'Dragon Ball Super': How Did Vegeta Survive His Suicide Attack?

Vegeta has had his fair share of great moments during Dragon Ball Super's Tournament of Power, but the latest episode of the series proved that he's made great strides in both personal growth and strength from the way he used to be in Dragon Ball Z.

Along with a fantastic flashback to the Majin Buu arc, Vegeta's self-sacrificing attack made a return to the series. But this time, Vegeta managed to defeat his opponent without killing himself in the process. But how is this possible?

After the newly crowned God of Destruction Toppo aimed to destroy the entire tournament arena to eliminate Vegeta, Vegeta had to quickly think of a counterattack. Hearing about how Toppo's new transformation came about when he discarded everything important to him, Vegeta flashes back to everything he loves like Bulma, Trunks, Bulla, and how important Universe 6's Cabba is to him. Hating the idea of casting aside those things angers his pride, he vows to launch an attack Toppo would not be able to destroy.

Vegeta then builds up an attack that Piccolo immediately recognizes. It's the attack Majin Vegeta used to temporarily defeat Majin Buu, but killed himself in the process. After a flashback to this emotional scene (where Vegeta used the attack for the very same reason he does in the Super episode), Vegeta is able to overwhelm Toppo, deflect his godly destruction power, and eliminate him from the Tournament.

But in this case, it's revealed that all Vegeta lost in the attack is his shirt. Even after expelling all of his Super Saiyan Blue (and "beyond that") power, Vegeta's body had become durable enough to survive the attack. Although it's the attack that killed his Majin self in the past, it's an attack that doesn't quite guarantee death. The implication here is that Vegeta is indeed stronger, through his own will, and thus has more control over the kind of power he needs to expel in order to successfully launch the attack.

Because even though his attack was strong enough to break through Toppo's hakai, it still wasn't everything Vegeta had. There's still a sense that Vegeta held back a little since Toppo remained intact and was simply pushed out of the ring. The first time he used the attack, Majin Buu was torn into shreds, but even though his new take on the move is stronger his control over it is stronger as well.

It's a move Vegeta won't use often, but does emphasize how much growth he's undergone as a warrior since back then.

Dragon Ball Super's "Universal Survival" arc is part of the recent simulcast agreement that sites like Crunchyroll and Funimation have scored. DragonBall Super airs on Crunchyroll Saturday evenings at 7:15 p.m. CST. Adult Swim airs the English dub during its Toonami block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m, and is now available to stream on FunimationNOW and Amazon Video.

There is also currently a new Dragon Ball film in the works for 2018. The film will focus on the Saiyans, the "origins of Goku's power," and potentially the story of the very first Super Saiyan God. Not only does it aim to be the best film in the series, original creator Akira Toriyama will be contributing to the film's script and new character designs.