Super Great Saiyaman to the rescue!
Warning: The following contains spoilers about the episode.
Picking up directly where we left off last week, Episode 74 continues to showcase Gohan as he returns as the Great Saiyaman. As usual our hero ends up fighting a powerful enemy to try and save the day, but seeing Gohan deal with being blackmailed and accused of infidelity is what makes Episode 74 a truly unique and enjoyable entry in the series.
Rather than being an all powerful warrior, Barry represents a new kind of evil we haven’t previously seen in Dragon Ball, as he’s an actor with a controlling and jealous nature. We saw hints of this previously, but it comes to the surface as we see Cocoa get manipulated by Barry due to her underperforming album sales. Time and time again the heroes fight against enemies that require might to stop, but Barry’s jealous manipulation is something the heroes can’t simply solve through punching.
Although a fight with Barry ultimately does happen, it’s the scene just before that sells the story for me.Barry tries to shame Gohan for potential infidelity, but Videl will hear none of it because she trusts Gohan completely. This moment is brief, but is again something new to the series. Chi-Chi and Bulma have never been presented with such a problem, so seeing events culminate like this, just to have Videl shut Barry down felt satisfying and true to her character. Unlike the other two female leads, Videl was once a warrior who fought crime with Gohan, so it’s good to see that after all this time she retains that stoic but powerful persona.
The alien subplot finally works into the show at the end as Barry, enraged with Gohan kicking him out of his house, gets possessed by the alien. I didn’t find the fight terribly interesting as it was nothing more than a few powerful Ki blasts and was instead drawn in by the events surrounding it. In typical Gohan fashion, he holds back during the battle initially, which lands him in a near-death situation. This is bad for him, but gives Videl another chance to shine as she explains to Cocoa about how much she trusts Gohan to win the fight, not for her or humanity, but because Gohan wouldn’t dare lose a fight in front of his daughter Pan. This is a stark contrast to how Gohan, Goten and Trunks were raised, and really helps show off how mature and different Gohan is, particularly when compared to Goku and Vegeta.
The Verdict
Episode 74 is at its best when it deals with issues rarely seen in the Dragon Ball series. Having a villain that attacks on a personal level brought unique storytelling to a series that solves almost all it’s issues with violence. Unfortunately a fight ultimately does occur, but the characters surrounding it continue to reinforce the more personal aspect of the show and help make it one of the best so far in Dragon Ball Super.
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