manga and Piccolo's mere 5 day training window for this tournament seem to be old news now. The anime presents us some evidence that a nice chunk of time has passed since the end of the FnF arc. Krillin has had enough time to grow his hair back and Gohan has even changed hair styles. So maybe some months have passed. It's seemingly so since Goku and co. can use the Earth's Dragon Balls again. So does this mean that Piccolo and Gohan have been diligently training in that time? As is now shown in the preview for next week's episode, if they have been training with the sort of intensity shown in this gif then they both might just jump by several levels. They are fighting like bitter enemies it looks like. Look at how aggressively Piccolo is attacking. I don't think he's holding anything back.
Training gains in Dragon Ball have always been wildly inconsistent. Most of them are largely based on the plot. But if a character is getting some screen time dedicated to intense training, usually they end up with a decent role in the the upcoming or current arc. So with Piccolo and Gohan being the "B Team" of Dragon Ball Super, will something come of this? That's the question many of you want to know, I suspect. And the answer to that is yes in my opinion. I don't think this nicely animated and well drawn action scene was just added to pad anything out. I believe that this training session between two series favorites, who are the main defense Earth has behind Goku and Vegeta and who are leagues upon leagues behind the two in strength, will ultimately result in a substantial powerup for the both of them.
But how strong will they get?
That's definitely up in the air. It wouldn't make a ton of sense for them to reach Goku and Vegeta levels in only a few months of training, especially when Goku and Vegeta are still constantly training. I think this training will put both Gohan and Piccolo in a realm of power where they can both be recognized by Beerus and Whis. As idiotic and crazy as it sounds, I think Piccolo will reach Super Saiyan 3 Goku levels. I don't really know what's going on with Gohan though. He should have already been way ahead of Super Saiyan 3 Goku, so is this training meant to get him back at that level? Will he surpass the Vegeta who pushed Beerus to use 10% of his power? I just don't know.
Predictions
My guess is Gohan will unlock something new. It won't be Super Saiyan God or the blue haired form though. It'll be something just for him and he'll be back in the second arc or whenever the hell sh** hits the fan in this arc to show off his new power.
Piccolo will maintain his role of outclassed badass, kinda like the Tien role in late Dragon Ball Z. Though Tien is still a boss too for going hand to hand with the freakin' God of Destruction! But I don't think Piccolo will reach the realm of Goku and Vegeta by any means and I also don't think he's being set up for it in a later arc. I think AT just wants to make him a little stronger so that he can tag along with Goku and Vegeta and make some smart observations about their battles while also being able to lend a hand every once in a while in some small way. It's a disappointing role to see for a Piccolo fan, but at least he's being utilized.
Anyways, that's my predictions about this latest arc and Piccolo and Gohan's role in it. No, I don't think Gohan will fight in the tournament, but I do think he's being pushed for something later on. Who knows, I've proven to be wrong before on calling the obvious. But please, share your own thoughts, opinions, and theories below or just comment on mine.
As always, thanks for the browse, my glorious readers!
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