Dragon Ball Super's Granolah Arc Just Made Goku Worse
Dragon Ball Super has been diving into an unseen part of Bardock's past, and all the while has been changing the perspective Goku has on himself. At the same time, fans are also starting to see Goku in a much worse light as it seems like the revelations made over the course of the Granolah the Survivor arc thus far have served to undermine everything that fans seemed to love about Goku in the first place. By highlighting more of Bardock, the series has somehow not only made Bardock worse as a character but Goku worse by comparison too.
Dragon Ball fans love Goku for a number of reasons, but one of the core facets of his character from the very beginning was the fact that he was a humble young fighter who eventually worked hard and achieved his greater skills through effort. Despite not being an elite from a species that valued strength over everything Goku was able to rise to his current level of power. But the reveals in the arc teasing that his early life was blessed by a Dragon Ball wish, and the tease that Bardock was more special than first let on, and Goku's not a hard worker but a chosen one.
During the Granolah the Survivor arc it was revealed that Bardock had used his wish on Monaito's Dragon Balls to wish his sons would "thrive." Even when not accounting for the official English translation, fans debating the nature of the wish do agree on the fact that the wish itself only lasted until Goku and Raditz grew into adulthood, and their death during the Saiyan saga was the cut off point for the wish. It's something Vegeta mentions in Chapter 84, and thus implies that all of Goku's early success in his life was because of this wish.
Couple this with the fact that Dragon Ball Super also confirmed that Bardock and Gine were able to save Goku at the last minute by shipping him off of Planet Vegeta before it was destroyed, and now it's suddenly made Goku a chosen one type of character born to fight against the forces of evil. Wish or not, these are still unfair advantages that weren't around the first time. Sure he was blessed with mystical strength early on, but it never seemed like an outright granted edge considering the massive foes he took on.
It's just put an asterisk on Goku's fights so far, and sets him up as someone who didn't entirely work to get to the place he is. It's not going to completely dismiss everything he's done since, but it's certainly an unnecessary change to his origin. An ultimately unwanted change that now makes Goku even worse. But what do you think? How do you feel about these new revelations about Goku's past? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!