@ Lennik: I hear you, even though I don't completely mind the extra Super Saiyan transformations. At least, up to a point. The whole "mastery" of the base Super Saiyan form before the Cell Games, for example, had at least some degree of sense to it, as does Gohan's anger/hidden potential allowing him to reach Super Saiyan 2 and Future Trunks learning how to pour more energy into his Super Saiyan 2 form to bring it roughly up to par with Super Saiyan 3.
That said, I think One Piece is one of the few Shonen series to handle this problem well. There, it's not so much that characters (read: Devil Fruit users) go through Shonen Upgrades as they come up with new and intuitive ways of using their powers.
Goku, come on. You know Babidi's magic leveled the playing field.
edited 8th Jul '17 9:09:51 PM by X2X
"Just wants a friend but had to give up his ding dong for it, tragic." - AngelLightStarThis all could've been avoided if only Bulma forced him to go get his driver's license.
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Yeah, I know. I'm talking in more of a general sense, especially pre-Time Skip.
edited 8th Jul '17 9:15:12 PM by X2X
"Just wants a friend but had to give up his ding dong for it, tragic." - AngelLightStarThere are so many better ways to have villains challenge the heroes than having to resort to such simplistic methods as giving them higher power levels. Give them new abilities that force the heroes to rely on something more than just raw power. Make the villains smarter. Make the heroes learn new techniques. Anything's better than:
"Ha. I powered up +1."
"Well I powered up +2."
"+3 now. Tremble before me."
edited 8th Jul '17 9:16:29 PM by Lennik
That's right, boys. Mondo cool.The irony of that Transformers commercial is that the whole adventures are pretty forgettable.
As well as the fact the new movie fucking bombed.
Seriously everyone, The Last Knight is doing terrible at the box office, both native & foreign such as in China. It is a grand fuck-up & deserves its failing as a disaster.
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."![]()
I haven't seen it myself but from what I heard & read, no its not an improvement on either front at all.
Its actually worse than the last one if you can believe that. All the hype & marketing was a complete Goddamn fucking lie.
Finally Gohan.
edited 8th Jul '17 9:24:25 PM by slimcoder
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."What about "Gear Second?"
(raises hand)
That would be me.
Personally, while I think it's where OP started to dip into the usual Shonen pratfall of "must gain X points in Str to beat Y character," it's also a clever way of Luffy using his Rubber Man powers. That, and it also falls under Lennik's suggestion of protagonists learning new ways to fight instead of simply getting stronger, facing an even tougher opponent than whoever they just defeated, and doing it all over again.
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My reaction to Majin Buu, or...?
edited 8th Jul '17 9:27:34 PM by X2X
"Just wants a friend but had to give up his ding dong for it, tragic." - AngelLightStarAt least it took hundreds of chapters/episodes till Luffy got a new power-up & their usually all distinct from each other.
Also now we can stop giving Gohan grief for standing there in front of the pod. He tried his best in the end but sadly failed. Still he gave it his all & so he deserves a pat on the back.
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."

I figured it would take a lot of life and struggling to get to that level.
Goku, Vegeta, & Gohan reached those struggles to get where they were. Then they overcamed it.
Then... it looks like it comes as no struggle at all. It looks cheap.
edited 8th Jul '17 9:06:10 PM by asiacatdogblue
Yep, I'm still here.