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Sometimes I feel like I do what I do because I like pissing people off even though I more prefer getting along with people. So if you've been following me either since I started this account or my previous, you know I've been pretty outspoken in terms of my opinions on Dragon Ball with quite possibly one of my more notable hot takes being that while I really enjoy the god forms and most specifically SSG? I have basically the exact opposite opinion of SS4 and have consistently called it "overrated garbage" or some variation of that term and on my old account, I even had a post where I went through the factors of what makes a good transformation versus a bad one and showed my examples of good official and unofficial forms and the opposites of those and honestly of the many old outdated posts of my old accounts that I would love to just toss into the fires and have them scorched to cinders? That was one of the few I was genuinely kind of proud of and so I want to revisit that a little with this topic. Now before we begin, of course it should be made clear that if you disagree with any of this? That's perfectly okay, we're talking Dragon Ball here, not politics and there are things in this world ultimately more important and fulfilling than getting angry about what one dude has to say about a buff hairy monkey man and how he compares to a significantly less buff and less hairy monkey man. The only thing I ask is that you please in the comments be civil and try to converse like an adult, despite what you might've heard? Just declaring someone to be wrong or hurling insults at them is not a way to make a valid argument, it's a way to catch a block.

Though speaking of arguments? There is one I want to address and get right out of the way because it consistently always comes up whenever SSG or any of the Super forms are mentioned and that's "SS4 has a super unique design meanwhile SSG is just a recolor.". Now before I bring up my disagreements? I'm gonna play a little Devil's Advocate because I at least see where they're coming from. Just comparing the two directly, SS4 definitely has a very striking look with the pinkish red fur, the wild hair, the eyeliner, there's a reason why people can immediately recognize this upon looking at it whereas SSG's look is significantly simpler and yes doesn't look too different from base form. SS4 at the very least is a clear change from the previous forms versus SSG... except the same is also true for SSG. The thing about the recolor argument to me is that for the most part, it's a very surface-level argument that you get the moment you take one look at Goku's base design and then you look at SSG. People just zero in on the hair, go "Hey that's just base Goku's hair but in a pinkish red instead of black." and then leave it at that without really paying attention to the other parts of the form that make it distinct from base... which there are a lot of. The physical build is completely different, the hair doesn't have those thin strands, Goku's face looks different and then there's of course the aura which is completely unlike his base form and really every other Super Saiyan form.

Also if we're really going to go down the route of the recolor argument? I feel we should point out that recolored forms have been nothing new for not just this series but anime and manga in general. For example, Vegeta in Super Saiyan is basically just regular Vegeta with golden hair or in the case of the manga? It's Vegeta without inked in hair. Same goes for Super Saiyan 2 where aside from a few more lines to accentuate it being a bit more spiky? It's still the same as it always has been. Gohan's hair is the same deal with even the one time it was different with Super Saiyan 2 during the Cell Saga winding up as being just the same during the Boo Saga. This also applies to Goku to a degree whose Super Saiyan hair is just naturally how his hair looks when blowing in the wind but now it's constant and its golden and we've seen it before with the Kaioken x10. Super Saiyan 2? Basically just that but with changes to the bangs that are so negligible that it's no wonder that animators have often messed up and pulled out the wrong sheet. Hell, this is how people in fan projects chose to demonstrate certain characters going Super Saiyan with Raditz and Nappa just getting golden hair because there's nothing you really can do with them and while we're at it? This kind of applies even to SS4. Goku? He gets a unique hairstyle. Vegeta? Just his hair but now with more that sticks out of the bottom and drapes over his back. Gohan? Same deal. Broly, same deal. Even the fur is like this with Goku getting a unique color but then from Vegeta onward it's the same shade of red. Granted some of these aren't recolors but the point has been made, Dragon Ball as a franchise tends to lean towards simplicity for its transformations which SSG follows pretty much to the letter. Now you may argue that this doesn't really matter because many of the forms I listed are clear physical deviations from base when SSG isn't which... just isn't true if you honestly look at base and SSG side-by-side where you'll see that difference in the lean build I was talking about and since this is mainly about why I like one form over the other? This personally works for me more than SS4.

To me, when designing forms for Dragon Ball characters, the type of character they are should play a part in the design of that form so that aesthetically, you can take one look at it and see how it fits for that character. Goku for instance is a martial artist and therefore? His best forms to me are best when they lean towards being lean, sleek and striking a balance between looking physically imposing but also like he can really move. A problem I have with SS4 in most of the incarnations of it is that to me it doesn't really match up with that aesthetic. It's big and buff... but it really doesn't suit Goku, it just kind of looks like he's wearing an inflated muscle suit. I like that SSG brings things back to that martial artist physique by slimming things down. I take one look at this Goku and I see a guy who looks like he can zip across the battlefield with ease and bob and weave through strikes without much of a care whereas SS4 just kind of looks like it's trying too hard to impress which brings me to the design and to be fair, indeed SS4 is unique for Dragon Ball forms and I get what they were going for in making the ultimate transformation by hearkening back to the very first transformation of the whole series. The thing is? Just because something is unique doesn't automatically make it good, it just means its unique and while I can give SS4 that? Design-wise this thing to me misses so many marks on what makes a Dragon Ball transformation work to me. In particular, I think the problem I have is that while the general color layout is fine? It has a decent base design that keeps tacking on unnecessary details. Like for instance the fur. If it was the Oozaru brown? A fine color scheme that allows for the callback to that form... but the bright magenta fur is so unnecessary and to me kind of throws everything off. The eyes and how they are is also fine... but the eyeliner really seems like it's there for the sake of a change. It especially is odd to me because while I know it's supposed to represent the Oozaru eye? I wonder why they didn't consider the much simpler idea of just coloring Goku's eye red to match that. Then there's the hair which is to me the best part of this but it's when paired with everything else it becomes a problem. I get the point of the hair is to be wild with hints of the base hair's DNA and when I look closely? I can certainly see that... but the problem with Goku's hair in this state is that it's just a near unreadable blob of black that's just slapped on this design's head. Honestly if you ask me? Gogeta's hairstyle oddly works better for Goku since while seeming to be the same at first? It better represents Goku's general hairstyle on top of having elements of his Super Saiyan design which leads me to a problem that may seem silly to you but is a thing for me. This... does not look like a Super Saiyan form. Honestly even calling it SS4 seems like a bizarre stretch because there's nothing that really connects this form back to the classic Super Saiyan line of transformations. I mean sure there's the Oozaru connection and considering the anime canon does have that visual of a golden Oozaru to go with Vegeta's recollection of the legend, the connection is even stronger... but here's the thing about that visual.

That's not a flashback, that's a visual representation so that what Vegeta is saying has more weight to it since otherwise it's just him recounting what he heard meaning the original Super Saiyan was not a big golden Oozaru and therefore there still is no connection between the two forms and then there's the case of the original manga where there is no such creature which means it's completely inconsequential. To better highlight this, I decided to search for redesigns of this form and I came across this take by artist sandysmind on what this form could look like if brought into Super and... honestly she managed to somehow address just about every issue SS4 had and bring it in line with both the original intent of the old form while giving it added connections to something Super: Broly introduced.

As for SSG? I like how sleek this form is, the colors to me pop and in particular, I really like how they aimed for something that visually looks calmer but still powerful than something bulbous and overmuscled. The thing about Toriyama's design philosophy is that he tends to go for designs that are much simpler and more streamlined over being complex and detailed. The reason SS4 misses the mark along with by extension tons of fan designs and redesigns of the God forms is they put way too much emphasis on there needing to be extreme visual changes, rule of cool and the idea that it needs to match the name which... it really doesn't. Super Saiyan God for as official as it is we forget is just the name that was chosen by the Saiyans and Beerus to refer to this form... and the name was mocked in-universe as being kind of tacky and overblown. It's called Super Saiyan God because of its similarities to the Super Saiyan legend and the fact that apparently through this ritual, the original Saiyan who did this entered the realm of the gods which brings me to a note on the wording used in Battle of Gods. Consistently, Goku refers to SSG as being a whole other world he couldn't reach on his own and not a level of power which adds to the idea that this form is supposed to be incredibly different in design and feel to regular SS transformations which at that point had gotten... kind of nuts with how the designs were which means in order to be different? One kind of has to go backwards and simplify the design because otherwise it's just gonna be another transformation like what the initial designs were and... honestly at this point if you're gonna have these forms make an impact? There needs to be more than just long hair and big muscles and personally as I've stated before? I hate that aesthetic when it comes to martial artists. It's like when you see things like the muscle Power Ranger suits that come around almost every Halloween, it looks incredibly ridiculous and clashes with the whole point and so I think SSG was honestly a welcome break from the mold of the typical Dragon Ball transformations, especially since this wasn't like say Beast or Gogeta where the moment its accessed, it just becomes a curbstomp because the point is to just be badass, it's supposed to be a small snippet of power to show that Goku isn't done yet and that he still has more to learn. I also love that this form has more to offer than just the design, especially in regards to the deeper meanings surrounding the choice of color and also with its design being more subdued, it's kind of in a way tapping into how portrayals of gods in media tend to have them as being appearance-wise not to distinguishable from us mortals until you take a closer look and you notice there's just something about them that seems powerful.

And speaking of powerful? Dear lord I've been a broken record on this so I'm gonna try not to drag this out for too long but while I will grant SS4 that at the very least it gets more usage compared to the sporadic use of SSG? This thing spends way too much time getting stomped, to the point where honestly every single time Goku used it in GT? It didn't inspire hype so much as it inspired groans because like clockwork, it just led to him getting beaten down which leads to him falling back into base form and it's only then through some miracle i.e. asspull that he wins with the two times this form does win only having one time where it's actually cool and another where it's literally only after he spends so much time toying with his opponent that he needs his friends to charge him up. Now just so we're clear, forms don't need wins to be cool but at the very least, you do need something to establish why this thing is so powerful to make it seem worth it which brings me to SSG. SSG is an example of a form that doesn't really win necessarily but they still do such a good job of establishing how tough this form is. Just seeing Goku being completely incapable of landing a meaningful blow on Beerus in their first encounter and how he just mows down the entire Dragon Team at Bulma's party only to then be able to fight on par with him in the film really sells this thing and because the film isn't framing it like it's this ultra giga badass form of destruction and the absolute strongest but rather as a taste of the untapped realms of power Goku hasn't reached? I'm more able to handle when it's not winning all the time than when we see SS4 just consistently fail with really nothing to show how strong it actually is even though it is being framed as being the ultimate final form.

Now I should address a factor of SS4 that likely plays a part in what leads some to lean more towards this form and not SSG. It doesn't apply to everyone of course but it's something to point out and that's how SS4 has a nostalgia factor to it. For several years since GT's ending back in 97, it had been accepted that GT was, at least for the anime, the final series for Dragon Ball and that SS4 is the final form of the Super Saiyan line. I should also note that the final episode's airdate was back in January 2005 and thus at this point, many of those kids that grew up with GT are now old enough to have a seat at the discourse table and as far as they're concerned, GT was a part of their Dragon Ball experience. Everyone likely has that memory considering how much things were spoiled for us in advance of seeing SS4 in a game or online and being so amazed by its look with our minds developing various theories on what it could be. It also helps that in almost every game appearance it had? It genuinely was a treat to see and was definitely given a ton of respect and honestly? That's really cool. That being said... I think this is one of those cases where nostalgia definitely is doing the heavy-lifting more than anything and I say this as someone who used to think differently. One of my oldest memories was getting two Dragon Ball toys for Christmas and it was Super Saiyan 4 Goku and Freeza and I really loved them, I used to really love this form and defend GT and so when I sat down for those watchthroughs? I honestly was bummed to find that not only was GT so garbage but that also my love of SS4 just completely evaporated because... seriously the series just does not do this form justice in anything other than that initial transformation scene. To me, this form is emblematic of the many problems GT had and look, I know what some of y'all are thinking and I'll address it, yes SSG in a way can be labeled with the same issues because of how as soon as it came, the big wigs at Toei decided to make SSGSS which is a complete waste of time that, despite getting some cool aspects, really feels like it's SSG's sloppy seconds and it doesn't help that because of its existence, it got way more use than SSG but SSG still had an impact and whenever it did make another appearance? It made sure to make it count. I still remember the goosebumps I got reading the manga for the first time and seeing it pop up in Universe 6, its excellent use in Broly and... look I know everyone dunks on its look but screw it, SSG Xeno Trunks in Dragon Ball Heroes is incredibly badass and honestly was such a cool surprise. It's not SSG's fault it was underused, it's Toei's fault for at times putting too much emphasis on the marketing instead of trying to balance it out with the storytelling whereas to me? SS4's problems stem from multiple factors and most especially execution. A brilliant video I recommend watching is TFS' DBCember countdown list of the best transformations and specifically the video for #5 where Kirran goes in-depth on his thoughts on SS4 and why he finds it the best which does a great job of making a case for SS4 and in particular, it makes the point that this is the best representation of what the core of Saiyans are since the original form and... I'm not gonna lie it's a strong argument but my retort is how that's all in its concept and not execution.

But above all? Personally, SS4 just represents what I don't like from Dragon Ball. See, I've changed so drastically in regards to my love for this series, starting out being all into the crazy fights and power levels and so on before eventually through more exposure to the original Japanese version and the manga becoming so much more fond of the story. To me at its core, Dragon Ball is about self-improvement, about how one man can stand against all odds and seemingly impossible challenges and overcome them through sheer tenacity and all the while still being left with things to learn and room to grow and I feel over time while Dragon Ball has paid some lipservice to the crazy fights? It has over time been trying its best to bring things to being more in line with that core or if you watch the Japanese version? That's kind of what it has always been about. SS4 to me represents what I don't like from Dragon Ball, the excessive fights, the constant transformations that need to up the ante with complex designs because apparently that's the only way a form can be strong. Whenever I hear that people want to see a return to this or I see redesigns of SSG that just blow up the muscles, give us SS3-like hair and call it a day? I roll my eyes because honestly the Dragon Ball they think they want is based on the image that the old dub gave of it which to this day leads to people judging the series based on how it's not like that instead of what it actually is. Now I understand how this sounds so let me reiterate here, if you disagree? That is incredibly awesome. I'm very happy you enjoy something I don't and if your idea of Dragon Ball is based on what I just said I dislike? I totally get it, we're all fans here and we all have our own ideas on what we want to see from these franchises. Truthfully the only way opinions can be wrong is if those turn foul and delve into realms where it's based on disrespect and it involves topics less subjective like human rights. Admittedly I haven't always been the best at trying to adhere to this but I'm still trying and learning like you all are.

Anyways, I've written about this for a good while, I'm now going to take a moment to relax. Hope you all enjoyed reading these opinions for what it's worth and I hope you maybe have something to say in the comments. Again primarily keep it civil and honestly feel free to just tell me what you primarily love because honestly? That's way more fun than spending time being bitter.

Description
Sometimes I feel like I do what I do because I like pissing people off even though I more prefer getting along with people. So if you've been following me either since I started this account or my previous, you know I've been pretty outspoken in terms of my opinions on Dragon Ball with quite possibly one of my more notable hot takes being that while I really enjoy the god forms and most specifically SSG? I have basically the exact opposite opinion of SS4 and have consistently called it "overrated garbage" or some variation of that term and on my old account, I even had a post where I went through the factors of what makes a good transformation versus a bad one and showed my examples of good official and unofficial forms and the opposites of those and honestly of the many old outdated posts of my old accounts that I would love to just toss into the fires and have them scorched to cinders? That was one of the few I was genuinely kind of proud of and so I want to revisit that a little with this topic. Now before we begin, of course it should be made clear that if you disagree with any of this? That's perfectly okay, we're talking Dragon Ball here, not politics and there are things in this world ultimately more important and fulfilling than getting angry about what one dude has to say about a buff hairy monkey man and how he compares to a significantly less buff and less hairy monkey man. The only thing I ask is that you please in the comments be civil and try to converse like an adult, despite what you might've heard? Just declaring someone to be wrong or hurling insults at them is not a way to make a valid argument, it's a way to catch a block.

Though speaking of arguments? There is one I want to address and get right out of the way because it consistently always comes up whenever SSG or any of the Super forms are mentioned and that's "SS4 has a super unique design meanwhile SSG is just a recolor.". Now before I bring up my disagreements? I'm gonna play a little Devil's Advocate because I at least see where they're coming from. Just comparing the two directly, SS4 definitely has a very striking look with the pinkish red fur, the wild hair, the eyeliner, there's a reason why people can immediately recognize this upon looking at it whereas SSG's look is significantly simpler and yes doesn't look too different from base form. SS4 at the very least is a clear change from the previous forms versus SSG... except the same is also true for SSG. The thing about the recolor argument to me is that for the most part, it's a very surface-level argument that you get the moment you take one look at Goku's base design and then you look at SSG. People just zero in on the hair, go "Hey that's just base Goku's hair but in a pinkish red instead of black." and then leave it at that without really paying attention to the other parts of the form that make it distinct from base... which there are a lot of. The physical build is completely different, the hair doesn't have those thin strands, Goku's face looks different and then there's of course the aura which is completely unlike his base form and really every other Super Saiyan form.

Also if we're really going to go down the route of the recolor argument? I feel we should point out that recolored forms have been nothing new for not just this series but anime and manga in general. For example, Vegeta in Super Saiyan is basically just regular Vegeta with golden hair or in the case of the manga? It's Vegeta without inked in hair. Same goes for Super Saiyan 2 where aside from a few more lines to accentuate it being a bit more spiky? It's still the same as it always has been. Gohan's hair is the same deal with even the one time it was different with Super Saiyan 2 during the Cell Saga winding up as being just the same during the Boo Saga. This also applies to Goku to a degree whose Super Saiyan hair is just naturally how his hair looks when blowing in the wind but now it's constant and its golden and we've seen it before with the Kaioken x10. Super Saiyan 2? Basically just that but with changes to the bangs that are so negligible that it's no wonder that animators have often messed up and pulled out the wrong sheet. Hell, this is how people in fan projects chose to demonstrate certain characters going Super Saiyan with Raditz and Nappa just getting golden hair because there's nothing you really can do with them and while we're at it? This kind of applies even to SS4. Goku? He gets a unique hairstyle. Vegeta? Just his hair but now with more that sticks out of the bottom and drapes over his back. Gohan? Same deal. Broly, same deal. Even the fur is like this with Goku getting a unique color but then from Vegeta onward it's the same shade of red. Granted some of these aren't recolors but the point has been made, Dragon Ball as a franchise tends to lean towards simplicity for its transformations which SSG follows pretty much to the letter. Now you may argue that this doesn't really matter because many of the forms I listed are clear physical deviations from base when SSG isn't which... just isn't true if you honestly look at base and SSG side-by-side where you'll see that difference in the lean build I was talking about and since this is mainly about why I like one form over the other? This personally works for me more than SS4.

To me, when designing forms for Dragon Ball characters, the type of character they are should play a part in the design of that form so that aesthetically, you can take one look at it and see how it fits for that character. Goku for instance is a martial artist and therefore? His best forms to me are best when they lean towards being lean, sleek and striking a balance between looking physically imposing but also like he can really move. A problem I have with SS4 in most of the incarnations of it is that to me it doesn't really match up with that aesthetic. It's big and buff... but it really doesn't suit Goku, it just kind of looks like he's wearing an inflated muscle suit. I like that SSG brings things back to that martial artist physique by slimming things down. I take one look at this Goku and I see a guy who looks like he can zip across the battlefield with ease and bob and weave through strikes without much of a care whereas SS4 just kind of looks like it's trying too hard to impress which brings me to the design and to be fair, indeed SS4 is unique for Dragon Ball forms and I get what they were going for in making the ultimate transformation by hearkening back to the very first transformation of the whole series. The thing is? Just because something is unique doesn't automatically make it good, it just means its unique and while I can give SS4 that? Design-wise this thing to me misses so many marks on what makes a Dragon Ball transformation work to me. In particular, I think the problem I have is that while the general color layout is fine? It has a decent base design that keeps tacking on unnecessary details. Like for instance the fur. If it was the Oozaru brown? A fine color scheme that allows for the callback to that form... but the bright magenta fur is so unnecessary and to me kind of throws everything off. The eyes and how they are is also fine... but the eyeliner really seems like it's there for the sake of a change. It especially is odd to me because while I know it's supposed to represent the Oozaru eye? I wonder why they didn't consider the much simpler idea of just coloring Goku's eye red to match that. Then there's the hair which is to me the best part of this but it's when paired with everything else it becomes a problem. I get the point of the hair is to be wild with hints of the base hair's DNA and when I look closely? I can certainly see that... but the problem with Goku's hair in this state is that it's just a near unreadable blob of black that's just slapped on this design's head. Honestly if you ask me? Gogeta's hairstyle oddly works better for Goku since while seeming to be the same at first? It better represents Goku's general hairstyle on top of having elements of his Super Saiyan design which leads me to a problem that may seem silly to you but is a thing for me. This... does not look like a Super Saiyan form. Honestly even calling it SS4 seems like a bizarre stretch because there's nothing that really connects this form back to the classic Super Saiyan line of transformations. I mean sure there's the Oozaru connection and considering the anime canon does have that visual of a golden Oozaru to go with Vegeta's recollection of the legend, the connection is even stronger... but here's the thing about that visual.

That's not a flashback, that's a visual representation so that what Vegeta is saying has more weight to it since otherwise it's just him recounting what he heard meaning the original Super Saiyan was not a big golden Oozaru and therefore there still is no connection between the two forms and then there's the case of the original manga where there is no such creature which means it's completely inconsequential. To better highlight this, I decided to search for redesigns of this form and I came across this take by artist sandysmind on what this form could look like if brought into Super and... honestly she managed to somehow address just about every issue SS4 had and bring it in line with both the original intent of the old form while giving it added connections to something Super: Broly introduced.

As for SSG? I like how sleek this form is, the colors to me pop and in particular, I really like how they aimed for something that visually looks calmer but still powerful than something bulbous and overmuscled. The thing about Toriyama's design philosophy is that he tends to go for designs that are much simpler and more streamlined over being complex and detailed. The reason SS4 misses the mark along with by extension tons of fan designs and redesigns of the God forms is they put way too much emphasis on there needing to be extreme visual changes, rule of cool and the idea that it needs to match the name which... it really doesn't. Super Saiyan God for as official as it is we forget is just the name that was chosen by the Saiyans and Beerus to refer to this form... and the name was mocked in-universe as being kind of tacky and overblown. It's called Super Saiyan God because of its similarities to the Super Saiyan legend and the fact that apparently through this ritual, the original Saiyan who did this entered the realm of the gods which brings me to a note on the wording used in Battle of Gods. Consistently, Goku refers to SSG as being a whole other world he couldn't reach on his own and not a level of power which adds to the idea that this form is supposed to be incredibly different in design and feel to regular SS transformations which at that point had gotten... kind of nuts with how the designs were which means in order to be different? One kind of has to go backwards and simplify the design because otherwise it's just gonna be another transformation like what the initial designs were and... honestly at this point if you're gonna have these forms make an impact? There needs to be more than just long hair and big muscles and personally as I've stated before? I hate that aesthetic when it comes to martial artists. It's like when you see things like the muscle Power Ranger suits that come around almost every Halloween, it looks incredibly ridiculous and clashes with the whole point and so I think SSG was honestly a welcome break from the mold of the typical Dragon Ball transformations, especially since this wasn't like say Beast or Gogeta where the moment its accessed, it just becomes a curbstomp because the point is to just be badass, it's supposed to be a small snippet of power to show that Goku isn't done yet and that he still has more to learn. I also love that this form has more to offer than just the design, especially in regards to the deeper meanings surrounding the choice of color and also with its design being more subdued, it's kind of in a way tapping into how portrayals of gods in media tend to have them as being appearance-wise not to distinguishable from us mortals until you take a closer look and you notice there's just something about them that seems powerful.

And speaking of powerful? Dear lord I've been a broken record on this so I'm gonna try not to drag this out for too long but while I will grant SS4 that at the very least it gets more usage compared to the sporadic use of SSG? This thing spends way too much time getting stomped, to the point where honestly every single time Goku used it in GT? It didn't inspire hype so much as it inspired groans because like clockwork, it just led to him getting beaten down which leads to him falling back into base form and it's only then through some miracle i.e. asspull that he wins with the two times this form does win only having one time where it's actually cool and another where it's literally only after he spends so much time toying with his opponent that he needs his friends to charge him up. Now just so we're clear, forms don't need wins to be cool but at the very least, you do need something to establish why this thing is so powerful to make it seem worth it which brings me to SSG. SSG is an example of a form that doesn't really win necessarily but they still do such a good job of establishing how tough this form is. Just seeing Goku being completely incapable of landing a meaningful blow on Beerus in their first encounter and how he just mows down the entire Dragon Team at Bulma's party only to then be able to fight on par with him in the film really sells this thing and because the film isn't framing it like it's this ultra giga badass form of destruction and the absolute strongest but rather as a taste of the untapped realms of power Goku hasn't reached? I'm more able to handle when it's not winning all the time than when we see SS4 just consistently fail with really nothing to show how strong it actually is even though it is being framed as being the ultimate final form.

Now I should address a factor of SS4 that likely plays a part in what leads some to lean more towards this form and not SSG. It doesn't apply to everyone of course but it's something to point out and that's how SS4 has a nostalgia factor to it. For several years since GT's ending back in 97, it had been accepted that GT was, at least for the anime, the final series for Dragon Ball and that SS4 is the final form of the Super Saiyan line. I should also note that the final episode's airdate was back in January 2005 and thus at this point, many of those kids that grew up with GT are now old enough to have a seat at the discourse table and as far as they're concerned, GT was a part of their Dragon Ball experience. Everyone likely has that memory considering how much things were spoiled for us in advance of seeing SS4 in a game or online and being so amazed by its look with our minds developing various theories on what it could be. It also helps that in almost every game appearance it had? It genuinely was a treat to see and was definitely given a ton of respect and honestly? That's really cool. That being said... I think this is one of those cases where nostalgia definitely is doing the heavy-lifting more than anything and I say this as someone who used to think differently. One of my oldest memories was getting two Dragon Ball toys for Christmas and it was Super Saiyan 4 Goku and Freeza and I really loved them, I used to really love this form and defend GT and so when I sat down for those watchthroughs? I honestly was bummed to find that not only was GT so garbage but that also my love of SS4 just completely evaporated because... seriously the series just does not do this form justice in anything other than that initial transformation scene. To me, this form is emblematic of the many problems GT had and look, I know what some of y'all are thinking and I'll address it, yes SSG in a way can be labeled with the same issues because of how as soon as it came, the big wigs at Toei decided to make SSGSS which is a complete waste of time that, despite getting some cool aspects, really feels like it's SSG's sloppy seconds and it doesn't help that because of its existence, it got way more use than SSG but SSG still had an impact and whenever it did make another appearance? It made sure to make it count. I still remember the goosebumps I got reading the manga for the first time and seeing it pop up in Universe 6, its excellent use in Broly and... look I know everyone dunks on its look but screw it, SSG Xeno Trunks in Dragon Ball Heroes is incredibly badass and honestly was such a cool surprise. It's not SSG's fault it was underused, it's Toei's fault for at times putting too much emphasis on the marketing instead of trying to balance it out with the storytelling whereas to me? SS4's problems stem from multiple factors and most especially execution. A brilliant video I recommend watching is TFS' DBCember countdown list of the best transformations and specifically the video for #5 where Kirran goes in-depth on his thoughts on SS4 and why he finds it the best which does a great job of making a case for SS4 and in particular, it makes the point that this is the best representation of what the core of Saiyans are since the original form and... I'm not gonna lie it's a strong argument but my retort is how that's all in its concept and not execution.

But above all? Personally, SS4 just represents what I don't like from Dragon Ball. See, I've changed so drastically in regards to my love for this series, starting out being all into the crazy fights and power levels and so on before eventually through more exposure to the original Japanese version and the manga becoming so much more fond of the story. To me at its core, Dragon Ball is about self-improvement, about how one man can stand against all odds and seemingly impossible challenges and overcome them through sheer tenacity and all the while still being left with things to learn and room to grow and I feel over time while Dragon Ball has paid some lipservice to the crazy fights? It has over time been trying its best to bring things to being more in line with that core or if you watch the Japanese version? That's kind of what it has always been about. SS4 to me represents what I don't like from Dragon Ball, the excessive fights, the constant transformations that need to up the ante with complex designs because apparently that's the only way a form can be strong. Whenever I hear that people want to see a return to this or I see redesigns of SSG that just blow up the muscles, give us SS3-like hair and call it a day? I roll my eyes because honestly the Dragon Ball they think they want is based on the image that the old dub gave of it which to this day leads to people judging the series based on how it's not like that instead of what it actually is. Now I understand how this sounds so let me reiterate here, if you disagree? That is incredibly awesome. I'm very happy you enjoy something I don't and if your idea of Dragon Ball is based on what I just said I dislike? I totally get it, we're all fans here and we all have our own ideas on what we want to see from these franchises. Truthfully the only way opinions can be wrong is if those turn foul and delve into realms where it's based on disrespect and it involves topics less subjective like human rights. Admittedly I haven't always been the best at trying to adhere to this but I'm still trying and learning like you all are.

Anyways, I've written about this for a good while, I'm now going to take a moment to relax. Hope you all enjoyed reading these opinions for what it's worth and I hope you maybe have something to say in the comments. Again primarily keep it civil and honestly feel free to just tell me what you primarily love because honestly? That's way more fun than spending time being bitter.