Finally, after what feels like forever, we finally have more Dragon Ball content, and this time, on the big screen. Dragon Ball Super returned with the latest movie in the long line of movies and series focused on Goku.
The latest movie follows Piccolo and his former student Gohan as they go on a mission to save the world while Goku and Vegeta are both away training on Beerus’s planet.
While originally set for an April 22, 2022 release in Japan, the film was instead released on June 11 due to a cyberattack at Toei Animation.
Overview
Leading up to the release of the movie, I saw nothing. I saw the announcement and the reveal of Gamma 1 and Gamma 2. That’s it. I saw no hype or anything, I stayed away from the trailers so that when I did come to watch it, I went in with an open mind.
The movie started off slow. It began with a flashback and then we saw Piccolo be basically on “dad duties” to Pan while Gohan is researching and studying. Basically, it was very slow up until Piccolo was attacked and this was when the movie picked up.
This movie did a great job of setting up Gohan’s storyline and future power increase. You could tell that this was the direction that they were going, what I did not expect was along with Gohan, Piccolo would also receive a power upgrade.
While the movie did set up the major storyline back on Earth, it also did a great job of “keeping” Goku and Vegeta, as well as Broly out of the major fight because, the type of villains that were in the movie, the movie would easily be over within 5 minutes. Where is the fun in that?
Essentially the movie kept Goku and Vegeta out of the movie by simply having them spar with each other without their powers coming into play. Simply mono a mono. This was eventually stopped in the post-credit scene.
The action came in the last 20-30 minutes of the movie. Is this a major issue? Not with Dragon Ball. In any other franchise, this would have been a major issue and would have heavily affected the rating, however, with Dragon Ball, you are simply in a waiting game. As seen with the Tournament of Power.
Story
As I said, the story was extremely slow at the beginning. It was slow as it talked you through previous events of Goku, Vegeta, and Dr. Gero. Essentially Magenta and Carmine took the grandson of Dr. Gero and used him and his abilities to create androids to get revenge on Piccolo and Gohan.
It was slow up until the first battle between Gamma 2 and Piccolo who eventually ends up losing the fight. Which I liked. The story then turned into kidnapping Pan, Gohan’s daughter. This is the reason Gohan comes to fight.
Honestly, I do personally think the story could have been better, BUT, saying as I’m a huge fan of Gohan and do believe he should be one of the more powerful characters, it was nice to have a story revolving around him and his power.
The story, as previously mentioned, did a great job at keeping both Goku and Vegeta from the battle. Essentially all you have to do is tell them to fight and they will, Goku wants to fight powerful beings, while Vegeta simply wants to surpass Goku in power.
Characters
Even with the slow story, the characters were great. Especially Gohan and Piccolo. This movie was theirs and they took it and ran. I loved seeing these two characters finally get the spotlight and show what they are capable of doing and what they could become if they were given the chance.
Gohan’s new form is actually insanely nice. Originally the original design for “Super Saiyan” was ultimately changed to blonde and blue eyes so it is nice to actually see this coming into “canon” and become a thing and for Gohan to receive this power upgrade makes me want to see him using this power against Goku.
Piccolo, on the other hand, I’m not sure I like it just yet. He was fantastic in this movie but the orange upgrade to him was frankly, weird. I will need more time to get used to this for him.
For the full cast list, you can visit IMDB by clicking here.
Hype
If you are not a fan of Dragon Ball you would not know this movie was coming out unless you happened to stumble across the trailer on YouTube or Twitter. If you are a casual fan you probably wouldn’t have noticed either as I saw literally no one talk about this movie leading up to the movie.
Once the movie was released, however, people were talking. It was all positive comments about the movie, the animation, and of course, Gohan’s unlocked power and design.
Favorite Moments
1. Piccolo’s defeat. The first battle with Gamma 2 against Piccolo truly showed that the Gamma 2 android was not to be taken lightly. As Piccolo is a strong fighter in the Dragon Ball franchise, he was easily taken down in this opening battle.
2. Gohan’s rage. When he saw Pan with her kidnappers, Gohan’s rage caused him to blue a ship up and immediately begin fighting Gamma 1. To the point where we saw him use his Super Saiyan 1, 2 and his Ultimate power.
3. Seeing a teenage Gotan and Trunks fuse together. Although the fusion went wrong. It was still great to see these two get some screen time and as Gotenks no less.
4. Gohan sees Piccolo “die” causing something to awaken inside of Gohan and he gets this new evolution of his “Ultimate” form called “Gohan Beast”. Finally, something I’ve been asking about for years has finally happened.
5. Vegeta finally “beating” Goku and surpasses him even though both were in their base forms and had been fighting relentlessly for hours and they both got tired and fell down with Vegeta managing to push Goku down.
Dislikes
1. The slow pace at the beginning. I think this might be an issue every time I watch this movie. I will find myself scrolling Instagram or TikTok until the fight battle. I think it could have set Gamma 1 and 2 up in a few fights beforehand.
2. I’ll put this bit here… for now. Orange Piccolo. It just looks completely weird to me. I feel like they could have done something different to make him stand out. Hopefully, I will learn to like it but for now, this is where it belongs.
Recommend?
Oh for sure. At the end of the day, it is still Dragon Ball. It’s still amazing and fun to watch and it still captivates you. Plus, Gohan has finally got a new form. And something that was teased back in the fight with him and Goku.
Verdict
After 3-4 years, Dragon Ball is back and with a big impact. A fun, thrilling, and ambitious movie. The story was slow but picked up once Gohan entered the fight. Having this movie be the focus for him to awaken the “Gohan Beast” power was a great addition and I hope it continues to build on Gohan going forward.
Rating: 8.8/10
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is available in cinemas worldwide. You can visit here for more information on ***.
The Review
Story - 6.5
Structure - 10
Quality - 9
Action - 10
Characters - 10
Entertainment - 7
Antagonist - 7.5
Hype - 10
8.8
Great
After 3-4 years, Dragon Ball is back and with a big impact. A fun, thrilling, and ambitious movie. The story was slow but picked up once Gohan entered the fight. Having this movie be the focus for him to awaken the "Gohan Beast" power was a great addition and I hope it continues to build on Gohan going forward.
