LOL, it is an asspull, because it comes out of nowhere in the plot and is completely random; the very definition of an asspull. The Cell Juniors were intended as dead in the manga. This is an after the fact retcon.
The_Ivory_Man posted...
The Cell thing actually was fine in the OG English dub where they just say "if even a cell survives, he lives"
Dub =/= canon. Not that Cell's regeneration was badly written to begin with, but this retcon provides no fix. It just makes Gohan and the other Z Fighters look stupid for not destroying the Cell Juniors' remains.
"These are Cell Juniors they have all the powers and abilites I have"
"WOAH TORIYAMA THEY REGENERATED LIKE CELL CAN WITH HIS ABILITIES WHAT AN ASSPULL"
It's an asspull that just raises a bunch of other questions.
1) Why didn't the Cell Juniors bother to help their father Cell against Gohan?
2) Why didn't they bother to get revenge on Gohan? Gohan was completely drained after killing Cell; that would have been the perfect chance for the Cell Juniors to kill him. No one would have been able to stop them. Even when Gohan had recovered from the fight with Cell, he still got weaker over the years due to not training.
3) If the Cell Juniors are supposed to explain how 17 got so strong, then how could he even "tame" them in the first place? 17 would have been even weaker than Imperfect Cell prior to "training" with these Juniors; the Juniors were on par with buff SS Vegeta, and would have gotten Zenkais when they regenerated from the beating Gohan gave them. These Juniors should have just straight up killed 17.
4) If 17 did train with them, then why did he tell Piccolo that he had done no training?
5) Why the fuck didn't 17 just kill them? He hated Cell, yet he's comfortable working with his children, even though his children could potentially betray and kill him, especially considering the fact they should have far more potential than even him and Freeza do to get stronger?
6) Why the fuck didn't the Z Fighters do anything about these Cell Juniors? The Cell Juniors didn't keep their energy suppressed all this time, because they were fighting 17 and the poachers on 17's island. The Z Fighters should have hunted these Cell Juniors and killed them.
7) Why the fuck didn't the Z Fighters bother to destroy the Cell Juniors' remains when Gohan defeated them? They knew the Cell Juniors could regenerate.
And no, none of whatever head canon you can make up is an actual answer for any of these. The Juniors were supposed to be dead, end of. Keep on defending bad writing.
1. Because the Cell Juniors were already panicking and trying to run away when Gohan started killing them.
3. They may not have fought 17 too hard and been lost without Cell as they only did what was ordered until they panicked.
4. 17 liked jokes anyway, and forgot to tell people things that happened too.
5. Because he was just shared by people who tried to kill him and was really thinking about everything. Seems logical that he would extend a hand when one was just extended to him.
6. Cell's ki felt like their own, regardless they don't pay attention to a lot anyhow.
7. Why would they bother when Gohan destroyed them in single hits? ---
"Just because someone is killed doesn't mean they died" - Shojikan