Dragonball Super Episode 2: Review

I’m going to try to do this as spoiler free as possible.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, Dragonball Super began airing on July 5th in Japan.  I was pretty pleased overall with the first episode and I mentioned that I was excited for the second episode since it centered around one of my favorite characters, Vegeta.

More specifically, the first half of the episode it focuses on Vegeta and family on a vacation.  That’s not a spoiler, that’s literally the episode description.  Anyone who is familiar with the character can imagine the hilarity that ensued during this “vacation.”  Even Trunks and Bulma were surprised how well Vegeta managed.

The second half of the episode focused on other characters for the most part, but I felt this episode was even stronger than the first.  It’s definitely starting to shape up to embrace the events of Battle of the Gods. I’m hoping this indicates a bit of a time jump or something that will bridge the gap between Battle of the Gods and Revival of F. They almost have to at this point.

It is still unclear as to if they intend to keep Dragonball GT as cannon or use this series to overwrite it, kind of like Days of Future Past did for X-Men III.  So far there isn’t time travel in this latest series that would change the course of events, but Toriyama is notorious for ignoring cannon and/or forgetting characters.  Technically, Toriyama didn’t have much to do with DBGT, so maybe that’s why they decided to build on to the end of Z instead. That and it’s not like GT was anywhere near as popular as Z, for good reason.

I’m very much looking forward to the next episode which, unfortunately, doesn’t air this weekend in Japan due to special broadcasts. Despite FUNimation claiming there are not currently working on or have anything to do with Dragonball Super, I’m really hoping that they will announce something soon and make it more readily available to the North American audience. Perhaps they are waiting to see how well it performs in its home country.   It took a little bit before Kai was brought over as well.  Let’s hope the partnership between FUNimation and Toei remains strong so we’ll get things even quicker this time.

What are you hoping to see from this series?

-Gretchen

Dragonball Super | ドラゴンボール超

Don’t look at Goku’s arm. Too late, you looked. Is he swimming?

The first episode of the new Dragonball series, know as Dragonball Super, made its debut on Japanese television today, Sunday, July 5th at 9am Tokyo time. Because the Internet, it was up and subtitled for foreign viewing not long after.

I grew up with Dragonball and Dragonball Z, so naturally I was nostalgically foaming at the mouth to see this content. That said, I’m probably understating how much I love Dragonball and how big of an impact it has made in my life.   I, no joke, once wrote a 25-page paper solely about the distribution of DB and DBZ in the U.S. vs. Japan. ( I had to cut it down to 25… it was originally much longer; the assignment was for a 10-page paper. I kinda over did it. )

New Dragonball, you say?

Over the past few years, Dragonball fans have been almost spoiled with new and revamped content coming out: the 2008 Shonen Jump Anime Tour Special, the disappointing Dragonball Kai and two movies, one of which, Battle of the Gods, is available from FUNimation on Blu-ray/DVD and the other, Resurrection of F, set to release in U.S. theaters in early August. Please support the domestic releases, if you are a fan, even if you’re like me any only watch the Japanese version.

Despite all the new content, I don’t think anyone really expected a full-on new series, with manga accompaniment in Shonen Jump, featuring original creator, Akira Toriyama, involvement. It’s pretty amazing and makes me so happy; I could probably explode from joy.

I don’t want to spoil too much for those interested in watching this new series, but I really enjoyed the first episode.   The comedy and light heartedness that made Dragonball endearing is back with all your favorite characters. If you enjoyed the original Japanese cast, most of them have returned including the BAMF Masako Nozawa. She may be an old Japanese lady, but she can “KAME-HAME-HA” your ass.

And Gohan, Goten, Bardock, Turles…. anyone who is male and remotely looks like Goku.

The opening and closing themes and sequences are new and less “typical 80’s boyish show”, but I think they still have a modern Dragonball feel to them.   It’ll take some getting used to, but just cause it isn’t the iconic CHA-LA-HEAD-CHA-LA doesn’t mean that it can’t be good in its own right.

From just the first episode, it seems to take place before the recent movies Battle of the Gods and Resurrection of F.   I’m not sure if they are going to have this series build up to those events or if it will just give them a nod and move on. Dragonball hasn’t been notorious for having many cannon movies, but I have my hopes up since these seem to be tying into each other, based solely on special characters appearing both here and the movies. We shall see.

As I mentioned earlier, all your favorite characters from the series are back (except Future Trunks *tears*) and, true to form Goku is fighting to keep his titles as the universe’s strongest warrior and worst dad. I was a little shocked that Vegeta, one of my personal favorites, didn’t make an appearance this episode, but my worries were abated by the next episode preview. Vegeta is going to be taking a family vacation!   That’s sure to be awkward and awesome as hell. I’m totally down.

Hopefully, the U.S. version of this series won’t be far behind. I was hoping Toei would air it simultaneously on Hulu, much like they are doing with Sailor Moon Crystal and what they did with the aforementioned 2008 Shonen Jump special, but it doesn’t look like they will be. I really hope a U.S. streaming platform or FUNimation/Toei/Fuji TV makes it readily and legally available in other countries soon. I can’t wait to see what this series has in store!

Much like Vegeta, it’s sure to be badass.

-Gretchen