The ninth episode of Dragon Ball Super, broadcast in Japan on September 6, 2015, delivers the transformation the saga is built around. Shenron reveals how to create a Super Saiyan God, the ritual fails on the first try and it takes a surprise, Videl's pregnancy, to complete it. In the end Goku stands before Beerus with red hair and a divine aura.
Summary
Goten and Trunks bring the Dragon Balls up on deck. Beerus expected them to be bigger, and Whis explains that Earth's god is a Namekian, so his Dragon Balls are smaller. When Shenron appears, the Pilaf Gang spots him from their dinghy and realizes the balls really were on the ship. The dragon grovels before Beerus for a good while, then tells Goku he cannot bring him the Super Saiyan God: it is a figure from Saiyan legend and does not currently exist. He does, however, know how to create one, written in an ancient Namekian book: five pure-hearted Saiyans must join hands and pour their hearts into a sixth. With that, he takes his leave with endless bows.
Piccolo fears there are not enough pure-hearted Saiyans, but Master Roshi points out that Vegeta is no longer evil. Goku, Gohan, Goten, Vegeta and Trunks join hands; Vegeta complains that Goku gets the honor, and Goku promises him the next turn. Goku's energy rises, but he does not feel remotely like a god. Whis steps in: Shenron spoke of hearts, not energy, and if five Saiyans must pass theirs on to another, six are needed.
Things look hopeless and Beerus starts charging his attack again, when Videl reveals she is expecting Gohan's child. Everyone celebrates, Chi-Chi already suggests a name, Gomen, until the god calls them back to order. The ritual starts again with Videl in the circle. At first nothing happens and Goku wonders whether the problem is Vegeta or the baby; then a light shines from Videl. Golden clouds swirl around the ship, the sea churns into a whirlpool that sucks in Pilaf's boat, and a pillar of blue light pierces the sky. Goku glows red and, when the glow fades, he has a slimmer, younger-looking body and red hair. Dende confirms to Piccolo that he truly is a god now. Beerus recognizes the figure from his dream, and Goku is beside himself with excitement.
Our take
This is the most important episode of the first saga, and its strength is the way it ties divine power to family. The transformation does not come from training or a fit of rage, like almost every one before it: it is born from a circle of relatives and the news of a birth. Pan, before she even comes into the world, is the sixth Saiyan who makes the miracle possible.
The staging is more polished than in previous episodes, and the transformation sequence, with the clouds, the whirlpool and the light, has the right sense of scale. The comic timing is a little repetitive, though: the joke about who might not be pure-hearted enough raises a smile, but you can feel the episode filling space the film covered in a few minutes.
Trivia
- Written by Toshio Yoshitaka and directed by Masanori Satō, with Yoshitaka Yashima as animation director. It drew a 6.1% rating in Japan.
- Chi-Chi's suggested name, Gomen, written with the kanji for "enlightenment" and "noodles", is a pun: Gohan means "rice", so the grandchild gets noodles.
- It borrows scenes from chapter 4 of Toyotarō's manga, where Goku stays a Super Saiyan God for the whole fight.
- You can read about this form alongside all the others on our Super Saiyan transformations page.