Episode 82 of Dragon Ball Super, first broadcast in Japan on March 19, 2017 after a one-week break and titled Goku Must Pay! The Warrior of Justice Top Barges In! in Funimation's dub, pits Goku against the Tournament of Power's first real opponent before the tournament has even begun. Top, leader of Universe 11's Pride Troopers, sees him as a villain and wants to make him pay. The fight is stopped halfway, but it leaves behind a name that will loom large: Jiren.
Summary
Top introduces himself as a champion of justice, and Khai, Supreme Kai of Universe 11, asks Zeno for a special match; the two kings happily agree. Beerus is worried that the gods of the other universes will get a chance to study Goku. Gohan, on the other hand, is won over by Top's heroic poses, which remind him of his own Great Saiyaman days.
Goku opens as a Super Saiyan, but Top specializes in holds and joint attacks: he dislocates Goku's shoulder and presses him with a string of techniques that all have "justice" in their names. When he locks Goku in a crushing bear hug meant to break every bone, the Saiyan turns Super Saiyan Blue, breaks free and hits him point-blank with a teleporting Kamehameha. Top emerges from the smoke alive and furious, mostly because his Pride Trooper uniform has been ruined.
The fight escalates: Top gets serious, Goku adds Kaio-ken on top of Super Saiyan Blue, and right then the Grand Minister steps in. At this rate someone could die, so they had better save the show for the tournament. Goku offers his hand, but Top refuses it: he still thinks Goku is evil, and in any case he is not the strongest in his universe. That honor belongs to his comrade Jiren.
The Grand Minister announces that he will build the arena and that the tournament will start in forty Earth hours. Back in the Sacred World of the Kai, Beerus vents at Whis, who will survive no matter what, and the angel replies that he is only a "guide" sent from elsewhere. Then Beerus and Goku argue over who dragged down Universe 7's rating until Whis breaks it up. Goku and Gohan head back to Earth to assemble the team.
Our take
Top is an excellent introduction to Universe 11, the saga's true rival. He is not a villain: he is a fighter convinced he is in the right, and his view of Goku as a public menace is not without merit. His grappling style, built on holds and joint locks, is unlike anything the Saiyan has faced before, and the direction sells it well. The Grand Minister's interruption is a convenient device, but it keeps the rivalry open.
The Jiren reveal works as a promise. If Top can keep up with a Super Saiyan Blue Goku using Kaio-ken and still is not number one, the tournament will be brutal. From here on Jiren becomes a shadow over the whole saga, long before he actually shows what he can do.
Trivia
- Written by Toshio Yoshitaka and directed by Ayumi Ono, with Hirotaka Nii, Hiroyuki Itai and Yukihiro Kitano as animation directors. It drew a 5.6% TV rating in Japan.
- The written preview for this episode named Jiren instead of Top, a sign that the duel was originally planned with him.
- In the manga, Goku and Top fight under a no-flight rule, Goku also uses Super Saiyan 2, 3 and God, and Top wins.
- In the manga, Top only fights Goku because Zeno wants to see another match, with no personal grudge at all.
Did you know? Toei's simulcast title kept the Japanese spelling, Toppo the Warrior of Justice Intrudes!!, while Funimation's dub shortened his name to Top.