Krillin and Android 18 Back Out of the Tournament of Power

Dragon Ball Super Episode 84: "Son Goku the Recruiter Invites Krillin and No. 18"

Getting the crew back together.

Warning: The following review contains spoilers for the episode.

Goku's recruitment journey began as he visited Krillin and 18 this week, hoping they would join in the Tournament of Power. A short but enjoyable practice sequence helped show off some of Krillin's growth since the last time we saw him, but couldn't save the episode from feeling like a waste of time since we already knew the outcome of events.

It's nice to see Krillin fighting again, but I find myself more interested in what Android 18 will offer when the Tournament finally begins. In the past, the Androids proved to be quite powerful adversaries due to their unusual robotic abilities, so I hope to see her utilize these skills when the Tournament begins. I also chuckled when she outright refused to join the Tournament until Goku lied to her, insisting that there would be a huge financial reward for her involvement.

The practice battles that followed were both brief, but showed off some interesting new techniques from Krillin. These short fights also gave Super the opportunity to demonstrate how Krillin would even stand a chance in the upcoming fights, which I was glad to see. His power level simply cannot match Goku's, so taking the time to highlight just how experienced and knowledgeable Krillin is was a smart move and allows us to envision how he'll be able to keep up with the stronger, but possibly less experienced fighters in the Tournament of Power.

Aside from these brief fights, the rest of the episode felt rather unnecessary. As I mentioned last week, we've known for months now who will be in the Tournament of Power. This puts Super in a tough spot, as we now have to watch several recruitment episodes while already knowing who will be in them and whether they will say yes or no. Although I appreciate them taking the time to showcase how each fighter will bring something valuable to the fight, it's not enough content to fill an entire episode. Hopefully future recruitment episodes find a better balance, or else it will be a rough few weeks as we wait for the actual Tournament of Power to begin.

Pacing also proved to be an issue this episode as much of it was spent talking or setting up practice fights. Normally this would not be a problem, but given the knowledge we have, it causes these moments to feel slow and uninteresting. This is highlighted best early on when they are all inside Krillin's house talking. That several minute sequence ends up being entirely unnecessary since we already know Krillin and 18 will say yes. Instead of taking up several minutes of our time talking about something we know the outcome of, I would've liked to see them further explain how Krillin and 18 would be useful in the upcoming Tournament.

I did however find myself intrigued by Goku during a couple moments. I've written multiple times about Goku's odd actions and strange, nearly idiotic behavior. However, this week there were a couple moments, particularly when fighting Krillin, where Goku was shown off in such a way that almost made him feel evil. Although it could be nothing, I find myself musing at the possibility there is more going on with Goku than we've been told.

Although there were a couple strong moments during Episode 84, it largely fell flat as much of the episode dealt with things we already knew the outcome of. The heavy handed marketing that has led up to these recruitment episodes has left little room for surprise, making the episodes considerably less interesting as a result. Hopefully future episodes are able to find a better balance, and surprise us with things that we couldn't see coming.

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Episode 84 has some cool moments, but ultimately falls flat as it reiterates information we've known for months.

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Krillin and Android 18 Back Out of the Tournament of Power

Source: https://www.ign.com/articles/2017/04/03/dragon-ball-super-episode-84-son-goku-the-recruiter-invites-krillin-and-no-18

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