Story - 6
Its pretty basic, the story is a continuation after the Majin Buu arc that takes place sometime after some time (Its not yet specific as to when in this series)
however It doesn't mean its right at the end of Dragon ball Z like some people by accident think, but it does somewhat takes place in between the 2 since there was a 10 year time gap after the majin buu saga and before UuB is even introduce into the story. questionable I know but writer Akira Toriyama along with Toyotarō who handles the manga adaptation for Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ anime and Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ Special One Shot.
Toyotarō is also the official artist of the manga version of Dragon Ball Super and toriyama's staff can usually have certain weaknesses when it comes to consistency and handling such a big franchise then again it has those inconsistencies within the story towards whatever comes and goes in and outside the franchise.
Now I can understand if the confusion for some people as well as fans, well that is if you were paying attention with the story of battle of gods which mostly aren't in some people's cases here and to point out with what the movie was showing was an indication from Toriyama's setting placing these films as parts of the dragon ball super series.
YES toriyama is putting the same storyline from the latest movies but that is not the entire focus of dragon ball Super neither is Frieza's Revival of F we get it everyone in the universe has seen it.
Yes it does include rehashing the 2 movies which is a bad drawback here in terms of fans expectation as well as the fact that these movies are still very recent and I get it, Its not acceptable for starting this new series off towards but I still liked to see them to do certain tweaks with its story in regards to the movies, But the main question I guess is Do they do it and does it make that much of a difference?
This is a mix bag while yes they have made a few certain alterations in some nice ways in the episodes but in terms if it really made that much of a difference? Than If I'm being honest it really at the same time doesn't.
This isn't to say its a discouraging thing though, Instead this certain continuation in a way I believe hold these ideas as part of something big to happen for later on.
In the manga and interviews toriyama has referenced a new UNIVERSE 6 with there being 12 universes mentioned as part of it lore in that shares these 2 movies as part of a long series and I've seen some of the episode listing and its as how these reviewers try describing to you saying that ''OH CRAP THIS ENTIRE SERIES IS THE 2 MOVIES WITH FILLER'' (yes because the author is getting the members of the same staff from GT working on this who wasn't satisfied with GT wants to do another. WOW well done Einstein but your wrong as this is cannon so you can bow out.)
Some have laughably mentioned that these 2 movies take up 100 episodes as most of the majority which is false considering the last point of battle of gods in super is actually within the 12 episodes after the first 2 episode. ''WHAT!? WHY DO I HAVE TO SEE THAT FOR 14 EPISODES?
Easy answer, FOR THE NEW INTRODUCTION OF CONTENT THAT CONTINUES IN THE SERIES AND FURTHER ON DUH, The same goes for revival of F as they are also giving way for certain added features in the mean time on top of this long story, the real question is are you willing to tread far with what ever new content starts going into this series??
If so, STOP BITCHING ABOUT THE FIRST 5 EPISODES BEING SHIT IF YOU DON'T ACTUALLY CARE WHERE THE STORY IS GOING,
IF SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ ANY FURTHER. After All I intend to give an objective review, which doesn't mean I'm praising it, let alone Bashing it.
If you do have a question that you need to address me with you can do so if you not sure on what I'm stating in my review.
If after the review you are feeling annoyed about my score you can just skip it if you think I'm just wasting Your time. Got it?.
Continuing on, The story in its continuation has an interesting layout so far and I can say I like how the story is expanding on with its new content however there are a lot of inconsistencies so far which seems pretty obvious.
The story isn't trying to recapture a complete essence of nostalgia but mostly its trying to stay closer to toriyama's light hearted and comedic themes with its continuation in a proper manner where the time skip has happen after the events of majin buu onwards and this would be through the characters we know already of since the start such as Goku as well as the other characters old and new and even those that are strangely in between playing somewhat of a role into this.
Beerus who is a major threat to goku and others recalls a dream to his assistant whis where he predicts that he will face against the super saiyan god. knowing that there is a connection to the saiyan race as well how beerus says about him ordering frieza to depose of the race as he did not like King vegeta now to me it diminishes frieza's character as a villain but can be argued that it makes beerus that more antagonizing and possibly a threat in a lot of ways.
By the 4th episode we see the supporting characters such as krillin, 18, Tien, yamcha and others play out in the very segment that happens in the movie but in a different location, that doesn't mean to say things change much because for the most part it still showcases a lot of slapstick sillyness which really at times isn't my fancy.
As goku trains, king kai is aware of the incoming threat that heads to his planet being beerus and whis as they head to confront the last remaining saiyans about the super saiyan god in the hopes of a duel. however these are just the beginning of these episodes. Where we really move from the movies we go into new territory that brings the fans more attention to what has been pretty much setting up for the story. which honestly is a long while but where you want to see new content and not the movies Episode 28 will be that point of interest for those interested.
Characters - 7
Now despite the fact there really hasn't been too much progression with lots of these characters. For me to go through each of them for analysis is personally too long individually all at once though lets be honest,
You wouldn't watch this series in the first place if you haven't seen the previous seasons or read the dragonball manga but lets get something straight here.
From the very 1st episode, A time of peace has happened as usual from the theme that begins in most dragon ball settings during timeskips.
Goku now alive at this point from the other world is pretty much unsatisfied with his earthly lifestyle which is funny since this is the real first significance in the series where goku is actually working as a family man along with goten, yes gohan and videl we know are easily together at this point as well being that its 6 months later after the events of the Buu arc.
Hercule is still regarded as the planet saviour from the public. feeling grateful he gives the prize money to goku and his family which I thought was fair since goku was the true warrior that save the world from the threat of buu.
From there goku continues to train with King Kai, Meanwhile goku's rival vegeta is more in tune with his family despite feeling uncomfortable with living a regular family lifestyle with trunks and bulma. Vegeta has come to recognise from the time he fought buu he has changed to feeling more of a connection to his family as well as having the same smug exterior and also still even more determined to surpass goku.
Beerus and Whis who we got to know from battle of gods are extremely powerful beings that are roaming across the galaxy as they see fit.
Beerus being the most chaotic of the 2 destroys multiple planets and civilisations whenever he is not in a good mood or doesn't like the food which at times will feel a lot more silly but at the same time enjoyable to watch for these 2 characters in terms of those comedic moments.
Beerus for me, is the stand out character of the show so far.
I love BEERUS-SAMA!
The way the writers have build him up so far has been very good in terms of a new big threat within the overall world of the franchise and a unique individual among the cast in general which for me is a smart entertaining addition to the story so far.
Again there is a lot that could happen from now with the characters, that can change from here on so we'll see a lot more of the other characters in depth later on.
The real bad of this story has been a lot of its writing inconsistencies at along with its characterisation at times which has been a major gripe I've been having with the show so far. Though Its writing in the franchise in general hasn't really always shown those thoughtful consistency it still at the very least caters to trying to being entertaining in other ways that it conveys in its mood of the characters in general.
It doesn't regard to being picky to a certain demographic nor does it try to steer away from its traditional fun that it places its content with the story since it knows its own entertaining aspects of its genre lies towards in and is for the most part very casual in its very approach in that sense.
Art/Animation - 6
I can agree with most of the reviewers here that episode 5 art was god awful which got a lot more strange with the thick outlines that was present throughout episode 4 which tells me that Toei Animations that have handled a lot of series with long amount of episodes will usually find it very tough to keep the work rate consistent which is a real shame since its been a long time that dragonball fans would get the chance to watch a new dragonball anime that has a difference in art and animation and its sad that early on as this.
The first 3 episodes to me are still decent and not that bad at all And I feel unlike certain others that its dreadful throughout like a lot want you to believe.
But it also doesn't excuse A rich company like Toei Animation at times have this ongoing reputation of poor handling of art and animations in series such as One Piece, World Trigger, Digimon, Toriko, Sailor Moon, Yu-Gi-Oh along with SO many others that toei I feel are mainly damaging their own reputation because these are some major household names that they have the rights to the handling of the art and animation in the process.
I simply cannot ignore that they are being quite disrespectful to the shows including most of all Dragonball Super and its fans in terms of their service. Dragonball as a franchise has been one of their biggest profits. I mean just look at how well Battle of Gods and Revival of F did here in the west.
(Which I know already some are mixed on it anyways)
To me its just odd for a studio that has had great earnings and yet are making this show with inconsistent art and animations in the way it has been for episodes 4 and 5, Though recently it has been handled carefully as of late.
Its Easily not a favourable studio amongst the fans which is obvious, They seemed to have less acknowledgement in what they are doing which I don't believe that to be the characters or the writing what so ever but the animators and designers behind the way certain episodes are handled which is unfortunate and yet Toei have also been known to up the quality when it is needed like they did when they showed off the transformation of SSJ3 Goku but then they didn't keep up with its consistency which makes this section a mixed bag here. then again that possibly could alter or change sometimes.
Hell even creator toriyama, TORIYAMA!! of all people was unhappy with the state of its animation and came out about his feelings on it, so you know this is already an issue.
However the Visual have started to make a much better improvement now and now I absolutely applaud them for that even at times the art might look a little wonky it is becoming a lot more handled with better care than that of episode 5 at this point.
Sound - 6
Apart from some of the characters that sound off in their performance other voice actors such Ryo Horikawa as Vegeta, Kouichi Yamadera as Beerus and Tien, Tsuru Hiromi as Bulma, Morita Masakazu as Whis along with most of the cast sound fine as their respective characters however I don't like the voice actress for goku even though she is notably great in other roles, Jouji Yanami as King Kai I feel he should stick to being the narrator as his performance is showing a rather abysmal display, And I mean no disrespect when saying this.
The music is can be good at times but then other times it can also be a underwhelming which is lacks that overall feel to some certain scenes.
This goes without saying but I love The Dragonball Super's opening theme!!!
The song is very easy on the ear to listen to and not so overblown out of proportion that it feels like another show entirely and It goes well with the art and animation. .
Good morning America also has a nice light hearted beat for its ending as it serves to bring more of a simple and fun movement at its core.
Sumitomo has done a few tracks in the series for specific scenes I like so far but not all his soundtracks really hit it out of the park in the way I would of liked it but that might be just down to my own personal taste I guess.
Enjoyment - 7
Unlike most of the hate and negative thoughtless reviews this show is ridiculously getting in the space of 5 episodes and so on. I have found the story while having the movies displaying within this series still to be quite reliable with its continuation as a natural viewer I've appreciate some of its episodes so far but its still got ways to carry on from here in terms of that necessary quality of recent animes of this present day and as a fan, It is still pretty exciting and enjoyable without the fact of me feeling that much neglect on what the previous series stood for in terms of its own brand of entertainment.
I'd for one say foremost that this is a okay continuation after Z even if you disagree, Compared to other reviewers I do have great knowledge on this series and I can tell where it delivers so for those looking to write the most negative review about this show are only serving to make other feel negative where I have addressed this in a more constructive fairer manner than these other jokers that can't barely write a review let alone an insult that anyone probably would have heard so many times over by now.
Overall - 6
I suggest sticking to the manga as well as the anime if you just want to see where toriyama is going at times with the story. And yes I know the manga is monthly and the anime is weekly which btw the anime is ahead at this moment of time.
But you still should check out the difference in between though the anime will at times will easily overtake the manga itself which can effect the state of any writers of A story that will have many fans constantly debating what they want all the time which will be at times a real big chore of trying satisfy those out there and toriyama has been known to have those inconsistencies a lot of times of trying to always keep trying to meet fans expectations despite this and other ambitions.
Now and then I feel how passionate and fun the story wants to stay no matter how others will perceive it to be.
Its also a driving force that we even got a new dragonball series and now viewers around at times even after getting a new series is just bitch and moan when something never goes there way which by the way we all can be guilty of this among any written fiction no matter what, so it shouldn't come as a surprise in the way people behave about this franchise (Not saying you can't be critical but at the same time should never over analyse to the point knowing what the series represents as to what it had always started out as a
simple, fun, battle shonen in the first place) so deal with it.
The main thing is to have fun with the franchise in general, without going off the deep end of it.
As a fan I've been able to watch the previous series prior to this one which I enjoy still especially since its art/animation was very much ahead of its time from long ago but if you still want to hear more negativity and very blind insights around you because of someones over analysis of it then go right ahead because I for one, don't have any shame of watching Dragon ball super so far and you shouldn't either, After all everyone has different taste as well as mine of just being a dragon ball fan and I'm proud of that.
Continuing the Journey now. Later.
Feel free to ask me any questions about dragon ball super or
my just review in general.
