Son Goku has grown in more ways than one since his anime decades ago. The hero has become one of the most famous period, giving him the same kind of clout as Iron Man or Batman. Still, there is more room for the Saiyan to grow, and Master Roshi just reminded fans of that fact.
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After all, you never get too old to ignore the wise words of your first sensei.
Recently, the new chapter of Dragon Ball Super went live, and the update went hard on its Roshi focus. The update saw the old man school fighters during the Tournament of Power, a fact that surprise even Goku. So, when the Saiyan finds himself struggling against Jiren, Roshi steps in to teach his former student mid-battle.
“Looks like my old apprentice is still half-baked,” Roshi says before asking Goku what he thinks strength is. Naturally, Goku thinks the answer is raw power, but Roshi says such an answer flies in the face of martial artistry.
“Hmph, power y’say? Plain, old fighting strength? Who the heck taught you that? Vegeta? Freeza? Nah, that’s no way to measure things,” the old man says.
“We don’t master martial arts to win fights. We do it to conquer ourselves. Until you learn not to get all caught up in the enemy’s power, you’ll always be as green as the day we met. Think of all your masters along the way. What’d they teach you?”
The touching moment causes Goku to think back on his days studying under masters like King Kai and Kami. It doesn’t take long for him to remember Whis’ words about master unconscious movements during battle, and Roshi pushes Goku to tap into Ultra Instinct with a final lesson. As the old man says, he’ll teach Goku on how to move well, and Roshi proves he’s still got it as he manages to evade several attacks by Jiren before getting ringed out himself.
So, where do you rank Master Roshi on Goku’s list of teachers? 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.
