'Dragon Ball Super' Manga Finally Puts Jiren To Work

Although Dragon Ball Super will end by the end of March, and the Tournament of Power is nearing the end of its final battle between Goku and Jiren, the Dragon Ball Super manga has just officially started the Tournament of Power.

One of the major differences in Toyotaro's manga version of the series, however, is how soon Jiren gets involved with the fights. As soon as the Tournament of Power begins, Jiren is seen fighting and eliminating many other competitors.

Throughout the anime run of the series Jiren has been built up as a mysterious, yet strong fighter. He rarely made moves himself unless something interested him (or he absolutely had to), and was barely intrigued enough to fight Goku as much as he had in the early on stages of the Tournament of Power.

Fans have grown to appreciate Toyotaro's work in the manga as Chapter 33 already shows a fierce Jiren fighting others rather than letting the other members of Universe 11's Pride Troopers do the early work for him. A major distinction here is how Goku instantly wants to fight Jiren, but is quickly intercepted by the Pride Troopers and ignored by Jiren. But in the anime series, this was because he just didn't feel Goku was a worthy warrior.

The manga version of Jiren shows him as a character who is at least invested in the events of the tournament. Rather than come off as too cocky to personally defend his universe, Jiren is an active participant and seemingly more fitting of the mantle of someone who defends justice.

Fans are definitely waiting to see what other distinctions the manga version of the Tournament of Power makes from the anime run as notable characters have already been eliminated and someone like Jiren is already making moves. The pace of the events are sure to flow much speedier and easier as well.

Dragon Ball Super's "Universal Survival" arc is part of the recent simulcast agreement that sites like Crunchyroll and Funimation have scored. Dragon Ball 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.

Do you prefer this more active Jiren in the manga? Tell us about it in the comments!