Majin Buu’s Wasted Potential in Dragon Ball

by

Summary

  • Majin Buu is loved for his ruthless and destructive nature, making him a beloved villain.
  • Buu’s potential is wasted in Dragon Ball Super by being kept in the background for gags, missing out on significant battles.
  • To make Majin Buu relevant again, Dragon Ball should consider giving him a more prominent role in the overall story.

When looking at the anime industry as a whole, there is perhaps no franchise that has more iconic villains than Dragon Ball. From the very start of the series, the antagonists that have served as the main hurdles of arcs have immediately garnered the interest of fans. Though they are, more often than naught, genocidal maniacs who seek to destroy everything, their awesome personalities make them incredibly likable.

Majin Buu is no exception to this rule. Although he lacks the personality of Cell or the sheer arrogance of Frieza, he makes up for it with his ruthlessness, going down as one of the most beloved villains in the story. However, ever since the end of the Majin Buu saga, he has been left on the afterburner, so let’s take a look at how Dragon Ball has wasted the character and how this can be rectified in the future.

How The Series Wasted Majin Buu

A Character Who Should Be At The Forefront

First Appearance Dragon Ball Z, Episode 232, “Buu is Hatched”
Debut Date July 4, 1994

As stated earlier, Buu is largely remembered for his destructive nature, which is what led to him becoming one of the most dangerous beings in the entire history of Universe 7. While it’s no secret that any nuances of character development are largely lost on Buu, his entire point within the context of the story doesn’t need him to be a complex and layered character. The Buu Saga simply needed an animalistic monster who only knew destruction.

Because of this fact, Buu underwent various power-ups in the arc, eventually leading to Kid Buu, who was the most dangerous of them all. The climactic battle against him remains one of the greatest in all anime, where Goku, and Vegeta to an extent, use everything they have to put down the villain for good, with the former finally annihilating him with a Super Spirit Bomb. However, this was not the last fans would see of the character, since the pure-hearted version of him lives on to this day.

Looks like it’s the end of the road Buu! It’s a darn shame!

However, this is precisely where the issue of Buu being wasted comes up. After the events of the Buu Saga, the titular character eventually befriended the heroes and became an integral member of the Z-Fighters, bolstering their already powerful numbers. However, with the start of Dragon Ball Super continuing the canon storyline of Z, Buu has essentially been forgotten about and is always kept to the back of the action due to some gag.

The best example of this happening was the Tournament of Power, where he was guaranteed a spot on the team due to his incredible strength, which would have undoubtedly given Universe 7’s team a huge advantage. However, he fell asleep right before the tournament, and it was stated that it’s impossible to forcefully wake Buu up from his slumber whenever he falls asleep all of a sudden. Many felt that this was just a contrived and lazy way to write Frieza back into the story, though just about everyone loved the way it turned out.

Buu’s abilities are incredible and would undoubtedly be a huge positive for the state of Universe 7. However, it seems as though the writers of the story just don’t want him to have that big of a role. It’s no secret that the Saiyans are, have been, and always will be, the central focus of Dragon Ball, but characters such as Piccolo or even Granolah have gotten a great amount of focus in Super, so it doesn’t make sense for someone as powerful as Buu to be left out of most combat situations.

The latest example of this trend was in Dragon Ball Daima, where the Z-Fighters explored the Demon Realm. This was the perfect arc to allow Buu to have a more substantial role due to his connections to the Demon Realm as well as the fact that much of what happened in this part of the story dealt with the aftermath of Kid Buu’s defeat at the hands of Goku. Still, though, Buu was barely mentioned here.

How To Make Majin Buu Relevant Again

The Future of the Character

As for what the franchise has in store for the future of this character, the story can honestly go one of two ways. The better, and far more probable, case of what should happen with Majin Buu is as simple as making him more important in the overall story again. The only real way to do this is to make him more active in battles and actually help the Z-Fighters in their fights rather than having him step away due to some gag.

The bolder way to do this is incredibly far-fetched, but it would be very interesting to see nonetheless. Majin Buu could, somehow, revert to his villainous self but be far more powerful so as to stand up to Goku and the others. This would be a very tragic way to approach the character, but would ultimately make for very good storytelling for someone who has been left to the wayside for far too long.

Dragon Ball can be streamed on Crunchyroll.

Read More

2025-03-18 15:34