Episode 85 of Dragon Ball Super, first broadcast in Japan on April 9, 2017 and titled The Universes Go Into Action – Each With Their Own Motives in Funimation's dub, widens the lens beyond Earth. While Goku looks for Android 17 and Gohan visits Piccolo, Supreme Kais and Gods of Destruction in the other universes meet behind closed doors, and in Universe 11 the Pride Troopers show what they are made of. Back on Earth, a slimmed-down, razor-sharp Majin Buu teaches the Saiyan a lesson.
Summary
Gohan sets off to ask Piccolo to join the team, while Goku flies toward Dende's Lookout. On the way he runs into Majin Buu, who is almost unrecognizable: since the exhibition he has trained nonstop and become lean and muscular. Mr. Satan suggests a spar under tournament rules, using the grounds of his mansion as the ring. Buu buries Goku under energy blasts and, while the Saiyan is busy blocking, darts in and shoves him out of bounds. Buu wins, and right afterward, worn out, he decides to take a nap.
In Universe 11, Supreme Kai Khai calls a secret meeting with his counterparts from the other universes, leaving out Universe 7's Supreme Kai, who is blamed for everything. The idea is to talk Zeno out of it, but many are afraid of angering him and the meeting breaks up without a decision. Champa gathers the other Gods of Destruction too, without inviting Beerus. Vados points out that they ought to be grateful to Goku, since their universes would have been erased anyway, but the gods cannot forgive his rudeness, and Belmod is sure his Pride Troopers will be enough to stop him.
The Pride Troopers then take the stage. Top, in civilian clothes, meets his cyborg comrade Kahseral at a restaurant, but they are called to Planet Dardon, where Dyspo is fighting an invader and his plant monster. The three of them settle things; then Top explains the tournament to his teammates, and they will have to fetch Jiren too, who is off training alone.
Goku reaches Dende, who has grown quite a bit, already knows all about the tournament and has located Android 17: an island to the south. Champa orders Cabba to find him an even stronger Saiyan. And when Gohan reaches Piccolo, the Namekian is already waiting: he is going to whip his pupil back into shape. Thirty-seven hours to go.
Our take
It is a bridge episode, but a well-built one. The secret meetings portray the other universes' gods as frightened politicians rather than deities, and Vados's remark is the clearest summary of the situation: without Goku's proposal, nobody would have had a chance. The tournament starts to look less like a whim and more like a lifeboat.
The Pride Troopers' introduction works because it shows them in their element, as a Sentai-style superhero squad with its own rules and its own pride. The juiciest detail, though, is Buu's: his post-workout nap plays like a gag, yet it is a clue that will weigh heavily on the episodes to come.
Trivia
- Written by Atsuhiro Tomioka and directed by Takahiro Imamura, with Tsutomu Ono and Osamu Ishikawa as animation directors. It drew a 5.9% TV rating in Japan.
- In the manga, the Pride Troopers' mission takes place on Planet Bas against a different monster, and Jiren takes part; in the anime only Top, Dyspo and Kahseral fight.
- In the manga, that scene also comes before Krillin and Android 18 are recruited.
- The sparring match between Goku and Majin Buu is an anime addition.
Did you know? Slim Buu looks a great deal like Super Buu, but he keeps the gloves, cape and vest of the "good" Buu.