Summary
Eversince the debut of the Super Saiyan formduring the Frieza Saga ofDragon Ball Z, Akira Toriyama has made clever use of transformations in every successive arc within theDragon Ballfranchise. While their narrative significance may not have been on par with Goku’s first transformation on the planet Namek, new Super Saiyan forms played a crucial role in solvingDragon Ball Z’ssubsequent major battles.
Such a trend can also be seen in more recent entries, likeDragon Ball Super, where transformations have served as a method to measure the development of the main cast. AsGoku, Vegeta, Gohan, and Piccolo keep pushingeach other’s limits as well as their own in search of greater power, the battle shonen trope of introducing new forms to embody their growth has now begun to reach a saturation point. In this regard, hasDragon Ballbecome too reliant on transformations to keep its story moving?
The Role Of Transformations In Dragon Ball
InDragon Ball Z, transformations were more than simple power ups or updated character designs. New forms came to embody the culmination of important character arcs, signifying personal growth or coming-of-age moments,and the first two Super Saiyan forms standtestament to this perspective.
For instance,Gohan’s Super Saiyan 2 transformationin the Cell Games Saga is perhaps the best example of how such an approach to anime power ups can bring a character’s journey full circle. Having been slowly built up over several arcs, this transformation also indicated the passing of the torch from father to son, where Gohan was now ready to take on Goku’s responsibility of protecting Earth.
Beyond this, transformations also played a role in the series' gradual power creep, which raised the stakes with each successive story arc. Antagonists that were once insurmountable threats, turned into trifling opponentswhen a new Super Saiyan form was introduced. While this formula held good up until the Cell Saga, Toriyama chose to redefine the role of his transformations in the subsequent Majin Buu Saga, where they were no longer an indication of assured victory and only gave the main cast a fighting chance where there was previously no hope.
How Were Battles Resolved Before Super Saiyan?
Priorto Super Saiyan’s genre-defining introduction, fights inDragon Ball Zwere often decided by a combination of ingenuity, teamwork, and endurance. Battles of attrition were the norm, and it was not uncommon for characters to simply gain power through resolve or heightened emotions, only to falter as their opponent, in turn, attained a boost in strength of their own.
Viewing battles like these always had users on the edges of their seats, since there was no telling who would come out on top when both sides were constantly one-upping each other. Even theKaio-ken, a predecessor to Super Saiyan,held huge dangers if overused, which heightened the tension each time Goku harnessed it to push his body beyond its limits.
Conversely, after transformations became the norm, viewers could clearly see that a battle was approaching its endgame when a new form appeared. Even in tense situations where the Dragon Team were at a disadvantage, there would always be a solutionthat arose as a consequence of a transformation, which forced Toriyama to get even more innovative in writing his fights towards the end ofDragon Ball Z,to prevent the formula from becoming stale.
New Power Systems, Same Old Answers
When the seeds ofDragon Ball Superwere sown inDragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, there was a considerable shift in the series' direction, where conflicts were no longer desperate struggles for survival, and there was greater focus on tournament arcs. This is not to say that all sense of danger in the series completely evaporated, asarcs such as the Golden Frieza Saga, the Future Trunks Saga, and the Universe Survival Saga featuring the Tournament of Power, had massive stakes.
With this, came the introduction of a new power system based on godly ki, through thedebut of the Super Saiyan God form. Although certain aspects of this form are intriguing, the subsequent evolution of this form to Super Saiyan Blue hinted that not a lot had changed in how transformations were portrayed. Quite a few fights at this point consisted of characters upping the ante by switching from one transformation to the next, which was bound to grow tiring after a certain point.
Moreover, one crucial aspect of transformations inDragon Ball Z— their narrative and thematic significance for a character — had all but disappeared, since these two new forms were achieved through training rather than awakenings in the heat of battle. Fortunately, this was soon rectified through character-specific forms, whichbrought this important facet of transformationsback into the fold.
Goku’s awakening of Ultra Instinct standstestament to this, and it is now one of his most iconic forms. Similarly, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, and Frieza all followed suit, with Ultra Ego, Beast, Orange Piccolo, and Black Frieza, which each signified a turning point in their respective character arcs. Simultaneously, in theDragon Ball Supermanga, Goku also displayed variants of Ultra Instinct, which posits an innovative new take on how a transformation can be given a longer shelf life, before a newer, more powerful form takes its place.
What Can Be Done To Rectify This?
It goes without saying that transformations are innately bound to the identity of theDragon Ballfranchise in every respect, and in the past, they were one of its greatest triumphs. Nearly everybattle shonen anime and manga transformationsince owes some debt to Akira Toriyama’s work, and his influence on these mediums cannot be understated by any means.
The franchise’s commercial success also has a lot riding on the unveiling of new transformations, due to the revenue brought in by collectible figurines, action figures, and other merchandise. Hence, it is not likely that the series will abandon this approach anytime soon. Looking at power ups inDragon BallandDragon Ball Zprior to Super Saiyan, it is not toohard to see that they were mainly limited techniques or new fighting styles.
Revisiting this approach to character progression, or introducing new ideas into the prevailing power system, might provide some respite from the endless stream of new forms that has come to define the series. However, whether these strategies will prove to be successful really hinges on the quality of the design and the narrative arc leading into the power up’s reveal. For now, it seems liketransformations are not going anywherefor a while, but there is a clear need for the franchise to explore new territory, before its fan base grows weary of the age-old formula it has been following for decades.
