The Dragon Ball Super manga has continued its monthly printing for the past few years with the “Granolah The Survivor” arc, a story arc that started off so well but quickly spiralled downwards until it ended with one of the very worst finales I think I’ve ever seen, read or listened to. Want to know more? Trust me, you don’t.
The Review:
The arc centres around Granolah, the last survivor of his race after it was wiped out by the Saiyans per Frieza’s orders. His whole existence since this point has been about training to get strong enough to get revenge despite being fully aware that Frieza was long dead and the Saiyans wiped out long before that, leaving him haunted by a desire for vengeance that could never be satisfied (obviously currently unaware that both Frieza and several Saiyans are alive and well!). He gets mercenary jobs from a gang called The Heeters, all named after utilities: the leader Elec, Oil, Macki (not sure on that one, apparently a pun on a type of Japanese heater) and the young warrior named Gas, which is unfortune as he ends up being the lead villain and all I could think of was the inevitable fart gags that will follow him for the rest of his time as a character. The Heeters tell Granolah that Frieza has resurrected but that he doesn’t stand a chance against him.
Goku and Granolah do some Daah-ing after a heavy session of Doom Bwhaking.
Our “hero” heads home, where he lives with a Namekian called Monaito and wouldn’t you know it just this moment he lets it slip that he created a set of Dragon Balls that can grant wishes, so Granolah collects all… two of them, and makes a wish that has been an obvious one to do at some point: he wishes to be the strongest fighter in the universe. Suddenly imbued with crazy power he demands Frieza’s location but instead the Heeters eventually tell him a pair of Frieza assassins were on the way to get him, and that they were two Saiyans. Yes, Goku and Vegeta head to his home planet, Cereal, as requested by the Heeters who claim an evil warriors was attacking it. The two Saiyans have been continuing their training on Beerus’ planet, with Vegeta training directly under Beerus and Goku figuring out more about his Ultra Instinct form from Whis.
Vegeta achieves “Ultra Ego”. Official colourisation shows its purple hair and Ki, like the God of Destruction himself!
It’s an interesting set up, but sadly this is pretty much the arc despite there being many chapters after it. Goku and Vegeta face off with Granolah, get beat for a good while, Vegeta reveals a new form based on God of Destruction energy called “Ultra Ego” that fittingly makes him stronger the more damage he takes, and soon the Heeters get involved including sending Gas into the mix. Things just keep spiralling down from here as its revealed that Monaito was there when Cereal fell to the Saiyans and that it was Heeters who had made a deal with Frieza to clear the place and Goku’s father Bardock had actually felt sorry for him and the child Granolah and saved them from Gas (the character, not… never mind) despite being there to commit genocide, all of this we see in flashback. When rightfully asked why Monaito allowed Granolah to work for the very people who actually killed his family rather than tell him the truth he did the whole “it was for your own good” schtick. Still felt like a last-second plot idea to me…
I’ll leave the actual end for the Spoiler Section but let’s face it: it’s not very good. After a fun, albeit by-the-numbers story arc in the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Arc this was just a waste of time completely devoid of any ideas. Super Dragon Ball Heroes arcs have more substance and they exist purely to promote arcade game cards!
Overall Thoughts:
Bardock holds back Gas … God damn it, I didn’t even mean it that time.
The Granolah The Survivor Arc starts off well with an interesting new character in the titular Granolah and the reason for his strength but the story soon loses all steam before ending in a manor that screams “I can’t be bothered any more”. If the Dragon Ball Super anime returns and this story is dropped in favour of a new arc post Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero I’ll be all for it.
So to pick up where we left off, Granolah, Goku and Vegeta begin to fight Gas and lose when Elec uses the Cerealean Dragon Balls to wish for Gas to be the strongest in the universe, subverting Granolah’s previous wish. Goku creates a new version of Ultra Instinct where he can still let in some Saiyan anger after watching a recording of his father’s fight and finally understanding a bit of the Saiyan culture (possibly the only good thing to come from all this) but it’s eventually not enough. Granolah then builds up a big attack and Goku and Vegeta (mainly Goku) manages to get Gas in the right place to receive it, ending the story in a simple but not particularly exciting end… except that’s not how it ends. Gas is still alive but Frieza suddenly arrives, one-shots Gas like its nothing, reveals he has a new form called “Black Frieza” that makes him the strongest in the universe because he’s been training for 10 years in a special dimension (which is why he wasn’t counted as being in the universe when Granolah and Elec’s wishes were made, you see!) and then proceeds to kill Elec as well. Just like that. Take that Granolah’s character arc!
Black Frieza makes his debut! …. What the actual hell.
Frieza lands some blows on Goku and Vegeta as well but for SOME REASON leaves them alive as he pops back on his ship and leaves. Like Frieza’s whole existence is to get revenge on Goku, why on Earth did he not finally take it now he’s suddenly got an ass-pull ultra power up? Oh and Monaito discovered he has healing powers, then got killed, then brought back to life by Whis who did it for… some reason, despite the fact that Angels aren’t supposed to interfere in the mortal realm as fully established in the previous story arc.
From Goku and Vegeta landing on Cereal it was just on long fight sequence with a fight-heavy flashback in the middle that ends with a sudden and crap twist. You can barely call this a story arc at all!
Hogan Reviews 