Goku Remembers Bardock and Gine in Dragon Ball Super Manga Chapter 82, but the Chapter Stalls for Time

Dragon Ball Super manga chapter 82 contains a moment I called an earth shattering event: for the first time in the history of the series, Goku remembers what his parents look like after hearing Bardock's voice. Even so, I didn't think the chapter as a whole was that great. It felt like it was on cruise control, stalling for time when it could have pushed the story further.

The Dragon Ball Super manga has been polarizing for years. When it ran side by side with the anime, comparisons were made constantly, and many people criticized the way Toriyama supervised Toyotaro's direction. I try to be objective about the manga. If I hate a chapter, I'll explain why, and if I love one, I'll praise it. Chapter 81 was a lot of fun and one of my favorites that Toyotaro has done. Chapter 82 tries to follow it up by continuing the Goku vs. Gas fight and progressing the story, so did it turn out to be good, or did it fall apart?

The slapstick humiliation of Gas didn't work for me

This chapter made some decisions I find extremely polarizing. Some Dragon Ball fans are going to absolutely despise them, and some are going to be okay with them. The early part of the chapter is Goku fighting Gas, and over and over again there are comedic moments meant to humiliate Gas. Monaito drops cement on him. Goku teleports him to the Galactic King's bathtub. It's a run of Three Stooges style slapstick, and to me it just didn't work.

I know Toriyama's history is that of a gag manga writer, and I've been a huge fan of his humor, not just in Dragon Ball but in some of his one shots and Dr. Slump. I love the way his mind works. But although Toyotaro is Toriyama's top student, he's not Toriyama.

My bigger issue is about the arc itself. This entire arc has been built on people using the Dragon Balls to make themselves the strongest in the universe, which is basically cheating, rather than training hard the way Goku and Vegeta have for years. Granolah was built up as a huge threat, then Gas was built up as a bigger one because Elec made the same wish after Granolah. Having that top enemy humiliated was a huge mistake in my eyes. It's one thing to humiliate lower level villains, and we've seen that countless times with Piccolo's minions, Cui, and even Dodoria, who was kind of a joke to Vegeta. But Gas is an actual main villain. He might not be the mastermind like Elec, but he is the strongest in the universe. If you disagree, that's okay, but I thought it was a misfire from Toyotaro.

Chapter 82 felt like it was stalling for time

Those gags bleed into my overall verdict. A lot of this chapter felt like Toyotaro was on cruise control. The cliffhanger at the end was a decent one, but it could have come earlier in the chapter. You could have shaved off a lot of this and just gotten to the point. Instead, he chose to stall, and it made me wonder whether that decision came from Shueisha and/or Toriyama.

Some folks had the idea that this arc would end in April before the movie came out. At the time, I said that was out of the window and that the arc would end sometime later in the year, after April, because the pacing of the past few chapters showed we were not even close to an ending. My guess was maybe three, maybe four more chapters at the least before the end of the saga.

The cameos were cool but unnecessary this late in the Granolah arc

Seeing the Universe 6 ring announcer, the Galactic King and Monaito early in the chapter was cool, and I appreciated those cameos. But they were also unnecessary. We're pretty much near the climax of this arc, and this is something that could have been done earlier, or maybe during a different fight. At this point, the big focus is on what's going to happen next. When I talk about cameos here, I mean the small ones. The Bardock material is actually relevant to the story and could lead to some pretty big things.

We also saw cameos from the prisoners of the Moro arc, and I did appreciate that because it increases the connective tissue between the arcs and makes it feel like a continuous story, much like what they did with a character at the beginning of this arc. But that raises the question of where that character is. Are we going to see him in this arc at all? Did they just forget about him? That storyline feels unresolved too, and I don't know where they're going with it.

Even with the Galactic prisoners, the chapter once again took a chance to humiliate Gas, with talk about how he used to wet his pants. That comes off very Toriyama-ish to me; it's Dr. Slump Toriyama humor. I appreciated it more, but it still didn't feel necessary. It was probably my favorite joke in the chapter, only because I know it's straight Toriyama with the potty humor.

Goku questions Elec's motives, and Whis gets a cameo

At one point Goku even consults Gas about Elec, questioning Elec's motives and whether he actually cares about Gas, something I've discussed before. Gas is subservient and loyal to his brother, and Goku brings up that his own brother Raditz was not that nice of a guy.

We also get a cameo, if you want to call it that, from Whis and the Oracle Fish. As I was reading, I was thinking they were going to have Whis humiliate Gas too, like what they did to Broly in Dragon Ball Super: Broly, but they didn't go that far this time. Whis and the Oracle Fish are casually riding a dinosaur, and we don't really know why. Goku teleports Gas there, then teleports back to Planet Cereal after asking Whis to distract Gas. At that point the battle isn't totally over; it just goes to a pause.

Elec's boneheaded order to the Heeters

What follows is what I guess you can call the cleanup section of the chapter. Instead of having the Heeters finish off Granolah and Vegeta, Elec orders them to stand down because he wants Gas to do it, given how strong he is. That's a very boneheaded move. How many Dragon Ball villains throughout history didn't finish off their opponents, only for them to come back and punish them? Piccolo did it, Frieza did it, Moro did it. These villains get overconfident and arrogant when they're dealing with actual fighters, and we know Vegeta, Granolah and Goku are not just going to sit around. They're going to come back with a vengeance, but Elec doesn't feel that way.

The chapter also confirms that not only can Gas have his suppressed power unlocked, but the other Heeters can as well.

Oatmeal's new form looks very Star Wars

Goku teleports back to Planet Cereal to reunite with Vegeta and Granolah, and they all go to Monaito's house thanks to Oatmeal, who shows off his new robotic form. I thought that was kind of cool and very Star Wars-esque. The same goes for his little ship, which is virtually the same craft Luke Skywalker was driving in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The influence is obvious. We know Toriyama loves Star Wars, and I guess Toyotaro does too.

Meanwhile Gas, who apparently hasn't mastered Instant Transmission, flies back to Planet Cereal the long way, literally flying through space with no problems breathing. While he's on his way, the chapter rests with Goku, Granolah, Vegeta and Monaito. Then things get interesting when Monaito pulls out the scouter that was apparently there during the battle between Bardock and Gas, and we finally get the title screen. A lot of this felt like it was maybe cut out of the last chapter, and while that is not true, the first 70 percent or so of the chapter felt like it should have been in the last chapter.

Goku remembers Bardock and Gine for the first time

Fans have been waiting years for Goku to remember or acknowledge his parents, and this chapter might begin that course of action. Vegeta takes the scouter and realizes there's audio data on it recorded some 40 years earlier during the fight between Gas and Bardock. When Goku hears Bardock's voice, his mind goes into a trance and he remembers his last day on Planet Vegeta, when Bardock and Gine wished him well and sent him off the planet to save him, as portrayed in Dragon Ball Minus and Dragon Ball Super: Broly.

This is the first time ever in the series that Goku has remembered what his parents look like. Whether or not you're a fan of how Minus and Super: Broly portray those events, or you prefer the original Bardock special, which is the camp I'm in, it's still an earth shattering event, because hearing his dad's voice has triggered Goku's memory of the moment he was taken off the planet.

This can go a number of different directions. It may not go anywhere. Goku may just learn the technique Bardock used to beat Gas and that's it. Or it could lead Goku down the rabbit hole a lot of fans want, where he takes the time to learn about his mom and dad by talking to Whis, Vegeta, Zuno or somebody else who knows more about them. I don't know which direction they'll take, because Goku cares more about fighting than anything, but there's got to be some intrigue there for his brain to be triggered like this. If they choose to capitalize on it, it could lead to major story arcs and a major shift for Goku's character as he figures out more about his heritage and his past.

Bardock vs. Gas sets up chapter 83

We also get the continuation of the Bardock vs. Gas fight, which we hadn't really seen beyond what led to it a few chapters earlier, when we first glimpsed Bardock's involvement in Granolah's past. The chapter is actually titled Bardock vs. Gas, though we only get a little of the fight. Bardock is a low class warrior, but he's tough, and this is the younger Gas, not the one Goku is fighting. Bardock shows he's serious, and the cliffhanger is the two of them staring each other down, preparing for battle.

At the time, I expected chapter 83 to be a huge chapter, with the reveal of what Bardock did to defeat Gas and what his secret weapon or weak spot is, possibly Granolah and Vegeta recovering, and probably the beginning of the final battle, though I said I could be wrong on that.

My verdict: a step down from chapter 81

I didn't think chapter 82 was that great. It stalled for time way too much, and nothing really happened until the second half, where there were some reveals. The first half wasn't really necessary. Toyotaro seems to be taking his time and slowing the pace down big time, and at that rate I thought we might not get the climax until July or August. Following chapter 81, which I totally loved, this was a step down, and there might be a reason for that.

Did I hate this chapter? No. But reading it multiple times, I was literally thinking in my head that it needed to get to the point.

What did you think of Dragon Ball Super manga chapter 82?