Dragon Ball Super Volume Five finishes off the Future Trunks arc, and it also begins the Universe Survival arc.

Dragon Ball Super Volume Five
Written by: Akira Toriyama
Art by: Toyotarou
Publisher: Shueisha
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: May 7, 2019

The first two chapters in Volume Five see the progression of the fight between Goku and Zamas (who is fused with Goku Black). Goku thinks he’s found a way to defeat him, but it doesn’t work. When it seems like the fusion between Zamas and Goku Black is coming undone, they try to resist. But Trunks comes in with his sword and splits them apart. He uses the sword to impale Goku Black, and everyone thinks the fight’s over.

However, it’s not. Both Zamas and Goku Black keep creating copies of Zamas in god form, and Goku and the others try to flee. Unfortunately, running away isn’t an option, and Goku remembers the device Zeno gave in order to summon him. Goku takes a chance with this device, hoping it will summon the Zeno from this timeline. It does, and Zeno dislikes what he sees. Unfortunately, he intends to destroy the world in addition to all of the Zamas clones, so Goku and the others have to hurry back to their timeline to avoid getting caught up in the situation.

It’s a bittersweet ending for this arc. On the one hand, Trunk’s timeline was saved from Zamas and Goku Black. Unfortunately, it ended with his universe being destroyed, so he has nowhere to return to. But, Trunks and the older Mai get some surprising help from Beerus, who sends them back to the point in their timeline before Dabra and Bibidi appeared.

Also, Goku figures out how to keep his promise to Zeno to bring someone who can play with him. Goku uses the time machine to return to Future Trunks’ timeline, and convinces the Zeno of that timeline to come with him. He presents this Zeno as the new playmate for the Zeno of the main timeline, and the two Zenos quickly become friends.

Overall, the ending of the manga telling of the Future Trunks arc is very close to the ending of the arc as it was depicted in the Dragon Ball Super anime. As someone who’s already watched this portion of the anime, I really had no surprises when I read this section of Volume Five.

The remaining two chapters in this volume get the Universe Survival arc underway. The anime and manga open the same way, with Goku doing his farming work and using a new truck that Bulma gave him. I’m still amused by how Goku easily takes down the bandits who try to steal the truck. It’s a nice light-hearted moment to start things off with after how intense the fighting had gotten during the Future Trunks arc.

This arc also reveals that some time has passed since the end of the Future Trunks arc, because Bulma is pregnant and is about to give birth to the baby at any time. Vegeta, who’s been training with Whis, returns to Earth to be with Bulma. At the same time, Goku wants to train with Whis, so Vegeta knows that Goku will likely get stronger and get ahead of him again. However, Vegeta knows that he doesn’t want to face an angry Bulma if he’s not there for the birth of the baby.

As Goku trains, he wonders if Zeno has figured out the tournament that was proposed earlier in the series. He uses the device that Zeno gave him, which can also transport Goku to where Zeno is. The two Zenos are bored, and they’re just starting to talk about destroying some of the universes when Goku shows up. It turns out that Zeno had forgotten about the tournament, and the Zenos decide to hold off on any destruction until after the event.

The God of Destruction, the Lord of Lords, and the Guide Angel from each universe are summoned to Zeno’s palace, and they are informed of the tournament. The catch is, the tournament will start in 40 hours, and they have to have their chosen warriors by then. Since the Zeno from the other timeline has never seen a fighting tournament before, the Gods of Destruction are told to hold an exhibition match, which is just getting started when Volume Five ends.

While the first chapter of the Universe Survival arc is pretty similar to how the events were depicted in the anime, the second chapter diverges significantly. For one thing, in the anime, the Grand Minister goes to the Seventh Universe’s World of the Kais, and Goku, Beerus, and Whis join them there. It’s here that an explanation of the tournament and the important details are given. The exhibition match that is shown in the anime has the fighters from the Seventh Universe and the Ninth Universe going against each other.

I have to say, I kind of like how the manga portrayed this better. Seeing everyone being summoned to Zeno’s palace to be told about the tournament makes a lot more sense than having the Grand Minister traveling to the various universes. By doing it this way, it also allowed the God of Destruction, their Guide Angel, and the Lord of Lords for each universe to be introduced to the reader and to get a sense of their personalities. I also think it makes more sense to have the exhibition match be between the Gods of Destruction. It turns out that many of them have a grudge against Beerus, which adds a nice layer to the proceedings.

I think that Volume Five ended at a nice point, because the exhibition tournament gets underway, and it was just getting exciting when the volume ends. This will make a reader want to go on to Volume Six to find out how the fight’s going to continue. And as someone who has already watched the anime version, I’m curious to see how this exhibition tournament is depicted here, since it’s already quite different from what I’m already familiar with.

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