For its likely anime return, Dragon Ball Super will have to face several problems. One of them is, paradoxically, what has fans on tenterhooks: Frieza. The cult villain, who returned ten years ago with Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection of 'F', has established himself as a major character in DBS, except that it has been a very bad idea from the start.
Dragon Ball Super's Mimicry Problem
DBS suffers from a major problem: the reuse of elements already used in the original work. The series draws on everything it can, from Cell to Future Trunks, and even Broly. The real problem is that this trend began right from the start with the return of Frieza.
Two reasons can explain this mimicry. The first is the fear of failure. Indeed, by bringing back characters well-known to fans, the risk of them losing interest decreases. The second is obviously commercial. Fan service helps maximize profits, and putting Frieza front and center guarantees significant revenue. Given his popularity, it makes sense that he's still around, even if it's still a bad idea.
Freezer is the symbol of Dragon Ball Super's bad habits
More than simply copying the past, DBS takes and amplifies elements that were perfectly fine as they were. This is particularly the case for the race for power, of which the multiple transformations are one of the most obvious symptoms. In this specific case, we naturally think of Goku and Vegeta, and rightly so, as Ultra Ego attests, but Freezer pushes this logic even further and in a much more problematic way.
Freezer is the representative of a race for power that no longer makes any sense. At the end of Dragon Ball Z, his power level was pretty laughable. To bring him back, they had to invent a stratagem so he could stand up to the heroes, and it's rather simple. Indeed, Frieza reached a god-level in just four months of training. Of course, we've seen spectacular power increases before, like Goku's when he arrived on Namek, but here, we're taking a step further, especially since Frieza's training is less intense than the hero's. Later, he repeats the feat, this time after ten years of training, reaching an even more absurd power. Such a gap inevitably raises problems for the rest of the story.
Black Frieza is a poisoned chalice
In chapter 87 of DBS, Frieza shocked the world by easily defeating Gas and knocking our heroes out in one fell swoop. His display of strength impressed fans, generating genuine anticipation for his new form. Black Frieza is generating high expectations, but he also represents one of the series' biggest problems.
Frieza possesses exceptional power, although it is still impossible to estimate it precisely. What we do know, however, is that it will be difficult to match him. Toyotaro seems to have teased a big fight between Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Broly, Piccolo, and Frieza in the latest volume of DBS. However, even with five against one, it's hard to imagine our heroes defeating the tyrant. To achieve this, two options seem possible: the intervention of the gods, or a new way for the protagonists to gain power. This second scenario would undoubtedly be the worst, because it would still be necessary to find a plot twist to fill a power gap. Nevertheless, all of this is nothing compared to the main criticism that can be addressed to Freezer and DBS as a whole.
DBSpromised a multiverse rich in possibilities. However, since the Tournament of Power, the plots have remained confined to Universe 7. While Moro and Gas have brought some new ideas, the series is now backtracking by putting Frieza back at the center of the plot. The villain monopolizes the attention, to the point of relegating the Granola arc to oblivion. This might have been fine if the threat came from another universe, but here it's an antagonist that fans have known for a long time. And if Frieza really were to be the final threat in the series, it would be an unfortunate choice.
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