Episode 37 of Dragon Ball Super, first broadcast in Japan on April 3, 2016, pits two Saiyans from different universes against each other. Facing the young Cabba, Vegeta does more than win: almost in spite of himself, he becomes a teacher.
Summary
Whis and Vados repair and enlarge the ring, and Champa agrees to scrap the mid-air ring-out rule. Vegeta's next opponent is Cabba, the Saiyan from Planet Sadala. In the stands, Yamcha sees in him the young Goku of the early days, Universe 6's Supreme Kai explains that his world's Saiyans are hired to protect planets from criminals, and Chi-Chi envies them for being hard workers. Cabba takes a stance that looks a lot like Vegeta's.
In their base forms the two are evenly matched, and Cabba even answers with a Galick Gun. Vegeta tells him to go Super Saiyan. The boy admits he does not know how and, bowing, asks to be taught so that he can protect his family. Vegeta is outraged: in the middle of a match? And he calls himself a Saiyan? He transforms and gives him a merciless beating. In the stands, people fear he is reverting to his old self. When Cabba tries to give up, Vegeta swears that once the match is over he will go and destroy Sadala and Cabba's family.
That is the spark. Cabba bursts into gold and becomes a Super Saiyan, now able to hold his own. Vegeta takes a punch to the forehead without budging and explains that anger is the key to the transformation. He orders him to do it again, then shows him Super Saiyan Blue, calling it by name, and knocks him out with a single blow, telling him to remember that pain. Back on his feet, Cabba thanks him, but Vegeta still scolds him: bowing in a fight is the same as throwing it. He must never forget a Saiyan's pride, and must aim to surpass him, even though Vegeta will never let that happen. Champa is down to one fighter but is not worried: it is Hit. Vados admits she promised him the cube, the vehicle of the gods.
Our take
One of the best episodes of the saga. The script is simple, but it works because it shows a side of Vegeta the series had rarely explored: the Saiyan prince who, faced with a boy of his own race, feels a duty to pass something on. The threats are an act, and the viewer realizes it just before Cabba does.
Goku's closing remark, that Vegeta never treated him like that, adds a smile and a pinch of melancholy. Cabba leaves the episode as a real character, and the master-pupil bond born here will return later in the series.
Trivia
- Written by Toshio Yoshitaka and directed by Takao Iwai, with storyboards by Yukio Kaizawa and animation direction by Yūichi Karasawa and Shui-hu Jin.
- It drew a 6.3% rating in Japan.
- This is the first anime episode to call the form "Super Saiyan Blue". In the manga the name appears in chapter 5, suggested by Whis to replace the unwieldy "Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan".
- Cabba says the king of Planet Sadala is a strong, proud man like Vegeta, who says he would like to meet him.
- The matching part of Toyotarō's manga runs from chapter 11 into chapter 12.
Did you know? Puar notices that Cabba has no tail and wonders whether it was pulled off, as happened to Goku as a child: a small callback to the series' earliest days.