Don't Anger the Destroyer! A Heart-Pounding Birthday Party

On the last episode of Dragon Ball Super, we got to see a throwdown between the deity Beerus and Goku. It was a supercharged episode that l really enjoyed and it left me wanting more. What I got with episode six was a far cry from what I wanted. The episode reeked of filler and tried to win my heart over with a heavy dose of humor that I just couldn't swallow most of the time. The entire episode hinged on the fact that Vegeta was worried about Beerus becoming angered during his time at Bulma's extravagant birthday party and possibly destroying the Earth. Vegeta's nerves weren't the only ones wrecked during the course of this disastrous episode. As a Vegeta fan, I lost my head over what played out on screen for over twenty minutes.

The episode opened with a recovered Goku on King Kai's battered little planet. King Kai had given him a senzu bean off-camera in between episodes. The two of them exchange some nice banter and King Kai even manages to convince Goku to stay away from Bulma's party. This creates the crux of this entire episode. With Beerus and Whis headed to Earth in search of the Super Saiyan God can Vegeta ensure that no one angers the temperamental God? On paper, this premise sounds interesting to me, but the way the creators pulled it off just made me want to pull my hair out. I love knowing that there is a being out there that Vegeta is scared of, but I think that Vegeta is too full of pride to act the way he was in this episode. It just didn't seem like he was the same character to me and it truly had an impact on the way I feel about this episode.

During the first half of the episode we are treated to a short, yet sweet, back flash that gives us a look into the life of Vegeta when he was a young prince. The scene shows the young prince looking on as his supposedly all-powerful father is victimized by none other than Lord Beerus. The scene is pretty powerful until you realize that Beerus is belittling the King over him keeping the most comfortable pillow in the universe to himself instead of turning it over to the belligerent deity. As crazy as that sounds this is a show where someone once used the Dragon Balls to wish for the world's most comfortable pair of underwear, so it didn't exactly shock me.

Where this episode lost me was its depiction of Vegeta. He bent over backward every step of the way to make sure Beerus remained happy. Vegeta isn't normally a character with a ton of comedic value so I do enjoy it when they are able to bring that out of the character. It was done very well in episode two when Vegeta went on an outing with his family to the mall. I think this episode was a bit of overkill in that department. Vegeta was very much a jester in this episode to the point where Beerus himself commented on it. It felt so unnatural and really got under my skin. I couldn't stand seeing Vegeta acting the way he did. Seeing him jump into the ocean, grab an octopus, and then hit the animal in the air with a blast in order to cook it and serve it to the god felt like a slap in the face to fans of the character. It may have been easier to swallow if the plot had somehow managed to move forward this episode, which it sadly does not. We got a ton of groveling Vegeta and a pointless look into Pilaf and his gang being hungry again. I've accepted the fact that Pilaf is here to stay, but I do wish he could actually serve a purpose. We also got a brief glimpse at the Dragon Balls locked away with the rest of the bingo prizes. A glimpse that made me feel like we haven't seen the last of the glowing orange balls.

It's also worth mentioning that this episode had some of the worst art I have ever seen in the entire Dragon Ball saga. It wasn't very often, but there were some places where the art was truly terrible. I will be sure to add a screenshot in to prove my point. It looked very rough and well below what I expect from these artists. Most of the episode looked very much in line with what has come before it, but these rough spots really stood out to my eyes. I understand that sometimes the art in a weekly anime can take a hit, but this was beyond excusable to me.

The episode did give a little bit of a confrontation in the end. There were so many opportunities in this episode for a potential disaster, but Vegeta managed to avoid almost all of them.

It wasn't until Whis and Beerus confronted Majin Buu for some pudding that things finally got out of hand. Majin Buu decided he was going to take all the pudding at the party for himself and it just so happened that Beerus wanted to try the smooth, jiggly, sweet treat himself. Whis tries to calmly ask for some and Mr. Satan tells Buu he shouldn't have kept it all for himself. Buu responds by licking all of the pudding and declaring that he is the strongest and can eat whatever he wants without having to share. You can imagine the response this incited from Lord Beerus. Beerus swats away Mr. Satan, who tries to put himself between Buu and the god, without barely lifting a finger and then is assaulted by Buu himself. He, of course, deals with Buu very easily and the episode ends with Vegeta declaring that it is all over for the Earth and its citizens. The preview for episode seven promises a very ticked off Vegeta and has me very intrigued. Here's to hoping that they can wipe away the very sour taste that episode six left in my mouth.

Final Score - 1/5 Dragon Balls