Super Dragon Ball Heroes’ Supreme Kai of Time arc managed to give Yamcha his biggest win in years, but unfortunately, episode #50 just ruined it.
Warning: Contains spoilers for Super Dragon Ball Heroes episode #50.Super Dragon Ball Heroes managed to give Yamcha his biggest win in years, but unfortunately, episode #50 just ruined it. During Super Dragon Ball Heroes’ Supreme Kai of Time arc, Yamcha protected a female alien named Vidro, and not only did she immediately fall in love with Yamcha, but their relationship developed to the point of her wanting to marry him. Yamcha has been treated as a joke both in and out of Dragon Ball for decades, most notably with parodies of his infamous death pose, so seeing him get a girl to like him was great for anyone who felt like his character deserved better.
Yamcha’s relationship with Vidro was great to see, but unfortunately, Super Dragon Ball Heroes completely ruined it. At the end of episode #50, Vidro suddenly tells Yamcha that she not only has to leave until she reaches the marrying age of her people, but that it would take 1200 years for her to do so, effectively killing their relationship. Yamcha has still had some good moments in the anime and other Dragon Ball media in recent years, but his being in a relationship could have brought a lot of change to Dragon Ball, so it’s a shame that the anime decided to walk back on it.
Yamcha’s Relationship Could Have Shaken the Status Quo
Super Dragon Ball Heroes essentially forcing Yamcha and Vidro to break up was terrible for Yamcha’s character, but at the very least, Yamcha has still had some moments to shine in recent years. Beyond his relationship with Vidro, Yamcha had a good standing in the anime’s Super Space-Time Tournament, even defeating Chilled near the end, and in Dragon Ball Super’s Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga, Yamcha defeated some of Moro’s henchmen and explicitly reminded people that he’s the third-strongest human. That doesn’t make his relationship with Vidro less of a missed opportunity, but it does slightly mitigate things by showing that Yamcha hasn’t been without his good moments in recent years.
Yamcha & Vidro’s Relationship is a Massive Missed Opportunity
The biggest issue with Super Dragon Ball Heroes not committing to Yamcha and Vidro’s relationship is that it highlights one of the biggest problems with Dragon Ball: its refusal to break the status quo. For decades, Dragon Ball has repeatedly flirted with the idea of changing up its formula with things like letting Vegeta defeat a main antagonist or, most famously, making Gohan the protagonist, but it always falls back on the same formula by the end of a story. It’s an issue that brings down the quality of a lot of story arcs, and Yamcha and Vidro’s relationship is just the latest plot point to be part of it.
As for why Dragon Ball keeps doing that, it’s likely because it makes things easier for both the creators and the audience. For the creators, it gives them a familiar formula to fall back on which, in turn, gives the audience assurance that nothing too drastic will happen to their favorite characters at the end of the day. The issue with that, of course, is that it leaves people who want to see the story and characters evolve in significant ways in the lurch, and if Super Dragon Ball Heroes’ refusal to commit to Yamcha and Vidro’s relationship is any indication, then that isn’t going to change any time soon.
Source: Screenrant.com
