Dragon Ball Super Chapter 76: Why Vegeta's Choice Still Didn't Work for Me

A few days after I reviewed Dragon Ball Super manga chapter 76, many readers disagreed with my take, so I went back through their arguments. My verdict didn't change. I wasn't a big fan of this chapter. It felt rushed and disjointed to me. Having read the pushback, I still think Vegeta's handling in the Granola fight was a step backward, even though some readers made points I hadn't fully weighed.

I welcome disagreement. The vast majority of the responses were respectful, and I appreciated that. What I don't accept is the idea that I'm biased or that I hate Toyotaro. I review this manga every chapter, every month, and I give my honest opinion. Some months I love it and some months I don't.

I understood Toyotaro's plan for Vegeta's Ultra Ego, but it felt played out

One reader argued that I was misreading the writing badly. They said I was judging the chapter on its own instead of considering how the arc had been peeling back Vegeta's ideology. In their view, Beerus told Vegeta to think differently and not focus on the guilt over his people, which Vegeta can't let go of. That's a fair comment, but it wasn't really my issue.

I understand what Toyotaro was trying to do. He wanted Vegeta to go back to his old ways so he could tap into Ultra Ego. My problem is that we've seen that before. It's not that I didn't follow what was going on. I just felt it was familiar territory, and I want something new from these characters. I understood where they were going with it, but I personally didn't like that decision.

I also didn't like Vegeta sitting there about to take a shot from Granola. If you liked that, fine. I thought there were other things they could have done with the character, and they could have done more with Granola too. To me it was a bit of a letdown, and that's my opinion.

Vegeta accepting death is not who he is anymore

Another reader saw the story as an internal battle between Vegeta and his own ego. I read it somewhat similarly. I think he was trying to tap into Ultra Ego and use its full power, then realized he wasn't cut out for it. That's how I interpreted it, and if I'm wrong, I'm wrong.

One of the more interesting comments pointed out that Vegeta explains his actions twice in the manga. The reader's argument was that Vegeta thought acting like his old self would add power to his Ultra Ego, since the state runs on bloodlust and the desire for battle. Once he realized he felt deeply sorry for Granola over what his race had done, and that he couldn't return to his past self, he concluded he wouldn't be able to win. The reader didn't understand why I was confused.

I wasn't confused about Vegeta's motivations. What I didn't like was Vegeta deciding he couldn't win, giving up, and preparing to take the shot from Granola. Vegeta learned instantaneous movement on planet Yardrat. I know Granola was fast, but to me, when Granola is about to blast him, Vegeta should just get out of there so he doesn't die. Accepting death like that is who Vegeta used to be, and "that's not really who he is anymore."

The story should be moving forward, not back toward the Dragon Ball Z era

Another reader said Vegeta was stuck because he couldn't revert to his old ways, which he felt he needed to achieve Ultra Ego. In their reading, he brought Granola to the city intending to destroy it and make Granola even more furious, but couldn't bring himself to do it, no matter how battle hungry he was.

I understand that. I didn't like that they went back to that version of Vegeta. It's almost like Toyotaro is trying to recapture the magic of the Dragon Ball Z era, when I feel he should be moving the story forward. We shouldn't be going backward. It's not that I don't get it. It's that I didn't like it. Maybe I sounded like I didn't get it in my review, and that's my fault, but I definitely understood.

I overlooked a great Frieza line, but the fighting still didn't work for me

One reader who loved the chapter pointed to the line about revenge against Frieza having to wait until they are both in hell. That's a great line, and the reader is right that I overlooked it. The same reader praised Vegeta's character development and felt Granola was forced to sacrifice himself to take Vegeta down. They called it a tie, liked how the fight was interrupted so that neither of them died, and considered it one of the better fights of the series.

When it comes to the fights, I disagree. I liked what they did with Vegeta and Granola in the previous two chapters, but I didn't enjoy the fight in this one. It wasn't that interesting to me. There was a lot of force pushing and not enough combat. I wanted more hand to hand fighting like what we got before, so this chapter didn't do it for me.

If you liked it, that's fine. Everybody has their own opinion. There have been chapters I loved that other people said were bad. I loved the very end of the Moro arc, for example, and some readers didn't.

I read Vegeta's arc in chapter 76 as regression, then a reset

One reader felt I missed that Vegeta admits at the end he'd been acting that way toward Goku because he was trying to return to his former vicious self, and that this was progress. I thought it was regression and then a return to normal within one chapter. That's the way I took it.

Another comment argued that Vegeta being true to himself was the crux of his fight with Toppo, and that he's still doing that here, still changing while staying true to himself at his current level of development. They called it good writing. I didn't like it. I think they could have gone in a better direction.

The better direction, in my view, would have been Vegeta realizing he doesn't have as much bloodlust as he used to, so he might not be able to reach the maximum power of Ultra Ego. That's more or less what happened, but he didn't have to let himself die. That's the part I didn't like. The stuff with Goku is whatever to me. We saw that in Resurrection F and in other parts of Dragon Ball Z.

I don't pretend to like or hate a chapter

Some readers called this one of the best chapters in the arc so far. There's stuff people love that I can't stand, and that's how it is. Even if my entire audience loved this chapter and I didn't, I'm not going to lie about it. I've never lied about my opinion. I give the honest truth about how I feel in the moment.

I might reread this chapter in two months, change my mind and love it. We have a right to do that as human beings. When the arc is over, we'll go back, look at all of this again, and see how it fits in. But I've never pretended to like or hate something just to get clicks. I loved the previous two chapters, and this one I didn't like. If everyone else likes it, that's great, but I'm not going to join the group and call it great when I don't think so. I have too much respect for you to do that.

Vegeta's pride and Goku explain the team up, but not the ending

One reader made a good point about why Vegeta doesn't want to team up with Goku. In this fight there isn't anything to save, and Vegeta was sticking to his plan from the beginning, which was to wear Granola out since his power was new to him. The reader noted that Goku agrees after Vegeta explains himself, and that Vegeta never lets go of his pride. He accepts that Goku is the best but is still a fighter at heart who wants to improve and win, and doesn't want Goku stealing a victory from him again.

I agree with that, though I think Vegeta should have let go of his pride. The reader also argued this was Vegeta accepting that he can't revert to his battle crazed days because he's too kind now, without accepting defeat or second place forever. I agree with all of that. But at the end it felt like he was accepting defeat instead of coming up with a better strategy to beat Granola. Why is this guy giving up after telling Goku he had it handled? That's what bothered me.

Disagreeing is fine, as with Broly and Battle of Gods

We don't have to agree on everything. When I first saw Dragon Ball Super: Broly, I said I liked it, but that it wasn't as good as Battle of Gods. Everybody else was saying Broly was the best movie ever, and I still felt more emotion watching Battle of Gods.

I love Broly, and I like it more now than when I first saw it. But in terms of how it made me feel, Battle of Gods is a tier above Broly. Maybe that's because we didn't have Dragon Ball for so long and then finally got it back.

The intentional regression argument sounds better, but Vegeta still tapped out

One reader made an argument I liked. They thought the regression was absolutely intentional. Ultra Ego is a form tailored to Vegeta's truest self, just as Ultra Instinct is for Goku, and to reach your highest power you have to be who you are without conflict. To them, unleashing his savage prince side didn't feel like a step backward.

I still think it is a step backward, because this is the same Vegeta who, in the Buu saga, sacrificed himself for Kakarot, Bulma and Trunks. He realized then that he couldn't go back to his old self. This felt almost like a rehash of Majin Vegeta, except Vegeta was fighting Granola instead of Goku. The same reader also suggested I was complaining just to have something to complain about. That's not me. I'm a grown man, and I'm not going to complain about something I don't feel is bad.

The rest of that comment made a stronger case. It argued that Ultra Ego is god of destruction power, so of course Vegeta turns into his old self and acts like a savage, even though Beerus isn't always like that either. Vegeta tries to bring out his dark side to take advantage of that power, gets cut down, and apologizes to Beerus because that's not him anymore. I agree he isn't the savage he used to be, no matter how hard he tries, and that he couldn't make the most of Ultra Ego. When it's put that way, it does sound better. But I still don't like that Vegeta tapped out like that. He should have tried something more to beat Granola.

I read every chapter, and Ryan may be right about what I missed

Some readers said this was one of my worst reviews ever and that I went too hard on the chapter. That's fair. Even if the regression was purposeful, I didn't like it because I thought there were other ways to handle this character, and there were other problems I raised in my review too. One reader said the chapter went over my head because Beerus told Vegeta to revert to his old ways and think about nothing but destruction. Yes, but Vegeta couldn't do it, and that's the point. I thought I understood it. If I didn't, maybe you're right, but I interpreted it differently.

One person claimed I don't read the chapters and just skim them to rush out a review for clicks. I banned that person. I read the chapter. I couldn't review it otherwise. I just didn't like what they did. I'm fine with people disagreeing respectfully, but not with that.

Ryan argued that I lost track of Granola saying he was willing to die and meet Vegeta in hell, and that I was tunnel visioning on the action instead of the words in what was a mental fight. Ryan might be right. I did miss the Granola material, and it makes more sense for his character that way. I've been covering Dragon Ball for six years. I've caught things others missed, and sometimes I miss things too. That happens, but nothing about my review was rushed.

At the time, I planned to go back and reread the chapter in a couple of months, probably for an arc review rather than another chapter review. If I missed some things, I respect that, because I'm not perfect. But I didn't like this chapter much. I expected something better, and I was hoping the next month's chapter would be an improvement, with more backstory on Bardock.