Dragon Ball Super Episode 12 Review

*Warning - This review contains spoilers*

Things heat up to unbelievable levels in this episode of Dragon Ball Super as the divine battle between Gods continues. Goku has finally grasped how to use the powers of a Super Saiyan God and the entire universe could pay the price. Last time on Super, Lord Beerus pretty much toyed with Goku the entire episode in order to help train him in the use of his newfound strength. Goku pretty much got his ass handed to him, but in episode 12 Goku is finally matching the God of Destruction blow for blow and even manages to land a few hits on Beerus that surprise the deity.

Three Strikes and We're OUT

The problem and main focus of this episode is the fact that Beerus and Goku stand to rip the entire universe apart if they don't stop trading blows with one another. We are given this insight by the Supreme Kais who have actually been able to pinpoint exactly how many punches the universe can take. Three strikes and everyone is out! Each time Beerus and Goku exchange punches it sends ripples out across all of the universe that get stronger and stronger the further they go. We see planets literally get vaporized due to the action taking place on screen. The writers don't tell us outright if any of these planets or star systems are home to intelligent life, but I can't help but feel that this fight has caused many extinction level events across the Dragon Ball universe. Not only that, but you get a real sense that Beerus doesn't really care at all what gets destroyed as long as he comes out on top. This fits his character perfectly as the God of Destruction and it gave the episode a very real sense of urgency throughout its runtime.

Of course, I never truly believed that the universe would end so early in the life of this anime and Goku manages to save the day in the end. Ever the strategist, Goku experiments during his battle with Beerus and finds a way to cancel out the God's blows as well as stop his own body from feeling the strain of each hit. We all know that Goku is stronger than he is smart, but he never fails to prove just how good his brain can work in a fight. He may not be Einstein but the guy knows how to devise good fighting techniques on the fly. Lord Beerus was genuinely shocked at this revelation and finally admitted that Goku was a worthy opponent. That HAD to be a bitter pill for him to swallow.

A Little Misplaced Humor

With all this action going on the writers did make a few attempts at slowing things down and tried to inject a little humor into some spots. The funny moments fell pretty flat for me and seemed to undermine the serious nature of what was transpiring. A nice little bit of Dragon Ball lore is dropped during one of these moments as we find out it was the Elder Kai who placed the Dragon Balls on Earth. I love these extra little bits of information that have been delved out over the course of Super thus far. We also see Vegeta trying his best to induce a case of scoliosis as he directs his gaze to the stars to continue watching the battle of the Gods.

Dragons of Power

Just like the last episode of Super, episode 12 has some of the best-looking animations of the series so far and it is a true treat for the eyes. We get to see plenty of screaming as Goku and Beerus power up higher and higher over the course of the episode. This culminates in what may be the best looking scene of Dragon Ball to date. Beerus' and Goku's auras take on the forms of dragons that look very much like Shenron as they charge back into their master's bodies and power the two Gods up to levels beyond belief. You can tell that Beerus just wants to destroy this planet and be done with this, but Goku just isn't allowing it. My only complaint with this leg of the battle is that we basically see the same move that we saw at the end of episode 11. Goku charging up a super-powered Kamehameha wave to put a stop to Beerus' surge of energy. Now I love seeing Goku power up the Kamehameha just like any other Dragon Ball fan, but I do feel that the writers could have been a bit more creative here. We've seen the Kamehameha a million times at this point. With Goku's new godlike powers shouldn't he be able to come up with something new?

Minor complaints aside, this is now my favorite episode of Dragon Ball Super. Yes, I did say that about the last episode, but this one got me pumped up even more than the last. I was very close to giving this episode a perfect score, but I feel that the misplaced attempts at humor knocked it just short of perfection. The end of episode teaser for episode 13 hints that Goku is about to surpass the powers of a Super Saiyan God. Sounds like our Goku, though I wonder just how much stronger can this guy get? I look forward to finding out.

The Final Verdict - 4.5 out of 5 Dragon Balls