Summary
Transformations are some of the most recognizable and iconic aspects of theDragon Ball Zfranchise. The very act of characters angrily yelling to unlock a state far stronger than any that came before is something that this series made famous and is now a staple of most Shonen anime series. As such, more and more transformations have made their way into the series, with a few becoming mainstays that are used far more often than others.
ForDragon Ball Super, this form is Super Saiyan Blue. Although the series kicked off with the brand-new Super Saiyan God form in theDragon Ball Z: Battle of Godsmovie, it has since then changed tomake Blue the staple transformation. However, the latter has been met with a fair bit of criticism, stating that it’s a poorly designed form that doesn’t really offer anything new other than a color swap, so let’s see if this is truly the case.
Story Arc
Golden Frieza Arc
Super Saiyan Blue made its debut in theResurrection Fmovie, which was only the second property under the banner of theDragon Ball Superpart of the franchise. This showed the very first problem that fans had with this form, sinceSuper Saiyan God was first shownjust a couple of years before and was thought to be the staple of the series going forward. However, it was quickly replaced and essentially forgotten about when Blue was introduced.
On top of serving as a replacement for a form that fans received quite well, Super Saiyan Blue didn’t offer anything new in terms of functionality either. For all intents and purposes, Blue is nothing more than a recolor of the original Super Saiyan since it acts exactly the same in terms of its powers and abilities. While this can technically be said for all subsequent Super Saiyan forms, Super Saiyan God at least had a unique idea behind it, with the user’s body getting leaner with a change in their entire aura.
Moreover, the whole aspect of God Ki was an incredibly interesting one that was unfortunately only expanded uponfar later with the Divine Techniques. For the most part, God Ki simply acted as a means for Goku and Vegeta to get far stronger than what they could achieve with their Saiyan genetics, which was seen with how Super Saiyan Blue acted. On the other hand, it played a far more interesting role with Ultra Instinct and Ultra Ego, as it gave the Saiyans the power to use the techniques of the Angels and Destroyer Gods respectively.
The concept of the unique gifts of God Ki was amazing but was included a bit too late. For Blue, however, there wasn’t much to differentiate it from the forms before it other than the blue recolor. Moreover, the Blue Kaioken and Blue Evolved forms were nice but didn’t add much to differentiate them other than another color palette change. All things considered, Super Saiyan Blue was justSuper’sversion of a Super Saiyan, which means that it was just a placeholder transformation to gauge the strength of enemies.
Why Super Saiyan Blue Is An Alright Form
Why It Works For What It Is
On the other hand, some fans believe that, while not great, Super Saiyan Blue works for what it is. This is becauseDragon Ball Superhas greatlyincreased the power dynamics of the franchise, so to compensate for this increase, Goku and Vegeta have found God Ki as basically a reset for how their power is measured. With how things are right now, Super Saiyan God is essentially the base power for these characters, with Blue being the ‘new’ Super Saiyan for the series.
Of course, had the form come with a unique design in terms of visuals and functionality, it would have been even better. However, it just serves as a stronger step for the Super Saiyan God form and, for the most part, it serves this role well. Since the base Super Saiyan transformation served as a measure of strength for the opponents the heroes fought inZ, Super Saiyan Blue serves this role forSuper.
This is a power that’s even greater than a Super Saiyan God!
It also makes the Divine Techniques that Goku and Vegeta have achieved even better, since it makes them that much stronger than even their Blue forms. On top of this, they also perfectly realize the true potential of God Ki by finally giving them theforms that are used by Angels and Destroyer Gods.
