With the ever-growing excitement within the Dragon Ball mythos, from new characters to growing power levels, the Dragon Balls themselves have officially become the series’ most boring element. The Dragon Balls are the most coveted artifacts in the series and have sparked a number of storylines revolving around heroes and villains going after them for any number of reasons. However, in one of the latest adventures Goku, Vegeta, and the rest of the Z-Fighters found themselves involved in, the Dragon Balls are used as nothing more than a plot device.
In Dragon Ball Super Chapter 59 by Akira Toriyama and Toyotarou, Goku makes his dramatic appearance in the middle of the battle between Planet Earth and Moro. Goku had been off-world for a few months training to become strong enough to take Moro down. However, in a battle with two fighters of such power, sometimes the planet itself can be destroyed in the process, something Goku actually didn’t need to worry about.
The reason Goku could go all-out while fighting Moro on Earth without having to hold back is because Gohan and the other Z-Fighters had already collected Earth’s Dragon Balls and were ready to use them to restore the world should it be decimated in the crossfire. While collecting all of Earth’s Dragon Balls would at one time be an entire storyline, this time it happens entirely off-panel and serves only as a plot device, freeing Goku of any reason to hold back against Moro. The usage of the Dragon Balls in this instance proves that they have become the least interesting aspects of the series, with the main focus instead being drawn towards the god-like fighters and the world-ending stakes.
Dragon Ball has always been about the fighters, both heroes and villains, just as it is today, but the Dragon Balls used to have a lot more to do with the story than they do now. The Dragon Balls are seemingly much easier to find and only propel the story rather than being the main quest of the characters.
While this development could be viewed as a betrayal to the original spirit of the series, it is actually a natural progression that explores other aspects of the universe without leaving storylines repetitive and stale. Heroes thwarting villains from getting their hands on Dragon Balls is only interesting for so long, now in modern Dragon Ball stories, the villains will be just as successful in claiming the wish-granting magic as the heroes, creating exciting storylines from the change in direction. With the progression of power-levels and introduction of new characters in the ongoing Dragon Ball storylines, the Dragon Balls themselves have officially become the most boring element to the series.