Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

The Red Ribbon Army, an evil organization that was once destroyed by Goku in the past, has been reformed by a group of people who have created new and mightier Androids, Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, and seek vengeance against Goku and his family.

  • Released: 2022-06-09
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Action, Animation
  • Stars: Masako Nozawa, Ryou Horikawa, Toshio Furukawa, Bin Shimada, Hiroshi Kamiya, Mamoru Miyano, Aya Hisakawa, Miyu Irino, Yuko Minaguchi, Aya Hirano, Mayumi Tanaka, Ryota Takeuchi, Ken Uo, Koichi Yamadera, Takeshi Kusao, Masakazu Morita, Tomokazu Sugita, Norio Wakamoto, Volcano Ota, Miki Ito
  • Director: Tetsuro Kodama
 Comments
  • Blazehgehg - 3 January 2023
    They just keep getting better
    Somehow every time they make a new Dragon Ball movie, it's better than the last one. That didn't used to be the case. A lot of those old Dragon Ball movies basically exist as cheap ways to remix the current story arc. Instead of fighting Frieza, Goku has to fight his BROTHER, Cooler! Totally different! And worse, somehow.

    These new movies seem to be doing the most interesting stuff with the Dragon Ball franchise, raising questions and poking at old lore in ways that really stoke the fires in an older fan like me. Hero is pretty up front in asking the question: "Do we really need Goku to do this stuff?"

    And, well, the answer is no. We don't. Everybody else is capable enough without Goku having to be the one to do all the work. The movie establishes early on that Goku and Vegeta are somewhere else and can't be contacted, so the rest of the story is about the second-stringers figuring out what to do when their "win button" isn't available anymore. It's legitimately great.

    The animation is spectacular. I've never been a fan of cel-shaded CG before, but it looks absolutely gorgeous here. I think it's because they also mix in traditional animation with it, so you can't always tell what's the CG and what's hand-animated. But it all has so much detail, and so many little flourishes, like the way hair bounces or clothing flows as characters move. It's next level stuff.

    And the writing is, as always, pretty spot-on. These characters really drive home the vibe of all being old friends, with effortlessly natural performances and genuinely funny dialog. It's always wild to think of those early Funimation dubs on TV and how far we've come since those days.

    I just wish the actual story itself was a little stronger. The whole framework of this movie is reminding us that Gohan and Piccolo are still cool. While we get a lot of time to see Piccolo develop, I would have liked to see Gohan take more time transitioning from bookworm back to one of the strongest fighters on earth.

    But don't let that detract too much from how cool this movie is. It's Dragon Ball, and at its heart, Dragon Ball has always been about coming up with an excuse to have characters fight. Compared to the limp fights in Battle of Gods and the hyperactive incoherency of Broly, Hero's fights are big, impactful, and easy to follow. More importantly, they come down to more than just "do the kamehameha again, but stronger this time."

    I wish the rest of the Dragon Ball franchise was this bold, interesting, and compact about its story arcs. Every time we get one of these new movies I feel like they go out of their way to show me a new side of these characters,and that's what really matters more than anything. Hero hits almost (but not quite) every bullseye you could ask for.
  • robiisgod - 16 November 2022
    Enjoyable movie with fan service transformations
    This was an enjoyable movie. However I have a couple of issues with it. The main premise was funny and Gohan and Piccolo finally got to shine again.

    Although the story was fresh and the approach was more Dragon ball like than Dragon ball Z, I feel that androids made by humans seem to have too much power. At first they were only able to pair to Super Saiyan, but now the new models gave gone even further.

    The other problem I have is Piccolo's design. His skin is more yellowish for some reason than green. Vertical stripes on his arms have vanished and he has five fingers. I would even buy his new form, because it was nice to see Piccolo relevant again, but a logo showing up on the back of his clothes as he transforms feels more like Digimon than Dragon ball.

    The third and final problem was Gohan. Although his character finally recieved development and motivation, but his new form looks like something dan made and not a true Saiyan transformation.

    All in all the movie was fun to watch, had a couple of laughs and the score was great.