Yamcha might have played a crucial role in Dragon Ball when it first began, but following the series’ very first arc, series creator Akira Toriyama shuffled him into the back more and more. When he famously died at the hands of a Saibaman, and then died early into the events of the Android arc, a major shift took place that began to treat Yamcha as a joke. Toriyama continued to use the character as a way to show the new villains’ strength, and refused to use him at all as the series’ battles grew to new levels.
But things have changed with the Galactic Patrol Prisoner arc. Now that Planet Eater Moro has set his sights on Earth and his army of escaped prisoners began attacking the Earth, Yamcha is now one of the many Z Fighters who have been pulled into battle. But unlike how he was hilariously ignored for the Tournament of Power, the series is now giving him the praise he’s been sorely after all this time.
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Chapter 56 of the series sees him hilariously fight against the fact that Jaco calls him a “new recruit” since he’s been fighting for the sake of Earth for so long alongside the others, but once the battle begins, a few of the patrollers are in awe as Yamcha manages to fight off some of the most wicked and strong prisoners in the universe.
For once I think this manga chapter proved that you can write Yamcha as more than a gag. He doesn’t need to be relevant or important, just have him there helping out like old times, you have fucking Roshi but not him. Same applies to Chaoz, pretty fun stuff. pic.twitter.com/9u4ISetfq2
โ SKOTโจฮผsicforever (@CusAngelic_Idol) January 20, 2020
Heading off to a remote part of the Earth to fight some members of the army, he’s immediately given respect by the Galactic Patrollers who call him “Agent Yamcha.” He can’t help but smile, and this gives him confidence to go into battle. He gets even happier when he sees how much stronger he is now thanks to Gohan and Piccolo’s training, and when the prisoners said they attacked him because he looked so weak, Yamcha can’t help but quip that he’s actually one of the three strongest Earthlings.
Leaving a pile of defeated prisoners in his wake, Yamcha’s looking better than ever. Perhaps this is the start of a major bounce back for the character along with the rest of Earth’s defenders? But what do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or talk to me directly about all things anime and other cool things @Valdezology on Twitter!
The Japanese-language and English dub releases of Dragon Ball Super are now complete and available to stream with FunimationNOW and Crunchyroll. Viz Media is releasing new chapters of the manga at a monthly rate that can be read entirely for free through the Shonen Jump digital library, and Dragon Ball Super’s big movie, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. Fans in Japan are also able to enjoy fresh non-canon adventures from the franchise with new episodes of Super Dragon Ball Heroes‘ promotional anime series.
