Review of Dragon Ball Super Ep. 101: I Miss the Ginyu Force

I expect: classic Toriyama. I get: ...some decent Kale?

Kale is hurting; But Caulifla doesn’t seem to mind her destructive performance and praises her.

Meanwhile Goku challenges Jiren, only to be attacked from behind by Toppo. He’s picked five team members to take Goku while he and Jiren retreat. 

Goku is knocked over to where Kale and Caulifla are resting, and while they talk the pride troopers appear. Kahseral, Tupper, Zoiray, Cocotte and Ketto do their poses. They are initially surprised Goku has company but when they see Kale they decide to take her on too.

Kale doesn’t like Goku but Caulifla urges her on, and they three Saiyan team up against the five pride troopers.

Meanwhile Roshi is taking someone out with his Bankoku Bikkuri Sho, or trying to, he can’t move when he’s doing it. But Tenshinhan is there to finish the foes off for him. Team Seven was apparently split up during Kale’s rampage but they are slowly coming back together. 

Back with Goku, he’s in a hold, as Pride troopers Tupper and Zoiray double-team him. Caulifla and Kale are having their own problems. Each of the pride troopers seems to have a special skill. Kehseral watches on. He is feeling pretty confident in their victory, until Seventeen and eighteen step in.  Kehseral attacks them with an energy sword, and then switches up to energy balls. Seventeen however is not impressed.

Seventeen has taken Tupper's back and blasts him until he lets Goku go. Tupper and Zoiray team up against them but it doesn’t go well. Tupper is taken out by Seventeen while Zoiray retreats. 

The pride troopers regroup with the intention of taking out Kale and Caulifla. Trapped behind a barrier Caulifla is beaten to a pulp as Kale watches. Thankfully her self-loathing activates her Super Saiyan form, albeit now she seems to have better control. Kehseral is not impressed and orders the troopers to press the attack. A beam duel ensues, and the two Saiyan women overwhelm the troopers. Zoiray Kahseral and Kettol are knocked out.  The two emerged from the broken barrier; Kale can now control her powers, though she is somewhat exhausted from the fight. 

Seventeen also throws Cocotte off the stage for good measure. In the end Goku lets Kale and Caulifla go, so they can get stronger… Oh Goku! ‘

I liked this episode. It almost redeemed Kale in my eyes. That said I have some problems. The Pride troopers were not as over the top as I had hoped. The constant references to “justice” in their attack names were nice but they could have gone so much further, kind of like the Ginyu force. 

I can also see Goku letting Kale and Caulifla walk away. That’s Goku: putting everything on the line for the fight. But I don’t see why Eighteen would sit by while this happens. She has a daughter and unlike Goku is a dedicated family woman.  The whole thing feels contrived: The writers want to keep them around so they wrote it in without considering what the characters involved would actually do.

Next episode we get magical girls…. should be interesting.

-Gedaemon