I’ve been doing a lot of catching up lately. For example, I’d only seen the first Thor movie and had to watch the second and third Thor movies before I saw Thor: Love and Thunder, because I knew the fourth movie wouldn’t make any sense to me otherwise.
So when I heard that a new Dragon Ball Super movie was coming out, I hurried to watch Dragon Ball Super: Broly because I somehow missed seeing it when it came out in 2018.
Broly’s backstory is that he is from Planet Vegeta, home planet of the Saiyans. He shows promise as a small child, but is exiled by King Vegeta who fears that he might surpass the prince (a.k.a. Vegeta, our favorite surly Saiyan).
Broly trains on a deserted planet with his father for years until they are rescued by two of Frieza’s underlings, Cheelai and Lemo. The two take the father and son to Frieza, who enlists them to fight Goku and Vegeta on earth.
Some other things happen, but it’s all in the service of getting to the Big Fight Scene. Once that begins, the plot flies out the window and fighting takes up the rest of the movie. It’s Broly versus Goku and Vegeta, Broly versus Frieza, Gogeta (Goku and Vegeta together in their transformed state) versus Broly... the movie then ends with a five-minute denouement that more or less wraps everything up.
The fight scenes in Dragon Ball Super: Broly are fantastic, but the movie lacks what really makes the Dragon Ball universe special: the characters and their histories with each other that give such depth to their relationships.
And this is what the new movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero has in spades.
First, a fun new villain is introduced. Dr. Hedo is the super scientist grandson of Dr. Gero, creator of Androids 17 and 18. Magenta, son of the Red Ribbon Army’s late Commander Red, recruits Dr. Hedo to attack Goku and friends, telling him that Bulma’s Capsule Corporation is a front for evil aliens. He actually just wants revenge against Goku for destroying the Red Ribbon Army.
Dr. Hedo is a slimeball, but with his own sense of morality, albeit twisted. He’s addicted to Oreo cookies and milk, which Magenta keeps him supplied with as he wins him over to his side.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Dragon Ball Super movie without Whis and Beerus.
Goku, Vegeta and Broly are training on Beerus’s planet, oblivious to the threat to earth. After Piccolo tells Bulma about the army’s plot, Bulma tries to contact the three Saiyans but Beerus carelessly tosses an empty ice cream bucket over the communication receiver’s antenna, meaning Piccolo and Gohan will have to lead the fight against the Red Ribbon Army without them.
Piccolo was Gohan’s master teacher and this relationship is what gives DBS: Super Hero its emotional depth. As usual, Piccolo feels that Gohan has let his training go despite being Goku’s match in strength and even possessing the potential to surpass Goku someday.
Now the earth is threatened by Dr. Hedo’s super-powerful androids Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, with the ultimate enemy waiting in the wings... Cell Max. Can Piccolo and Gohan and the other Dragon Ball Super heroes defeat the new Red Ribbon Army?
I really enjoyed Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero. It has everything a Dragon Ball fan could want: great action scenes, nostalgic references to past storylines, appearances by old favorites like Krillin, Videl and Pan, Goten and Trunks (now teenagers!), and No. 18. (We don’t see No. 17, but I like to imagine that he’s still taking care of the endangered animals on that island.)
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero gives you one fun scene after another with characters you know and love, and a solid story that satisfies from beginning to end. It’s the perfect end-of-summer anime treat before the fall anime season begins, so go and see it while it’s still on the big screen. You won’t be disappointed. :-)
