Dragon Ball Super Manga Thread (SPOILERS)

is that always the case though? I recall he went all out against buu in the manga and went ssj3 right away. vegeta even says don't hold back on my account, I don't need a turn and gokus like "I'm trying, but I can't get a clean opening to wipe him out all at once"

I don't recall if goku held back on cell like in the anime, and the ssj3 vs vegeta thing was explained as such he didn't want to burn through his time on earth. Any lower kaioken levels are pretty much "I don't want to kill myself if I can avoid it, so maybe I'll hold off on x3...."

Goku did have a "battle power" he used on strong guys who could take it and a laid back power for weaklings in db as a kid. this was before ki sensing though.

Though my memories a bit foggy. If I'm off, elaborate because I do enjoy beign proven wrong on occasion. and with my health right now, I will be prone to mental mistakes.

He went all out against Kid Buu. Him holding out so Vegeta could have a turn was just anime filler iirc, Goku straight out said he wasn't trying to give Vegeta a turn in the manga. Goku and Cell both had a brief practice sesh before powering up.

Goku did purposely not kill Fat Buu, because he wanted others to do so (makes him look like a selfish bastard considering his role in Buu's resurrection, as an aside). But he also didn't try fight Buu as a SSJ or SSJ2.

Going off of what I recall from Goku's fights in the 'Z' part...
He went all out against Raditz pretty quickly, through taking off his weights.
He took Nappa seriously, and like you said the Kaioken isn't something to be used too lightly. He used it against Nappa when his power was insufficient to protect Gohan.
He took Vegeta very seriously.
He was able to stomp Recoome and Burter without really trying. Also was comfortable letting them go since they weren't a threat.
I don't really remember how he handled the rest of the Namek Arc.
He seemed to take #19 very seriously. He didn't try fight him in base. Or use Kaioken.
As mentioned, he had a quick mutual practice against Cell but then went all out.
He didn't take Yakon seriously, but I don't think Yakon was strong enough for him to need to do so.
He took Majin Vegeta seriously, intending to end the fight as quickly as possible through transforming into a SSJ2. That Vegeta could also do so, and match his power, genuinely surprised Goku. That Goku had SSJ3 hidden away was almost certainly a retcon tbh.
Mentioned Fat Buu and Kid Buu above.

I can fill in those blanks. Goku and Ginyu fought for a bit without using Kaio-Ken, then Goku flexed it which scared Ginyu leading to the Body Swap. Frieza and Goku seemed to have a casual exchange (To the point of playing games like Frieza not using his tail) before he eventually used Kaio-Ken. 

Also Cell taken seriously I take issue with, mostly cause once Goku sensed (Or in the manga...just assumed Gohan had the power to reach based off his anger boosts) Gohan's power he decided to be critically casual about the whole thing. Not going in the room for another year, chilling with Gohan, having uh "personal time" with Chi-Chi. Before he and Cell began their fight in as you said almost like a practice spar before Goku pushed it.

Hell, he gave Cell a Senzu because he was so sure Gohan would win and wanted to make things "fair". I'd argue out of any arc Cell is the one Goku has taken the least seriously in the franchise. Let us not forget when Bulma suggested they try to find and do something about Dr. Gero before he makes the androids it was Goku who shot it down because he like others (Vegeta etc.) he wanted to fight them.

I agree DBS Goku does make this aspect flanderized (Though I find it funny that going Blue, even mixing UI with it, is not "going easy") of the character but I just feel people acting like Goku was always down to business in DB/DBZ is just ignoring it the other way. 

Goku may have believed Gohan would beat Cell, but that does not mean Goku didn't evolve to trying to win himself. He just figured he could not, but still after feeling out Cell with the spar-like beginning he did give it what he had including that Instant Kamehameha. So he tried to win, but didn't go all out to begin with. 

You can think that, more power to you, but it is not what Goku said or what the story directly implied. Doesn't change Goku being very casual about his son's fight. 

Goku would be fighting Granolah, he didn't exactly go "lol I retire" even when teaching the next gen he'd eagerly be in the fight himself much as shown when he takes Uub to train at the End of Z. Goku more often than not doesn't go all out to begin with, usually wanting to feel out his foe and use matching strength rather than escalate it on his end of it. There are two sides to Goku, the protector of the people and general hero and the guy who enjoys a good fight for its own sake. To pretned Z Goku was nothing but that is being dishonest and calling this entirely OOC is a touch much.

Oh I was talking DBS Goku in this chapter being OOC not the Android decision lol my mistake 

Vegeta: When I return, I am going to kill everyone of you. And I am gonna enjoy it. 

Goku: Let him go...I want to fight him...again...

Not to complain but Goku seems totally willing to risk the world in Z for the promise of a good fight. It's kinda been a thing with him, for better or worse. I think the Android Arc is the most egregious case of this (Especially when he complains about Dr. Gero killing that city senselessly when he literally is why this is even happening) but DBS didn't make this trait out of thin air or a minor example. 

That's good but the thing is nobody knew that. Zenkais were not a thing till Namek retroactively made them one, and as far as anyone (Including Vegeta) was concerned his tail would grow back. Gohan's had, so had Goku's they had no reason to believe it would not. 

Vegeta was still a threat, who had actively promised to kill them all. That's about as risky as "Androids will kill us all in the future" 

Again I don't disagree that the Cell Arc Goku was careless (I mentioned he was the most careless during it lol) 

Goku's battle lust really got turned up through the latter part of the Saiyan Arc, with his fight against Vegeta. Also, letting Vegeta live was very selfish. But Goku's acknowledgement that it was selfish goes a long way to... humanising the decision. He knows it's a bad idea. He still wants to do it because Vegeta was genuinely incredible to him. That a saiyan could match and surpass him, despite all the training he did with King Kai.

That view is something I love about Goku tbh. You see it again with the fight against Freeza, whose death saddened Goku. It also seemed to make him more pragmatic. (DBS did something that could've been interesting with Goku and Moro there, as an aside. But the senzu stuff spoils it imo.)
Goku going into the room for another year wouldn't have achieved anything according to him. (And not important but Goten being conceived in those 10 days doesn't really work timeline-wise.) Goku was casual during the time before the Cell Games, but that was based on confidence in Gohan. By 'serious' I mean he didn't hold back against Cell for fun. There was no 'Goku fighting in base, transforming and then slowly revealing more of his power'. There was a quick mutual practice and that was it. A pretty safe thing to do as well, considering Cell's personality. Something you can't say for Granolah. Once Goku and Cell got going, Goku went all out. To the point where he really should've won that fight, what with his IT Kamehameha.

wait, did goku really tell gohan to go easy on him? my brain forgets things in my old age and health issues.

and well, goku letting freeza power up was when his ssj blood was boiling. he wasn't going to let him at first, and then he did it to really hammer home how weak freeza was.

Then he figured the fight wasn't worth it, so he left. he passed on finishing the fight so he could live. it only went further because freeza wanted to finish things.

goku didn't always fight for his own enjoyment. not in dbz. in the buu saga he left buu to the kids because they should protect the universe, not a dead  man from beyond. I think he enjoyed complimenting buu on his talents, and speculated whether buu would stop killing, and it was not the case.

To say goku did not do selfish thing sis wrong, but to suggest he only did selfish things and what not is also false. He had what we could call a "mixed bag" approach.

He did some silly things, but when it was time to protect people he would do the right thing.

He did not keep eating senzus to fight cell for more battles, he was even given the offer to do so.

dbs takes those small seldom moments and cranks them up, and some speculate that AT did this to off set toeis more serious goku in the movies.