Slight spoilers may be talked about below, so please be sure to watch the latest episode before reading on! This review is based off of the dub version of Super that currently airs on Toonami.
The second round of the Zeno Expo is underway as Gohan steps up to take on Lavender! It’s been few episodes since we last seen Gohan in action, does he has what it takes facing an even tougher opponent then that small evil parasite from episodes past? Let’s find out shall we, onward with the review!
Photo Source: Funimation/Toei Animation/Cartoon Network
We waste no time with filler as Gohan jumps onto the Expo Stage ready to fight Lavender. Gohan, however, questions if he’s truly ready for fighting after skipping out on his training so many times, but Goku from the stands reassures his son to give it all he has. At first Gohan wants to wait and see how strong Lavender is, but Goku tells him to instead dive in there and fight. Since Goku’s logic is to always face an opponent you don’t know head on and learn on the fly, and it’s a theory Goku has always had for Gohan as well ever since the Cell saga in Dragon Ball Z.
Photo Source: Funimation/Toei Animation/Cartoon Network
For the first few seconds of the fight, it was a typical sparring bout between Gohan and Lavender. That is until the Universe 9 fighter uses his own technique to poison and blind Gohan. The rest of Universe 7 are quick to call Lavender a cheat, but the Zennies and Grand Minister have no issues with it. Supreme Kai on the other is willing to offer Gohan a sensu bean to cure him instantly, but Gohan refuses and wants to fight through the poison. Goku then takes the sense bean bag for safe keeping and states that Gohan seems to fight better when the odds are seriously against him. Like how Gohan as a kid took on the Ginyu Force and also how Gohan managed to defeat Cell in Dragon Ball Z. Somehow Gohan finds a way.
Photo Source: Funimation/Toei Animation/Cartoon Network
Due to Gohan being blind, he can no longer actually see nor sense Lavender — who doesn’t have a power level to sense — and begins to get pummeled around, but that stops the moment Gohan goes Super Saiyan to even odds. It’s a transformations that causes confusion for all the other Universes and even the Zennies watching. With Gohan in Super Saiyan form, Whis deduces that Gohan is able to bounce his own energy around to finally sense Lavenders location however it is a double edge sword in the fact that Gohan is accelerating the spread of the poison in his body even more so.
Photo Source: Funimation/Toei Animation/Cartoon Network
This ultimately turns the favor back to Lavenders side when they have a massive beam battle above the Expo Stage, with Gohan’s body nearly corrupted by the poison. Gohan takes one last gamble though and tricks Lavender into using his poison attack one final time, which causes Gohan to fly right through it and locking his opponent into a full nelson grab. Gohan flies high up with Lavender and then comes crashing down in a kamikaze attack that effectively knocks out both of them.
Photo Source: Funimation/Toei Animation/Cartoon Network
The Grand Minister then declares the second match of the Zeno Expo to be a draw and then drops the bombshell that any universes that are eliminated from the actual Tournament Of Power will be erased by the Zennies! On top of this the Grand Minster states that Universe 7 is actually the second weakest universe out of all, much to the shock of Beerus, Goku, Supreme Kai and the others, while the real weakest universe is Universe 9 and that the Zeno Expo was to see how strong both Universe 7 and 9 truly were. After this, the Grand Minster fixes the Expo Stage and has Goku and the final Universe 9 fighter, Lavenders eldest brother to the floor as the episode ends.
Photo Source: Funimation/Toei Animation/Cartoon Network
I honestly didn’t really have any issues with the episode itself, everything moved along at a brisk pace and the fight between Gohan and Lavender was really well done. It’s nice to know that Gohan is self aware of how weak he’s become and he wants to get stronger. But at the same time, when will he ever get the chance to be stronger if he’s never a central character to a majority of the stories in Super?
Photo Source: Funimation/Toei Animation/Cartoon Network
Animation and voice acting though was all strong as usual, you can really tell the animation department stepped it up after being put on blast for how horrible the Beerus Saga looked at the very beginning of Super’s run. The american voice acting is still a highlight of the show and the reason why I always will prefer the dubbed version over the subtitle version, you can never go wrong with Beerus raspy voice or Supreme Kai’s sincerity. My only minor grip is the scene where Goku is holding Gohan after the fight, giving him a sensu bean. It’s weird, but Gohan looked legit older then his dad in that scene!
