Dragon Ball Super 121 gives the Z-Fighters a massive challenge as Universe 3's leader Paparoni merged with the universe's robots to form Anilaza.
Universe 7's Supreme Kai is initially hopeful that despite his massive size, Anilaza will turn out to be all appearance and no substance. This hope is quickly dashed, however, as Anilaza's power gets a reaction from everyone with just a roar. The Z-Fighters try having each person attack a different section of Anilaza's body, only to be knocked away again. Goku wonders if Anilaza is able to quickly search for their energy, but 17 says that because he and 18 have different energy from the others, it must be something else. He determines that Anilaza's antennae work as a kind of radar, detecting where the fighters are. Anilaza is able to knock Goku out of the ring, but Frieza steps in and knocks him back into the fight. Anilaza then catches and tries to eat 18, who is saved by Goku, and Anilaza is able to cause another loss for Universe 7. The remaining fighters then decide they have to use their full power together to take down Anilaza, who has created an enormous ball of energy. This episode does a nice job delivering what the previous one set up, unlike some past DBS moments like Vegeta not defeating Black after the beatdown Vegeta gave him. Anilaza is quickly shown to be a powerhouse, which can be believed due to how well his components kept up with the Z-Fighters. He isn't the first giant opponent the Z-Fighters have fought, with movie villains like Namekian Lord Slug and the monster Hirudegarn, and the Saiyan ape form. In each of these instances, however, the fighters weren't nearly as strong as they are now, and the only time it took more than one person in the end was when Goku, Gohan, and Krillin fought ape Vegeta, and Yajirobe cut his tail off. Here, Anilaza is able to simultaneously take on five of the remaining six from Universe 7 with minimal effort. At one moment he catches them off with what feels like a reference to the Super Janemba film the way Kale was a female version of the film character Broly, as Anilaza is able to use a punch that goes through dimensional portals. It is also one of, if not the first time everyone left fighting for Universe 7 has fought all together, with even Frieza eventually stepping in. Frieza saving Goku continues both an obvious tactic Gohan is also employing, as well as Frieza's own manipulative plan that is still yet to be revealed. Like Gohan, Frieza understands that Goku has the best chance of taking on stronger opponents like Jiren while the others can also save their energy. While Gohan enacts this plan by taking on weaker enemies so Goku can save his power for later, Frieza has continued to state that he is using Goku. At this point, some fans have been proven correct, with Frieza saying in a past episode that he could use the super dragon balls to become the most powerful being. With only five Universe 7 members and three from Universe 11 remaining, the tournament is close to its end, with the anticipation of a climactic final battle against Jiren rising.
0 Comments
After a loss for Universe 7 and the erasure of Universe 4, Dragon Ball Super 120 saw Universe 3 taking on the Z-FIghters.
Continuing to move on Goku's exhausted situation, Universe 3's robots and scientist leader try to knock him out. Universe 7 is more centered now, however, and they take on the robots as a group, with 17 and 18 finishing one off by themselves. While Goku and Vegeta originally intended to fight as well, Gohan steps in and takes their opponents, planning to let them save their energy for later fights. With this goal in mind, Gohan fights multiple robots at once, as Goku and Vegeta stay back, though it is quickly obvious he is struggling. Gohan keeps this up for a time, but soon the others step in when it is obvious a team attack is best for the situation. This episode continues to show Gohan's combat intellect, as he is the one yet again to come up with a plan for how the team should handle the tournament. At the same time, he might be trying to hard to let others keep their stamina for later, as taking on so many robots by himself is a potential risk, as he could get knocked out. It's still good to see Gohan stepping up and taking charge more often, though, and fighting as hard as he can with confidence and not typical Saiyan pride. Back during the Cell Saga of Dragon Ball Z, Gohan became the strongest warrior, achieving Super Saiyan 2 and surpassing even Goku. This led to him also becoming too prideful, and Cell was able to start a process to sacrifice himself and blow up the planet, resulting in Goku and King Kai's deaths. Creator Akira Toriyama intended to then make Gohan the protagonist rather than Goku, but fan backlash caused him to bring Goku back for the Buu Saga. In the process, it was also revealed that in the 7-year gap, Gohan had stopped training in favor of becoming a scholar like Chi Chi, his mom, wanted him to. While this makes sense in a way because Gohan did not naturally enjoy fighting, it doesn't for the reason that he was Earth's defense against new threats. The key to unlocking SS2 against Cell turned out to be Android 16 telling Gohan that fighting to bring peace and save others is not shameful, before Cell killed him. Goku later also had to remind Gohan that Cell could destroy the Earth if Gohan doesn't win, and in the non-canon movie "Bojack Unbound," Goku tells him it is his job to protect the Earth. Gohan has done nothing after seven years, however, with Vegeta stating and Goku agreeing as Gohan struggles against Dabura that he was stronger as a child. The Elder Kai later unlocked Gohan's full potential to combat Buu, but between then and the start of DBS, Gohan once again stopped training. This time felt like more of an insult, with Gohan looking pencil-thin and wearing a green tracksuit as he says he has lost his gi. When Elder Kai unlocked Gohan's potential, he said Gohan was now powerful enough that becoming Super Saiyan would be pointless. Yet, when Frieza arrived for "Resurrection F," he said he wasn't even sure he could even go Super Saiyn, and was again much weaker. Lack of confidence has often been a problem for Gohan, but since training with Piccolo to once more unlock his potential, Gohan seems more sure of himself. Though Goku and Vegeta eventually step in to help Gohan, Universe 3 reveals they have a secret up their sleeve for the coming episode. This was definitely a good change from recent episodes, where opposing universes who seemed to have strong characters dropped off like flies in a single episode. The coming episode seems to be setting up a final stand for Universe 3 that promises a big fight. Dead by Daylight is bringing the Christmas cheer with its latest event, "Winter Solstice," released in combination with its 1.8.3 patch.
The Entity decided to get festive to make its maps dark and cold for the survivors, decorating with snow and Christmas lights. Along with Christmas lights for hooks and boxes, according to the Dead by Daylight wikipedia, the killers have an all-new "Frosty Eyes" look, similar to the previous "All Hallows' Eyes." The event coincides with the 1.8.3 patch, which did massive work to the Wraith, who has been unpopular due to having more negative than positive aspects. The Wraith carries a bell that turns him invisible when rung, increasing his speed and making him only a shimmer to the survivors. This makes him useful for giving the survivors a spook, but doesn't help much when trying to sacrifice them to the Entity. While invisible, the Wraith cannot attack and could not destroy pallets, requiring that he become visible again to strike. Entering and exiting invisibility takes time and slows the Wraith, giving survivors time to run, and his bell's ring and cloaking whoosh could be heard anywhere on the map. Invisibility can also be risky for the Wraith, as it connects him to the Spirit World, like the Nurse's teleport, allowing him to be burned, rather than blinded, by flashlights. When combined, these negative effects made it easy for survivors to escape the Wraith or stop him from doing anything successfully. With the update, much of this has been changed, like cloak and de-cloak speed and how much the Wraith can do while invisible. According the Dead by Daylight wikipedia, the updated Wraith's cloak and de-cloak happens faster, and he recovers faster when burned by a flashlight. He can also interact more while invisible, able to kick generators and check lockers for survivors, becoming visible during the animations for each. Even his bell has been changed, as its ring and his cloak's whoosh now have a limited range, preventing survivors to know his visibility status unless he is near. While not likely to make the Wraith everyone's new favorite, these updates are definite improvements, especially with the invisibility changes. The previous version could certainly surprise people, but with how they could immediately run from him, the invisibility could be a hindrance, as it could if a pallet was dropped in front of him and he had to de-cloak. The issue became especially noticeable after the release of Freddy Krueger, who is invisible to all until he pulls them into his dream world. While Freddy has to wait for the person to fall asleep, like the Wraith's cloaking delay, he is able to closely follow the survivor, rather than having to slow to almost a halt. The lockers were a similar problem for the Wraith, as part of the logic behind them is that, as a horror trope, people say not to hide in obvious spots, then do themselves. While at times, the killer might not think to search a locker, making it a good spot, hider risk immediate capture if found, rather than having to be hit twice and lifted. Because of the slow de-cloaking, a person hiding from the Wraith might be able to at least escape a locker and immediate capture. Now, however, some true terror can come back, especially if the person hiding doesn't know if the Wraith is invisible, as they won't know if they can safely leave but might not want to risk being caught. The patch included a list of bugs the developers worked on as well, and though there are many there and obviously many more, it's a good step to at least try to improve on existing issues, rather than ignoring glaring problems. The conniving Quitela, god of destruction for Universe 4, pulls a surprising move with his two seemingly messing fighters in Dragon Ball Super 119.
After Universes 2 and 6 finally went down, the Z-Fighters found themselves to victims of a seemingly invisible foe. Vegeta, angered by the erasure of Cabba, takes on Katopesla, who is knocked off the ring after Vegeta's attack seemingly out of nowhere. At this point, Vegeta also takes a strange fall, almost following his opponent off the edge, followed by Gohan and 17. Realizing that their enemy is invisible, Gohan concocts a combination attack with Piccolo, destroying the ground and knocking up dust to reveal their enemy, Gamisaras. Piccolo then steps in and takes out the invisible foe, revealed to be a kind of chameleon creature. Universe 4's Shantza then steps up, trapping Piccolo and Gohan in an illusion of past foes from the tournament in combination with warrior Damon. He almost immediately takes the next fall, however, as Piccolo is able to determine where he is and knock him out with one attack. Though Universe 4 only has Damon left, they are able to make a comeback for some time. Believing him to be another invisible foe, Universe 7 is surprised to find that, even when sensing his energy correctly, none of them can land a blow. This confusion allows Damon to knock out another Z-fighter before his true secret is discovered. The episode uses a classic enemy and counter with the invisibility and dust, but the second combination is an interesting situation for the fighters. Though plenty of characters have worked in combination before, the fact that one character is casting the illusion and one is fighting is pretty new and could work well. Damon's introduction is a more interesting situation than the others, going off the Z-Fighters' assumptions about him and an old character's design and style. Gohan gets a bit of time to shine as well, showing his strategic mind and power, and 17 again shows why he is becoming more popular during this arc. A great but possibly overlooked great aspect of the episode that continues from previous ones is Vegeta's initial assault on Katopesla. In last week's preview of this episode and the intro of 119, Vegeta states that he is in a bad mood, and doesn't hesitate to hammer away at his opponent. This would normally be odd, as despite his ferocity, Vegeta tends to hold back and lets people reach their full potential or talk, yet here he goes all out. His attack continue his character growth by showing his pain in Cabba being erased, and how he is dealing with it, as it is likely a deep issue. In Universe 7, Freiza wiped out the Saiyans when Vegeta was a child and Goku was a baby, and Vegeta's immense pride as his race's prince caused him to take great interest in Cabba. Likely seeing Universe 6 as a chance to keep the race alive in a way, even taking Cabba on as his apprentice, Vegeta was saddened and angered by their erasure. This has suggests a great Vegeta moment in the future, as in the past when the pride and survival of the Saiyans was at stake on Namek, Vegeta was so hurt by his inability to do anything that he broke down in a powerful moment, begging Goku for help. Now that he has grown to Super Saiyan Blue, and has even promised Cabba he will wish for Universe 6 back if he wins the Super Dragon Balls, Vegeta's sadness manifests more as his classic rage. Universe 4 loses members a little too quick for my taste, however, especially because Quitela has been pumped up as a conniving antagonist with a big plan. Usually, episodes go by before anyone falls from the ring, but here Universe 4 loses warriors fast, with each unique fighting method discovered and defeated in minutes. The Universe 7 loss is also more annoying than it could have been, feeling like an insult to the character rather than a deserved respectful exit like characters such as Master Roshi got. Despite this, Universe 7's latest loss puts them further at a disadvantage as the tournament winds down, despite their continued survival against the onslaught of other universes. With Jiren appearing more to observe fights, and Goku and Vegeta going on and achieving new heights, the coming end of the tournament promises something massive. Niantic has revitalized Pokemon Go a bit recently with an update to introduce more Hoenn region Pokemon, as well as tweaking other game aspects.
Back in October, Pokemon Go had a Halloween event that introduced some spooky Hoenn Pokemon, and the new additions have expanded this group. This update more resembles the introduction of Johto Pokemon, bringing in the starters Mudkip, Torchic, and Treecko. Like past updates, this one has had an interesting effect on which Pokemon appear easily, as I have encountered a surprising number of Treecko, Vulpix, Chikorita, and Bulbasaur. This may be in part due to another addition to the game: a weather system that changes depending on your location. Different times of the day and different conditions affect Pokemon and which show up, as well as as well as the amount of stardust earned from catches. On bright, clear days, Pokemon that flourish in the sun, like fire and ground types, get a boost to their attacks and stardust, while rainy moments boost water types. According to the Pokemon website, the weather system will alter the in-game environment depending on how it really looks outside. For a Pokemon fan who started with Gold, which started the in-game clock and in-battle rain, the weather system is a cool addition. For the traditional games, map weather was introduced in Hoenn, so it is also interesting to have the weather system be introduced with the Hoenn update. The combat system in the game has been improved as well, with the Pokemon models more size-scaled and the power attack has been centered at the bottom of the screen. The combat seems better to me, both with the power attack system working more reliably and the power attacks having a better animation system. For now, the game has also regained some bugs similar to when it first started up, with crashing occasionally or having loading issues. I personally have had the game crash while I was attacking gyms multiple times, and in one instance the game wouldn't allow Pokemon to be placed on an empty gym. Another common one players have shown is an error with the weather system, which says the weather is "extreme" and telling them to be safe, when in reality the weather is perfectly clear. Bugs should go away with time, as past ones have, like when the game was first released and the large number of players resulted in constant crashes. According to the Pokemon website article, more Pokemon are set to come, like fan-favorites Ralts and Absol, and one, Mawile, has been added as at least a raid battle. Despite this issues, however, the newest version of the game has introduced some great aspects and has become more enjoyable for me. As Frank Castle continues trying to deal with his grief, he finds he is being watched by someone called "Micro," who has a horrific tape of Frank's past.
Since killing the construction workers at the end of episode, Frank seems to be about to leave town, when he gets a call from someone claiming to know him. This "Micro" leads Frank to a rooftop and leaves him a recording of Frank's war unit torturing a man. Micro tells Frank that they are alike because they are both "ghosts;" they are both believed to be dead. With help from Karen Page of "Daredevil" and his friend Curtis, Frank learns that Micro is hacker David Lieberman, believed to have been killed after whistleblowing. Meanwhile, agent Dinah Madani is attempting to learn the truth of the death of a man named Ahmad, who happens to be the man Frank's unit tortured. Despite pressure from her boss, Carson Wolf, Dinah continues to look into the case, even trying to sweet talk Frank's old squad mate Billy Russo. Russo quickly learns what she is doing, and doesn't give up anything of use, but Frank gets a lead from Karen's information that Carson was involved in Lieberman's "death." Turning to Karen and what he does with the information leads to us seeing the incredible strategic mind Frank works with. Though initially afraid of what Micro could do, Frank quickly gets information he can use to his advantage, and sets out to make use of it. Finally shaving as part of an attempt to dodge Micro's view, Frank heads to Carson's house, where he interrogates him with a gun. I found the situation interesting as it opened, because Carson was clearly not restrained well, meaning either Frank made a poorly written mistake or a clever ruse. It turned out the be the latter, as once free and in possession of Frank's gun and knowledge of his identity, Carson said everything Frank wanted to hear. Sharing the fact that the gun only held the bullet Frank had already used, Frank springs into action and incapacitates Carson before killing him. This addition to Frank's character made him more believable as the war-torn Punisher, with him not only outsmarting his foe, but in a creative way other than just torturing him for hours. Frank is also able to turn the tables on Micro by paying his family a visit, showing how effective he is at mind games. The return of Karen Page marks an interesting aspect that hopefully sticks around, as she and Frank developed an interesting relationship in "Daredevil." Karen seems to want to help, and in some ways save, Frank, and performances from Jon Bernthal and Deborah Ann Woll show their chemistry well. Karen wants to be a tether to keep Frank from his own darkness, as she ended his "Daredevil" time saying if he killed "The Blacksmith," he'd be the murderous Punisher he was seen as, and shows concern for what he'll do with the help she gives here. In an article on the Tracking Board website, editor Linda Ge said showrunner Steve Lightfoot doesn't want to for sure define what their relationship is. This is definitely a good step to me, as at the moment we just have the potential for some kind of great relationship romantic or not, but Frank is obviously haunted by his family's death. At the same time, it will keep the show focused on Frank's punishing, rather than get bogged down in whether he and Karen are about to hook up. The episode continues to reveal aspects of Frank's cold, calculating nature, as well as revealing more to set up a story for Frank's continued rampage. Dragon Ball Super's episode 118 focused on Piccolo and Gohan facing two of Piccolo's own race the Namekians, while Goku and the Androids battle the remaining Universe 2 warriors. Last week's episode saw the Androids finally knock out Ribrianne and Rozie, seemingly putting an end to the barrage of "love" combat. The focus for this episode then went back to Gohan and Piccolo, who have been locked in dual combat with a pair of Namekians from Universe 6, surprised that they can't make a dent on the two. As the two are wondering why their opponents are so strong, Piccolo senses the power of a large number of Namekians behind their enemies. Piccolo then realizes the two have performed "Namekian Fusion" repeatedly to increase their power, a process he previously took advantage of to combine with the warrior Nail and his own other half, Kami. Gohan and Piccolo realize that because the two have fused with so many Namekians, they will have to resort to Gohan holding them off while Piccolo charges an old ace move, the Special Beam Cannon. Piccolo revealed the move back at the start of Dragon Ball Z as his plan to kill Goku, doing so when Goku sacrifices himself so his invading brother Raditz can be killed. Goku, meanwhile attempts to hold his own against the three remaining warriors of Universe 2, who have become fired up from their precious irritant Ribrianne being eliminated. The trio's resolve to uphold their "love" views causes them to transform, finally achieving some more real comic relief as they don the same uniforms as Ribrianne's posse, skirts and all. The androids arrive to help Goku, who is still pushing himself to go beyond his limits, and show they are more than a match for Universe 2. The love warriors reveal a final attack that shocks all, as even Ribrianne's group was unable to achieve it, and Piccolo finds himself losing confidence as he and Gohan take hits. This episode, like some others, does a good working off established parts of the show and making reference to other sections. Until this point, Piccolo was the only character confirmed to have used "Namekian Fusion," which until now had been nameless, and it was essentially unclear if there were restrictions on which Namekians could fuse. The fusion shows how intense and serious these Namekians are, as we see and they state that many of their people volunteered to fuse, disappearing to give their power in an attempt to save their universe. Piccolo's understanding of the technique causes him to doubt himself, and leads to an interesting moment where we see Nail and Kami again, in a sort of pocket of Piccolo's mind. It was interesting enough to see these past characters, but a better Easter Egg comes from Piccolo's self-doubt. While Piccolo charges his attack, his doubt distracts him, though Gohan says he himself let his guard down, and the Namekians attack Piccolo with his beam failing. This is when Piccolo sees Kami and Nail, and when he comes back to reality, Gohan is standing in front of him, having blocked the attack. This mirrors a crucial moment in Dragon Ball history, when Piccolo sacrificed himself to save Gohan from the Saiyan Nappa, Vegeta's former partner. Gohan was a turning point in Piccolo's life, being the first person to show him kindness and cause joy to enter his heart. Piccolo protecting him was a massive step in his character development from villain to hero, and established further what a close bond he and Gohan have. Throughout the series, the two have had a familial relationship, and Piccolo has often arrived in the nick of time to save Gohan again. To have the situation reversed shows not only the doubt that even Piccolo can have, but also shows Gohan's growth as well as their continued friendship. The other Universe 2 warriors finally attacking more and their sudden transformation finally add some good comedy to their group. While there were some entertaining moments with Ribrianne's group, like when Vegeta can't bring himself to touch her because he finds her hideous, they were mainly obvious fodder that only provided comedy by getting knocked around. The attempts at comedy through the trio's personalities fell flat, but now it is more entertaining from the flip of having male characters in "magical girl" transformations. This has been done in anime before, but a more typical thing would be to just have a macho man character be over emotional, whereas here the characters are ridiculous as well as wearing the same ridiculous outfits as their female counterparts. There is quite a bit of tension throughout the episode for Universes 2 and 6, as they are on their final warriors. As the angels point out, having the weight of their universes does lead to the characters in each fight pulling out all the stops against Universe 7, whose characters, aside from the Androids, are tiring from constant battle. Power revelations along coupled with this, especially since Goku is so exhausted for sure, leads to the possibility that at least one Universe 7 fighter will take a fall. As the episode ends, there are knockouts that lead to some emotional moments, and the tournament gets closer to finishing. Released pictures and things said by characters in previous episodes have shown that something strange will happen where an enemy no one can see will attack. It will be interesting to finally get to the bottom of this mysterious warrior the characters have been mentioning, and see what he or she can do. |
AuthorI love the entertainment side of things. Video games, tv shows, superheroes and movies are my passion and I'd love to get the news out for things I enjoy. My contact page has links to my social media, so if you enjoy what I have to say, likes, shares, comments, and follows are always greatly appreciated! Archives
April 2020
Categories
All
|