User blog:TCalderon/Goku vs Superman: ERB's Biggest Missed Opportunity (in my opinion)



And now for something completely different.

I guess you could consider this a review of sorts, and if you wanna think about it like that, than be my guest. I personally see it as more of an attempt at a discussion piece, but it's probably more accurate to think of this as a mindless ramble.

So, ERB is coming back with season 6, starting and a bonus battle coming in six days (at the time of me writing this). And, as a longtime fan of this webseries, I'm pretty dang excited, especially since the world of Youtube-exclusive content has felt empty without them. Sure the fanmade rap battle offerings has made their absence more bearable, but nothing can quite top the originals in terms of sheer quality... Well, most of the time, anyway. I wouldn't say any Epic Rap Battle of History has been outright bad (damn near all of them still at least make for a catchy song even some of the more devisive ones like Banner vs Jenner or Trump vs Hillary), but some of them have missed the mark.

But, the one that I feel greatly missed the mark doesn't seem to be brought a lot in terms of discussion around this fanbase. In fact, it doesn't seem to be brought much at all beyond "Yeah, that was a cool battle! Really catchy and epic!". Which is honestly a shame, especially looking back in hindsight, because this battle could've been so much more. The battle I'm referring to is none other than Season 3's Goku vs Superman.

Now, if you liked this battle, that's totally fine! I wouldn't even call it bad; It's catchy, it's got a cool sounding beat, the permances by Epic Lloyd and Ray William Johnson are fun and engaging, Krillin acts like a huge dork (wouldn't have it any other way) and the visuals are pretty on-point, especially the costume for Goku (though, it does kinda irk me how his is straight up when he isn't Super Saiyan as opposed to the iconic base-form hair, but he's Super Saiyan for most of the battle anyway. Plus, I can imagine that making another wig for the sake of being accurate when it's only there for a couple of shots would've been a bitch and half, so it's fine). And it does fulfill it's purpose of being a simple and fun fan-servicey battle between two really strong dudes! It's just... it's only that. It's just... really simple. Superman namedrops Krillin, Roshi, and Chi-Chi, the Over 9000 meme and Dragon Ball GT are referenced, Goku mentions Superman's movies, Kryptonite, and alludes to Christopher Reeves in his last line... and that's it.

See, this kinda bugs me, since the topic of "Goku vs Superman" is (and probably still is) among the most talked about when it comes to geek culture, and a comparison that I personally find to be incredibly fascinating. Not just because of their many similarities, but also because of their many many differences. Superman is the ideal superhero; he has a multitude of different powers, he has a pure heart, and generally acts as something of a role model to other heroes. Goku, on the other hand, is a warrior through and through. His primary motivations are getting stronger, looking for a good fight, having a good meal, and protecting his friends from danger. When we're not going by the initial Funimation version of the character seen in the Toonami run of DBZ (the one who would spare a villain's life to give them a chance at redemption as opposed to wanting to fight them again, and would also go on speeches about how he's "The Hope of the Universe" and such), Goku's a pretty simple and easygoing dude, and hardly the ideal superhero type that we see from Superman. Hell, when he does save the planet from evil dudes trying to destroy everything, it's always out of trying to protect his friends and the planet he grew up on, as opposed to "protecting the innocent people of Earth". He's never even recognized for his heroic actions, as Mr. Satan is usually the one who's given the credit in some comedic way. All of this, I feel, makes an interesting and fun protagonist to follow, but he's still very different from what Western audiences would expect from a hero. While many kids who grew up watching DBZ on Toonami have a huge soft-spot for goody-two-shoes Goku, it's not what Akira Toriyama had in mind when writing the character. It was purely a change to make him more appealing to Americans, and we wouldn't see Goku's true colors until DBZ Kai and Dragon Ball Super. But, that's okay! I don't want Goku to be a Superman clone, as I think he's fine enough to stand as own. Both characters are great in their own way, and I love them all the same (I just wish that Superman was had more than two theatrical movies that were considered good, but then I guess Goku also had it rough when it came to a Hollywood movie adaptation).

So, with all this in mind, I hope you see where I'm coming from when I say that I'm pretty frustrated that the topic of comparing the two characters only ever goes as far as "Who would beat the other in a fight?!".

That's what bugs me the most about ERB's take on this matchup; it doesn't bring anything new or interesting to topic at hand, and doesn't really go enough into the differences between the two characters (it doesn't even bring up the similarity of both of them being sent to Earth as babies when their home-planets were destroyed!). It's just a typical back-and-forth between two tough dudes who're vaguely similar, when I feel it could've added so much more. Like, have Superman say something along the lines of "You're not really a hero, you're just a fight-junkie!" and have Goku say something like "I may be obsessed with fights, but I'm more pure-hearted than you'll ever be!" or something to that affect (sidenote; it's also a shame that this battle came out in 2014. Had they waited to do this in 2017, there woulda been a smorgasborg of various ways to diss Superman, not the least of which being the infamously panned DCEU, or how the Injustice video games portray him as a villain).

I guess that's what happens when you do a battle that's purely about two fictional characters. I typically put ERB's rap battles in one of two categories; "Educational" (where they have historical figures (or at least one historical figure against a celebrity or fictional character) battle and pepper interesting facts about them in-between all the funny lyrics) and "Fan Service" (battles that're between fictional characters or big relevant celebrities like Oprah or Skrillex). Goku vs Superman definitely falls into the latter category, and that's fine by me. I just wish they could've gone a little more in-depth with the characters in this one, like they would eventually do with James Bond, Ash Ketchum or Wonder Woman. As it is though, what we have is fine and memorable enough, but I can't help but think of it as a missed opportunity.

I wanna end this off with a little nitpick that I couldn't fit anywhere else; Superman says "You want justice? I'll bust this nut up in your Chi-Chi!" and then Goku retaliates with "I'll report to Lois Lane and Superman that HO!". I mean, I get it, it's rap, and making a "I'll sleep with your girl" line can be effective, but it just seems weird to have these two make such remarks to each other. Like, Goku doesn't know the first thing about romance, and you expect him to fornicate with Lois Lane just to piss off Superman? No sir.

Anyway, what're your opinions? Do you agree? Am I overthinking this whole because I've been getting into DBZ too much lately? Leave a comment, and let's get this discussion going!

Also, I swear I'll release an actual battle soon.