Following the defeat of Majin Buu, peace has settled on
the Planet Earth. Many have embraced
this peace. However, for restless
warriors like the Saiyans Goku and Vegeta, peace can only last so long before
the lure of training to become stronger becomes too great. And they’ll need that training fast. The God of Destruction, Lord Beerus, has
awoken and is seeking the fabled “Super Saiyan God” who might be the only one
to defeat him. Beerus isn’t alone as
other foes, past and new, are coming for Goku and his friends as well. The greatest battles have yet to be fought as
a brand new chapter in the Dragon Ball saga begins.
After 18 years, the Anime series that made every kid in
school rush home to catch Toonami on a weekday returns. Dragon Ball Super is a big deal for a number
of reasons. First, it’s new Dragon Ball
pure and simple, a franchise beloved both in Japan and in the United
States. Second, it’s written by Akira
Toriyama himself (the man who made this whole story possible). Ergo, Dragon Ball GT is pretty much wiped
from the history books (thank God) and the story can (hopefully) go down a more
enjoyable route. Unlike some other
series that are returning with a new lease on life (looking at you Lelouch of
the Resurrection), this is a long overdue event in the wake of the recent
success of two new Dragon Ball Z Movies (Battle of Gods and Resurrection F).
I am also very well aware that this show started a year
ago and I’m playing catch up. The Z fan
in me hates me for that…I’ve just been busy.
Anyway, the first impressions. The first couple of episodes are a nice easer
back into the world of Dragon Ball. We
get a chance to catch up with Goku and Vegeta and see what they’ve been up to
in the lull time following the defeat of Buu.
Goku’s a…radish farmer? And Vegeta is still trying to be the ultimate
bad ass while trying to learn how to be a good father and husband. Oh and Goten and Trunks are still getting
into stupid adventures cause Toriyama thinks theyre still entertaining…theyre
not.
I can both commend and cringe at this choice of start for
Super. It’s good to see everyone again
and interesting to see where the route of peace has taken them. Plus, rather than reanimate events of the
past, we get to see the original Dragon Ball Z footage of the final battle with
Buu, that was awesome. Then again, the
second half of the first episode is full of the one thing I hate the most about
Dragon Ball Z: Goten and Trunks. Couldn’t
we just skip a bit further ahead to when they’re teenagers and maybe a bit more
bearable? Their BS-ery aside, I did like
some of the stuff we had with Goku and Vegeta.
Vegeta’s clearly trying to do good by Trunks and Bulma but he’ll always
want to be stronger than Goku, so his attempts at family man can only last but
so long. I really like a scene between
Goku and Mr. Satan where Goku begrudgingly accepts a hefty amount of
money. But really, that scene goes more
to Satan than Goku. Satan has ridden the
coattails of the Z-Fighters victories for years. Basically he’s the poster man since the
Z-Fighters tend to avoid the spotlight with the supernatural fighting
abilities. Still, Satan knows Goku has
saved the world and doesn’t try to ignore it.
He wants to thank him…that is a true hero right there.
One thing I do know about the earlier episodes of Super
is that the first two arcs are basically extended coverage of Battle of Gods
and Resurrection F. They follow the same
storylines but tweak them a bit. For
example: Beerus is already awake in the first episode and off destroying
planets when they don’t give him good food.
We also learn how Goku got to go train on King Kai’s world at the
beginning of Battle of Gods. I don’t know
if this is a good move or not. A, more
or less, extended cut could work in fleshing out a few things and maybe even
fix a couple of the problems Battle of Gods had in particular. But couldn’t this be a turn off for fans who
want to jump past the first 20 or so episodes and get to the real brand new
stuff? It’s a strange approach and im
wondering if it will pay off. I don’t think
Resurrection F needed any reworking and God help them if they decide to insert
Goten and Trunks into the action (their absence made the movie work a lot better
for me). Part of me is tempted to skip
ahead but I know things are either changed, reworked or totally different in
many spots…damn you Toriyama, I have to watch it all.
Also, there isn’t a lot of action in the first couple of
episodes (no I don’t count Goten and Trunks battling a giant snake as an action
scene). And while Z didn’t start with
balls to the wall action right out of the gate, the seriousness was always
there. Super’s decision to start off
light and fluffy caught me off guard, even when it worked. Still, fans of Z going in should heed the
caution anyway.
As Dragon Ball Z was the first Anime to really get me
into Anime in Middle School, I feel I am obligated to watch further and see if
it gets any better. Rumor has it some
serious stuff goes down later on and my all time favorite character, Future
Trunks, makes a big return later on.
Guess I’ll keep going then. Who
knows, maybe the series will surprise me…it kind of already has. Whatever the case, it’s good to see Goku and
company again. I’m surprised how much I missed
them all. Just cant wait for the action
to start. Welcome to the new age of
Anime: Dragon Ball Super.
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