DRAGON BALL SUPER VOLUME 9

Story by: Akira Toriyama | Art by: Toyotarou

Last week we looked at the first chunk of this volume, which featured the conclusion of the Tournament of Power. The book features a little note from Toyotarou at the beginning, where he notes that he added some additional pages for the collected editions which were not printed in the SHONEN JUMP issues. I have no idea what pages are new, though, so I'm just calling it as I see it when reading this stuff.

The tournament ends in the volume's second chapter, but that chapter then continues, reminding readers that the BROLY movie comes next, and then we skip ahead an undetermined amount of time to find Goku and Vegeta training inside the Capsule Corporation gravity chamber. But they're soon called by Bulma, who has been alerted by Mr. Satan that someone is kidnapping Majin Boo. Goku and Vegeta head for Satan's estate, where they're quickly subdued by a member of the Galactic Patrol named Merus. Later, at Patrol headquarters, the Saiyans bump into Jaco and his supervisor, who inform them that a criminal has busted out of galactic prison and the Patrol needs to remove the Kaisoshin who lives inside Boo to obtain his help in apprehending the escapee.

By the way, I should mention that I absolutely love that Merus simply zaps Goku and Vegeta with a stun ray and they're immediately knocked out. It makes little sense, given what we've seen them survive, but it's fun to see the normally all-powerful fighters taken out by a simple blaster. If they ever find themselves up against a guy with a gun as the main villain of a saga, apparently they're in big trouble! And speaking of guns, there's a moment that I can't help laughing at for some reason -- as Merus is loading the slumbering Boo into his spaceship, Mister Satan draws an automatic pistol from his gi to take a pot shot at the patrolman. No idea why the idea of Satan packing heat while hanging around his mansion tickles me so much, but it does. (Though I also find it a bit against his character. Wasn't he shown to be staunchly anti-gun when he knocked out those two guys on a shooting spree during the Boo Saga?)

Speaking of the Boo Saga, this storyline takes its premise from a bit of continuity established there. As noted above, the Galactic Patrol want Boo because and ancient Kaioshin dwells within him. When Goku and Vegeta come around at Patrol HQ, we're reminded that Boo, in his original incarnation, absorbed the fat Kaishin millennia ago. We also get a flashback establishing the villain of the arc, a goat-headed creature called Moro, who devours planets. Moro was stopped once upon a time by the fat Kaishin (prior to Boo absorbing him, of course), who stripped him of his powers. Moro was sentenced to death, but being unkillable, he was instead incarcerated for life. But now he's escaped, and the Galactic Patrol believes he has his powers back, and the ancient Kaioshin is needed once more.

Unfortuatenly Boo is still asleep (the same reason he missed the Tournament of Power), and cannot be awakened through any means. so Goku and Vegeta are given temporary status as officers of the Galctic Patrol, and set out with Merus and Jaco to search for Moro (after a brief encounter in which Merus stops some crooks from stealing a shipment of ultra-valuable ore from a nearby planet, which gives our heroes a chance to see him in action).

Soon after, our heroes determine that Moro escpaed prison with the aid of an incarcerated Freeza army deserter, and that the two are en route to New Planet Namek to collect its Dragon Balls. Goku uses the instant transmission power to get Vegeta and himself to Namek first, where they warn the Namekians of the incoming threat. The Namekians grab the Dragon Balls and run into hiding just as Moro arrives. Vegeta steps up to battle Moro first, with a nice little character moment as he explains to the villain that he will allow no harm to come to the Namekians.

One of the things that I really liked about the SUPER anime was its humanization of Vegeta. Even late in DRAGON BALL Z, when he was married with a child, he was still the proud, aloof, arrogant Saiyan prince. Of course he had his moments, like his dramatic sacrifice against Boo, thinking of his wife and son as he went out, or the moment late in the series when he acknowledged (if only to himself) that Goku truly was the greater warrior). But there's something different about SUPER Vegeta. He's still proud and surly, but he feels more like a person here. He's unashamed to show emotion and affection toward Bulma, and here we see him admit aloud that he did terrible things in his past for which he is trying to atone. I really like it.

So Vegeta fights Moro solo, taking his measure first as a Super Saiyan, then as Super Saiyan Blue. It's noted more than once that Moro doesn't have traditional ki; it somehow feels different to Goku and Vegeta. So while he puts up a fight here, it's more with telekinesis and magic than with standard fighting skills. Weirdly, this reminds of classic DRAGON BALL, when Chiaotzu was able to hold his own alongside the other fighters by employing similar mental techniques rather than just fighting. I'm always in favor of anything that makes DB/Z/S stretch its wings and not just be all punches, kicks, and energy blasts, so this is nice to see.

But in the end, Moro reveals that he's been holding back, and casts off his cloak, Piccolo style -- always a sign that things are about to be kicked up a notch. We'll find out what happens next in volume 10, just one week from today!

P.S.: The translators were in a STAR WARS mood while working on this volume, apparently. Check out some of the dialogue from Goku! First as he senses Moro's ki, and then later just before Moro arrives on Namek. I smiled at the first one alone, then when the second came, it resulted in a downright chuckle: