Dragon Ball Super Episode 73 has just aired, and it was everything that fans expected. With the filler episode exploring the idea of a Great Saiyaman movie, the focus of the story was naturally on Gohan, whose return to significance in the anime has been teased for months. True to form, the character was pretty great on Episode 73, and if the preview for DBS Episode 74 is any indication, it appears that Gohan fans might be able to see the character reach Super Saiyan levels once more.
The premise of Dragon Ball Super Episode 73, “Gohan’s Misfortune! An Unexpected Great Saiyaman Movie?!” was quite simple. Barry Karn, an actor, is making a movie about a battle between the Earth’s two greatest heroes , Mr. Satan and the Great Saiyaman (the reference to DC’s Batman v Superman is very notable), and Gohan was hired as the actor’s stunt double. Meanwhile, Jaco, the franchise’s resident galactic patrolman, ended up allowing a notorious parasite criminal to escape.
The episode played out like a classic Dragon Ball Super filler, with Gohan ultimately outclassing the movie’s main actor by a mile. With a galactic criminal on the loose, however, it did not take long before Watagash, the parasite villain that Jaco accidentally allowed to escape, began possessing some crooks. Things eventually culminated with Gohan, who is in his Great Saiyaman suit, almost revealing his true identity to the film’s crew, and Watagash possessing the movie’s main actor.
Overall, Dragon Ball Super Episode 73 is a pretty solid filler episode. Though the events of the episodes do not seem in any way related to the anime’s upcoming Universe Survival arc, it nonetheless featured enough action and humor to make Episode 73 very entertaining to watch. For one, Gohan’s interactions with Krillin, who believes the Saiyan is a bit too old to be running around in a superhero outfit, were very humorous. Couple this with scenes of Gohan battling enemies with ease and the episode definitely becomes well worth the watch.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the episode, however, was the brief teaser for Dragon Ball Super Episode 74, “For Those He Loves! The Indomitable Great Saiyaman!!” In the preview, it was revealed that Barry Karn, who was possessed by the evil alien parasite, was wreaking havoc, and it would be up to Gohan to stop him. Things escalate as well when the possessed actor decided to kidnap Gohan’s daughter, Pan, as a means to get leverage on the Saiyan. The scenes in the DBS Episode 74 preview were very interesting, with scenes of Barry Karn/Watagash manhandling Gohan and the Saiyan seemingly taking their fight to space.
The brief scene with Gohan and the possessed actor’s fight in space was very notable, with numerous Dragon Ball fans noting that the energy emitted by one of the fighters is colored with a very familiar shade — the glow of a Super Saiyan. Gohan’s return to being a serious fighter has been teased by the anime ever since the final episode of the Future Trunks arc , where the character was strangely featured seemingly in his Mystic form. Thus, in DBS Episode 74, fans might finally see Son Goku’s firstborn son transform into a Super Saiyan once more.
While the premise of Gohan transforming into a Super Saiyan could not be confirmed, the idea of the once great fighter reaching such power levels is very interesting. For one, it would cement Gohan’s place in the Universe 7 lineup for the Universe Survival Arc, where the character is set to stand beside other Z fighters in a tournament against the DB multiverse. Apart from this, it would also remove the character’s stigma that resulted after an unfortunate incident during the first arcs of the anime.
Dragon Ball Super might not be as iconic as Dragon Ball Z or the original Dragon Ball series that aired in the 1980s. However, it is difficult to deny the fact that Toei Animation and the series’s creator, Akira Toriyama, are handling the anime with extreme care and consideration for its massive fanbase. Over the last few weeks, DBS has featured arguably the best fillers in the entire franchise so far. If speculations prove accurate and Episode 74 does end up featuring the return of Super Saiyan Gohan, then fans would have a lot to be thankful for. After all these months, Dragon Ball Super might finally, definitively, make Gohan great again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpdiVqvtj9U
[Featured Image by Toei Animation]