Dragon Ball Super: How Did Buu Get More Powerful in the Manga?

The Dragon Ball Super manga's latest arc has been thrilling fans, as it introduces some potentially pivotal elements to the series, along with what is arguably Dragon Ball's most fearsome villain yet. In the latest chapter of the manga, Goku and Vegeta finally found themselves with an advantage over evil sorcerer Moro, thanks to their secret weapon: Majin Buu!

However, Buu hasn't just shown up on the battlefield to help fight Moro: he's shown up sporting all kinds of new powers and abilities that we've never seen before!

The previous issue briefly demonstrated that Buu is immune to all of Moro's devastating attacks, as well as the energy absorption ability Moro has via his evil magic. In this new issue, however, we learn that defense against Moro isn't the only trick Buu has in his wheelhouse: he's just as effective at taking the villain on, offensively!

Buu's raw power is good start, but things get next level pretty quickly: a surprise throat blast from Moro blows off Buu's head, but Buu just regenerates his head as a fist and beats Moro down. In what is by far the most bizarre technique, Buu generates six arms, which he can also fire as controlled projectiles, which he uses to beat down Moro and then restrain the villain, to seal away his magic (though that doesn't go as planned).

During the fight between Moro and Buu, we get a sideline discussion between Goku, Vegeta, and elite Galactic Patrolman Merus. The trio agree that Buu has evolved significantly as a fighter, with Goku remarking, "Hmmm... I haven't seen Boo fight in a long while. Moro's magic doesn't work on him, but it also seems like he's gotten stronger?"

It's a major understatement on Goku's part. After all, Buu refers to Moro as "a weakling" compared to himself, and Moro was powerful enough to defeat Goku and Vegeta's Super Saiyan God powers with almost frightening ease. That should tell you everything you need to know about where's Buu power currently stands.

The question is: How did Buu become this powerful?

The Dragon Ball Super anime may hold a clue, as the series' Tournament of Power arc began with Goku gathering his team of Universe 7 fighters for the tournament. Buu was one of the first picks for the team, and one episode of the anime clearly demonstrated that Buu has been practicing his battle techniques all along, as he is about to out maneuver and outstrategize Goku in a sparring match, and is able to thrash his Universe 9 opponent Basil effortlessly, in Grand Zeno's expo before the ToP kicks off. Those were hints that Buu was improving, but unfortunately the pink demon fell asleep when it was time for the actual ToP to unfold.

As for what led Buu to major power-up we're seeing in this current "Galactic Patrol Prisoner" arc? Well, that could be a bonus perk of Buu's fused alter-ego Daikaioh, The Grand Supreme Kai. As Merus observes, the fact that Daikaioh and Moro were ancient enemies has brought the Kai king's persona and power to the surface of Buu's consciousness:

"Perhaps unlocking those memories somehow unleashed his latent potential. But to this extent? How unexpected."

By the end of the issue, Daikaioh steps fully into the driver's seat of Buu's mind, unlocking even more latent abilities (like being able to heal Goku and Vegea from near-drained to full power), and amping up his power for the final battle: Moro has restored his magic, and all of planet New Namek now depends on Buu being able to lead Goku and Vegeta to victory in one of their fiercest battles ever.

Are you loving seeing Majin Buu back in the spotlight? Let us know in the comments!

Dragon Ball Super currently airs its English dub on Adult Swim during the Toonami programming block on Saturday evenings. 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 FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll. The manga has chapters that can currently be read for free thanks to Viz Media, and Dragon Ball Super: Broly is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.