Episode 103 of Dragon Ball Super, first broadcast in Japan on August 13, 2017 and titled Gohan, Get Ruthless! Showdown with the 10th Universe! in Funimation's dub, belongs to Gohan and Piccolo. Master and student eliminate Universe 10's last fighters, and Gohan wins the hardest duel of his day against Obni. The victory, however, leaves a bitter taste: another universe disappears.
Summary
Ribrianne wants to avenge Kakunsa and hurls herself at Android 17, while Roasie surrounds Goku with a hail of energy orbs; the android shields him with his barrier, and Goku, now used to his opponent's style, goes on the offensive. When Roasie is cornered, Ribrianne steps in and the Yardratian Jimizu teleports them both away.
Meanwhile Champa sends Botamo after Gohan. Gohan pummels him with punches that do no damage at all but gradually lift him off the ground and push him toward the edge: Goku had told him about his own fight with Botamo, and Gohan learned from it. A Kamehameha sends him out. Right after, Universe 10's Obni and Rubalt appear and challenge Gohan and Piccolo, while Jimizu eliminates their teammate Zircor. Universe 10 is down to the two of them, and Supreme Kai Gowasu seems resigned.
Obni splits into afterimages and shifts his energy away from his body, so Gohan cannot pin him down and takes hit after hit. Piccolo, meanwhile, surrounds Rubalt with energy orbs that seem to miss and then close in all at once with a Hellzone Grenade, knocking him out; he throws him off the ring to complete the elimination. Gohan changes tactics: he lets himself be hit to locate his opponent and counter at once. It works, but it costs him. Eventually Obni no longer has the energy for his feints, salutes Gohan and faces him head-on, determined not to lose for his universe's sake. Gohan beats him with a Kamehameha.
The Grand Minister announces Universe 10's erasure. Gowasu praises Obni's courage. Gohan picks up a locket Obni dropped, with a photo of him beside his wife and child, and sighs. Zeno joins hands and Universe 10 vanishes; only the angel Cus remains, mourning her God of Destruction. Piccolo calls to Gohan, who pulls himself together and follows. Thirty-seven minutes remain.
Our take
This is one of the saga's most mature episodes. The title asks Gohan to be ruthless, and on the battlefield he is: he takes hits just to find his opponent and closes the match without hesitation. But the series makes him pay afterward, with Obni's locket. In a few seconds the anonymous opponent becomes a father, and the victory becomes a responsibility.
The teamwork with Piccolo, who dusts off one of his classic techniques, works very well too, as does the win over Botamo, achieved with brains after his father's stories. Here Gohan is truly the captain Goku had in mind.
Trivia
- Written by Yoshifumi Fukushima and directed by Hideki Hiroshima, with Yasuhiro Namatame and Naoki Tate as animation directors. It drew a 4.4% TV rating in Japan.
- It is Piccolo's first Hellzone Grenade since his battle with Android 17 in the Imperfect Cell arc.
- In the manga, Botamo is eliminated by Android 17, Rubalt by Frieza and Obni by Kale, and Obni's family never appears.
- In the manga, Universe 10 is the fifth universe erased, not the second.
Did you know? The episode, with its closing image of Obni's family, first aired on August 13, 2017, which happened to be Father's Day in Brazil.
Characters
- Gohan and Piccolo
- Goku, Android 17, Ribrianne, Roasie and Jimizu
- Botamo and Champa
- Obni, Rubalt and Zircor of Universe 10
- Gowasu, Rumoosh, Cus, Zeno, Future Zeno and the Grand Minister