There Are Spoilers In Our Dragon Ball Super Episode 129 Review – Episode Discussion
So episode 129 of Dragon Ball Super just aired and in this episode Goku and Jiren continue to fight each other for their right to be the victor in the tournament of power. With only a few remaining episodes left, many questions still remain as to who will win this tournament and be granted their final wish.
I had a lot of anticipation for this episode, having not had one aired last week meant that it had been two whole weeks since I got my Dragon Ball Super fix. Towards the end of episode 128 we saw Goku and Jiren fight each other and just when it looked like Goku was about to lose the fight he managed to unlock Ultra Instinct once again. We were left with that cliffhanger, but now finally we get to see what Goku can do with his new power.
We had in the past seen Goku use his Ultra Instinct form against Jiren in their first fight with one another. But back then it just wasn’t enough. In this episode, I was expecting the form to do a little better but for much of the first half, actually Goku performed about the same.
We had a long drawn out dialogue from Whis and the other characters in the peanut gallery pointing out that Goku with his current Ultra Instinct form is very good at defence, but when it comes to attacking he is putting his thoughts first and isn’t able to utilise the power properly. Belmond and others from Universe 11 have noticed this as well and their confidence increases that Jiren should be able to hold out and win against Goku. Goku even tries the same technique he used against Kefla to defeat Jiren, but Jiren had seen him do this before and was able to block it.
When it looked the most like Jiren had the upper hand against Goku, Vegeta chimed into the conversation Belmond was having about Goku being finished and not being able to attack properly. But Vegeta defended his friend and the Saiyan race by saying that they have surpassed all expectations in the tournament so far. This is in reference to both the Universe 7 and Universe 6 Saiyan fighter performances which have all been exceptional. Vegeta points out that if Belmond and the rest thinks Goku hasn’t mastered the form yet that this means there’s something there, another level for Goku, a Saiyan to reach. Vegeta places his belief in Goku being able to do this and this speech from Vegeta seems to worry Belmond who instructs Jiren to finish things quickly before Goku can do what Vegeta thinks he can.
From my perspective, I don’t think Jiren and Goku can even hear what is being said about their fights except for when they are yelled at, as Belmond does in this episode to Jiren to finish off Goku quickly. But Goku and Jiren are both experienced fighters and Goku himself as we know is very experienced so surely he has noticed in his own use of Ultra Instinct what Vegeta has from watching him fight with it. Either way, as Jiren moves to finish Goku more quickly, we see a change in Goku who powers up slowly throughout the remainder of the episode to eventually unlock what is the true Ultra Instinct.
The episode however does end in the same way the last one did, with Goku looking to have Jiren beat with a new form. Although this time, it’s a form which we haven’t seen Goku use before and since it’s the mastered Ultra Instinct, I think Jiren is in trouble.
The animation in this episode was quite good. There’s a lot of beautifully drawn shots of both Goku and Jiren in this episode. Although much of the episode is action based and there’s little story in this one. The progression of Goku into his new form was very interesting to watch and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it all unfold. I can’t wait to see what happens next week in the show.
