Caelin Bragg
Lantern Staff
This review is of the simulcast of Super and will contain spoilers for the dub currently airing on Adult Swim.
Dragon Ball Super drops the ball in many places, but its moments of glory show that it clearly understands what makes Dragon Ball special.
Following series creator Akira Toriyama’s return to the Dragon Ball series after a hiatus since the 1990s, Super hoped to continue the success of Battle of Gods (2013) and Resurrection ‘F’ (2015) with a “brand new” series. Brand new is in quotes because Super spends its first two sagas recapping the movies. This is an unpopular move that put Super’s staying power in question as they were uninteresting re-tellings of well-trodden grounds and infested with terrible animation.
When Super entered original content, things were looking up conceptually, but the animation and pacing were still suffering majorly. It eventually found its footing with Vegeta’s mentoring of Cabba and bookending the new saga with an original form for Goku that was in the flashy style the series is known for, which established Super’s ability to hang on its own.
Afterwards came the “Future” Trunks saga, the introduction of which, episode 47, is Super’s strongest episode. It immediately set the darker tone and extremely high stakes for the entire saga with majorly improved visuals, a captivating narrative and a host of shocking moments for longtime fans. While the rest didn’t quite live up to its introduction, it featured the best fights, story and interactions up to that point. Its biggest shortcomings were the complete betrayal of Goku’s character throughout the entire saga and its ending, which lessened the impact of the saga by basically retconning itself.
After a flirt with filler, Super entered the Universe Survival saga, featuring a battle royale-style tournament between the multiverse. Because each universe’s team consisted of ten fighters, it allowed forgotten characters time in the spotlight. Characters like Master Roshi and Android 17 getting sizable screen time and development was a breath of fresh air. Vegeta also got major development during the saga. It’s arguable that Vegeta is the strongest and most believably developed character over the series and Super not dropping that was relieving.
The biggest problems facing the saga were very similar to the whole show’s problems. The tournament lasted 40 episodes, which felt like classic Dragon Ball Z as pacing just didn’t exist at times. That would’ve been alright if the animation was eye-candy, but that was also a coin-toss every episode. A lot of the saga was a forgettable mess of 10 different fights happening at once.
However, episodes 130 and 131, the climax of the 50-odd episode saga delivered in huge ways. Toei clearly allowed the staff the time needed to produce cinema level quality and some of the most engaging storyboards in the series, like the flashbacks during the fight in 130. Every moment of 130 was a spectacle for the eyes, on a level not seen since Battle of Gods. And 131 is one of the best finales to grace the series.
Super gets more things wrong than it does right, but the things it gets right are iconic Dragon Ball. The resurgence of the series after a decade of not much has been very special and with Super’s cliffhanger and new movie later this year, I’m glad this series won’t be going anywhere.
