Akira Toriyama’s insanely long running anime/manga phenomenon Dragon Ball, now in it’s 30th anime anniversary with Dragon Ball Super, brings it’s third brand new arc to Japanese screens (And Western Computer screens) entitled “Black”. This fresh arc is only 2 episodes in as of writing, but they are 10 times better than the previous four arcs combined (Battle of the Gods, Resurrection F, Universe 6 Tournament & Potaufeu Sagas). To be totally honest with people here, if you stopped watching Dragon Ball Super because you thought it was slow and the new content was crap, then you my friends need to give the show a second look.
Back in time… In the Future & the past again…
When we last saw Trunks, or “Future Trunks” as he is more commonly known, he helped his father and the rest of the Z-Fighters in the Cell Games. Sure, it was his future master Gohan who was the one who killed Cell eventually, but he was there and played his part. With Cell, all of the Androids, and Goku’s heart problem solved or blown to bits, Future Trunks got back into his time machine and disappeared back to the future.
Now there is nothing shown in the anime nor the manga that shows what happened once Trunks returned to his timeline as, if multi-timeline-theory is correct, it should no longer exist or possibly replaced with a peaceful future. What we do get to see from the first episode of the Saga: “SOS from the Future! A New Black Enemy Appears!!” is that his future is far from peaceful. The cities around him are still wrecked and in ruin. People, animals and food are in short supply; and a new more powerful threat has made himself known and is tracking Trunks down. However there is a positive! As with their meeting in Battle of the Gods, she is Trunks’ girlfriend as well as one of the last members of humanity (Along with Bulma).
However, any peace this timeline has is shattered when a character only known as “Black” tracks down Trunks through sensing his Ki energy, much like most of the Z-Fighters can. This leads into a chase as Bulma sacrifices herself to give Trunks enough time energy for a one way trip back in time to gather his Father and his friends once again to help stop the events leading to “Black’s” appearance from happening. During the dash from one lab to another, Mai is killed by “Black” as a distraction so Trunks can fire up his time machine once again and escape his time before “Black” can catch up to him again.
Future Trunks makes it back to the present time, the effort and fright of almost getting killed as he exited his timeline causing him to pass out. Due to being nearby at the time, Trunks is the first time find his future self, causing a lot of worry as Bulma flips out trying to help the passed out Trunks, and also getting Vegeta back from training at Beerus’ planet. Vegeta, Goku, Weis & Beerus are all interested in the Future Trunks’ return and all go to see him. During this time, the child Trunks is hearing all sorts of weird stuff from Pilaf, Mai & Shu; all three joining him at his house for schooling and a place to live. Seeing his future self, with no one willing to explain a god damn thing to him while they talk about the Future Trunks, is confused and very upset. Hopefully they fix this in the next episode. Speaking of that, back in the future, “Black” begins sensing for Future Trunks stating that Trunks has no idea who he is up against. All the while, Future Trunks wakes up, and upon seeing Goku and thinking of “Black”, lashes out at his friend. Ending episode 48: “Hope Again!! Trunks Wakes Up in the Present!”.
In the preview of epsiode 49: “A Message from the Future Goku Black Invades!”; we are left to see “Black” making his own way through time to the present day to confront all the people that have gathered due to Future Trunks’ return.
With only 2 episodes watched at the time of writing, the whole “Black” character has me hooked. Not to mention what has happened to Future Trunks in the year since he returned to his own time. I know he was able to kill the first form Cell when he returned to his time, but what about Androids 17 & 18? How did “Black” first make his appearance? And most of all… WHO THE HELL IS “BLACK”!?
So just who the hell is “Black”?
There’s not much information out there about “Black”. I’m going to straight up say that he is not Goku in the traditional sense, so let’s put that “Evil Goku” theory into the bin. “Black’s” Gi consists of a sleeveless dark grey jacket, a long-sleeved black undershirt, a red sash, black pants and white boots. He also wears a single earring that resembles Demon God Demigra’s earrings. You remember Demigra? You don’t? Well guess what, this is where it gets interesting.
For those of you who do not know who Demigra is, he is the main villain of Dragon Ball Xenoverse. Yes, the video game. In Xenoverse, Demigra is able to manipulate people into a darkened state, something that resembles the evil intent in every soul pushed to the front of their personality. This turns heroes into villains and makes villains even more evil. It is possible that there is some connection to Goku, or someone very much like Goku, either being turned by Demigra or even possessed by Demigra himself.
However, the earring itself poses another idea: There’s only one. Much like the Potara earrings that are used to form Vegetto, there’s only one of them on “Black”. It could be possible that “Black” is either part of a fusion gone wrong, or he killed his partner before the fusion was complete. This could also attribute to the clothing as it resembles the style used in Vegetto form.
Another thing that makes me think that the mind at least is not Goku’s is that while speaking with Trunks in Episode 48: “Hope Again!! Trunks Wakes Up in the Present!”; “Black” talks about Saiyans in reference, as if he has no connections to the race at all. It could be possible that either he is possessed as I mentioned before, or maybe he is some sort of clone or android like Cell was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN3SLlPfdik
I guess there is really no way to tell about who “Black” really is nor what his origin is… Till episode 49 comes out and hopefully we get some sort of exposition dump before the smack talking and fighting begins. Hell, for all we know, “Black” is a preview of whole new content to be covered in Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 when it gets released. After all, it’s not the first time that Dragon Ball Xenoverse has had a tie in with something else Dragon Ball related. “Black” is already in the Japan exclusive Arcade game Dragon Ball Heroes in one of the God Mission expansions, so maybe he is one of the bosses of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2. All I know is that I can’t wait to learn more about “Black” and what he has in store for the rest of the Dragon Ball Super cast.
