Fresh from Goku going and screwing everything up again, this chapter concludes the battle with Moro in just about the most unlikely way possible. While the later parts of this arc have frustrated me, I’ll put my hands up and admit that of all the possible solutions I presented in my previous review to get out of this situation, the manga went with all of of them and added another twist. And i quality was based on how surprised I was, then this would be some top tier content.
If it wasn’t bad enough already that Moro had merged with the entire planet earth to become some kind of living planet, to add to his ego he’s gone and remembered he had that energy consumption magic. Just to add one more factor of dilemma to this whole situation that Goku has created for them.
And it’s really that power that’s stopping Goku from doing anything to stop Moro. Because while it seems like his Ultra Instinct is more than enough to deal with these earth formed fists erupting from nowhere. Including a very unfortunately placed one. Goku isn’t going to be able to maintain the form because of Moro constantly consuming his, along with everyone else on Earth’s energy.
Much to my surprise, Beerus actually steps in to finally lend a hand. Although he seems more interested in saving Earth’s food than putting a stop to the galactic scale destruction Moro is causing and will continue to cause when he overloads and explodes. Seriously, I’m still not sure I understand the role of the God of Destruction. I was under the impression he managed and made sure destruction was happening at a certain pace.
But maybe Beerus is just that terrible at his job. I mean, he craps his pants every time the Grand Priest gets in contact with him, so maybe he is aware of how “seat of his pants” he manages his Universe. Because crap his pants is the very thing he does when the Grand Priest summons him moments later.
Poor timing for our heroes. Whis presumes its about the matter of Merus and Beerus’s hand in him erasing himself. Thus the two godly beings depart the battle in progress, but not before Whis gives Goku some parting advice. He tells Goku that all he needs to do to save the day is shatter the crystal on Moro’s forehead, as Merus did before him. Therefore taking away his godly power and then causing him to die without destroying the planet?
I’m not sure this really makes any logical sense in my eyes. I mean, merging with the planet was Moro’s magic, nothing to do with the angel power he absorbed from the angel in training. But hey, they need to wrap this fight up, so something simple like this is probably the best approach to keep this final struggle from getting too complicated I guess.
While I can spend time complaining about the logical nonsense of a Dragon Ball plotline, I’d rather spend that time talking about how good Toyotaro’s art looks. The visuals of this planet merged monster erupting from the earth and reforming the ground as he fights is really cool looking. Something totally unique in terms of a Dragon Ball battle.
At which point the rest of the gang show up to lend a hand. And thankfully, Toyotaro didn’t forget about Vegeta’s new power, as he charges in and starts punching the ground as pretty much everyone online was begging he do. This isn’t going to be out easy solution though, because between Moro’s new enhanced rate of consumption, coupled with Vegeta rapidly getting his energy drained means he can only diffuse Moro’s spirit for so long. He buys Goku enough time for one desperate final charge, however Goku can’t reach Moro’s head in time and falls out of Ultra Instinct.
Almost right away though, Piccolo shows up as the man with the plan to save the day. He asks Vegeta if he can use his Forced Spirit Fission in reverse, if he’s able to gather energy from other people who give it willingly and put it back into another body. Something I’m not sure makes all the sense, but Vegeta agrees is something he can do in principle.
And here we get something I don’t think I was expecting: Vegeta’s Spirit Bomb envy. The power gathered by Vegeta and how he controls it looks like one big homage to how Goku used the first, smaller Spirit Bombs during the Saiyan Arc of Dragon Ball Z. Although the collective power of the Z Fighters is only enough to power Goku up to Super Saiyan Blue, and not enough to break free of Moro’s soil grasp.
At least Goku has the sense to apologise for all this being his fault. Which it is. I doubt this is a lesson he’ll ever remember though.
What actually saves everyone is a Deus Ex Machina I have mixed feelings about. Jaco charged off earlier to find Majin Buu, hoping to contact the previous Supreme Kai within him and ask for his help. It felt like a move that kind of came out of nowhere, but it did end up with a pretty good reveal in my books. The Supreme Kai re-emerges and teleports to contact a young Uub of all people.
This is a cool reveal for me. There was always this feeling that the reincarnated Kid Buu was left in the dust a little with all power Goku and Vegeta had gained since they originally defeated Majin Buu. But with the whole introduction of Divine Ki, and how much of it this old Kai presumably had before being split into two beings (after being absorbed and all), means that that power now resides in Uub. King Yemma must be yucking it up in heaven, having put all this godly Ki in the the body of a mortal earthling. But the power gained from this unaware Uub is more than enough to overcharge Goku’s Ultra Instinct.
Which means the little guy’s potential is now massive once again. Even Vegeta seems totally baffled by where all this power came from, but still throws it at Goku in a manner very reminiscent of how Goku hurled a giant Spirit Bomb on the past. At which point something wild happens. Goku re-enters Ultra Instinct surrounded by a huge Goku shaped aura whose size rivals Moro’s new form. Man, There’s going to be so many jokes about this ripping off Naruto in the coming days and weeks, I don’t even know how to feel about it.
But again, it makes for one hell of a visual moment. Goku smashing the crystal and putting an end to Moro for good.
This fight had to end some way, and I’ll put my hands up and admit that I never expected it to end the way it has. I really appreciate the way the ending reintroduced Uub and made him important again, putting some weight behind Goku’s decision to train him at the end of the original Manga. Plus, between Trunks in the anime and Vegeta now, it feels like everyone is getting their own Spirit Bomb.
It’s kind of too bad that Moro ended up getting lost in the events of this final chapter. He was a villain who seemed super promising as this arc started, but by this final chapter he has literally gone mad with power, turning into some monstrous creature, losing the ability to talk and even point his eyes in the same direction. By the end, he was simply a force to overcome and any personality he had, ripped off from other villains or otherwise, has been long forgotten.
In the end, while there were some great moments. This does feel like more of a mild bummer than a hype finale to a story arc. While Spirit Kaiju Goku is certainly a unique and recognisable moment, it feels like it leans more in the direction of being silly than genuinely cool. Plus, everything had to happen in this final arc between Jaco and the Grand Supreme Kai seemed like it came out of left field. I’ll have to let this sit for a while, but I do want to continue thinking about Moro as a villain and will talk about him again before the next chapter drops.
And I swear to god if we don’t get a time skip past the end of Z soon…
A Richard Wood Text Adventure 