Goku vs Saitama Review

So… this is the Halloween episode huh. Not exactly thematic but it is scary in its own way. Alright in seriousness I was interested in this episode more than most in the community were. Yes, it’s another case of a matchup being done for the casual power scaling crowd, but unlike Bakugo vs Reze where I had zero interest due to it existing because of bullshit twitter slander wars, I was looking forward to this because I like these characters and think the matchup had potential.

There’s just one small problem. It is very likely going to be the most toxic episode they will likely ever do. And I’m writing this intro before seeing the episode by the way, because it doesn’t matter who wins in this case. We are dealing with franchises with fanbases so dedicated that if either side loses there will be fallout. The verdict is irrelevant this is going to be a massacre regardless.

Part of that is the very nature of the characters. Saitama is known for being completely overpowered, I mean that’s the whole story of his series and having him lose to Goku doesn’t make sense for his fans based on he’s interpreted. The problem is Goku is just as overpowered, has better feats and scaling based on what his series has shown, and he’s currently staring down the barrel of an 0-4.

Normally I don’t talk about the debate before hand either because it’s too obvious as to be pointless, or it’s too complex that it’s hard to say what will happen. But this is one of those rare instances where there’s basically only two outcomes. Wither Goku wins due to his better feats, or they buy Saitama growing exponentially in power and he eventually overwhelms Goku. There are no other possibilities aside from those.

Not burying the lead on this one, they went with the former. Goku was the winner due to higher base stats and greater techniques, but they do mention that Saitama could eventually match him thanks to having no limit. What’s funny is that their reasoning is very similar to that of Goku vs Superman 2, only explained better and with Goku being the winner.

Now I’m going to spend too much time on the result. Because let’s be honest the result was going to be contentious no matter what. This is an episode you’re mainly going to watch for the animation and character analysis. Both of which it does very well.

Since Goku and Saitama have been on this show before, this episode went in a different direction with their analyses. Focusing more on the concept of growth and breaking limits and how these two represent that. Because that’s the theme of the episode. Which in and of itself is interesting.

See Death Battle don’t really do themes. Yes, every matchup has a central theme, but they don’t really focus on it that much. In fact the last time they did that was, ironically, Goku vs Superman. Although that was more focused on their histories of both the characters and their series, as well as the east vs west dynamic the fight had.

For Goku this episode was mainly focused on his training and how he knows to break all his limits because of the lessons he’s learned. Even when they talked about Ultra Instinct it was focused more on the meaning it had to his character and philosophy. How no matter what he will always get stronger because that is what gives him purpose.

Saitama on the other hand was focused more on how broken and silly his powerset was. Less character focused and more on the absolute insanity of his strength. They did touch on his existential crisis on being so strong, but only for a little bit. Although to be fair they already did that when he fought Popeye, so I guess they didn’t want to repeat themselves too much.

The one part of Saitama’s analysis I find questionable is the use of retcon chapters. I find that a bit weird, but they do address this directly and in that case I’m fine with it. At least they didn’t use a black box for that. Plus, I like that they called out how fucking stupid that these retcons exist in the first place.

I’d say the analysis for both was pretty good. Not fantastic, but it went through both characters pretty well. It didn’t focus much on feats, but that’s because the debate as presented isn’t really about feats and more on their potential and skill. I also like the end of the verdict where they go over Saitama’s status as a gag character. I like they addressed it directly and showed how, no he wasn’t a gag character. Feels like that’s a common misinterpretation of him.

That said it would have been nice if they went into more detail on Goku’s other forms besides Ultra Instinct. I know that is the best one he has, but his Super Saiyan transformations are iconic, and they should have gone into a bit more detail there. Especially Super Saiyan 4; they hardly talked about that.

Then again, they’ve already talked about these forms at length in the past. I guess this is the issue with having multiple episodes with the same transformations. Eventually you run out of things to talk about. Poor Super Sonic is going to get nothing when he comes back. But as far as two analyses on returning combatants I thought they did a good job of keeping things fresh.

Also will give them credit for making me guess who was going to win. I thought Goku was definitely going to win, but when they brought up Saitama’s limiter and how absurd his growth was, I thought for sure they’d have Caped Baldy win. I love it when they keep me on the edge like that.

Which helped going into the animation. I mean let’s be honest, we all came here for the fight. When I heard Moro the fucking GOAT was doing this, I knew it was going to be something special. Now before I start glazing it harder than a donut in a bagel orgy, let me get some minor complaints out of the way first.

There are times when the animation can look a bit off. Some angles can make the characters look a little awkward, and the one long shot of the arena looked weird with how flat the audience was. Speaking of, I like the use of the World Tournament Arena, but it would have been nice to see a location from One Punch Man to help make both series representation.

Actually, I find the use of escalation here to be a little weird. Because it goes from the arena all the way to outer space. I feel like they could have built up to that a bit more. At least have them fight through a city or something, like the one in One Punch Man. That would help that feel more represented. Although I do appreciate the cameos in the crowd. I love Mob and the frigging driving instructors were included. Only real fans would add those two.

Yeah, I’m done with the complaints, let the glazing begin. As is typical for Moro the animation is damned spectacular. It’s incredibly fast paced, maybe too fast given how short it was, has great choreography, and the scale of the fight went way harder than Moro’s other fights. At least in a different way than Bowser vs Eggman.

This one had them destroying planets and breaking through universes. It felt like the end of Hulk vs Broly, only it happens earlier and more frequently. It is insane in the best way possible. I still wish there was more build up to that cosmic stuff, but that stuff is awesome so I can’t complain much.

The fight also has a bunch of callbacks to both series and some of their previous episodes. Goku now actually gets to do the Superman punch, Saitama say’s kamekameha as a reference to Goten, and Goku manages to block being punched in the dick. Which is kind of disappointing since that would have been perfect for Saitama to do, but it does show Goku’s improved skill I suppose. Point is there’s plenty fan service to enjoy.

What’s I really like about the fight though is how it manages to be both a serious badass brawl, and really fucking goofy at the same time. Saitama vs Popeye did that too, but it leaned more into the goofy side of things. This one felt like it struck a better balance to me.

One element that seems to be more controversial is the characterisation. Personally speaking though I thought it was fine. Goku felt the closest to his personality in the source material here than his previous episodes, though I still love how he was characterised in Goku vs Superman, and Saitama was his typical sardonic self. But that’s the problem.

Some people don’t like how Saitama is portrayed here. I think people wanted a continuation of how he was at the end of Saitama vs Popeye. Where he was more serious and happy to get an actual challenge. But then it wouldn’t really feel like Saitama. I think that’s an issue with Death Battle. They try to portray the characters as closely as the can to the source material, which can be at odds with how fans want them to be seen.

Not that Death Battle haven’t fucked up characters before. I still hate how Bardock was portrayed in his episode, and I want Mario vs Sonic 3 simply because of how those two were treated last time. But this is not one of those instances. These two are perfectly in character. Would I like Saitama to be more serious? Yes, but his characterisation isn’t bad because of that. It’s just the direction they opted for.

The voice acting is solid too, with Michael Kovach and Ryan Abedi reprising their roles from past episodes. Both once again do a great job with their roles, with Kovach in particular doing a near perfect imitation of Goku’s official English voice. Though I think Abedi ultimately steals the show. Not only does Saitama have the funniest lines, but Abedi’s casual way of delivering them makes them even funnier.

The fight track is also quite good. A fast-paced hard rock track that adds to the intensity of the fight. While not a major stand out among the fight tracks, even for this season, it is still a very good track that fits the fight just fine. Not much more to add to that.

This was a very entertaining fight. I could nitpick certain aspects, like the final blow being a bit underwhelming despite the spectacle, and the use of the limit graph, while thematically and character appropriate did feel a bit distracting, these don’t ruin the fight in any capacity. It is still highly entertaining and made the episode for me.

The problem is that it is in the shadow of giants. While the fight is very good, it is also nowhere near as good as Goku vs Superman or Saitama vs Popeye. Which is the ultimate problem with this episode. While it is ultimately a good episode it is undercut by the fact that these two have been on the show before with much better episodes and if you compare it to those it doesn’t hold up as well.

However, this feels like a somewhat unfair comparison. Goku vs Superman and Saitama vs Popeye are among the best episodes in the show’s history. The former for its importance and reference shown throughout, and the latter for how fucking bonkers and fun it was. Of course, this episode won’t hold up to those, very few episodes do.

I don’t score episodes anymore, but the past episodes are 10/10 episodes, best in show, while this one is an 8/10. That is not a bad thing to be. I am still very happy with what we got and it is still one of the more enjoyable episodes of the season. Plus, Goku finally got a win so his fans can finally shut the fuck up about Death Battle hating Goku.

Next time is another anime fight, shocker, but a big one. Naruto vs Luffy. It’s about time we saw Luffy on the show, though I do find it weird they’re doing this now when One Piece is nearing its end, but Luffy is long overdue and let’s be honest people have been wanting this for years. Pirates vs ninja’s, let’s go baby.