Perfected Super Saiyan Blue Explained: How Goku Beat the Form's Stamina Drain in the Dragon Ball Super Manga

Perfected Super Saiyan Blue is the absolute max, completed, mastered version of Blue, and Goku first used it in the Goku Black arc of the Dragon Ball Super manga. It looks like regular Blue with one key difference: there is no aura, because Goku has learned to contain all of his energy inside his body so it no longer drains his stamina.

In my earlier transformation guide for Super Saiyan Blue, I explained how the basic, singular version of that form works in as much detail as I could. That piece was getting long, so I chose to split the alternate versions of Blue into separate guides, and this is one of them. I want to clear up the confusion about what Goku actually did when he used this form, because at first I was confused too. Now I get it.

Perfected Super Saiyan Blue seems to be a manga exclusive, and it is separate from Blue Evolution

At the time I wrote this, and as far as we knew at that point, Perfected Super Saiyan Blue was not a form that had been used in the Dragon Ball Super anime. It seemed to be exclusive to the Dragon Ball Super manga.

It is also important to separate it from Blue Evolution. They are not the same thing, and Blue Evolution gets its own transformation guide. Here the focus is purely on what Perfected Blue is and why Goku needed it in the first place.

Stamina was Super Saiyan Blue's big drawback, and Whis pointed toward the fix

Super Saiyan Blue was awesome, but it had a big drawback, and that was stamina. I outlined this in my guide to Super Saiyan Blue, and that background is essential to fully grasp what was stated about Blue's stamina problems in both the manga and the anime. The anime's discussion was very brief, but the manga would elaborate on it more.

However, the anime was the first to introduce the idea Whis told us about: containing your god ki inside your body rather than letting it leak out, so to speak. We heard about this even before the Resurrection F arc of the anime, while Whis was training Goku and Vegeta before they even knew what Blue was.

Once they achieved Blue, they found out it was great but imperfect. For a time, Goku and Vegeta had to find ways around the stamina drawback, including tapping into God and then switching into Blue, or using the non god forms for combat. As Goku learned more about Blue, he figured out how to build up his body's endurance using both regular ki and god ki. Eventually that let him tap into the maximum power of Super Saiyan Blue without the stamina drawback, and that is what would become Perfected Blue.

Perfected Blue has no aura because Goku contains his energy through concentration

Because this form comes from training and mastery of his own body, it is sort of like a Super Saiyan Blue version of what Full Power Super Saiyan was back in Dragon Ball Z. I have covered that technique separately as well.

Perfected Blue looks just like regular Blue, except there is no aura and no visible energy. Goku has learned to suppress and contain all of his energy inside his body so it does not leak out and cause a stamina drain. In Perfected Blue, the stamina does not leak out, and he can use his power at max without switching between God and Blue to conserve it.

At this point Goku had attained mastery of Super Saiyan Blue by containing his aura inside his body through intense concentration. That allowed him to boost his power so much that he was able to fight evenly with Merged Zamasu.

Goku against Merged Zamasu does not mean Perfected Blue equals Vegito Blue

That fight caused a lot of confusion in the fandom. Up to that point, the only character who had been able to fight off Merged Zamasu was Vegito Blue, and we all know Vegito is significantly, multitudes, unquantifiably stronger than Goku. For a while, many folks thought Goku in Perfected Blue was equal to Vegito Blue.

Is that even possible? I don't think so. I think Vegito Blue wore Zamasu down enough that Perfected Blue could handle him, albeit for a very brief time. Goku is a lifelong martial artist who learned how to tap into power, learned how to contain it, and was the first to actually show off this form.

Vegeta also figured out Perfected Blue, and Beerus praised his growth

Goku was first, but Vegeta also figured it out, which is why we saw him use this form during the Tournament of Power in the manga.

In fact, Beerus himself states that Vegeta is gaining so much power that he may be strong enough to be a candidate to be a God of Destruction. That would be for another universe, of course, but it is still pretty high praise coming from Beerus about Vegeta's growth as a fighter.

I never thought Gogeta was using Perfected Blue in Dragon Ball Super: Broly

There has been some debate about where Goku and Vegeta stand when it comes to Dragon Ball Super: Broly and to Gogeta. Some fans believe Gogeta Blue was actually using Perfected Blue in that movie.

Based on the way the animation style looked, at no point did I think Gogeta was using Perfected Blue. However, it is a possibility, and that is one I will leave for you to figure out.

Goku's stamina problems form an almost repetitive pattern, right through the Moro arc

Afterward, in the Moro arc, we see Goku use this form again in a fight because he wanted to conserve his stamina for Ultra Instinct Omen.

Notice the constant, repetitive nature of this whole stamina thing. To begin with, Goku had problems with stamina in the old Super Saiyan forms, including Super Saiyan 3. Then it happened with God and Blue, and now with Perfected Blue. It is almost as if Goku figures out a new form, discovers a major drawback for combat purposes, and then overcomes it, usually by coming up with an upgraded, higher grade version of that form. We saw this with Full Power Super Saiyan, also known as Grade Four, and we see it here once again with Super Saiyan Blue.

You could even argue that Super Saiyan Blue itself is like a more concrete version of God. That is not the case, but you can make that argument, and I wouldn't think you were a fool for making it.

The Tournament of Power panel that resembles Kaioken is not Perfected Blue, in my view

There is also a bit of controversy about this form being used in the Tournament of Power. In one panel, Goku appears to be using Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken, but when it was colored it was not Kaioken, and Krillin remarks that what he is doing is similar to Kaioken. Because of that, there is much debate about whether the panel shows Perfected Blue.

However, based on statements made by Jiren, it seems Goku is extremely strained and powered up, as opposed to containing his energy the way he would in Perfected Blue. Because of that, I don't believe that panel represents Perfected Blue. I go into more detail on it in my Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken guide.

Why these forms are so confusing without a Dragon Ball Super guide book

All of this can be a bit confusing, because things tend to change a lot when it comes to Jump scans, statements and Toriyama interviews. I am putting together several guides to make things easier for newer fans, or even old school fans, who may be confused about how these forms work.

The forms are never really explained thoroughly in one single place. You have to go doing research everywhere, and that is what I am doing to make things easier, at least until we get some kind of Dragon Ball Super guide book that can further elaborate on and explain this, if they ever choose to make one.

Do you think Gogeta was using Perfected Blue in Dragon Ball Super: Broly, or was it just regular Super Saiyan Blue?