Jun 1, 2022
The Demon Realm Mission manga is the predecessor to the Universe Mission manga as well as the anime. It tells the story how the Time Patroller came to be, the warriors who fight criminals that influence with time under the supervision of the Kaioshin of Time Chronoa.
The story begins with a images of Future Trunks from different perspectives before he is summoned into the Nest of Time. There Chronoa rants why he dared to mess with time before finding others that do the same. To make up for the criminal act, Trunks offers to help Chronoa. This Trunks becomes what we refer as Trunks Xeno
...
from now on.
They discover Towa who collect kiri to awaken the Demon Realm. They fail to stop her.
Towa awakens Mechikabura, a guy who's name I have to keep look up, and offers the Dark Dragon Balls ask means to regain his former power. Turns out, as brainwashed Dende aka. Dende Xeno gives live to the Dragon Balls, they scatter into different times... for some reason.
Mechikabura didn't mind that and gave Towa and other demons the power of a Demon God.
Now the goal has become to stop Towa from collecting all the Dark Dragon Balls and stop more damage to happen in the Dragon Ball timelines. In order to do that, the Kaioshin of Time uses her power to bring out Goku, Vegeta, Gohan and Goten one after another to help them out.
Like the image shows, the first arc involves 3 parties that battle each other. The Dark Demon Realm, Time Patrollers and Dark Dragon Ball possessed beings... well, 4 to be exact since there are also Demigra's group who ally with the Time Patrollers.
The first story arc ends with the Kaioshin of Time trapping Mechikabura in the time labyrinth alongside while sending everyone else back to the time nest.
I really liked the first story arc. The dynamic with Trunks Xeno and Chronoa is great as well as seeing Trunks Xeno interacting with all the other Xeno characters. Keeping in mind that these aren't the versions of the characters Trunks actually knows. Gohan looks like his counterpart from end of Z, Vegeta and Goku look similar to their Z counterparts and can go SSJ4 and there is also Goten.
The interactions with the demon gods is great as well. Towa especially since she sets the story in motion is a pretty interesting antagonist. She likes manipulating others like Dende or Bardock, while caring for Mira, Mechikabura and her brother Dabura.
We don't see too much of Mira since appears trice for very short period, but his three way fight against Goku Xeno and Dark Broly was one of the best fights in Heroes as a whole.
As for fan service, Heroes does a pretty good job since it is it's selling point. Trunks Xeno gets to potara fuse with Vegeta Xeno and do the fusion dance with Goten Xeno and Gohan Xeno. We see him turn Super Saiyan 3 as well, while still temporary.
Nothing feels rushed so far and the Time Patrollers are pressed for time since the opponents are outnumbering them and can be in multiple locations because of that. That is where they have to ally with Demigra's group eventually.
When Chronoa trapped herself with Mechikabura in the Time Labyrinth, you can feel the pain Trunks Xeno has. And it's no surprise that they stay in the time nest to continue their job as Time Patrollers.
Heroes did a pretty good job in turning Trunks Xeno into a main character and for a first arc there isn't much to criticize.
He is a pretty good middle man in balancing the flaws of Vegeta Xeno and Goku Xeno who still are good mentor figures.
Gohan feels a bit more goofy with him being amazed at magic and liking to do the fusion dance.
The second arc isn't an immediate rescue mission, but it turns out as one once they discover the Demon Realm manipulating Chronoa after going to the GT timeline. They enter the headquarters of the demon realm, free Chronoa and fight Mechikabula trapping him in the Etenal Labyrinth.
Much shorter than the previous arc, but here the flaws become more apparent. This arc bring up a bit more interesting concepts like Fin, which is a Boo wannabe with the powers of Mechikabura boosting it. Why is that so special, well, it absorbed GT Gogeta. The build up to Dark Gogeta was pretty sick and when the fight begins, you want it to last longer because it was just getting good.
We find out the Kaioshin of Time got brainwashed and needed to be saved.
Goten Xeno did fight but didn't get any real characterization. I ignored it in the arc prior because he was introduced very late, but he got shafted the most. Even the newly introduced Pan Xemp got a decent character arc with Gohan Xeno.
Speaking of Pan, I wish he had turned into a Super Saiyan in this story arc, but she was obviously introduced for a plot device we get to later.
SS3 Trunks Xeno frees the Kaioshin of Time with the Key Blade from Kingdom Hearts before they fight Mechikabura for real this time. Everyone performs the Super Saiyan God ritual since everyone but Trunks Xeno and Pan Xeno where tired from fighting the Demon Realm members.
The final confrontation was much better than in the anime. Trunks seem to have lost only to be safed by Demigra who used the Dark Dragon Balls to gain the power of light to beat Mechikabura. However, as a being of darkness he can't use it at full potential. With SSG Trunks Xeno and everyone coming back healed they manage to pressure Mechikabura to stop him once and for all.
I also find it cute that Pan likes the Time Patrol Pose as total contrast to Vegeta who hates it.
The teamwork when Trunks Xeno transformed into a SSJG and Chronoa was amazing when they disposed Ultimate Fin, who is above half power-Gogeta GT level in an instant.
But Mechikabura is a rather boring villain as he decides to use his underlings as meatshield while when he was an elderly, he was respected by them and actually cared. Even Towa means nothing to him.
So overall I can recommend the manga. The final fights were action packed but the second arc was where the fights felt more rushed. We only saw one full demon realm fight. Goten Xeno's character didn't get much exposure and Pan didn't really do much considering how outmatched she is power wise.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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