YMMV / Dragon Ball Z Majin Buu Arc

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Goku's motive for holding back against Majin Buu. Is he true to his word about being capable of doing so, but feeling he has no right to interfere anymore? Or did he figure the boys were simply the safer bet, as going for the kill (burning all his time on Earth in the process) would be an all-or-nothing gambit?
• Catharsis Factor:
  • After his numerous vile deeds done upon his own men, as well as his constant berating of Buu it is quite satisfying seeing Buu outsmart Babidi and punch his annoying little head off.
  • For many, Chi-Chi being turned into an egg and being crushed by Super Buu. Even though the moment is played for horror, fans had grown so annoyed with Chi-Chi's whining and rudeness that they felt her death was karmic.
• Complete Monster:
  • Bibidi—only seen in the anime—is a wizard whose universal hegemonic goals contrast his small stature. Releasing the entity Buu, Bibidi had Buu ravage planets in his quest for universal dominion. To stop any opposition towards him, Bibidi also murdered any of the Supreme Kais that get into his way, almost wiping all of them out. Despite being slain 5 million years ago, Bibidi's evil lives through his clone Babidi, who also attempts to use Buu for his own twisted agenda.
  • Babidi, the doppelgänger clone of Bibidi, uses the evil in a person's heart to make them want to serve him, and orchestrated the revival of Majin Buu, ultimately making him the one responsible for the cataclysmic amounts of death and destruction that occur later. Babidi kills his men when they are no longer useful, including brainwashed minions Spopovich and Yamu, after which he comments how enjoyable their deaths were; and throws Dabura, his loyal right-hand man, under the bus once Buu is revived. Babidi took great delight in having Buu systematically kill the people of Earth so he could lure out Piccolo, Goten, and Trunks all for the purpose of getting his petty revenge against them. When he's asked to stop this by Goku, Babidi then announces that he'll have more people killed just to spite him. Finally, Babidi crushed the head of someone who gave him the names of Piccolo, Goten, and Trunks, just because he found the information to be useless. Babidi also constantly threatens Majin Buu when the latter doesn't obey him.
  • Super Buu has agency over his actions, unlike his previous forms, and simply chooses to be an Omnicidal Maniac. When Piccolo distracts Super Buu to allow Goten and Trunks time to master the fusion technique, Super Buu irritably uses his "Human Extinction Attack" to eradicate the entire population of Earth. Tormenting those not killed by staying in Kami Tower, Super Buu turns Chichi into an egg and smashes it for annoying him, and turns everyone else except Gotenks and Piccolo into candy before eating them alive. Absorbing Gotenks and Piccolo, Super Buu beats Gohan to near-death while repeating a mockery of Piccolo's teachings to mentally torment him. Absorbing Gohan as well, Super Buu declares he will use his newfound, nigh-limitless power to enjoy systematically wiping out all life on every planet in the universe he comes across. Becoming enraged by neither being able to overpower nor outsmart Vegito, Super Buu shrieks in frustration, releasing his power through them and begins warping the space between dimensions, causing them to collapse on each other and threatening the stability of the multiverse. A callous sadist, Super Buu would happily snuff out all sapient life just to spite Vegito for besting him in combat.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • At one point, Trunks, in the English dub tells Goten he and Goku could be the same person from different times, noting their physical resemblance to each other. In Dragon Ball Super, Trunks himself ends up encountering his own future counterpart and freaks out.
  • This arc has Mr. Satan not understanding the concepts of Gods and Kais and being disrespectful towards them, while Goku and the others roll their eyes. In the Universe Survival Arc of Dragon Ball Super, it is Goku's relaxed and friendly interactions with the Gods that makes everyone, including Mr. Satan ask Goku to mind his tongue.
    Mr. Satan: That's a God, buddy! Shouldn't you use some 'thee's or 'thous's or something?
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: This arc successfully turns Mr. Satan from a mildly amusing but mostly just obnoxious comic relief character into one that's genuinely well rounded and lovable.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Dabura. Introduced and hyped by Supreme Kai as the king of the demon realm... yet his role is the enslaved Dragon-in-Chief to a Non-Action Big Bad. His only fight is against a rusty Gohan established to be far weaker than he was against Cell. Following this, he is easily and humiliatingly dispatched by Majin Buu, who becomes the new Dragon-in-Chief and later Dragon Ascendant. Even the "demon realm" he is supposedly the king of isn't elaborated upon despite it clearly not being the regular Hell/HFIL (though later side materials expand on it).
  • Gotenks. Goku hypes up fusion by saying that the fused boys would be able to kill Majin Buu with ease, justifying his desire to leave everything in their hands. When we finally see this amazing warrior manifest? He's an arrogant braggart whose every action either wastes time or outright makes things worse.
    • This even extends into Dragon Ball Super, where his poor performance against Buu leads Goku to pass him over for the Tournament of Power due to his unreliability, essentially giving an In-Universe reason for rarely, if ever, using him again.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The Cell Games ended with Passing the Torch, putting this arc in the perfect position to build on that concept with both Gohan and, at Goku's insistence, Goten and Trunks. The boys are given that chance, and fail. Gohan is given that chance, and fails. Goku and Vegeta also try their hand at fusion, and fail. After all that happens, all the new concepts introduced (Super Saiyan 3, two types of fusion, the potential unlocking ability), what does it all boil down to? Goku being restored to life and ending things with a Spirit Bomb. The entire theme of Passing the Torch is rendered moot, with Goku essentially yanking it back.
  • Android 17 was completely MIA from this Saga (outside of a brief cameo where he assists Goku's Spirit Bomb buildup) after playing a semi-strong role in the Android/Cell Saga. Justified as later on revealed by Daizenshuu 7, he was killed during Super Buu's Human Extinction Attack, implying he was caught completely off guard while working his day job as a ranger (not Kid Buu blowing up the Earth like what was previously lead to believe).

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