Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

Years after his father is defeated by an adolescent Gokuu Son, Magenta seeks revenge against Gokuu's family and allies. In his quest to resurrect the defunct Red Ribbon Army, Magenta drafts the services of Dr. Hedo, grandson of the evil legendary scientist Dr. Gero. Hedo embarks to invent a new line of superheroic androids to eliminate Gokuu after Magenta manipulates him into believing that Earth's most powerful heroes are actually alien villains.

While Gokuu and Vegeta train offworld, the alien Piccolo mentors Pan, Gokuu's toddler granddaughter, in the same way he once trained Gohan Son, her father. Gohan himself has forsaken his warrior lineage in order to pursue an academic career. Both Piccolo and Gohan must leap into action when their quiet lives are interrupted by the arrival of Gamma 1-gou and Gamma 2-gou—Hedo's new android creations.

While the Gamma androids believe they are fighting for justice, a more sinister project incubates beneath the Red Ribbon headquarters. Gohan and Piccolo take drastic actions to protect Pan and defend the planet against a new robotic menace.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Son, Gohan Main

Nozawa, Masako Japanese

Piccolo Main

Furukawa, Toshio Japanese

Gamma 2-gou Main

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Gamma 1-gou Main

Kamiya, Hiroshi Japanese

Son, Gokuu Supporting

Nozawa, Masako Japanese

Vegeta Supporting

Horikawa, Ryo Japanese

Broly Supporting

Shimada, Bin Japanese

Trunks Supporting

Kusao, Takeshi Japanese

Bulma Supporting

Hisakawa, Aya Japanese

Kuririn Supporting

Tanaka, Mayumi Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Satou, Naoki Producer

Hayashida, Norihiro Producer

Herek, Samantha Assistant Producer

Reviews

Jun 12, 2022

FK13

Recommended

Might be a bit of spoilers in this review, fair warning:

For someone who has been longing for a refreshing air in Dragon Ball, this movie gives it all of that. This movie also gives a direct dialogue which makes it far easier to understand for newcomers to the Dragon Ball series.

Story: When it comes down to what this movie provides, it brings back nostalgia for most people but in current standards. The story is strong and straight to the point
In regards to what the movie provides, it brings a heroic sense to the Dragon Ball series with a Marvel twist to it from the soundtrack ... to even the dialogue. The characters in this movie have a strong sense of justice from the Gammas to both Gohan and Piccolo, leading to an understanding from the two sides.

Animation: In regards to animation being lead by CGI, I think this was a huge topic for most people when it was first announced. I personally feel that suits the movie and they did a fantastic job with delivering such a strong presentation, let alone it being the first time done by them. It leaves a very huge impact as a first project and what the future withholds with this new choice of animation.

The best part about the movie comes from the pure fact that Goku and Vegeta are not brought in to win the fights like usual, which brings more depth to Piccolo and Gohan regarding their story. Having the main focus being drifted away from those two is where I think lies the allure of the movie because of everyone wanting some other fan favorites having showtime.

Soundtrack: The soundtrack as I stated previously, is EXACTLY how Marvel would do their soundtracks. A heroic theme with heavy impact on what it is meant to hit works perfectly for this movie with how justice is the main theme. It hits home especially for those who are in love with the Marvelverse.

Character: Piccolo and Gohan finally after many years get their shine that was very deserved. In all honesty, it seemed like it was more focused on Gohan being the main center but Piccolo plays an even bigger role than that and could be called his movie instead. These two have such an impact in Dragon Ball alongside Goku and Vegeta that it was honestly a sin it took them this long to decide on giving them such a deserving upgrade. Piccolo is almost like a teacher even in this movie throughout the entire time, even giving a talk to the Gammas and Gohan which leaves a huge imprint to anyone. As for Gohan, for those who love Super Saiyan 2 Gohan from Cell Saga and Ultimate Gohan from Majin Buu Saga, you are in for a real treat with them bringing back that level of Gohan.

Overall/Enjoyment: This movie, in my opinion, is pure perfection and exactly what Dragon Ball is built around and has needed in such a long time. My enjoyment may be bias-heavy, but I truly believe this movie has lived up to its late promotional hype and will be talked about for a while. Having an upgrade for two of the fan favorites, on top of having such a sense of heroism that is Marvel-like was a perfect touch and suits perfectly well. I recommend thoroughly as a must watch from beginners to veterans of Dragon Ball.

Edit from original review: Another thing to note if I did have to mention downsides, the controversial topic of Jiren being nerfed was uncalled for as well as wonky animations here and there are some negatives I would point out if I was asked about it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jun 11, 2022

Draculoid

Mixed Feelings

While Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero's focus on characters besides Goku and Vegeta as well as it's expansion of the lore is welcome, it lacks the oomf of the prior and more action focused Dragon Ball Super: Broly. Will many hardcore Dragon Ball fans love it anyways? Most likely...

Let's start with one of the biggest changes with this movie, and that's the new animation style. After it's new CG animation style was unveiled, I think a lot of people were tentatively waiting for this new instalment in the film series with baited breath. As trailers and more footage slowly rolled out, I think many peoples ... gripes with the new style softened, and after seeing and entire film in this new style, I think it definitely worked (though I don't know if I'd want this as some new standard moving forward). Generally speaking, the new art style really pops and allows for some fun character animation, especially more varied and interesting character animation while characters are idle. Yajirobi eating some food while Piccolo and Korin talk, Pan spinning and walking around with big exaggerated steps and Gamma 2 striking ridiculous poses are just some of the moments that stood out to me where this new style really allowed the characters to pop and showcase more personality than ever before. Other scenes like Piccolo and Pan speaking to each other underneath a tree felt very immersive with the way lighting and shadows were handled, with spots of light breaching through the trees branches onto Piccolo and tracking accurately. The action itself was a little more hit and miss on this front. Depending the the battle or how it was choreographed, this new style could definitely match the more epic battles like in Broly, but more often than not fell flat. One moment that really stood out as a highlight of this new styles potential was a battle between Goku and Vegeta, where the CG and cel shaded style was blended together in a way that seemed seamless. In other action scene however, I felt like there was an over reliance on effects as well as 3D camerwork. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but overall most of the fights felt like they had less impact as well as creativity in the way they were animated and presented.

Unfortunately, speaking of battles, while there were quite a few of them scattered throughout the film...they were generally over pretty quickly and didn't feel very high stakes. There are also new transformations, but with how they're worked into the battles, felt lacking, and as exciting as they were to see, weren't capitalized on. Obviously it's very exciting to see a fan favourite character achieve a new form after so many years, but then when they use a single attack and revert back to their previous form, it's definitely a bit deflating.

The film begins with a fairly long explanation and set up for the new Red Ribbon villains that, while long, I was actually pretty on board. It was an interesting expansion of the lore, and an aspect of the lore important all the way back to Dragon Ball, but one that we rarely see or hear about these days. Speaking of, we actually get a really cool 2D animated segment of Dragon Ball Goku attacking the Red Ribbon Army that looks really nice. On this front, whenever a flashback is shown in the film it's done in 2D art and I thought this was an interesting touch. It conveys a sort of contrast between the new and the old which worked well with the drastically different art styles. I also enjoyed the way that the Red Ribbon Army was portrayed using propaganda to trick people into seeing their views on Capsule Corp and the Z Warriors feats. I liked the set up fine, and the new villain characters worked well enough (while by no means being interesting enough to steal the show). Where I felt the film really dropped the ball was with it's main big baddy hinted at from the start of the film. When mentioned, I got excited at the possibilities, but the execution was pretty crap. Where it could have been done in a very exciting and thematic way given the characters that were involved, the villain is reduced to a giant rampaging monster with a weak design. On top of that, I felt the final big character moment/transformation was really forced and poorly handled. Sure it was cool, but a few different decisions directorially could have had a huge impact on how the scene played out. Overall, the action worked fine enough, but also really didn't blow me away like with Broly, and many scenes were over too quickly.

On a more positive note, I've always found the character work in these films to be fun and that continues here. While this film was advertised as a Gohan and Piccolo joint, it's really Piccolo who steals the show. He's upset at Gohan's lack of training and uses situations throughout the film to try and push him to unlock more power. He's also the main driving force of the film as far as uncovering the villains plans and also preparing their own counter attack. A fan favourite character who was definitely handled well. Gohan on the other hand is, alright...He's there and is given a big moment at the end but generally, he's just there.

All in all, while it might sound like I'm being very critical of the film, at the same time i enjoyed it well enough. The character bits and humour sprinkled throughout somewhat made up for a pretty weak final battle and the new characters and lore introduced were fun. I definitely don't see this film making waves like Broly did, but if you're a Dragon Ball fan you're probably going to be checking this out and enjoying it on some level regardless.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jun 12, 2022

ThatAnimeSnobRE

Not Recommended

The CGI animation, an attempt to save money since the studio knows a lot of people are going to watch it no matter how cheap it looks, is definitely going to be a turnoff for most who liked the far more polished look of the Broly film. It is not terrible but having to get used to that after 25 years of being 2D ain’t easy. And the animators knew that, since whenever there is a flashback to previous events, they keep it in 2D since they know people will be pissed if they saw nostalgic moments in a completely different style.

Anyways, assuming that is ... not a problem for you and you expect to see 2 hours worth of non-stop action, which is what Dragonball has become after plot and characters became an afterthought, be prepared for a very long and overall dull buildup. There’s a lot of talking in the first half of the movie since the bad guys keep flashing back to previous events and plotting their next move. Nobody watches or cares about such things in a Dragonball movie.

Once that is over the bad guys create two androids that magically match in power Gohan and Piccolo. Don’t ask why, it was already a stretch to have androids with more power than a Super Saiyan back in the Android Saga. The Red Ribbon can simply collect data and create androids that are as powerful as the current heroes with no cap. Go figure.

The fight between the heroes and the new androids is tensionless since nothing feels like it’s at stake. The world doesn’t look like it’s in any danger and even Pan fools around when she gets kidnapped just for motivating her daddy to try harder. The final boss ends up being a buffed up Cell. Don’t get too excited, because he’s in his second form and completely mindless compared to his predecessor. The battle is eventually won with the heroes getting new transformations (Piccolo turns yellowish, Gohan gets longer silver hair for protecting a daughter that was never in any real danger). How unfortunate that they couldn’t do that in previous arcs when the world was in actual danger. It’s not like they were training non-stop since that event; the power ups were done automatically with no training. Then the villains turn allies because it’s a show for kids.

As for the power houses of the show, Goku and Vegeta spend the whole movie at Beerus’ place, training along with Broly. And don’t expect something to come out of all that, they are not doing anything and they conveniently never find out about what happens on Earth. Essentially they were filler. Man, can you imagine not finding out about when Frieza attacked? Earth would be gone because they were careless. And that was several arcs ago. Goku and Vegeta are a thousand times more powerful since that time and yet they are less careful. What an amazing character development; they become more and more stupid. Oh, and Broly is now a doormat. A complete soyboy. That pseudo-Cell they were fighting was acting like Broly more than Broly was acting like himself.

Here’s the actual problem with the movie. It was made to look like that Dokan gacha game. Its gamers will appreciate it far more than plain watchers. The plot is nothing to bother thinking about, the new power ups are lazy, and there’s not much to get from it besides an excuse for more units in the gacha game. It’s an overall bellow average movie in a franchise that is way beyond its prime and runs purely on milking nostalgia. Said nostalgia won’t even look nice from here on since it won’t even be 2D. Dragonball of today is a mutated zombie that doesn’t resemble the show we all grew up with in the 90s. There is no blood anymore, energy blasts don’t kill anyone anymore, nobody is an angry macho man anymore; they are all friendly soyboys, and now everyone looks like a polygon gacha unit. Fuck that shit.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) deg - Jun 13, 2022	152 replies	by bakakisima »» Mar 22, 4:11 AM
	Dragon Ball is creatively bankrupt -Hermit- - Oct 22, 2022	35 replies	by -Hermit- »» Feb 22, 2025 7:57 PM
	Pan is the redeemer of this film, and all I want is a new gen Dragon Ball adventure starring her. middle_pickup - Dec 29, 2023	9 replies	by middle_pickup »» Dec 30, 2023 4:59 PM
	Thoughts on the cgi? TASM18 - Dec 25, 2022	23 replies	by middle_pickup »» Dec 28, 2023 7:06 PM
	Available on Prime Video JohanJ04 - Dec 2, 2023	0 replies	by JohanJ04 »» Dec 2, 2023 2:26 PM