Episode 18, “Awakening”
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: In his Super Saiyan 3 form, Goku takes on Gomah. At first, he appears to be a match for the large Demon Lord, but ultimately is subdued. Neva, seeing Goku’s trouble, uses his abilities to awaken a new power in Goku. Goku transforms into a different form, which, like Super Saiyan 3, appears to be enough to defeat Gomah, until Gomah unleashes an enormous power that brings Goku back to normal. Arinsu instructs Glorio to summon the dragon from the Dragon Balls to wish her more powerful than Gomah. Glorio summons the dragon and makes a wish in Namekian.
Comments:
Woah, they actually did it. I didn’t think they would, but I was wrong, I admit it.
By “it”, I meant they gave Neva yet ANOTHER ability. I thought, “Surely he couldn’t have so many abilities that they could make an impressive, if not frustrating, list”, but I was wrong.
1. Can revive resting Dragon Balls
2. Can summon the Dragon Balls to him.
3. Flight
4. Can create and dissolve enormous, strong energy barriers
5. Can create powerful lifeforms (the Tamagamis)
6. Can unlock the potential of the Tamagamis
7. Can unlock the potential of Saiyans
Sure, #7 is kind of just an extension of his unlocking potential of others, but I figured he could only power up the Tamagamis because he created them. Apparently he can also power up Goku, too (with a whole other form). I can imagine he was also the one who created the Demon Realm Dragon Balls to begin with, not just the Tamagamis to protect them, and he’s probably got more abilities than all this, too. At this point, it almost stretches credulity. Maybe it does, but I never feel like Neva is pulling things out of his ass. I just figure Neva is a long-lived powerful Namekian from the original tribe of them and has some abilities that later generations didn’t have, either because they were bred out of them or they just never needed to use them.
Speaking of forms, Super Saiyan 3 got a good workout in this episode. It was good to see Goku use it for an extended period of time without worrying too much about it putting him out. And with the help of Duu and Tamagami Number One, it looked like he was holding his own for a while. But unfortunately, Gomah is learning how to use the Third Eye better as time passes, and about halfway through the episode, it’s clear that it’s not enough to defeat the new Demon Lord.
And that brings us to the highlight of the episode, Goku’s transformation (through Neva’s powering up) into… Super Saiyan 4? Is that the official designation they’re going to go with here? It certainly resembles the one from Dragon Ball GT, but with red hair. Was Goku able to do this because he’s a powerful Saiyan or was it just something that came solely out of Neva’s abilities? After being knocked out of the form by Gomah toward the end of the episode, will Goku be able to easily return to it? Will this ever be referenced in material intended to take place later in the timeline? I’m starting to believe as some fans do, that there’ll be some kind of memory wipe of the usual DB characters at the end of the series.
The fight between Super Saiyan 4 Goku and Gomah is very entertaining, but I kind of miss all the characters participating the way they did in the last episode.
Glorio Watch: The moment of truth is here, when Glorio has to choose whether or not to betray his journey’s comrades for Arinsu’s sake. He definitely summons the dragon (who is just a recolor of Porunga, boo), but is that wish in Namekian to make Arinsu powerful or to wish his new friends back to normal? I guess we’ll find out next episode, but I’m hoping Glorio is a bro after all.
I mean, he probably is.
