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‘Dragon Ball Super’ Episode 106 Recap & Review: Tien’s Swan Song Disappoints, But Humor Saves Episode

By Simon Alvarez
Published on: 13:23 PST, Sep 2, 2017

In a lot of ways, Dragon Ball Super Episode 106 is pretty funny. Not that it was full of gags and classic DB-style low-brow humor; the episode was actually pretty serious. Nevertheless, longtime fans of the highly acclaimed anime series could easily appreciate the tidbits of fan humor that was added onto the recently aired episode. Overall, however, DBS Episode 106 proved to be a pretty enjoyable ride, despite having an unsatisfying climax.

The episode opened pretty much where last week’s episode left off. This time, however, the Universe 7 team had to deal with an invisible sniper that was nigh impossible to trace. The unknown warrior was given some pretty cool moments, such as maiming Piccolo multiple times and shooting Vegeta. Dr. Rota of Universe 6 practically became the sacrificial lamb to the dangerous sniper, getting shot immediately just as he was about to start introducing himself.

The Universe 7 fighters attempted to counter the sniper’s attack, but despite their best efforts, they were still targeted accurately. A number of shots later, and with Gohan and Piccolo practically playing fort while hiding from sniper fire, Goku, Vegeta, and Tienshinhan decided to end the sniper threat once and for all, as stated by noted DBS fan-translator Todd Blankenship.

Unfortunately for the U7 fighters, it turns out that there were actually two snipers working together: one pulling the trigger and another augmenting the shots. Interestingly, Tien ended up being the one who was tasked to take out the real sniper. In order to pull this off, Tien used his classic doppelganger technique, which literally split him into four.

Tien eventually overpowered the sniper with his Shin-Kikoho technique. However, the veteran fighter was ultimately caught off-guard by his opponent. Fortunately, Tien’s clones were able to grab the sniper on time, enabling the U7 fighter to take his long-range opponent with him as he fell out of the arena.

As for Vegeta and Goku, they had no problem beating the sniper’s partner. Vegeta even added insult to injury, blasting Dr. Rota just as he was about to deliver his self-introduction again.

Overall, it is difficult not to feel underwhelmed with Tien’s swan song in the Tournament of Power, as noted by members of the official Dragon Ball Super subreddit. Krillin, the first U7 fighter to get eliminated from the multiverse battle royale, held his own against multiple fighters and even got some eliminations on his own before he retired. Tien, however, could only pull off one elimination, and he sacrificed himself in the process.

If there were anything that really saved Dragon Ball Super Episode 106, however, it would be its humor. While the art was flawless and the animation was commendable, it was the tongue-in-cheek comedy in the episode’s scenes that truly stood out. DBS is an anime that is not afraid to poke fun at itself, and it ultimately showed in this episode.

Gohan and Piccolo’s predicament under the sniper’s attack, for one, practically echoed the pair’s skits in the popular YouTube channel TeamFourStar’s DBZ Abridged series. From the idea of dodging to Piccolo losing his limbs, several scenes in the recently aired DBS episode almost felt like nods to the TFS series’ content. Of course, Vegeta’s actions towards Dr. Rota were hilarious too, since viewers were never really able to hear what the Universe 6 fighter had to say.

Dragon Ball Super Episode 106 was quite disappointing in several ways, but it was also an enjoyable watch nonetheless. Next episode looks pretty serious, however, with Master Roshi facing off with Universe 6’s Frost.

[Featured Image by Toei Animation]

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