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Description
Back in... I want to say 2004, I remember laying eyes on a certain DVD in I think it was a Target. It was one with an orange cover and a grey robot dynamically posing underneath the title of "Transformers: Armada". Now I was a fan of robots already thanks to my love of shows like My Life as a Teenage Robot and really just anything mechanical and so after some begging, it was picked up for me and from that point on, my life changed for I became sucked into the gigantic toy commercial/space epic about warring robots known as Transformers. Then later it'd change again when during one late night, I just had the TV on Cartoon Network and I saw an episode of Dragon Ball GT. Specifically, it was an episode of the Super 17 Saga and because at the time I didn't know what Dragon Ball was and didn't really have an interest in anime? There was a degree of confusion watching this young boy going blonde and later turning into a furry man while fighting a big dude with no eyebrows so I didn't exactly get hooked back then but it fascinated me, especially with its artstyle. Then later on, Toonami started broadcasting real late at night usually right before Adult Swim hit the uncut version of the DBZ dub which certainly caught my eye considering I was aware of Dragon Ball and that was when the craze for that series began. Since then, these two franchises I'd say have been some of the largest pillars of my childhood and adult existences. I reveled in the toys of Transformers, sought out as much info as I could on DB which has led to me reading the whole manga and tracking down some of the most obscure specials and such to watch just because I wanted to keep going. These two series made me into the dork I am today, the kind that of course would indulge in a series like Death Battle.

Created back in 2010, Death Battle is the brainchild of the late great ScrewAttack Entertainment and is hosted by Ben Singer and Chad James who play the intelligent but kind of mad scientist Wizard and the beer guzzling, gun-loving redneck named Boomstick respectively. Taking inspiration from Spike TV's Deadliest Warrior which pit various historical fighters against each other with the winner being determined by analyzing weapons, armor and skill with the result being depicted by a dramatic enactment of the battle. The concept here is basically the same except it focuses on subjects more suited for the nerdy of us. Now versus debates are nothing new, hell there's a whole forum dedicated to this stuff and even a wiki made to help analyze characters in this context though personally that I've always found boring as sin. Death Battle on the other hand has brought me loads of entertainment from the day I saw Shang Tsung vs. Akuma. I was there for a good chunk of its major milestones from when Goku vs. Superman pretty much caused the Dragon Ball fandom online to melt down faster than an ice cream being left near magma to when a cartoon fandom shouted about how a guy with a green ring shouldn't have beat a kid who can turn into different aliens. I took part in some of that and quickly moved on once I realized how dumb it was. Hell I was even inspired to write a fanfiction based on the sequel to Goku vs. Superman that aimed to take a more character-driven approach to the fight only to be repeatedly faced with people incessantly screaming that Goku should've won.

Now it's expected when you're dealing with characters who have been around for so long they've been a part of a great many childhoods that some people would take a loss or even a few mistakes in portrayals very personally but the depths people go to just because they're upset over the result of an animation involving fictional characters ranges from the mildly humorous to just plain ridiculous, especially when you see people who have been driven to the point of requesting spite-art of characters being mutilated by their preferred side and will insist that there's bias present. Bear in mind, this is all directed towards a series that's supposed to be hosted by a mad scientist and a redneck with a shotgun for a leg. Now Death Battle is not perfect, constructive criticism as long as it's actually constructive is always good. My point is that it's a shame people let anger or whatever over something like a fictional character losing take priority because it means more often than not the effort and quality is overlooked in favor of petty nonsense, petty nonsense that I myself have indulged in way too much. I've focused on far more over the years I've watched Death Battle because to be frank? I don't care who wins or loses, I'm just here for a good fight between two characters I really love or if it's not? I'm interested in learning more about a franchise I might not be familiar with which I'm almost certain to get next time considering the fight's going to be between two characters of Shonen Jump series that I've yet to indulge in. But for this one? This one is special.

When the teaser was shown at the end of Cole vs. Alex (Which was a fantastic fight in its own right.), people reacted with a resounding "Huh?" in response to this, some even being outright angered seeing this and to be fair it's not hard to see why. Dragon Ball has shown up quite a bit in DB and both have more interesting opponents with many even citing that the match-up might've been better had they used the Unicron Trilogy version of Megs since that one is more like Freeza which is fair enough. Me personally?

Look at my icon. Look at my previous posts. What do you think my response was?

This was like a dream come true for me. The kind of fight that my young child self had they heard this was gonna happen would've died of pure joy alone and then promptly would force themselves to stay alive by the power of said joy. Most people I was seeing talking about this were going on about the pointlessness of it because of how it would be a stomp or boring. Meanwhile? I thought of the barbs they would throw back at each other, how we have two tyrants who depending on how they're written can swap between being the most petty of petty brats and genuinely terrifying. I immediately thought of scenarios like Megatron transforming into a gun, Freeza picking him up confused only to have the bot through his own might force him to nearly shoot himself, Megatron throwing Freeza's "I'll show you a terror greater than Hell." at him and more. To me, this was one of those fights that just sounded like fun and as you can see from what I created here? I thought it more than lived up to this excitement and if you don't mind? Please indulge me as I say exactly why.

The analysis for both is very solid. Freeza I love that they cover his callous nature and the inspiration for his creation which comes with some very nice subtle jokes. I got a good laugh at "Refrigerator" being listed as one of his aliases, how since they were going with the more recognizable dub spelling of "Frieza" they included the manga name and even "Freezer" which of course is what his name is a play on but also it has the additional context of being what he's called in Spanish dubs which is a very nice touch along with one of his likes being listed as "grape soda" as a nod to a soda commercial for Resurrection 'F'. I also have to say I really like how they analyzed his new form, keeping the descriptions to a minimum since we don't know much about it while also making sure to not spoil the manga too heavily. Granted it's technically already spoiled by virtue of the feats but it leaves enough out about the nitty-gritty. Also the editing is really nice with some pretty cool transitions that help to keep my interest and a good balance of covering his story as well as the calculations which for the record I like by virtue of how it highlights that even some of the most normal-ass people in fiction are capable of some broken nonsense so having a huge number to note the kind of power that's being used is a treat for me.

Moving onto Megs? I love the balance they strike here, covering the character and his story with respect while also acknowledging the goofier aspects by reminding us of TF's origin as a vehicle to sell toys. I also like the approach to the analysis. See an aspect of Transformers that's always a small issue is that it is... kind of gigantic and confusing with its various continuities. Even saying you're analyzing G1 brings up a load of questions considering you could analyze the cartoon, the comics or the manga. I know people aren't exactly for DB's tendency to composite characters but personally it's a fight like this that makes me respect it. It's really there to try and get the most well-rounded look at a character's abilities which allows for a much more complete analysis but also more entertaining fights. Bear in mind, if Megs only had his toon self judged? That would mean no Panic Bubble, no additional abilities introduced in the comics, hell not even his toy blurb would've likely factored into it. I've already seen a few people mention that they could've gone into his abilities in the Legends manga, Super Megatron and so on but honestly if they incorporated every tiny bit of G1's various continuities? We'd be here for way too long, you'd get redundant powers and also abilities that really have no way of being triggered like say turning into Galvatron which happened via reformatting and if we're talking stuff like Grand Galvatron/Unicorn? I mean... have you ever looked at that thing? The Headmasters design is a joke and the more normal combiner has the torso bot meant to be Cyclonus possessed by Galvatron's spirit. Plus the Japanese G1 continuity moves in a very different, much, much weirder direction that makes a lot of it hard to connect to the main branch with the IDW comics and whatnot and considering one of their rules is they won't use content that contradicts other aspects or just is not possible to trigger without access to tools they wouldn't have normally? I think keeping it consistent with how they analyzed Prime was the right call and even so, I'm glad some of this stuff got acknowledged at least and of course it's always nice to see people who may have only ever known Megs as the bucket head schemer getting to learn about history they maybe were never privy to. I also like how by focusing on the IDW continuity it allowed them to create a contrast with Freeza by showing a guy who became evil in pursuit of justice and how eventually they tried their damnedest to make amends which really helps to sell I think the reason why these two are being pit against one another.

Then we get to the fight and this is where I need to just let myself fanboy.

This fight for all the shit-talk that's been thrown at it for being "worthless", for being "unnecessary"... is one of DB's absolute best that I've ever seen and as a fan of Dragon Ball and TF made my inner child cry with joy. For one thing, the animation is on point. It has been stunning to watch DevilArtemis quickly advance in his skills to where we've gone from the jank of fights like Batgirl vs. Spider-Gwen to what is a genuine beauty. The expression work on Megs and Freeza in particular is just excellent with there not being a single face that looks too exaggerated. Next the voice acting is top notch, LittleKuriboh as usual nails Freeza as one would expect him to and I love how for this they didn't feel like just overloading the script with TFS quotes but rather gave LK a chance to play Freeza straight which serves as a reminder why this guy is so fantastic. He can be devilishly funny but also he knows how to play Freeza as the maniacal bratty tyrant he is. As for the TF rep? Tom Schalk really deserves praise for managing a dead-on old-school G1 Megs that honestly makes me hope that Hasbro considers him for an official Megatron voice at some point. He manages to capture every aspect of the character from his lack of reaction to most of the fight from years of being in conflict and his joy in getting to pick apart what is basically a tiny lizard-like Starscream. It creates a fun dynamic between these two that in a lot of ways is similar to his interactions with Goku. Every barb that gets thrown at Megs, he no-sells and tosses right back at him with just as much venom.

And we see that right from the opener with Freeza coming right to Cybertron to conquer it which is framed in a very similar manner to Bardock's last stand in DBZ with a nice hint of Abridged Freeza being present as he can't bother to remember Cybertron's name which comes back later in an amazing way. Megatron tosses back at him that he'd rather the planet die than end up in the hands of Freeza who simply fires a Supernova in response with the Decepticon leader easily blasting it back into Freeza who is very calm as he lets the ball hit him with the next shot showing he has immediately jumped to his final form. I love this because this demonstrates the animation is portraying Freeza after all his development in the series meaning while he's still pompous and not taking Megatron that seriously, he's not exactly going to be caught off-guard by him either. One detail that especially makes the shot cool is how it incorporates a visual nod to Freeza's intro from FighterZ which for the sake of not talking about every easter egg here except for core ones? I love how this fight uses nods to the source material and aspects of both franchises to enhance the experience and not overwhelm it. A fair criticism that has been lobbed at Death Battle is that on occasion the fight animation's writing can feel like it's more pandering with the references instead of making them work with the animation. One of the examples of this is another Dragon Ball fight which is Vegeta vs. Thor where Vegeta and Thor at points despite having voice actors might as well have been using voice clips at points because of how most of their dialogue was just quips from the movies or in Vegeta's case Abridged even when it didn't necessarily fit the moment. Here, the references are perfect, worked in mostly in subtle ways in terms of camera movements, framing and sound design. For example, right after Freeza enters his final form and fires a Death Wave at Megatron, as soon as he puts up his shield and watches as it hits the planet, he immediately charges up his Fusion Cannon with the sound used for this and every charged shot being the sound his cannon had from the Bay films which I missed on my first viewing but upon noticing it I had a big stupid smile it was such a nice touch. In fact, the sound design in general here is very strong with every sound effect having just the right amount of impact and of course there's the music.

Final Formers is a wonderful tribute to both series and a phenomenal contrast to the theme of Optimus vs. Gundam, Wings of Iron which was intentionally done to pay tribute to the kinds of cheesy 80s ballads that artists like Stan Bush would put out. This on the other hand goes all in on the intense hard rock which brings me Transformers: Devastation vibes and of course reminds me of various Dragon Ball tracks from both the franchise and Death Battle's past with lyrics that are catchy to listen to and pay tribute to the stories of both characters as well as a track Brandon Yates did for this match-up prior to the episode being made. Moving on from the Death Wave, we get some great choreography where Megatron highlights how while indeed he's got a slower body he more than makes up for it with his tools such as when he traps Freeza in the Panic Bubble to land a vicious punch which comes complete with the line "My wits should more than suffice, you blithering ponce!" which I love for how raw it is. After that we get some fun long range combat where Megatron bats away Death Beams with his mace before turning the Energon into his shield followed up by it becoming the mace again before Megs fires the Energon spike ball at Freeza which is so insanely cool and is something I would love to see implemented in proper TF canon one day. Then Megatron gets off another lucky hit on Freeza and starts unloading cannon blasts while cackling maniacally which brings to mind a tiny bit of when Vegeta would often engage in very similar actions or even Freeza himself. Speaking of which, the man quickly gets the upper hand by ensnaring Megs in a ball of energy and flinging him towards the planet while the music gets into the chant of "DIE! DIE! WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!" which is perfect to highlight through song Freeza's growing frustration.

Then afterwards we get a great shot of the explosion created on Cybertron as Freeza now looks for his missing opponent before finding a lone grey tank which charges up a massive purple energy blast. Immediately, Freeza works to hold it back and ends up being pushed into the sky as the music shifts into referencing his Golden form's theme as we get a shot-for-shot recreation of his transformation from episode 95 of Super which looks awesome! Again, massive props to DevilArtemis, he nailed it here. We then follow that up with him striking the iconic Freeza pose before charging up a massive Death Ball with his spirits being significantly brighter. However, despite facing what could definitely be his planet's doom, Megatron isn't fazed. He simply turns his turret behind him, fires off a blast that flings him through the air with him transforming, laughing proudly while he fires a blast at the Death Ball which brings to mind once again Bardock's final stand against Freeza. However this doesn't end well as Freeza simply flicks his fingers and thus the ball pushes him into the planet, dealing a fatal blow to the mechanical world with us getting a gorgeous shot of the raw Energon being exposed as Freeza gloats and speculates that this is likely going to take three or five minutes to completely blow up which is a humorous nod to that famous Dragon Ball joke that Megs is not really keen on laughing at as he fires off eyebeams at Freeza which he easily counters. Then, as the antimatter starts pouring out of him with some truly gorgeous 2D effects, Megatron cackles as we get to my favorite scene of this whole fight with this chilling speech:

"Behold the mighty Lord Frieza, ruler of a dying planet, my planet. Where is your army? Where is your ship? So powerful, and yet you will wander the depths of space for eternity, all because of me! What a fool."

And it is at this point we finally see Black Freeza which overall is perfect because in a way with how the fight has played out? It's echoing Freeza's arc from Dragon Ball and primarily what led him to Black Freeza. In Resurrection 'F', there's a scene at one point where Vegeta calls out Freeza's whole plan which he deduced as he watched him fight Goku which was that as soon as he got the Golden form, he rushed to Earth without much in the way of planning and without refining his form because egotistically, he thought he could win with just that form. He picked the color of gold to mock Super Saiyan and was fully prepared to take his spot at the top once again. When we later see him in his new form during the Granolah Saga? There's a stark contrast with how this was unveiled versus when he unveiled Golden Freeza since he makes it clear he took the words of Goku and Vegeta seriously and thus took advantage of another dimension to truly refine himself into a force that is deadset on returning to the top of the food chain and taking vengeance on all who stand in his way. That's the deal here, starting out Freeza showcases little more than amusement at Megatron trying to stand against him followed up by increasing annoyance over his continued and for the most part successful attempts at repelling him. Then he goes Golden and he's back to being smug because he truly thinks he has cemented himself as being the superior being over this lower lifeform... but then Megatron gets right under his skin.

Even in the face of his end, Megs is defiant and manages to turn Freeza's victory into a failure by pointing out how he failed to get Cybertron. When Megatron said he'd rather have the planet turn to ash than have it fall into Freeza's filthy hands? He meant it and now? Freeza's realizing he has wasted his time and thus, the fun times are over, he loses the attitude and moves to end things quickly. But Megatron simply tells him to die a fool's death as the antimatter surrounds him which gives us an excellent callback to how Goku beat Freeza by having him adopt the same pose he took when Goku blasted him which really helps to sell this fake-out. Then we get the reveal of Megatron laughing before he gets bisected by the Death Saucer which is fired by Freeza who is now left in the same condition that he once was in on Namek, nothing more than a torso, head and arm and fitting for that callback? He tells Megatron that he will die by his hand and fires a blast at him, prompting Megatron to call out "You fool!" which completes the rule of three and also in a way can serve two purposes as both Megatron's last ditch effort to kill Freeza but also him throwing out one last barb since that blast for sure will destroy the planet, meaning Freeza is simply accelerating his inevitable failure. But with that blast, Megs dies along with Cybertron with Freeza being left in the middle of the explosion seething with fury as he lets out a final declaration.

"Cybertronians... must... kill them all."

Which is the perfect way to conclude this fight. At the beginning, Freeza could not be bothered to remember the name of Cybertron but through his efforts, Megatron not only denied Freeza the pleasure of ruling over his home but also he forced him to recognize the Cybertronians as a force to be reckoned with. Fitting with the Harvey Dent quote used at the beginning of Megs's analysis, Megs may have lived long enough to see himself become the villain but he died here a hero.

The ending analysis is kind of one that was expected, basically saying Megatron had loads more experience and was smarter but that Freeza was much more powerful, had several counters and was way faster which for me works for the purposes of this video but I don't care about that and if you've been paying attention to me for many of my posts? I've never cared about that... and it saddens me to see so much effort ultimately being ignored by people for the virtue of arguing about meaningless stuff like how Megatron should've been given certain powers or that it's "unnecessary" because everyone knew Freeza would win... honestly pisses me off.

Because this is honestly one of the most pointless subjects to argue about, especially when ignoring all the effort put into it. Like as I laid out in my runthrough of the fight? This felt like it was made with reverence for both franchises. We've come such a long way from DB having fights that portray characters as being either assholes or like dumbasses with us just needing to accept it because the fight is just a visual representation of the research and more entertainment. A few times now, they've used the animation to tell a mini-story which granted considering it has to end in a battle to the death isn't the richest thing in the world but still, it's amazing to see. It really shows how DB has become more than just a Deadliest Warrior knockoff and has carved out its own place in the web entertainment realm and to me? That's awesome.

I'll say again what I said all that time back in one of my unpopular opinions posts. If we just enjoyed the fights for what they were and stopped putting so much stock into pointless heated debates when it comes to stuff like DB? We'd be much better off. Because at the end of the day? This is all just for entertainment. Research goes into it yes but unlike real fights that you wind up betting money on, there's nothing to win or lose here aside from just watching a fictional character get their shit rocked which in of itself can be possibly anger-inducing and/or sad but... I'm sorry but did we all just forget that this is ultimately fanfiction anyway or in other words it can never under any circumstance actually be canon unless both of the original creators actually agree on it being so? Like who cares if Megatron lost? Who cares if they didn't composit the Japanese continuity? None of this shit matters, it's all entertainment. It's all in good fun.

Like through a combined effort over the course of two weeks, we got to see an epic, well-animated crossover between Dragon Ball and Transformers, one that DevilArtemis, the writers and more poured blood, sweat and tears into making a fantastic celebration of both franchises and yet like fucking clockwork they have to endure harassment and whining. You know what? Fuck that shit. It can be devoured by Unicron. I hope to NEVER be that incapable of joy that I can't look at something like this and not enjoy the ride.

Hell, you want to know what my criticisms are? I personally wished that maybe the fight was longer, that Megatron could've used Starscream as a Cybertronian shield or see him fly off when Freeza turns up and that the gag I imagined of gun mode Megs could've been seen but you know what? Those are nitpicks at best and personally I don't judge something based on nitpicks and when it's paired up with such an overwhelming sense of enjoyment.

There we go. That's my review of Freeza vs. Megatron. All in all, it is another kickass effort by the Death Battle team and I'm definitely even more eagerly anticipating the next fight after watching this. This satisfied my love of Dragon Ball and TF to a degree I didn't even know was possible. Thank you all for reading, I hope you have a good night.

Description
Back in... I want to say 2004, I remember laying eyes on a certain DVD in I think it was a Target. It was one with an orange cover and a grey robot dynamically posing underneath the title of "Transformers: Armada". Now I was a fan of robots already thanks to my love of shows like My Life as a Teenage Robot and really just anything mechanical and so after some begging, it was picked up for me and from that point on, my life changed for I became sucked into the gigantic toy commercial/space epic about warring robots known as Transformers. Then later it'd change again when during one late night, I just had the TV on Cartoon Network and I saw an episode of Dragon Ball GT. Specifically, it was an episode of the Super 17 Saga and because at the time I didn't know what Dragon Ball was and didn't really have an interest in anime? There was a degree of confusion watching this young boy going blonde and later turning into a furry man while fighting a big dude with no eyebrows so I didn't exactly get hooked back then but it fascinated me, especially with its artstyle. Then later on, Toonami started broadcasting real late at night usually right before Adult Swim hit the uncut version of the DBZ dub which certainly caught my eye considering I was aware of Dragon Ball and that was when the craze for that series began. Since then, these two franchises I'd say have been some of the largest pillars of my childhood and adult existences. I reveled in the toys of Transformers, sought out as much info as I could on DB which has led to me reading the whole manga and tracking down some of the most obscure specials and such to watch just because I wanted to keep going. These two series made me into the dork I am today, the kind that of course would indulge in a series like Death Battle.

Created back in 2010, Death Battle is the brainchild of the late great ScrewAttack Entertainment and is hosted by Ben Singer and Chad James who play the intelligent but kind of mad scientist Wizard and the beer guzzling, gun-loving redneck named Boomstick respectively. Taking inspiration from Spike TV's Deadliest Warrior which pit various historical fighters against each other with the winner being determined by analyzing weapons, armor and skill with the result being depicted by a dramatic enactment of the battle. The concept here is basically the same except it focuses on subjects more suited for the nerdy of us. Now versus debates are nothing new, hell there's a whole forum dedicated to this stuff and even a wiki made to help analyze characters in this context though personally that I've always found boring as sin. Death Battle on the other hand has brought me loads of entertainment from the day I saw Shang Tsung vs. Akuma. I was there for a good chunk of its major milestones from when Goku vs. Superman pretty much caused the Dragon Ball fandom online to melt down faster than an ice cream being left near magma to when a cartoon fandom shouted about how a guy with a green ring shouldn't have beat a kid who can turn into different aliens. I took part in some of that and quickly moved on once I realized how dumb it was. Hell I was even inspired to write a fanfiction based on the sequel to Goku vs. Superman that aimed to take a more character-driven approach to the fight only to be repeatedly faced with people incessantly screaming that Goku should've won.

Now it's expected when you're dealing with characters who have been around for so long they've been a part of a great many childhoods that some people would take a loss or even a few mistakes in portrayals very personally but the depths people go to just because they're upset over the result of an animation involving fictional characters ranges from the mildly humorous to just plain ridiculous, especially when you see people who have been driven to the point of requesting spite-art of characters being mutilated by their preferred side and will insist that there's bias present. Bear in mind, this is all directed towards a series that's supposed to be hosted by a mad scientist and a redneck with a shotgun for a leg. Now Death Battle is not perfect, constructive criticism as long as it's actually constructive is always good. My point is that it's a shame people let anger or whatever over something like a fictional character losing take priority because it means more often than not the effort and quality is overlooked in favor of petty nonsense, petty nonsense that I myself have indulged in way too much. I've focused on far more over the years I've watched Death Battle because to be frank? I don't care who wins or loses, I'm just here for a good fight between two characters I really love or if it's not? I'm interested in learning more about a franchise I might not be familiar with which I'm almost certain to get next time considering the fight's going to be between two characters of Shonen Jump series that I've yet to indulge in. But for this one? This one is special.

When the teaser was shown at the end of Cole vs. Alex (Which was a fantastic fight in its own right.), people reacted with a resounding "Huh?" in response to this, some even being outright angered seeing this and to be fair it's not hard to see why. Dragon Ball has shown up quite a bit in DB and both have more interesting opponents with many even citing that the match-up might've been better had they used the Unicron Trilogy version of Megs since that one is more like Freeza which is fair enough. Me personally?

Look at my icon. Look at my previous posts. What do you think my response was?

This was like a dream come true for me. The kind of fight that my young child self had they heard this was gonna happen would've died of pure joy alone and then promptly would force themselves to stay alive by the power of said joy. Most people I was seeing talking about this were going on about the pointlessness of it because of how it would be a stomp or boring. Meanwhile? I thought of the barbs they would throw back at each other, how we have two tyrants who depending on how they're written can swap between being the most petty of petty brats and genuinely terrifying. I immediately thought of scenarios like Megatron transforming into a gun, Freeza picking him up confused only to have the bot through his own might force him to nearly shoot himself, Megatron throwing Freeza's "I'll show you a terror greater than Hell." at him and more. To me, this was one of those fights that just sounded like fun and as you can see from what I created here? I thought it more than lived up to this excitement and if you don't mind? Please indulge me as I say exactly why.

The analysis for both is very solid. Freeza I love that they cover his callous nature and the inspiration for his creation which comes with some very nice subtle jokes. I got a good laugh at "Refrigerator" being listed as one of his aliases, how since they were going with the more recognizable dub spelling of "Frieza" they included the manga name and even "Freezer" which of course is what his name is a play on but also it has the additional context of being what he's called in Spanish dubs which is a very nice touch along with one of his likes being listed as "grape soda" as a nod to a soda commercial for Resurrection 'F'. I also have to say I really like how they analyzed his new form, keeping the descriptions to a minimum since we don't know much about it while also making sure to not spoil the manga too heavily. Granted it's technically already spoiled by virtue of the feats but it leaves enough out about the nitty-gritty. Also the editing is really nice with some pretty cool transitions that help to keep my interest and a good balance of covering his story as well as the calculations which for the record I like by virtue of how it highlights that even some of the most normal-ass people in fiction are capable of some broken nonsense so having a huge number to note the kind of power that's being used is a treat for me.

Moving onto Megs? I love the balance they strike here, covering the character and his story with respect while also acknowledging the goofier aspects by reminding us of TF's origin as a vehicle to sell toys. I also like the approach to the analysis. See an aspect of Transformers that's always a small issue is that it is... kind of gigantic and confusing with its various continuities. Even saying you're analyzing G1 brings up a load of questions considering you could analyze the cartoon, the comics or the manga. I know people aren't exactly for DB's tendency to composite characters but personally it's a fight like this that makes me respect it. It's really there to try and get the most well-rounded look at a character's abilities which allows for a much more complete analysis but also more entertaining fights. Bear in mind, if Megs only had his toon self judged? That would mean no Panic Bubble, no additional abilities introduced in the comics, hell not even his toy blurb would've likely factored into it. I've already seen a few people mention that they could've gone into his abilities in the Legends manga, Super Megatron and so on but honestly if they incorporated every tiny bit of G1's various continuities? We'd be here for way too long, you'd get redundant powers and also abilities that really have no way of being triggered like say turning into Galvatron which happened via reformatting and if we're talking stuff like Grand Galvatron/Unicorn? I mean... have you ever looked at that thing? The Headmasters design is a joke and the more normal combiner has the torso bot meant to be Cyclonus possessed by Galvatron's spirit. Plus the Japanese G1 continuity moves in a very different, much, much weirder direction that makes a lot of it hard to connect to the main branch with the IDW comics and whatnot and considering one of their rules is they won't use content that contradicts other aspects or just is not possible to trigger without access to tools they wouldn't have normally? I think keeping it consistent with how they analyzed Prime was the right call and even so, I'm glad some of this stuff got acknowledged at least and of course it's always nice to see people who may have only ever known Megs as the bucket head schemer getting to learn about history they maybe were never privy to. I also like how by focusing on the IDW continuity it allowed them to create a contrast with Freeza by showing a guy who became evil in pursuit of justice and how eventually they tried their damnedest to make amends which really helps to sell I think the reason why these two are being pit against one another.

Then we get to the fight and this is where I need to just let myself fanboy.

This fight for all the shit-talk that's been thrown at it for being "worthless", for being "unnecessary"... is one of DB's absolute best that I've ever seen and as a fan of Dragon Ball and TF made my inner child cry with joy. For one thing, the animation is on point. It has been stunning to watch DevilArtemis quickly advance in his skills to where we've gone from the jank of fights like Batgirl vs. Spider-Gwen to what is a genuine beauty. The expression work on Megs and Freeza in particular is just excellent with there not being a single face that looks too exaggerated. Next the voice acting is top notch, LittleKuriboh as usual nails Freeza as one would expect him to and I love how for this they didn't feel like just overloading the script with TFS quotes but rather gave LK a chance to play Freeza straight which serves as a reminder why this guy is so fantastic. He can be devilishly funny but also he knows how to play Freeza as the maniacal bratty tyrant he is. As for the TF rep? Tom Schalk really deserves praise for managing a dead-on old-school G1 Megs that honestly makes me hope that Hasbro considers him for an official Megatron voice at some point. He manages to capture every aspect of the character from his lack of reaction to most of the fight from years of being in conflict and his joy in getting to pick apart what is basically a tiny lizard-like Starscream. It creates a fun dynamic between these two that in a lot of ways is similar to his interactions with Goku. Every barb that gets thrown at Megs, he no-sells and tosses right back at him with just as much venom.

And we see that right from the opener with Freeza coming right to Cybertron to conquer it which is framed in a very similar manner to Bardock's last stand in DBZ with a nice hint of Abridged Freeza being present as he can't bother to remember Cybertron's name which comes back later in an amazing way. Megatron tosses back at him that he'd rather the planet die than end up in the hands of Freeza who simply fires a Supernova in response with the Decepticon leader easily blasting it back into Freeza who is very calm as he lets the ball hit him with the next shot showing he has immediately jumped to his final form. I love this because this demonstrates the animation is portraying Freeza after all his development in the series meaning while he's still pompous and not taking Megatron that seriously, he's not exactly going to be caught off-guard by him either. One detail that especially makes the shot cool is how it incorporates a visual nod to Freeza's intro from FighterZ which for the sake of not talking about every easter egg here except for core ones? I love how this fight uses nods to the source material and aspects of both franchises to enhance the experience and not overwhelm it. A fair criticism that has been lobbed at Death Battle is that on occasion the fight animation's writing can feel like it's more pandering with the references instead of making them work with the animation. One of the examples of this is another Dragon Ball fight which is Vegeta vs. Thor where Vegeta and Thor at points despite having voice actors might as well have been using voice clips at points because of how most of their dialogue was just quips from the movies or in Vegeta's case Abridged even when it didn't necessarily fit the moment. Here, the references are perfect, worked in mostly in subtle ways in terms of camera movements, framing and sound design. For example, right after Freeza enters his final form and fires a Death Wave at Megatron, as soon as he puts up his shield and watches as it hits the planet, he immediately charges up his Fusion Cannon with the sound used for this and every charged shot being the sound his cannon had from the Bay films which I missed on my first viewing but upon noticing it I had a big stupid smile it was such a nice touch. In fact, the sound design in general here is very strong with every sound effect having just the right amount of impact and of course there's the music.

Final Formers is a wonderful tribute to both series and a phenomenal contrast to the theme of Optimus vs. Gundam, Wings of Iron which was intentionally done to pay tribute to the kinds of cheesy 80s ballads that artists like Stan Bush would put out. This on the other hand goes all in on the intense hard rock which brings me Transformers: Devastation vibes and of course reminds me of various Dragon Ball tracks from both the franchise and Death Battle's past with lyrics that are catchy to listen to and pay tribute to the stories of both characters as well as a track Brandon Yates did for this match-up prior to the episode being made. Moving on from the Death Wave, we get some great choreography where Megatron highlights how while indeed he's got a slower body he more than makes up for it with his tools such as when he traps Freeza in the Panic Bubble to land a vicious punch which comes complete with the line "My wits should more than suffice, you blithering ponce!" which I love for how raw it is. After that we get some fun long range combat where Megatron bats away Death Beams with his mace before turning the Energon into his shield followed up by it becoming the mace again before Megs fires the Energon spike ball at Freeza which is so insanely cool and is something I would love to see implemented in proper TF canon one day. Then Megatron gets off another lucky hit on Freeza and starts unloading cannon blasts while cackling maniacally which brings to mind a tiny bit of when Vegeta would often engage in very similar actions or even Freeza himself. Speaking of which, the man quickly gets the upper hand by ensnaring Megs in a ball of energy and flinging him towards the planet while the music gets into the chant of "DIE! DIE! WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!" which is perfect to highlight through song Freeza's growing frustration.

Then afterwards we get a great shot of the explosion created on Cybertron as Freeza now looks for his missing opponent before finding a lone grey tank which charges up a massive purple energy blast. Immediately, Freeza works to hold it back and ends up being pushed into the sky as the music shifts into referencing his Golden form's theme as we get a shot-for-shot recreation of his transformation from episode 95 of Super which looks awesome! Again, massive props to DevilArtemis, he nailed it here. We then follow that up with him striking the iconic Freeza pose before charging up a massive Death Ball with his spirits being significantly brighter. However, despite facing what could definitely be his planet's doom, Megatron isn't fazed. He simply turns his turret behind him, fires off a blast that flings him through the air with him transforming, laughing proudly while he fires a blast at the Death Ball which brings to mind once again Bardock's final stand against Freeza. However this doesn't end well as Freeza simply flicks his fingers and thus the ball pushes him into the planet, dealing a fatal blow to the mechanical world with us getting a gorgeous shot of the raw Energon being exposed as Freeza gloats and speculates that this is likely going to take three or five minutes to completely blow up which is a humorous nod to that famous Dragon Ball joke that Megs is not really keen on laughing at as he fires off eyebeams at Freeza which he easily counters. Then, as the antimatter starts pouring out of him with some truly gorgeous 2D effects, Megatron cackles as we get to my favorite scene of this whole fight with this chilling speech:

"Behold the mighty Lord Frieza, ruler of a dying planet, my planet. Where is your army? Where is your ship? So powerful, and yet you will wander the depths of space for eternity, all because of me! What a fool."

And it is at this point we finally see Black Freeza which overall is perfect because in a way with how the fight has played out? It's echoing Freeza's arc from Dragon Ball and primarily what led him to Black Freeza. In Resurrection 'F', there's a scene at one point where Vegeta calls out Freeza's whole plan which he deduced as he watched him fight Goku which was that as soon as he got the Golden form, he rushed to Earth without much in the way of planning and without refining his form because egotistically, he thought he could win with just that form. He picked the color of gold to mock Super Saiyan and was fully prepared to take his spot at the top once again. When we later see him in his new form during the Granolah Saga? There's a stark contrast with how this was unveiled versus when he unveiled Golden Freeza since he makes it clear he took the words of Goku and Vegeta seriously and thus took advantage of another dimension to truly refine himself into a force that is deadset on returning to the top of the food chain and taking vengeance on all who stand in his way. That's the deal here, starting out Freeza showcases little more than amusement at Megatron trying to stand against him followed up by increasing annoyance over his continued and for the most part successful attempts at repelling him. Then he goes Golden and he's back to being smug because he truly thinks he has cemented himself as being the superior being over this lower lifeform... but then Megatron gets right under his skin.

Even in the face of his end, Megs is defiant and manages to turn Freeza's victory into a failure by pointing out how he failed to get Cybertron. When Megatron said he'd rather have the planet turn to ash than have it fall into Freeza's filthy hands? He meant it and now? Freeza's realizing he has wasted his time and thus, the fun times are over, he loses the attitude and moves to end things quickly. But Megatron simply tells him to die a fool's death as the antimatter surrounds him which gives us an excellent callback to how Goku beat Freeza by having him adopt the same pose he took when Goku blasted him which really helps to sell this fake-out. Then we get the reveal of Megatron laughing before he gets bisected by the Death Saucer which is fired by Freeza who is now left in the same condition that he once was in on Namek, nothing more than a torso, head and arm and fitting for that callback? He tells Megatron that he will die by his hand and fires a blast at him, prompting Megatron to call out "You fool!" which completes the rule of three and also in a way can serve two purposes as both Megatron's last ditch effort to kill Freeza but also him throwing out one last barb since that blast for sure will destroy the planet, meaning Freeza is simply accelerating his inevitable failure. But with that blast, Megs dies along with Cybertron with Freeza being left in the middle of the explosion seething with fury as he lets out a final declaration.

"Cybertronians... must... kill them all."

Which is the perfect way to conclude this fight. At the beginning, Freeza could not be bothered to remember the name of Cybertron but through his efforts, Megatron not only denied Freeza the pleasure of ruling over his home but also he forced him to recognize the Cybertronians as a force to be reckoned with. Fitting with the Harvey Dent quote used at the beginning of Megs's analysis, Megs may have lived long enough to see himself become the villain but he died here a hero.

The ending analysis is kind of one that was expected, basically saying Megatron had loads more experience and was smarter but that Freeza was much more powerful, had several counters and was way faster which for me works for the purposes of this video but I don't care about that and if you've been paying attention to me for many of my posts? I've never cared about that... and it saddens me to see so much effort ultimately being ignored by people for the virtue of arguing about meaningless stuff like how Megatron should've been given certain powers or that it's "unnecessary" because everyone knew Freeza would win... honestly pisses me off.

Because this is honestly one of the most pointless subjects to argue about, especially when ignoring all the effort put into it. Like as I laid out in my runthrough of the fight? This felt like it was made with reverence for both franchises. We've come such a long way from DB having fights that portray characters as being either assholes or like dumbasses with us just needing to accept it because the fight is just a visual representation of the research and more entertainment. A few times now, they've used the animation to tell a mini-story which granted considering it has to end in a battle to the death isn't the richest thing in the world but still, it's amazing to see. It really shows how DB has become more than just a Deadliest Warrior knockoff and has carved out its own place in the web entertainment realm and to me? That's awesome.

I'll say again what I said all that time back in one of my unpopular opinions posts. If we just enjoyed the fights for what they were and stopped putting so much stock into pointless heated debates when it comes to stuff like DB? We'd be much better off. Because at the end of the day? This is all just for entertainment. Research goes into it yes but unlike real fights that you wind up betting money on, there's nothing to win or lose here aside from just watching a fictional character get their shit rocked which in of itself can be possibly anger-inducing and/or sad but... I'm sorry but did we all just forget that this is ultimately fanfiction anyway or in other words it can never under any circumstance actually be canon unless both of the original creators actually agree on it being so? Like who cares if Megatron lost? Who cares if they didn't composit the Japanese continuity? None of this shit matters, it's all entertainment. It's all in good fun.

Like through a combined effort over the course of two weeks, we got to see an epic, well-animated crossover between Dragon Ball and Transformers, one that DevilArtemis, the writers and more poured blood, sweat and tears into making a fantastic celebration of both franchises and yet like fucking clockwork they have to endure harassment and whining. You know what? Fuck that shit. It can be devoured by Unicron. I hope to NEVER be that incapable of joy that I can't look at something like this and not enjoy the ride.

Hell, you want to know what my criticisms are? I personally wished that maybe the fight was longer, that Megatron could've used Starscream as a Cybertronian shield or see him fly off when Freeza turns up and that the gag I imagined of gun mode Megs could've been seen but you know what? Those are nitpicks at best and personally I don't judge something based on nitpicks and when it's paired up with such an overwhelming sense of enjoyment.

There we go. That's my review of Freeza vs. Megatron. All in all, it is another kickass effort by the Death Battle team and I'm definitely even more eagerly anticipating the next fight after watching this. This satisfied my love of Dragon Ball and TF to a degree I didn't even know was possible. Thank you all for reading, I hope you have a good night.