The Super Andriod 17 Saga is the shortest in Dragon Ball GT. It has six episodes and tons of fanservice.
We had villains from Dragon Ball, Z, and some of the movies made brief appearances. But there were also a ton of plotholes that made no sense.
And Super Android 17 is easily one of the more forgettable enemies in the Dragon Ball franchise. He could have been better, but his story was lost in favor of reaching the Shadow Dragon Saga.
Fan service!
There’s nothing wrong with bringing back old enemies as long as they fulfill a purpose. And having an army of fallen enemies face off against our heroes is exciting.
I just wish they had more time to tell the story properly. When a beaten-up Trunks arrives, Bulma and Bula eat dinner at Goku’s house.
He says, “Android 17,” and passes out. And then, we see what happened between them in a flashback.
It is unknown why they couldn’t have shown us the fight as it happened instead of a flashback. But Goku is invited to come to Hell alone to fight his fallen foes.
I watched the Japanese version for this, and Android 17 claims these are enemies that Goku sent to Hell, and they want revenge. Apparently, no one told Android 17 that Goku doesn’t kill most of his enemies.
And we see several characters that Vegeta killed. Nappa gets a special scene with Vegeta that only reinforces Vegeta’s growth and roots.
But of course, Goku accepts and ends up against Frieza in his Final Form and Perfect Cell. This fight was entertaining.
Goku is handling them while remaining in his child base form. But why would Perfect Cell be content with Goku when Gohan killed him?
And GT Trunks looks identical to Future Trunks. He even has a sword in the opening song, but we never see him use one in the anime.
It felt like a missed opportunity, and it was over fairly quickly.
What was the point of Super Android 17?
In Dragon Ball GT, Hell is the same for everyone. It doesn’t matter where in the universe you died.
So we see Dr. Myuu meet Dr. Gero and they ally. They somehow create Hellfighter 17, whom looks identical to Android 17.
Android 17 wears a long coat, and Hellfighter 17 is a machine mutant with two interesting abilities. First, Hellfighter 17 can communicate telepathically with Android 17 and control him from anywhere.
And this control can be extended to Android 18. And the second is fusing with Android 17 to create Super Android 17.
I loved this concept as it showed us what could have happened in the Future Trunks Saga in Dragon Ball Z. But then we get to the fight with Goku once he returns from Hell.
Super Saiyan 4 Goku vs. Super Android 17
I loved and hated this fight. Super Android 17 was not an easy opponent, but the fans are divided.
Some claim that Goku was firing Ki blasts recklessly, while others state that he didn’t have a choice. I think it’s a mix of both.
Super Android 17 had an excellent strategy for dealing with Goku. He used his superior speed to force Goku to use long-range attacks.
While absorbing his Ki blasts. And it was working. Goku tried to close the distance with Instant Transmission.
But Super Android 17 felt the vibrations in the air and attacked Goku first. But in the Japanese version, Goku states twice that something is wrong.
He saw Super Android 17 tanking his Ki blasts and even tried a Kamehameha Wave at point-blank range. And then he decided to confirm if Super Android 17 was absorbing his Ki blasts by firing a 10 x Kamehameha Wave.
To the fans that like to say he had no choice but to take the gamble. Why didn’t Goku try throwing something at Super Android 17?
They were fighting in a forest at one point. So why didn’t he try throwing trees or boulders as a distraction?
At least we got to see Goku use the Dragon Fist again. And Android 18 owned every scene she was in.