Episode 117 of Dragon Ball Super, first broadcast in Japan on November 26, 2017 and titled Showdown of Love! The Androids vs the 2nd Universe! in Funimation's dub, belongs to the twins. Android 17 and Android 18 defend an exhausted Goku from Universe 2's warriors of love, and the final clash is settled on Ribrianne's favorite subject: love itself.
Summary
After beating Kefla, Goku is drained again, and Gohan and Piccolo cannot reach him because Saonel and Pilina are holding them back. Vegeta, meanwhile, wants to copy Ultra Instinct: against Catopesra, now in Battle Mode, he tries to move without thinking and takes hit after hit until, fed up, he goes back to doing things his way and beats him up.
In a corner, Android 17 bandages his sister's injured ankle: on the island where he works, he has grown used to treating animals, and his family too. Android 18 says Goku told her about his dream, a round-the-world cruise with his wife and kids, and admits it sounds nice, given that she spends her days looking after Krillin and Marron.
When they reach Goku, Universe 2's five fighters have already surrounded him. Ribrianne and Roasie launch a combined attack, and the androids deflect it. Roasie goes after 17 to avenge Kakunsa, while Ribrianne takes on 18. The love warrior demands a fair fight, but 18 replies that she did not come to fight, she came to win: she is married, has a daughter and has far more to protect. When she learns the husband is Krillin, Ribrianne is aghast: he is not beautiful, he does not even have a nose.
The twins fight smart. Ribrianne's love cannon, aimed at 18, hits Roasie instead, and 17 knocks her off the stage. Reverted to her normal form, Brianne traps 18 in a rose-shaped prison, while 17 is held up by Universe 3's Biarra. Fueled by the love of her teammates and gods, Brianne becomes a gigantic Ribrianne. Android 18 is about to give up, then thinks of Krillin and Marron, hears her husband shouting from the stands and breaks free. With help from her brother, who has dealt with Biarra, she runs up the giant's arm and punches clean through her head. Ribrianne collapses and falls off the stage. In the stands she cries, but realizes there are other kinds of love besides her own. Goku is left alone against Universe 2's last three fighters. Fifteen minutes remain.
Our take
Universe 2 is the tournament's most open parody, with its magical-girl transformations and speeches about love, and this episode is smart enough to take it seriously all the way. Against Ribrianne's universal, slightly vain love stands Android 18's concrete one, made of an unglamorous husband and a little girl at home. The second one wins, and it is a simple but well-built message.
Android 17 is the real surprise. The bandaging scene and the cruise dream make him more human than ever, and that wish will return in the finale with a very different meaning. The joke about Krillin's nose is worn out by now, but 18's line about winning rather than fighting is worth the episode.
Trivia
- Written by Yoshifumi Fukushima and directed by Kazuya Karasawa, with Yoshitaka Yashima as animation director. It drew a 4.9% rating in Japan.
- In the episode preview, Ribrianne speaks directly to the audience, asking them not to miss her new transformation.
- In the manga, the Universe 2 warriors find Krillin gorgeous, because beauty standards differ on their world, and Ribrianne and Roasie are eliminated by Universe 4.