Dragon Ball Super Chapter 87 Spoilers: Monaito Is Blasted Through the Chest as a Final Battle Looms

The early draft pages for Dragon Ball Super manga chapter 87 ended with Monaito blasted through the chest by a mysterious beam, just after he had healed Goku, Vegeta and Granolah back to full strength. When the drafts appeared on the official Dragon Ball website, I believed the Granolah arc was nearly over, and the chapter title, "The greatest warrior in the universe is revealed," convinced me the final battle had begun.

I went through the pages with translations from Herms. They also suggested that the attack Granolah used to defeat Gas in the previous chapter may have done real damage to his body. Gas had been beaten, but Elec and the other Heeters were still alive, and Granolah was nowhere near his maximum strength.

Granolah's attack on Gas cost him more of his lifespan

In the previous chapter, Goku with his true Ultra Instinct and Granolah defeated Gas together, with Vegeta helping out. The recap says Granolah unleashed a full force attack on Gas with Goku's help and was finally able to sever the bonds that had weighed him down for four long decades. I took that to mean the story was saying he had his vengeance, or his justice.

The aftermath shows Granolah on the ground, apparently coughing up blood. According to the translation, this technique normally costs the user his own life, so Granolah thinks he has probably shortened his lifespan even more. It works the same way for Gas: the more power he pours into his attacks and his body, the more it takes from his lifespan.

Goku is confused when Granolah mentions his lifespan, because he doesn't know the details of the wishes or the sacrifice they demand. Granolah explains that he became the best in the universe on condition that his life was shortened to three years. Goku can't believe he would do something so crazy, and Vegeta asks whether Gas did something similar. It all makes sense to them now. Granolah thinks Gas did, but doesn't know how much Gas's life was shortened.

To me, wishing to be the strongest through the Dragon Balls is a shortcut, and not a very good idea. Goku and Vegeta have taken the long, natural route of getting stronger and stronger, while the shortcut cuts down your limits and your lifespan. I had already wondered whether this would end with Gas dying, or losing his incredible power and retiring as a fighter so he wouldn't risk death. It looked like the story was heading that way.

Why I still thought Granolah had to be the one to beat Elec

Whatever the recap says, I didn't think Granolah had his justice yet. He wasn't going to get it until he killed Elec, and I had been saying so for some time. I felt Granolah had to be the one to beat Elec. It had to happen.

Some readers had told me they thought Elec would survive the arc and become the villain of the next one, or introduce that villain, whether a rebuilt "OG 73" or Frieza getting involved. I thought all of that was very possible. But from the way this was being written, it sounded to me as though Granolah's story might be what was ending.

The arc had already had some moments I wasn't a fan of. I said I would feel "very dissatisfied" if Elec was not taken out by Granolah, given what Elec did to his mother.

Monaito is blasted through the chest, and he may not survive the arc as I predicted

The pages show Monaito still there, arms open, and Elec on his ship apparently trying to escape. Then Monaito is blasted through the chest. Before this chapter I had predicted that Monaito was probably going to die, and I had been saying for months that he wouldn't survive the arc.

I don't think it was a crazy prediction. The story deliberately built up the Cerealian Dragon Balls as very powerful and very dangerous. After making wishes on them there is no break time. With the Earth Dragon Balls you have to wait a year after making your wishes, so the balls usually have a period when they don't work. The Cerealian Balls don't, and that makes them very dangerous. The only real way to get rid of them is to take out Monaito, because he is the sage linked to them.

I wasn't gloating. I was happy it was going this way, because it made sense. Elec killed Granolah's mother, and Monaito is Granolah's father figure, not his father. Now Monaito might be on his way to the afterlife. I thought it was possible Granolah would put whatever he had left into finishing off Elec, and that Elec and Granolah could both die, with Granolah getting his revenge but putting too much strain on his body in the process.

Monaito heals everyone while Elec abandons Gas

Before he is shot, Monaito restores Granolah and the others to full health with his healing ability, which the translation says has improved because he has been using magic so often. I said it would have been better if he could have used it sooner. Still, they are back at full power.

Elec curses that his plans have gone wrong and blames himself for trusting the Dragon Balls. I agreed it was his fault, but the Dragon Balls got him far. They made Gas strong enough to beat Goku, Vegeta and Granolah for multiple chapters; it was only the three of them together that proved too much. Elec doesn't even recognise that his brother nearly gave his own life fighting for the Heeters.

Elec orders his ship's hatch opened and prepares to flee alone. Goku asks if he plans to leave Gas behind, and Elec starts to say Gas is a goner anyway. That is when the mysterious beam pierces Monaito, followed by more. We had been talking about this: Elec doesn't care about Gas. He is the grand manipulator.

The chapter title made me suspect OG 73, not Frieza or Gas

Who fired the beam had not been revealed. I asked whether it was Elec, Frieza, or Gas. But I didn't believe it was Gas, because he seemed too worn out, too tired and too beaten up to blast through Monaito. I didn't think it was Frieza either, given the title, because I didn't consider him the greatest warrior in the universe. I also ruled out Elec.

I was "fairly certain" it would be either OG 73, rebuilt or re-mechanised by Elec with the cells of the other characters, or another Heeter we didn't know about who had been hiding in the shadows as Elec's backup plan. I said plainly that I could be wrong and that it was only a prediction. When the drafts came out, I assumed the full chapter would be out the following week, as normal.

I didn't like the previous chapter much, and I hadn't been hyped for a chapter in a long time, but this one got my curiosity going. With Goku, Vegeta and Granolah at full strength after Monaito's healing, everyone would have to work together. As I put it, "Toyotaro had better not let me down."

Who did you think fired the beam that struck Monaito: a rebuilt OG 73, a hidden Heeter, or someone else entirely?