A brief heads-up on rule #13 for all users. It seems we have some mind readers in the comments section again. Let's please stick to our own opinions. We don't know what other people think unless it's communicated publicly.


People grumble why content for (approx)10 pages wasn't squeezed into a single page.
Don't expect a complete chapter when we have Publish-Day on DBM. It's always only one page.


Self designated tournament police. I think that's how the DB Canon police see themselves, telling people what is and isn't allowed in a fanfic. xD

Eager to find out why XXI needs the tournament winning Dragonballs for his wish, when hes had a dragon at his whim the whole tournament.

Give the poor chef a wish, he's been cooking for an entire stadium of people from different universes for days
Imagine all the dietary restrictions

Alexis was saying: Here is my take on this fight.




To be continued.

So the guy who one shots Vegetto who was far stronger than Goku (granted he was taken by surprise with the time thingy from the dimension) one shots Zen Boo who is also a magician and far more powerful than Goku in every way, defeats Gast that may be weaker than Goku but as a magician could make Vegetto his bitch and was only killed by Zen Boo because fat Kai ended up making Gast believe Boo wasn't a threat anymore is going to have a dragged out fight against Goku and Goku has yet to get serious. Yup sounds legit, Toei is that you?

Mages are mages for a reason. What would really be wrong is a guy who dedicates his intellect to learning every kind of hack losing to someone who only knows how to throw punches.

"Oh, Salagir disrespected Goku." — No, he just took away the plot armor. Goku can be beloved, inspiring, a hero to many people. But if we don’t let our fanboy side speak louder and blind us, that’s exactly what would happen in many of his fights. XXI is a MAGE — and ONE MILLIONS OF YEARS OLD. Not even fucking Zen Buu could deal with him (at least not in time). Salagir already showed this with Vegetto.

Do you think an MMA fighter could even touch Gandalf? It’s exactly like that.

I play WoW, and if anyone here plays too, you know very well: mages are a warrior’s nightmare. When I’m on my mage, a warrior — no matter how good — barely touches me. There’s teleport, freezing, slow, invisibility, buff stealing, damage shields… It’s too much hacking.

So, like it or not, this makes sense — a lot of sense. Now we just have to wait for the fireworks to start. :P

Just like in canon Dragonball, Goku has entered into a tournament and has lost once again, but the tournaments end brings new adventures to the gang!

Uhh...wasn't EVERYONE that died in their match supposed to be revived? Why is Goku getting individual treatment? Even if this is a version of Porunga that can only revive one person at a time, I don't see them making or even discussing any attempt to bring back the other dead before the final reward ceremony.

let's be real, we ALL expected goku to be one shotted instantly,

we ALL know the tournament and this comic will have a grand finale with countless fullpage spreads and beautiful asura art,

we ALL know the whole arena is about to be genocided

the question is how will they do it?

A lot of you are breaking rule #13 at this point! Please refrain from second guessing what exactly Salagir has in mind, you can't read his thoughts.

For example things like:

"Salagir is obviously burned out at this point, he's not motivated anymore; Salagir won't treat Goku with respect anymore in the future; that's it, DBM is over" and stuff like that.
Discuss, but in a friendly manner, without getting insulting. This is still Salagir's comic. Frankly, he doesn't owe anybody here anything, he can still do whatever he wants with his own story, wether you like it or absolutely disagree with it.

I'd honestly suggest that some people may take a break from DBM to cool off a little bit, because some of you are getting a little bit too heated and emotional over all of this, even to the point, where you seem to lose all objectivity. Maybe do something else that you actually enjoy and come back at a later time. Even if you may be disappointed, this is not the end of the world, life goes on.

pip25 was saying: But instead, Goku lost like a moron.

Every single opponent of XXI, even Vegetto who confronted him first, knew that they should not give him the chance to cast any spells or use other magic. Heck, even Goku showed awareness of this fact at the start of the match, when he tried to arrange things so he could transform PRIOR to the beginning of the battle. So then, after breaking out of XXI's alternate dimension, why, just WHY in the name of all kaio shins did he simply stand there, monolouging like an idiot??? That was his chance, his ONLY chance in fact to strike back, and he wasted it. According to Vegeta, less than a second is pretty much "an eternity" in this form, so he apparently wasted more than an eternity to brag - and paid for it with his life. His defeat is utterly humiliating.
MUI was saying: First of all: Why such disrespect towards Goku? Canon Goku is a very intelligent fighter. Knowing him, he wouldn’t give XXI even a second to use his magic, especially after seeing firsthand what it did to fighters like Zen Buu and Vegetto. But as soon as he breaks out of the time dimension, he starts talking to XXI very nonchalantly about random trivial things giving XXI all the time of the world for his next move.
On DBM’s Discord (just for reference, Asura is the one who drew it and Veguito is the one who helped):

Ve-Gui-To! said he thinks people are thrown off by Goku talking, but that in any case Goku couldn’t have done anything against XXI’s time freeze without knowing about it. I replied that, to be fair, Goku could have still tried to attack quickly before saying anything, but I didn’t really blame that because it’s part of his personality.

Ve-Gui-To! said that losing instantly is not something that would be skipped anyway and asked how it would make sense for XXI not to win instantly now that his abilities are known. He also joked that Goku starting to move inside the time freeze like he’s Jotaro wouldn’t make sense.

I answered that maybe Goku could have hit the old man’s body first — possibly destroying it — and then XXI would stop time and defeat him anyway. It would still be an instant loss but at least Goku would have landed some kind of blow first. Ve-Gui-To! said he didn’t really see how that would be more satisfying.

I explained that the idea was just that people would feel Goku didn’t just stand there talking and that he was the only one besides Zen Buu to destroy the old man’s body, even if people would still complain. Someone else wondered if Goku might have explored the dimension to understand XXI, but Ve-Gui-To! said he didn’t really have much time for that and added that the talking was there for dramatic effect: Goku escapes the dimension, then gets time frozen, and in manga a lot of dialogue can happen in a split second.

I asked if Goku wouldn’t have time to do something before XXI since he’s so fast and pointed out he spoke a few words without a hole in his chest. (The image said: “But he has to break out in less than 0.08 seconds! I calculated it.”) Ve-Gui-To! said again it was for dramatic effect and that it throws people off, but it’s normal manga rules.

Asura added that it’s theatrical and that XXI could have used the IKL technique the moment Goku was teleported. I asked Asura to confirm if even if Goku moved in under 0.08 seconds XXI would still stop him immediately. Ve-Gui-To! explained that the time feels longer for the reader because the pages come out days apart, but in the story XXI would freeze time the instant the dimension breaks.

Someone else pointed out that XXI also had almost 30 seconds to activate it. (Asura reacted with the :point_up_2: emoji.) I added that my idea was that XXI probably pre-cast the spell, so it would be instant just like against Zen Buu. The same person summed it up simply: teleport Goku, wait for him to come back, freeze him, attack.

Ve-Gui-To! said XXI probably could have frozen time first anyway but tried the dimension first to keep that trick hidden. Another person said the ideal was that the teleport alone would work so XXI wouldn’t have to show the time stop yet.

I’ve seen people call this latest plot turn a “constellation of disappointment” — and honestly, what a phrase. I’m stealing it.

I find it funny how many people claim Goku should be treated with more respect, just for being the main character, when he lost against Tenshinhan because of a car.

iron leaf was saying: But newly introduced characters are usually the focus of new arcs. In an abstract way, every new character in a new arc would be an OC. For example. Pilaf arc has established the first characters. This means that later Red Ribbon are all OC. And later Tien and Piccolo, etc. Let's look at Future Trunks not from the perspective of a DB fan, but someone who only knows DB up to the Freeza Arc, and then is suddenly confronted with Future Trunks. You would instinctively roll your eyes. Why of all things the newly introduced character (in an abstract way an OC to previous established story with all the characters) is an SSJ1, and defeats Freeza. Makes everyone (except Goku) look old. DBM is a new arc after EoZ in an abstract way. Strictly speaking, when a fanfic introduces OCs, I actually expect them to be relevant. We don't need something like the Magical Girls from U6.
You're making the mistake of treating fanfiction with the same rules as original fiction. Toriyama had more freedom to do what he wanted with Dragon Ball than someone writing Dragon Ball fanfic. This might sound unfair, but it's because Toriyama had to come up with an entire world from scratch, whereas Salagir is just using Toriyama's setting.

When people read Dragon Ball fiction, whether fanfic or officially published canon, they want to read about Dragon Ball characters. This is a non-factor in officially published works because all the characters are Dragon Ball characters. In fanfic however, only the characters that existed in canon are truly Dragon Ball characters.

People were reading this for fights between Dragon Ball characters. People wanted to see which Dragon Ball character would win the tournament. It's sort of okay to have an OC as a struggle for a Dragon Ball character overcome, but the focus should be on the canon characters.

Who is the greatest Dragon Ball character of all time after they reach their full potential? Is it Cell after he trained and honed himself? Is it Buu after making full use of his absorptions? King Cold after training and discovering higher forms? Ginyu after sneakily using his body change and training? Broly with his constantly rising power? Or is it still Vegetto sitting supreme? Oh, I'm sorry, the greatest Dragon Ball character of all time is some guy who Salagir made up and therefore isn't even a Dragon Ball character, silly me.

Do you see why that might be unsatisfying?

I'm aware that there is going to be more story after this. But I don't think that works. Why should they fight him after this? He won the tournament fairly, they shouldn't have the right to stop him. The only one who knew about his evil nature has been sent back to universe 9, nobody else should oppose his wish. They don't know that he's going to wish for multiversal travel so they have no motive to stop him. They think he's going to make one wish for universe 19 and then maybe two harmless wishes for himself. It really doesn't make sense for them to fight him after this.

I'm disappointed. Through all the years I've been following DBM, I've always accepted the explanation that things will eventually pay off, even when they seemed weird at some moment. And sometimes they did pay off. Other times, not so much. But the overall experience remained very good! I've also come to expect some healthy dose of trolling from Salagir, so I often thought many readers just complain too much...

Well, not anymore. I made an account right after reading the previous page, just to comment how terrible it was, but I held off in some hopes of it being yet another trolling page. Doesn't look like it, so I'm saying it now. Ending the tournament in such an anticlimactic way was a really, relly poor idea. An idea that came directly after the "Recruitment" chapter, in which characters behaved in such a stupid way (like South Kaioshin attacking Elder Kaioshin and not listening to the concerns U9 had about I'k'l, or Vegetto eating the bean from XXI) that it completely broke my suspension of disbelief. I don't know if the noticeably decreased quality of recent chapters is a result of burnout or anything else... but suffice to say I won't be getting my hopes up about the rest of the comic.

LordUzaki was saying: This was the only way this fight was ever going to end.
Goku would have won without time-stop. Goku is stronger than Gast and XXI was out of tricks.

You joke but anything after imperfect cell was garbage. Perfect cell is a horrible villain.

DissapointedReader was saying: The way XXI has gotten by without more efforts to stop or deal with him in advance is every bit as "stupid" as what you just described. XXI would have been under a lot more suspicion with his EXTREMELY specific wins over 18, Buu and Gast

Why is that? XXI hasn't done anything illegal or even showing evil intent, there would have been no reason to be suspicious of him. I'd be more inclined to believe you later once elder kai started sounding the alarm bells but even that is contestable.

Kururun was saying:
I think this is more of a "you" issue than a Dragon Ball issue. The characters make a few blunders in the Cell arc but generally speaking not that much, and the few "stupid" moments are just because things just aren't that serious.
I think you are massively underestimating the frequency of these stupid moments. Frieza not killing the Z fighters even though they've passed any other opponent in power and keep forcing him into higher forms, not fusing to defeat buu, everything in cell like you said. There are many more but I don't want to get into a tit for tat about each one since that is besides the point and in any case I don't really want to discuss DBZ very much at all due to lack of interest (aside from a few minor things I find interesting and salvageable). There's also the extremely poorly done powerscaling, nonsensical jumps in power, inconsistent and unbelievable scaling, etc.

I was cool with Bra, I even enjoyed her arc. Unlike most. This however is just bad writing. In DB Villains don't just one shot the main characters to show they are tough. Even Perfect Cell didn't just one shot Vegeta. I don't know, this feels kind of cheap. Like this should have been a multi chapter battle, but they go "Let's just give him time freeze powers" ... like, really? That's just cheating. I don't care. We better see a very upset Vegito soon.

I just had another epiphany; Zen Buu suggesting opening a Secondary Tournament (Page 1992) in parallel makes sense. He realized that this was a magic tournament and not a martial arts tournament. He figured out the deception, that's why he suggested it XD.

DBZFan92 was saying: Goku didn't need to win or put up a fight in my opinion, it just wouldn't have made much sense at this point.

I don't think an XXI victory was inevitable at all. He was out of tricks until I'K'L showed up. I think probably he wished for I'K'L final beam to split and hit him too or something like that. Redirecting a beam would take a lot less power than just straight up giving that ability from nothing. If it weren't for that I think Goku and XXI would have fought an extremely close fight with Goku ultimately winning. You say the real conflict would have started after the tournament and I agree, but I cannot understand in what world it would not have been better to have a good fight IN the tournament and then outside of it also.


DissapointedReader was saying:
DBZ might have been poorly made, but DBM has just as many writing problems (if not more). Don't even get me started on how the Majin Bra arc resolved.

DBM has far, far less issues with powerscaling, plotholes, and characters acting stupid than DBZ ever did. Not to say those issues don't exist but they're far less egregious. I maintain DBM's biggest issue is its pacing and how towards the end everything is beginning to feel rushed.

Anyone else think Salagir is burnt out at this point and is trying to end DBM as soon as possible? I'm not as disturbed by this turn of events as some but despite agreeing with Salagir generally that DBZ is poorly made I think DBM's biggest weakness is its pacing issues. I was initially fine with the whole Majin Rebellion but I've become more critical of it recently since it didn't really lead to anything and because it was so long in comparison to more important moments later on. I just imagined every key moment after would have been even longer so in the moment that made it okay in my eyes.

Another problem with this segment in general here is that they keep XXI in his ugly old man form. After Buu there should have been no reason whatsoever for him to continue with that avatar, or at least make it a cooler looking avatar. Keep it unassuming if you want but it should at least be aesthetic.

Is there a place for more extended discussion? It would be fun to share ideas with others on how to rewrite this series.