I'm okay with XXI winning the match against Goku, but the only question I have is... why like this? Like, I get it, XXI is a character who doesn't like taking risks... but at the same time, I can't help but feel betrayed by this ending.
To explain why I believe I feel this way, imagine if the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai in the Buu Saga actually played out fully. We get a full tournament with awesome fights, each feeling as if it one ups the last. All those fights eventually build up to Goku vs Gohan, the ultimate clashing of ideologies which is meant to summarize the entire tournament, and deliver upon the big message of the arc: the passing of the torch to the next generation, or maybe, that the next generation isn't quite ready to take that torch. The fight starts off strong. Gohan powers up to Super Saiyan 2, and everything couldn't be more tense... but then Goku goes Super Saiyan 3 and one shots Gohan, leaving the tournament over.
Logically, if we ignore Goku's pride, this is what would happen, but that outcome sucks. It doesn't matter that we still have Babidi and Buu to deal with, because the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai, which was a big part of the saga... has been relegated to a simple one shot. It's not cathartic, and it makes the entire tournament thus far feel like a waste of time. That is what happened in this tournament.
This comic has been awesome, and far more high quality than any fanfiction I've ever read. It attempts to add consistency and logic to the Dragon Ball mythos, it has gorgeous art, and even though I don't agree with all of it's creative choices, as some go against what I believe to be the spirit of Dragon Ball, this comic has never really disappointed me with a fight up until this point. That's even including Gast vs Bra, a fight which I know many didn't like the outcome of.
All of those awesome fights have built up to this final fight: Goku vs XXI, the finale of the tournament which had the potential to top everything, from Vegito vs Broly to Goku vs Vegeta.
And it's a one shot.
The literal only thing we get is Goku teleporting out of XXI's time dilation dimension... and then he gets one shot.
There's no creative use of powers. To spitball what could happen, Goku could use NSSJ to potentially stop I'K'L's time stop b/c of his lack of flowing energy, Goku could use a ki clone to catch XXI off guard like comments have suggested, suspicious of the fact that XXI could try this, or... like... literally anything?!
If you ignore everything else in this comment, then at least listen to this:
Good fights are not made from what would logically happen. Good fights are made from a desire to make the person viewing your art feel some kind of emotion. This fight could've been great if we as readers were made to feel a sense of dread, as even our hero, Son Goku, is unable to do anything against XXI, gradually suffering more and more as he tries to get the edge on the twisted, cruel XXI, who we begin to learn about throughout this fight, building up our expectations for what will come after it. But this outcome... this outcome just makes me feel nothing, which betrays everything I thought this fight should and would be.
I will thank the DBM team for everything you've done so far. It's a truly great accomplishment that this comic has been of such high quality... and this is just a minor misstep! I hope you use the criticism from me, and the critiques of others, to make the rest of DBM even better, because I'll sure as heck be reading until this comes to a conclusion!
Language
To explain why I believe I feel this way, imagine if the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai in the Buu Saga actually played out fully. We get a full tournament with awesome fights, each feeling as if it one ups the last. All those fights eventually build up to Goku vs Gohan, the ultimate clashing of ideologies which is meant to summarize the entire tournament, and deliver upon the big message of the arc: the passing of the torch to the next generation, or maybe, that the next generation isn't quite ready to take that torch. The fight starts off strong. Gohan powers up to Super Saiyan 2, and everything couldn't be more tense... but then Goku goes Super Saiyan 3 and one shots Gohan, leaving the tournament over.
Logically, if we ignore Goku's pride, this is what would happen, but that outcome sucks. It doesn't matter that we still have Babidi and Buu to deal with, because the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai, which was a big part of the saga... has been relegated to a simple one shot. It's not cathartic, and it makes the entire tournament thus far feel like a waste of time. That is what happened in this tournament.
This comic has been awesome, and far more high quality than any fanfiction I've ever read. It attempts to add consistency and logic to the Dragon Ball mythos, it has gorgeous art, and even though I don't agree with all of it's creative choices, as some go against what I believe to be the spirit of Dragon Ball, this comic has never really disappointed me with a fight up until this point. That's even including Gast vs Bra, a fight which I know many didn't like the outcome of.
All of those awesome fights have built up to this final fight: Goku vs XXI, the finale of the tournament which had the potential to top everything, from Vegito vs Broly to Goku vs Vegeta.
And it's a one shot.
The literal only thing we get is Goku teleporting out of XXI's time dilation dimension... and then he gets one shot.
There's no creative use of powers. To spitball what could happen, Goku could use NSSJ to potentially stop I'K'L's time stop b/c of his lack of flowing energy, Goku could use a ki clone to catch XXI off guard like comments have suggested, suspicious of the fact that XXI could try this, or... like... literally anything?!
If you ignore everything else in this comment, then at least listen to this:
Good fights are not made from what would logically happen. Good fights are made from a desire to make the person viewing your art feel some kind of emotion. This fight could've been great if we as readers were made to feel a sense of dread, as even our hero, Son Goku, is unable to do anything against XXI, gradually suffering more and more as he tries to get the edge on the twisted, cruel XXI, who we begin to learn about throughout this fight, building up our expectations for what will come after it. But this outcome... this outcome just makes me feel nothing, which betrays everything I thought this fight should and would be.
I will thank the DBM team for everything you've done so far. It's a truly great accomplishment that this comic has been of such high quality... and this is just a minor misstep! I hope you use the criticism from me, and the critiques of others, to make the rest of DBM even better, because I'll sure as heck be reading until this comes to a conclusion!