“Dragon Ball Super” Manga Issue 76 Review: The Fate of The Saiyans

With Dragon Ball Super manga issue 76, titled ‘The Fate of The Saiyans’, the action-heavy narrative gave us some interesting character moments while introducing a truth that could change Granolah’s story arc.

Writer Akira Toriyama has made it clear that Granolah’s stronger than Goku and Vegeta at this point in time. Even though I’m a fan of Vegeta, there was no way he was going to win against an opponent like Granolah. So, what do you do if you can’t defeat someone physically? Well, you try to mess with their mind. And that’s what Vegeta tried to do during their intense battle.

The current fight meant a lot to Vegeta. He’s always had an ego. In the past, he’s even allowed his opponents to unlock new levels of power and making things worse instead of defeating them when he had the chance. I liked seeing Vegeta’s older personality come out in ‘The Fate of The Saiyans’. He even kicked away Goku because he didn’t want any interference. The moment allowed Toriyama to explore Vegeta’s character and make the Saiyan Prince come to a well-written realization about how much he’s changed over the decades.

He yelled at Goku about only having teamed up with him numerous times due to necessity and how he basically didn’t care about their so-called friendship. That particular instance made me a bit worried Toriyama might revert Vegeta to his past self, but as the chapter continued, I realized what Toriyama was going for. Even Goku didn’t believe what Vegeta said to him.

Near the end of Vegeta vs Granolah, Vegeta came to realize that he was incapable of changing back to the ruthless character he once was. He couldn’t make himself stop caring about others even if it meant he wouldn’t be able to fully unlock his powers as a student of Lord Beerus. Now, that’s what I call well-written character development for such an iconic fictional being. Through the decades we have seen Vegeta reluctantly agree to be Goku’s friend, marry Bulma, and become a father. He’s had some missteps along the way, but living with Goku and the rest fundamentally changed Vegeta for the better.

I’m interested in seeing how he will continue to level himself up, though. If caring and learning how to love others was stopping him from going full “God of Destruction” mode, will Vegeta change his training strategy or will wanting to protect what he loves enable him to at least use the “God of Destruction” stuff to end massive threats? We have seen the power of love and friendship accomplish impressive feats in such type of media. So, it wouldn’t be surprising if Vegeta figures out a way to properly channel his emotions to fuel his power levels.

As for the character beats given to Granolah in ‘The Fate of The Saiyans’, we got to see the OP Cerealian experience PTSD when Vegeta brought their fight to the city. Even though Granolah’s been trying to prevent harming civilians, in a roundabout way, wanting to attack Vegeta at point-blank range resulted in Granolah’s energy blasts destroying nearby structures. Seeing a mother cling tightly to her child during the battle triggered Granolah’s memory of running away from the Saiyan army while he was still a kid years ago.

Vegeta continued to mess with Granolah’s mind by stating how Granolah was doing the same thing he’s angry at the Saiyan race for. According to Vegeta, Granolah wanting to extinguish the Saiyan race (by taking out Vegeta and Goku) made him no different than the Saiyan army that attacked his home planet decades ago.

Now, I kind of understood what Vegeta was going for during that moment, but in my opinion, Vegeta was reaching a bit by comparing Granolah wanting revenge for an atrocity to a race of aliens that destroyed planets just because they could. And while Granolah yelled at Vegeta for spewing nonsense, you could tell Granolah wasn’t in the right headspace anymore. The drive for revenge heavily weighed on him and Granolah was becoming tired.

I was actually surprised to see him decide to kill himself (by putting everything he had in a single attack) if it meant he would also be able to take down Vegeta. Granolah just wanted it all to be over and I felt bad for him. There’s a limit to how much a person will allow the thirst for revenge to corrupt their soul if they aren’t the vindictive type of person to begin with.

With the chapter ending with Monaito asking Granolah to stop the fight, the stage’s been set for a huge revelation. Apparently, forty years ago there was a Saiyan who played a role in saving Monaito and the rest. And that Saiyan’s name was – drumroll – Burdock! 

Yup! Turn’s out Goku’s deceased father helped save people four decades ago. With poor Granolah already trying to handle all of his emotions, such a reveal is going to do a number on him. It will be interesting to see if Granolah will change his stance after learning about how a Saiyan named Burdock (also spelt Bardock) was a hero. But then again, can the actions of one person excuse the evil actions of an entire race? Here’s hoping Toriyama delivers a satisfying answer in the next issue. I’m definitely ready to learn more about Granolah’s backstory and how it linked to Goku through Burdock.

Some other thoughts and questions:

• I liked how Goku handled the weakness in Granolah’s attacks. Due to Granolah’s fighting style targeting vital points, it’s good to keep your vitals away from him. It was difficult for Goku to do so, but I liked how he was able to adapt to the situation even if just for a bit.
• Granolah going for the vitals and weak points reminded me of Chun-Li’s fighting style. It’s not something she usually uses because she’s not that type of person, but she can if she sees no other choice.

• I really liked the panel showing the smoke from Granolah’s attacks escaping the hole that got created when Vegeta and Granolah crashed into the city. This is the level of detail I want to see from the Boruto manga, too. Having a number of panels on a single page, and using them properly, is far better than badly used bigger panels per page and decreasing the overall impact of events.
• Do you think Granolah will team up with Goku and Vegeta?
• I’m glad Vegeta didn’t die. A number of people weren’t happy about Vegeta not being able to defeat Granolah even after displaying his new Ultra Ego powers in the previous chapter. Seeing him die in this issue wouldn’t have gone down well with the fandom.

What did you think of Dragon Ball Super manga chapter 76 ‘The Fate of The Saiyans’?

Let us know. 

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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