OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)
Arinsu, Kuu, and Duu manage to defeat their Tamagami to get the One Star Dragon Ball. Meanwhile, Vegeta does the same to get the Two Star Ball by revealing that he can go to Super Saiyan 3.
OUR TAKE
Let’s be real, the highlight of this week is Super Saiyan 3 Vegeta for at least a few reasons. But before we talk about that, let’s just get everything else out of the way first. The parallel fight between Duu and the Tamagami was also a lot of fun, showing that Duu is clearly much stronger than Kuu, who didn’t have much of a chance in terms of power, but Kuu comes in handy later with the final non-combat challenge of adding up numbers which allows them to obtain the Dragon Ball. This isn’t the last time we get to see the dynamic between Kuu and Duu, but it is kind of the last time that it’s really significant, which is unfortunate. Still, it’s good to see the villains being proactive, and show both how different these two Tamagami are AND also getting the Tamagami fights out of the way at the same time. These two, along with the first fight a few episodes ago, were all very well animated and a good way to give Goku, Vegeta, and the Majins each a really cool individual fight, but part of me wonders if their novelty would have worn off if they had done seven of these like normal instead of just the three. Either way, we’re not done totally with the Tamagami yet. We haven’t seen Number Three’s powered up form after all!
Speaking of power ups, let’s get to the eyebrowless Vegeta of it all. The idea of giving Vegeta Super Saiyan 3 is obviously not a new one, likely going back to when the form first appeared on Goku in the original manga. While Vegeta would never get it there, he would eventually get it in the Japan only arcade game Dragon Battlers in 2009, and more famously in the console game Raging Blast later that year in a “What If” scenario. And there that Vegeta sat in non-canon material for over a decade and a half, with him never using it in the new movies or Super, by which point it had been surpassed by Super Saiyan God, Blue, and his (currently manga exclusive) Ultra Ego Form, so no one was sure if it would make much sense for him to get it at this point. And frankly, as much as I do like Super Saiyan 3, it was a form I didn’t know if you could make a character look distinct with 3 like they did Super Saiyan 1 or 2. Which is why it was a very welcome surprise to see Vegeta pull this out now for Daima, taking place before Super and make some pragmatic sense, as while SS3 is supposed to be a massive energy drain, it may just make sense to use it when Vegeta is in a child’s body to get the extra boost. As for making his form stand out, they decided to go with making his hair point more out than with Goku or Gotenks, so that’s neat. But it’s not the last moment of hype or big form reveal we’ll have in the show, so stay tuned for more!
