Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 25: Last Hero Standing!

Dragon Ball [ドラゴンボール] #41

by Akira Toriyama

Shorn of his last vestiges of goodness, the djinn Boo is now pure, undiluted evil! With a single wave of his hand he kills six billion people, leaving only the heroes in Kami-sama's sky palace alive...but for how long? Inside the palace, Goten and Trunks merge into Gotenks, the only being in the world who might match Boo in raw power. But luckily there's more than one world. On a faraway planet, Gohan and Goku are preparing for their turn to fight...to save the devastated earth before the planet itself is blown away!

Genres: Manga, Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Shonen, Science Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 2, 1995

About the author

Akira Toriyama (鳥山明) was a Japanese manga artist and character designer. He first achieved mainstream recognition for creating the popular manga series Dr. Slump, before going on to create Dragon Ball (his most famous work) and acting as a character designer for several popular video games such as the Dragon Quest series, Chrono Trigger, and Blue Dragon. Toriyama came to be regarded as one of the most important authors in the history of manga with his works highly influential and popular, particularly Dragon Ball, which many manga artists cite as a source of inspiration.
He earned the 1981 Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen/shōjo manga with Dr. Slump, and it went on to sell over 35 million copies in Japan. It was adapted into a successful anime series, with a second anime created in 1997, 13 years after the manga ended.
His next series, Dragon Ball, would become one of the most popular and successful manga in the world. Having sold 260 million copies worldwide, it is one of the best-selling manga series of all time and is considered a key work in increasing manga circulation to its peak in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. Overseas, Dragon Ball's anime adaptations have been more successful than the manga and are credited with boosting anime's popularity in the Western world. In 2019, Toriyama was decorated a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contributions to the arts.
In October 2024, Toriyama was inducted into the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame.

Reviews

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

EN We’re approaching the grand finale of this fantastic series. Our heroes are facing their ultimate enemy: Boo.

Son Goten and Trunks are training relentlessly to master the fusion technique and gain the strength needed to challenge him. But will it be enough? This is where the answer unfolds.

This volume is packed with thrilling surprises and entertaining moments.

Akira Toriyama truly is a legend.

--

PT Estamos a aproximar-nos do grande final desta fantástica série. Os nossos heróis enfrentam o seu inimigo derradeiro: Boo.

Son Goten e Trunks treinam incansavelmente para dominar a técnica da fusão e alcançar a força necessária para o desafiar. Mas será isso suficiente? É aqui que encontramos a resposta.

Este volume está repleto de surpresas emocionantes e momentos divertidos.

Akira Toriyama é, de facto, uma lenda.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes yes YES to all of this!

In the penultimate Dragon Ball Z book, Akira Toriyama decides, “Hey, I’m not coming back after this series is done so let’s just go CRAZY!” - and he does! Everyone except maybe 10 people on the entire planet are killed by Boo, including almost everyone in the DBZ cast - I mean, why not, right? Then heaven starts getting irreparably smashed up!

Boo is the most awesome bad guy. He’s transformed from the cute pudgy weirdo into this lean, mean psychotic machine. He’s so freakin’ evil he not only killed his master but he killed himself - and came back even more evil! I love how menacing and powerful he is.

He goes up against the Son family in this book. Goten and Trunks have been training for the fusion dance to become super-charged Gotenks, and they’ve got some terrific tricks to play on Boo. The power bands were cool and they achieved Super Saiyan Level 3 (aka giant porcupine hair) but the best was the kamikaze ghosts that look like Gotenks who had some super funny and silly comedic bits!

Toriyama does fights like no-one else but he outdoes himself in this book. They’re intense, they’re clever, imaginative and funny - it’s just fantastic to read.

Then the newly supercharged Gohan is up to fight Boo and… well, Boo reveals a new power at his disposal which pretty much neutralises both Gohan and Gotenks in the space of a few pages.

And here’s where the book goes through the roof for me:Goku AND Vegeta are brought back to life, which means the final book is going to be Son Goku and Vegeta teaming up to fight Boo. How perfect is that? Dragon Ball has been Goku’s story from the start and the fact that it’s going to end with Goku is how it should be. I don’t mind Gohan but Goku is the best character. And when Vegeta showed up? I couldn’t believe it. Even Tenshinhan gets a cameo!

I always think the penultimate book to a series needs to really set the stage for the final chapter and gee the readers up - not every series does this, but the great ones do. And Dragon Ball is definitely one of the greats. I really hoped I would be excited for the last books and I’m so glad that I am pumped beyond belief to read the next book thanks to Toriyama’s expert storytelling.

Alright, let’s do this sucker - onto the FINAL Dragon Ball volume! If this book is any indication, it’s going to be quite something.

[Artemy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gotenks is probably the worst character in the entire series — an annoying idiot who is more fit for the Strongest Under The Heavens championship, and even there he would be the nobody guy who gets beaten by Goku in the very first round. And yet we spend the majority of the penultimate volume on him, knowing full well that he has no chance against Boo. I'm not gonna lie, I'm feeling burned out on DBZ, and I'm really not liking this final arc. Boo is just too much and over the top, and the new convenient solutions that Toriyama comes up with are ridiculous. Magic earrings to fuse two characters? Trading lives with someone to bring them from the dead? Hercule still being alive? This series always required a certain level of suspension of disbelief, but now it's more obvious than ever that Toriyama comes up with this stuff on the fly, and after a decade of working on Dragon Ball, he's all out of the good stuff. I'm only still persisting because the end is so close... only one more volume to go.

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The penultimate volume. Boo has transformed into a being of pure evil - gone are the good feels Hercule gave him. He goes on to destroy almost everyone on the planet - I think Hercule is the only normal human left. Goten and Trunks fuse into Gotenks. Gohan and Goku are in the Lord of the Lords's realm preparing.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now, this is one of the most entertaining and action-packed manga volumes of all time! And Gotenks gets a lot of credit for it too! What's more, you get to see two surviving heroes push their SSJ forms to a new and unforgettable height. What's even more exciting is what the final chapters tease as Goku faces Boo who has taken new forms as well.

[Ola G · Rating 5 out of 5]

All stars!

This was freaking fantastic! I had so much fun with this volume, with its joyful craziness, imaginative abandon, and unending, uplifting optimism.

Boo is just such a wonderful villain, with split personality(ies), and bottomless evil lurking beneath the fluffy cat-like outer layer. Boo basically kills himself because the dominant personality wasn't evil enough, and what emerges is just villainy personified: a lean, mean killing machine.

Gotenks here is just hilarious, and I laughed out loud at so many of the silly gags! His kamikaze ghosts are the best, and they clearly prove that the aggregated intelligence of a crowd equals the IQ of the stupidest member ;). Loved it!

Supercharged Gohan seems to have a chance against Boo - and he deserves it, after what he had to go through with the weird elder Lord of Lords; but Boo has some unheard-of superpowers at his disposal... I loved Tenshinhan cameo here, he always appears when he's most needed. But at the end, once again it's up to the main hero of DB to save the day (with some help, but the identity of that help would constitute a spoiler ;)). Go, Goku!

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

To find all my reviews: http://dancinginth3dark.blogspot.com

Previously on Dragon Ball Z

(I) A new evil has arrived in the Dragon Ball Z Universe and its name is Boo.

(II) Goten and Trunks have been training nonstop in order to perform a fusion and become Gotenks. If they are successful they will have the ability to become a powerful fighter.

(III) Boo for a period now was a thoughtless blob when a desire to kill everyone until he became friends with Hercules. But unfortunately his anger brought out a new evil Boo who is stronger and powerful and devours the original Boo. It looks like the Earth is doomed without Goku.

That is what you missed on Dragon Ball Z!

This whole storyline with Boo is interesting and whimsical at the same given moment. It is crazy that we have discover a villain who essentially 100x stronger compare to Freeza, Cell and the countless villains we have encountered and yet Boo is simply a blob monster with no conscience. I understand Boo is evil and whatnot but I absolutely love the big blob and his jolly fatness until this new evil Boo devours him.

This volume is one of the longest mangas of the series and it is worth it because the last volume is going to be short sweet and simple. Having the 25th volume as the second to last book to conclude this series I wouldn't want it any other way and hopefully enjoy this journey as it finally concludes itself. This new Boo has awaken and immediately was going to kill Hercules but because a part of the original Boo lives within him, this new Boo has the memories and feelings and runs away without hurting Hercules (For now on I am going to name the new Boo as Super Boo).

Super Boo is able to detect Chi to a whole other level and finds everyone in Kami-Sama chambers ready to begin a fight. Piccolo tells him that they will only fight if he destroys every living creature on Earth. It is a horrible task but enough to give Gotenks enough training and they can resurrect everyone with the Dragon Balls later on. Yet in 1 minute, Super Boo kills everyone except Hercules in 3.2 second with a wave of his arm. He shoots out this chi balls that look like a million bullets are targeting the Earth and at that point you know he is force that the gang has never witness in their lifetime.

Piccolo tells Super Boo that he will go wake up the kids and that will take an hour and displays an hourglass to showcase that he means it. Immediately Goten and Trunks are shoved into the time chamber to train because within an hour of waiting, it will have been a few weeks for the boys to train and enough time to kick butt.

Super Boo grows impatient and heads to the chamber to fight and it becomes a total warfare between these two fighters and it makes you wonder if Gotenks can defeat Super Boo. It is fascinating how they fight because since Gotenks is a child, their moves are quite inventive and not your typical Saiyan martial arts. There is a possibility that it is possible for them to defeat Super Boo but in the end I believe it feels right that someone else show be the one to defeat Super Boo and Akira Toriyama is brilliant at displaying that with having the children behave like a bunch of toddlers and ruin the opportunity to strike.

As this is happening, Goku and Gohan make the connection that everyone on Earth is dead and that enrages Gohan and notices that the Lord of Lords ritual actually works and heads off to Earth to battle Super Boo. Everyone at the moment discovers that Gohan is still alive and is a battle to watch and immediately ended since Super Boo is kicking the daylights out of Gotenks and Gohan. Gotenks in the middle of an ultimate fighting move, they run out of time and revert back to their original selves and Super Boo makes the connection and manipulates them.

He waits until they are able to recharge and fuse back together and creates this blob that absorbs Gotenks and he devours them making him able to have their abilities, their strength, and their ridiculous outfit. Goku cannot handle what is happening on Earth and for a while feels useless because he cannot fight since he is still dead so the original Lord of Lords sacrifice his remaining time alive which apparently is 1,000 years left and Goku is alive.

Goku heads to Earth and teams up with Gohan. Since Goku was able to witness Gotenks transformation, he is wondering if he can do the same now that the Lord of Lords provided these earrings that perform Fusion without the ridiculous dance and it last for a longer period of time. Goku was apprehensive about fusion with Gohan and as usual, Super Boo devours Gohan and at the moment Hercules was the only fighter in the area. I knew already who Goku is going to fuse with but for a split second I was going to get outraged if Goku fused with Hercules.

This manga has major fighting sequences that felt like I was watching the anime instead of reading it and I couldn't believe the craziness of this manga. At the time when I was reading this I didn't know if I was able to finish this series because I love Goku and the gang and I am not ready to say goodbye yet. I never saw the ending of the anime, I played all the video games when I was younger, and still I get emotional when I am saying Goodbye to the Characters that I discover and cherish regardless if it is book, television, or movie and now we reached the final chapter. Stay tuned for the Final Dragon Ball Z!...

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

See, I knew Gotenks would be an overconfident idiot. It’s in his genes.
Boo has now absorbed Gohan and everything is fucked. Goku can’t seriously be considering a fusion with Hercule? Hercule? He’s useless!

[Blake the Book Eater · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything leading up to the final battle!!

[Nikhil Math]

I cried reading this. This has my favorite scene. I have seen it so many times.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gohan is my hero, even if he’s a butterfinger boy.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are down to the wire. There is only one more volume left in the Majin Buu arc.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very surprised at this somewhat weak volume. Not only because I don't really remember this part of the anime, but because I enjoyed the previous volume so much. Not long ago it felt like Toriyama could have kept Dragon Ball going indefinitely, but the over the top goofiness of this volume (I'm looking at you Gotenks v. Boo) and the stale fights seemed to indicate that he was ready to be done with the series. We will see how he finishes it off.

[Logan Payne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gotenks fight used to be my favorite of the franchise, and it’s still pretty fantastic in my eyes. It’s really drawn out to create the most anticipation possible, but it’s always funny at the same time. The idea to fight in the room of spirit and time is so cool, it lets the character illustrates themselves really pop, and Toriyama can get really creative with the visual highlights.

Gotenks and Super Boo bounce so well off of each other. They are equally immature and equally nonsensical. The fact that Boo can regenerate through his smoke is as ridiculous as Gotenks making self-destructive clones of himself. It’s just creative and fun. Piccolo is the perfect straight man for all this nonsense, although I do wish he played more of a role.

Even though screaming a hole through dimensions doesn’t really make sense, it lets the fight rampage through Earth in a surreal and satisfying way. You wouldn’t think it’s cool for Kami’s palace to get ruined, but it’s pretty awesome. Seeing the two fly through buildings and incinerate cities is a whole new level of batshit crazy. But it all gets cut short once Gotenks powers down. And with his power decline comes the decline in quality for the rest of the volume.

The next hope lies in Gohan, who’s been building energy for over a volume now. His introduction into the battlefield is incredibly satisfying, he pummels Boo and the end is in sight. It’s not even a fight. And that’s kind of why it’s not as good. I counted, Gohan is given 6 pages of dominance over Boo. That prolonged and forced training arc results in 6 pages. After that, he becomes the punching bag.

Remember when Dragon Ball fights were intense? When there wasn’t a dominant power destined to win? Yes, Goku was that dominant power in the early early days, but the Saiyan arc is so special because it’s a struggle on both ends of the battle. When there is a clear winner or loser, you already know that some outside force is gonna turn the tables.

Toriyama couldn’t truly commit to the “New Generation of Heroes” concept, and it’s really disappointing to me. I really don’t understand why he had to force Goku back to life for a third time, in the most ridiculous way possible. The older Lord of Lords is a character we were just introduced to, and he gives his life to Goku so he can save the day once again. But like every other sacrifice in Dragon Ball, it doesn’t mean much, as he is still in the picture complete with a halo.

I haven’t even mentioned the potara yet. What makes the fusion dance so cool is its specificity. Yes, it’s an insane power boost, but it takes a long time to get right. And it only lasts for 30 minutes. This trade-off leads to some real tension. But the potara earrings bypass all of that tension. It’s just another example of a superficial and boring power boost. The third one in two volumes, after Super Saiyan 3 and Gohan’s “potential.”

But at the end of the day, despite this volumes narrative pitfalls, I still think it’s pretty damn cool. Boo has become one of my favorite villains despite his inconsistencies, and there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you engaged.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

And here it is! Season 9 of the anime covers the final two volumes of the series. Good Buu and Pure Evil Buu have split and then reformed to make an even stronger more diabolic being. He finds the lookout and destroys every human being on Earth, sparing only Hercule because of the small bit of humanity still within him for his former friend. Goten and Trunks hide in the Room of spirit and Time to get a few "months" of training in before the show down with Buu. Piccolo takes the long way to try and give the boys more time to power-up their Gotenks fusion. However, they're children and aren't taking this seriously so when Buu does show up they have some goofy moves that merely slow him down. He can however turn into SSJ3 and Buu is actually afraid. Ripping a hole in dimensions with a scream, he returns to the lookout and kills everyone there by turning them into candy. When the fusion wears off however, the gang realizes they're in trouble. However, Old Kai has finished his ridiculous ritual and Gohan is stronger than ever. He really proves the process was worth it when he puts a hurting on Buu. However, Buu has another trick up his sleeve and absorbs Gotenks and Piccolo to power up again. Old Kai literally give his life for Goku to live again and well as his earrings which, when split between two people will permanently fuse them into a super being. Goku goes to Earth to fuse with Gohan, but Buu absorbs him for yet another power-up...leaving only Hercule for Goku to fuse with. Yikes.

It was another action filled volume. Gotenks was cool to get to know, and if he wasn't, you know a child, he could have been a great warrior in the Buu fight. Goku getting his life back again was a stupid cop-out and my least favorite thing to ever happen in the series because it ruins all this ground work Toriyama has set for "the next generation", etc. One more volume to go and so much still to happen!

[Agung Wicaksono · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume yang bikin naik-turun emosi pembacanya. Dimulai dari Goten dan Trunks yang berhasil menaikkan kemampuannya dalam fusion. Kemudian, Boo yang sudah tidak sabar untuk melawan mereka berdua, diantar Piccolo menuju ke dalam ruangan di mana mereka berlatih. Goten dan Trunks pun bergabung menjadi Gotenks. Saya jadi cukup gregetan akibat aksi Gotenks yang konyol dalam menyikapi kekuatan Boo. Tapi namanya juga masih bocil, mereka ingin memamerkan jurus yang susah payah mereka latih. Jurus mereka sebenarnya cukup ampuh dan membuat tubuh Boo berantakan; tapi karena Boo yang bisa meregenerasi tubuhnya dengan cepat, maka ia pun bisa kembali normal dan kabur dari ruangan mereka bertarung. Ia kabur dan berhasil mengubah orang-orang yang ada di istana dewa menjadi makanan. Piccolo dan Gotenks yang terjebak di dalam ruangan susah payah keluar dari sana.

Ketika Piccolo dan Gotenks berhasil keluar dan melihat keadaan sekitar, mereka sedih karena orang-orang yang dikenal sudah tidak ada. Lantas, Gotenks dengan kemarahan yang memuncak, mulai menyerang Boo. Boo yang sudah cukup mempelajari jurus mereka, bisa menepis pergerakan Gotenks.

Kemudian, kita akan melihat aksi Gohan yang sudah selesai mendapat kekuatan tambahan dari the Lord of Lords dan mulai membantu Gotenks. Selain itu, ketika keadaan semakin kritis karena Boo mengeluarkan taktik baru, Goku pun kembali muncul karena ia mendapatkan nyawa baru supaya ia bisa membantu untuk mengalahkan Boo.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think a big problem of Dragon Ball since... hell, since Red Ribbon arc... is that there are simply not enough bad guys to go around. Back then you had Goku plowing his way through a bunch of mooks, getting into slightly bigger and more tense fights, always prevailing. And then the situation got reversed: you had basically one super-strong bad guy, and all of the good guys, former villains that Goku had since befriended, either get their asses kicked in turn or simply sit on the sidelines and never even bother. When the hero is outnumbered and the bad guys come up with new ideas and terrible plans and power-ups to try and bring him down, and he beats them anyway, it creates catharsis; when it's the opposite, it's just frustrating.

Both Gotenks and Gohan have all this build-up and awesome power and supposed life lessons that are meant to give them a shot in the limelight, and in the end, they do nothing of substance whatsoever. They even end up making things worse. And in the end, despite all the things we've been going on about generational shifts, all the things about how the world shouldn't rely on Goku all the time, everything said just the last volume... Goku still has to come back and clean up the mess.

But hey, Tien manages to do something, so that's... a thing? But where is Yamcha? Where is his big moment?

[Natalie]

Despite myself not interested in Dragon Ball Z I do have a large amount of respect for the franchise.

As I said before in my review of Dragon Ball, this kickstarted the trends for later Shonen manga and that's something to admire about the entire Dragon Ball series. Shonen manga series have taken elements from the Dragon Ball series and use it for inspiration for their own work like battles, art, character design, and plot. I feel like I was a bit too old when I was first introduced to the starters of Shounen and Shojo. Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon were introduced to me a bit too late after I had started reading & watching series like InuYasha, Ouran High School Host Club, Death Note, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Code Geass.

Again, I still think it's an admirable franchise despite my personal feelings towards it. (I don't hate it but I didn't love it either) It's extremely popular worldwide and for the anime to still be watched and loved to this very day I think that says a lot about it. There are many things to like and admire about it because of the legacy that it brought with its creation.

While I don't love Dragon Ball Z, it has done a lot for a very popular art form and will continue to be great and loved for years to come.

[Hafeez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 41: Chapter 486-502
Arc 25: Fusion Saga

Buu went to Kami's sanctuary. He wants to fight Goten and Trunks. Buu instantly kill all people on Earth except Mr. Satan, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu. Piccolo hold him for 1 hour to let Goten and Trunks train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. After the time passed, Piccolo bring Buu into the chmaber to fight with Goten and Trunks. The battle starts. Piccolo destroyed the entrance to the chamber but Buu still can escape by ripping the time barrier. He them eats Krillin and others. Gotenks turned into Super Saiyan 3 and managed to get out from the chamber. The second round battle starts. Gotenks got the upperhand but suddenly, their Super Saiyan 3 wore off along with the fusion.

Gohan arrived and fights Buu. He managed to corner Buu until Buu explode himself. But he is still not dead. Gohan, Piccolo, Goten and Trunks went to save Mr. Satan and Dende. After an hour, Buu come again. He absorbed Piccolo and Gotenks and become stronger. Gohan was beaten by Buu. Tien Shinhan appears to give a hand to Gohan. The old Lord of Lords give his life to Goku. He proposed to Goku to use the Potara earring with Gohan to fuse. Goku come to Earth to fuse with Gohan and fight Buu. But, Gohan was absorbed by Buu.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great volume as we have Trunks and Goten merging into Goten and fighting Boo and wow they even go SSJ3 and there is the whole battle in the chamber of time until Boo rips through the dimension and then back in real world absorbs them and Piccolo until Gohan comes in and fights him and its one of the best fights in the series ever and somewhere else we have Goku come back to life because lord of lords and something going on with Vegeta and then the defeat of Gohan after he is absorbed by Boo and now its upto Goku to defeat him and save the world literally! Its gonna be banger what comes next but this volume was a perfect interlude to whats gonna happen next and just shows the danger that is Boo and the epicness of his threat but as a Gohan fan this volume was so good and Toriyama's art is so good in this volume!!

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotenks vs. Boo....with the fate of the world at stake. Akira Toriyama is masterful in his approach of building hype and expectations...as we see Gohan working to improve enough to defeat Boo while the next generation catches up and in some regards surpasses their predecessors. The action takes it up a notch, but also the pages flow so quickly as you almost want to sprint ahead to what happens next!

The second half of this volume features Gohan vs. Boo! It would be a spoiler to say how we got to this matchup but know Mr. Toriyama continues to throw some sudden change up moments to keep your mouth open and the shock value high! The ending of this volume....sets up what feels like one of the greatest endings to a series imaginable. Everything on the line and the heroes backs are against the wall! Tune in next time for the exciting conclusion to Dragon Ball Z!

[Caleb M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐ overall

Pretty satisfying fight scenes. I enjoy the development. As I'm winding down on the story though I definitely feel like it's time. It feels more and more same-y. Boo has been a pretty interesting villain, but I feel like I got more enjoyment out of Cell or Vegeta or even the Red Ribbon Army from the O.G. Dragon Ball.

I was definitely a little surprised at how this volume ended though. In a good way.

With only 1 volume left I would like to point out that I personally feel that Vegeta is a little overrated. He is for sure a cool character and I see why he is so liked, but I think I'm a victim of the constant "Vegeta is the BEST character ever," since I was expecting a little more.

Starting the final volume tomorrow!

[Paulette · Rating 3 out of 5]

It only took me twenty plus years to realize why I've always disliked the Majin Buu Saga, or rather, confirming that it's not only the backtracking of Gohan's character development that I'm not fond of. Toriyama-sensei basically tried to have his cake and eat it. He tried to combine early Dragon Ball humor into a series that became more serious than he probably ever wanted to create, and the delivery doesn't fully mesh well. The anime was able to make me laugh, in no small part due to its pacing, but the countless murders and multitude of disrespectful deaths don't pay off humorously in the manga, either. Boy, Piccolo is really forced to drive the plot, I never want to hear anyone say he's not important to the series just because he's weak.

[Gustavo · Rating 5 out of 5]

En este penúltimo tomo Majin Boo finalmente pelea contra Gotenks y pasan otro montón de cosas. Me encanta que tan cerca del final la historia siga siendo tan divertida. Una de las críticas que siempre escucho sobre esta parte es como la pelea entre Gotenks y Boo es "tonta" o "ridícula", pero ¿Qué piensan que inventaría un niño con poder casi ilimitado? Creo que las técnicas de Gotenks son muy creativas y muy bien pensadas de acuerdo al personaje, y las peleas son muy buenas, este tomo en general fue muy entretenido.

[Ben Zimmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boo gets even stronger! This arc is way more playful than I anticipated. I'vee always heard people complain about it, often pointing out that it leans too much into the formulaic nature of the series. I kind of think that's what makes it good though. The Buu saga is cheeky. It leans into the tropes and pokes fun at itself. A lot of people read that as lack of faith in the formula, or running out of ideas, but to me it reads as a loving celebration of all the crazy adventures we've had up to this point. It's really good.

[Casper Paaske · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this is how you do a big final battle! The whole world at stake, plenty of our characters defeated or dead, the fights feel epic and the punches hit hard, old fundamental buildings are being brought down and the fight moves stage often giving plenty of interesting back scenery! It’s lovely!
Plus, something I have missed for a long time: creative fighting moves! Whatever Gotenks pulls out is hilarious and I enjoy it a lot!
The power balancing might still be a little cheap and happen a little too fast, but when that’s the only critique I have, then it must mean I’m pretty satisfied!

[Cary O’Leary · Rating 3 out of 5]

tenshinhan deadass just appears for the first time in like 70 chapters and then immediately gets destroyed. also gohan gets absorbed! what the hell was that! this volume is enjoyable but i really think kid buu becomes really boring after he absorbs piccolo and the way the story treats anyone that’s not a saiyan is pretty lame. but still gohan vs buu is cool, gotenks is cool and im excited to see vegeta pull up again. also hercule is still comedy gold and piccolo protecting gohan and trunks is such a good scene

[Brandon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think this saga has gone on long enough. This transformed Buu, with his constant transformations, isn't as much fun as fat Buu! And we spend so much time on stuff that doesn't matter- of course Gotenks isn't going to win, look at us sideline Gohan forever and do jack shit with him, this is the penultimate volume in all of Dragon Ball and we're still just waiting for Goku. Buu succeeds because he has to succeed and he keeps upping the big bad over and over, even though he's... mainly just a guy who runs around hitting things, with no personality in this form.

[Nicolas Chinnapen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the start of the fight between Boo and earth mightiest heroes .. this time no Vegeta and Goku only the kids, Gohan and Satan..Boo reveals himself to be more vicious than Cell and this volume contains epic combats with enough twists in Toriyama style and ends on a cliffhanger than propels us to go read the next volume asap ..this is Dragon ball at his best and the proof why it is still one of the most famous manga of all time.

[Sheepy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I said in my last review how much I wasn't a fan of the Buu saga and one of the main reasons is gotenks, he is just such an irritating character that fills in the time for gohan to come back. Which also annoys me that this power up is just another hurdle for goku instead of letting the hero of the last arc shine again. I understand goku is the MC but still don't power gohan up just for goku to surpass.