'Dragon Ball Super' Director Breaks Down New Details About Jiren

When it comes to adversaries, Son Goku has his share. The Saiyan has gone up against Demon Kings and space tyrants, but his most fearsome rival debuted rather recently. After all, Jiren made his entry in the Tournament of Power, and fans are getting an inside look at the Pride Trooper now.

Over on Twitter, audiences were given a surprise look into Jiren when one Dragon Ball Super director opened up about the character. Megumi Ishitani was asked about a certain scene in episode 131 he directed with Jiren, and the fan-question opened up a can of worms.

"First, Jiren was influenced by his past to have faith that 'solitude is strength'. His own strength had proved the validity of his faith. However, in episode 130, that validity was shattered," Ishitani wrote as translated by @Herms98.

"Jiren lost to Goku, someone who had grown strong through his numerous allies. This caused Jiren to lose his faith that 'solitude is strength'. Even worse, afterwards Goku lost the fight by self-imploding. So Jiren lost his opportunity to fight Goku and was stuck fighting Freeza and 17 instead while harboring emotional loss."

So, there you have it. If it wasn't made clear before, Jiren had his world turned upside-down during his final battle with Goku. The Pride Trooper spent years believing power came from isolation, but Goku threw that belief right out the window. And, by the end of their fight, Jiren was left on Goku's footing as the pair finally saw eye to eye.

"The scene you mentioned in your tweet where Jiren's barrier and Goku and company's barrier shatter like glass strongly implies that 'there is now nothing separating Jiren from Goku and the others,'" Ishitani explained before adding, "Of course, Jiren's smile also implies that 'Jiren has broken through his emotional shell.'"

Unfortunately, fans haven't been able to see the fallout of Jiren's big revelation. Shortly after the Pride Trooper learned the lesson, he found himself annihilated with the rest of Universe 11. The gang was brought back thanks to Android 17's selfless wish, but Jiren only got a brief close-up once he returned home. So, if fans are lucky, the god-tier fighter will hopefully make a comeback in a Dragon Ball project down the line.

Did you glean all of this information about Jiren during his anime arc? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

If you are interested in the anime series, Dragon Ball Super is currently airing its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block Saturday evenings and Adult Swim on weeknights. It is also available to stream on Funimation and Amazon Video. The Japanese language release of the series is complete, and available to stream on Funimation, VRV, and Crunchyroll.