Dragon Ball Super Manga Chapter 81 Review: Goku Takes On Gas With His Powers Unlocked

Dragon Ball Super manga chapter 81 is one of my favorite chapters of the whole Granola arc, and its main focus is Goku vs Gas. This is a showcase of what Gas can do with his powers unlocked, and it gave me the kind of Dragon Ball fight I've wanted since I was a kid.

These are just my thoughts. The scans I worked from came from the Japanese V Jump magazine, and the translations came from an outside source. Those translations are usually 98 or 99 percent accurate, so I went with them, because there are very few changes made from them, though it does happen once in a while.

Gas's unlocked powers make him feel like the final boss of the Granola arc

The battle with Gas continues, and the powers he has unlocked now seem to be a bit on the supernatural side. He can control gravity, and early on he uses those gravity powers to freeze Goku and Vegeta in place. Granola seems extremely exhausted and has very little chance of actually having an impact on this fight, and we watch Gas go in and pulverize him while Elec is extremely happy about it.

We'd already seen Gas unlock these powers in the previous chapter, but chapter 81 is much more about what he can actually do with them. Even though there are theories about Frieza, Seven-Three and Elec being majorly involved in a big final battle, it does feel like Gas is the final villain of this arc, just based on the way he's being portrayed. I don't know how Elec could have done or will do something more impressive than what Gas does here. I don't know for sure, but it has that feeling, and that's not a bad thing, because it made this fight even more epic.

Elec's arrogance is what makes Granola's revenge worth waiting for

I absolutely love the arrogance and the absolute sociopathic tendencies of Elec. He does not care about anybody, to the point where he tells Granola that he should thank him for sparing him, even though Elec was the one who killed his mother. Can you imagine the audacity, the gall, the narcissism of somebody to do that? I like that about this character, because unlike guys like Hit and Jiren, who aren't really evil people, Elec is a completely rotten person.

At the time, I said it was going to be a big satisfying moment when Granola finally enacted his revenge in the upcoming chapters. Here, though, Granola sold it, and sold it big time, because Gas beat him so badly that he was nearly dead. It wasn't Gas who really landed the final blow, though. It was Elec, shooting him from behind, like the scene in Scarface.

Granola going down from a shot in the back is believable because he's exhausted

I saw some people criticizing this and believing it's not believable that a character as strong as Granola could get taken out by a shot in the back. I understand that mentality completely, and I see where you're coming from. But you also have to understand that, by that point in the arc, Granola had been in multiple fights back to back. He fought Goku, he fought Ultra Ego Vegeta, and he fought Gas for a while. He was exhausted, and even if you're the strongest fighter in the world, that does not mean you have infinite stamina.

Because of that, I feel like Toyotaro's explanation is very much like what happened to Goku in Resurrection F when he got blasted by Sorbet's ring. The difference is that in Resurrection F, Goku was caught off guard, whereas here Granola was not only caught off guard but also very tired.

I really love the shocked look on Goku and Vegeta's faces when they see Granola go down. These two just had a war of attrition with him, so they know how strong and how impressive Granola has been, and for him to go down like that hits hard. I've been critical of this arc. There have been some chapters I think were complete stinkers, and some things, especially early on, that I have not been a fan of. But there are some really good moments and some really good fights, and that brings me to Goku vs Gas.

Goku breaks Gas's gravity spell and uses Ultra Instinct with Super Saiyan Blue

Goku powers up to Super Saiyan Blue, breaks Gas's gravity spell, and uses Ultra Instinct alongside his Super Saiyan Blue. I've discussed Ultra Instinct with Super Saiyan God before, and that applies to Blue as well. Goku can use the mastery of self movement while transformed so his body moves at will and on its own, giving him better defense and better offense in hand to hand combat while still retaining the power of Super Saiyan Blue. That's how this works, and the chapter really goes into it.

I love that there's a discussion between Goku and Gas about this power. Gas is almost trying to antagonize Goku, but Goku explains that he is angry, and that his emotions are what's blocking his ability to control the technique and use it properly. I've talked about that before. That is what happened with Merus's sacrifice in the Moro arc: it was a test to see whether Goku could control his anger and focus it into tapping into Ultra Instinct, and here he's able to do that.

Ultra Instinct is like the opposite of Super Saiyan. The regular transformations are based on rage and anger, whereas Ultra Instinct is about letting go and letting the body do what it needs to do. I'm a huge fan of UI. I think it's my favorite thing Dragon Ball Super has introduced to the lore.

Gas throwing trains and planes is the kind of fight I've always wanted

I loved Gas versus Goku. I loved Gas using the spikes to try to get Goku, and I love how the chapter showcases Gas's telekinetic powers. Dragon Ball characters at this point in the series are far beyond planetary level, beyond even universal tier according to some power scalers. Still, ever since I was a kid getting into this show, I've wanted a Dragon Ball fight like this, where a character throws planes, trains and automobiles at their opponent. It just comes off as awesome, and this was really good stuff.

As far as his fights go, I'm a huge fan of Gas. I like how he can manifest weapons that are actually made of some kind of metal or actual fibers, and I love that he can use telekinesis to control different objects. I also love how, in this fight, Gas is having something like PTSD over Bardock, because Goku looks just like Bardock. It's almost like Gas is fighting a ghost, like he's fighting Bardock all over again, and I really like that.

Gas may be underestimating Goku, and that could be his undoing

I also really enjoyed how Gas starts to get to know Goku. Goku tells him that he hit his head when he was a baby, so he doesn't remember anything about his parents. Gas is so used to Saiyans being barbaric, fight crazy animals. Goku might be a bit fight crazy, we know that, but he is also much more pure, and he's not sadistic in any way. So I think Gas is a little bit thrown off by Goku.

That could end up being Gas's undoing. Goku's nature is very confusing for some characters, and they underestimate him, and it looks like Gas might be doing that, which could end up being a problem for him. While all this is going on, Monaito is healing Granola in the background. Gas notices, and Goku has to act quickly and teleport them both off the planet to protect Monaito and Granola from getting killed.

I think Toyotaro is building Granola up as the hero, not Goku

You can obviously tell what the foreshadowing is here. Toyotaro is building up Granola as the big hero. My read at the time was that Goku wasn't going to be the one to ultimately beat Gas or Elec, and that it would end up being Granola, based on the buildup. I thought that once Monaito finished healing him, Granola would ultimately be the hero of his own story.

I saw Goku as being more in the Vegeta role, where he fights the enemy and puts on a good show, but something happens and he doesn't win. I didn't know what that would be, but I thought it would lead to Granola stepping up. At least I hoped that's what would happen, because if Goku beat Gas, it was going to leave a bad taste in my mouth unless Granola was involved in the victory. Granola has to be involved in his ultimate vengeance, and he's got to be the one to finish off Elec. I said I'd be very upset if it didn't happen that way.

Jaco's cameo didn't bother me the way the Planet Cereal chapter did

One thing I did like is that Goku teleports Gas off the planet and they end up on a planet where Jaco just happens to be. I criticized this arc heavily over the chapter that came out about a year earlier, that terrible, derivative chapter where Granola just happened to come to Planet Cereal on the day they found the Dragon Ball that had been missing for 50 years. I hated that chapter because it was way too convenient and way too contrived.

I don't feel that way about this. Jaco is a Galactic Patrolman, so it makes sense that he'd be patrolling the galaxy, since that's his job. It is a weird coincidence that Jaco just happens to be close enough for Goku to sense his power and teleport to him, but honestly it did not bother me. I see this appearance as more of a little cameo than anything serious, and it's played up for gags.

Is Broly waiting on Planet Vampa?

What ultimately happens is more fighting, and then Goku teleports Gas to yet another planet. Several fans left comments on my spoiler coverage theorizing that Goku and Gas are now on Planet Vampa and that we're going to see a cameo from Broly. I do think that could be the case, but there's not enough evidence yet for me to say for sure it will be Broly.

If Broly appears now, during this fight with Gas, him helping Goku could be a cool little moment. But it does feel like a shoehorned cameo, something that wasn't really teased or earned at all in this arc. I think a lot of fans would be happy with it, but other fans would criticize it for what it is, just a shoehorned fan service cameo, and that's exactly what it is, and exactly what Toyotaro would write, because he's done that before. So I'm mixed on it. I don't think it's Planet Vampa, but it could be, and that's the big cliffhanger for chapter 81 as the battle between Goku and Gas continues.

I missed Ultra Ego Vegeta, but chapter 81 shows Toyotaro getting better with fights

I'm a little bit disappointed that Vegeta gave Goku his power and that we don't get to see Ultra Ego Vegeta fight Gas. I'm a bit let down by that. I thought we hadn't seen the last of Vegeta in this arc, and I was hoping Monaito would heal him so we'd see Ultra Ego one more time. I wanted to see more of it in this arc.

That aside, I really like this chapter. Toyotaro is getting better with his fights. For me, Gas is super entertaining to watch because he's different from other villains: he has different techniques and a different style of fighting, using telekinesis and giant objects to try to smash you. It does seem kind of silly given how powerful Goku has become in this part of Super, but not for me. I think it's really cool, and it makes the fight feel more epic. At the time, I said Dragon Ball was set for a big year in 2022, and I was very excited to see what it would bring.

Who do you think should land the final blow on Elec in the Granola arc?