The good news is that the worst part of this entire saga is already done with. The bad news is that what comes after is not that much better.
A Tournament... Not Really
So, Cell decides to make a tournament, because he's looking for a purpose in life or something. In actuality, it's really just a battle against Goku, no one else participates. On one hand, I like it that they're cutting to the chase, but on the other hand, the entire setup to this arc was pointless and what could've been used to give the other characters some time to shine is now wasted.
It's at this point the single worst character of the anime is introduced. So far, every character in this arc has been incompetent, annoying and/or stupid, but never a combination of all three. Meet Mr. Satan: A character that has no right to exist in this story. I hope you like his joke of watching explosions and Ki blasts flying around and trying to explain them with "It's a trick!" Because from this point on, you will be hearing it every 2 goddamn minutes.
Goku fights Cell, destroys most of his body, including his head, but Cell regenerates. Goku then suddenly gives up and tags with Gohan, who proceeds to get the shit beaten out of him while his father just watches with this huge shit-eating-grin on his face. Apparently, Goku wants Gohan to get super angry, so he'll become Super Saiyan 2 and kill Cell.
There's only two problems with this: Goku is a terrible parent and never realized his son doesn't like fighting, and he throws Cell a freaking senzu bean. I reiterate: Goku absolutely deserved a humiliating beating like Vegeta's on Namek.
Ass Pulls... Ass Pulls Everywhere!
Enraged by the death of No. 16, a character he's had less than 10 seconds of interaction with, Gohan becomes Super Saiyan 2. I don't like the reason for why it happens, but it's a great transformation, with the bombastic "Unmei no Hi ~Tamashī tai Tamashī~" playing in the background.
Too bad becoming Super Saiyan 2 comes with a boat-load of stupidity. "But I want to humiliate him so he can feel the same fear-" This is so Freeza Saga, just kill him already. Gohan punches Cell, Cell pukes No. 18 (because of course she's intact and can perfectly fit inside him) and reverts back to his imperfect form, before revealing he has a nuclear warhead inside of him and taking Goku with him.
Then, he comes back, inexplicably learning Instant Transmission and regenerating back to his perfect form even stronger than before, "because Saiyan." Apparently, he can regenerate himself as long as his head isn't blown off (it's happened before) and his cells apparently remember his perfect form (they didn't before) hence why he's now back as Super Perfect Cell.
(repeatedly bangs my head against a wall) Why won't this end?!
The Surprisingly Good Ending
There is a giant beam-of-war between Gohan and Cell, the other characters try to help, but they're all shit at it. Until Vegeta, growing a heart for Trunks out of literally nowhere, is powerful enough to distract him. Gohan kills Cell, and this insufferable unending battle finally comes to a close. The characters try to resurrect Goku, but Goku decides to stay dead, because Gohan has already surpassed him and because Goku only brings trouble to Earth.
You know, if the series actually ended here, I wouldn't complain. Vegeta decides to quit his annoying quest for battling and becomes a better person, Trunks saves his future, Goku realizes he's a selfish asshole who puts everyone in danger... Despite the rest of the arc being trash, this is a perfectly good and touching ending that ties everything up nicely.
Final Thoughts
I liked the ending, and I liked the transformation into Super Saiyan 2... that's it.
This arc was terrible, it kind of felt like it was going to get better when No. 17 and No. 18 were introduced, but then goes straight back to awful when Cell takes over. You can feel in every scene Toriyama writing himself into a corner and pulling something out of his ass to get himself out. Mostly, it boiled down to "things happen because character acts like an idiot."
As for Cell, I didn't like him as a villain. He had a great, terrifying setup, but not much else. He lacks the affable personality of Freeza and the Androids, so he's not much fun to watch. He succeeds not out of competence, but because everyone else is incompetent and stupid. He literally breaks the rules of the universe and bends the script in his favor to get more and more powerful without justification. The show kinda tries to pretend it's going to make him deep with that whole "searching for a purpose in life" aspect, but then the show reveals his true purpose was always "destroy the universe."
Nothing in Dragon Ball was worse than this arc for me. Not GT, not Super, nothing.
Android Saga - Cell Games
The good news is that the worst part of this entire saga is already done with. The bad news is that what comes after is not that much better.
A Tournament... Not Really
So, Cell decides to make a tournament, because he's looking for a purpose in life or something. In actuality, it's really just a battle against Goku, no one else participates. On one hand, I like it that they're cutting to the chase, but on the other hand, the entire setup to this arc was pointless and what could've been used to give the other characters some time to shine is now wasted.
It's at this point the single worst character of the anime is introduced. So far, every character in this arc has been incompetent, annoying and/or stupid, but never a combination of all three. Meet Mr. Satan: A character that has no right to exist in this story. I hope you like his joke of watching explosions and Ki blasts flying around and trying to explain them with "It's a trick!" Because from this point on, you will be hearing it every 2 goddamn minutes.
Goku fights Cell, destroys most of his body, including his head, but Cell regenerates. Goku then suddenly gives up and tags with Gohan, who proceeds to get the shit beaten out of him while his father just watches with this huge shit-eating-grin on his face. Apparently, Goku wants Gohan to get super angry, so he'll become Super Saiyan 2 and kill Cell.
There's only two problems with this: Goku is a terrible parent and never realized his son doesn't like fighting, and he throws Cell a freaking senzu bean. I reiterate: Goku absolutely deserved a humiliating beating like Vegeta's on Namek.
Ass Pulls... Ass Pulls Everywhere!
Enraged by the death of No. 16, a character he's had less than 10 seconds of interaction with, Gohan becomes Super Saiyan 2. I don't like the reason for why it happens, but it's a great transformation, with the bombastic "Unmei no Hi ~Tamashī tai Tamashī~" playing in the background.
Too bad becoming Super Saiyan 2 comes with a boat-load of stupidity. "But I want to humiliate him so he can feel the same fear-" This is so Freeza Saga, just kill him already. Gohan punches Cell, Cell pukes No. 18 (because of course she's intact and can perfectly fit inside him) and reverts back to his imperfect form, before revealing he has a nuclear warhead inside of him and taking Goku with him.
Then, he comes back, inexplicably learning Instant Transmission and regenerating back to his perfect form even stronger than before, "because Saiyan." Apparently, he can regenerate himself as long as his head isn't blown off (it's happened before) and his cells apparently remember his perfect form (they didn't before) hence why he's now back as Super Perfect Cell.
(repeatedly bangs my head against a wall) Why won't this end?!
The Surprisingly Good Ending
There is a giant beam-of-war between Gohan and Cell, the other characters try to help, but they're all shit at it. Until Vegeta, growing a heart for Trunks out of literally nowhere, is powerful enough to distract him. Gohan kills Cell, and this insufferable unending battle finally comes to a close. The characters try to resurrect Goku, but Goku decides to stay dead, because Gohan has already surpassed him and because Goku only brings trouble to Earth.
You know, if the series actually ended here, I wouldn't complain. Vegeta decides to quit his annoying quest for battling and becomes a better person, Trunks saves his future, Goku realizes he's a selfish asshole who puts everyone in danger... Despite the rest of the arc being trash, this is a perfectly good and touching ending that ties everything up nicely.
Final Thoughts
I liked the ending, and I liked the transformation into Super Saiyan 2... that's it.
This arc was terrible, it kind of felt like it was going to get better when No. 17 and No. 18 were introduced, but then goes straight back to awful when Cell takes over. You can feel in every scene Toriyama writing himself into a corner and pulling something out of his ass to get himself out. Mostly, it boiled down to "things happen because character acts like an idiot."
As for Cell, I didn't like him as a villain. He had a great, terrifying setup, but not much else. He lacks the affable personality of Freeza and the Androids, so he's not much fun to watch. He succeeds not out of competence, but because everyone else is incompetent and stupid. He literally breaks the rules of the universe and bends the script in his favor to get more and more powerful without justification. The show kinda tries to pretend it's going to make him deep with that whole "searching for a purpose in life" aspect, but then the show reveals his true purpose was always "destroy the universe."
Nothing in Dragon Ball was worse than this arc for me. Not GT, not Super, nothing.
Rating: 1.5/5