Dragon Ball
has never struggled with creating hype moments and, from the Saiyan Saga onward, the main cast are all certified aura farmers. In the case of
Dragon Ball Z
, the anime was able to successfully balance these elements with engaging plots and strong character writing. The same cannot be said for
Dragon Ball Super
.
Lacking any of
Dragon Ball
and DBZ’s emotional depth,
Dragon Ball Super
typically only cares about hype moments and aura. At times, it can execute these things even better than its predecessors, but that doesn’t change how lacking the writing around them is. It’s hard not to think about how much better DBS could be if just more thought and passion was put into its fights, transformations, and characters.
The Z-Fighters vs. The Frieza Force is a Pointless Sequence
The Z-Fighters’ Big Comeback is Just Cheap Fanservice
One of the high points of
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’
is the fight between the Z-Fighters and Frieza’s army. For the first time in decades,
Krillin, Tien Shinhan, Master Roshi
, Gohan, and Piccolo get to show their skills, and in a spectacularly animated sequence at that. It’s just a shame that there’s no substance to this battle, or even a point.
Nothing about
Resurrection ‘F’
‘s story would be different if the Z-Fighters didn’t fight the Frieza Force
. It also isn’t even impressive that they’re able to combat the grunts, given how strong they’re all supposed to be. The hype factor doesn’t even last long, with the heroes all getting beaten up and embarrassed once they switch to fighting characters with actual names.
Super Saiyan Blue Was Created Exclusively to Sell Merchandise
There Was No Narrative Reason to Replace Super Saiyan God So Quickly
The introduction of Super Saiyan Blue set the tone for the future of
Dragon Ball
, and not in a good way. Debuting in
Resurrection ‘F’
with little in the way of fanfare, viewers aren’t even given the chance to see Goku and Vegeta unlock the form. The film just needed a new, cool form to sell merchandise based off of, and so that’s what the Saiyan duo use to combat Golden Frieza.
Apart from its gaudy look,
fans are given no reason to care about Super Saiyan Blue
. Functionally, it’s just a less well-designed palette swap for Super Saiyan God. Classic
Dragon Ball Z
transformations meant something, or at least existed as a part of a joke, but there’s just no narrative reason that Super Saiyan Blue needed to exist.
Super Saiyan Blue Vegito vs Fused Zamasu Has Nothing Going For it Except Flashy Animation
Vegito Fails to Accomplish Anything in Dragon Ball Super
Super Saiyan Blue Vegito vs Fused Zamasu is one of the best-looking
Dragon Ball
fights of all time. Not only that, but it marks the first appearance of Vegito since the Buu Saga. It’s an exciting and extremely entertaining fight, but it’s also one that could be cut out of the Future Trunks Saga without changing anything.
Just like in Vegito’s first appearance, he fails to beat the big bad he combats
. Unlike in his first appearance, his loss does absolutely nothing to help move the story along. The fight is nothing but pure fan-service, and it doesn’t even try to do anything new with Vegito other than give him a new form.
Super Saiyan Rage Comes Out of Nowhere
Future Trunks’ Aura is Further Enhanced by the Confounding Sword of Hope
After spending most of his eponymous saga being
overshadowed by Goku and Vegeta
, Future Trunks enjoys one hype moment after another during its climax. First, he unlocks the brand-new Super Saiyan Rage transformation, finally giving him the power to contend with Zamasu, and he acquires the Sword of Hope, which is used to cut Zamasu down for good. It’s good that the protagonist of the Future Trunks Saga actually gets to be relevant, but
it would have been better if the anime bothered to explain where his new form and technique came from
.
Future Trunks gets the new powers that he does because they look cool, and for no other reason. Given that Zamasu ultimately survives being cut apart, and the arc ends on a tragic note, it certainly can’t be argued it was so that Future Trunks could be the hero of his timeline.
Dragon Ball Super
doesn’t care about explaining things, and it just hopes its visuals are flashy enough to distract from that fact.
Jiren is the Embodiment of Aura Over All Else
Jiren is a Main Antagonist with No Personality
Jiren wouldn’t have fans if his fights weren’t so visually spectacular. Both of his match-ups against Goku, and especially the final struggle between him, Goku, Frieza, and Android 17, really do represent the peak of what
Dragon Ball
can look like on television. This can’t change that Jiren has all the personality of drying paint,
and that he’s one of the most underwhelming antagonists in the franchise
.
Throughout the entire Tournament of Power, Jiren refrains from showing any emotion. He is a boring hunk of muscle that only becomes less interesting once his backstory is revealed. Jiren was clearly designed as a wall for Goku to overcome first, and as a character sixth or seventh.
Android 17 Proves Having Nothing But Aura Isn’t Always a Bad Thing
Android 17 is Too Cool to Truly Criticize
Android 17 is one of the most beloved characters in the Universe Survival Saga, but when really looking at him, there’s little substance to be found. Much more mature than he was in DBZ, 17 gets in some good quips throughout the Tournament of Power, but he’s primarily a highly efficient stoic. This actually manages to work for him, though,
as he aura farms enough to make his victory in the tournament a satisfying one
.
Highlights from Android 17 in the Tournament of Power include his interrupting of the Kamikaze Fireballs, his leading the charge against Agnilasa, and his role in the final fight against Jiren. Regardless of what he’s doing, he always looks awesome, and he’s always suave and charming enough to avoid coming off as boring. Through Android 17,
Dragon Ball Super
found a way to write an endearing character, while still only caring about hype moments and aura.
Super Saiyan Blue Evolution Exists Solely to Give Vegeta a Power-Up
Super Saiyan Blue Evolution is Functionally No Different From Super Saiyan Blue
The Universe Survival Saga spends most of its time building up to Goku gaining control over Ultra Instinct. With
Vegeta being Goku’s right-hand man
in
Dragon Ball Super
,
the arc elects to give him a consolation prize, in the form of Super Saiyan Blue Evolution
. Super Saiyan Blue Evolution is as meaningless as the original Super Saiyan Blue form, and Vegeta isn’t even able to accomplish anything with it.
Super Saiyan Blue Evolution could be removed from canon, and nothing would change. It only exists to get Vegeta fans hyped up before the Saiyan Prince inevitably loses his fight against Jiren. In terms of aura points, the form doesn’t even succeed, barely being distinguishable from Super Saiyan Blue.
The Entirety of the Fight Against Granolah and Gas is a Slog
Dragon Ball Super Makes a Clash Between the Strongest in the Multiverse Boring
The Granolah the Survivor Saga suffers from nightmarish pacing, placing all the meat of its narrative into its first half. Its second half should be thrilling, with it featuring a battle between Goku, Vegeta, Granolah, and Gas, the four strongest mortals in the multiverse. This isn’t the case, however, because the lack of anything except hype moments and aura render it impossible to get invested in the proceedings.
There is no forward story progression
during the battle royale to determine the most powerful mortal
. Fans are just forced to endure chapter after chapter of mindless fighting, with nothing of real interest occurring. Fights in
Dragon Ball
exist to tell stories through action, and any arc that forgets this is bound to fail.
Orange Piccolo Embodies How Meaningless Transformations Have Become
The Hype Around Orange Piccolo Doesn’t Even Survive To the End of Super Hero
In concept, there was nothing wrong with
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
wanting to give Piccolo a new form. All it needed to do was find a new direction for him narratively, and escalate the conflict of the film to the point that he transforms for a satisfying and well-explained reason. Naturally, the film does none of this.
An in-universe explanation for the existence of Orange Piccolo is given, but it isn’t satisfying
. On an emotional level, it likewise falls short of making a big moment out of the transformation’s debut against Gamma 2. And, for as mighty as Orange Piccolo looks as he pummels Gamma 2, he loses all his aura during the climax of the film, where he loses to Cell Max.
Gohan Beast Doesn’t Belong in the Super Hero Saga
Gohan Interrupts Piccolo’s Story to Aura Farm
The introduction of Gohan Beast
is the latest, and arguably the most blatant, example of
Dragon Ball Super
only caring about hype moments and aura. During the climax of
Super Hero
, Gohan undercuts Piccolo’s story by gaining a new form that comes with one of the single-largest power boosts in the series.
There’s nothing satisfying about seeing Gohan’s umpteenth rage boost
, and the entire sequence is purely a retread of the Cell Saga’s climax.
Gohan Beast is nothing but an excuse to sell new merch and to make Gohan relevant power-wise again. There’s no effort put into accomplishing these things naturally, and, unlike with Orange Piccolo, the film doesn’t even bother with a token explanation as to where the form actually comes from. It may sound nice in theory that Gohan is important again, but it will be anything but if he continues to be written with such little care.