‘Dragon Ball Super’ Has Goku Battle Majin Buu’s Newest Form

Dragon Ball Super‘s English Dub series continues its buildup to the epic Tournament of Power event, with an episode that saw Goku continue to test weaknesses and plan strategy within the Universe 7 team. Part of that process saw Goku meet up with Mr. Satan and Majin Buu, in order to see what kind of techniques his former nemesis was developing for the tournament.

The reunion between Goku and Buu quickly sparked a sparring session, in which Majin Buu made a major reveal: his new form, which has been affectionately dubbed as “Majin Buff” or “Majin Buu Slim!”

Goku’s sparring session with Slim Buu has a surprising end, as Buu manages to beat Goku in the fight!

Okay, so maybe that’s not 100% fair or accurate: Buu wins the fight, yes, but it’s not a raw contest of power in the usual Dragon Ball tradition. While Goku once again gets sucked into a one-on-one contest, Buu happens to remember that the entire point and format of the Tournament of Power is a battle royal. When Goku attacks head-on, Buu uses a lot of diversionary tactics (like a creative energy blast barrage) to mislead Goku, before locking onto him with a tight grip, and using his taffy-like body to stretch arms out and forcibly remove Goku form the sparring arena.

After the battle, it’s once again clear that Goku has a major weakness that could kill his team’s chances in the Tournament of Power. The Saiyan warrior is so used to being the one to step up and handle the challenge of powerful opponents, that he can’t fathom a scenario where that ambition and drive can actually work against him. Krillin was the first to expose Goku’s vulnerability, and now Buu has hammered the point home. Before the ToP kicks off, the Universe 7 team will need to have all its fighters and strategies in tight synchronization – especially since this same episode demonstrated that the rest of the Universes in the ToP are potentially scheming against Universe 7 for causing this dire threat to their respective existences.

It’s ironic to see Goku getting the chance to learn his own limitations and weakness from those usually considered far beneath his skill level (Krillin), or from former enemies like Android 18 and Majin Buu. MILD SPOILER – The latter example will actually grow into a major theme of the ToP, as Goku eventually recruits Freeza from Hel, as the tenth and final member of Universe 7’s team.

MAJOR SPOILER – indeed, ‘foes turned friend’ is the theme that ends up being Universe 7’s key to victory, as it falls on Vegeta, Freeza and Android 17 to finish the final battles of the ToP, when Goku’s power alone fails to be enough.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly will hit Japanese theaters in December, and is expected to arrive in the U.S. on January 16, 2019. Dragon Ball Super is currently airing its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block Saturday evenings at 9:30 p.m. ET. 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.