Coming off the heels of an amazing penultimate episode, Dragon Ball Super’s 55 episode long (yes you read that correctly) Tournament of Power arc finally comes to a close, as well as the current incarnation of the series as we know it with episode 131 “A Miraculous Conclusion! Farewell Goku! Until We Meet Again””. Son Goku, Freeza, and No.17 are all the remaining beacon of hope for Universe 7 against Universe 11’s monstrous god-like Jiren. The exciting end game for the Tournament of Power begins!

Dragon Ball Super is a 2015-2018 shounen anime series and sequel to Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. It is produced by Toei Animation and licensed by Funimation. It is currently available on streaming platforms and DVD & Blu-Ray in English and English subs.

Goku & Hit? No, Goku and Freeza are the ultimate tag team.

Having started in July of 2015 the Dragon Ball Super had a rocky beginning with animation problems and retellings of canon films “Battle of Gods” & “Resurrection F” being the first two arcs to cap it off. However around mid-way through the Universe 6 arc, Dragon Ball Super finally began to find its footing throughout it’s run, and since then it’s been mostly up hill with a few downhill tumbles. Great arcs such as the Future Trunks arc and even greater villains such as Goku Black and Zamasu were introduced. We had some fun filler such as the famed Baseball episode and the return of Akira Toriyama’s Arale from Dr. Slump series. Whether you loved or hated Dragon Ball Super there were at least a handful of reasons to smile while watching, and episode 131 definitely provided some of these.

Universe 7’s final gambit.

THE GOOD: Frequent Toei collaborator, Animator Yuya Takahashi who had been doing guest work for the series since the hour special (109-110) onward returned and provided his absolutely gorgeous style for the last handful of episodes. While other episodes showed off his style quite well, 131 gave off a truly superior experience full of far more eye candy than the previous episodes he handled. From the simple backdrops to the more detailed scenery such as the molten lava in between the cracks of the rocky terrain, Takahashi knows how to make a scene come alive, especially battle scenes. I know Takahashi has his hands full with Fairy Tail’s third anime adaptation, but if Toei could somehow get him on board semi-full time for the next series then we’ll be in for a continuously amazing looking series.

Only Freeza would consider Hell better than a happy ending.

The final three of Goku, Freeza, and No. 17 was rather surprising. Going into the mid-way point of the arc most expected Gohan or Vegeta to be in 17’s position, however 17 still being alive was not only a good surprise, but him being the sole survivor of the Tournament of Power was the right move. The Tournament of Power originally felt like a predictable mess with some working parts, but Toei knew how to keep fans guessing and on their toes. For example it was assumed Goku’s Mastered Ultra Instinct would have ended the final battle, but not only did Goku’s time with Ultra Instinct expire, but he ended up sacrificing himself alongside Freeza to eliminate Jiren. Speaking of Jiren, we got a little bit of character development for him thanks to Toppo who was an awesome hype man.

Love it or hate it Dragon Ball Super knew how to bring the nostalgia and it knew how to bring it well.

The ending to the Tournament as far as the wish from the Super Dragon Balls was predictable, but what wasn’t expected was that the Tournament of Power was mean’t to be a test for Mortals and had a selfish wish had been made then the Zenos would have erased all of the Mortal universes. You gotta give Toriyama credit, he really knows how to give an extra little nudge to storylines when it counts. The montage scenes with the aftermath of the Tournament was also classic Dragon Ball; some highlights include the Z-Fighters finally meeting Bulma’s sister Tights, Freeza rebuilding his army, No.17 getting his family vacation, and of course it’s capped off with Goku and Vegeta fighting in the area where they first battled in Super Saiyan Blue form.

Dragon Ball Super’s near three year run ends here.

THE BAD: The episode was a little rushed, but it was to be expected. I’m certain the hold on production was just as much of a surprise to the staff when they heard about it months prior. At the very least Toei was kind enough to bring home the fact that Dragon Ball’s break would be a very short one, and for what it’s worth, Gekko no Kitaro is currently scheduled to run for a little over 50 weeks & that’s right in line with Dragon Ball Z’s own 30th Anniversary, and technically the original Dragon Ball anime if you consider that it ended in 1989.

Until we meet again Dragon Ball.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Though Dragon Ball Super’s current story ends here, Dragon Ball’s anime franchise is far from over. The Dragon Ball Super Movie will hit Japanese theaters on December 14, 2018 and a pseudo-global release across America and other countries. Dragon Ball’s TV anime will be back and whenever that happens, I’ll be watching. Thank you Toei Animation, Funimation, & Akira Toriyama. Otaku Dome gives Dragon Ball Super Episode 131 a 100 out of 100.