Dragon Ball Super chapter 69 review: Granolah lore, rushed

Chapter 69 of the Dragon Ball Super manga continued the Granolah arc with a big expansion of the lore. It also took us further into the other side of Universe 7, to places we had never seen before. I enjoyed much of what it introduced. But I found the way it got there extremely contrived and rushed, and that left me conflicted about the chapter as a whole.

The chapter came out in early 2021, drawn by Toyotaro and building on Akira Toriyama's story. It split its time between Vegeta's training with Beerus and Granolah's return to his home planet.

Granolah's return to Planet Cereal humanizes him

Granolah Comes Home would have been a fitting title for this chapter. He returns to Planet Cereal, which has now been given to other races rather than taken over, and that surprised me. I enjoyed the early panels. They have a Star Wars, Mandalorian vibe that I've felt in this arc for months, and it's definitely there.

The way Toyotaro draws his panning shots and his transitions from location to location puts a focus on the science fiction side of Dragon Ball. There's some Dragon Ball GT influence, although this has a very different feel. Following Granolah is far more interesting to me than following Goku, because he's new and through him we see a lot of new things.

Seeing Granolah relaxing at home and talking with people on his planet gives the character a sense of humility. It humanizes him and makes him relatable. That's why I don't think he's going to end up being a true villain when all is said and done. The story is building a connection between the audience and Granolah by showing how he lives, and through that we get some brand new discoveries.

Beerus admits to Vegeta he approved the destruction of Planet Vegeta

The main cast only has one role in this chapter, and that's Vegeta's training with Beerus. Beerus is trying to teach Vegeta the Hakai technique. After so many years of fans wondering whether it would ever happen, Beerus admits to Vegeta that he was the one who approved Frieza destroying Planet Vegeta.

I've never been a fan of this retcon. Frieza wiping out the Saiyan race out of his own paranoia is far more interesting for that character than having it approved or ordered by Beerus. It should have had nothing to do with Beerus. I'm not happy with it, but they did it. Ultimately it was still Frieza's choice, and Beerus approved it.

Many fans were wondering whether Vegeta would try to kill Beerus. That's not the case at all. Vegeta humbly accepts that it's over. He even admits that his father is the one really to blame for their destruction, and he carries on training with Beerus to learn the Hakai.

Why the Hakai won't put Vegeta on Goku's level

I think many fans want Vegeta to match Goku or even surpass him, but the Hakai isn't going to make that happen. Vegeta might have this powerful technique at his disposal, but he's still not going to be as strong physically as Goku. And we know Vegeta isn't going to kill Goku for no reason.

So I think learning the Hakai is a useful tool for Vegeta in battle against other foes. It isn't going to carry the same weight as mastering Ultra Instinct, and I don't see the two being equal. Still, watching Beerus humiliate Vegeta in training was fun, and seeing Vegeta try and try again is respectable. We also learned that when Goku tried the Hakai many chapters earlier, in the Goku Black arc, he wasn't able to pull it off. Perhaps Vegeta can, and he probably will by the end of the Granolah saga.

A Namekian on Planet Cereal and Dragon Balls beyond Earth and Namek

The chapter also checks in briefly with the Heeters, who discuss the memory banks of Seven-Three and the Dragon Balls. That leads back to Granolah and to Namek. I found this whole sequence a bit weird but also very interesting.

On Namek, Moori explains that the Namekians are not originally from Universe 7, and that there are Dragon Balls not only on Namek but also on Earth. He hints there may be Dragon Balls elsewhere too. From the Heeters we learn there was a Namekian on Planet Cereal, and that turns out to be true. At some point in the distant past, multiple Namekians ended up there. Many were killed, and only one is left. He happens to be a member of the Dragon Clan, and he created his own set of Dragon Balls for Planet Cereal.

This opens up many possibilities. How many planets in Universe 7 have Namekians on them, and how many have Dragon Balls? I've wondered since Dragon Ball Z whether other planets besides Earth had Namekian visitors who created Dragon Balls. After all these years, the answer is yes.

Monaito's two Dragon Balls and what they mean for the dragon's power

The last surviving Namekian is Monaito, and he's friends with Granolah. The chapter shows their relationship, and they get along very well. Monaito explains that he created just two Dragon Balls. From the conversation on Namek, we learn you don't need seven. Depending on who made the Dragon Balls, and who created the dragon linked to them, a planet could have five, four, or in this case two.

Granolah and Monaito have one Dragon Ball in their possession, but the other has been missing. The chapter hints that the dragon's power isn't necessarily tied to the size or number of the balls. It also almost suggests that this planet's dragon wouldn't be as strong as Porunga.

The missing two star Dragon Ball turns up far too conveniently

Then, on the very same day Granolah comes home, he turns on the television and sees a report. Some fishermen have found the two star Dragon Ball after it had been gone for who knows how many years. It's the same day Moori is talking about Dragon Balls on Namek, and the same day Granolah talks with Monaito. I'm sorry, but this is extremely contrived writing. The number of coincidences is ridiculous, and the odds of all that lining up are unquantifiable.

With all due respect to Toriyama and Toyotaro, this is some of the laziest writing ever. They could have dragged it out a couple more chapters, or given a reason, or some kind of quest. Instead, Granolah dresses up as a thief, which I thought was cool and should have been its own chapter, sneaks in, steals the Dragon Ball from some scientists, and summons the dragon by the end of the chapter.

There's no quest to find the Dragon Balls, no mystery, no curiosity. He sees it on TV, sneaks in, steals it, and that's that. It's like they crammed three chapters worth of content into one. To play devil's advocate with myself, I do enjoy the new lore. Other Namekians with smaller sets of Dragon Balls, and more dragons than the ones we know, is a cool idea. But it was far too rushed, and I don't buy it.

Granolah's wish to be the strongest fighter may not be granted

The chapter ended on a cliffhanger: Granolah summons the dragon made by Monaito and asks to become the strongest fighter in the universe. That wish may not be granted. Being the strongest would mean being stronger than Goku and Vegeta. A dragon's power is usually based on its creator, as with Kami and Dende. That rule might get retconned, though hopefully not.

Because it's only two Dragon Balls, and we know nothing about how skilled Monaito is at making them, the dragon might say it cannot grant the wish. Granolah might then have to seek out the Earth or Namekian Dragon Balls, or maybe the Super Dragon Balls. If the wish is simply granted, it would be anticlimactic and rushed to me. It could also just be the setup for the next chapter of Granolah's story.

Chapter 69 follows the rushed pattern of modern Toriyama

This chapter was fun on the science fiction side. I liked Granolah as a thief, the new characters, and the expanded Namekian lore. What I didn't like was how rushed and contrived everything was. It's so lazy, and that has been the staple of modern Toriyama, with the exception of Dragon Ball Super: Broly.

Much of what he's written has been lazy storytelling: two tournament arcs, a Goku Black arc with one big twist and the rest just fights, and Resurrection F, which had no story to it. I like some of Resurrection F, but it was kind of a waste of time. Broly was probably the most interesting, though more as a visual spectacle. This chapter comes off like more of the classic modern Toriyama, rushing through things without giving them time to breathe. I'm enjoying the arc so far, but there are some hiccups, and I hope the next chapter gives us a cool adventure with Granolah.