Whether Super Saiyan 3 Goku or Ultimate Gohan is stronger at the end of Dragon Ball Z has been a debate within the fandom for years. The anime says one thing, the manga suggests another, but when it comes down to it, only Akira Toriyama's original manga is the true canon. Toei's Dragon Ball Z adaptation is faithful, for the most part, but the anime had its fair share of filler so as not to catch up to the manga.
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Worse, the Dragon Ball Z anime started making strange changes to the story in the Majin Buu Saga. Goku's final fight with Kid Buu in Dragon Ball Z tries to act like SSJ3 Goku is stronger than Ultimate Gohan, but this is very much not the case according to Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball manga.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Toei Wanted Goku to Be the Strongest No Matter What
One of Dragon Ball Z's biggest problems as an adaptation is just how much Toei misunderstands Goku as a character, while also idolizing him to a degree even Akira Toriyama never did. To Toriyama, Goku was a flawed hero – he would never put anyone's life in active danger, but he's selfish and prone to poor decision-making if it'll give him a good fight, as seen when he spares Vegeta in the Saiyan Saga. To Toei, Goku was a tried and true superhero who always did the right thing no matter what. More importantly, Toei saw Goku as the strongest man in the universe, no matter what.
One of the main themes in Dragon Ball is that there will always be someone better, which is an idea Akira Toriyama embodies throughout the entire manga. Aside from the Piccolo Jr. And Frieza Sagas, Goku is never the strongest character in Dragon Ball. There is always somebody stronger than Goku, and that's the point. It's what drives Goku as a character. Toei was not satisfied with this, however, resulting in them making Goku seem stronger than he actually is. This was usually relegated to the non-canon movies, but Toei went out of control in the Majin Buu arc once the Dragon Ball manga made it very clear Goku was being outclassed by the likes of Super Buu and Gohan.
The Dragon Ball Z Anime's Power-Scaling in the Majin Buu Saga Makes Zero Sense
In the Dragon Ball manga, part of the tension in the Majin Buu Saga comes from just how much stronger Buu is than the Z-Fighters. It takes Fusions like Gotenks & Vegito, and Gohan unlocking all of his potential, just for the main cast to level the playing field. In the manga, Goku outright refuses to fight Super Buu – even in his base form – because he knows Buu would kill him fast. The Dragon Ball Z anime changes this completely.
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Not only is Super Saiyan 3 Goku somehow strong enough to take multiple hits from Buutenks while Gohan searches for the Potara earring (despite the fact SSJ3 Goku is equal in power to Fat Buu and has had zero training since that fight), the anime outright says that Goku is the strongest character in the universe during his fight with Kid Buu. Not just that, DBZ tries to imply that Kid Buu is the strongest version of Majin Buu, even though the manga makes it very clear that Kid Buu is actually the weakest. What makes Kid Buu dangerous is not his Power Level, but the fact he has no self-control.
The Dragon Ball Manga Makes It Clear That Gohan is Stronger Than Goku
The Dragon Ball Z anime wants you to believe Super Saiyan 3 Goku and Kid Buu are stronger than Ultimate Gohan, Gotenks, and every form of Super Buu, even though all evidence in the manga indicates otherwise. For one, Goku chooses not to fight Super Buu at all in the manga, since he knows he'll lose. Goku and Vegeta are also confident based on reading Kid Buu's Power Level that they can defeat him without the use of Fusion.
Most importantly, Gohan being stronger than Goku represents two major themes in Dragon Ball: that the next generation will always be stronger than the last, and that there will always be someone stronger. Gohan doesn't need to kill Super Buu himself for these themes to ring true. Not for nothing, Goku also comments on Gohan's contribution to the Spirit Bomb against Kid Buu individually, heavily suggesting Gohan's Ki far surpasses everyone else's.
Goku even believes that Vegeta's plan to defeat Kid Buu is to bring Gohan to the Planet of the Kais to finish the fight for them, before Vegeta suggests that Goku use a Spirit Bomb with all of Earth's energy. Goku wouldn't think this if Gohan's Power Level wasn't higher than his own. Unfortunately, series like Dragon Ball DAIMA and Dragon Ball Super tend to run with the idea that Goku actually is stronger than Gohan after the end of the Majin Buu Saga, but Akira Toriyama's intent with the manga was always to have Gohan surpass his father.
- Release Date
- 1989 - 1996
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Daisuke Nishio, Shigeyasu Yamauchi, Osamu Kasai
- Writers
- Akira Toriyama, Neil Bligh, Hiroshi Toda, Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Aya Matsui, Keiji Terui, Reiko Yoshida, Toshiki Inoue
- Franchise(s)
- Dragon Ball
Cast
-
Masako NozawaSon Goku / Son Gohan / Son Goten (voice) -
Ryo HorikawaVegeta (voice)
- Creator(s)
- Akira Toriyama
