‘Dragon Ball Super’ Just Gave A Nod To ‘Dragonball Evolution’

Warning! Spoilers for Dragon Ball Super‘s 105th episode lie below!

The Dragon Ball universe isn’t a stranger to death; In fact, most of the franchise’s leads have died at one point or another. Heroes such as Goku and Vegeta have died several times only to be revived, and Dragon Ball Super just unintentionally nodded to Dragonball Evolution with a recent resurrection.

During the most recent episode of Dragon Ball Super, fans watched in shock as Master Roshi apparently died following a battle with Ganos of Universe 4. Goku rushed over to his fallen mentor and pleaded for the man to wake up. With Krillin on the sidelines in tears, the Saiyan did what he could to make Roshi’s heart beat again, and Goku knew his only hope with his ki.

The emotional episode came to an end as Goku leaned over Roshi’s body and settled his hands over the man’s heart. The Saiyan then used ki bursts on Roshi as makeshift defibrillator. The short blasts did not work, leaving Goku with no choice but to mold the god ki of his Super Saiyan Blue form into a massive shock. The final attempt did restart Roshi’s heart and bring him back to the world of the living, but this isn’t the first time Goku has done such a thing to his mentor.

After all, Dragonball Evolution did the very same thing to Roshi in 2009.

Dragonball Evolution may be one of the most controversial topics within the fandom, but the film was ahead of its time in terms of ki revivals. The film saw Roshi sacrifice his life by attempting to seal away Piccolo with the Mafuba. The mentor failed to trap the Namekian, but he did manage to bring Goku back to his sense after he turned into Oozaru the Destroyer. When Goku realized what happened to his friend, he tried to shock Roshi back to life with a series of short ki bursts, but the attempt all failed.

Dragon Ball Super may have nodded to Dragonball Evolution with its recent revival of Roshi, but fans shouldn’t call it intentional just yet. The franchise has used ki to resurrect others before, so it is not just a one-off. Piccolo used the method on Gohan during the ‘Resurrection of ‘F” arc, and Goku even used it on himself before the Tournament of Power got underway.

So, it seems Dragonball Evolution did hide one good nugget amongst all of its rubbish. Roshi is probably a bit grateful for that right about now.