Why Moving Away From Super Saiyan Forms Was A Great Idea

Transformations are almost as big and iconic of an aspect of Dragon Ball as the characters who use them. Throughout the series, the Saiyans in particular have unlocked many different forms in some of the most pivotal stages of the story to get a massive power boost in one fell swoop, becoming even stronger than the opponents they are facing at the time, leading to some of the most legendary moments in the entire anime industry.

However, in Dragon Ball Super, transformations have begun to go in a different direction. While every Saiyan would more or less share the same line of transformations starting from Super Saiyan and eventually reaching Super Saiyan 2, 3, and so on, Super has somewhat broken away from this formula. So, let’s look at why this is a great idea and a beneficial direction for the series to go in now.

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Why This Direction Is Good For The Series

How Dragon Ball Can Benefit From This

While it’s safe to say that pretty much every fan of the series loves the original Super Saiyan transformations, moving away from them to usher in character-specific forms ultimately has more benefits for the franchise. The first of these benefits is the fact that every Saiyan gets to shine more for reasons tied directly to themselves, rather than just having the same thing repeated for everyone.

While the various Super Saiyan forms existed as somewhat of a benchmark to see how strong the characters were or could be, it was far too linear in its implementation. With character-specific transformations, the power-ups that the Saiyans undergo are tailored to their own strengths rather than a standard path that can stunt their growth. The best examples of this are Goku and Vegeta’s Divine Transformations, since Ultra Instinct fits Goku as a skilled and composed Martial Artist, whereas Ultra Ego emphasizes Vegeta’s Saiyan-brawler fighting style.

Character-specific forms also serve to give them more overall development, since they exist as unique paths to power that play on each of their strongest traits. For example, Beast Gohan is a transformation unlocked by making use of Gohan’s unlimited potential and fury, while Super Saiyan Rage, although controversial for other reasons, is a great way of reinforcing Future Trunks as the last hope for his timeline, since the energy of others is what allowed him to access this state.

Best of all, however, is that this trend opens the door for non-Saiyan characters to become relevant in the series again. Although Saiyans are undoubtedly the central focus of the franchise, the other supporting characters are some of the most beloved in all of anime, though they always felt weaker and as more of an afterthought since they could never become as strong as Super Saiyans. However, with character-specific forms becoming the new norm, these characters can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their Saiyan allies because of their own specific forms, the best example of which is Orange Piccolo.

While the Super Saiyan forms are instrumental in the development of the series, are beloved by the fandom, and will always have their place in the franchise, the current trend of moving away from the standard Super Saiyan line in favor of character-specific forms is what is best for the series going forward.

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The Future Of These Forms

The Implementation of the New Transformations

One of the best parts about the new line of transformations is that characters can change the way they approach a situation. When faced with any powerful opponent in the past, the outcome would usually lead to the hero getting angrier to unlock a new Super Saiyan form whose only notable difference was a slight visual change and was somehow just more powerful than the form before it, without changing much in terms of anything else.

Since these new transformations play on the strengths of the individual characters rather than simply making them stronger and faster, the potential for how they approach a situation has increased dramatically. This could make the action far more engaging than ever before due to how each character would tackle a battle, such as how Vegeta would dive head-on into the battle with Ultra Ego’s damage-multiplying abilities, or how Goku would fight with much more precision due to Ultra Instinct’s strengths.

The possibilities are truly endless. Moreover, separate concepts such as fusion also become infinitely more interesting due to these specific transformations merging into a warrior who has the ability to use multiple of these unique forms/techniques simultaneously, making the future of Dragon Ball an incredibly fascinating one.

Dragon Ball can be streamed on Crunchyroll.

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One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates’ ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga’s popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Seasons

20