The latest twist in Dragon Ball Super that brings Frieza back is so extreme that it almost feels like a caricature of what the franchise has become over the decades. Prompting this critique is how effectively the latest arc has been shattering its own stereotypes, causing this sudden reversion to sting much more.
It’s problematic that these disappointments concern Frieza, the franchise’s most iconic villain who has become the most persistent threat in that universe ever since his introduction in Dragon Ball Z, even more so than Dragon Ball’s Red Ribbon Army. Although it would have been annoying, having these mistakes occur with any other villain besides Frieza would have reduced the criticisms. In keeping true to what will clearly become this perspective’s mantra, it doesn’t help that Super recently explored an innovative avenue with Frieza when he allied himself with Goku in the Tournament of Power.
The latest arc of Dragon Ball Super focused on Granolah and the Heeter Force as the main antagonists. But as they all had ties to Frieza, the villain loomed large despite not making an appearance. Then at the start of chapter 87, recent events convince Goku and his friends that the final battle or, at least the one with Gas, is likely over. This is eventually proven wrong as Frieza finally appears in the flesh, transforms into an even more powerful form than Golden Frieza and then leaves. Here’s why these developments hurt Frieza and the franchise as a whole.
Frieza’s Entrances Are Getting More Absurd
Upon its release, Dragon Ball Z popularized and perfected the one-on-one confrontation. It was almost as if mangaka Akira Toriyama wanted to hone in on the fighting that took place during his earlier Dragon Ball series almost exclusively for DBZ, in turn completely cutting out the early types of adventures that Goku and his friends went on. For example, Goku’s brother Raditz immediately comes to Earth looking for his sibling and fights him. Then Nappa arrives, soon followed by Vegeta. All of this changes, however, with Frieza. Frieza was the big bad who loomed in the background, sending out his minions to do the dirty work for him while he waited. This is what comes to mind when fans think of Frieza, not his then-final form.
But ever since he almost died on Namek, Dragon Ball has expedited Frieza’s later entrances save for the Tournament of Power. Now, there is no longer any build-up when Frieza is present in the story. The problem is that this latest arc was hinting the opposite would happen by how many other characters referenced Frieza without him actually appearing. Instead, he comes out of nowhere and unleashes his true power. Keeping Frieza in the shadows would have evoked how he was originally portrayed in DBZ rather than making him out to be like every other villain who just jumps into the fray. Frieza initially appearing by mention only also aggrandized him in the minds of the reader to the point where slowly introducing him into the story later would have continued to heighten the suspense. Of course, Toriyama could still remedy this by forcing Goku and his friends to work their way back to Frieza in later chapters, but the anticipation that has been steadily rising over past months has now gone back to zero.
Frieza’s Excuse for Leaving is Out of Character
Besides negating the anticipation, Frieza’s return in chapter 87 introduced another conundrum. Since his new form was stronger than everyone else, something would need to happen for Goku and his friends to survive this sudden encounter with Frieza. And the solution Toriyama went with goes against Frieza’s character completely. He says, “I came here in pursuit of a different target…so I’ll let you off easy today.“
The eradication of Saiyans has always been Frieza’s number-one priority. If he’s learned anything from his numerous confrontations with them, it’s that Saiyans are notorious for their ability to grow stronger. He therefore would never risk that happening again, which means he wouldn’t let them off easy. Moreover, Frieza has failed to defeat Goku so many times that he would undoubtedly jump at the chance to destroy him, even if Goku would be at a major disadvantage. Additionally, Frieza has proven that he will go to any lengths to ensure no one will threaten his power. After learning about Dragon Ball’s Legendary Super Saiyan, Frieza didn’t wait to see how powerful such a warrior could be. He went straight to the source and destroyed their home world so he would never find out. To validate Frieza’s decision to go easy on Goku, Toriyama should have had Frieza reveal the target that’s ostensibly more important than Goku. Although this would ruin the mystery Toriyama is trying to create, it’s necessary when keeping it ambiguous looks this bad.
The Hyperbolic Time Chamber Came Too Late
Over the years, Dragon Ball and its various sequels have powered up its heroes to such an absurd point that coming up with new excuses on how there could possibly be another villain more powerful than the rest becomes less and less likely. Before chapter 87, this latest arc once again gave readers false hope that Dragon Ball Super would find innovative ways to explain future opponents. The irony is that, before Frieza, the latest excuse for Granolah and Gas was so simple it was genius. Before Super, DBZ‘s main go-to villain wish was immortality even though its first movie – Dead Zone – already proved the major downside of such a request. Instead of immortality, Super is all about wishing to become the strongest warrior in the universe. Even more to the point, the revelation that Goku’s father Bardock used the Dragon Balls to ensure his son would always succeed not only amplified this concept of using these mystical spheres in such an innovative manner but completely redefined what Goku and his strength signify. The bar was set awfully high.
With Frieza’s return, readers were therefore hoping that the excuse Toriyama would come up with to explain how Frieza could possibly be a threat to Goku would be of the same caliber. But Frieza just used Dragon Ball‘s Hyperbolic Time Chamber. What’s tragic isn’t that this was an intriguing twist. Using the Hyperbolic Time Chamber has always been a method that the series’ heroes have relied on, not villains. While a fun inversion, it came at the wrong time. It would have been perfect if Frieza stole the Z Fighter’s go-to methodology to become Golden Frieza. That’s because this twist is just the logical step up from how Frieza achieved his Golden form, which was when he trained for the first time. Some critics might point out that this is the same as wishing with the Dragon Balls to become the strongest since villains have been using them for their own nefarious purposes for decades. The comparison is incongruous, however. The two would only be similar if the heroes, up until this point were using the Dragon Balls exclusively for this very purpose. But that’s not the case. Plus, this is Frieza. He deserves so much more than just doing the next logical step. Dragon Ball Super can and should have done better.
