Episode 102 of Dragon Ball Super, first broadcast in Japan on August 6, 2017 and titled The Power of Love Explodes? The 2nd Universe's Witchy Warriors! in Funimation's dub, brings the saga's most bizarre register into the tournament: Universe 2's magical girl warriors. Ribrianne, Kakunsa and Roasie transform amid poses and declarations of love, and their power turns out to be anything but a joke. Still, they are the ones who pay the price: Android 17 eliminates two of them with icy calm.
Summary
Brianne de Chateau and her teammates Sanka Coo and Sous Roas climb a pile of rubble, grab everyone's attention and start their introductions. Beerus mocks them, but Heles, Universe 2's Goddess of Destruction, explains that it is a ritual expressing their fighting spirit. Midway through the transformation a big explosion engulfs them: it was Android 17, who took advantage of their open guard. Brianne protests, Top calls the move rude and Goku wants to see their full power, so the three start over from the beginning.
This time the transformation succeeds: Brianne becomes the round Ribrianne, Sanka the feral Kakunsa, Sous the goofy Roasie. Their opening attack fills the arena with a scent that stirs desire and saps Universe 10's fighters of their will to fight, while Universe 7's hold firm; even Master Roshi, thanks to his training with Puar. Gohan changes strategy and tells the group to split up. Vegeta takes on Ribrianne, who curls into a ball and charges: the prince finds her so creepy that he dodges, and she plows into Universe 10's Dyrasen, knocking him out.
Goku struggles against Roasie, whose punches grow sharper with every blow and whose energy blasts suddenly change direction. Android 17 faces Kakunsa, who has the instincts of a wild beast and leaps from rubble to rubble to wear him down. Just when he seems about to give in, he stops her with his barrier: he was only pretending, since as an android he never tires. He sends her flying off the ring, but at the last moment the winged fighter Bikal catches her, to Universe 2's great emotion.
17 turns down his sister's help: he got careless because Kakunsa reminded him of the animals on his island, but now he will get serious. He takes out Bikal first; then, when Kakunsa charges, he fires a blast that seems to miss her but actually propels him backward onto one of the glowing orbs that light the stadium. From that solid footing, he hits her square on and knocks her out. Goku realizes 17 was holding back on the island. Ribrianne vows revenge. Thirty-nine minutes remain.
Our take
Universe 2's warriors divide the audience, and understandably so: their style is miles away from Dragon Ball's. Yet the episode uses them cleverly. The interrupted, restarted transformation gag is irresistible, and taking their "power of love" seriously makes Universe 2 unlike any other team rather than just a bunch of extras.
The real star, though, is Android 17. Cool, pragmatic and resourceful, he wins by exploiting the environment and his android advantage, and the series hints that he held back against Goku on the island. This is where the character starts building his reputation as the tournament's unexpected hero.
Trivia
- Written by Atsuhiro Tomioka and directed by Masato Mitsuka, with Kōji Nashizawa and Yōichi Ōnishi as animation directors. It drew a 4.5% TV rating in Japan.
- In the manga, Universe 2's warriors only appear already transformed and fight only Android 18.
- Also in the manga, Bikal and Sanka Coo are eliminated by other fighters, not by Android 17.
- Heles claims her universe's "love level" is the highest of all.
Did you know? The scene in which Bikal saves Kakunsa is an over-the-top parody of romance in anime for girls, and Heles and Ribrianne hail it as proof of the power of love.
Characters
- Android 17, Android 18, Goku, Vegeta and Gohan
- Piccolo, Tien, Master Roshi and Krillin (in the stands)
- Ribrianne, Kakunsa, Roasie and Bikal
- Heles, Top and Dyrasen
- Beerus, Whis, Zeno and Future Zeno